Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 2
·
November 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
159
Shifts in symbols and meanings are the
subject of further studies in this part of the
book. Zaza Shatirishvili and Paul Manning
interpret the changes in the meaning of
various
kinds
of
labour
during
communism, Sergey Rumyansev and Sevil
Huseynova write about the importance of
jazz in the Baku society, Shorena Gabunia
about gay culture in Tbilisi and Paul
Manning and Zaza Shatirishvili about the
Kinto dance in Tbilisi.
Considering the dynamics of
present-day sociability in the former
federal Soviet states and the number of
possible frames of reference, it is clear that
more information can frequently be given
to the reader by a clearly described single
case than by a general theory. The cases
included in this volume are predominantly
very well elaborated and well narrated also
for scholars only generally familiarized in
the local environment. They are anchored
in ethnographic research and based
predominantly on observation, sometimes
on interviews. Thus, in many cases, the
method of data collection is not
transparent. On the other hand, the
methodological
simplifications
are
balanced by the wealth of reflections and
insights.
It is hard to generalize the material
of collected ethnographies. Alaina Lemon
tried to do this in her Afterword for Urban
(post)Socialisms. She correctly stressed the
loss of cosmopolitanism frequently
mentioned in the case studies. She also
realistically
emphasized
the
often
articulated boundary between city dwellers
and the rural environment. Logically, the
ethnocultural nationalism of the newly
established nation states is not built merely
on the values of the intelligentsia and of
the urban population but also, and often
predominantly, on those of villagers who
are less globalized and more isolated. What
is undercommunicated both in the case
studies and in the Afterword is the role of
churches in the decision-making processes
and in the scene of symbols and meanings.
This book is rich in new views and
concepts and opens new insights to the life
in the selected capitals and ‘second cities’
of the countries that were established after
the collapse of the USSR. The case studies
also demonstrate that the social processes
analysed in the book can hardly be
assessed by the narrow rhetoric of post-
communism. They refer to a wider
spectrum of influences and activities.
Ethnographies are, indeed, writings by
specific kinds of people and their
subjectivity must be taken into account.
Zdeněk Uherek
Charles University, Prague
