The course deals with the rise of consumerism in Russia in the 20th century. Consumerism is to be treated both as socioeconomic phenomenon and as part of mass consciousness. Different motives and patterns of consumerist behavior in Russia and the USSR will be examined from historical prospective. Political implications of society's frustrated consumerist expectations for the Soviet system, as well as some attempts by the Soviet authorities to meet consumerist challenge will be discussed. Political crisis of the late 1980s that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union will be explained as a sort of popular revolt against the system's inability to meet consumerist demands. Lectures will be supported by various pieces of evidence from Soviet Russian literature, folklore, periodicals, and the movies.

Kurssi toteutetaan yhteistyössä valtakunnallisen Venäjän ja Itä-Euroopan tutkimuksen maisterikoulun kanssa.

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