Socialism, Perestroika, And The Dilemmas Of Soviet Economic Reform by John E Tedstrom

Author:John E Tedstrom [Tedstrom, John E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Social Science
ISBN: 9781000240122
Google: GGQPEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-07-09T01:36:38+00:00

6

The Reemergence of Soviet Cooperatives

John E. Tedstrom

AS PART of Lenin's concessions to market economics during the early years of Bolshevik rule, cooperatives played a key role in revitalizing the war-torn Soviet economy. They remained a significant element in the economy up to and including 1960, even though their contribution to total output had decreased over time.1 In recent years, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has taken a number of concrete steps to reestablish the cooperative as a legitimate component of the Soviet economic system, beginning with a Politburo statement in support of the cooperative movement in February, 1987.2 Since that date, cooperatives have become one of the most controversial parts of the current Soviet program for economic restructuring. The hope is that cooperatives, through ownership incentives, will contribute to economic revitalization both by raising static efficiency of production and distribution and by encouraging technological development. Thus far, however, the revived Soviet cooperative movement has encountered strong (sometimes violent) resistance, and its future is far from secure.

Both support for, and resistance to, the cooperative movement can be found at all levels of Soviet society, making it a politically complex and sensitive issue. There is little agreement on whether, or to what extent, the cooperative movement is compatible with Soviet socialism. Traditional Soviet doctrine on prices, incomes, taxes, ownership, labor, and equality are all directly challenged by the existence of cooperatives. For these reasons, promotion of the cooperative movement has given rise to serious political, social, and economic tensions in the Soviet Union that threaten the pace, if not the viability, of perestmka. At this juncture, the revived Soviet cooperative movement is still quite young. Data are sparse, and experience in monitoring the movement's development is limited. Still, it is possible to examine the way in which the Soviet cooperative movement has taken life, to draw some preliminary conclusions about its current status, and to take stock of its initial contribution to the Soviet economy.

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