The Soviet passport : the history, nature, and uses of the internal passport in the USSR

Author / Creator

Baĭburin, A. K., author

Байбурин, А. К., author

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Summary

"Albert Baiburin examines the development and uses of the passport, or state identity card, in the Soviet Union. First introduced in 1932, the Soviet passport took on an exceptional range of functi...

"Albert Baiburin examines the development and uses of the passport, or state identity card, in the Soviet Union. First introduced in 1932, the Soviet passport took on an exceptional range of functions, extending not just to the regulation of movement and control of migration but also to the constitution of subjectivity and of social hierarchies based on place of residence, family background, and ethnicity. It was absolutely essential on virtually every occasion when an individual had contact with officialdom because it was always necessary to prove that the individual was the person whom they claimed to be. And since the passport included an indication of the holder's ethnic identity, individuals found themselves accorded a certain rank in a new hierarchy of nationalities where some ethnic categories were 'normal' and others were stigmatized"--

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