{PDF} Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times

EVERYDAY STALINISM: ORDINARY LIFE IN EXTRAORDINARY TIMES - SOVIET RUSSIA IN THE 1930S PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

From these as well as diaries, memoirs, letters, newspaper articles, and travelers' accounts, she extracts telling details about the symbolic significance of uniforms and domestically produced champagne, markers of privilege such as chauffeur driven cars, dachas, and travel allowances, and the crucial role that patronage played in acquiring them. The types of individuals we meet along the way include not only the party elite, pampered Stakhanovites and intellectuals, but also conmen and domestic servants. Fitzpatrick covers a broad range of topics to provide the reader with an understanding of how Stalinism impacted the lives of a wide variety of individuals in the Soviet Union. These include: the inner workings of the Communist party and the expectations placed on members; a contrast of the relative comfort in the lives of party members compared with the poverty and constant depravations the average Soviet citizen faced; the omnipresent state propaganda of building a "radiant future"; the psychological impact of Stalinism on priviledged insiders, the average individual, and those the party labeled as outsiders and enemies; the system of popular surveillance and denunciation, created and encouraged by the party to enforce communist ideology and practice; the experience of living through or dying in on of the greatest periods of oppression and mass murder in history. Regarding work and everyday life, Fitzpatrick states "I am interested in the experiences and practices that were common to the urban population as a whole, not just parts of it. This is why work, a part of everyday life that varies greatly from one occupational group to another, is not a central topic in this study. The contrast between the propaganda of abundance and the reality of want form the key theme of the first part of the book. From the start, building socialism in the Soviet Union theoretically meant creating a new classless egalitarian society that was able to produce an abundance of consumer goods as well as support robust industrial production. In reality, it produced a different, but even more rigid hierarchical society which was eventually even less able to support its citizens with consumer goods than what it replaced. The new hierarchy became the new class system and an individual's position within it and their relations to others determined their access to goods. Far from being a production- oriented society, the Stalinist Soviet Union became a prime example of a society forced to focus primarily on obtaining the necessities of life. The strategies people used to survive and the system of blat , essentially the ability to access black markets and the underground economy, are shown to be the alternatives forced upon people to survive. This is all contrasted with the favoritism and relative abundance available to the Soviet elite and those they favored, completing a picture of the different castes within the supposedly classless society. Writing in Social History , Sarah Davies states:. She shows how the chronic housing shortages of the s gave rise to a number of practices, including fictive marriages, renting out corners of rooms, and continuing to live with spouses after a divorce. Because of the shortages of goods, both official and unofficial rationing were a constant feature of the decade. Speculation emerged as a way of coping with the inefficiencies of the official distribution system. The 'second economy' was a vital element of Stalinism. Blat the use of contacts to exchange goods and services was cultivated, and 'friends' became very important for survival. This was summed up pithily in a contemporary saying: 'One must have not I00 roubles, but a hundred friends. In this society status mattered more than money. Like blat, patronage was ubiquitous, as people lower down the hierarchy relied on the support and protection of those higher up in order to obtain goods in short supply and to secure privileges. Having set the stage and introduced the life of the average urban dweller, Fitzpatrick introduces more elements of urban life in the following chapters. Because of the shortages of goods, both official and unofficial rationing were a constant feature of the decade. Speculation emerged as a way of coping with the inefficiencies of the official distribution system. The 'second economy' was a vital element of Stalinism. Blat the use of contacts to exchange goods and services was cultivated, and 'friends' became very important for survival. This was summed up pithily in a contemporary saying: 'One must have not I00 roubles, but a hundred friends. In this society status mattered more than money. Like blat, patronage was ubiquitous, as people lower down the hierarchy relied on the support and protection of those higher up in order to obtain goods in short supply and to secure privileges. Having set the stage and introduced the life of the average urban dweller, Fitzpatrick introduces more elements of urban life in the following chapters. In a review in Russian History , Oksana Fedotova wrote that "[t]his new book by Sheila Fitzpatrick is an outstanding contribution to the existing body of research into the Soviet past. Extensive use of archival material, combined with a wide range of published sources, and highlighted by references to the contemporary press cuttings, reveal an absorbing picture of everyday life under Stalinism. Against a rich variety of locations that stretched from workers' barracks and communal kitchens to the apartments of senior officials and closed access stores, there unfolds before our eyes an impressive array of characters. Bosses and outcasts, patrons and clients, activists and absconding husbands, elite wives and homeless children, are depicted in a multitude of activities and relationships that characterized the turbulent life of s Russia. Rossman stated that "[m]eticulously researched, imaginatively organized, and fluidly written, it deserves a wide audience. Far from being rigorously excluded, politics is in the driving seat. The first chapter concerns the authorities, in the form of the Soviet state and the Communist Party. They are present on virtually every page thereafter, too, and loom large in the conclusions. The attention devoted to politics is wholly appropriate, and it marks the final maturing of 'revisionist' social history as applied to the Soviet Union. Sheila Fitzpatrick has been a leader, in some respects the leader, of the movement, and over the years she has also led the way in 'bringing the state back in', acknowledging its omnipresence in all the activities and decisions of everyday life. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Book about Stalinist urbanization and industrialization in the s. Oxford University Press. Retrieved September 7, The Wilson Quarterly Trending Authors. Erving Goffman. Arthur Golden. Louisa May Alcott. Mark Johnson. Lee Iacocca. Johnny Cash. Ned Sublette. Washington Irving. Pier Paolo Pasolini. Joel Greenblatt. Mike Loukides. David Carr. Everyday Stalinism: ordinary life in extraordinary times : Soviet Russia in the s

In Slavic Review , Lewis H. Siegelbaum Michigan State University writes:. Her range of sources is enormous. It includes, inter alia, advertisements, standard personnel questionnaires, movie scenes, and song lyrics. From these as well as diaries, memoirs, letters, newspaper articles, and travelers' accounts, she extracts telling details about the symbolic significance of uniforms and domestically produced champagne, markers of privilege such as chauffeur driven cars, dachas, and travel allowances, and the crucial role that patronage played in acquiring them. The types of individuals we meet along the way include not only the party elite, pampered Stakhanovites and intellectuals, but also conmen and domestic servants. Fitzpatrick covers a broad range of topics to provide the reader with an understanding of how Stalinism impacted the lives of a wide variety of individuals in the Soviet Union. These include: the inner workings of the Communist party and the expectations placed on members; a contrast of the relative comfort in the lives of party members compared with the poverty and constant depravations the average Soviet citizen faced; the omnipresent state propaganda of building a "radiant future"; the psychological impact of Stalinism on priviledged insiders, the average individual, and those the party labeled as outsiders and enemies; the system of popular surveillance and denunciation, created and encouraged by the party to enforce communist ideology and practice; the experience of living through or dying in on of the greatest periods of oppression and mass murder in history. Regarding work and everyday life, Fitzpatrick states "I am interested in the experiences and practices that were common to the urban population as a whole, not just parts of it. This is why work, a part of everyday life that varies greatly from one occupational group to another, is not a central topic in this study. The contrast between the propaganda of abundance and the reality of want form the key theme of the first part of the book. From the start, building socialism in the Soviet Union theoretically meant creating a new classless egalitarian society that was able to produce an abundance of consumer goods as well as support robust industrial production. In reality, it produced a different, but even more rigid hierarchical society which was eventually even less able to support its citizens with consumer goods than what it replaced. The new hierarchy became the new class system and an individual's position within it and their relations to others determined their access to goods. Far from being a production-oriented society, the Stalinist Soviet Union became a prime example of a society forced to focus primarily on obtaining the necessities of life. The strategies people used to survive and the system of blat , essentially the ability to access black markets and the underground economy, are shown to be the alternatives forced upon people to survive. This is all contrasted with the favoritism and relative abundance available to the Soviet elite and those they favored, completing a picture of the different castes within the supposedly classless society. Writing in Social History , Sarah Davies states:. She shows how the chronic housing shortages of the s gave rise to a number of practices, including fictive marriages, renting out corners of rooms, and continuing to live with spouses after a divorce. Because of the shortages of goods, both official and unofficial rationing were a constant feature of the decade. Speculation emerged as a way of coping with the inefficiencies of the official distribution system. The 'second economy' was a vital element of Stalinism. Blat the use of contacts to exchange goods and services was cultivated, and 'friends' became very important for survival. Rossman stated that "[m]eticulously researched, imaginatively organized, and fluidly written, it deserves a wide audience. Far from being rigorously excluded, politics is in the driving seat. The first chapter concerns the authorities, in the form of the Soviet state and the Communist Party. They are present on virtually every page thereafter, too, and loom large in the conclusions. The attention devoted to politics is wholly appropriate, and it marks the final maturing of 'revisionist' social history as applied to the Soviet Union. Sheila Fitzpatrick has been a leader, in some respects the leader, of the movement, and over the years she has also led the way in 'bringing the state back in', acknowledging its omnipresence in all the activities and decisions of everyday life. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Book about Stalinist urbanization and industrialization in the s. Oxford University Press. Retrieved September 7, The Wilson Quarterly By Sheila Fitzpatrick. New York: Oxford University Press, X, pp. Slavic Review. The Journal of Modern History. Foreign Affairs. Soviet Russia in the s, Sheila Fitzpatrick". Social History. The American Historical Review. The Slavonic and East European Review. Le Mouvement Social : The Russian Review. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. US Higher Education Not for profit. All for education. Skip to main content. Search Start Search. Go directly to our online catalogue. Send feedback Purchase options Buy ebook from VitalSource. Buy print edition. Features About the Author s Reviews Features A pioneering account of everyday life under Stalin Fitzpatrick depicts a world of privation, overcrowding, endless lines, and broken homes, in which the regime's promises of future socialist abundance rang hollowly. Reviews "Fitzpatrick makes subtle use of the press and of police reports that assist in giving us one of the most comprehensive accounts of what it meant to live in Stalin's Russia in the s. Haughey, Georgetown University " Everyday Stalinism should prove invaluable for any course on Soviet history. Everyday Stalinism - Sheila Fitzpatrick - Oxford University Press

Ironically, "to be eligible for reforging, you had to have committed real crimes" p. Chapter Five, "The Insulted and Injured," details the persecution of "former people" and their strategies for avoiding it. One tactic was to portray oneself in ways acceptable to the regime, that is, to put on a mask. The mask image has been engagingly explored by some of Fitzpatrick's former students, such as Golfo Alexopoulos and James Harris see e. This image was a part of the Stalinist leaders' worldview as well; the regime was preoccupied with "unmasking" hidden enemies. This was one purpose of the impressive apparatus of surveillance that Fitzpatrick details in Chapter 7, "Conversations and Listeners. This surveillance found its culmination in the progressive "unmasking" of more and more enemies during the Great Terror of Fitzpatrick devotes her final chapter to urban Russians' experience of and strategies for physical and emotional survival during the Great Terror. Her story of the "rituals" or arrest and imprisonment --the midnight knock, the hasty packing, the search of prisons by wives and loved ones, the attempts to bring parcels-- will sound familiar to readers of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Robert Conquest and others, though Fitzpatrick also incorporates many new memoirs penned in the Perestroika era. She recounts how the "plague" --the taint of being identified as an "enemy of the people"-- spread, whether through plague-bearers or through denunciation by neighbors and co-workers intent on settling personal scores or saving their own skins pp. People whose lives were shattered by the Terror also resorted to various strategies for physical and psychological survival. The less educated majority of citizens, Fitpatrick asserts without proof, did not try to reason out who was guilty or innocent, honest or lying, but treated the Terror as a misfortune, like war, famine, flood and pestilence p. Among the more articulate few who left diaries and memoirs, many remained convinced that they or their loved ones were innocent and had been arrested by mistake, but some experienced self-doubt. As Fitzpatrick sums up the feelings of Hellbeck's diarist, "It was possible, evidently, to be a wrecker without meaning to be one or even knowing it. It was possible to wear a mask that deceived even oneself" p. Similarly, Fitzpatrick addresses the psychological survival strategies of those whose consciences were burdened with complicity, those who had denounced or failed to defend innocent people or "in a host of ways found themselves becoming participants in the process of terror" p. One tactic was to adopt a "them" and "us" categorization in which "we" the population are totally passive vis-a-vis "them" the state p. True, the image was illusory, as Fitzpatrick points out, citing Sarah Davies: the boundary line between the state and the population was unclear , as thousands of ordinary people were being promoted into official positions. However, the mental construct helped people deny that they had played a part in the Great Terror. Fitzpatrick asserts, "One of the most useful functions of the 'them' and 'us' framework for Soviet citizens --and a major reason why historians should approach it warily-- was that it obscured this unbearable fact [of complicity]" p. This assertion is, as far as I know, one of the main innovations of this book and deserves more space. Her conclusion sums up the survival strategies detailed above, as well as their psychological effects, and attempts a description of the newly evolving Homo sovieticus. Fatalistic and passive, citizens still had strategies of self-protection. Indeed, to assure authority figures that they were powerless was in itself a tactic for gaining indulgence. As Fitzpatrick astutely points out, even the subjects of the Harvard Project interviews used this strategy toward the well-intentioned American interviewers, who themselves were authority figures. These supposedly powerless Soviet citizens were also risk-takers, trying to strike it lucky. Many played the potentially dangerous game of denouncing their bosses, for example. Managers too had to take risks all the time simply in order to carry out their jobs. As Fitzpatrick points out, this gambling mentality was the antithesis of the official mentality stressing rational planning. Outwardly obedient, Homo sovieticus retained a degree of skepticism. But above all, he was a survivor" p. The relationship between this species and the regime thus ranged between passive acceptance and cautious hostility. Some, such as young people, supported the regime actively. Workers probably felt a "residual feeling of connection with the Soviet cause" and thus gave passive support to the regime. Trying to explain this grudging acceptance, Fitzpatrick points out that Stalin's regime had positioned itself as the only alternative associated with national sentiment and patriotism, with progress, and with a paternalistic welfare state. Casting about for a metaphor to describe this relationship, Fitzpatrick considers and finds inadequate the images of a prison, a conscript army or a closed institution such as a strict boarding school. The final image on which she settles is original and thought-provoking. The Stalin regime was like a soup kitchen or welfare agency. Citizens expected it to provide for them and placated it with a "range of supplicatory and dependent behaviors" p. To extend the metaphor, one might say that it was like the stereotype of the Salvation Army. One had to sing a hymn to Stalin or give a testimonial about one's conversion before receiving one's dinner. The book has flaws. She relegates the issue of joining the Communist Party to a brief example in the section "Mastering Culture" p. Further, she devotes disproportionate attention to people who were involved in high culture, such as artists and writers. Her discussion of how the Great Terror was experienced, for example, relies heavily on the memoirs of well-known writers and artists arguably necessary because theirs are the most abundant in-depth sources available ; and the section entitled "Patrons and Clients" pays almost no attention to political patronage and focuses almost entirely on patronage of the arts. In many places the book seems like a mere catalog of examples, lacking transitions and summaries to round out sections e. Fitzpatrick expounds in detail on a few uncharacteristic examples e. The chapter on surveillance lacks an introduction or conclusion. It could easily have been tied in more explicitly with the concept of masks. Then too, there is the question of how one can probe the minds of ordinary people. What can public images and pronouncements really tell us? Fitzpatrick's analysis of the "virtual pornography" of advertisements p. Everyday Stalinism looks at the impact of urbanization and industrialization in the Soviet Union in the s under Joseph Stalin. Focused on a history from below , Fitzpatrick records a history of impoverishment, overcrowding, and social destruction visited upon the average person. It records how ordinary citizens attempted to adapt when possible and circumvent when necessary the new way of life forced upon them by an omnipresent state bureaucracy backed up by a ruthless and brutal state secret police and the waves of terror and turmoil it imposed on Soviet society. Everyday Stalinism completes the story by providing a look at urban life in the Soviet Union during the s and the impact industrialization had on workers and their families and the shockwaves in urban centers created by the massive disruption collectivization caused in Soviet agriculture. Together the works form the story of the two sides of the devastating consequences of Stalinism had on the Soviet Union. In Slavic Review , Lewis H. Siegelbaum Michigan State University writes:. Her range of sources is enormous. It includes, inter alia, advertisements, standard personnel questionnaires, movie scenes, and song lyrics. From these as well as diaries, memoirs, letters, newspaper articles, and travelers' accounts, she extracts telling details about the symbolic significance of uniforms and domestically produced champagne, markers of privilege such as chauffeur driven cars, dachas, and travel allowances, and the crucial role that patronage played in acquiring them. The types of individuals we meet along the way include not only the party elite, pampered Stakhanovites and intellectuals, but also conmen and domestic servants. Fitzpatrick covers a broad range of topics to provide the reader with an understanding of how Stalinism impacted the lives of a wide variety of individuals in the Soviet Union. These include: the inner workings of the Communist party and the expectations placed on members; a contrast of the relative comfort in the lives of party members compared with the poverty and constant depravations the average Soviet citizen faced; the omnipresent state propaganda of building a "radiant future"; the psychological impact of Stalinism on priviledged insiders, the average individual, and those the party labeled as outsiders and enemies; the system of popular surveillance and denunciation, created and encouraged by the party to enforce communist ideology and practice; the experience of living through or dying in on of the greatest periods of oppression and mass murder in history. Regarding work and everyday life, Fitzpatrick states "I am interested in the experiences and practices that were common to the urban population as a whole, not just parts of it. This is why work, a part of everyday life that varies greatly from one occupational group to another, is not a central topic in this study. The contrast between the propaganda of abundance and the reality of want form the key theme of the first part of the book. From the start, building socialism in the Soviet Union theoretically meant creating a new classless egalitarian society that was able to produce an abundance of consumer goods as well as support robust industrial production. In reality, it produced a different, but even more rigid hierarchical society which was eventually even less able to support its citizens with consumer goods than what it replaced. The new hierarchy became the new class system and an individual's position within it and their relations to others determined their access to goods. Far from being a production-oriented society, the Stalinist Soviet Union became a prime example of a society forced to focus primarily on obtaining the necessities of life. The strategies people used to survive and the system of blat , essentially the ability to access black markets and the underground economy, are shown to be the alternatives forced upon people to survive. This is all contrasted with the favoritism and relative abundance available to the Soviet elite and those they favored, completing a picture of the different castes within the supposedly classless society. Writing in Social History , Sarah Davies states:. She shows how the chronic housing shortages of the s gave rise to a number of practices, including fictive marriages, renting out corners of rooms, and continuing to live with spouses after a divorce. Because of the shortages of goods, both official and unofficial rationing were a constant feature of the decade. Speculation emerged as a way of coping with the inefficiencies of the official distribution system. The 'second economy' was a vital element of Stalinism. Blat the use of contacts to exchange goods and services was cultivated, and 'friends' became very important for survival. This was summed up pithily in a contemporary saying: 'One must have not I00 roubles, but a hundred friends. In this society status mattered more than money. Like blat, patronage was ubiquitous, as people lower down the hierarchy relied on the support and protection of those higher up in order to obtain goods in short supply and to secure privileges. Having set the stage and introduced the life of the average urban dweller, Fitzpatrick introduces more elements of urban life in the following chapters. In a review in Russian History , Oksana Fedotova wrote that "[t]his new book by Sheila Fitzpatrick is an outstanding contribution to the existing body of research into the Soviet past. Extensive use of archival material, combined with a wide range of published sources, and highlighted by references to the contemporary press cuttings, reveal an absorbing picture of everyday life under Stalinism.

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Do be advised that shipments may be delayed due to extra safety precautions implemented at our centers and delays with local shipping carriers. Request Examination Copy. Here is a pioneering account of everyday life under Stalin, written by a leading authority on modern Russian history. Focusing on the urban population, Fitzpatrick depicts a world of privation, overcrowding, endless lines, and broken homes, in which the regime's promises of future socialist abundance rang hollowly. We read of a government bureaucracy that often turned life into a nightmare, and of how ordinary citizens tried to circumvent it. We also read of the secret police, whose constant surveillance was endemic at this time, and the waves of terror, like the Great Purges of , which periodically cast society into turmoil. Sheila Fitzpatrick teaches modern Russian history at the University of Chicago. She lives in Chicago. An assiduous scholar, Professor Fitzpatrick seems to have scrutinized every relevant scrap of paper. Her explication is a model of balance and judiciousness Individual memoirs apart, most histories of this period were written from the top--that is, showing how the policies were shaped and implemented, rather than how they were perceived and experienced by their subjects. It is the latter Fitzpatrick has used the entire range of sources available, from familiar memoirs and postwar interview material to contemporary research and an array of archival information The book is a major contribution to understanding this extraordinary period. Its lucid prose and the inherent interest of its subject matter should make it accessible to undergraduates, as well as to more specialized readers. They were years of unimaginable hardship and brutality but also of idealism, a surreal melange that [Fitzpatrick] captures with admirable matter-of-factness. Well written. Haughey, Georgetown University. Knowing how a nation's people actually lived, thought, and felt is essential to any real understanding of the past. On this, Fitzpatrick--who has done more than any other scholar to make the complexities of the social history of the Stalin years come alive--delivers as no one else can. It is a 'fun read' that offers many insights to specialists and students alike. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. An assiduous scholar, Professor Fitzpatrick seems to have scrutinized every relevant scrap of paper. Her explication is a model of balance and judiciousness Individual memoirs apart, most histories of this period were written from the top-- that is, showing how the policies were shaped and implemented, rather than how they were perceived and experienced by their subjects. It is the latter Fitzpatrick has used the entire range of sources available, from familiar memoirs and postwar interview material to contemporary research and an array of archival information The book is a major contribution to understanding this extraordinary period. Its lucid prose and the inherent interest of its subject matter should make it accessible to undergraduates, as well as to more specialized readers. They were years of unimaginable hardship and brutality but also of idealism, a surreal melange that [Fitzpatrick] captures with admirable matter-of-factness. Well written. Haughey, Georgetown University. Knowing how a nation's people actually lived, thought, and felt is essential to any real understanding of the past. On this, Fitzpatrick--who has done more than any other scholar to make the complexities of the social history of the Stalin years come alive-- delivers as no one else can. It is a 'fun read' that offers many insights to specialists and students alike. Request examination copy. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. US Higher Education Not for profit. All for education. Skip to main content. https://static.s123-cdn-static.com/uploads/4639337/normal_602060f69579b.pdf https://files8.webydo.com/9589790/UploadedFiles/734C3A35-12FA-B8ED-378E-4A128439E616.pdf https://files8.webydo.com/9586664/UploadedFiles/48F9AC4F-C0A0-D977-B7DD-16BD2B2ACFAB.pdf https://static.s123-cdn-static.com/uploads/4641608/normal_60214ad630d77.pdf https://files8.webydo.com/9587608/UploadedFiles/C2F93458-5926-3848-A398-B77C7A49E697.pdf