Soyuz: The Research Network for Postsocialist Cultural Studies

Soyuz is broadly conceived as a group of anthropologists and other scholars working in postsocialist studies. It is formally constituted as the Post-Communist Cultural Studies Interest Group of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and is also recognized as an official unit of the Association for Slavic, East European Studies and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES, formerly AAASS). We gather at AAA and ASEEES meetings in North America and here on the web to distribute information on our projects.

Soyuz Listserv

To join the listserv, please contact SOYUZ webmaster Nikolina Zenović, nzenovic [at] iu.edu

Soyuz Facebook Page

Please follow our new Soyuz Facebook Page for updates. Follow us here.

Announcements

Announcements are posted from messages sent to the Soyuz listserv. To post an additional announcement, please email Soyuz webmaster Nikolina Zenović (nzenovic [at] iu.edu).

CALL FOR PAPERS: SOYUZ SYMPOSIUM | HARRIMAN INSTITUTE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY | FEB 26-27, 2027 | NYC

Proposals due: Friday, September 18, 2026

Ethnography Meets Geopolitics: Postsocialist Cultural Studies in an Age of War, Reconstruction, and the Erosion of the Liberal World Order

For more information see the 2027 Soyuz Symposium page.

Submissions are welcome from scholars of any discipline of the social sciences or humanities. Graduate students and early career scholars are especially encouraged to participate.

Please submit paper title and abstract (up to 500 words-long) together with your name, affiliation and contact address to soyuzsymposium2027@gmail.com by September 18, 2026. We expect to announce paper selections by late October 2026. Please write to the Soyuz Programming Coordinator, Maria Sonevytsky (msonevyt@bard.edu) with any questions.

SONJA LUEHRMANN ARTICLE PRIZE

Soyuz: The Research Network for Postsocialist Cultural Studies is accepting submissions for the 2026 Sonja Luehrmann Article Prize for the best published peer-reviewed article related to the culture, history, or politics of (post)socialism, broadly defined. Although we encourage submissions that contribute to the advancement and nuancing of contemporary scholarly understandings of (post)socialism, (post)communism, and decolonization, submitted entries may be on any topic that falls within the broad scope of interest represented by Soyuz.

First peer-reviewed articles or book chapters published in English in 2025 by graduate students and untenured faculty within 10 years of earning their doctoral degree are eligible for consideration. Scholars from any discipline with any geographic area of interest are encouraged to apply.

A total of $500 will be awarded as cash prizes, presented to the winner and any candidates selected for honorable mentions. The winner of the 2026 prize will be encouraged to serve on the committee adjudicating the next year’s prize.If warranted, an honorable mention may be named.Submissions should be sent electronically to soyuz.interest.group@gmail.com no later than Friday September 18, by midnight (Pacific Time). Please include “Soyuz Article Prize” in the subject line.