Insofar as part of the historiography of the former imperial peripheries abuses, not without political overtones, the vantage point of the victim, in turn, some other historians discreetly relegate the problem of repressiveness and its victims to the status of a secondary issue, or dilute it in a multiplicity of contexts and structures. So, what to do with the victims who again fall prey to accusations of political exploitation, or academic indifference? Where to find a place for them in studies of empires? The authors of this volume include some of the most eminent exponents of the contemporary “wave” of studies on the Russian and Soviet Empire, if only to mention: Geoffrey Hosking, Anatoliy Remnyov, Mark Bassin, Leonid Gorizontov, Janusz Bugajski, Hiroaki Kuromiya, Theodore Weeks, Darius Staliūnas, and the “powerful group” (moguchaia kuchka) of initiators of the Kazan quarterly “Ab Imperio” – Ilya Gerasimov, Marina Mogilner and Alexander Semyonov. Apart from them, numerous researchers of the younger generation specialising in socio-political aspects of empires in Eastern Europe had the opportunity to join the debates and present the fruits of their studies. With what effect? The contents of this volume best answers that question.
Andrzej Nowak, the editor of the volume
