SUMMARY:

This essay is a contribution to the book forum “Soviet Departmentalism” discussing the edited volume put together by the Tyumen historian Igor Stas’ that introduces departmentalism, or vedomstvennost’, as a vital framework for understanding Soviet history. The volume argues that vedomstvennost’ fundamentally organized the daily lives, urban spaces, and social hierarchies of citizens. Sergei Oushakine evaluates the potential of “departmentalism” as a conceptual master-key for unlocking new perspectives on the Soviet past. He contrasts two scholarly lineages: a Marxist tradition that demands a unity of method and object to reflect systemic social processes, and a formalist approach that seeks to break the automatism of perception through innovative shifts in focus. Oushakine argues that while the editor Igor Stas’ attempts to establish a sophisticated “middle-range theory” of administrative hierarchies, many volume contributors treat the term merely as a thematic label for identifying bureaucratic friction. Oushakine warns that if scholars view departmentalism only as a negative flaw or systemic dysfunction, they risk missing its positive functional role in organizing resources and mediating social relations. In order to move beyond narrow taxonomic exercises, he highlights the need to explain the empirical necessity and durability of these institutions rather than simply characterizing them as structural vestiges or administrative failures.