SSRC Dissertation Development Fellow Krista Goff

What Makes a People? Nationality Policies and Soviet Structures, 1945-1968

History, University of Michigan

Project Description
My dissertation explores post-World War II nationality policies, theories, and experiences in the Soviet Union. It is based on archival and oral history research conducted in Russia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. By utilizing these different forms of evidence, this dissertation fosters an understanding of both political processes and the experience of policies in minority communities. My three case studies of non-titular minority populations in the South Caucasus illustrate that local residents, activists, academics, and politicians continuously contested titular and non-titular nationality rights in this period. Geopolitical intrigues during World War II spurred new patterns of titular nationalism and disputes over minority populations and territories. These developments in turn generated different ways of imagining and policing these communities. At the same time, the development of grassroots activism in the 1950s reveals an evolving discourse of citizenship rights in the post-Stalinist milieu.

Bio:
Krista Goff is a PhD Candidate in the History Department at the University of Michigan. She specializes in Soviet history and conducted dissertation research in Russia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.