Russian Reform, HPPSC Collection

This collection of 10 oral histories features Russian economic reformers and human rights activists, all of whom played leadership roles in the movements that have transformed Russian society over the past 50 years. The collection was developed by the Duke University Program on History, Public Policy and Social Change, under the leadership of Professors Robert Korstad and Robert Conrad, and with essential assistance from the The Gaidar Institute for the Economy in Transition, Moscow, Russia.  

The interviews were conducted by Michael Alexeev and Sam Greene, in Russia, in June, 2009. 

Production by Sandra Jacobi, Oak Drive Video Productions, LLC.

Transcripts and translations by Elizabeth Ransome Stine.

Ludmilla Alexeyeva

Russian human rights activist and historian

Co-founder and the current Chairperson of the Moscow Helsinki Group

Interview on iTunes U

Russian Transcript

English Translation

Anatoly Chubais

Russian economist, politician, and business manager, one of the architects and the manager of Russia’s mass privatization program in the 1990s

Former Chairman of United Energy System, and current Director of Rusnano, Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies

Interview on iTunes U

Russian Transcript

English Translation

Arkady Dvorkovich

Russian economist
Aide to President Medvedev on economic development and trade

Interview on iTunes U

Russian Transcript (Not yet available)

English Translation (Not yet available)

Yegor Gaidar

Russian economist and politician
Director of the Institute for the Economy in Transition, Architect of market reforms in the early 1990s, Former Minister of Economics and Finance, former Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Prime Minister under President Boris Yeltsin

Interview on iTunes U

Russian Transcript

English Translation

Sergei Kovalev

Russian human rights activist and politician
Co-founder of the human rights organization ‘Memorial’

Interview on iTunes U

Russian Transcript

English Translation

Vladimir Mau

Russian political scientist and economist
Rector of the Academy of the National Economy, Moscow, Russia

Interview on iTunes U (Interview is in English)

Sergei Shatalov

Russian economist
Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation
Principal author of the Russian Tax Code

Interview on iTunes U

Russian Transcript

English Translation

Dmitry Vasiliev

Russian Economist
First Chairman of Russia’s Federal Commission for the Securities Market
Co-founder of the Institute of Corporate Law and Corporate Governance,  founding member of Russia’s Investors Protection Association

Interview on iTunes U

Russian Transcript (Not yet available)

English Translation (Not yet available)

Yevgeny Yasin

Former Russian Minister for the Economy under Boris Yeltsin
Academic Supervisor at the Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

Interview on iTunes U

Russian Transcript

English Translation

Grigory Yavlinsky

Russian economist and politician, instrumental in the transition of the USSR into a free-market economy
Leader of the Yabloko political party

Interview on iTunes U

Russian Transcript

English Translation