Author Description
Stalinist Society offers a fresh analytical overview of the complex social formation ruled over by Stalin and his henchmen from the late 1920s to the early 1950s. Drawing on declassified archival materials, interviews with former Soviet citizens, old and new memoirs, and personal diaries, as well as the best of sixty years of scholarship, this book offers a non-reductionist account of social upheaval and social cohesion in a society marred by violence. Combining the perspectives from above and from below, the book integrates recent writing on everyday life, culture and entertainment, ideology and politics, terror and welfare, consumption and economics. Utilizing the latest archival research on the evolution of Soviet society during and after World War II, this study also integrates the entire history of Stalinism from the late 1920s to the dictator's death in 1953. Breaking radically with current scholarly consensus, Mark Edele shows that it was not ideology, terror, or state control which held this society together, but the harsh realities of making a living in a chaotic economy which the rulers claimed to plan and control, but which in fact they could only manage haphazardly.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
What forces maintained social cohesion within the Soviet Union during the Stalinist era from 1928 to 1953? Mark Edele, a historian specializing in Soviet history, challenges the traditional scholarly emphasis on ideology and state terror as the primary mechanisms of social stability. By synthesizing declassified archival data, personal diaries, and memoirs, Edele argues that the fundamental driver of social cohesion was the pragmatic necessity of navigating a chaotic, mismanaged economy rather than top-down political control.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of Soviet social structures from the late 1920s through the death of Stalin in 1953.
- Integration of perspectives from both state leadership and the everyday experiences of citizens.
- Examination of the interplay between terror, welfare, consumption, and economic management.
Scope Limits
- The text focuses primarily on the social and economic mechanisms of the period rather than a detailed military history of World War II.
- The analysis is bounded by the specific timeframe of 1928 to 1953.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Experts recognize this work as a significant synthesis that incorporates decades of post-Soviet archival research to reframe the understanding of Stalinist society. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which makes it a substantial resource for scholars and students of 20th-century history.
Page Count:
382
Publication Date:
2011-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0191613673
ISBN-13:
9780191613678
History
European History
20th Century
Soviet History
Social History