A historian who anatomized the Soviet countryside state
James Heinzen is an American historian of modern Russia and Soviet society, whose work spans political, social, and cultural history. His major study, Inventing a Soviet Countryside, traces how the state sought to transform rural Russia after the 1917 Revolution through the People's Commissariat of Agriculture, or Narkomzem. He analyzes the clash between overcoming rural backwardness and building socialism through the choices and conflicts of officials, Communist leaders, and peasants. His later research examined bribery and everyday corruption under Stalin, extending his study of tensions between state policy and social practice.
Career Timeline
- 1980sGraduate study in Russian history at the University of Pennsylvania
- 1980s–1990sTaught modern Russian history at Yale and Princeton universities
- 2004Published Inventing a Soviet Countryside
- 2010sResearched bribery and corruption under Stalin
- 2016Published The Art of the Bribe
- 현재Professor of History at Rowan University