The Work Situation: Pressures from Above

Abstract

So far, the relationship between the technical intelligentsia and the Soviet state has been explored by examining the political attack on professional neutrality and by looking at some of the sources and consequences of recruitment to the expanding managerial and technical positions. Underlying the changes described was a major shift in the pattern of state domination. This transformation was an effect of the struggle to establish a particular form of political control over production in the course of industrialisation. To consider in greater depth the impact of this shift on the technical intelligentsia, attention will now be focused more closely on the work situation of enterprise managers and technical staff. Their position was defined by the emergence of a system of directive or ‘ command’ planning and by the activities of a variety of agencies which were instructed to assist in carrying out plans and overcoming obstacles in the way of industrial expansion.KeywordsWork SituationTechnical PersonnelEnterprise LevelChief EngineerParty OrganisationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.