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Podcast: New Books in Buddhist Studies
Episode: Melissa Chakars, “The Socialist Way of Life in Siberia: Transformation in Buryatia” (Central European UP, 2014)
Description: In The Socialist Way of Life in Siberia: Transformation in Buryatia (Central European University Press, 2014), Melissa Chakars reveals not only how Soviet policies disrupted traditional Buryat ways of life, but also how Buryats adapted to build a modern educated society in the post-war period. Ethnic Buryats were proportionally over-represented in cultural, educational and media positions in the region, giving a much greater influence than their numbers (20% of the population) would indicate. Chakars analyzes the ways in which Buryats were able to benefit from modernization and their engagement with the Soviet system. This book contributes to a better understanding of...