How to Make Good Kids with Books: Post-Soviet Parenting and the Commodification of Children's Literature

This article examines the place of children's books in parenting strategies in Russian families. It approaches children's books and their circulation in post-socialist Russia as one of the cultural sites where social distinction and gender are negotiated and articulated. It argues, in particular, that the importance of children's books in post-Soviet parenting is related to a perceived insecurity of one's social status and aspirations for a higher, or more secure, social position for themselves and their children. Genealogically, this importance draws on the Soviet-era understanding of books as a universal cultural value equally available to every Soviet citizen, but in this post-Soviet context, this idea is internalized and appropriated by the urban middle class as a means of creating and supporting social distinction.