The Komsomol’s introduction of meritocratic, supposedly class-blind membership policies in 1935–36 created significant tensions in Soviet political culture. Instead of a league of proletarians, youth leaders claimed the Komsomol would become an organization of the “best” Soviet youth of all classes. However, uncertainties about who could join reflected and facilitated the creation of a new social hierarchy in the Soviet Union, helping young professionals and students displace proletarians as the ideal young subject. At the same time, the children of supposed enemies presented a challenge to youth leaders who struggled to determine whether the offspring of so-called anti-Soviet elements could overcome their parents’ sins.
Indians and mestizos in the "lettered city": reshaping justice, social hierarchy, and political culture in colonial Peru