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postcommunist

SOURCE: The Baffler
9/22/2020

Desiring Machines

In 1993, soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, consensual same-sex relationships were decriminalized in Russia as the economy underwent a wrenching transition away from central planning. Documentarian William E. Jones documents this moment by splicing together the non-sexual scenes from gay pornography shot in the former Soviet bloc.

9/6/2020

A Coup of "Clerqs"?: Anne Applebaum's "Twilight of Democracy" Reviewed

by David O'Connor

Anne Applebaum's new book looks with concern at the rise of right-wing populism in Europe and the loyal party functionaries who enable its march.

SOURCE: Perspectives on History
9/2/2020

Looking Out For Each Other

by Leah Valtin-Erwin

The wrenching transitions that East Germans faced in adapting to western commercial culture after reunification offer lessons for the COVID crisis, and a warning that the burdens of managing social change and stress often fall on retail workers.