State Socialism Research Articles

One of the founders of russian dentistry Pavel Georgievich Dauge: very personal…

The paper provides information about the personal life of an outstanding Russian dentist, founder of the journal “Stomatology”, Honored Worker of Culture of the Latvian SSR, Doctor of Medical Sciences Pavel Georgievich Dauge. The life path and professional activities of P.G. Dauge — Soviet seaman-order bearer Lev Mikhailovich Reisner, as well as members of the family, in which he was brought up. Particular attention is paid to the description of the life of P.G. Dauge and his son — L.M. Reisner during the period of mass political repressions in the USSR, the official ideological basis of which was the so-called concept of “intensifying the class struggle as the construction of socialism is completed,” as well as the “vital”, from the point of view of defending the socialist system, the preemptive destruction of the remnants of the “bourgeois elements” carried out in the 30—50 s. XX century by the organs of the NKVD.

Gendering grassrootscapes: The sociospatial relations of lower working-class women dwelling in the socialist Workers’ New Villages in post-reform Shanghai

ABSTRACT Women of the lower working-class in Shanghai are seemingly invisible in Chinese urban scholarship. Drawing on fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2021 in Shanghai, this article sheds light on the social lives of lower working-class women dwelling in the Workers’ New Villages in the wake of rapid urbanization. Mounting a threefold conceptual exploration of grassroots urbanism, genderscapes, and guanxi (social connectivity), the article develops and coins the term grassrootscapes to explicate grassroots women’s sociospatial relations with housing units, the community, and the city. Probing these multi-layered horizons to trace women’s life trajectories and gendered experiences, the article discerns how sociospatial dynamics of grassrootscapes are produced under a socialist system, in which women’s day-to-day suffering is a by-product of market reforms. Socialist workers’ housing is employed as a case study to show how the conceptualization of grassrootscapes can be a useful tool to examine the social transformation brought about by the drastic changes in urban policies in globalizing cities.

Ownership and Commodity of Labour Force in Socialist Society

In the original sense, labour, as a kind of production and living activity, is only a way of existence accompanying human progress. It is not produced for sale but appears for completely different reasons. At the same time, the activity of labour cannot be separated from other parts of life; it can neither be stored nor circulated. However, in a capitalist society, labour is commodified, monetized, and privatized. The fictional concept of "labour is a commodity" is widely spread and deeply rooted in people's hearts without restriction. Transforming "labour" into "labour force" is a long and painful historical process involving complex means such as natural violence, political power, and economic temptation. The author attempts to begin with the distribution of labour products, study the problem of labour commercialization in the socialist market economy, and investigate where there is agreement on globalization concerns. To summarize, under the socialist system, when laborers have a specific property, the labor force can still become a commodity, but this just implies that the labor force can become a commodity, not that it must become a commodity.

Referencing the Public by Populist and Non-populist Parties in the Slovene Parliament

The present moment raises many questions about the workings and resilience of parliamentary democracy in Western-type democracies, including the former socialist states of the East Central European region, where various forms of populism and illiberal democracy are taking shape. Among these, Slovenia is taken as a case study, since it is not only a former socialist state, but was also for a long time acknowledged as a post-socialist success story. Focusing on the central state institution in systems of parliamentary democracy, i.e. the parliament, and its members (MPs) this paper considers speech as performed during parliamentary sessions by MPs from populist and non-populist political parties between the years 1992 and 2018, the period of a fully democratic Slovene national parliament. It combines the methodological approaches of cultural history with corpus linguistics in order to map any possible differences in populist and non-populist discourse of MPs. Special attention is given to situations where MPs mentioned the public, thus testing the hypothesis that populist MPs engage more with the public as a part of their populist political style.

The Categorization of the Operetta Dance Genre in the Táncművészet Magazine between 1952 and 1956

The aim of the Hungarian state socialist regime to renew the operetta art manifested in the transformation of operetta-playing via the setting of its main cultural objectives. Once private theatre organizations were disbanded in 1949, newly written and composed operetta pieces had to be adjusted to meet the expectations cultivated by those responsible for the drawing up of the contemporary cultural policies, not only in terms of theme, subject, and dramaturgy but also, as productions designed for stage performance. At that time, questions regarding the realm of operetta dance and choreography arose as significant professional issues. The remarkable case of operetta dance was brought to the notice of the larger professional community by an article written by choreographer Ágnes Roboz, which was published in 1952 in the Táncművészet magazine (1951). Due to its professional nature, this magazine served as a suitable platform for the discussion of the operetta dance genre. The present study reflects upon its publications from the period between 1952 and 1956. Throughout these years, 16 articles discussing the categorization of operettas were published. I aimed to analyze these primary sources according to their genre before presenting, juxtaposing, and contextualizing them. Thus, my objective is to gain a thorough understanding and comprehensive overview of professional discussions and arguments over 1950s operetta dances and choreographies.

Musik als Mittel der ›Propaganda‹ in der Filmberichterstattung 1950–1965 (West-Ost)

Although the newsreel was only shown as a part of the interludes in the cinemas and thus represented a marginal part of the cinema evening, the producers and state institutions were convinced of its effect. Under the National Socialists, the newsreel served purely as a propaganda tool and the background music was designed to achieve this effect. But agitation was not the concern of the post-war newsreel – also in consideration of the generation of the audience that still hear the intrusive dramatising sounds of the Nazi newsreel ›in their ears‹. In the post-war period, the message had to be conveyed more subtly. Music in perfect harmony with montage and commentary lent itself to underlining political convictions or criticism and conveying ironic allusions. Unmelodic phrases and ›off-key‹ tones were enough, for example, to suggest that an action was illegitimate. Music was not only used to accompany images, but also to document, for example, performances by international jazz greats in the socialist state of the GDR. With music, the Iron Curtain seemed to become ›permeable‹.

The changing world of labour in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe before and after the 1989/90 transition

ABSTRACTThis study examines the social and economic changes experienced by the former class of workers in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe following the 1989–1990 shift from socialism to democracy. After introducing what common traits characterized the region’s workers during the late period of state socialism, I will analyze in detail the post-communist transition, the processes of both de- and post-industrialization and the various impacts of globalization, including its subsequent realignment of social classes. Questions such as the transformed content of physical labour, the changes involved in identifying as a labourer and the work or survival strategies employed by certain groups of workers will also be briefly addressed.

Chinese Feminists Face Paradoxical State Policies

Struggles for women’s rights, and the state’s responses, have shifted over the history of the People’s Republic of China. In an initial period of socialist state feminism, the Chinese Communist Party celebrated “women’s liberation” and offered child-friendly services to facilitate women’s entry into the workforce. During the era of post-socialist economic modernization, services were curtailed, shifting family responsibilities back to women and reinforcing patriarchal norms. Most recently, a form of made-in-China feminism has emerged, characterized by everyday resistance to prevailing gender expectations. Now, the state is suppressing feminist activists while adopting some of their proposals into law and policy.

Utilitarian heritage

While modern heritage is often discussed as a critical resource for sustainable urban and social development, the future of such housing is often limited not by technical but rather by cultural, historical, or socio-economic constraints. In cities with a socialist past, mass housing provided individual apartments for a number of Soviet families and tended to create particular spatial qualities. However, with the collapse of the socialist system, attitudes towards such housing began to transform. This paper is a reflection on the range of perceptions of this heritage, attitudes towards it, and difficulties in shaping contextually informed renewal policy approaches. To what extent do traumatic experiences of the past and the rational use of resources in the present mutually influence each other? This article introduces the controversial debate based on the cases of three former socialist countries: Moldova, Armenia, and Uzbekistan. On the one hand, the ubiquity of mass housing in post-socialist countries fostered tolerance for such a typology. On the other hand, large housing estates are a constant reminder of the traumatic experience of the socialist experiment. This essay discusses the present and the future of large residential estates based on reports, policies, media, and collected expert interviews on approaches to working with mass housing areas. Together, the three contributions and joint reflections attempt to add to the debate about the past, present, and future of middle-class mass housing in various social, cultural, and political conditions.

What drives innovativeness in higher education? Evidence from two emerging markets

PurposeProsperity and growth of emerging economies rely heavily on the innovativeness of higher education institutions (HEIs) and their ability to provide employable graduates with entrepreneurial competencies and flexibility in the assessment of their progress in gaining knowledge. The innovativeness of the higher education system is not always reflected through optimal educational content, innovative study programs, skills improvement, assessment methods, etc. The study aims to analyze and evaluate how selected internal factors, reflected in organizational support for innovativeness of HEIs, and external factors reflected in government support for innovativeness of HEIs determine the innovativeness of HEIs, as one of the key determinants of economic prosperity.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyzed three facets of higher education innovativeness, i.e. graduates' employability, entrepreneurial competencies and new ways of assessment. The sample included 664 students from the University of Kragujevac, Serbia, and the University of Maribor, Slovenia. The authors applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine relations.FindingsThe results clearly show that in order to become the driver of development in emerging economies, universities must act in different directions, focusing on different organizational drivers of innovativeness, such as academic autonomy of teachers, student participation in curricula design, enhancing new ideas and compensation system, provide resources etc. Organizational support and government for innovativeness of HEIs affect students' entrepreneurial and social skills, creative thinking, leadership, interactive competencies and knowledge-skill-attitude. Assessment tasks and associated learning should be redesigned to enable students to be involved in the evaluation of their work.Originality/valueThe study strives to reduce the research gap identified in the field of researching the drivers of innovativeness in higher education and offers implications for emerging markets regarding various factors that determine the innovativeness of HEIs and consequently contribute to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Originality derives from the fact that even though the authors have explored HEIs in Serbia and Slovenia, the results are fully transferrable to other former socialist states, considering their similar socio-economic and educational background. Results of this research complement the understanding and provide new knowledge for further development of innovativeness in HE.

The 1974 Constitution of SFR Yugoslavia: certain content aspects

he aim of the work is to study and analyze the main provisions of the 1974 Constitutionof SFR Yugoslavia.The methodological basis of the study is a system of methods, scientific approaches, techniques and principles that were aimed at achieving the study objectives. Universal, general scientific and special legal methods were used. Thus, for example, the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction allowed to generalize the acquired knowledge, which became the basis of scientific intelligence.Results. The authors focus on Constitution role in the legal acts hierarchy of the former Yugoslavia.The study identifies the structure and provisions content of the Basic Law. As part of the analysis of this document, the authors delineate the spheres of competence between the federation and its constituent entities, and also pay attention to state apparatus functioning and the powers of individual governmental institutions.Conclusions. The article outlines a scheme for analyzing the 1974 SFRY Constitution. It should be emphasized that the Constitution made serious changes to all spheres of life in Yugoslav society.The SFRY Constitution was at the top of Yugoslav legal acts hierarchy. The constitutions of the union republics, union laws and all other regulations and joint acts had to comply with it, but in case of non-compliance, they continued to be in force until the CCJ decision. The working class as the main component of the socialist system was the SFRY law source. As a result of the 1974 Constitution adoption, Yugoslavia acquired a lot of confederal system features, transforming from a partial union state into a union of states. The vertical links between the subjects were more formal, defining Yugoslavia as a voluntary union of peoples. The legislators’ attempts to ensure the principle of equality among peoples and nations in Yugoslavia led to the spread of centrifugal tendencies and sentiments in the union republics, creating the basis for the possibility of national entities independent functioning and, as a result, led to the collapse of the union state.

Wrocławski okres w życiu naukowo-dydaktycznym profesora Jana Gwiazdomorskiego jako przejaw opresji Ministerstwa Oświaty

The end of World War II tore Poland from one totalitarianism (Nazism) and pushed it into the clutches of another, equally dangerous — communism. The new order and the new ideology took over Polish reality in its entirety. Unfortunately, this also applied to science and broadly understood university life. The new authorities regulated the personnel policy almost at whim, removing from the university space those individuals considered dangerous and defiant towards the socialist system. Another, milder manifestation of disciplining scholars who did not agree to the introduction of Marxism at universities was the forced transfer of professors to other universities, sometimes hundreds of kilometers away.
 The article concerns one of the most outstanding Polish lawyers of the 20th century — Prof. Jan Gwiazdomorski, and more specifically, his official relocation from the Jagiellonian University to work at the University of Wrocław. This transfer was a form of repression applied by the authorities to the scholar who did not identify himself with the new, post-war Polish political system. On the other hand, the transfer weakened the scientific community of the Jagiellonian University, which also did not hold favorable views towards socialist reality.
 The article presents hitherto unknown information relating to the Wrocław period in the scientific and didactic career of this luminary of Polish civil law. The source basis of the work are archival materials — a query of Jan Gwiazdomarski’s personal files and minutes of the Faculty Councils located in the Archives of the University of Wrocław. The author, referring to the discussed phenomenon, uses a historical and retrospective approach (he examines the problem from a present-day perspective) and indicates the legal grounds for transferring the scholar to the University of Wrocław.

Manoeuvring Across Academia in National Socialist Germany: The Life and Work of Devendra Nath Bannerjea

The article investigates the possibilities and limits for the academic Devendra Nath Bannerjea to find employment in National Socialist Germany by producing—what he imagined to be—useful knowledge for the state. Bannerjea, who came from the Punjab in northwestern India via London, Geneva and Rome to Berlin, defies neat categorization. He was neither a National Socialist scholar, nor can he be solely understood as an Indian anticolonial nationalist. In the more than four decades he spent in Europe, Bannerjea appeared in many different roles—as an anticolonial rebel, false diplomat, researcher, and endeavouring professor. Despite his employment in different educational institutions, his publications, and his political and academic networks, he remained a second row intellectual and political activist. His activities led to repeated conflicts, first with British and later Nazi authorities, because of his radical ideas and claims to intellectual egalitarianism on the one hand, and, even more often, because of his ‘creative’ efforts to improve his precarious living conditions on the other.The article explores the relationship between knowledge production and National Socialist state politics through the lens of Bannerjea’s life, focussing on the exchange of resources between Bannerjea and the National Socialist apparatus. Against the backdrop of the social circumstances of his livelihood, it investigates the knowledge produced by Bannerjea and the rewards he received from the National Socialist regime in return.

THE SECULAR STATE: THE VIETNAMESE EXPERIENCE

In state atheism, the issue of secularism is frequently deemed a matter not of “separating religion from the state”, but “separating religion from society” or “rejecting religion from society”. Case studies help in effectively evaluating the extent to which this philosophy can be realized. In this regard, the present article is about a case study on the construction of the secular state in contemporary socialist Vietnamese society. The article is mainly based on the provisions of Vietnam’s legal documents on belief and religion. Analyses of Vietnamese, Russian, and Western scholars on the atheistic state and the secular state have been duly conducted. In addition, the placement of state-religious relations within the cultural framework has created opportunities for studying, visualizing, and illustrating the secular state in its various aspects and in a detailed manner. The author has adopted socio-cultural approaches, which employs logical, historical and legal research methods to analyse, synthesize, compare and clarify the following three issues: (1) the formation and transformation of the secular state in Vietnam; (2) the relationship between the atheistic state and the secular state in Vietnam; and (3) solutions to the problems posed by state secularism in the country. The results indicate that from its establishment in 1945 to the present day, the socialist state in Vietnam has issued legal documents aimed at building a “cooperation” model of a secular state. The model faced certain challenges from 1960 to 1980 due to the influence of other socialist countries, but since the 1986 reform of Vietnam it has increasingly evolved characteristics of a “cooperation” model, which has contributed remarkably in resolving the issue of conflict between the atheist state and the secular state. The harmony between the two types of state, the secular and theatheistic in Vietnam is related to the traditional and cultural elements of Vietnamese society. The cooperation model of a secular state is regarded as the key to building state-religious relations in Vietnam, while a culture of tolerance is fundamental to its construction.

Comparing Neoliberalism and Neo-Marxism from an Economic Perspective

Marxism and neoliberalism are two distinct philosophical schools of thought with fundamental distinctions. Marxism takes a scientific view of the world, whereas neoliberalism is a theory of free market regulation in a new economic environment without government intervention. The conflict between neo-Marxism and neoliberalism revolves around the theory and practice of the socialist market economy. There is a contrast between socialism and capitalism because, as a specific economic operation mechanism, the market economy must be combined with a certain fundamental social economic system and subordinated to this system, serving to consolidate and develop this basic system. The socialist market economy is not a combination of the socialist system and the market economy but rather an organic whole that integrates the two; therefore, it cannot replicate the Western market economy system. The socialist market economy must combine planning and the market, maximizing the benefits of both without emphasizing one over the other. Neoliberalism and Marxism took distinct stances and provided different answers to the question of how to define freedom. Although there are many similar perspectives on some issues, there are substantial disparities in fundamental concepts. The key to a solid socialist political structure is an accurate comprehension of the underlying difference between these two schools of thought regarding freedom.

On Environmental Protection and Sustainable Utilization of Land Resources

In today’s era, with the rapid development of social economy and the rapid increase of urban population, the demand for land resources is becoming increasingly strong. However, as is well known, the land resources on Earth are limited. If we want to achieve long-term development, we must take the path of sustainable development and use land resources sustainably. At the same time, the sustainable use of land resources and environmental protection are also inseparable, and the two are complementary. At present, China should rely on the superiority of the socialist system, mobilize various forces, coordinate planning, highlight key points, and implement step by step, while following natural and economic laws, to achieve the goals of environmental improvement and sustainable land resource utilization as soon as possible.

Only daughters caring for their aging mothers in Ufa, Russia

Russia is not the only country in the world that relies heavily on informal caregiving, but what makes Russia unique is the number of single-parent one-child families. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition from state socialism to market capitalism, little has changed in terms of the social protection of older adults. Unaffordable home care services, low pensions, bifurcation of the formerly free healthcare into state and private sectors, the invisibility of people with disabilities, and the absence of quality nursing homes, have left adult children in Russia no choice but to bear the full burden of caregiving for their aging parents completely alone. Given the scarcity of research that examines informal caregiving in Russia in general and in provincial cities in particular, this study addresses this gap by centering on previously unheard voices of a unique group of women: only children of single mothers from Ufa, a metropolitan city in the Ural Mountains. Twenty middle-aged (M = 40.75, SD = 3.43), college-educated women participated in a two-hour, semi-structured interview. Inductive thematic analysis revealed three themes: incongruence with the microenvironment, aging in the “cement box,” and distrust of outsiders. The findings suggest material and cultural constraints that female caregivers face as they negotiate the mothers’ discordance with the microenvironment of Khrushchev-era apartments.

Have the new round of agricultural land system reform improved farmers' agricultural inputs in China?

China's modern socialist system completed the registration and certification of farmland ownership and continued to deepen the "separation of powers" reform at the end of 2020. This facilitated the transfer of land management rights and impacted investment in agricultural production. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the new round of agricultural land system reform on farmers' farm inputs in China's socialist system. The study uses data from the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) and employs various econometric approaches, including the Propensity Score Matching-Difference in Differences (PSM-DID) method to approach the objectives of the study. The results indicate that the new round of agricultural land system reform significantly promotes the increase of farmers' inputs in agriculture, including the area of land transferred in and self-owned, income from agriculture, number of agricultural labors, and specialized agricultural production. The study suggests that the reform enhances the positive impact of land transferred-in on farmers' farm inputs. The impact of agricultural land confirmation and "three rights separation" is positive in eastern, central, and western China. The findings suggest that public authorities should continue to improve the efficiency of land allocation and large-scale operation, cultivate new agricultural operation bodies, and improve the level of agricultural production specialization.

Specificity of the formation of modern social housing in Ukraine as a consequence of the russian invasion

The Soviet Union, among other states, was distinguished by the construction of housing at a great pace and volume, which was included in the programs of future social development for every 5 years. It was believed that the scale of Soviet construction should testify to the advantages of the Soviet system of government (and in fact the ruling political regime was formed by a one-party system) and the socialist system of management. Housing construction was carried out for the people under conditions of equality and equal distribution by state bodies of living space per person. The liberation of Ukraine from the Russian Communist Party dictate led to a prolonged Russian invasion of Ukrainian land due to the Russian Federation's inadmissibility of such "arbitrariness" on the part of Ukraine as choosing a pro-European path and democratization. With the acquisition of Independence in Ukraine, there was a reassessment of the values previously declared by the communist authorities, when the dictatorship of the proletariat and the hegemony of the poorest sections of the population were proclaimed. Mass housing construction, as an industry that had to serve as communist propaganda, actually met the minimum needs of the people. This is especially evident when comparing the Soviet heritage and the modern construction of social housing in other countries. The state of war in our country has given us an understanding that the problem of creating social housing is growing in our difficult conditions, covers a huge number of the population that lost their homes as a result of hostilities and takes various forms that need to be identified.

Tourism through the Iron Curtain. Travelling from West to East Germany

ABSTRACT In the early 1970s, East Germany opened its borders to visitors from West Germany and West Berlin. Soon after, East German authorities recorded several million entries from non-socialist countries each year. This article examines the intentions and obstacles to establishing a successful tourism business across the inner-German border. The author shows that the regime’s attempts to develop the GDR into an attractive travel destination were shaped by (I) poor starting conditions, which could not be overcome for financial reasons; (II) bureaucratic hurdles resulting from a mistrust of its own people as well as of West Germans; (III) inefficient structures, which could not be corrected for political reasons; (IV) the constant desire to impress West Germany; and (V) the need for foreign currency. However, while other socialist states gave priority to economic considerations, in the GDR political hopes, aspirations or concerns were uppermost in the mind of policymakers when it came to tourism from the Federal Republic. The article therefore argues that travelling from West to East Germany must be understood as ‘Cold War tourism,’ as the conflict greatly informed the conditions and experience of travel.