Soviet dissidents have long been objects of fascination. Who were they? What made them dissent? What did they believe? And what did they endure at the hands of a repressive Soviet state? We now have a clearer picture thanks to Benjamin Nathans’ new book, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement. Soviet dissidents, or as they preferred to be called “rights defenders,” navigated a complicated choreography between the movement, the police, and its supporters abroad. Their approach was a strategy of “civil obedience,” that is pressuring the Soviet government to follow its own laws. Though amounting to around a thousand active participants, their influence grew, especially as they were lionized in the Western media. In this conversation with the Eurasian Knot, Nathans recounts this history, highlighting the often-overlooked role of women, dissidents’ complex relationship with Soviet society, and what their experience can teach us today. Guest: Benjamin Nathans is the Alan Charles Kors Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of the multiple award-winning book, Beyond the Pale: The Jewish Encounter with Late Imperial Russia. His latest book is To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement published by Princeton University Press. Send us your sounds! https://euraknot.org/contact/  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/euraknot  Knotty News: https://eurasianknot.substack.com/ Website: https://euraknot.org/