The project aims to visualize and analyze the social landscape of Soviet dissent through a handmade database of individuals who signed protest petitions between the 1960s and 1970s.
The database, created from archival sources and transcribed manually, includes the names, professions (e.g., “student,” “professor,” “writer”), gender, and city of origin of each signatory.
The project’s primary goal is to construct a broader, more inclusive spectrum of Soviet dissidents, going beyond well-known figures to highlight lesser-known participants.
Using digital tools, the project will map connections between individuals based on shared petitions, geographic proximity, professional affiliation, and other relational data. An interactive network visualization will allow users to explore patterns of solidarity and dissent within and across Soviet cities.
Where possible, each profile will include hyperlinks to open-source materials—such as memoirs, interviews, or archival documents—available online. The project not only serves as a resource for scholars and students of Soviet history but also contributes to preserving the memory of grassroots resistance in authoritarian contexts. Future developments may include integrating the database into existing digital archives and enabling public contributions to expand its scope.