Perestroika: The role of the media and civil society

Perestroika (Russian: перестро́йка; IPA: [pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə]) was a political movement for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the 1980s. The literal meaning of perestroika is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system, and is widely associated with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his glasnost (meaning "openness") policy reform. This lecture will present a different approach, focusing on the role of Glasnost, and the appearance of public opinion. In so doing, the lecture will stress the role played by the media and civil society in the collapse of the Soviet system.