Issue 1 (74)
| ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND SOVIET EGALITARIANISM: THE IDEAS AND IDEALS FROM STALIN TO KHRUSHCHEV | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2022 | Number | 1(74) |
| Pages | 63-71 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 94(470)“19”:338 | BBK | 63.3(2)6+65.03(2)6 |
| Authors | Vodichev Evgeny G. |
Topic | INCOME INEQUALITY OF RUSSIA’S POPULATION IN THE 20TH CENTURY |
| Summary | The problem of economic inequality is of great importance for understanding the causes of socioeconomic and political collisions in society. At the same time, the use of traditional conceptual approaches in the study of the differentiation of Soviet society has just limited possibilities. In a society where property relations are absent, economic categories used to analyze inequality (such as income, share in total wealth, consumption opportunities, etc.) require specific interpretations that differ from their market connotations. The paper aims at determining the key factors of real socio-economic inequality and the balance of “the ideas and ideals” of economic egalitarianism and inequality in the doctrine of Stalinism and in the ideologemes of the “Khrushchev Thaw”. It explains differentiation in the income of the population. The socio-economic basis of “classical Stalinism” is interpreted as a system of status hierarchy. The specifics of Khrushchev’s socioeconomic policy are presented through the prism of egalitarianism and consumerism. The place of these ideologemes in the main doctrinal document of the era — the 3rd programme of the CPSU — is shown as well. It is concluded that within the framework of the existing system, the model of “consumer society” came into conflict with the traditional model of administrative economy and society stratified on non-economic grounds, and obviously lost to the latter. Differentiation of income, which demonstrated a decreasing trend, did not mean at all a decrease in inequality in consumption, which was determined by the place in the hierarchy of status. | ||
| Keywords | economic inequality, Stalinism, Khrushchev, 3rd CPSU programme, Soviet socio-economic policy, egalitarianism, consumerism, hierarchy of statuses | ||
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