24th Bath House Readings

The theme of this year's Bathhouse Readings is “ The Strategies of Cultural Dissent, Resistance and Autonomization in Closed Societies.”

It will dwell upon the complexity of establishing secular culture within the traditional, authoritarian, self-isolating society in the modern era, upon strategies of survival, resistance, adaptation, creating the conditions for personal and social autonomy from the dictate of the state. These strategies may vary:

— axiological and personal strategies of specific representatives of social groups (e.g., noble Fronde of 18-19 centuries, Soviet human rights advocates etc.);

— institutional establishment (parallel lives of uncensored culture in 20th century Russia, informal groups, amicable circles as a form of socialization etc.);

— philosophical, religious, political and artistic ideas and concepts;

— everyday and behavioral practices, lifestyle patterns;

— personal and corporate relations;

— group and individual identification etc.