Consider the following questions:
Review the:
Commodification of the Soviet experience
Chapter-Boomtown-There always has to be something new. byKseniya Sobchak
Chapter-Consumer Culture
1- Is it true that IKEA opened a store in Moscow in 2000?
2- David Satter, one of the scholars interviewed in the PBS documentary, states that the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings "saved the Yeltsin system." Based on the insights that you have gained from the film, explain what Satter means by this argument.
3- Who is Mikhail Khodorkovsky? From what you have understood from the PBS documentary, what is (was?) Khodorkovsky's role in Russia's political and economic life? Give specific examples from the documentary.
4- Is it true that most Russians generally want to disassociate themselves from the Soviet times, therefore no advertisement campaigns today draw on the Soviet experience.
5- The first ad to appear on Russian television advertised...
6- Is it true that Vladimir Putin can constitutionally remain in power until 2024?
7- When did advertising entered the Soviet Union?
8- Who served as Russian president during 2008 - 12? Why was the placement of this particular president important to Putin?
9- Prof. Karen Dawisha argues that Russia is "by far, the most unequal country in the world." What evidence does she use to back up this statement? Give specific examples from Dr. Dawisha's interview in the PBS documentary.
10- Is it true that under the Russian Constitution, the president can serve two consecutive terms, sit out a term, serve two more consecutive terms, sit out a term, ... etc. In other words, a former Russian president can constitutionally seek re-election after sitting out a term.?
11- Is it true that up until 1991, prices for consumer goods in Russia and the Soviet Union were "fixed" and determined by the state.
12- Since 2012, the term of service of the President is...
13- Both Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the scholar Karen Dawisha describe Putin's regime as "kleptocracy." First, conduct mini-internet research and explain what "kleptocracy" means. Second, based on what you know at this point, agree or disagree that Putin's regime might be seen as "kleptocratic."
14- Is true that free market was temporarily introduced in Russia in the early 1920s to remedy the economic crisis in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1917.?
15- Peter Baker refers to recent construction projects in Moscow (the towers of glass, neon signs, etc. reminiscent in their style of late Las Vegas) "neo-Stalinist" (p. 149). Based on what you've read, explain why Stalin-era buildings might be a prototype for Putin-era architecture in Moscow.
16- Offering some statistical data of the Putin's era, Peter Baker states that "average income in Moscow was ___________ percent higher than the Russian standard; and nearly ___________ percent of the entire country's retail sales took place in the capital."
17- In her essay on "Consumer Culture" Birgit Beumers writes that in the Soviet Union "73% of food goods were sold unwrapped" (p.317). Explain what this absense of packaging meant for branding and advertising.