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Monday, November 7, 2016

Outline for Authoritarian Weakness

·      Thesis: Soviet States weak
·      Unknown Gulag – Lynne Viola à Reliance on Repression; state not omnipotent/omnipresent
·      Seeing Like a State (chapter 3 & 6) – James C. Scott à Strong, but misguided by idealism; state capable of marshaling forces

·      Stalinist Family Values – David L. Hoffman à Heavy idealism of strong state pronatalist policy; State failure in organizing and a complete policy failure
Hoffmann, David L. 2003. Stalinist Values: The Cultural Norms of Soviet Modernity, 1917-1941.Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
·      The Road to Terror – J. Arch Getty à Fearful weak state; Lashing out blindly and losing control over wave of Terror

      I.         Introduction
    II.         Stalinist State Power
A.     Historiography of Strong USSR
B.     Revisionist Historians
  III.         Unknown Gulag - Lynne Viola à Studying repression of “kulaks”
A.     State weakness in adequate preparation – Dreams not reality
B.     Disorganized, unplanned relocation
C.     Back and forth policy of releases and arrest
   IV.         Stalinist Family Values - David L. Hoffman à Studying Stalinist pronatalist policy
A.     State weakness in lack of resources – Family as center unit fails
B.     Removal of contraception
C.     Heavy burden on Soviet female
D.    Failed pronatalism à Not expected increased birth rate
     V.         Road to Terror - J. Arch Getty à Studying the Great Terror
A.     State weakness in fear of opposition
B.     Soviet fears of regime safety
C.     Ritualized apology – disagreement unforgiveable, even suicide
D.    Loss of control, blind Terror
   VI.         Seeing Like a State - James C. Scott à Studying from political science stance
A.     Development of high modernism à state aspiration of control, science power
B.     Stalinist Authoritarian High Modernism
C.     Limits of authoritarian high modernism
 VII.         Weak State stronger argument
A.     Running government – reliance of network of governance
B.     No one rules alone
C.     USSR vast, underdeveloped, new, impoverished country
D.    Weak precarious position
Conclusion

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