The death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn seems to be a moment to look back at the experience of the Stalinist/Communist period of Russian history and the reasons for its fall.
The Dissident movement was very mixed, with liberal, left wing and pro US agendas running through it simultaneously. This is a very interesting short account. The author makes the point that it made use of the extensive political education structures of the time. She says that now these structures are gone it is difficult for the anti-neoliberalism dissidents of today to organise.
http://www.vor.ru/English/homeland/home_053.html I think that there may have already been a thread on Solzhenistyn, but I couldn't find it. Anyone is welcome to move this post into it if they know where it is.
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