Book Talk: “K\u0131z\u0131l Y\u0131ld\u0131z: Sovyetler Birli\u011fi Tarihi”<\/p>\n
Date and Time: March 6, 2026, 12:30
\nVenue: A130 Seminar Room, FEASS<\/p>\n
Speakers: Onur \u0130\u015f\u00e7i and Samuel J. Hirst.<\/p>\n
Book Abstract: K\u0131z\u0131l Y\u0131ld\u0131z (Kronik Kitap, 2025) offers a novel Turkish-language history of the Soviet Union. \u0130\u015f\u00e7i and Hirst move beyond Cold War narratives that cast the USSR as a radical ideological experiment, one that resulted in a fundamentally different version of modernity from what was found in capitalist societies. Instead, the authors write the history of the Soviet Union as a history of development, unquestionably shaped by Marxist-Leninist ideology but nevertheless situated in the broader story of twentieth-century global capitalism. Each chapter of K\u0131z\u0131l Y\u0131ld\u0131z begins and ends with a cultural figure (from poets to novelists to ballerinas to rock stars), as this is an all-encompassing survey that shows how the Bolsheviks’ attempt to transform an agricultural society into an industrialized superpower touched all aspects of Soviet society. \u0130\u015f\u00e7i and Hirst draw on their own research on Soviet-Turkish interactions to create a geographic frame of reference that differs from standard accounts which emphasize Soviet-US comparisons.
\nOnur \u0130\u015f\u00e7i is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bo\u011fazi\u00e7i University.<\/p>\n
Sam Hirst is Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Bilkent University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Book Talk: “K\u0131z\u0131l Y\u0131ld\u0131z: Sovyetler Birli\u011fi Tarihi” Date and Time: March 6, 2026, 12:30 Venue: A130 Seminar Room, FEASS Speakers: Onur \u0130\u015f\u00e7i and Samuel J. Hirst. Book Abstract: K\u0131z\u0131l Y\u0131ld\u0131z (Kronik Kitap, 2025) offers a novel Turkish-language history of the Soviet Union. \u0130\u015f\u00e7i and Hirst move beyond Cold War narratives [\u2026] <\/p>\n