Organized by the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki
& the Max Weber Network Eastern Europe
Michael David-Fox will discuss Crucibles of Power: Smolensk under Stalinist and Nazi Rule (Harvard University Press, 2025) as a work that cross-fertilizes three fields—the study of Stalinism, Nazi German occupation on the Eastern Front during World War II, and the Holocaust. Aiming squarely at the place where local and regional history meet the grand narrative, the book examines the workings of power and the dilemma of choice in extreme conditions. In this talk, David-Fox will focus on three of the book’s major figures and the choices they made in terms of what the book calls “biographical logics.” In particular, the book highlights a significant group that has not been given as much attention as it deserves: ordinary people, far from the halls of power, who in an hour of crisis reached out to grab a slice of power for themselves. Crucibles of Power explains how the depths of the twentieth century speak to our own troubled times with new questions and a new urgency.
MICHAEL DAVID-FOX is Director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies at Georgetown University, where he is Professor in the School of Foreign Service and Department of History. He is founding and executive editor of Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, author or editor of 15 books and editor of 13 special theme issues of journals. His most recent edited volume, “Interrogating the Interrogators: History, Politics, and the Opening of Soviet Secret Police Archives in Ukraine,” is in in press. David-Fox’s single-authored books include Revolution of the Mind: Higher Learning among the Bolsheviks, 1918-1929 (1997), Showcasing the Great Experiment: Cultural Diplomacy and Western Visitors to the Soviet Union, 1921-1941 (2011), and Crossing Borders: Modernity, Ideology, and Culture in Russia and the Soviet Union (2015). Crucibles of Power: Smolensk under Stalinist and Nazi Rule was named a Best Book of 2025 by Harvard University Press and was awarded the Best Book in Slavic Studies Prize by the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies. David-Fox received his PhD from Yale and his BA from Princeton.
Please join the Aleksanteri Institute, the Max Weber Network Eastern Europe, and Michael David-Fox after the event at Thirsty Scholar for happy hour!
For inquiries, please contact Anatoly Pinsky (anatoly.pinsky@helsinki.fi) or Sandra Dahlke (sandra.dahlke@mws-osteuropa.org).
Tapahtuma-ajat
- Alkaa:
- 2.6.2026 14:30
- Loppuu:
- 2.6.2026 16:00
- Tapahtumapaikka:
- Metsätalo, B212 (sali 2), and online via https://video.helsinki.fi/unitube/live-stream.html?room=l33
- Postitoimipaikka:
- Helsinki
Tapahtuman muut tiedot
- Tapahtuman tyyppi:
- Esitelmät ja keskustelutilaisuudet