Matthew J. Payne

Matthew J. Payne is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Emory University. His research focuses on modern Russian and Soviet history, with special emphasis on Soviet social history, Kazakhstan's Soviet nationalities policy, labor dynamics, and the intersection of state modernization with ethnicity and class.

• Education: B.A. (1985), M.A. (1988), Ph.D. (1995) from the University of Chicago.

His work explores the Soviet Union’s industrialization drive, particularly through projects like the Turksib railway, and examines the consequences of forced settlement policies on Kazakh nomads. He has published extensively on topics such as labor policies, ethnic relations, and cultural propaganda. Payne is currently developing research on Soviet Steppe: Modernization and Genocide in Kazakhstan, 1916–1941, which investigates state-driven modernization’s genocidal implications.

He has advised doctoral graduates at institutions including Georgia Southern University and UC Berkeley. His teaching emphasizes Russian/Soviet themes but aims to expand into modern Central Asian history.