Socialist Property Research Articles

Рец. на кн.: Xenia A. Cherkaev. Gleaning for Communism: The Soviet Socialist Household in Theory and Practice. Ithaca, NY; L.: Cornell University Press, 2023. XV+189 p.

The book Gleaning for Communism: The Soviet Socialist Household in Theory and Practice by Xenia A. Cherkaev analyzes the concept of socialist property and its impact on grassroots economic practices. By analyzing how the “Soviet” appears in the narratives of workers and employees of former Soviet enterprises recorded during fieldwork in St Petersburg in the 2010s, Cherkaev offers us an anthropological view of Soviet everyday life through political economy and ethics. According to Cherkaev, the major periods of Soviet history (War Communism, NEP, Stalinism, the Thaw, and Perestroika) can be viewed through the prism of an ethical understanding of socialist property embedded in changing legislation. To understand how Soviet society emerged and how the Soviet state suddenly vanished into thin air, she examines the evolution of these regimes from 1917 to the early 1990s. At the same time, Cherkaev makes an important contribution to the history of ideas and intellectual history as she consistently traces the emergence, development, transformation, and decline of the concept of “socialist property” (“socialist economy”) from the early post-revolutionary years to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Cherkaev’s work will be an important contribution to scholarship on late-Soviet social and economic history.

The fight against misappropriation of socialist property, bribery and speculation in the early 1980s by the materials of the Smolensk region

The fight against misappropriation of socialist property, bribery and speculation in the early 1980s by the materials of the Smolensk region

Sovietinės gamyklos kasdienybė: „Elfos“ radijo imtuvų gamyklos atvejis (XX a. 7–9 dešimtmečiais)

This study takes a closer look at how Soviet workers lived and adapted to the changes, reconciling personal ambitions with the economic and ideological plan. The everyday life is examined in terms of the worker’s relationship to the factory and its role in the worker’s life. This study analyses the effects of the deficit economy, speculation and the plundering of socialist property, which contributed to everyday life. This study reveals what the realisation of socialist ideals, plans and visions looked like through the eyes of an ordinary worker at the “Elfa” radio factory, focusing on the everyday life of the workers, revealing the real experiences of the people who worked in the factory.

Трансформация отношений собственности в России на рубеже 1980–1990-х гг.: предпосылки, содержание, последствия

The transformation of property relations became one of the most significant components of radical changes in Russia at the end of the twentieth century. Its main form was the privatization of state property, which has no analogues in terms of historical scale and content. In this article, the transformation of property relations in Russia at the turn of the 1980s–1990s is reviewed within the problem of “socialist public property” and its evolution in the late Soviet period. Necessity to update the historical approach to the study of the transformation of property relations in Russia is associated with the need for acquiring a deeper understanding of this process’ historical background. The article also provides the solution for the problem of characterizing the content of denationalization and privatization processes at the turn of the 1980s–1990s and its consequences in terms of an individual’s changing place in the system of property relations. We draw the conclusion that problems of the Soviet society, such as: a) contradiction between “government” and “public” property categories; b) inequality in terms of the disposal and usage of property objects between members of the partyeconomic nomenclature and most population, as well as between different groups of the nomenclature; c) exclusion of the majority of citizens from, formally, “national” but, in practice, state property, subsequently had a significant impact on processes of changing property relations. It predetermined an active struggle between different administration levels and so-called “spontaneous” privatization already in the late 1980s. Mass privatization of the 1990s itself was, in general, a natural result of the process of public property “governmentalization”, and it was aimed at consolidating the party-economic elite’s de facto control over production and subsequent redistribution of power in society. Large groups of working people, who lost their formal status of “quasi-owners” in relation to former objects of socialist property, continued to remain only hired workers. This, in particular, caused the absence of serious social cataclysms during rapid privatization processes of the early 1990s. As the information basis, a wide range of regulatory and legal acts of authorities and administrations of various levels, state statistics data, archival documents, periodical materials, results of public opinion polls, and data from literary sources were used.

Combating economic crime in Ukraine in 1946–1949

The author examines the topical and insufficiently researched in historical and legal science issue of the causes and manifestations of economic crime in Ukraine in the first post-war years (1946–1949) and the main aspects of police activity in combating these types of crimes. The departments for combating theft of socialist property and speculation were responsible for combating economic crime. In 1947, the Department for combating the theft of socialist property of the Main Police Department was reorganised into the Administration. Taking advantage of the consumer goods shortage, which reached its peak in the first post-war years (1946–1949), and the circumstances created by the famine of 1946–1947, criminals stole grain, robbed food and industrial warehouses, and resold goods at inflated prices (speculation). The situation with economic crime was particularly difficult in early 1947, when the sowing campaign was underway. The most common crimes were the following: 1) maliciously delaying the repair of agricultural machinery, allegedly due to the lack of spare parts and specialists; 2) theft of grain during its transportation and sowing by persons responsible for this (weighers, field crew leaders, guards); 3) theft of seeds and fuel by security guards; 4) theft and embezzlement of seeds by officials of collective and state farms and subsidiary farms; 5) theft of seed by reducing the seeding rate and theft of fuel due to lack of control over its consumption; 6) theft of seeds by employees of storage facilities with their subsequent resale at markets at speculative prices; 7) creation of surplus seeds by weighing, moistening, writing off for drying, and increasing waste during sorting. The monetary reform in December 1947 and the abolition of the ration card system reduced the overall number of crimes related to the theft of socialist property to a certain extent, as these measures eliminated such crimes as speculation in food and commodity cards and the production of counterfeit cards and food coupons. In order to improve the situation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs demanded that work on the theft of socialist property be intensified on the ground, and that more active agent work be carried out in this area.

CIVIL LAW AND CIVIL PROPERTY IN THE LIBERTARIAN THEORY OF LAW BY V.S. NERSESYANTS

The article is devoted to the study of the methodology of the doctrine of civilization of the Russian jurist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.S. Nersesyants - the author of the libertarian legal theory of law. Civilization is a post-socialist system - a transitional period from socialist property to civil and all other types of property. Its main concepts are civil law and civil property. Their origin and semantic meaning are investigated with the help of a comparative historical analysis of the concept of property rights in the most authoritative theories of the XIX-XX centuries. The legal understanding of Russian thinkers is considered in the context of a pan-European one. It is noted that the basic concepts of civilization represent a new stage of scientific and philosophical understanding of property rights. The author of this article comes to the conclusions: 1) libertarian-legal theory is the result of a dialectical synthesis of classical and non-classical types of legal understanding; 2) in the methodology of V.S. Nersesyants, there is a clear distinction between legal and socio-political meanings in the understanding of property rights. Such differentiation of meanings was absent in previous theories of the twentieth century. Individualized civil law has a legal nature. It stems from the principle of formal equality. V.S. Nersesyants theoretically develops this principle and interprets civil law as equality of opportunities for all citizens in gaining actual freedom. The analysis of the concept of “civil property” is made, which allows it to be attributed to socio-political categories: the origins of civil property are in the nationalization of socio-economic resources, it is octroized by the state, and recognized by it as inalienable. V. S. Nersesyants considers it as an alternative to the bourgeois one in the “transition period”, especially for those who are not ready for some reasons, including ideological ones, to accept for themselves the strict rules of the capitalist market game.

Хозяйствование на земле в условиях новых потребительских запросов российского социума периода 1960–1980-х годов

This article highlights the issue of the formation of consumer demands which had been entrenched in the everyday life and worldview of the masses during the 1950s – 1980s. It is noted that behavioural innovations were associated with the transformation of the Russian public’s ideas about managing the land. It is established here that the modernization of ideals and action strategies was justified by the socio-economic situation of the time as well as marked by the transition from collectivism to individualism, possessiveness, hoarding, abuse and wealth extraction from land resources for personal gain. Further, it is indicated that the level of theft varied depending on the position held; however, this phenomenon occurred among both workers and managers. The author comes to the conclusion that the formation of new standards of Russian reality throughout the entire period under study was accompanied by processes associated with lower motivation to work, unwillingness to contribute to the success of farms, as well as limited material resources, growing monetary differentiation and mental separation between the top management and the workers. Deformations of the traditional agrarian economic mechanism caused changes in self-awareness and value bases of social relations. The reorganization of the rural way of life and the entire social life, of ideological constructs of being and the psychology of citizens, together with the economic dynamics of Soviet society, resulted in class conflicts. The evolution of ideas about the right to use socialist property changed the attitude to things (orientation towards consumerism) and generated a desire for a comfortable life, which, in turn, led to the gradual establishment of private property morality.

Commodifying Havana? Private accumulation, assetisation and marketisation in the Cuban metropolis

In the Global South, cities are increasingly restructuring themselves around the financial pressures of international capital markets. Therefore, it is sometimes hypothesised that financial innovations created in the Global North are moving ‘South’. However, even though transnational capital is finding its way into Southern regions and other areas of reform, the road towards urban commodification is bumpy and uneven. In Havana, Cuba, the government recently legalised free market home sales, contributing to an unprecedented transnational property boom where many homes were acquired by Cuban émigrés and nationals and converted into restaurants, hotels or short-term rentals. Nevertheless, due to endogenous and exogenous market restraints, the pandemic and complex interactions between state authorities and property-owning private entrepreneurs, Cuban-style commodification remains an incomplete and contested process. Even so, non-debt bearing assetisation pressures are clearly redefining Havana’s socialist property market. While the state encourages foreign direct investment into state-owned hotels and joint ventures, transnational remittances contribute to the commodification of Havana’s private housing stock.

The state of police staffing in the Ukrainian SSR in the mid-1950s.

A topical and insufficiently studied issue in historical and legal science is the question of structural changes in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and their impact on the state of staffing of the police operating in the Ukrainian SSR in the first period after the change of power in the USSR, in the context of partial liberalization of the Soviet totalitarian regime (1954–1955). An analysis of police activity during this period shows that the level of crime prevention was correlated with the level of qualification of police officers. There were significant shortcomings in the work of regional and city police departments in the selection, placement and promotion of police management personnel as this issue was not sufficiently controlled by the republic’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. It has been emphasized that in the mid-1950s, the staffing of the police of the Ukrainian SSR was at a low level. There was a significant turnover of personnel. This was due to mistakes in the selection of personnel to the ranks of this law enforcement body, insufficient verification of their business and moral qualities, and insufficient attractiveness of police service due to low material support and poor living conditions. Professional training for the police was clearly insufficient, and in 1953 a number of regional police schools were closed. The general educational level of police officers was also low, a significant number of them did not even have an incomplete secondary education. At the beginning of 1955, more than 16 % of the police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR, 7.5 % of the employees of the Department for Combating the Theft of Socialist Property had a secondary education and more than 60 % had incomplete secondary education, and 50 % of the heads of city police stations did not even have a secondary education. In 1955, the state of staffing became the subject of a special discussion at the Board of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR. Specific shortcomings were identified in the work of personnel departments both in the republican MIA and in the regional departments of the republic. Many of them did not have an effective personnel reserve, which led to significant delays in staffing certain management positions. The resolution identified measures to improve the personnel situation, but they cannot be called sufficiently well-thought-out, however, this resolution of the board played a certain positive role in improving the level of work with personnel in the police of the republic.

Vladik Nersesyants’s Philosophical and Law Theory

Firstly, this article considers the main aspects of the libertarian legal approach to the understanding of law developed by Soviet and Russian philosopher of law Vladik S. Nersesyants. Secondly, the article shows the contributions of this philosophical and law doctrine to the development of the world philosophy of law and its importance for the improvement of Russian legal theory and practice. Thirdly, the article substantiates the thesis that the libertarian approach to the understanding of law is a logical rationalisation of the jusnaturalist tradition of law understanding as an expression of equality in human relations as reinterpreted by Nersesyants by looking at the efforts in rationalizing the jusnaturalist doctrine reflected in the history of the development of philosophical and law thought from the beginning of the Modern Era. Fourthly, the article pays special attention to the analysis of the concept of civilism as a new post-socialist social system developed by Vladik Nersesyants on the basis of the libertarian approach to the understanding of law. Therefore, the article reveals the content of this concept related to the law approach to the desocialisation of the former socialist property that creates the basis for the formation of a new system of law.

The problem of the legal status of state bodies: the history of civil thought

The State has been a participant in economic relations since immemorial times, but it has always been expressed through a system of its organs and organizations. The modern problem of the legal status of state bodies remains relevant even after the extreme reform of civil legislation, since many aspects of such a status remain unclear to the science of civil law. One of the reasons is that the issue is at the intersection of private and public law. The author, using the comparative historical method of research, on the basis of a systematic approach, tries to establish the continuity of approaches to determining the civil status of state bodies at different stages of the development of the state and law. Thus, the author comes to the conclusion that the pre-revolutionary and Soviet stage of the development of civili law thought is characterized by the consideration of state bodies as integral parts of the entire state, in which they play the role of representatives of the latter. At the same time, with the justification in Soviet law of the formal separation of the property of state bodies from the treasury in the civil legislation of the early stage of modern Russian law, individual state bodies are given the independent status of legal entities. However, this trend is not caused either historically or formally legally. As the author shows, it is caused by an attempt to shift the Soviet system of management of socialist property to the modern conditions of a free economy, when the state acts as an equal participant in the market. In conclusion of his research, the author comes to the conclusion that the problem of the participation of state bodies in civil legal relations is rather characteristic of the modern stage of the development of civil law and is due to the desire to limit the civil liability of the state for the actions of its bodies.

Legal foundations of the organization and activities of the Ukrainian SSR police in 1949–1950s

The main aspects of the structure of the police in 1949–1950 and the main directions of its activity have been studied. The changes in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Ukrainian SSR guided by the police in the performance of their law enforcement functions have been highlighted. It has been noted that the structure of local police bodies in the regions of Ukraine in the post-war period was of the same type, but could differ depending on operational conditions in the number of regular units. The most important change in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during this period was the transfer of the police to the Ministry of State Security in October 1949. The activities of the police were controlled and regulated by decisions and resolutions of the Communist Party of Ukraine. First of all, it concerned the selection of personnel and education of police personnel. The central governing body of the police was the Main Directorate of the Police. The police departments of the Union republics, regions, large cities, district departments and branches, military units of the police were subordinate to it. At the same time, the heads of these police bodies held the positions of deputy people’s commissars of internal affairs of the republics, heads of regional NKVD (People’s Commissary of Internal Affairs) departments, heads of departments and NKVD departments of cities and districts.
 The causes of crime in the specified period have been analyzed. Considerable attention has been paid to the work of the police in combating crime, which was carried out in the following areas: 1) prevention and detection of crimes by structural units of the police (criminal investigation and fight against theft of socialist property and speculation); 2) conducting inquiries and performing a number of investigative functions. Factors that did not allow the police to fully perform their functions in the fight against crime were: 1) insufficient use of scientific and technical means; 2) lack of an extensive agent-informant network; 3) lack of professional personnel; 4) violation of “socialist legality” during inquiry and investigation; 5) involvement of operatives of criminal investigation and employees of anti-theft of socialist property and speculation of the BRSVS (the department for combating embezzlement of socialist property and speculation) to perform functions that are not specific to them. The practical activity of police bodies for the protection of public order was determined by the following directions: 1) administrative activity (patrol in populated areas, compliance with the rules of the passport and permit system, regulation of street traffic); 2) involvement of state institutions, public organizations and citizens in cooperation; 3) creation of voluntary formations - police assistance brigades and public order protection groups.

Бесхозяйственность и хищения колхозно-кооперативной собственности в колхозах Башкирии в конце 1960-х – первой половине 1980-х гг. как системное явление

Introduction. The late 1960s and the first half of the 1980s saw a significant growth of the tendency for mismanagement and misappropriation of socialist property in the kolkhozes (collective farms) of Bashkiria. Such forms of antisocial and criminal behavior of the citizens appears to be a relevant subject. The aim of the present article is to analyze the issues of mismanagement and theft of socialist property in the kolkhozes of Bashkiria in the late 1960s — the first half of the 1980s. In this aspect, several lines of research have been identified: i) to analyze the forms of illegal use of funds and of material values of the farms, examining the phenomena in their dynamics; ii) to examine the work of the control and auditing bodies in the farms; and iii) to analyze a complex of measures taken by the party, state, and other supervisory bodies to counter the growth of economic crimes in kolkhozes. Sources. The archival documents from the National Archive of the Republic of Bashkortostan help to draw a detailed picture of the dynamics in the growth of mismanagement and stealing of collective farm property in Bashkiria, as well as of measures taken to counter these negative phenomena. Methods. The thematic chronological research method proved to be relevant for the analysis and identification of the issues related to the preservation of social property in the farms of Bashkiria, as well as of measures taken by the authorities to stop the facts of misappropriation and mismanagement. The principles of objectivity and historicism applied to a concrete historical situation made it possible to draw a non-partisan picture of the period in question. Results. The research has shown that during the period under study criminal mismanagement in the region took place in many collective farms, accompanied by numerous thefts of socialist property and this happened despite measures taken by the authorities. These crimes were often committed by representatives of the economic nomenclature, who had unlimited access to resources. Conclusion. Between the late 1960s and mid-1980s, the thefts of socialist property and mismanagement events in the collective farms of Bashkiria acquired an intractable systemic character, fostering antisocial sentiments in the rural section and society at large.

Организационно-правовые аспекты деятельности органов БХСС по противодействию хищениям государственной собственности в Ленинграде и области (1961—1991)

The article analyzes some of the approaches, forms and methods of work of bodies for combating theft of socialist property (BHSS) of Leningrad and the region on the prevention and fight against crimes against socialist property in the last three decades of the existence of the USSR. It also examines various aspects of the legal regulation of organizational forms of participation in this process of units of the BHSS and the population of the region.

The Labor Movement in the "PANCHITO Gómez Toro" Sugar Mill, Formerly "San Isidro" in Quemado De Güines

The article deals with the organization and development of the labor movement in the central sugar factory Panchito Gomez Toro, formerly Isidro, since its foundation in 1932, where the maximum sugar leader Jesus Menendez Larrondo intervenes. Its workers and members were faithful to the principles of solidarity and unity of this union to this day, allowing them to conquer their rights and demand from the employers the possibility of constantly improving their economic, labor and social living conditions. As vanguards in the struggles of this sector, the workers of contributed to the July 26 movement of the territory many exponents in which the Commander of the Revolution Victor Bordon Machado stood out. With the revolutionary triumph on January 1, 1959 and its nationalization on October 21, 1960, where the industry passed into the hands of the workers as social socialist property, they have achieved the distinction of National Vanguards on several occasions, an expression of that roots of struggle. With empirical methods it was possible to evaluate descriptive informative results of the main actions of the San Isidro workers in the middle of the 20th century, they were also useful methods that allowed to deepen through the analysis the results that appeared in the witness documents that appear in the central's records. Finally, the article contributes to the registry of the heritage of local history on the municipal sugar industry and the struggles of its workers for economic and social reasons.

General features of anti-corruption policy in Ukraine

The article examines the history of anti-corruption policy in Ukraine and the current state of the legislative framework. Various approaches to legal regulations and the etymology of anti-corruption law are considered. Great emphasis is placed on the study of the institutional framework of our state, namely, the study of the functioning of such state structures as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, Supreme Anti-Corruption Court. The analysis of the historical retrospective, taking into account political events for a better legal analysis. Based on the recommended amount of work, the state of anti-corruption policy is considered fragmentarily. In order to systematize the analysis of the work, the anti-corruption system of Ukraine was divided into 3 historical stages: the Soviet effect, the neoliberal tendency and the general system. The initial stages of the Ukrainian legal system are characterized by the dominance of the Soviet Union. It was during this period that corruption, as a phenomenon, is gaining new dimensions. Among the main methods of fighting corruption, the Soviet Union used methods of cruel punishment. In the USSR, the death penalty was introduced in 1950 for the theft of socialist property. Soon it was not possible to control power, and during the Brezhnev era, an alternative economy appeared due to which bribery increased. Soviet leaders often used corruption for political ends to eliminate their direct political rivals. The Soviet government tried to ignore corruption and not regulate crime within the legal framework. The period of independent Ukraine was characterized by the country’s movement choice. The national doctrine boiled down to neutrality between Europe and the post-Soviet countries, which created a common legal system. The key moment was Ukraine’s accession to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 1996. The liberalization of legislation to the European model soon began. Revolutionary changes were adopted, and in 2014 the construction of anti-corruption bodies began. . Key words: normative legal act, anti-corruption legislation, legal doctrine, institutional framework.

Financial Situation of Soviet Citizens in the Mirror of Public Opinion of 1960-1980s (according to Letters to the Central Authorities and the Media)

Based on the archival sources first introduced into the scientific community, the article highlights the question of the material well-being of Soviet citizens in estimates of the mass consciousness of the 1960s and 1980s. Within the framework of the problems, the well-being of citizens, which are the drivers of the socio-economic development of the state, are considered. In addition, the mental side of the processes is affected. The question is raised of social stratification, the beginning of the formation of a new structure of society as the realities of the second half of the 20th century. It is noted that in the public environment, vigilant monitoring of the excessive enrichment of persons in leadership positions was conducted. Based on the analysis of the material database of the Russian State Archive of Recent History, the author concludes that the trend of the time was the increase in the number of illegal acquisitions in three areas: housing, motor transport, personal household plots. A problem related to modernization processes in the spiritual sphere of life in Soviet society is raised. It is shown that there were changes in the behavioral stereotypes of social classes in the development of the right to use socialist property in this area, in relation to things and the desire for a comfortable life in society. It is concluded that the global consequence of these phenomena is the affirmation of private property morality.

Deyateljnostj sovetskoy milicii po ohrane socialisticheskoy sobstvennosti v period 1931-1941 gg.

Deyateljnostj sovetskoy milicii po ohrane socialisticheskoy sobstvennosti v period 1931-1941 gg.

Пионерская «легкая кавалерия»

“Light horsemen,” a Komsomol initiative for performing functions of social control over the work of state machinery, played an important part in the life of Soviet society in late 1920s–1950s. It encompassed various social spheres and strata. The article draws on the documents from the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History to offer a first inquiry into the “light horsemen.” Pioneer “horsemen” helped to prevent train accidents and tampering on the national railways. At postal enterprises, they checked the quality and promptness of letters and newspapers delivery to the addressees, hanged mailboxes, protected telegraph and telephone wires from damage. “Horsemen” helped the half-educated to write their letters. 1933-1935 saw the high point of the young “horsemen” movement; rural pioneers were the most active. Pioneer units took an active part in inspection and repair of agricultural machinery, protection of horses and young animals, grain sorting, inspection of mineral fertilizers storage, protection of crops from birds. When involving pioneers and schoolchildren in the movement, the authorities tried to cultivate their sense of inviolable socialist property. The idea was ever enforced that only enemies can convert a part of the kolkhoz harvest. The cult of pioneer heroes included idealization of pioneers’ delations. Pioneers protecting the harvest were virtually a part of punitive institution. They were actively drawn into searching for “class enemies.” The author explains the decrease of pioneers’ interest in the tasks of the “light horsemen” by condescending and even neglectful attitude to their work on the ground. Pioneers’ tutors from party and Komsomol felt that their active participation in economic and political campaigns distracts them from their studies, which were more important at their age; children’s emotional reaction to what was going on went hand in hand with incompetence and inability to deal with elementary problems.

Walking into Democratic Citizenship: Anti-Corruption Protests in Romania’s Capital

Walking into Democratic Citizenship: Anti-Corruption Protests in Romania’s Capital