Lost to the State: Family Discontinuity, Social Orphanhood and Residential Care in the Russian Far East

The author begins by introducing the problem and discussing its scope as well as the theoretical and conceptual framework of her study and its methodology. Clearly titled chapters chart the contents: a history of family policy in Russia (the pre-revolutionary concept of the child, and the Soviet period); the state as co-parent; tension between the state and the family, parents overwhelmed by the state, and norms and deviance (including the severance of ties and "symbolic death" of parents). Subsequent coverage includes the experiences of social orphans, the continuing Soviet legacy, and the issues in a wider context involving women's employment, support and control, and motherhood ideals. Appended are a list of documents supplied to the court pertaining to one case, and reminiscences of two "bad" childhoods. Rockhill is a multifaceted scholar. She was born in Russia, received her PhD. in social anthropology from Cambridge U., and is currently affiliated with the U. of Alberta, Canada. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Elena Khlinovskaya Rockhill was born in Russia and first trained as a Biologist. In 2004 she received her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Darwin College, Cambridge University. From 2004–2007 she worked as a Research Associate at the Department of Social Anthropology, Cambridge University. She was a 2007 Wenner-Gren Hunt Postdoctoral Fellow, and a PI for an ESF-funded international project ‘Moved by the State: Perspectives on Relocation and Resettlement in the Circumpolar North’ at the University of Alberta, Canada (2007–2010).