In this remarkable book, Albert Baiburin provides the first in-depth study of the development and uses of the passport, or state identity card, in the former 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 migrancy but also to the constitution of subjectivity and of social hierarchies based on place of residence, family background, and ethnic origin.While the basic role of the Soviet passport was to certify a person's identity, it assumed a far greater significance in Soviet life. Without it, a person literally 'disappeared' from society. It was impossible to find employment or carry out everyday activities like picking up a parcel from the post office; a person could not marry or even officially die without a passport. 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. Passport systems were used by state officials for the deportation of entire population categories - the so-called 'former people', those from the pre-revolutionary elite, and the relations of 'enemies of the people'. But at the same time, passport ownership became the signifier of an acceptable social existence, and the passport itself - the information it contained, the photographs and signatures - became part of the life experience and self-perception of those who possessed it.This meticulously researched and highly original book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Russia and the Soviet Union and to anyone interested in the shaping of identity in the modern world.

List of AbbreviationsList of IllustrationsForeword by Catriona KellyPrefaceIntroductionPART I: THE HISTORY OF THE SOVIET PASSPORT SYSTEMChapter 1: The Formation of 'the Passport Portrait' in RussiaChapter 2: Fifteen Passport-less YearsChapter 3: The Introduction of the Passport System in the USSR(1932-1936)General SituationThe Official Version of the Introduction of PassportsOrganizational WorkIssuing Passports'Legal Excesses'The Second Phase of the Introduction of PassportsThe Consequences of the Introduction of PassportsChapter 4: Passport Regimes and Passport ReformsPassport RegimesThe Hundred-and-First KilometreThe PropiskaRegistering Natural Population ChangesMaintaining the Passport RegimeStatutes on Passports and Instructions for Passport Work in 1940 and 1953Reform Projects of the 1960sThe 1974 StatuteFrom the Soviet to the Russian Passport SystemPart II: THE PASSPORT AS A BUREAUCRATIC DEVICEChapter 1: The Passport Template and the Individual's Basic InformationThe Passport Template'Surname, Name, Patronymic''Place and Date of Birth''Ethnic Origin''The Personal Signature''Social Status''Liability for Military Service'Chapter 2: The Notes and Properties of the Passport'Who Issued the Passport''On the Basis of Which Documents is the Passport Issued''People listed in the holder's passport'The PhotographSpecial ObservationsObservations about the PropiskaPart III: WHAT THE PASSPORT WAS IN PRACTICE: THE EVIDENCE IN DOCUMENTS AND MEMOIRSChapter 1: Receiving a PassportThe Right to a PassportDefining EthnicityTaking the Passport PhotographHow do I sign?The Passport Desk and the PasportistkaReceiving the PassportChapter 2: Life With - and Without - the PassportLook After It; Should You Carry It With You?The Document CheckChanging One's NameA 'Clean' PassportMarriages of ConvenienceLost! What it Meant to be Without Your PassportRefusing to Have a Passport'The Most Important Document' and Why it was NeededConclusionAppendix: Interview DetailsGlossaryBibliographyNotesIndex