Benjamin Nathans

Check out "Benjamin Nathans. “Soviet Dissidents: Victors or Losers?”" eventbrite.com/e/benjamin-nat… @eventbritehelp

Check out our editors’ and reviewers’ top books from 2025, including new titles by @sfcdaly, @TimPBouverie, @BenjaminNathans, and more. foreignaffairs.com/lists/best-boo…

#JFSALON #RSVP #季風人文講壇 #季風講座 To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement 1/31, Saturday, 6:00–7:30 PM｜In English RSVP: zeffy.com/en-US/ticketin… Half a century ago, the Soviet Union found itself unexpectedly challenged by a group of Soviet citizens who achieved global fame in the longest battle of the Cold War—the battle of ideas. The struggle of Soviet dissidents for the rule of law and human rights made them instant heroes in the West as they pursued the goal of containment of Soviet power from within. Rather than see dissidents as surrogate soldiers of democracy and liberalism beyond the iron curtain, historian Benjamin Nathans begins with the idea that dissidents were Soviet people. How do orthodoxies generate their own heresies? How do people and societies emerge from totalitarian forms of rule? Soviet dissidents did something, as one of them put it, “simple to the point of genius: in an unfree country, they began to conduct themselves like free people.” This was the dissident story inside the drama of Soviet history, and not surprisingly, it turned out to be anything but simple. About the Speaker Benjamin Nathans @BenjaminNathans is the Alan Charles Kors Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a leading historian of modern Russia and the Soviet Union. His most recent book, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement, received the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, among other honors. Nathans is also the author of the award-winning Beyond the Pale and a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, and other major publications. Moderator:  Joseph Torigian @JosephTorigian is an associate professor at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC, and a Center Associate of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan. Torigian studies the politics of authoritarian regimes with a specific focus on elite power struggles, civil-military relations, and grand strategy. He uses primary sources, rare books, and interviews to provide new accounts of historical milestones in two nations of crucial geopolitical importance: China and Russia. #季風書園 #季风书园 #季风书店 #季风讲座

Soviéticos contra el poder: crónica del éxito invisible de "una causa desesperada". Entrevisto a @BenjaminNathans autor del libro 'To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement'. elmundo.es/la-lectura/202… La historia de la disidencia soviética es un puzzle con infinitas capas, órbitas y reencarnaciones que logró su objetivo final de socavar al régimen desde dentro y que ofrece valiosas lecciones para el presente. "No creo que Rusia esté predestinada a ser siempre una dictadura", dice Nathans, autor de un ensayo que ha ganado el Premio Pulitzer. Los ecos de esa lucha resuenan ahora. "Pese al periódico desmantelamiento de los grupos, renacían una y otra vez con otros nombres y métodos". Fundamental: no participaban en el espectáculo de la mentira: "Vivían como personas libres dentro de un estado no libre". Pero ahora "Putin ha sabido crear una Rusia democrática y tomó otra ruta. Su aparato punitivo es mucho más letal que el de Brézhnev". La disidencia soviética, minoritaria y a menudo rechazada por sus compatriotas más conformistas, no tumbó el sistema, pero sí contribuyó a vaciarlo. En esa lectura se reconcilian el brindis y el diagnóstico: una causa "sin esperanza" que, por repetición y paciencia, encontró sus momentos de éxito. Y que hoy, en la hora más oscura de Rusia, necesita repetirse en su mejor versión. @LaLectura_EM @elmundoes

Die sowjetischen Kommunisten duldeten keine Kritik, dennoch fanden Dissidenten den Mut zum Widerspruch. Was ihre Geschichte mit Wladimir #Putin und Alexei #Nawalny zu tun hat, erklärt Historiker @BenjaminNathans. t-online.de/nachrichten/au…

Yesterday, SFS & @CERESGeorgetown hosted a conversation with @vkaramurza & @BenjaminNathans, moderated by SFS Prof Michael David-Fox. They discussed the 1960s Soviet dissident movement, civil disobedience & the role of dissidents in today's global rise in authoritarianism.

Here's another must-read book nominated for the Pushkin House Book Prize: Benjamin Nathans' illuminating and captivating history of the dissident movement(s) in the Soviet Union. themoscowtimes.com/2025/05/18/ben…

Join us on 16 June where @BenjaminNathans and @martinbright will discuss ‘To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement’ – winner of the Pulitzer Prize 2025 for General Nonfiction pushkinhouse.org/whats-on/event…

CONGRATULATIONS to @BenjaminNathans' TO THE SUCCESS OF OUR HOPELESS CAUSE for winning the @PulitzerPrizes in General Nonfiction! Listen to the audiobook, read by Rich Miller! rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/9798…

🏅 @UCBerkeley alumnus Benjamin Nathans, a professor at @Penn, was awarded the @PulitzerPrizes for general nonfiction for his book “To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement.”

The Soviet dissident movement fell short of their aims. But their impact went beyond what they could imagine, says history professor @BenjaminNathans in a new book. | 📝: Trey Popp | 🏷️: #sovietdissident #ussr #newbook thepenngazette.com/and-yet-they-p…

Benjamin Nathans (@BenjaminNathans) on George Kennan, turbulent sober realist go.nybooks.com/42l9zjz

МАРК ПОМАР у РАШКИНА: Опыт Советских диссидентов youtube.com/live/wD06wMMt2… via @YouTube

Ten great books from 2024 (& 2023) by @BenjaminNathans @perrylink @jaynorbu @hishamjmatar @edelstudio @AhmedNajiTW @MatthieuRicardu @yulia_navalnaya etc + a few to look forward to in 2025 by @HanKangOfficial @KenRoth @Hanifkureishi @badiucao @melissakchan. open.substack.com/pub/briankernk…

Chain Reactions thenation.com/article/cultur…

This one benefited enormously from conversations with @TimothyDSnyder and @BenjaminNathans, and I highly recommend both their recent books, Snyder's "On Freedom" and Nathans's "To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause." theatlantic.com/culture/archiv…

What was life like in the Soviet era for those who dared to speak out against it? @BenjaminNathans can tell you. Check out our Instagram to refresh your #euraknot memory with clips from our previous episodes! instagram.com/reel/DCe77Jjih…

🎙️ New Podcast Episode! 🎙️ This week we sit down with Dr. Benjamin Nathans (@BenjaminNathans) to discuss his extensive research on lesser-known Soviet dissidents through the lens of his recent publication, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement (@PrincetonUPress, Aug 2024). apple.co/491xBlf

It’s publication day! Hardback, paperback, e-book all available as of right now!

If forced to choose between the deep state and the creep state, I’ll take the deep state.