The Rise and Fall of the The Soviet Economy
The Rise and Fall of the The Soviet Economy

Author: Philip Hanson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-09-11

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1317885376

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Why did the Soviet economic system fall apart? Did the economy simply overreach itself through military spending? Was it the centrally-planned character of Soviet socialism that was at fault? Or did a potentially viable mechanism come apart in Gorbachev's clumsy hands? Does its failure mean that true socialism is never economically viable? The economic dimension is at the very heart of the Russian story in the twentieth century. Economic issues were the cornerstone of soviet ideology and the soviet system, and economic issues brought the whole system crashing down in 1989-91. This book is a record of what happened, and it is also an analysis of the failure of Soviet economics as a concept.

The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy
The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy

Author: Chris Miller

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2016-10-13

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1469630184

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For half a century the Soviet economy was inefficient but stable. In the late 1980s, to the surprise of nearly everyone, it suddenly collapsed. Why did this happen? And what role did Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's economic reforms play in the country's dissolution? In this groundbreaking study, Chris Miller shows that Gorbachev and his allies tried to learn from the great success story of transitions from socialism to capitalism, Deng Xiaoping's China. Why, then, were efforts to revitalize Soviet socialism so much less successful than in China? Making use of never-before-studied documents from the Soviet politburo and other archives, Miller argues that the difference between the Soviet Union and China--and the ultimate cause of the Soviet collapse--was not economics but politics. The Soviet government was divided by bitter conflict, and Gorbachev, the ostensible Soviet autocrat, was unable to outmaneuver the interest groups that were threatened by his economic reforms. Miller's analysis settles long-standing debates about the politics and economics of perestroika, transforming our understanding of the causes of the Soviet Union's rapid demise.

Adventures in the Soviet Imaginary
Adventures in the Soviet Imaginary

Author: Robert Bird

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780943056401

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Two of the most striking manifestations of Soviet image culture were the children's book and the poster. This text plots the development of this new image culture alongside the formation of new social and cultural identities.

The Piratization of Russia
The Piratization of Russia

Author: Marshall I. Goldman

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2003-04-10

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1134376847

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In 1991, a small group of Russians emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union and enjoyed one of the greatest transfers of wealth ever seen, claiming ownership of some of the most valuable petroleum, natural gas and metal deposits in the world. By 1997, five of those individuals were on Forbes Magazine's list of the world's richest billionaires.

Consumption and Social Change in a Post-Soviet Middle Class
Consumption and Social Change in a Post-Soviet Middle Class

Author: Jennifer Patico

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13:

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What happens when your once-dignified profession no longer supports a dignified lifestyle? In 1990s St. Petersburg, teachers had to find out the hard way. Although the institutions and ideologies of Soviet life situated them as "cultured" consumers, contemporary processes of marketization and privatization left them unable to attain what they now considered to be respectable material standards of living. In this fascinating new ethnographic study, Patico examines the various ways in which teachers have adjusted their activities and interactions as consumers, demonstrating how this has led to dramatic shifts in their assessments of their own lives and of the society around them. Consumption and Social Change in a Post-Soviet Middle Class presents a much-needed look at the lives of ordinary people in Russia today, in the process contributing both to postsocialist studies of social change and to broader anthropological theorizations of consumption and value.

Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?: Understanding Historical Change
Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?: Understanding Historical Change

Author: Robert Strayer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-06-16

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1315503964

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Taking the Soviet collapse - the most cataclysmic event of the recent past - as a case study, this text engages students in the exercise of historical analysis, interpretation and explanation. In exploring the question posed by the title, the author introduces and applies such organizing concepts as great power conflict, imperial decline, revolution, ethnic conflict, colonialism, economic development, totalitarian ideology, and transition to democracy in a most accessible way. Questions and controversies, and extracts from documentary and literary sources, anchor the text at key points. This book is intended for use in history and political science courses on the Soviet Union or more generally on the 20th century.

The Development Century
The Development Century

Author: Stephen J. Macekura

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-09-06

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 1316515885

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Offers cutting-edge perspectives on how international development has shaped the global history of the modern world.