Building a Ruin The Cold War Politics of Soviet Economic Reform

Name: Building a Ruin
Author: Yakov Feygin

Auteur: Yakov Feygin

Taal: Engels

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Auteur: Yakov Feygin

Engels
Hardcover
9780674240995
11 juni 2024
288 pagina's

Alle productspecificaties

Samenvatting

Yakov Feygin argues that Soviet decline owes much to internal tensions over economic reform. Focused on socioeconomic competition with the West, Khrushchev and his successors sought to build a consumer society but had only Stalinist institutions of mass mobilization to work with, resulting in unresolvable contradiction and eventual sclerosis.

A masterful account of the global Cold War’s decisive influence on Soviet economic reform, and the national decay that followed.

What brought down the Soviet Union? From some perspectives the answers seem obvious, even teleological—communism was simply destined to fail. When Yakov Feygin studied the question, he came to another conclusion: at least one crucial factor was a deep contradiction within the Soviet political economy brought about by the country’s attempt to transition from Stalinist mass mobilization to a consumer society.

Building a Ruin explores what happened in the Soviet Union as institutions designed for warfighting capacity and maximum heavy industrial output were reimagined by a new breed of reformers focused on “peaceful socioeconomic competition.” From Khrushchev on, influential schools of Soviet planning measured Cold War success in the same terms as their Western rivals: productivity, growth, and the availability of abundant and varied consumer goods. The shift was both material and intellectual, with reformers taking a novel approach to economics. Instead of trumpeting their ideological bona fides and leveraging their connections with party leaders, the new economists stressed technical expertise. The result was a long and taxing struggle for the meaning of communism itself, as old-guard management cadres clashed with reformers over the future of central planning and the state’s relationship to the global economic order.

Feygin argues that Soviet policymakers never resolved these tensions, leading to stagnation, instability, and eventually collapse. Yet the legacy of reform lingers, its factional dynamics haunting contemporary Russian politics.

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Taal: en
Bindwijze: Hardcover
Oorspronkelijke releasedatum: 11 juni 2024
Aantal pagina's: 288
Illustraties: Met illustraties

Betrokkenen

Hoofdauteur: Yakov Feygin
Hoofduitgeverij: Harvard University Press

Overige kenmerken

Product breedte: 156 mm
Product lengte: 235 mm
Studieboek: Nee
Verpakking breedte: 156 mm
Verpakking lengte: 235 mm

EAN

EAN: 9780674240995

Je vindt dit artikel in

Categorieën: Mens & Maatschappij

Economie & Financiën

Geschiedenis

Economie

Politiek

Economische geschiedenis

Politieke economie

Europa

Centrale & Federale overheden

Politieke ideologieen

Marxisme & Communisme

Socialisme & Linkse democratie

Periodes

Moderne tijd (1800-1945)

Hedendaagse geschiedenis ( v.a. 1945)

Regio's & Landen

Boeken
Taal: Engels
Boek, ebook of luisterboek?: Boek
Beschikbaarheid: Te reserveren
Studieboek of algemeen: Algemene boeken

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