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Economies Without Libidos

By: Hannah Proctor

Keti Chukhrov’s book 'Practising the Good' argues that the Soviet Union really did build socialism, and that westerners have been blinded to this because they can’t imagine a society without ‘desire’. How seriously should this be taken?

Still from 'Wings' (1966) by Larissa Shepitko.

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‘Actually existing socialism’ was never actually socialist. The shabby realities of everyday life in the Soviet Union were at odds with official ideological jargon, undermining the regime’s projected vision of a promised future utopia. Thrilling avant-garde experiments that erupted in the immediate aftermath of the October Revolution in 1917 were never matched by works produced […]

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‘Actually existing socialism’ was never actually socialist. The shabby realities of everyday life in the Soviet Union were at odds with official ideological jargon, undermining the regime’s projected vision of a promised future utopia. Thrilling avant-garde experiments that erupted in the immediate aftermath of the October Revolution in 1917 were never matched by works produced […]

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‘Actually existing socialism’ was never actually socialist. The shabby realities of everyday life in the Soviet Union were at odds with official ideological jargon, undermining the regime’s projected vision of a promised future utopia. Thrilling avant-garde experiments that erupted in the immediate aftermath of the October Revolution in 1917 were never matched by works produced […]

‘Actually existing socialism’ was never actually socialist. The shabby realities of everyday life in the Soviet Union were at odds with official ideological jargon, undermining the regime’s projected vision of a promised future utopia. Thrilling avant-garde experiments that erupted in the immediate aftermath of the October Revolution in 1917 were never matched by works produced […]

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