scholarly journals Soviet Politics and Journalism under Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika and Glasnost: Why Hopes Failed

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-256
Author(s):  
Dmitry Strovsky ◽  
Ron Schleifer
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
Civic Society ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Difficult Times

The terms perestroika (literally, "transformation") and glasnost (literally, "transparency ") refer to the social change that took place in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. Then USSR leader, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Mikhail Gorbachev, introduced perestroika as a necessary action to improve the nation’s economy and its international relations. Glasnost was meant to promote effective discussions regarding the country’s existing problems and shortcomings. However, only a few years following their instatement, both processes did not improve the sociopolitical situation. On the contrary, they led to the country’s collapse. This article seeks to answer why gracious intentions, meant to actualize the hopes and dreams of the Soviet people, eventually resulted in tremendously difficult times. Special attention is paid to the role of the Soviet media, which became a catalyst for many social problems. The authors raise the issue of the media’s level of responsibility during this social transformation, which appeared to be one of the most crucial conditions for its successful implementation. Keywords: authoritarian culture, social transformation, civic society, perestroika, glasnost, Soviet media

Incremental Activism in Soviet Third World Policy: The Role of the International Department of the CPSU Central Committee

Slavic Review ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 614-630
Author(s):  
Jan S. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Control Unit ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Foreign Policy

Historically, leaders of the Soviet Union have shown extraordinary faith in the power of bureaucratic reorganization to solve political problems. The 1985-1987 restaffing and restructuring of the foreign policy establishment indicate that Mikhail Gorbachev shares this faith. In the first sixteen months of his leadership, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs replaced its minister, two first deputy ministers, seven deputy ministers, a third of all Soviet ambassadors, and created four new departments. In addition, important changes were made in the central party apparat, affecting three of the CPSU Central Committee departments: The International Information Department was abolished. The Propaganda Department gained added prominence in international affairs with the appointment of a new chief, Aleksandr Iakovlev, who began playing a conspicuous role as Gorbachev's advisor at international conferences even before his elevation to the Politburo in January 1987. Of great significance for the Soviet foreign policy establishment as a whole, the International Department (ID) was given new leadership, a new arms control unit, and expanded missions.

Problems and Unproblems in Soviet Social Theory

Slavic Review ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lewis S. Feuer
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Intellectual Community ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Mathematical Sciences ◽  
The Government ◽  
Life Work

The status of sociology and philosophy in the Soviet Union is radically different from that of the physical and mathematical sciences. The sociologists and philosophers are still regarded by the government as ideologists, whereas the mathematicians and physicists are considered scientists; and the ideologist is in low repute in the Soviet intellectual community. Thirty years ago, Nikolai Bukharin observed in a remarkable essay that the cultural style of the current Soviet period would be technicism, and that the humanities and historical sciences would be relegated to the background. He believed that this “one-sidedness“ was founded on the economic requirements of the time. Probably, however, the hollowness in the life of the Soviet ideologist is equally responsible for his low estate. The sociologists and philosophers are not regarded as independent thinkers; their job as ideological workers is to provide a documentation and footnoted commentary on the decisions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Young men of ability consequently tend to avoid choosing a life work in the social sciences and philosophy. Why, they say, should they sacrifice their intellectual independence at the outset of their lives?

Editorial Note: Faith and Identity

1992 ◽  
Vol 20 (01) ◽  
pp. iii-iv
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Tidal Wave ◽  
Editorial Note ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
Religious Activity ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
Civic Society ◽  
The Soviet Union

As the post-1989 outlines of historical evolution come into focus, two fundamental and ancient forces help shape post-communist societies, both in the countries of the former Soviet bloc and in the territorium of the once Soviet Union: one is dynamic cultural and political ethnicity; the other is potent revivals of religious activity. These phenomena are interrelated, perhaps inextricably intertwined, though conceptually distinct. Just as Mikhail Gorbachev, in announcing the goals of perestroika and setting the spirit of glasnost', had no program in his scheme to resuscitate the Soviet Union to accommodate the explosion of republican separatism and the tidal wave of ethno-politics, neither had he given any thought to the potential of grassroots revitalization of religious life. To his surprise, spiritual and social religious activities forcefully entered onto the stage of post-Brezhnev civic society throughout the USSR.

scholarly journals CHANGES IN RELATIONS BETWEEN SOVIET UNION AND THE WESTERN WORLD

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1503-1505
Author(s):  
Gorancho Jakimov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Western World ◽  
General Will ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Party Congress

On March 10, 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected to the post of Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. When he begins to appear in 1985, Gorbachev will not announce any major reforms, until the 27th party congress, held in February 1986, will not use the word reform nor announce any reforms. His secretary-general will weigh his actions very carefully, and only after removing his main opponents from Politburo can he freely say that "Perestroika" or "Glasgow" is tantamount to fundamental reform. In time, he will realize how much the Soviet Union is in crisis and that if the economic crisis is not taken appropriate measures, it will be felt in every part of life, ie the quality of life and social conditions will deteriorate. It will soon be shown that taking any measures without fundamentally changing the system have only a limited effect and can only serve to mildly calm the situation.The real change can only be made by breaking down the old system that will no longer be effective because the planning economy will be at odds with the rapid technological development and what has happened in the Western world.

Social Origins of the Soviet Party Elites, 1917–1990

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katya Vladimirov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Soviet System ◽  
Database Analysis ◽  
Upper Echelon ◽  
Power Domination ◽  
Demographic Group ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Party Elites

The Soviet system replicated the imperial reign it destroyed by establishing the rule of a new elite: the Soviet party bureaucracy. True beneficiary of a revolutionary transformation, this elite came from peasant sons, promoted and rewarded by the Soviet system. This provincial surplus was a major force behind the Soviet empire: many of these young, uprooted individuals were extraordinarily successful. From slums and humble origins, they reached the inner circle of party power and remained there for almost forty years. This article profiles one of the most powerful groups within the upper echelon of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the members of the Central Committee, using statistical database analysis to examine the dramatic social transformation of this demographic group and its evolution to successful power domination.

A Sacred Space Is Never Empty

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Smolkin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Russian Revolution ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
Sacred Spaces ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Ideology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Soviet Experiment

When the Bolsheviks set out to build a new world in the wake of the Russian Revolution, they expected religion to die off. Soviet power used a variety of tools—from education to propaganda to terror—to turn its vision of a Communist world without religion into reality. Yet even with its monopoly on ideology and power, the Soviet Communist Party never succeeded in overcoming religion and creating an atheist society. This book presents the first history of Soviet atheism from the 1917 revolution to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The book argues that to understand the Soviet experiment, we must make sense of Soviet atheism. It shows how atheism was reimagined as an alternative cosmology with its own set of positive beliefs, practices, and spiritual commitments. Through its engagements with religion, the Soviet leadership realized that removing religion from the “sacred spaces” of Soviet life was not enough. Then, in the final years of the Soviet experiment, Mikhail Gorbachev—in a stunning and unexpected reversal—abandoned atheism and reintroduced religion into Soviet public life. The book explores the meaning of atheism for religious life, for Communist ideology, and for Soviet politics.

RESTORATION OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF YALTA IN 1944

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (72) (4) ◽  
pp. 24-36
Author(s):  
N. D. Borshchik
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Southern Coast ◽  
Recreational Facilities ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Resorts ◽  
Post War ◽  
Short Time

The article considers little-studied stories in Russian historiography about the post-war state of Yalta — one of the most famous health resorts of the Soviet Union, the «pearl» of the southern coast of Crimea. Based on the analysis of mainly archival sources, the most important measures of the party and Soviet leadership bodies, the heads of garrisons immediately after the withdrawal of the fascist occupation regime were analyzed. It was established that the authorities paid priority attention not only to the destroyed economy and infrastructure, but also to the speedy introduction of all-Union and departmental sanatoriums and recreation houses, other recreational facilities. As a result of their coordinated actions in the region, food industry enterprises, collective farms and cooperative artels, objects of cultural heritage and the social and everyday sphere were put into operation in a short time.

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