Class Dismissed? New Elites and Old Enemies among the 'Best' Socialist Youth in the Komsomol, 1934-41.
This article focuses on important facets of recent literature in Russian and Eurasian studies-the impact of Stalinism on Soviet socialism, the role of class in the USSR, and youth. The immediate topic of the paper is membership policy in the Young Communist League (Komsomol) in the early period of S...
| Published in: | Russian Review Vol. 74; no. 1; pp. 97 - 117 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Jan2015
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=100240817&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 100240817 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00360341 RUR jtl: Russian Review issn: 00360341 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Jan2015 vid: 74 iid: 1 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 100240817 10.1111/russ.10758 ppf: 97 ppct: 20 formats: tig: atl: Class Dismissed? New Elites and Old Enemies among the 'Best' Socialist Youth in the Komsomol, 1934-41. aug: au: BERNSTEIN, SETH affil: Currently completing a history of the militarization and political socialization of Soviet youth under Stalin., su: Vsesoiuznyĭ leninskiĭ kommunisticheskiĭsoiuz molodezhi Social classes Youth Education policy Education Elite (Social sciences) White collar workers Stalinism History of the Soviet Union, 1925-1953 Soviet Union sug: subj: Soviet Union Vsesoiuznyĭ leninskiĭ kommunisticheskiĭsoiuz molodezhi Social classes Youth Education policy Education Elite (Social sciences) White collar workers Stalinism History of the Soviet Union, 1925-1953 ab: This article focuses on important facets of recent literature in Russian and Eurasian studies-the impact of Stalinism on Soviet socialism, the role of class in the USSR, and youth. The immediate topic of the paper is membership policy in the Young Communist League (Komsomol) in the early period of Soviet socialism. It argues that the introduction of meritocratic, supposedly class-blind membership policies in 1935-36 created significant tensions in Soviet political culture about the role of class and reinforced the power of class categories to distinguish elements of the population. The advent of socialism in 1934 was supposed to herald the gradual disappearance of class differences. Instead of a league of young proletarians, youth leaders claimed the Komsomol would become an organization of the 'best' Soviet youth of all classes. However, the uncertain definition of the 'best' youth reflected and facilitated the creation of a new social hierarchy in the Soviet Union. As young professionals and students joined the Soviet elite, they displaced proletarians as the ideal young subject. At the same time, Komsomol admissions reified old divides, in particular the marginal place of special settler youth in Soviet society. The article asserts that the Komsomol's membership policies in the 1930s reflected the broader nature of Stalinism, combining idealistic belief in progress with pragmatic, reactive and historically contingent practices. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2015 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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