ABSTRACT
In essence, the specific function of the Russian intellectual was to present an accurate depiction of everyday life. Its role within the general complex of Soviet social relations, however, was to make clear the nature of the dominant system, its political economy and ideological justification, regardless of the recriminations, its flaws and hypocrisy. The perception of a figure belonging to the intelligentsia during the Soviet era is generally referred to as someone who was clever or highly educated, or had a specific view of the world. The struggle for human rights continued but on an atomised scale, with political activists such as Vladimir Bukovsky, exposing the continued abuses of the regime. In the Soviet Union, the opportunities, particularly in the natural sciences, were available to the most well connected students. The education syllabus served the perceived requirements of the State. Philosophical ideas from France in particular were available in the former Soviet Union through a nexus of subtle unofficial networks.
