Dissertation Information for Ellen Marie McClamand NAME: - Ellen Marie McClamand
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- History
SCHOOL:
- Emory University (USA) (1995)
ADVISORS: - Kermit E. McKenzie
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Kathryn E Amdur - Thomas Remington
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: Soviet historians and the debates over the origins of Stalinism, 1985-1991
Abstract: The following dissertation examines Soviet interpretations of a critical question in the history of the USSR--the personal, doctrinal, programmatic, and historical roots of Joseph Stalin's dictatorship. The Stalinist regime (1929-1953) left a lasting imprint on Soviet history. In the West the question of its origins has been the center of furious debates for several decades. During the Gorbachev era, Soviet society received its first opportunity to openly raise this momentous issue.
The dissertation treats two key facets of the debate. First, it analyzes the historiography. The focus is specifically on the work of Soviet historians, who were late in joining the debate, but nonetheless made significant contributions. It presents the major lines of interpretation and evaluates individual publications. The dissertation also summarizes the major interpretive approaches developed by non-historians, such as writers, economists, journalists, etc.
Second, the dissertation examines the dynamics of the debate. The origins discussion is presented in four chronological stages in order to analyze its evolution, key motive forces, and its significant interaction with the politics of the Gorbachev era. Except for the first one, each stage has three chapters which focus respectively on the political arena, the non-historians, and the historians.
Historians played a secondary role to that of writers and other social scientists, and were least likely to move beyond a Marxist framework in analyzing Stalinism. But nonetheless remarkable advances did take place in historical methodology as Soviet historians explored critically for the first time the full spectrum of historical forces shaping the Stalinist system. Debate over the origins of Stalinism played a definite role in changing the historical and political consciousness of Soviet society. The debate also broke down the barriers which had isolated Soviet historical writing from world scholarship, opening the way to deeper analysis of Stalinism in the future.
| |
MPACT Scores for Ellen Marie McClamand A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-04-07 11:44:36
Advisors and Advisees Graph
generating graph, please reload |