This year sees a major historical milestone for Russia with the 30th anniversary of the fall of communism and the break-up of the USSR in December 1991, followed by a turbulent period of loss of empire and internal social, economic and political transformation. While Russia’s new leaders were battling with these issues and fighting for power on the macro level, at the micro level individual citizens, families and communities faced their own daily struggles to cope with chaos, change and uncertainty in their everyday lives. For the population of Moscow, and across the country, it was a time when hope and optimism coexisted with fear and precariousness.

While living and working in Moscow from 1992 to 1997 Robert Stephenson witnessed the impact of these traumatic changes first-hand, chronicling and capturing daily life with his camera. In his book, “We Are Building Capitalism! Moscow in Transition 1992-1997”, he illustrates and explores how the old Soviet capital and its inhabitants experienced and adapted to a period of epochal change as Russia opened its doors wide to new influences, ideas and possibilities.

WHEN: Thursday 7 October 2021, 19:00 (BST)
WHERE: Zoom
LANGUAGE: English

FEE: Voluntary donation*

Please REGISTER in advance (with your name and email address). After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom joining link.

About the speaker

Robert Stephenson

Robert Stephenson is a photographer and the author of We Are Building Capitalism! Moscow in Transition 1992–1997 (Glagoslav Publications, 2019). A former UK senior civil servant, his career included over twenty years in international development, working with counterparts in the former Soviet Union and in Central and South-Eastern Europe. He began his overseas work in March 1992 in Moscow, where he lived and worked for five years, before going on to lead a UK government team based in the National School of Government and dedicated to supporting civil service reform around the world.

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