“Cooperators, Businessmen, Racketeers…” New Economic Elites in Soviet Satirical Magazinesduring the Perestroika Period

Abstract

The article focuses on the image of new economic elites in “Crocodile” and “Pepper,” the most popular Soviet satirical magazines. The content of these texts and images is analyzed, and the question of whom the satirists considered the economic elite is discussed. The paper demonstrates that the image of cooperators and private traders in these two magazines differed significantly. Competition between the nomenklatura and cooperators was presented in “Crocodile” as a struggle between old and new economic elites. At the same time, in “Pepper,” cooperators and private traders were portrayed through negative connotations, as accomplices of the nomenklatura, speculators, and former criminals. Various explanations for this difference are explored, and the paper investigates the contexts in which the concepts of “cooperator,” “businessman,” or “racketeer,” are used. Particular attention is paid to the fact that in public consciousness, Soviet citizens began to be perceived first of all as consumers, and socialism was seen as the basis for meeting their demand.