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The Green Power of Socialism

Wood, Forest, and the Making of Soviet Industrially Embedded Ecology

Part of History for a Sustainable Future

Author Elena Kochetkova

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$40.00 US

The MIT Press

5.31"W x 8.06"H x 0.65"D (13.5 x 20.5 x 1.7 cm) | 8 oz (238 g) | 30 per carton

On sale Feb 20, 2024 | 258 Pages | 9780262547451

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How the Soviet forestry industry developed a unique form of industrial ecology—a commonsense approach toward natural resources for the economy and society.

In The Green Power of Socialism, Elena Kochetkova examines the relationship between nature and humans under state socialism by looking at the industrial role of Soviet forests. The book explores evolving Soviet policies of wood consumption, discussing how professionals working in the forestry industry of the Soviet state viewed the present and future of forests by considering them both a natural resource and a trove of industrial material. When faced with the prospect of wood shortages, these specialists came to develop new industry-ecology paradigms. Kochetkova looks at the materiality of Soviet industry through forests and wood to show how, paradoxically, industrial ecology emerged and developed as a by-product of the Soviet industrialization project.

The Green Power of Socialism also discusses how post-Soviet industry has abandoned these socialist practices and the idea of nature as a complicated ecosystem that provides a crucial service to society. Emphasizing the technological and environmental impacts of the Cold War, Kochetkova critically reconsiders two explanatory models that have become dominant in the historiography of Soviet approaches to nature over the last decades—ecocide and environmentalism. Within the context of the current environmental crisis, the book invites readers to reevaluate state socialism as a complex phenomenon with sophisticated interactions between nature and industry. In so doing, it contributes a fresh perspective on the activities of socialist experts and their view of nature, shedding light on Soviet state industrial and environmental policy and its continuing legacy in the present day.

“Kochetkova’s original, dynamic approach raises the question of how best to understand the real motivations and influence of Soviet environmentalism: the book challenges the idea that solely pure scientists, who have so far attracted most of the attention of historiography, were in the heart of the green movement.”
—The Russian Review

“A compelling new book about the wood and forestry industry in the Soviet Union and its connection to larger industrial developments... An excellent addition to the literature on this subject.”
—Choice

“The Green Power of Socialism is clearly written and lucidly argued, and it has made a fabulous addition to the scholarship on Soviet-era forestry.”
—H-Net Reviews

“Kochetkova offers interesting insights into the environmental consciousness of one of the central Soviet industries with a focus on the second half of the twentieth century. This provides food for debate about the possibilities and limits of resource use against the backdrop of industrial expansion.”
—Ab Imperio

“Kochetkova’s nuanced and significant work reveals a distinct set of practices and mentalities in the Soviet Union while powerfully connecting them to global trends that continue to this day.”
—Julia Ault, H-Environment Roundtable Reviews

“The Green Power of Socialism offers fresh perspectives on environmentalism.”
—Tatiana Kasperski, H-Environment Roundtable Reviews

“A compact yet complex work, Elena Kochetkova’s The Green Power of Socialism answers many of its own questions and, as all good books do, raises many more questions for future researchers.”
—Péter Szabó, H-Environment Roundtable Reviews

“Elena Kochetkova’s The Green Power of Socialism makes an important contribution to the growing literature on Soviet environmental history.”
—Katja Doose, H-Environment Roundtable Reviews

Elena Kochetkova is Associate Professor in Modern European Economic History at the Department of Archeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at the University of Bergen. She served as a Secretary of the European Society of Environmental History from 2019 to 2021.

Elena Kochetkova View titles by Elena Kochetkova

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• Russian Fed.

• Rwanda

• S. Sandwich Ins

• Saint Martin

• Samoa,American

• San Marino

• SaoTome Princip

• Saudi Arabia

• Senegal

• Serbia

• Seychelles

• Sierra Leone

• Singapore

• Sint Maarten

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Solomon Islands

• Somalia

• South Africa

• South Korea

• South Sudan

• Spain

• Sri Lanka

• St Barthelemy

• St. Helena

• St. Lucia

• St. Vincent

• St.Chr.,Nevis

• St.Pier,Miquel.

• Sth Terr. Franc

• Sudan

• Suriname

• Svalbard

• Swaziland

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Syria

• Tadschikistan

• Taiwan

• Tanzania

• Thailand

• Timor-Leste

• Togo

• Tokelau Islands

• Tonga

• Trinidad,Tobago

• Tunisia

• Turkey

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• Turks&Caicos Is

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• USA

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
INTRODUCTION xiii

1 ALARM OVER THE FOREST 1
2 THE INDUSTRY EXPANDS INTO SIBERIA AND THE FAR EAST 29
3 THE QUEST FOR A NO-WASTE ECONOMY 69
4 REED BECOMES WOOD VALUE 103
5 THE PRESTIGE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGIES 131

EPILOGUE: THE CONTINUITY AND DISRUPTION OF GREEN INDUSTRY IN THE (POST)-SOVIET ERA 157
NOTES 173
INDEX 205

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Elena Kochetkova View titles by Elena Kochetkova

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• Afghanistan

• Aland Islands

• Albania

• Algeria

• Andorra

• Angola

• Anguilla

• Antarctica

• Antigua/Barbuda

• Argentina

• Armenia

• Aruba

• Australia

• Austria

• Azerbaijan

• Bahamas

• Bahrain

• Bangladesh

• Barbados

• Belarus

• Belgium

• Belize

• Benin

• Bermuda

• Bhutan

• Bolivia

• Bonaire, Saba

• Bosnia Herzeg.

• Botswana

• Bouvet Island

• Brazil

• Brit.Ind.Oc.Ter

• Brit.Virgin Is.

• Brunei

• Bulgaria

• Burkina Faso

• Burundi

• Cambodia

• Cameroon

• Canada

• Cape Verde

• Cayman Islands

• Centr.Afr.Rep.

• Chad

• Chile

• China

• Christmas Islnd

• Cocos Islands

• Colombia

• Comoro Is.

• Congo

• Cook Islands

• Costa Rica

• Croatia

• Cuba

• Curacao

• Cyprus

• Czech Republic

• Dem. Rep. Congo

• Denmark

• Djibouti

• Dominica

• Dominican Rep.

• Ecuador

• Egypt

• El Salvador

• Equatorial Gui.

• Eritrea

• Estonia

• Ethiopia

• Falkland Islnds

• Faroe Islands

• Fiji

• Finland

• France

• Fren.Polynesia

• French Guinea

• Gabon

• Gambia

• Georgia

• Germany

• Ghana

• Gibraltar

• Greece

• Greenland

• Grenada

• Guadeloupe

• Guam

• Guatemala

• Guernsey

• Guinea Republic

• Guinea-Bissau

• Guyana

• Haiti

• Heard/McDon.Isl

• Honduras

• Hong Kong

• Hungary

• Iceland

• India

• Indonesia

• Iran

• Iraq

• Ireland

• Isle of Man

• Israel

• Italy

• Ivory Coast

• Jamaica

• Japan

• Jersey

• Jordan

• Kazakhstan

• Kenya

• Kiribati

• Kuwait

• Kyrgyzstan

• Laos

• Latvia

• Lebanon

• Lesotho

• Liberia

• Libya

• Liechtenstein

• Lithuania

• Luxembourg

• Macau

• Macedonia

• Madagascar

• Malawi

• Malaysia

• Maldives

• Mali

• Malta

• Marshall island

• Martinique

• Mauritania

• Mauritius

• Mayotte

• Mexico

• Micronesia

• Minor Outl.Ins.

• Moldavia

• Monaco

• Mongolia

• Montenegro

• Montserrat

• Morocco

• Mozambique

• Myanmar

• Namibia

• Nauru

• Nepal

• Netherlands

• New Caledonia

• New Zealand

• Nicaragua

• Niger

• Nigeria

• Niue

• Norfolk Island

• North Korea

• North Mariana

• Norway

• Oman

• Pakistan

• Palau

• Palestinian Ter

• Panama

• PapuaNewGuinea

• Paraguay

• Peru

• Philippines

• Pitcairn Islnds

• Poland

• Portugal

• Puerto Rico

• Qatar

• Reunion Island

• Romania

• Russian Fed.

• Rwanda

• S. Sandwich Ins

• Saint Martin

• Samoa,American

• San Marino

• SaoTome Princip

• Saudi Arabia

• Senegal

• Serbia

• Seychelles

• Sierra Leone

• Singapore

• Sint Maarten

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Solomon Islands

• Somalia

• South Africa

• South Korea

• South Sudan

• Spain

• Sri Lanka

• St Barthelemy

• St. Helena

• St. Lucia

• St. Vincent

• St.Chr.,Nevis

• St.Pier,Miquel.

• Sth Terr. Franc

• Sudan

• Suriname

• Svalbard

• Swaziland

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Syria

• Tadschikistan

• Taiwan

• Tanzania

• Thailand

• Timor-Leste

• Togo

• Tokelau Islands

• Tonga

• Trinidad,Tobago

• Tunisia

• Turkey

• Turkmenistan

• Turks&Caicos Is

• Tuvalu

• US Virgin Is.

• USA

• Uganda

• Ukraine

• Unit.Arab Emir.

• United Kingdom

• Uruguay

• Uzbekistan

• Vanuatu

• Vatican City

• Venezuela

• Vietnam

• Wallis,Futuna

• West Saharan

• Western Samoa

• Yemen

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe

The Green Power of Socialism

Wood, Forest, and the Making of Soviet Industrially Embedded Ecology

Part of History for a Sustainable Future

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The Green Power of Socialism

Wood, Forest, and the Making of Soviet Industrially Embedded Ecology

Part of History for a Sustainable Future

About

Praise

Author

Rights

Table of Contents

Other books in this series

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About International Sales USA

Penguin Random House