Das sowjetische Fieber: Fußballfans im poststalinistischen Vielvölkerreich (Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society #136)

By: Manfred Zeller

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Synopsis: What did the citizens of the Soviet Union identify with? Where did the societal faultlines lie? Did mass demonstrations destabilize Soviet order? How did informal groups come into being within a society based on uniformity? What impact did media and new forms of connection have on the development of a multinational Soviet society? What remained after the end of the Soviet Union? Using Soviet soccer teams from Moscow (Spartak, Dynamo, ZSKA) and Kiev (Dynamo) as examples, Manfred Zeller tells a story of community and enmity in the post-Stalinist empire. He analyzes the complex loyalties that governed group identities and explains phenomena like the love-hate relationship between Kiev and Moscow. 'Moscow against Kiev' in Soviet times was not a question of war and peace, but in soccer there was already a feeling of 'us against them.' Zeller's book is an important contribution to research on Soviet culture after Stalin as well as to contemporary debates on antagonism in the post-Soviet world.