Book Talk | The Post-Soviet Human

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In his new book, The Post-Soviet Human: Philosophical Reflections on Social History after the End of Communism, Mykhailo Minakov argues that the post-Soviet period (1989–2022) was an unprecedented era in human history. Not only did the USSR’s dissolution open opportunities for the people and nations of Eastern Europe and northern Eurasia to experience freedom and test their creative powers, but these opportunities did not extract a price comparable to the cost in human lives and suffering during the Russian Revolution and Civil War of 1917–24. 

Minakov describes how the post-Soviet Human attempted to establish free politics and economy and gain collective emancipation and personal freedom during this era. Even though these attempts failed in most cases, the post-Soviet Human’s political creativity—with its democratic and autocratic achievements—was an intriguing phenomenon worth deeper study and understanding. Without learning the lessons of post-Soviet history, East European and Eurasian peoples will be doomed to repeat the vicious cycle of tragedy and destruction.