Reflections of a critical theorist in the Soviet Union: paradoxes and possibilities in uncertain times1

Abstract

1 I make no claim to be a “specialist” on the Soviet Union. In fact, the more I know about that vast and contradictory place, the more impenetrable it seems. I also want to avoid the pretense of speaking for the whole of “the Soviet people.” My primary social and research context was a small segment of the educated elite who brought their own limitations to any dialogue or experience. Finally, although not explicitly making parallel criticisms of the United States in this essay, I have learned that there are many problematic tendencies in common between the two “Super Powers.”