This dissertation examines the conception and performance of masculinities amongst two groups of Russian men, half of whom live in Russia and the other half in the United Kingdom. A total of forty in-depth biographical interviews were carried out, twenty in each country, with men of different ages and highly different social backgrounds. On the basis of these interviews, the thesis portrays contemporary Russian masculinities as a complex, socially and historically constructed phenomenon, situated within large-scale social and political processes. It explores the most prominent reference points and social hierarchies employed by the respondents in order to negotiate their individual gender projects, and shows how these are culture-specific, context-specific, and rooted both in individual life history and in the social, economical and political realities of different historical periods. While the respondents play an active role in defining and constructing their own masculinities, they do so within the macro-parameters laid down by the state, in accordance with broader socio-cultural and political factors. Shifts in the macro-parameters (such as the collapse of the Soviet Union or migration to another country) change the environment in which an individual lives and give rise to new resources for negotiating masculinity. Like the reference points and social hierarchies referred to above, these new resources are rooted in specific historical, cultural, political and personal events. Each resource belongs to a particular social topography that orients people towards the places, practices and discourses which they need to realise their masculinity. The main empirical findings in the thesis are ordered in accordance with the contexts, reference points and hierarchies for making masculinity which were referred to by the research participants themselves. The dissertation is structured around four contexts which emerged from the data: (i) the Soviet past; (ii) the first post-Soviet decade (the 1990s); (iii) the second post-Soviet decade (the 2000s); (iv) the immigration period. I explore different masculinity construction strategies and the reference points on which they rely as the site of a socio-cultural power struggle that offers a unique prism through which to understand how Russian masculinities and gender relations are validated and contested, and how they change.

<p>This dissertation examines the transnational realities of Russian immigrants in the United States. Drawing insights from personal accounts, I discuss immigrants’ motives to immigrate to the United States and to stay connected to their homeland. I illustrate that political and economic factors, as well as the goals to enhance professional and personal lives, have shaped immigrants’ decisions to come to the United States. At the same time, I show that determined to fulfill their social and civic responsibilities, Russian immigrants maintain ties to their families and friends back in Russia and also remain civically engaged in Russian society.</p><p></p> <p>This dissertation also illustrates that a more intricate understanding of Russian immigrants today cannot be achieved in isolation from the political relations between Russia and the United States that have been rapidly deteriorating since 2014. There are different ways that Russian immigrants respond to the geopolitical divide between the two nation-states. Some Russian immigrants, for example, condemn Russia’s foreign policy and global political behavior. Their criticism is often met with hostilities from Russians who have not emigrated. Other Russian immigrants, on the other hand, disapprove U.S. actions toward Russia and Russian society and consequently encounter antagonisms in the United States. These immigrants recount their experiences of exclusion from the U.S. social fabric. There are also those Russian immigrants who question international acts of the political leaders of both countries. Coping with antagonistic attitudes from Russian and U.S. societies toward their political views and/or ethnic background, these individuals emphasize a growing detachment from both nations. Based on individual accounts, I argue that the contemporary tensions that have emerged between the two nations-states create a barrier to the development of a transnational identity among Russian immigrants. Specifically, living in a hostile political environment, Russian immigrants do not share a simultaneous sense of belonging in relation to Russia and the United States. </p> <p>By focusing on Russian immigrants’ experiences with U.S.-Russia relations, this dissertation also brings to light individual efforts to contest confrontations that shape the political landscape between Russia and the United States. As transnational subjects with cross-border ties and lives, Russian immigrants utilize their transnational positions and cultural competencies to impact international views of Russian and U.S. nationals. They frequently resort to transnational dialogues and socio-cultural acts to raise social awareness and sympathies between their home and host nations. By developing and investing their efforts into improving U.S.-Russia ties, the ultimate goal that Russian immigrants seek to achieve is to discourage members of Russian and U.S. societies from seeing each other as enemy nations. </p>

舊金山是美國北加州的重要城市，亦是俄裔移民群居的重要據點。俄裔人口18世紀隨著帝國東擴到達北美洲，他們在北美設立眾多據點進行開墾及貿易。直至19世紀中葉俄國退出北美勢力後，俄裔移民仍在北美延續其文化影響。隨著廿世紀四波移民潮的相繼湧入，舊金山灣區的俄裔移民呈現多元文化發展，城市內的小俄羅斯牽繫著俄裔移民的情感。 俄裔移民在不同時期移民美國，他們主因家庭團聚及經濟因素遷移至舊金山灣區。本文主要探討文化傳承中的四個面向：語言、宗教、飲食及節慶，俄裔移民在舊金山灣區的文化傳承現況如下：俄語傳承主要在家中及學校習得、宗教信仰觀念受移民成長環境意識形態之影響而異、飲食習性因便利性與烹飪習慣呈現兩極化、俄羅斯節對於凝聚俄裔移民及推廣俄羅斯文化具重大傳承意義。 / San Francisco, not only the important city of North California, but also home to many Russian-Americans. Russians first reached North America back in the 18th century with the expansion eastward of the Russian Empire. They set up numerous settlements to develop trade in the new continent until mid-19th century. After the end of Russian America, the cultural influence of Russia still last to date. Along with the four waves of Russian immigrants, Russian culture in San Francisco has developed diversely. Despite Russian immigrants migrated to America in different time periods, family reunion and economic consideration has been the main cause. Cultural heritage discussed in this thesis includes language use, religion, cuisine and festival.