WiP: Book Presentation – Stalin’s Millennials: Nostalgia, Trauma and Nationalism

CRRC, ARISC and American Councils are pleased to announce the 3rd talk of the Spring 2022 Tbilisi Works-in-Progress series!

****Given the continuing COVID situation, the Works-in-Progress sessions will continue in virtual format until further notice. To register for the event and automatically receive the Zoom info, click on the link below****

https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZwtdeCgqDsoGNbzahFYrnguM…

Book Presentation – Tinatin Japaridze’s *Stalin’s Millennials: Nostalgia, Trauma and Nationalism*

Date: 16 March 2021, 18:30 Tbilisi local time

https://rowman.com/…/Stalin’s-Millennials-Nostalgia… (discount code: LXFANDF30)This book examines Joseph Stalin’s increasing popularity in the post-Soviet space, and analyzes how his image, and the nostalgia it evokes, is manipulated and exploited for political gain. The author argues that, in addition to the evil dictator and the Georgian comrade, there is a third portrayal of Stalin—the one projected by the generation that saw the tail end of the USSR, the post-Soviet millennials. This book is not a biography of one of the most controversial historical figures of the past century. Rather, through a combination of sociopolitical commentary and autobiographical elements that are uncommon in monographs of this kind, the attempt is to explore how Joseph Stalin’s complex legacies and the conflicting cult of his irreconcilable tripartite of personalities still loom over the region as a whole, including Russia and, perhaps to an even deeper extent, Koba’s native land—now the independent Republic of Georgia, caught between its unreconciled Soviet past and the potential future within the European Union.

Tinatin Japaridze is Director of Policy and Strategy for The Critical Mass. Her work has been widely published by various media outlets, including The Moscow Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. In 2019, she became a Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs Student Ambassador on Cyber Ethics and Digital Leadership. Tinatin also serves as a mentor at Girl Security, a non-profit that aims to close the gender gap in the security sector, focusing on national security and information security-related matters. Over this past year, she also worked as a “Go Big” Officer at the European Leadership Network (ELN), crafting a digital campaign to extend the New START between Russia and the US. In 2021, she became a member of the ELN’s Younger Generation Leaders Network and a fellow of the National Endowment for Democracy-funded Eurasia Democratic Security Network. Tinatin holds a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University’s School of General Studies, and a Master’s Degree in Russian Regional Studies with focus on cybersecurity and digital diplomacy from Columbia University’s Harriman Institute.

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Although this presentation will take place in virtual format, in observation of the spirit of the Chatham House Rule to which the series generally adheres, the talk will not be recorded and we courteously request that the other participants refrain from recording and/or distributing it as well. The opinions expressed in WiP talks are those of the speakers alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC, ARISC or of American Councils.
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WiP is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that normally takes place at the new office of CRRC at Liziko Kavtaradze St. 1. It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). All of the talks are free and open to the public.