A deep dive into the consequences of the end of the Soviet Union in 1990s Russia and how the culture shock, chaos, economic pain, and violence of that era of “transition,” from Communism to so-called freedom, capitalism, and democracy help explain the origins of Putinism and the popularity of Vladimir Putin in contemporary Russia.

About the Speaker: Steven Barnes is Associate Professor of Russian History and Director of the Program in Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Mason University. He teaches courses on Russian and Soviet history while engaged in research on the history of the Soviet forced labor camp system (the Gulag) and the global history of the concentration camp as a modern form of population control. He is the author of the multi-award winning Death and Redemption: The Gulag and the Shaping of Soviet Society, and is currently completing a book on a Stalinist Gulag camp for women arrested merely for being the wives of men who were themselves unjustly repressed. Professor Barnes is a member of George Mason University's Speaker's Bureau.