Erik Scott, “Familiar Strangers: The Georgian Diaspora and the Evolution of Soviet Empire” (Oxford UP, 2016)

In Conversation: An OUP Podcast · Apr 24, 2018 · 1h 5m

From Stalin’s inner circle to Soviet dinner menus, the small nation of Georgia had a remarkable influence on the politics and culture of the USSR. Erik Scott, author of Familiar Strangers: The Georgian Diaspora and the Evolution of Soviet Empire (Oxford University Press, 2016), traces how Georgians came to occupy such a central role in Soviet history, as well as how the relationship with Moscow unraveled. Scott argues that the Soviet Union should be seen as an “empire of diasporas”: though assigned to titular republics, Soviet nationalities were mobile, mixed freely, and gained prominence in…