Episode 3: Stalin, Social Democracy and Georgia with Ronald Grigor Suny

Reimagining Soviet Georgia

Ronald Grigor Suny’s decades long career as a historian transformed historiography of the Soviet Union by centering the nation and nationality. He did this with special attention to the nations of the South Caucasus - Armenia, Azerbaijan and of course, Georgia. Suny’s analysis focused on how nationhood is a constructed product of history, and imagined, not a primordial, essential, ethnic community.

Suny’s newest book Stalin: Passage To Revolution is a look at the early part of Josef Stalin’s life in the years leading up to the 1917 Russian Revolution. The book interrogates the world that made Stalin - early 20th century social democracy in the South Caucasus. This is the multinational movement and milieu spanning Baku, Tiflis and Batumi, in which the young seminarian from Gori, Soso Jughashvill politically matured through writing articles, planning expropriations and organizing workers, becoming Josef Stalin a revolutionary Marxist and bolshevik.

On today’s episode myself and Sopo Japaridze interview historian Ronald Grigor Suny to discuss his new book Stalin: Passage To Revolution, social democracy in Georgia, Soviet history and more.

We here at Reimagining Soviet Georgia held a reading group on the book, so we invited our friend, comrade and fellow reading group member Julia Damphouse on for a short conversation and reflection on the Stalin: Passage to Revolution

Julia is a member of the editorial board for the english language translation of the complete works of Rosa Luxemburg, and the reading groups coordinator at Jacobin Magazine.

Immediately following the Suny interview, Sopo and Julia discuss their reflections on the book and why it is worth the 700 page undertaking.