We are now far enough away from the end of the Soviet Union and its attendant internationalism that more nuanced and objective, less partisan and accusatory, accounts of Soviet history can be written. Leupolds work presents to both a scholarly audience of historians, sociologists, political scientists, and urban researchers, as well as graduate students and a broader readership interested in the USSR and urban studies a unique way of rethinking Soviet history. This will be an extraordinarily important book.
-- Ronald G. Suny, William H. Sewell Jr Distinguished University Professor of History, University of Michigan
David Leupold delivers an original-because-richly comparative take on socialist experiment on the USSRs peripheries. Offering a granular historical perspective that is complemented by extensive travel, he creatively leans on urban landscapes to show how contemporary citizens of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and beyond reflect on the entire socialist period. As Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek has asked: now that socialism is over, does it all get jettisoned? David Leupold convinces us that in the world of urban planning, socialist legacies have something important to tell us.
-- Bruce Grant, Professor of Anthropology, New York University
The Death and Life of Southern Soviet Cities offers a compelling and valuable contribution to the study of urbanism, socialism, and post-socialist transformations, particularly in the context of Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus. By combining historical analysis with ethnographic research, the book provides a nuanced understanding of how socialist urban ideologies continue to impact these regions. This dual approach helps bridge gaps between theoretical frameworks and lived experiences, offering a more holistic view of urban transformation. The book's focus on four competing urban visions (bottom-up, rooted, polycentric, and ecocentric urbanity) promises to illuminate diverse conceptualizations of urbanism that emerged within the Soviet South. This approach highlights how different ideas about urban space and planning were envisioned and how they continue to influence contemporary urban landscapes.
-- Tamta Khalvashi, Professor of Anthropology and head of the PhD Program of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ilia State University in Georgia
