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Ethnos

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The Taste of Nationalism: Food Politics in Postsocialist Moscow

Melissa L. Caldwell

To cite this article: Melissa L. Caldwell (2002) The Taste of Nationalism: Food Politics in Postsocialist Moscow, Ethnos, 67:3, 295-319, DOI: 10.1080/0014184022000031185

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0014184022000031185

Published online: 02 Dec 2010.

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The Taste of Nationalism: Food Politics in Postsocialist Moscow

Melissa L. Caldwell Harvard University , usa

abstract In this article I consider how Muscovites cultivate and express nationa- list sentiments through their food choices. During the last ten years of the post- socialist transition, Russian consumers have encountered an expanding and increas- ingly transnational commodity market. Locally produced elements of Russian cuisine both compete with and imitate foreign food products. In response to perceptions that foreign cultures are displacing or subsuming local cultural forms, Russian officials have launched a ‘Buy Russian’ campaign. Domestic food producers, store clerks, and customers collaborate to classify foods and other products as either ‘Ours’ (Nash) or ‘Not Ours’ (Ne nash) and describe local goods as superior to foreign goods in terms of taste, quality, and healthfulness. In their own narratives about consumption choices, Muscovites echo these nationalist themes by explicitly linking their perso- nal food experiences with broader political issues. Drawing from ethnographic field- work on food practices in Moscow (1995–2001), I suggest that consumption strategies mediate Muscovites’ experiences with growing nationalist sentiments in the con- text of a globalizing Russia.

keywo rds Food, nationalism, Moscow, Russia, postsocialism

I n summ er 2 000, I w as riding the metro in Mosc ow w hen an adv ertise - ment o v erhead c aught my ey e. The po ster depic ted a steaming c up o f fast-c oo king ramen noo dles, and the c ap tion read: ‘Americ an equipment,

Russian pro duc tion. We all eat o nly o ur [nash] soup. It’s no odle time!’ Dur- ing the last sev eral years o f Russia ’s ‘po stsoc ialist’ transition, such pairings o f the loc al and the global, the natio nal and the transnatio nal, hav e po pped up throughout Mosc ow o n subw ay w alls, billboards, restauran t menus, transit maps, and in glo ssy magazines and plain new spapers. Summertime sidew alk c afés serve Russian-sty le foods and bev erages under umbrellas decorated w ith

© Ro utledge Jo urnals, Taylor and Francis Ltd, on behalf o f the National Museum of Ethnography is s n 001 4 -1 8 4 4 print/ is s n 1 4 6 9-5 8 8 x o nlin e. do i: 1 0.1 08 0/001 4 1 8 4 02 2 00003 1 1 8 5

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the logo s o f glo bal c orpo rations, and the c heerful say ings that c ov er the plas- tic bags in w hich c ustomers’ purc hases are plac ed are as likely to be in Eng- lish as they are in Russian. In my riad and c omplex w ay s, Russians’ c o nsump- tio n experienc es hav e been transformed so that the new , post-Sov iet Russia is strategic ally po sitioned w ithin the ebb and flow o f global adv ertising; and juxtapo sitions such as these are c ommo nplac e in loc al c ulture.

As a c o mmercial c o mmo dity , ‘the West’ has long been present in daily life in Russia and other soc ialist states, bo th as a foil to state politic al ideo logies and as a v iable economic currency (Berdahl 1 999b; Crow ley 2 000; Kelly 1 998 ). Formerly v isitors to w hat w as then the Sov iet Union rec all surreptitious trans- ac tio ns w ith loc al entrepreneurs that invo lved Americ an blue jeans and c iga- rettes in exchange fo r Russian souv enirs. Fo reign c o mmodities fro m West- ern Europe and No rth Americ a, w hen obtainable, w ere generally pro c ured only by elites w ith spec ial priv ileges o r by fortunate indiv iduals w ith fruitful exchange networks.1 In the post-Soviet period, how ever, Western commodities hav e bec ome w idely available thro ughout Russia and are c ompelling indic a- tors of the po litic al and ec o no mic c hanges that hav e o c c urred in the c o untry during the last ten y ears. In the first half o f the 1 990s, fo od pro duc ts fro m North Americ a and Western Europe w ere ty pic ally found o nly in more ex- pensiv e, sp ec ialty supermarkets that c atered to foreigners living in Mosc ow and to Russia ’s politic al and ec o no mic elite. By the late 1 990s, the av aila- bility of foreign fo od produc ts (and o ther c ommo dities) in Russia has gro w n as a result o f a c o mbination o f such fac tors as inc reased pro duc tion at trans- natio nal food corporations in Russia, dec reased c osts associated w ith impo rts, and greater market demand by loc al c o nsumers. To day Mosc ow sh oppers c an fill their sho pping c arts w ith Americ an fro zen pizzas, German meats and sausag es, Finnish dairy produc ts, and Chinese noo dles and spic es. Sidew alk stands selling sausag es and c ho ps from the loc al state -o w ned meat fac tory , or milk produc ts fro m the state dairy , inc reasingly c o mpete for spac e w ith kiosks o ffering pizza slic es and Ch inese take -aw ay.

These c hanges rev eal that foreign fo od produc ts no w c ompete direc tly w ith local products, thereby c omplicating the status of ‘the West’ as ‘the Other’ in Russians’ inc reasingly glo balized c onsumptio n prac tic es. In state -o w ned sh ops, priv ately -o w ned stores, sm all sidew alk kiosks, and foreign supermar- kets alike, Russian -manufa c tured staples suc h as flo ur, sugar, and salt, o ften w rapped in monoto ne pac kaging w ith minimal desc riptio ns of the c ontents, sh are sh elf-spac e w ith gaily w rapped foreign-made prepared foo ds and in- stant meals.2 In the Eliseevskii G astronom, an elegant pre -rev o lutionary foo d

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sh op that attrac ts tourists and loc al residents w ith its ornate w oo den w all c arvings and glittering chandeliers, brightly c o lored adv ertisements assure c ustomers that by eating a partic ular brand o f Americ an breakfast c ereal they w ill be members o f a glo bal c ommunity of like -minded c onsumers.

Yet, ev en as many Musc ov ites hav e assimilated into their daily liv es suc h aspec ts o f c ap italist c onsumer prac tic es as c redit c ards, fast fo od restaurants, and Americ an business English, o ther Musc ov ite c o nsumers hav e expressed misgivings o ver the inc orpo ration of foreign elements so c ompletely into local c ulture. These c o nc erns have been reflec ted in a rec ent surge o f natio nalist sentiments o riented at c ultiv ating and maintaining an idealized Russianness that priv ileges ethnic , religio us, c ultural, and ideologic al ho mo geneity o v er diversity (Caldw ell forthcoming; Filipov 1 999; Lemon 1 995 ; Humphrey 1 999). In prac tic al terms, this phenomeno n that Khazano v has termed ‘exclusiv e ethnic natio nalism’ (Khazanov 1 997 :1 2 5 ) has been realized thro ugh purifi- c atio n efforts to rid Russia of po tentially po lluting fo reign elements, inc lud- ing c o mmo dities, ideologies, and ev en people. One striking by -pro duc t of these trends has been the grow ing appeal o f a sp ec ialized niche of c o mmodi- ties that draw o n Russian linguistic markers and historic al-c ultural allusions in o rder to c ater to the no tio n that Russians sh are a unique set of tastes and v alues that is not satisfied by impo rts o r other transnational pro duc ts. The grow th o f this c o mmercialized nationalism has found po pularity am ong c on- sumers w ho c arefully c alc ulate the extent to w hich the fo ods and other items that they buy reflec t the spec ific ally Russian v alues and attributes they es- pouse. Through the shared c onsumer experience that emerges from the careful manipulation of these pro duc ts, these shoppers public ly situate themselves w ithin an imagined national c o mmunity.

My aim in this artic le is to inv estigate the c urrent po pularity o f natio nalist fo od prac tic es in Russia as part o f a reo rientatio n o f Russian c onsumer proc - esses. Th is shift, ho w ev er, is mo re than simply the c reatio n o r resurgenc e o f loc al fo od prac tic es in the fac e o f transnatio nal influenc es (c f. Watson 1 997 ; Wilk 1 999). Rather, I suggest that it highlights a Russian c onsumer c ulture that refashions prac tic es more ty pic ally assoc iated w ith market c ap italism to preserve values that are more rec ognizably ‘socialist’ – notably ethics of soc iality and c ollec tiv e responsibility. In Mosco w, co nsumers’ food cho ic es reflect their unease w ith the implic ations o f the transitio n to demo c ratic c apitalism. In partic ular, Musc ov ites’ fo od prac tic es repro duc e a c ommitment to a mo re c ollec tiv e, singular sense o f Russianness than that env isioned w ith c ap italist indiv idualism and autonomy , and partic ularly the v ariety o f c apitalism ty pi-

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c ally assoc iated w ith Americ an c ulture. Through their fo od c ho ic es, Musc o- v ites emphasize their co nnec tion to a co hesiv e sense of Russianness by trans- fo rming Russia ’s politic al and ec o no mic c onc erns into perso nally and c ol- lec tiv ely meaningful experienc es.

To explore these issues, I first exam ine ho w changes in Russia ’s c onsumer prac tic es during the last ten y ears reflec t o ther shifts in Russia ’s relations to the c ommercial West. Fro m this disc ussio n, I proc eed to an explo ration o f the sp ec ific aspec ts o f a natio nalist mode o f foo d c o nsumption. Th e material on w hich this artic le is based deriv es fro m ethnographic fieldw ork c onduc ted in Mo sc o w b etw een 1 995 and 2 001 , as part of a larger pro jec t on c hanging c onsumer prac tic es in post-Soviet Russia .3 The ethnographic analysis in this artic le combines data from interv iews; surv ey s; personal o bservatio ns in shops and restauran ts; and v arious textual doc uments suc h as pro duc t w rappers, commerc ials, advertisements, magazines, and journals. The Musc ovites w hose perspec tiv es I inc lude in this artic le are middle -c lass high sc ho ol and univ er- sity students, fac ulty members, parents, and grandparents.

Socialized Food Consumption in Russia Changing food prac tic es in Mosc ow c omprise one strand of the larger ‘c on-

sumer rev olution’ (Davis 2 000) that has sw ept Russia, Eastern Europe, China, and o ther soc ialist soc ieties during the last ten y ears (Barker 1 999a; Berdahl 1 999b; Gillette 2 000; Jing 2 000; Verdery 1 996; Watson 1 997 ). Acc o rding to one interpretation, these c hanges are important bec ause they signal a sh ift aw ay from the chro nic sho rtages and state -dic tated supply c o nditio ns that fo rmerly charac terized so c ialist states and c urtailed the extent to w hich c iti- zens w ere ac tive partic ipants in c onsumptio n ac tiv ities. Caroline Humphrey has argued (1 995 ) that Sov iet c itizens w ere not ac tive c o nsumers bec ause they did no t partic ipate in the c onsumptio n proc ess. Tw o financ ial c onsult- ants argued that as o f 1 992 , ‘markets and c onsumers do not as y et exist in any real sense in Russia ’ (Clarke & Ko ptev 1 992 :2 3 ).4

An alternative perspec tiv e, ho w ev er, ho lds that so c ialist soc ieties w ere indisputably consumer societies bec ause citizens w ere compelled to find creative w ay s to negotiate the existing sy stem (Barker 1 999b; Berdahl 1 999b; Condee & Pad uno v 1 995 ). One element c o mmon to Sov iet-sty le so c ieties w as that the state established itself as the prov ider fo r c itizens’ needs by ow ning and operating all aspec ts of pro duc tio n and distribution (Verdery 1 996). In c o n- trast to market c apitalism mo dels that are geared to c o nsumers’ demands (Smith 1 98 1 ), state so c ialist plans dic tated c onsumers’ needs by determining

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w hich goo ds w o uld be pro duc ed and in w hat quantity. One c onsequenc e w as that this proc ess c onstrained the degree o f pro duc t v ariatio n, thus en- suring that the goo ds av ailable in Mo sc o w w ere identic al to tho se av ailable thro ugho ut the Sov ie t Unio n.5 The ho mo genous nature o f the c onsumer experienc e also limited sh oppers’ abilities to distinguish themselves thro ugh material reso urc es.6 Only elites and foreigners had easy acc ess to unusual or imported commodities, and this was primarily through travel abroad or through priv ileges at spec ial stores that w ere c losed to the rest of the populatio n. These c irc um stanc es did not mean that o rdinary c itizens w ere denied the ability to express agenc y and indiv iduality in their c onsumer c ho ic es, how ev er. Rus- sians w ho w anted to set themselves apart from their neighbors resorted to channels and strategies that existed outside the officially legal realm. Exchange transac tio ns through extensiv e info rmal netw o rks thus bec am e another im- po rtant means o f ac c ess for both ev ery day nec essities and perio dic luxuries, w hile black market traders w ho so ld go ods that had been sm uggled ac ro ss the bo rders or traded from foreigners offered another av enue fo r c reative c on- sum ption.7

The transac tional nature o f Russians’ c onsumer prac tic es w as inherently so c ial and ac utely shaped people’s daily routines and prac tic es. The unpre - dic tability o f market supplies and episo dic sc arc ities prompted shoppers to buy up goo ds w hen they w ere av ailable and sto re them for the future. Cus- tomers also partic ipated in c ollectiv e consumer ac tivities such as sharing, shop- ping fo r relativ es and friends, approaching store departments w ith a ‘div ide and conquer’ method w hen shopping with friends, and holding places in queues fo r o ther sho ppers. Info rmal transac tio ns depended on the integrity of ex- change partners w ho c ould o ffer personal guarantees for the quality o r reli- ability o f the go ods, serv ic es, and information that w as transmitted thro ugh the netw o rks. Th us soc ial relatio ns bec am e pow erful forms o f c urrenc y in the soc ialist ec onomy , bo th as means to proc ure and exchange goo ds, and as means to ev aluate the w orth o f the go ods and the information that flow ed through the transac tio ns.8 This emphasis o n social netw orks as a necessary c ompo nent to every day life has c o ntinued into the present perio d (Caldw ell 1 999; Pesm en 2 000).

Fo r many Russians , the ac quisitio n and display of foreign c o mmo dities pro vided oppo rtunities to artic ulate personal o pinio ns about the state and their experienc es w ith state so c ialism. On the one hand, c onsumer prac tic es that existed o utside the offic ial eco nomy emphasized the inability of the state to meet the needs and interests of its c itizens. On the other hand, the c areful

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c reation and maintenanc e of sc arc ities rev ealed the state’s c ontro l ov er the most intimate aspects of every day life. For those c itizens whose personal view s did not matc h those of the state, the c onsumptio n o f foreign go ods such as American-ma de blue jeans prov ided a channel fo r articulating dissent (Hum- phrey 1 995 ). For o thers, the co nspic uous exhibitio n of fo reign products repre - sented the suc cessful nav igatio n o f informal netw o rks. The carefully arranged display s o f foreign shampo os, to othpaste, or detergents that grac ed people’s bathro om sh elves, a feature also o bserv ed by Berdahl in Eastern Germany (1 999b), testified to one’s w orth and status in manipulating exchange activ ities.

It is w ithin this c o ntext of so c ialist c o nsumption that foo d prac tic es hav e pro vided a partic ularly critic al v antage po int for exploring intersec tions be - tw een state -lev el effo rts to c ultiv ate an appropriate and produc tiv e c itizen and the c onc omitant effo rts o f tho se c itizens to c arv e out unique and inde - pendent identities fo r themselves.9 Part of the Soviet projec t to pro mote and enforce c ommunism included the transfer of fo od preparation and eating into the public realm. Public dining in c o mmunal kitc hens, w o rkplac e c anteens, and state -o w ned c afeterias and foo d sho ps w as env isioned as an oppo rtunity to instill in Sov iet c itizens so c ialist v alues of soc ial and ec onomic emanc ipa- tio n, egalitarianism, and c o llec tiv e resp onsibility (Bo rrero 1 997 ; Goldstein 1 996; Ro thstein & Rothstein 1 997 ). Despite the state’s intentions, how ev er, public dining never replac ed c ompletely the family kitchen (Glants & Toomre 1 997 :xi–xxv ii; Goldstein 1 996), and ironic ally the kitc hen b ec ame v alued as a safe sp ac e w here c lose friends c ould interac t aw ay fro m the pry ing eyes of the state (Ries 1 997 ).

Thus bo th prac tic ally and ideo logic ally , foo d prac tic es hav e o cc upied a sp ec ial po sition w ithin Russians’ experienc es w ith state so c ialism, bo th in their relatio ns w ith the state as w ell as their relatio ns w ith eac h other. Fo r instanc e, despite the ac c ess o f most c itizens to an extensive set of soc ial net- w o rks, the ability to proc ure sc arc e foreign c ommodities remained the priv i- lege o f a small minority , thereby reminding Russians that so c ial differenc es did in fac t exist w ithin an o ffic ial ideo logy o f equality. Marina Fy edorov na, a univ ersity pro fessor, rec alled an o c c asion during the 1 97 0s w hen she w as in- v ited to v isit a priv ate dining roo m that w as av ailable o nly to a sm all group of elite o ffic ials. There she enc o untered bananas fo r the first time in her life, and immediately fell in lov e w ith their taste. Afterw ards, a friend remarked that it w as unfortunate that she liked bananas bec ause ‘They are unpatriotic ,’ mean- ing, as Marina Fy edoro v na explained, that they w ere unav ailable to the gen- eral Sov iet public .

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Food practices also became entangled with Soviet foreign affairs. As Crow ley has noted, ‘c o nsumption, in the co ntext of the Cold War, bec ame a sy mbolic field of c onflic t on which allies and enemies could be plotted’ (2 000:2 8 ). Among the goo ds that w ere the mo st sy mbo lic ally dangerous to the image of the Sov iet state w ere Western goo ds (Barker 1 999b) – mo st no tably Americ an c ommodities, w hich w ere alternativ ely asso c iated w ith c ultural impo v erish- ment and imperialism (Cro w ley 2 000; Kelly 1 998 ). Commercial nego tiatio ns ov er foo d-related transac tio ns betw een the Sov iet Unio n and its ideo logic al riv a ls during this perio d w ere fre que ntly infused w ith po litic ally c harge d propaganda. The effo rts by McDonald’s Canada (and not McDonald’s u.s.a.) to prov ide the fo od servic es for the 1 98 0 Oly mpic Games in Mo sc o w w ere reportedly turned dow n by Soviet offic ials w ho w ere loathe to rev eal to their riv als the inefficienc ies of the domestic food servic e sy stem (Hume 1 990:1 6).10

[Mc Donald’s Cana da subs equently o pened its first Russian restaurant in Jan- uary 1 990.] In the late 1 98 0s, an Americ an fo od co rpo ration bec am e ensnared in Russian popular o pinio n against u.s. President George Bush’s po lic ies to- w ard Russia w hen Russians renamed the c ompany ’s frozen chicken legs ‘Bush legs’ and alleged that the pro duc ts w ere tainted. Meanw hile, the Snickers c andy bar became asso c iated w ith a distinc tly Americ an sty le o f Fo rdist in- dustry and business, and the w ord Snikerizatsiia (Snic kerizatio n) emerged in loc al disc ourse as a disparaging c o mment on the Americ an-influenc ed re - fo rms that w ere oc c urring in Russia ’s c ommercial sp heres.11

The inc reasing openness that ac co mpanied President Mikhail Gorbachev’s po lic ies of glasnost and perestroika during the late 1 98 0s, and later c o ntinued w ith the disso lution of the Sov iet Unio n in 1 991 , paved the w ay for c hanges in Russian c onsumer c ulture, mo st no tably the state’s ac c eptanc e o f foreign fo od and o ther c ommo dities. As a result o f reforms that eased restric tio ns to the o utside w orld, fo reign c ompanies rapidly entered the Russian market and either jo ined forces w ith loc al industries in jo int-v enture pro jec ts, or estab- lished themselves as c o mpetitors, thus generating my riad alternativ es to lo- c al go ods, serv ic e sty les, and pro duc tion practic es. To day the institutional ho mo geneity and sc arc ity that marked Soviet c onsumptio n has giv en w ay to pro duc t v ariety , and store sh elves spo rt multiple brands, sizes, and sty les of ev ery produc t c onc eiv able. One sourc e repo rted that in the post-1 991 pe - rio d, Russian c onsumers preferred imported foo d products to domestic goods by a tw o -to-o ne ratio (Mc Chesney 1 999).

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The Appeal of the Foreign On o ne lev el, the popularity o f prev io usly unknow n fo o ds in Mo sc o w

c orresp onds to the inquisitive interest that surrounded their initial appear- anc e in Russia ’s c o mmercial market. In Mo sc ow , many resp ondents repo rted that they had been c urio us to see for themselves w hat foreign life loo ked – and tasted – like. Sev eral people c ited McDo nald’s as a nov el experienc e in fo od taste, c ulinary sty le, and public dining. When tw o North Americ an c ol- leagues and I treated a Musc o v ite friend to dinner at a Thai restauran t in Mosc ow , the yo ung w o men reported that she w as expected to describe the meal in great detail to her w o rk assoc iates the next day. Other Musc o vites mentioned being c urio us about foreign c andies; one info rmant remarked that the c ombination o f milk c hoc o late and nuts in Americ an-sty le c andy bars w as intriguing bec ause it differed from Russian choc o late bars that w ere ap- prec iated fo r their subtle taste v ariatio ns. Soft drinks suc h as Pepsi-Co la, and later Co c a-Cola, also c ontrasted w ith domestic c arbo nated bev erages that sported herbal flavors (see also Caldw ell 1 998 ). The term ‘exotic ’ (ekzoticheskii ) frequently emerged in disc ussio ns w ith Musc ov ites abo ut w hy they had tried or continued to use foreign foods. Yet for many consumers foreign c ommodities also represented features o f quality and taste that w ere not simply different from Russian c o mmodities, but w ere in fac t seen as lac king in loc al pro duc ts. One university student explained his preferenc e for foreign foo ds w ith the statement, ‘Russian markets lac k domestic foo d goo ds that are the equiva- lent [of foreign pro duc ts] in terms o f taste and quality.’ In similar terms, his c lassmate noted that he preferred foreign foods ‘because of their tasty quality.’

Marketers o ften w oo Russian c ustomers by appealing to these c o nv ic tions that fo reign foods, particularly tho se fro m Western Europe o r North Americ a, embody higher standards o f quality than their domestic c ounterparts. In turn, Russian produc ers strategic ally c ap italize o n the po pularity of fo reign go ods in the w ay s they market their pro duc ts and the technology they use. Lo c al enterprises import foreign machinery as a means to replic ate the quality of pro duc ts made in the West. Fo r instanc e, in the early 1 990s, fo llo w ing the success enjoyed by McDonald’s, a fast food restaurant named ‘St. Petersburgers’ opened and advertised that it had imported cooking equipment from the West.

Many Russian c ompanies have also adopted c ustomer servic e philosophies mo re usually assoc iated w ith No rth Americ an business prac tic es. Prev io usly , w ith the Sov iet emphasis on production over c onsumption (see Verdery 1 996), employ ment w as guaranteed and w orkers had little inc entiv e to assist buy- ers. Consequently , prompt and polite servic e w as a rarity. Although such prac-

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tic es c o ntinue to day , notably in state -o w ned businesses or bureauc ratic of- fic es, the o verall c o nsumption experienc e in the c o mmercial sp here has been transformed. McDo nald’s ideology of serving c ustomers effic iently and w ith c ourtesy , fo r exam ple, has sp read throughout the serv ic e industry in Russia . Custo mers w ho w alk into restaurants and sho ps thro ugho ut Mo sc o w and St. Petersburg are w elcomed by smiling emplo y ees w ho o ffer assistan c e and ho v er helpfully nearby. Perhaps ev en more rev ealing is that it is bec o ming mo re c o mmo n for managers to apo logize to c usto mers w ho hav e been kept w aiting or w hose foo d has not been prepared properly.

Finally, some loc al pro duc ers hav e reso rted to imitating foreign pro duc ts direc tly, either by making c laims as to the go ods’ authentic ity as no n-Rus- sian, o r by asserting that they are w idely popular in their alleged c o untries of o rigin.12 In most c ases a c laim of Americanness seems to prov ide a c ritic al selling po int, suc h as w ith Baskin Ro bbins ic e c ream that is adv ertised as ‘The mo st fav orite ic e c ream in Americ a.’ Often the labeling attached to domestic pro duc ts c losely resembles their foreign pro toty pes, such as bo xes of c old c ereal (a rec ent intro duc tion to Russian breakfasts that are mo re generally identified by ho t c ereals) that bear an unc anny resemblanc e to their Ameri- c an c ompetitors, co mplete w ith large striped felines and red po ultry. A breath mint that supposedly neutralizes the alc o hol in one’s blo od is purported to be the drug of c hoic e fo r Americ an mo torists w ho drink and driv e. In a more unusual pitc h, I ov erheard a v endor at a so uv enir market try to sell a c arv ed chic ken toy w ith the c laim that it w as ‘v ery Americ an,’ and that c hicken w as a popular c omestible in the United States prec isely bec ause o f its great sy m- bolic v alue there.

Verifiable authentic ity is not at stake in these c onnec tio ns; instead it is the allusions that these pro duc ts make to a spec ific field of natio nally oriented v alues, qualities, and tastes that fac to r into c o nsumers’ expec tations. For in- stanc e, o ne Russian-made potato c hip flav or w as adv ertised as ‘Americ an’ rather than ‘barbec ue,’ w hile a package of apple - and bac o n-flav ored instant mashed po tato es w as marketed as ‘German.’ In addition, c ounterfeit pro d- uc ts that play on rec o gnized Western brands – fo r instanc e, ‘Finta’ orange so da, ‘Redbok’ spo rting gear, and the ‘Oil o f Olay z’ and ‘Oil o f Ulay ’ c o s- metic brands – hav e floo ded the Russian market. Despite the pro blems in international co py right law that these forgery pro duc ts hav e c aused, they hav e had a direc t impac t on loc al techno logy standards and c apabilities, so that many domestic fo ods and o ther pro duc ts are as goo d as their foreign c ompetitors.

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On ano ther lev el, the lifesty les that are embodied in foreign fo ods c orre - late more c losely to the new needs and interests of w o rkers in to day ’s Russia . The Sov iet-era c o mmodity sho rtages disc iplined c onsumers to seek o ut c re - ativ e w ay s to maximize the time and effo rt they c ould use for shopping and standing in line.13 Many citizens used their time on the job to do their shop- ping, thereby fostering more flexible distinc tions betw een ‘w o rk time’ and ‘perso nal time.’ Th e intro duc tio n of North Americ an c o rporate prac tic es, es- pecially a strict accounting of work time and sharp delineation between ‘company time’ and ‘personal time,’ has sev erely c urtailed these possibilities for c o m- bining shopping and other personal responsibilities w ith w ork. Americ an man- agers hav e c o mplained that one of their mo st diffic ult challenges in restruc - turing Russian businesses has been to keep employees in the offic e from 9 a.m. until 5 o r 6 p.m., o r later, w ith only a sho rt break for a mid-day meal.

The introduc tion of pac kaged, prepared fo ods such as soup in a c up, fro- zen dinners, fresh salads, jars of baby foo d, and boxed juic es and milk hav e appealed to Musc o v ites w ho are juggling family and w o rk respo nsibilities w ith limited free time. By w ay of illustratio n, before Valentina, a sixty -y ear- old pensioner, c ould leav e Mo sc o w for a w eek-long v isit to her friend’s sum- mer c o ttage, she sp ent an entire day sho pping and c oo king for her thirty - y ear-o ld son w ho remained at home. Telev ision c ommercials and magazine adv ertisements strategic ally market the benefits of easy -to -prepare fo ods to harried parents and w orkers. One yo ung w oman, w ho w as expec ting her first child, admitted that she fav ored pre -made Western fo ods because they helped her sav e time fo r other chores. Tw o middle -aged w o men supported the im- po rtanc e of time -sa v ing techniques w hen praising the jars o f baby foo d that hav e hit Russian sto re shelves in rec ent years. Both w o men w ere doc tors and rec alled that 2 0 y ears ago , w hen their c hildren w ere small, they had to de - v ote long hours to making meals fo r their husbands and then making foo d that their children c o uld eat. Th ey c o nfessed that they env ied their daugh- ters-in-law w ho used c o nv enienc e items suc h as c ommercial baby fo ods and disposable diapers. Ch ildren, meanw hile, c an feed themselves w ith instant so ups, thereby reduc ing the responsibilities o f mothers and grandmothers to prepare extra meals in adv anc e. One univ ersity student summed up the gen- eral sentiments o f her c lassmates w hen sh e remarked that fo reign foo ds w ere ‘faster to prepare, c heap er, and easier to pro c ure.’

The div ersific ation o f the foreign fo od market in Russia is further linked w ith inc reasing so c io ec onomic diversity. As Ro seb erry (1 996) has similarly desc ribed fo r the gro w th of a differentiated c offee market in the United States,

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and Terrio (1 996) for the plac e o f artisana l choc o lates w ithin a gentrific atio n mo v ement in Franc e, Russian c onsumers c an make c laims to soc ial identities by aligning themselves w ith the values and ideals asso c iated w ith spec ific fo od c ho ic es. In Mo sc o w , c hildren and y oung adults admit that they pur- chase Americ an and European fo ods and other c o mmodities in o rder to ac - quaint themselves w ith life outside Russia o r to identify themselves as mo d- ern. In response to my question abo ut w hy he preferred foreign foo ds, o ne y oung Musc o vite c asually replied, ‘I am c o sm o po litan.’

This pac kaging of fo od w ith a lifesty le o f global sophistic atio n is present in the marketing tac tic s o f restaurants and c o mpanies. Restaurants c ater to Mosc ow ’s new financ ial elite by offering ‘business lunches,’ often c o mplete w ith French c hampagne and Americ an liquo rs. Fo od c o rporatio ns spo nsor c ontests in w hic h the prizes – all possible thro ugh the c onsumptio n o f the appropriate beverages o r snack foo ds – link tastes with opportunities to trav el abro ad o r to w in tic kets to c o nc erts giv en by fo reign musical groups. Ex- treme examples o f this preferenc e for the foreign are ev ident in the c onspic u- ous c o nsumption prac tic es attributed to New Russians, Russia ’s c lass of nou- veaux ric h es. It is mo re than simply expensiv e tastes that c harac terize New Russians, how ever; po pular o pinion generally links the eco no mic elite w ith fo reign c o mmo dities such as Americ an and German supermarkets that sell impo rted bread, meat, cheese, and beer; as w ell as w ith foreign luxury automo- biles and electronics.

Nev ertheless, even as many Muscovites identify lifestyle, c onvenience, price, and no v elty as mo tiv ations for buy ing foreign foo ds, o ther Musc ov ites hav e returned to buying both Russian foods and Russian imitations of foreign products – even when these products are more expensive or harder to find.14 Transnational c orpo rations hav e rec ognized the ec ono mic implicatio ns o f c o nsumers’ pref- erenc es for the local and have giv en their produc ts distinc tiv ely Russian attri- butes: for instanc e, a series of Coc a-Cola c o mmercials in 1 997 –1 998 featured charac ters fro m Russian folklore, w hile McDo nald’s has w idely public ized that its meat and produc e are domestic ally pro duc ed. In the next sec tion I explore the grow th of this loc ally o riented nic he of c o nsumer produc ts, and c onsider its impo rtanc e w ithin a larger nationalist mo v ement in Mosc ow.

Buying Russian: The Power of the Local The popularity of foreign foods and their domestic imitators has been matched

by the emergenc e of a mo re explic itly natio nalistic orientation to c o nsump- tio n in Mo sc o w. In 1 995 , Russkoe Bistro, an inexpensiv e Russian fast foo d

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chain that sells Russian foods suc h as pelmeni (dumplings), pirozh ki and other filled pastries, and v odka, opened its first restaurant direc tly ac ross fro m the site o f the first McDonald’s in Mo sc o w. Sinc e then, a number of restauran ts

This billboard on the side of a bus stop shelter reads: ‘We support Russian production! Buy domestic! Help Russia!’ Photo: Melissa L. Caldwell.

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and c afés that o ffer Russian fo od at bo th the low and high ends of the pric e sc ale hav e o pened in Mosc ow , as w ell as in o ther c ities in Russia. It is w orth no ting that even here, at the lev el of the ‘loc al,’ imitatio n c ontinues to shape the market. Knoc k-o ff restauran ts such as Slavianskoe Bistro offer menus and peasant-themed logo s very similar to those of Russko e Bistro ; more telling is that the napkins and sugar pac kets in Slavianskoe Bistro are identic al to tho se of its arc hety pe – inc luding the logo and w ords ‘Russkoe Bistro.’

Desp ite the w ide av ailability of restaurants that serv e foreign foo ds, Rus- sian c uisine is a po pular choic e am ong Musco v ites. In a surv ey that I c o n- duc ted among high school and university students, most respondents reported that altho ugh they had tried foreign fo ods and, in so me c ases, liked items suc h as pizza and hamburgers, they preferred ‘Russian ’ foo ds – ev en w hen ‘Russian’ fo ods w ere pizza or hamburgers that their mo thers had prepared at ho me. One y oung w oman explained that Russian food c ontained Russia n ‘soul’ (dusha).15 Her classmate stated more simply, ‘People from Russia like Russian tastes.’

In an effort to tap into these taste preferenc es, as w ell as to ac know ledge the improv ing quality of domestic fo od and other goo ds and to resp ond to fears that foreign produc ts are c o ntro lling the loc al market, Russian offic ials hav e launc hed a ‘Buy Russian’ c ampaign fo r fo od and other goo ds. In the c ontext o f a c ountry w ith gro w ing nationalist sentiments and politic al mo v e - ments, Musc o v ites w ho ‘buy Russian’ fuse brand loy alty w ith natio nal loy- alty. One partic ularly c o mpelling aspec t of this c laim to natio nalistic c o n- sumptio n has been the deplo y ment o f images and v alues draw n fro m Rus- sia’s past. Musc o v ites variously charac terize authentic Russian foo ds as tho se made by ‘traditional preparations,’ from ‘traditio ns…mentio ned in c o nv er- sations abo ut Russian c o oking,’ and ac c ording to ‘traditional c riteria – as I hav e been ac c usto med to think sinc e childho od.’ Sev eral y oung w omen men- tio ned ‘histo ric al fac to rs.’ Others remarked that Russian fo ods had Russia n ‘ro ots,’ w hile one perso n added that Russian traditions w ere supplemented by Russia ’s unique ‘c limatic basis .’

Anthropologists and others w ho w ork in postsocialist spac es have observed that the soc ialist–postso c ialist transition has been charac terized by a c o m- mercialized appro priation of the past and the traditio nal.16 The comestible past is a po w erful lure for Mosc ow sh oppers w ho are interested in preserv ing and perpetuating an idealized Russian nation. No t o nly does a c o mmercial- ized historic ity situate c onsumers w ithin an unc o ntested v ersio n of Russian- ness, but it also fac ilitates a ‘mechanic s o f shared memo ry and hidden histo-

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ries’ (Watson 1 994:7 ) that unifies c ustomers in a singularizing national expe - rienc e. Russian c o mpanies hav e implemented aggressiv e marketing tac tic s that appeal to c o nsumers’ sense of natio nal pride by emphasizing the histo ri- c al c o mponents of their fo od produc ts. One brew ery c laims that its beer is c reated ac c o rding to traditio nal Russian rec ipes: ‘Our enterprise ... employ s the best traditions of Russian brew ing.’ A fly er fo r a brand o f Russian c oo kies assures c ustomers that: ‘We make all produc ts ac c ording to old Russian re - c ipes, w ithout mo dern additiv es.’

Allusio ns to the past are made explic it in suc h items as No stalgia brand vodka beverages, w hich depict historic monuments on its c ans; Peter the Great c igarettes; Stepan Razin (leader of a 1 7 th-c entury peasant rebellion) beer; and Istok (‘Th e Sourc e’) v o dka adv ertisements that feature pictures of famous Sov iet personages w ith the pro mise ‘When I return’ (Kogda Ya Vernus’ ). Idy l- lic peasant themes and buc o lic c ountry side mo tifs are another po pular mar- keting ploy. Fo r instanc e, c arto ns of ‘House in the Village’ (Domik v derevne) brand o f milk produc ts feature a grandmo therly w oman standing in front of c ow s in a field. Popular c o oking magazines suc h as K ulinar and G urman in- c lude spec ial sec tions devoted to foods from the ‘Russian home,’ Russian holi- day s and traditions, and ev en to ‘Sov iet rec ipes.’ Moreov er, the names o f sev- eral of Russia’s oldest (i.e., predating the post-Soviet – and in some c ases Soviet – period) and finest c o nfec tionary c ompanies explic itly inv oke rev o lutionary themes fro m Russian history : the Red Oc tober, Red Front, and Bolshev ik c andy c ompanies.

Svetlana Bo ym (1 999) and Theresa Sabo nis-Chafee (1 999) hav e argued that these strategic uses o f the past reflec t a no stalgic mov ement c urrently in v ogue in Russia. These forms o f nostalgia c an be both sentimental, as in the c ase o f kitsc h, and ironic , as in the use of c am p (Sabo nis-Chafee 1 999:3 7 3 ), but to gether pro duc e a mythologized natio nal past and identity.17 One fad in Mosc ow is the spread o f nostalgia restaurants that rec reate the experienc e of dining in partic ular historic al perio ds. Custo mers c an choo se fro m amo ng nineteenth-c entury inns (traktir) and hunting lodges, o r restauran ts from the more rec ent past suc h as a Sov iet-era c anteen, c o mplete w ith dec orations from that period. A restauran t in a ho tel asso c iated w ith an o ld mo nastery offers anc ient rec ipes that have been adapted to co ntempo rary produc ts. In so me c ases, ho w ev er, c o mmemo rativ e dining is av ailable o nly to the afflu- ent, such as patrons of a more European-themed restaurant named ‘Nostalgie’ that c laims to o ffer ‘a mo re democ ratic menu’ at notic eably undemoc ratic pric es: ac c o rding to o ne adv ertisement, dinner pric es start at U S$5 0. Repre -

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sentatio ns that evo ke images and ideals from the Russian and Sov iet past c elebrate the goo d times of earlier mo ments as desirable v alues and features that c o ntinue to sh ape and resp ond to the unique c irc um stanc es of po stso- c ialist daily life. Mo re signific antly, these ideals also appeal to a natio nalist pride that reinfo rces the spec ific ity of a Russian experienc e at odds w ith the enc roac hing outside w o rld.

Nash: Consuming the Nation The most striking aspec t o f this natio nalizing c ulinary mo v ement, how -

ev er, has been the deploy ment o f c lassifiers suc h as ‘our ow n’ (svoi) and ‘fo r- eign’ (c huzhoi ), and more routinely , ‘o urs’ (nash) and ‘not ours’ (ne nash). The concepts of ‘nash’ and ‘ne nash,’ or ‘ours’ and ‘not ours,’ respectively, are important c onc epts o f so cial inc lusio n and exc lusion in every day Russian life (Caldw ell 1 999; Humphrey 1 995 ; Pesm en 2 000; Stepanov 1 997 :47 2 ; c f. Okely 1 996). For Musc ov ites, the ‘nash’ sy stem is both a segmentary sy stem of inc lusionary and exc lusio nary identity and a marker o f sentimental solidarity and imag- ined uniformity. Ty pic ally , peo ple distinguish betw een friends and strangers, or betw een c o -natio nals and foreigners, by c lassify ing them as either belong- ing to o r outside of a gro up know n as ‘nash.’ Fo r instanc e, o n one o c c asion in Mosc ow , a friend and I observ ed a yo ung man dressed in biking c lothes and c arry ing a mountain bike c o me o ut of the metro . My friend turned to me and c ommented, ‘He’s no t dressed like one of o urs’ (O n odet ne po-nash emu).

Additionally, in a so c iety in w hic h informal so c ial relations hav e long been instrumental for ev ery day surv iv al (Ledenev a 1 998 ; Pesmen 2 000), Musc o- v ites explain that it is to ‘nash’ indiv iduals that one offers assistan c e or emo - tio nal sy mpathy bec ause they are the perso ns w ith w ho m o ne feels a sense o f fello w sh ip and c o llec tiv e responsibility. Th e flexible ideology of ‘nash’ is sim- ultaneo usly expansiv e and c o nstric tiv e, ho w ev er, and the c ommunities that are c onstituted through perceptions of so lidarity and similarity do no t al- w ay s align neatly w ith ethnic , rac ial, religious, or ev en natio nalist identities. For instanc e, I hav e noted elsew here that Russian recipients in a transnational so up kitc hen c ommunity in Mo sc o w bestow ‘nash’ status on partic ular Afri- c an and North Americ an v o lunteers, even as they keep o ther Russians at a ‘ne nash’ distanc e (Caldw ell 1 999). Yet, for the purpo se of the larger natio n- alist mov ement that is c urrently gaining po w er in Russia, the strategic use of ‘nash’ c lassifiers imbues ev eryday prac tic es w ith a heightened sense o f mem- bership in a finite and unique populatio n. The importanc e of c ollec tiv e re - sp onsibility to this c ommunity has emerged c learly in the effo rts o f the Rus-

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sian gov ernment to make c itizens pay their taxes.18 In 1 999, the federal tax autho rities sponsored thro ughout Mosc ow large billboards that read ‘No o ne helps Russia like w e ourselves’ (Nikto ne pomozh et Rossii krome nas samikh).

Within the last five y ears, domestic fo od produc ers hav e increasingly ap - pealed to c onsumers’ sense o f belonging to this imagined Russian c o llec ti- v ity by embrac ing the ‘nash’ and ‘ne nash’ distinc tio n in their marketing stra- tegies, a prac tic e that is c o mparable to w hat has been observ ed in East Ger- many (Berdahl 1 999a; Merkel 1 994). One strategy has been to adv ertise that foods hav e been loc ally grow n and pro duc ed. Some c ompanies promote their pro duc ts w ith labels or stic kers that spec ific ally designate that their fo ods are ‘nash,’ o r ‘Russian.’ Jaffe juic e is representativ e of many domestic prod- ucts in that the labeling on its w rappers inc ludes the phrase ‘Made in Russia ’ (Sdelano v Rossii ) and the product’s offic ial Russian c ertific ation number. Store c lerks c reativ ely arrange foo d displays that highlight domestic pro duc ts and identify them w ith c aptio ns suc h as ‘Nash’ o r ‘Russian .’ Often these display s oc c upy a sp ecial, c onspic uous plac e o n shelves, w hile fo reign goo ds are jum- bled together and relegated to less v isible spac es. Mo re subtle, regio nal dis- tinc tions are further designated w ith labels that identify the c ity o r area in w hich a partic ular item w as produced. One cheese display contained four dif- ferent ty pes o f ‘Russian ’ c heese, one from Mosc ow , o ne from Nov goro d, o ne from Kostroma, and one from Yaroslavl. Each w as identified by its c ity of ori- gin, and the c lerk explained that the pric es assigned to each produc t reflec ted the different reputations and market v alues asso c iated w ith each loc atio n. In a mo re aggressiv e ploy to reassure c usto mers abo ut the ro ots of its produc ts, one c ompany has even licensed the brand name ‘Nash’ to use on its produc ts.

Fo r their part, Russian c usto mers inv oke the ‘Nash’/ ‘Ne nash’ distinc tion w hen buy ing fo od. As part of a tradition o f c o llec tiv e sho pping prac tic es, c ustomers routinely c onfer w ith v endors – and so metimes other sho ppers, friends, and ac quaintan c es – to disc uss the merits of a partic ular pro duc t. More impo rtantly , how ev er, they ask w hether o r not pro duc ts are ‘Nash’ o r ‘Ne nash.’ Muscovites explain that ‘nash’ products are superior to foreign goods in terms of taste, quality, and healthfulness. Elena Viktoro vna, an English pro- fesso r in Mo sco w , repo rts that the first question sh e po ses to foo d vendo rs at the market is w hether the produc ts are ‘nash’ or ‘ne nash.’ Elena Viktorov o na c laims that she buys o nly ‘nash’ fo ods because sh e kno w s that they have been pac kaged very sho rtly befo re and hav e not been ly ing in sh ipping c o ntainers and on store shelves for mo nths – o r ev en y ears – as Americ an and other im- po rted go ods are o ften rumo red to be. ‘If a v endor say s that a goo d is ne nash,’

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Elena Viktorov na remarked, ‘I just say “thank y o u” and w alk on.’ Meanw hile, sellers enc ourage undec ided c ustomers simply by announc ing that a partic u- lar fo od is ‘nash.’ On a rare oc c asion w hen a salesc lerk adv ised me to buy a fo reign produc t, she apo logetic ally no ted that the item w as ‘ne nash’ but of a better quality than its domestic c ounterpart.

Some shoppers extend this ‘Nash’/ ‘Ne nash’ dichotomy by evaluating foods ac c ording to the national origins o f the v endo rs themselves. A perspec tiv e that I enc o untered frequently in Mosc ow w as that foreigners, partic ularly dark-skinned peo ple fro m Central Asia and Afric a, w ere resp onsible for Rus- sia’s ec o nomic problems and ac ts o f v iolenc e. Outsiders w ere therefore seen as suspic io us and untrustw o rthy. When guiding me o n ho w to sho p fo r foo d in the market, friends adv ised me to av o id the stalls run by merchants from Central Asia and instead rec ommended that I find Russian v endors. For poten- tially ‘dangero us’ (i.e., poiso no us) items suc h as berries or mushro oms hand- picked fro m the fo rests, sev eral friends further adv ised me that elderly Rus- sian w o men w ere the most reliable sellers.

More importantly, sho ppers maintain that ‘nash’ fo ods are healthier than impo rted pro duc ts. Many Musc ov ites share the o pinion that fo reign pro d- uc ts are artific ial and c ontain harmful preserv ativ es and additives, a percep-

This billboard promoting the Otechestvo Political Party reads: ‘By buying domestic products, you help yourself.’ Photo: Melissa L. Caldwell.

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tio n that Nelson Hanc oc k enc ountered w hen his info rmants in Siberia dis- c ussed Americ an hot dogs and c hicken produc ts (Hanc o ck 1 998 ). In c o n- trast, domestic ally gro w n foo ds, and those pro c ured fro m perso nal agric ul- ture o r w indo w sill gardens, are v alued fo r their perceived purity and natural- ness. One Musc ov ite expressed an o pinio n that I heard frequently w hen she argued that Russian-grow n pro duc e w as healthier than impo rted pro duc ts bec ause it c o ntained nutrients direc tly from the Russian soil. Oksana, a mid- dle -aged mother and av id gardener, c ommented that loc al pro duce w as c lean (ch istii ), and therefore did no t need to be w ashed after it w as pic ked. She c ontinued that it w as benefic ial for c hildren to hav e ac c ess to fresh produc e that they c ould eat directly from the ground. This made them stronger, Oksana c onc luded. McDonald’s and other restaurants in Mo sc o w have respo nded to this loc al bias tow ard ho me -gro w n foo ds: w ait staff desc ribe to c ustomers w hich ingredients hav e been grow n nearby and in some c ases the pro c ess by w hich the fo ods hav e been harv ested and pro c essed. McDo nald’s advertises w idely that it buy s muc h of its pro duc e fro m a Russian firm named Belaya Dac ha, or ‘White Dac ha [summer c ottage],’ a spec ific referenc e to the im- po rtanc e of c ottages and summer gardens in Russian daily life.

Ironic ally , this preferenc e fo r ‘Nash’ foo ds periodic ally leads to sh ortages, a phenomenon reminisc ent o f Sov iet times and decidedly at o dds w ith a c api- talist-oriented marketplac e. Oksana c ommented that it w as more expensiv e fo r Russian fac tories to operate today bec ause they w ere required to pay fo r w ater and elec tric ity, unlike during Soviet times w hen the go vernment pro - v ided those serv ic es. Thus, she c o ntinued, Russian fac tories c an not produc e as muc h as Western ones, and c usto mers may not be able to buy ‘nash’ fo ods w hen they w ant them and so must w ait. Oksana further reported that Mus- c ov ites w ere again standing in long queues to buy Russian-made fo ods. She no ted that at her loc al market, those stalls that offered Russian produc ts of- ten had longer lines than those that sold fo reign goo ds.

This priv ileging of domestic fo ods has emerged in Russian politic s as w ell. In sum mer 1 999, tw o different politic al parties ap pealed to vo ters by c ap ital- izing on fo od themes. One party c alled itself the Yabloko, o r ‘Apple,’ Party, and esp oused liberal ec onomic and politic al refo rms.19 Meanwhile, the ‘Fa- therland’ (O tec h estvo; this term has tw o additional, related meanings o f ‘do- mestic ’ and ‘ho me industry’) political party appealed to v oters w ith billboards that display ed suc h pic tures as a w o man feeding her chickens, peo ple eating, and employ ees w orking in a meat-packing plant. Each image inc luded a re - c ommendation to v o ters to ‘buy domestic ’ or to support the domestic in-

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dustry.20 By manipulating v isual and rhetorical asso ciations among foo d, pa- triotism, and national history , the c andidates poignantly asked v oters to link their personal fo od experienc es w ith politic al issues that affec ted all Russians . In sum mer 2 001 , a poster on the side of a bus stop shelter suppo rted the larger mo v ement to suppo rt the domestic ec onomy w ith the c aptio n: ‘Let’s sup- po rt Russian manufa c turing! Buy domestic [otec hestvennoe]! Help Russia!’ In turn, Musc ov ites o ften use fo od referenc es to display their support o f or dis- pleasure w ith natio nal events. Thro ugh referenc es to fo od, people c o mment on shifts in go v ernment polic ies and the differenc es am ong leaders: c o m- parisons of the pric es o f fo ods such as bread, sausag e, and c heese at v arious mo ments in Russia ’s politic al histo ry index public o pinio n and satisfa c tio n.

Nationalism and the Responsible Citizen in Today ’s Moscow Fo od c onsumptio n o ffers a pow erful v enue for Musc ov ites to nav igate the

po litic al, ec o no mic , and so c ial changes that hav e oc c urred in Russia during the 1 990s. Th ro ugh selec tiv e fo od choic es, sh oppers reac t c o nc retely and decisively to the revolutions that have sw ept both loc al markets and the national financ ial market. Mo reov er, they are ac tiv ely inv ested in Russia ’s affairs be - c ause their c ho ic es influence the ec onomic sy stem at the same time that they transform the anony mity and impersonal feature of national affairs into per- so nally meaningful ev ents. By linking their individual foo d experienc es w ith broa der po litic al a nd ec o no mic c o nc erns, Musc o v ites artic ulate prac tic al ideologies of national loy alty that affir m their membership and partic ipation in a mo re singular, homogeneous Russian experienc e. In the fac e o f gro w ing inc ome disparities and c lass stratific ation, eac h c onsc ientio us c o nsumer o f ‘nash’ foods remains a committed member of the ‘nash’ c ollec tivity of Russians.

This c o nnec tion of the perso nal w ith a n imagined c olle c tiv e natio n o f likeminded c onsumers is partic ularly signific ant fo r older Musc ov ites w ho are c onc erned that the c ombinatio n o f fo reign c onv enienc e fo ods, restau- rant meals, and the images of Americ an soc ial life po rtray ed on telev isio n w ill entic e Russian children to bec o me more ‘Americ an’ and lose to uc h w ith their Russian identity and heritage. Many peo ple asked me if it w as true that Americ an w o men did not know how to c oo k, a perceptio n that has been re - inforced not o nly by the prev alenc e of Americ an c o nv enienc e fo ods in Rus- sian stores, but also by Americ an telev isio n programs and mo v ies that depic t take -aw ay bo xes as staples of Americ an c uisine. Sev eral mothers expressed their fears that their daughters w ould lose their ability to c o ok and their ap - prec iation fo r Russian dishes – as w ell as their potential to be go od w ives

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and mo thers. Tatyana, a retiree w hose adult so n c o ntinues to liv e at ho me, remarked that children w ho aspired to bec o me to o ‘Americ an’ in their tastes and desires would find themselves unsatisfied in Russia – and worse still, perhaps ev en unemploy ed.

Taty ana’s c o mment highlighted a so urc e of tensio n fo r many Musc o v ites – that foreign foods and practices will eventually fragment the collective identity, the narod (folk), of Russians. This c o nc ern has bec ome mo re ev ident in the last sev eral y ears. During my researc h in 1 995 , although Musc ov ite ac quain- tanc es made pointed remarks about the extraordinary lifesty les and financ ial resourc es of ‘New Russians,’ they ma intained tha t these indiv iduals w e re no netheless indisputably Russian. As one w oman explained: ‘They are still Russians .’ By the late 1 990s, this impressio n had shifted signific antly , and New Russians w ere more c losely asso c iated w ith a group of o utsiders w ho had turned their bac ks on their fello w Russians . In popular disc ourse they w ere associated w ith rec ent c orruption sc andals and blamed for funneling resources aw ay from the c o llec tiv e of the nation; this inc luded suggestio ns that New Russians w ere am ong those mo st likely to ev ade pay ing their taxes. On sev - eral oc c asions, friends and ac quaintanc es told me that New Russians w ere selfish and had distanc ed themselves fro m their so c ial respo nsibilities to the Russian nation.

These ev aluatio ns o f a ppro priate Russia n be ha v io r rev e al Musc o v ites’ disc o mfort w ith the new c onsumer prac tic es that hav e arisen w ith Russia ’s sh ift to a c apitalist-sty le ec o no my. Indiv iduals w ho partic ipate in the non- Russian ec onomy by buying fo reign go ods and ac quiring foreign v alues and behav iors are perceived as hav ing lost something intrinsic ally Russian – name - ly , the ability to be both so c ial and soc ially respo nsible. Parents lament that students w ho rely on instant snac k foo ds forsake the time and c o nv ersatio ns that w ould otherw ise be sp ent ov er a meal shared w ith friends and relativ es. Shoppers w ho purchase impo rted berries and mushroo ms in go urmet super- markets may purc hase c onvenienc e and a sense of anony mity, but they also by pass the so c ial netw orks and personal sto ries that are inv ested in jars of ho me -made preserv es and pickles made by one’s friends and relativ es. Fi- nally , c onsumers w ho direc t their interests and funds tow ard fo reign c o m- modities and the ec onomic sy stems in w hich they are enmeshed div ert tho se reso urc es aw ay fro m their ow n ‘nash’ c o mmunities.

Thus, the imperso nal and disinterested nature of c apitalist ec onomic sy s- tems charac terized by immediate transac tio ns and regulated by ano ny mous market ‘forces’ (Sahlins 1 97 2 ; Smith 1 98 1 ) is at odds w ith a soc ialized sy stem

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of c onsumptio n that w o rks prec isely bec ause o f the perso nal c onnec tions and sentiments that flow thro ugh it. Musc o vites c an trust Russian foo ds be - c ause they are familiar and reassuring. Mo re importantly , Russian foods sy m- bolic ally link Musc ov ite c o nsumers w ith o ther Russians. By c ontrast, fo reign goo ds are dangero us, bo th to the ov erarc hing politic o -ec o no mic sy stem, as w ell as to c onsumers’ so c ial and biologic al health. Fo r Musc o vites w ho are c onc erned abo ut the disintegration of soc ial c ohesion, mutual suppo rt, and c ollec tiv e respo nsibility , the c reation o f a natio nalist c uisine represents an oppo rtunity to rec laim a set of standards and prac tic es that defines them as Russians and marks their unique c ultural experienc es. Mo reo v er, by exercis- ing the ability to c hoo se freely , c onsumers w ho selec t ‘nash’ fo ods demo n- strate that there is roo m w ithin c ap italist individualism to express unify ing and meaningful relationships w ith each other.

Acknowledgments An earlier v ersion o f this article w as presented in the panel ‘Co nsumers Ex iting Socialism: Ethnographic Perspectives on the Reconfiguration of Post-Soviet Social Life’ at the American Anthrop ological Association Meetings in San Francisco, 1 8 No vember 2 000. I am grateful to our discussant, Nancy Ries, the other mem- bers of the panel, and members of the audience for their questions and comments. I w ould also like to thank Eriberto P. Lozada, James L. Watson, and the three ano- ny mous review ers for Ethnos for their suggestions. I owe a special debt of gratitud e to Jennifer Patico, w ho has carefully and cheerfully read multip le drafts and o f- fered many helpful recommendations. Finally , I would like to thank D. Kulick and W. Östberg for their genero us support and suggestions for improv ing this article.

Notes 1 . In survey s and interv iew s that I conducted in Moscow (1 9 97 –2 001 ), informants

ac know ledged that much of the fresh produce av ailable in stores and markets w as imported from outside Russia (generally from Central Asia, no rthern Africa, and Asia). Muscov ites did not id entify the exact geograp hical origins of such p ro ducts, how ev er, but described them simply as being ‘ex otic’ (ekzotic h eskie). All translatio ns in this article are mine.

2 . For an analogous description of Russian book cov ers, see Co ndee and Padunov 1 9 95 :1 5 8 .

3 . This fieldw ork w as conducted ov er the fo llow ing p eriods: June–July 1 995 ; No- v ember 1 997 –October 1 998 ; May –July 1 99 9; June–July 2 000; June–July 2 001 . I am grateful to the U.S. Departme nt of Education, Mello n Foundation, and the Abby and George O’Neill Trav eling Fund, Kathry n W. and Shelby Cullom Dav is Center fo r Russian Studies, and Departme nt of Anthropology at Harvard Uni- v ersity , for funding support.

4. For the analo gous case of China, Maris Gillette has no ted that consumers w ere ‘clients’ of the state because their consumption p ossibilities w ere structure d by the state (2 000:91 ).

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5 . Other observers hav e remarke d on this ubiquitous homogeneity in So viet life (e.g., see Boy m 1 994, Humphre y 1 995 ), and it is the basis of the mov ie Ironiia Sud’by (Th e Irony of Fate), in w hich the main character’s v arious troubles result fro m the fact that he is mistakenly living in an apartme nt that is identical to his ap artment in every w ay , dow n to the address, ex cept that it is in a different city. In another ex ample, during my fieldw ork in 1 998 , this consumer homogeneity w as ev ident in the w idespread av ailability of a black, w hite, and red plaid flannel shirt; throughout Moscow, I repeatedly encountered men and w omen alike w ear- ing id entical shirts.

6. Daphne Berdahl reports (1 99 9b) that in East Germany , homogeneity w as often the consequence of shortage. It w as the scarcity of a particular item that increased its w orth and desirability.

7 . See Ledenev a 1 9 98 for a detailed discussio n of blat, an ex change relationship of ac cess, in the Soviet period; see Caldw ell 1 999, Pesmen 2 000, and Jennifer Patico’s article in this issue for discussions of ex change relations in postso cialist Russia. See Yan 1 996, Yang 1 98 9, and Smart 1 993 for comparable discussions of exchange relatio ns in China .

8 . These practices are more fully elaborated in Caldw ell 1 99 9. 9. Fo r additio nal information o n Russia’s rich culinary history , see the collection of

articles in Glants and Toomre 1 997 . 1 0. See also McDonald’s Canada President George Co hon’s ac count (1 997 ) of these

negotiations. 1 1 . This antago nism tow ard a different ec ono mic ideolo gy w as no t unique to the

Sov iet Union. When efforts by the Co ca-Cola corporation after Wo rld War II to build bo ttling p lants in the Sov iet Union w ere turned dow n, company officials interpre ted this failure as ev id ence that Soviet authorities feared the political ideology associated w ith the so ft drink enterprise. At their international con- v ention, Co ke representativ es hung up a placard that read ‘When w e think of Co mmunists, w e think of the Iron Curtain… But w hen they think of democracy , they think of Co ca-Co la’ (Pendergrast 1 993 :2 3 8 ).

1 2 . See Jennifer Patico’s discussion (2 001 ) about the appeal of geographic origins fo r consumer goods. Co mpare w ith Goldfrank 1 994 for a description of the stra- tegic marketing of geo graphic origins fo r Chilean p ro duce sales in the u.s.a.

1 3 . Katherine Verdery (1 9 96) has described such constraints as means by w hich the socialist state confiscated and manipulated the p ersonal time of its citizens.

1 4. Price is no t alw ay s a reliable indicato r for predicting Muscov ites’ purchasing p ractices. On the o ne hand, many consumers cite personal inco me limitations as motiv ations for buy ing Russian foo ds. For instance, in Moscow a loaf of brea d fro m a Russian bakery av erages 5 rubles, w hile a loaf of French bread from a fo reign bakery may cost 2 0–3 0 rubles; a liter o f milk from a Russian dairy costs 1 1 rubles, w hile a liter of milk imported from a Finnish dairy costs 1 4 rubles; and a tub of Russian-made ice cream may cost 2 0 rubles, while its American equivalent ex ceeds 1 5 0 rubles. These issues became ev en more important after the August 1 9 98 financial crisis, w hen many people lost their jobs and sav ings, and the v alue of the ruble fell. During that period, the prices of domestic goods remain- ed low and more affordable than those of fo reign and imp orted products, w hich w ere affected by inflation and temporary shortages. On the other hand, domestic

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production does no t alw ay s guarantee lower prices. High-quality Russian v odkas and chocolates are ty p ic ally priced comparab ly to their foreign competito rs. Meanw hile, v ideotapes of Russian mov ies and compact disks of Russian musical groups ty pically co st tw o to three times more than those of fo reign artists – a fact that info rmants claim is justified because of the greater artistic quality and merit of do mestic pro ductions.

1 5 . See Pesm en 2 000 for an ex tended discussio n about Russian no tions of d usha. 1 6. E.g., Berdahl 1 99 9a; see also Gediminas Lankauskas’s article in this issue. 1 7 . Catriona Kelly has called this ‘post-Sov iet ‘retro chic’’ (1 998 :2 2 9). 1 8 . Cf. Boy m’s claim (1 9 99:3 8 4): ‘App eals to collectiv e respo nsibility hav e become

much less popular than they w ere during glasnost, and, more important, much less marketable.’

1 9. I w ould like to thank one ano ny mous review er for pointing out that the name of the Yabloko party is also an ac ro ny m formed from the first letters of the party ’s fo unders: Grigorii Yav linskii, Yurii Boldy rev , and Vladimir Lukin.

2 0. Theresa Sabonis-Chafee describes a similar tactic that w as emplo y ed during the 1 9 96 presidential campaign in Russia. A series of p ro -Yeltsin p osters depicted ev ery day Russian life ‘befo re’ and ‘after’: the ‘befo re’ picture portra y ed empty shelv es in a grocery store, w hile the ‘after’ images presented a family laden with bags of foo d products (Sabonis-Chafee 1 9 99:3 7 2 ).

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