Translated by Stephen Dalziel<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this remarkable book, Albert Baiburin provides the first in-depth study of the development and uses of the passport, or state identity card, in the former Soviet Union. First introduced in 1932, the Soviet passport took on an exceptional range of functions, extending not just to the regulation of movement and control of migrancy but also to the constitution of subjectivity and of social hierarchies based on place of residence, family background, and ethnic origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the basic role of the Soviet passport was to certify a person\u2019s identity, it assumed a far greater significance in Soviet life. Without it, a person literally \u2018disappeared\u2019 from society. It was impossible to find employment or carry out everyday activities like picking up a parcel from the post office; a person could not marry or even officially die without a passport. It was absolutely essential on virtually every occasion when an individual had contact with officialdom because it was always necessary to prove that the individual was the person whom they claimed to be. And since the passport included an indication of the holder\u2019s ethnic identity, individuals found themselves accorded a certain rank in a new hierarchy of nationalities where some ethnic categories were \u2018normal\u2019 and others were stigmatized. Passport systems were used by state officials for the deportation of entire population categories \u2013 the so-called \u2018former people\u2019, those from the pre-revolutionary elite, and the relations of \u2018enemies of the people\u2019. But at the same time, passport ownership became the signifier of an acceptable social existence, and the passport itself \u2013 the information it contained, the photographs and signatures \u2013 became part of the life experience and self-perception of those who possessed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This meticulously researched and highly original book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Russia and the Soviet Union and to anyone interested in the shaping of identity in the modern world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n List of Abbreviations About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Albert Baiburin<\/strong>\u00a0is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the European University at St Petersburg<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The Soviet passport\u2019s antiphonal role, as both technique of oppressive state control and as a positive sign of equal rights and status for citizens, gave it extraordinary importance in everyday life and made it a quasi-sacred object. Thoroughly researched, vividly written and moving, this book is essential reading for an understanding of changing citizenship regimes in Russia.\u2019
List of Illustrations
Foreword by Catriona Kelly
Preface
Introduction
PART I: THE HISTORY OF THE SOVIET PASSPORT SYSTEM
Chapter 1: The Formation of \u2018the Passport Portrait\u2019 in Russia
Chapter 2: Fifteen Passport-less Years
Chapter 3: The Introduction of the Passport System in the USSR
(1932-1936)
General Situation
The Official Version of the Introduction of Passports
Organizational Work
Issuing Passports
\u2018Legal Excesses\u2019
The Second Phase of the Introduction of Passports
The Consequences of the Introduction of Passports
Chapter 4: Passport Regimes and Passport Reforms
Passport Regimes
The Hundred-and-First Kilometre
The Propiska
Registering Natural Population Changes
Maintaining the Passport Regime
Statutes on Passports and Instructions for Passport Work in 1940 and 1953
Reform Projects of the 1960s
The 1974 Statute
From the Soviet to the Russian Passport System
Part II: THE PASSPORT AS A BUREAUCRATIC DEVICE
Chapter 1: The Passport Template and the Individual\u2019s Basic Information
The Passport Template
\u2018Surname, Name, Patronymic\u2019
\u2018Place and Date of Birth\u2019
\u2018Ethnic Origin\u2019
\u2018The Personal Signature\u2019
\u2018Social Status\u2019
\u2018Liability for Military Service\u2019
Chapter 2: The Notes and Properties of the Passport
\u2018Who Issued the Passport\u2019
\u2018On the Basis of Which Documents is the Passport Issued\u2019
\u2018People listed in the holder\u2019s passport\u2019
The Photograph
Special Observations
Observations about the Propiska
Part III: WHAT THE PASSPORT WAS IN PRACTICE: THE EVIDENCE IN DOCUMENTS AND MEMOIRS
Chapter 1: Receiving a Passport
The Right to a Passport
Defining Ethnicity
Taking the Passport Photograph
How do I sign?
The Passport Desk and the Pasportistka
Receiving the Passport
Chapter 2: Life With \u2013 and Without \u2013 the Passport
Look After It; Should You Carry It With You?
The Document Check
Changing One\u2019s Name
A \u2018Clean\u2019 Passport
Marriages of Convenience
Lost! What it Meant to be Without Your Passport
Refusing to Have a Passport
\u2018The Most Important Document\u2019 and Why it was Needed
Conclusion
Appendix: Interview Details
Glossary
Bibliography
Notes
Index<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Caroline Humphrey, University of Cambridge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n