“Communism Happened!”

Abstract

Nostalgia for the Soviet figures prominently in public imaginaries. Such nostalgia has been viewed as subverting and critiquing the post-Socialist neoliberal order. Others have suggested that “nostalgia” is a poor vocabulary for talking about post-Soviet affect. Ethnographic attention to nostalgia reveals a multiplicity of nostalgic registers. I argue that Soviet nostalgias can be roughly divided into lyrical, heroic, and practical. Lyrical nostalgia is for the Soviet time but without the corresponding ideological purchase. Heroic nostalgia pines for overcoming the difficulties associated with the Soviet period and its mission of constructing Communism. Practical nostalgia would like to restore the good associated with the Socialist period. Heroic nostalgia does not seem to be easily enlisted for restorative projects, and lyrical nostalgia is largely apolitical. Practical nostalgia, however, is deeply rooted in the conviction that the Soviet order of things was superior to the capitalistic order.