Perestroika and the future of socialism - part 1 - social and political in the Soviet Union

The working class of recent decades differs from that of the early post-revolutionary days in other ways as well. Many industrial jobs are still filled by rural migrants, but these are not the muzhiks of yore. They have gone to school, been exposed to mathematics and science, and have some familiarity with machinery. More important, by far the bulk of today's working class consists of second- and third-generation employees whose roots are firmly planted in manufacturing, mining, construction, and transportation, where they have experienced a hierarchical command structure of management and a division of labor not noticeably different from that of the West.

Also new and significant in the social changes since the Revolution has been the ballooning of a middle layer (or layers) of the population. It is "middle" insofar as it stands between the working class and collective farmers on the one hand and the ruling elite (members of the central committee of the party, heads of major government departments and economic ministries, and top military brass) on the other. As is typical of middle layers in other societies, this one encompasses a wide diversity of income, influence, and privilege. Here are to be found those in charge of the intermediate levels of the hierarchy of power: the party bureaucracy and the middle managers of government and enterprise. Their interests are generally tied to retaining the existing social structure which provides them not only with job security and a degree of privilege and power, but also a ladder for upward mobility.

A very different component of the middle layer consists of those engaged in medicine, education, culture, art, and science. The influx into these occupations, fed by the increase in the college-educated population from a mere 1.2 million in 1939 to over 20 million today, stands as a testament to the social priorities of the Revolution. Many of those so engaged are little different from industrial workers if judged by status, income, and relation to management. But also included are a large number of privileged professionals and intellectuals--top people in the physical and social sciences, literature, art, film, and the media--who not only benefit from a relatively high standard of living and attractive perks, but have been able to create enough space to give them a degree of independence from the heavy-handed bureaucracy. For the intelligentsia as a whole--including those far from the top--democratic rights are of special importance for job-related as well as personal reasons. And, in addition, they suffer from what is increasingly perceived as a lack of luxuries and comforts that colleagues at equivalent levels in the West enjoy. From these ranks come the economists, sociologists, and political analysts who help design perestroika.

It should be recognized that the social changes just described materialized in a peculiarly rigid political environment. Essentially, Soviet society has been, in Oskar Lange's apt characterization, a sui generis war economy. The goals of rapid industrialization and a strong military defense apparatus dominated the agenda from the beginning. In the given historical conditions, and against great odds, the goals were reached by means of a hierarchical command system that ruled with a heavy hand over most aspects of civilian life as well as over the economy as a whole. With this came an extensive bureaucracy whose outstanding features were rigidity and an ever-present sense of insecurity and the need to protect one's own interest.