The Challenges to Social Control in Brezhnev’s Soviet Union, 1964-1982

This article examines the development of social control in the Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev, who was General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1964 to 1982. Historians have largely neglected this question, especially with regard to its evolution and efficiency. Research is based on sources in the Russian State Archive of Modern History (RGANI), the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) and the Moscow Central State Archive (TSGAM). During Brezhnevs rule, Soviet propaganda reached the peak of its development. However, despite the fact that authorities tried to improve it, the system was ritualistic, unconvincing, unwieldy, and favored quantity over quality. The same was true for political education, which did little more than inspire sullen passivity in its students. Although officials recognized these failings, their response was ineffective, and over time Soviet propaganda increasingly lost its potency. At the same time, there were new trends in the system of social control. Authorities tried to have a foot in both camps - to strengthen censorship, and at the same time to get feedback from the public. However, many were afraid to express any criticism openly. In turn, the government used data on peoples sentiments only to try to control their thoughts. As a result, it did not respond to matters that concerned the public. These problems only increased during the era of stagnation and contributed to the decline and subsequent collapse of the Soviet system.

Theoretical Implication and Practical Value of Xi Jinping’s Important Exposition on Youth Struggle

Xi Jinping’s Important Exposition on Youth Struggle is General Secretary Xi Jinping’s theoretical exposition on the purpose, path and value of youth struggle in the new era. In terms of essence, Xi Jinping’s important discussion on youth struggle originates from the practical need to cultivate young people with both moral integrity and moral integrity, the value need to carry forward youth struggle in the new era, and the important perception of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s life experience. The theoretical implication and practical value contained in Xi Jinping’s important exposition on youth struggle are linked together, which provides supporting ideological tension for Xi Jinping’s important exposition on youth struggle. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to explore the theoretical implication and practical value of Xi Jinping’s important exposition on the struggle of youth.

‘I am not particularly despondent yet’: The Political Tone of Jill Craigie's Equal Pay Film To Be a Woman

To Be a Woman is a short campaigning film made in 1950–1 by documentary film-maker Jill Craigie. This article offers an account of the film which aims to recover the affective life of both the film text and the archival correspondence between Craigie and the General Secretary of the National Union of Women Teachers, which refers to its production history. The article analyses the ‘feeling tones’ of the letters that describe both Craigie's attempts to get the film made and her difficulties in distributing it. It is argued that paying attention to these affective aspects of the archive and the film together enables a recalibration of (in a variant of Raymond Williams's formulation) the structure of feminist feeling in both the film and, to an extent, the wider public realm in the immediate post-war period. Paying attention to the film's affective dynamics in this way is also revealing, it is suggested, of its class and race positionality, enabling a more nuanced critical account of its politics.

Between Rejection and Revitalization: Tokunboh Adeyemo and African Traditional Religions

This article analyzes Tokunboh Adeyemo’s assessment of African traditional religions in relation to his allegiance to the worldwide evangelical tradition. In the 1970 and 1980s, Adeyemo, who served as the General Secretary of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa, was involved in the so-called salvation debates within evangelical circles. Concerned about the rise of contextual theologies on the African continent, Adeyemo, like his predecessor Byang Kato, advocated the exclusive character of Christianity in terms of salvation. Therefore, he is sometimes described as someone who attempted to replace African religiosity with a Westernized form of Christianity. This article argues that while Adeyemo reiterates the uniqueness of salvation in Christ, as attested within the international evangelical movement, he offers a nuanced assessment of pre-Christian religiosity. Navigating between the two positions of rejection and revitalization, he pioneered new ways of developing an authentic evangelical theology that is grounded in the African context.

Prioritize the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas, and Comprehensively Promote Rural Revitalization

Without agricultural and rural modernization, there would be no national modernization, and without rural revitalization, there would be no great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed that the goal of “giving priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas and comprehensively promoting rural revitalization” is to increase efforts to continue the work of “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” and to continue the comprehensive promotion of rural revitalization to make agricultural modernization, comprehensive rural progress, and comprehensive rural development. develop. Consolidating the basics Agriculture is the cornerstone of people’s stability and the key to national governance with a population of 1.4 billion. Agriculture must be developed. No matter where industrialization and urbanization are advanced, villages must not perish, and cities and rural areas must coexist. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, if in the process of modernization, “the city is prosperous on one side and the countryside is on the other side”, “this kind of modernization cannot be successful”. To comprehensively build a new path for a modern socialist country, we must follow the objective laws of economic development, make the resolution of “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” the top priority of the party’s work, insist on giving priority to development, and comprehensively promote rural revitalization. The general trend of taking the realization of socialist modernization as the long-term goal.

Formation, Legacy, and Change in the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, and the Transport and General Workers’ Union, 1889-1978

This article explores the paradox of the two large ‘general’ workers’ unions - the former Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) and the National Union of General and Municipal Workers (NUGMW) - which from their militant origins to within a comparatively few years were seen as undemocratic, moderate in industrial tactics and right-wing in labour politics - ‘pillars of conservatism’. In due time they moved from the fringes to centre stage, acquiring one in four of all trade-unionists, and dominating with their block votes the decisions of the Trades Union Congress and the Labour Party conference. Even more dramatic was the apparent overnight conversion to left-wing views within the TGWU when Frank Cousins became general secretary in 1956. Then under his successor, Jack Jones, responding to the dynamic of shop-floor organization, the TGWU radically changed its ethos and government. The NUGMW, with David Basnett as general secretary from 1973, also moved away from its long-standing positions but its government remained unchanged. But in 1979 the economic and political environments within which the unions were operating completely changed.

The Practical Exploration of Integrating Ideology and Politics Theories Teaching into “502 Innovation Laboratory”

“502 Innovation Laboratory”, based on general secretary Xi Jinping’s speech on ideological and political theories teaching in all courses, gradually explores the transition from ideological and political courses to ideological and political theories teaching in all courses, and promotes the comprehensive and coordinated development of students’ knowledge, ability, thinking and quality. It has achieved fruitful results, enhanced the school's influence, and played a significant exemplary role.