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Notions of culture, rituals and their meanings, the workings of ideology in everyday life, public representations of tradition and ethnicity, and the social consequences of economic transition-- these are critical issues in the social anthropology of Russia and other postsocialist countries. Engaged in the negotiation of all these is the House of Culture, which was the key institution for cultural activities and implementation of state cultural policies in all socialist states. The House of Culture was officially responsible for cultural enlightenment, moral edification, and personal cultivation--in short, for implementing the socialist state's program of "bringing culture to the masses." Surprisingly, little is known about its past and present condition. This collection of ethnographically rich accounts examines the social significance and everyday performance of Houses of Culture and how they have changed in recent decades. In the years immediately following the end of the Soviet Union, they underwent a deep economic and symbolic crisis, and many closed. Recently, however, there have been signs of a revitalization of the Houses of Culture and a re-orientation of their missions and programs. The contributions to this volume investigate the changing functions and meanings of these vital institutions for the communities that they serve.

Brian Donahoe is an independent researcher living in Kyzyl, Republic of Tyva. From 2004-2010 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. His research interests include the interaction between the Russian legal system and Russia's indigenous peoples, and the dynamics of constructing, maintaining, and performing ethnic identity and indigeneity through the idioms of "culture and tradition."

Joachim Otto Habeck is coordinator of the Siberian Studies Centre at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. He is currently investigating cultural and ethno-cultural events and organizations, popular notions of culture, and gendered spaces of work and leisure. He examines lifestyle concepts as well as how rural and urban inhabitants of Siberia see themselves and want to be seen by others.