Labour Reserve Research Articles

Проблема привлечения несовершеннолетних к восстановлению народного хозяйства СССР в первые послевоенные годы (на материалах Донбасса)

The purpose of the study is a comprehensive analysis of the problem of attracting minors to the restoration of the national economy of the USSR in the first post–war years (based on the material of the Ukrainian SSR). The article examines the main forms and methods of involving children and adolescents in the rehabilitation process, analyzes the material, household and regulatory support for the work of young workers. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the fact that for the first time, based on the material of the Ukrainian SSR, a complex of historical sources and scientific literature is analyzed and systematized in order to highlight the problem of attracting minors to the restoration of the national economy of the USSR in the first post-war years. As a result of the study, it was found that the large losses of the population following the Great Patriotic War and the need to implement state plans led to such a policy of the Soviet leadership, which was aimed at increasing the quantitative indicators of the attracted workforce, designed to restore the industrial potential of the state. Therefore, minors have become one of the most important labor reserves in the process of restoring the national economy. This program was implemented in two directions: in educational institutions of labor reserves and short-term training of underage workers directly at work. Despite the clear regulatory and legal regulation of the issue of attracting minors to work, this process often occurred with significant violations.

Корпус руководящих работников учебных заведений системы государственных трудовых резервов Кемеровской области: основные проблемы и их решение (1943–1959 гг.)

This article delves into the primary issues faced by the Kemerovo Regional Department of Labor Reserves when dealing with leadership personnel and the measures undertaken to overcome these challenges. Drawing primarily from unpublished archival documents such as orders and directives from the head of the Kemerovo Regional Department of Labor Reserves, as well as annual reports on the activities of vocational schools and factory training schools, the study examines the core problems related to leadership cadres in these educational institutions. Additionally, regional periodicals are utilized to shed light on various aspects of the activities of educational institutions within the labor reserve system. The author identifies key issues concerning leadership personnel in vocational schools and factory training schools, elucidates their causes, and evaluates the efforts aimed at enhancing the quality of leadership within these educational institutions. Despite these challenges, efforts to improve the quality of leadership within these educational institutions have been observed. Moving forward, continued attention to these issues will be essential to ensuring the effectiveness and success of the labor reserve system in the Kemerovo region.

Depletion through transnational social reproduction: guestworker migration and uneven development in the South Pacific

The recent expansion of regional guestworker migration schemes has altered the political economy of the South Pacific, creating a ‘permanent labour reserve’ (MacWilliam, 2022) for low-wage industries in rural Australia and New Zealand. Historical structures of uneven development, against which the ‘blackbirding’ of indentured Kanaka labourers took place more than a century prior, have again enabled a transnational labour (im)mobility regime in which Pasifika workers are rendered unfree and situated as a ‘fix’ for accumulation: limited to racialised and gendered labour practices, tied to employer-sponsors in remote locations, and without the rights afforded to other migrant workers. Taking the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme as the paradigmatic example of a resurgent guestworker model in the region, this article foregrounds overlooked processes of transnational social reproduction that emerge from the interplay of restrictive migration policies and exploitative Local Labour Control Regimes (LLCRs). Drawing on extensive in-depth interviews with migrant workers, their family members, and government staff from four participating Pacific Island Countries (PICs), it examines how the PALM scheme spatially and temporally reconfigures care practices, skills formation, and communal labour to progressively deplete (Rai et al, 2014) socially reproductive capacity within the South Pacific. The article concludes by suggesting that the strains the PALM scheme places on social reproduction within PICs is itself a fundamental driver of uneven development across the region.

ANALYSIS OF THE INTEGRAL EFFICIENCY OF MEDICAL AID FOR NEWBORN IN UKRAINE

Introduction. Preservation of life and quality of health of newborns is an urgent problem for formation of the future of society and mankind, defense capability, labor reserve and intellectual potential of the country. The fundamental basis for the formation and maintenance of health of newborns is the existence of eff ective health care systems. Objective information about the eff ectiveness of medical care of newborns and its dynamics is the basis for evaluation of achievement of planned results and development of necessary medical organizational technologies. The aim of the study is to analyze and evaluate the integrated eff ectiveness of medical care for newborns in Ukraine at the national and regional levels.Material and Methods. In order to carry out the research, statistical reporting materials on the activities of health care institutions providing medical care to mothers and newborns in all periods of their development for 2018, 2022 were used. The analysis of the integral eff ectiveness of medical care for newborns was carried out using a modifi ed model of the fi nal results of health care institutions. I with the calculations of coeffi cients of comprehensive assessment (CCA) and coeffi cients of achievement of normative values (CANV) of individual indicators with their gradation from high (0,8-1) to low (0,1-0,49) levels. The methods of system approach, bibliographic, statistical data processing and graphical representation are applied.Results. A comprehensive study of the integrated eff ectiveness of medical care for newborns at the national and regional levels conducted at the population level showed a suffi cient, above- average level of achievement of results CCA 0.75 in 2018 and 0.76 in 2022) without clear geological patterns in 2018 and signifi cant diff erences in 2022. – From a high level of CCA (0.82-0.94) in Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano- Frankivsk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Ternopil, Kharkiv and Khmelnytsky regions to a low level of CCA (0.41 and 0.35) in Donetsk and Kherson regions. The study of the main indicative indicators of the eff ectiveness of medical care for newborns in 2022 proved a suffi cient achievement. The normative values of coverage of newborns by screening programs, BCG vaccination, survival and mortality rates of newborns, neonatal transfer index (CANV =0.96, 0.82, 0.94, 0.82 and 0.76, respectively). The most problematic indicators of medical care for newborns with low and below- average levels of the coeffi cient of achievement of results, which are signifi cantly associated with the deterioration of the health of pregnant women and the course of childbirth, are the frequency of low weight, sick newborns (CANV = 0.48, 0.51) and the frequency of transmission of HIV infection from mother to child (CANV = 0.4), which is associated with the fullapplication of an eff ective 4-component strategy for prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child.Conclusions. A toolkit for integral assessment of the eff ectiveness of medical care for newborns as a measure of viability and health quality of the off spring at all stages of ontogenesis has been developed. makes it possible to ensure on a unifi ed basis objective assessment and monitoring of it as a whole, by region and by individual indicators with the subsequent development of measures to infl uence the identifi ed problems and their implementation in the activities of maternal and child health care. The model of integral eff ectiveness of medical care of newborns is a pilot project and has dynamic properties, therefore, in the future, when the normative values of indicators of comprehensive assessment are reached, their revision is planned.

Econometric analysis of the development of labor potential of agro-industrial complex of Kazakhstan

The goal is to reveal the basis for the formation of labor potential in agriculture, its condition and role in socio-economic development of rural areas. Consider theoretical foundations of economic and mathematical modeling of dynamics of the formation of human resources in agro-industrial complex of Kazakhstan. Methods - application of methodology for carrying out forecast calculations based on econometric model in the form of a system of joint equations, tracing the connection of labor market with changes in demographic structure of the country's rural population. The study used statistical data series provided by the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan. An overview of government support measures aimed at increasing labor reserves in rural areas is presented. As a result of scientific research, calculation forecast models were obtained, on the basis of which the values of main statistical indicators characterizing the dynamics of labor activity in rural areas of the republic for the long-term period were determined. Results - ways to overcome negative trends that slow down labor activity and form effective labor potential in rural areas are proposed: ensuring real growth in rural employment in all areas of activity; creation of additional high-performance jobs; improvement of social infrastructure. Conclusions - based on forecast calculations of indicators reflecting the directions of development of human capital in agricultural sector, opportunities for increasing GDP of products (services) of agriculture, forestry and fisheries have been identified. Studying the problems of rural labor economics makes it possible to note imbalances in the supply and demand of qualified specialists. In this regard, there is a need for active labor policy, stimulation of job search, training in professional skills, acquisition of a new profession.

Problems of the development of Ukraine’s industry and itspersonnel supply in the conditions of war

Abstract The article examines the problems of industrial development of Ukraine during the period of independence and in the conditions of a full-scale war. A review of publications on the problems of industry by domestic researchers is carried out. It is stated that as part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had a developed industry, which was fully integrated into the Union economy. The rupture of production chains, the loss of markets and the lack of an effective industrial policy during the period of independence led to deindustrialization and technological decline of Ukraine's industrial potential, which became a significant factor in unleashing armed aggression. The negative impact of the war on the state of domestic industry is studied: the destruction, closure and relocation of many enterprises, the curtailment of business and the primitivization of production led to a reduction in the volume of products sold by almost a third. Analysis of the dynamics of production in 2023 showed a slow and unstable recovery of industrial production, which is hindered by a number of factors. It is noted that a growing constraint is the lack of qualified personnel. The main threats to the staffing of the industrial sector of Ukraine in the wartime and post-war period are systematized: physical and migration losses of the population, brain drain, migration policy of the EU countries to create a reserve of skilled labor for their economies, low level of wages at domestic enterprises, destruction of the education system and inconsistency of vocational training with the needs of the labor market, weak participation of business in interaction with the system of vocational training and in improving personnel qualifications. At the present stage, the main tasks in the field of staffing of industry are: increasing the level of safety of living and working conditions in Ukraine; improvement of the organizational and legal principles of employment based on the principles of decent work; development of effective mechanisms and incentives for the return of forced external migrants; involvement in the sphere of economic activity of the passive part of the able-bodied population, including disabled people; use of diverse and flexible forms of work organization; modernization and development of the system of vocational and engineering education. Keywords industry, industrial complex of Ukraine, war risks for industry, industrial recovery, human resources of industry, human losses from the war, labor shortage

A Polycentric World Will Only Be Possible by the Intervention of the “Sixth Great Power”

The intervention of popular forces—what Marx termed the “sixth” great power among the five European “great powers” of his time—remains fundamental to the current systemic transition. This article seeks to clarify the evolving character of the contradiction between imperialism and the working people of the Third World. Drawing on Samir Amin’s notion of “polycentrism,” it is argued that the current transition, marked by the protracted decline of the capitalist system, still presupposes “delinking” from the worldwide law of value and the forging of sovereign development paths on a popular basis. Such a transition can only be fulfilled by the intervention of workers and peasants in the peripheries of the system. Key elements of the current systemic rivalry are discussed to illuminate the challenges, with special focus on the expansion of labor reserves and the character of peripheral social formations today.

The Role of Reading in Shaping the Worldview of Students in the USSR State Labor Reserves

The Role of Reading in Shaping the Worldview of Students in the USSR State Labor Reserves

ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL WORK IN THE SYSTEM OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE LOWER VOLGA REGION)

The article considers the system of educational work during the Great Patriotic War in the schools of factory training, craft and railway schools, specialized craft schools of the Lower Volga region of the labor reserve system. The author highlights the directions of the educational work in educational institutions of the Lower Volga region in 1941–1945, the means of educating students of the vocational education system, the educational functions of employees and management bodies of various levels.

Дефіцит робочої сили в Україні: причини та шляхи подолання

The publication examines and analyzes the main factors of deterioration of the situation in the labor market of Ukraine and focuses on the problem of labor force shortage in conditions of imbalance and uncertainty in the labor market. The subject of the research is the tendency of transition from the excess supply of labor force along with high unemployment, which has formed in the labor market of Ukraine, to the high level of unsatisfied demand for vacancies, which numerous experts assess as a shortage of labor force. The aim of the article is to determine the nature of the problem, causes, degree of acuteness, prospects for development and measures to overcome. The scientific novelty lies in the substantiation of the shortage of labor force as a local phenomenon that has the character of a tendency that is constantly present in the Ukrainian labor market in various quantitative values, individual professional niches and territories. From the methodological point of view, the demand for labor force is analyzed in correlation with the dynamics of tension in the labor market, and in empirical terms, the basis for its study was the information selected according to special criteria from various organizations that are constantly engaged in the recruitment of personnel in the labor market or comparative analyses of labor demand and supply. A comprehensive study of the labor market of Ukraine is carried out and numerous evidences are provided that the labor force shortage, which has been formed for several years under the influence of objective and subjective reasons and exacerbated during the wartime, is threatening, while the country has considerable untapped labor reserves. A set of signs of the real presence of a shortage of labor force has been identified and substantiated. The possibilities and actual ways to overcome the imbalances between the demand for labor force and its supply are shown. In the context of identifying the causes of the labor force shortage, the sources of possible coverage of the personnel shortage have been identified. It is concluded that the key factors in covering the personnel shortage are the reserve sources of labor, considered by the authors according to three aspects: factors of formation, professional structure, and efficiency of use.

Аналіз інтегральної ефективності медичної допомоги матерям і дітям

Effective formation and support of the health of mothers and children, which determine the fundamental basis of the formation of the health of the future society and humanity, defense capability, labor reserve and intellectual potential of the country, possible only in the presence of effective health care systems. Purpose - to conduct an analysis of the integral efficiency of medical care for mothers and children based on the definition of the list and the weighted contribution of individual indicators of structural efficiency to the integral coefficient. Materials and methods. Based on the data of general and medical statistics of Ukraine, a structured assessment of the integrated effectiveness of medical care for mothers and children was carried out by individual components. The methods of systematic approach, structural-logical, epidemiological analysis, mathematical, and modeling are used. Results. The data of the analysis of the activities of the maternal and child health service of Ukraine in 2021 indicate a sufficient, above average level of achievement of the planned results - the comprehensive assessment ratio (CAR) is 0.79, with fluctuations by component from high (0.89 for the structure results) to above average (0.76 for the process indicators and 0.78 for the performance indicators). According to the geospatial analysis, the leaders in integrated maternal and child health service performance with high level of CAR (≥0.80), indicating sufficient effectiveness of maternal and child health care, are Ternopil, Chernivtsi, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Sumy Oblasts and the city of Kyiv. Donetsk and Kherson Oblasts became outsiders in terms of integrated effectiveness of medical care for mothers and children with an average level of CAR (0.61-0.69), requiring management decisions on their more efficient operation. The most problematic indicative indicators of maternal and child health services with a low and below-average level of the coefficient of achievement of results are the level of maternal mortality CAR (ratio of achievement of the standard value - RASV) = 0.00), the frequency of cesarean section (RASV=0.37), the frequency of low birth weight newborns (RASV=0.50), neonatal transfer index (RASV=0.60). Conclusions. The developed toolkit for integral assessment of the effectiveness of medical care for mothers and children allows for objective assessment and monitoring of the overall system, by region and by individual components on a unified basis, with the development of measures to address the identified problems and their implementation in the activities of the maternal and child health service. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.

Руководители системы трудовых резервов Кемеровской области (1943–1959 гг.)

The article touches upon the issue of three heads of the Kemerovo Regional Department of Labor Reserves: M.G. Brondspitz, N.M. Korenev, P.I. Bushlanov. The major part of the sources used in the preparation of the work are unpublished archival documents: department head’s personnel files, kept in the fonds of the Party bodies, staff affairs of one of them, materials of the Regional Council of Labor Deputies and the awarding group of its executive committee. In addition, the author established the main facts of working careers of the department heads, showed the work experience and the level of qualification of each of them by the time of their appointment to this position. Conclusions dwells upon the fact that the Party-Soviet leaders evaluated the activity of one or another head of the department and how it influenced the further labor path of this employee.

Labor Supply in the Labor Market of the Northern Region of Resource Type: the Case of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Studying the labor market of Yakutia is impossible without its two components: demand and supply for labor. The study of the dynamics of labor supply is based on a generalization of materials from the population census 2010 Russian Census and 2020 Russian Census, as well as official statistics. The analysis is based primarily on the quantification of labor supply. The results of the study showed insufficient attention to the study of the labor market of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) at the municipal level. Calculations of the level of labor force participation as an indicator characterizing labor supply revealed a significant decrease during the period between the last two censuses in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) at the municipal level. The factors that have the greatest impact on this situation were selected, which also require a more detailed study. Among the factors we can note decreased production volumes, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, an aging population, and the increasing influence of intraregional migration. Indirectly, the decrease in the labor force participation rate confirms the fall in median per capita income and modal average per capita income for 2015-2021 in comparable prices by 2010, which more accurately demonstrate the low standard of living of the majority of the region’s population, in contrast to average per capita cash income. At the same time, the reduction in the labor force imbalance was undoubtedly influenced by the decrease in the unemployment rate. In the future, it is necessary to focus on a more detailed description of the labor reserve, as well as on the formation of high-quality labor costs at the municipal level. In addition, the study of imbalances in the labor market is impossible without the demand for the labor force, its other component.

Behavioral practices as a marker of the socio-cultural portrait of students of the USSR State Labor Reserves (1940s-50s)

The creation of the USSR state labor reserves in 1940 was accompanied by the formation of a specific socio-cultural environment, which remains practically unexplored to this day.The purpose of the article is to determine the structure and composition of behavioral practices as an element of the official and informal portrait of students of the state labor reserves. The methodological basis of the research was the system of social actions by T. Parsons, the concepts of variability of everyday practices by A. Ludtke and the dichotomy "norm/anomaly" in Soviet everyday life by N.B. Lebina. The work used a synthesis of macro- and micro-approaches of historical research aimed at identifying behavioral practices of an individual, based on the analysis of various sources: legal acts, administrative and other official documents, personal documents. The results of the study are: 1) identification and classification of students' behavioral practices based on the structure of social action (on individual acts, procedures and strategies of behavior), on the content of activity, frequency of application and attitude to public institutions; 2) development and description of a structural and functional model of behavioral practice containing control and correction functions (on the example of the practice of non-attendance of classes by students); 3) identification and substantiation of the features of behavioral practices from the point of view of markers of the socio-cultural portrait of students of labor reserves (interconnectedness, dynamism, dependence on the type of educational institution). The results of the research can be used in the study of everyday life and socio-cultural portrait of students in the Soviet period.

Looking at the production chains from the uneven and combined development perspective: the Egyptian Qualified Industrial Zones Agreement

In the neoliberal era, the export-oriented industrialisation strategy has been promoted for its potential to transform the industry into an engine of growth for the rest of the economy. For this purpose, all developing economies are encouraged to join supply chains in order to upgrade their position in the hierarchical division of labour in the world economy. On the other hand, this has always been a thorny issue for the Southern economies. This paper investigates the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs) Agreement concluded between Egypt, Israel and the United States in 2004, critically analysing the outputs of the export-oriented industrialisation model. In its analysis, the study relies on dialogues between the production chain literature and the uneven and combined development perspective. In this context, it claims that the factors endogenous to global capitalism, like low wages and massive labour reserves, play an important role in determining Egypt’s role in the Agreement. Likewise, participating in production chains does have a further polarising effect on global inequalities. Accordingly, the Agreement charges Egypt in line with its position in the global economy, and the Egyptian textile industry articulates to the world market as a source of cheap labour.

The crisis of neo-liberal capitalism

Neo-liberal capitalism brings about a de-segmentation of the world economy whereby wages in the “north” remain subdued by being linked to the massive labor reserves of the “south”, even while these reserves themselves swell despite relocation of activities from the “north” to the “south”. At the same time labor productivity rises everywhere; the net result is a rise in the share of surplus in total output in the world as a whole, which creates an ex ante tendency towards over-production. This tendency, kept in check for a while by asset-price bubbles in the U.S., has now manifested itself in the form of a secular stagnation of the world economy which cannot be overcomewithin the neo-liberal regime itself and which is now producing a world-wide tendency towards fascism.

Sources for the reconstruction of the "parade" and "non-parade" portraits of students of the state labor reserves (1904–1950s)

The socio-cultural appearance of students in the system of state labor reserves has not been the subject of special study by specialists. At the same time, the creation in 1940 of the system of state labor reserves of the USSR was accompanied by the formation of a specific social group, the study of the socio-cultural characteristics of which will complement the already existing ideas about the working youth of the Soviet period. The subject of the study are documents as historical sources. The object is students of the system of state labor reserves as a separate social group. The purpose of the article is to present a corpus of official documents and documents of personal origin, which are historical sources for the reconstruction of stable, integral images of students, forming the basis of "ceremonial" and "non–parade" portraits as a set of characteristics (markers) aimed at highlighting socio-demographic features, cultural values and mental characteristics, behavioral practices and appearance of representatives of this social group. The methodological basis of the research is the methods of source analysis and synthesis, which allow to reveal the content component of documents for the study of the declared topic. The results of the study are: 1) the allocation of six types of historical sources from the official records of the central and regional labor reserves management bodies to fiction, allowing to reconstruct the "parade" and "non-parade" portraits of students of the state labor reserves system as a separate social group; 2) disclosure of the information potential of these six types of historical sources, taking into account their source-study features for the reconstruction of the socio-cultural appearance of students.

After ‘Siziphile’ Land Occupations: Youth Land Occupiers, Livelihoods and the Complex Realities of a Worker-Peasantry in North-Western Zimbabwe

This research tries to reach an understanding of the relationship between youth, land, and livelihoods through an analysis of incidents of land self-provisioning by youth in a former labour reserve. Research was conducted in three villages over a 10-year period following what became known as ‘siziphile’ land occupations. The research contributes to contemporary debates on the youth employment, youth land struggles and livelihoods. This is done through the conceptual understanding of worker-peasantry dynamics. The fact that nearly all land occupants had abandoned the occupied land 10 years after the occupations attests to the complexity of issues around land and livelihoods in a worker-peasantry context. The conclusion emerging from this research is a contestation over the ‘land the economy and economy is land’ narrative, and argues that youth land struggles are not necessarily struggles for livelihoods, particularly among worker-peasants.

Washing and White Goods

On the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in northwest South Australia, an environmental health worker salvages discarded washing machines to reinstall in remote community homes. Tracking the fate of washing machines and householder well-being, this essay traces the militarized genealogies running contemporary settler colonial occupation in Australia. We are particularly interested in how the colonizing project decants militarized operations into the intimacies of domestic inhabitation. Where once this project facilitated a gendered labor reserve, today it enables the continued pathologization of Indigenous residents, such that renewed interferences and dispossessions may be authorized at policy convenience. This essay is a part of the Roundtable called “The Housewife’s Secret Arsenal” (henceforth HSA); a collection of eight object-oriented engagements focusing on particular material instantiations of domesticated war. The title of this roundtable is deliberately tongue-in-cheek reminding readers of the many ways that militarisms can be invisible to their users yet persistent in the form of mundane household items that aid in the labor of homemaking. Juxtaposing the deliberately stereotyped “housewife” with the theater of war raises questions about the quiet migration of these objects and technologies from battlefield to kitchen, or bathroom, or garden. Gathered together as an “arsenal,” their uncanny proximity to one another becomes a key critical tool in asking how war comes to find itself at home in our lives.

The experience of creating a database "The photographic images of students of educational institutions of the State labor reserves of the Sverdlovsk region (1940s-50s)"

The purpose of the database is to reconstruct the "ceremonial" and "non-official" portraits of students of state labor reserves (using the example of visual images of students of educational institutions of the Sverdlovsk region in the 1940s and 50s). The analysis of the information contained in the database will in the future allow answering a number of research questions and identify important characteristics of the visual image and social portrait of students: types of activities, including various aspects of work and educational activities, "bodily activity" of students; acts of human interaction and non-verbal communication (gestures, facial expressions, body poses, etc.); objects of material culture used; everyday stereotypes of behavior reconstructed through a series of photographs; "atypical experience", description of deviant groups of students, irregular clothes, atypical behavior. When creating the database, the concepts of visual images in L.N. Mazur's historical research, D. Zeitlin's digitalization of visual anthropology, G. Kreidlin's nonverbal semiotics, and K. Girtz's "dense description" were taken into account. The results of the study are: 1) development and description of the database structure that allows taking into account the features of visual sources aimed at reconstructing the "ceremonial" and "non-official" portraits of students of educational institutions of the Sverdlovsk region in the 1940s and 50s through a detailed description of the poses, gestures, visual behavior, spatial interaction, clothes and shoes of the persons depicted in the photo; 2) primary analysis of 145 photographs from the official albums of 4 educational institutions devoted to the description of the results of their participation in the All-Union Socialist Competition in 1943-1945; 3) more accurate identification and systematization of external behavioral practices of students based on the database; 4) demonstration of the possibilities of detailed description of images by means of the database to identify individual sides of the "non-official portrait" of students. The results of the study can be used in the study of everyday life and socio-cultural portrait of students in the Soviet period.