Why were Soviet social institutions immune to technological innovation
Acknowledgments
means of productionSoviet social institutionstechnological innovationstate capitalismthe essence of socialismlabor market during socialismthe Soviet bureaucracy (nomenclature)the system of privilegesunemploymentwork motivation
How to Cite
Ermilov A.P. Why were Soviet social institutions immune to technological innovation. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal. 2017. Vol. 23. No. 1. P. 111-125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/socjour.2017.23.1.5004 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The Soviet economic system of the 1960–1980’s can be characterized as state capitalism. However, this fails to explain many important properties of the system, primarily — its inability to introduce new technologies at a large scale, in contrast to classic capitalism. We attempted to identify that specific feature of Soviet society which affected the efficiency of state-capitalist institutions. We consider such pseudo-form, in which the Soviet “socialist” government was forced to invest these institutions. Because of this the essence of the Soviet economy should be defined as “perverted state capitalism”. An effort to give state-capitalist relations a socialistic form lead to their content becoming perverted and diluted, in other words — significantly reduced in terms of efficiency. This lead to the distortion and weakening of the capitalist motivations of key economic actors — nomenclature and workers. Eventually the Soviet economy turned into a collection of constantly inefficient institutions, which were not able to provide accelerated innovative development.
Keywords:
means of production, Soviet social institutions, technological innovation, state capitalism, the essence of socialism, labor market during socialism, the Soviet bureaucracy (nomenclature), the system of privileges, unemployment, work motivation
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Ermilov A.P. Teoriya rynochnogo khozyaistva. [Theory of market economy.] Novosibirsk: VO “Nauka”, Sibirskaya izdatel'skaya firma publ., 1993. 411 p.
Krasin Yu.A. Reflections on Socialism. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal. 1995. No. 1. P. 175–186. (In Russ.)
Medushevskii A.N. Formirovanie pravyashchego klassa. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal. 1995. No. 4. P. 36–49. The shaping of Ruling Class (In Russ.)
Mezhuev V. The socialist idea is a chance for the future. Krasnye kholmy: Al'manakh. Ed. by N.Kh. Ismailova. Moscow: Izdatel'skii dom “Gorodskaya sobstvennost'” publ., 1999. P. 215–236. (In Russ.)
Patrushev V.D. Indicators of the Attitudes to work: 1986–1995. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal. 1996. No. 3–4. P. 185–195. (In Russ.)
Spirkin A.G. Filosofiya: Uchebnik. [Philosophy: A Textbook.] 2nd ed. M.: Gardariki publ., 2006. 736 p.
Fursov A.I. About some Western theories of “real socialism”. Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie. 2014. No. 3. P. 81–93. (In Russ.)
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Shkaratan O.I. Social system, facing to the past (Part 2). Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal. 2015. T. 21. No. 4. P. 80–119. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.19181/socjour.2015.21.4.3032
Yarov S.V. Privileges of ‘responsible officials’: An experiment of officious interpretation in Petrograd of 1917–1921. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal. 2005. No. 1. P. 132–161. (In Russ.)
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Ermilov, A.P. 2017. Why were Soviet social institutions immune to technological innovation. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal. 23, 1 (Mar. 2017), 111-125. DOI:https://doi.org/10.19181/socjour.2017.23.1.5004.
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