Work Flows: Stalinist Liquids in Russian Labor Culture

Work Flows explores how the concept of flow became a significant metaphor in Russian labor culture since 1870, highlighting its connection to vertical power structures. It demonstrates that Stalinism is not a historical phenomenon limited to the 1922-1953 period but a symptom of modernity that emerged in the twentieth century, with its legacy extending beyond the former Soviet Union.

Format: Hardback
Length: 324 pages
Publication date: 22 January 2024
Publisher: Cornell University Press

Since 1870, Russian labor culture has been greatly influenced by the emergence of the flow as a significant metaphor. Maya Vinokour contends that the concern with fluid channeling is inherent to vertical power structures, whether they are derived from the state, as in Stalin's Soviet Union and modern-day Russia, or from the proliferation of corporate monopolies, as in the contemporary Anglo-American West. The Russian rhetoric of liquids and flow reached its pinnacle during Stalin's First Five-Year Plan and re-emerged in post-Soviet managed democracy and Western neoliberalism.

Work Flows analyzes a wide range of literary, philosophical, and official texts that shed light on the Stalinist ambition to reshape not only individual bodies but also space and time. By focusing on the understudied theme of fluidity, Vinokour provides valuable insight into the interconnectedness of philosophy, literature, and science that underpins Stalinism and continues to have a profound impact today. Work Flows demonstrates that Stalinism is not a historical phenomenon limited to the period between 1922 and 1953 but rather a symptom of modernity that emerged in the twentieth century. The legacy of Stalinism extends far beyond the former Soviet Union, manifesting in seemingly disparate settings such as post-Soviet Russia and Silicon Valley.

Weight: 907g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501773679