
Soviet Workers and the Collapse of Perestroika
The Soviet Labour Process and Gorbachev's Reforms, 1985-1991
Donald Filtzer(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 1. March 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-521-05653-3 (ISBN)
Description
Soviet Workers and and the Collapse of Perestroika is a comprehensive analysis of the role of labour policy in the development and ultimate collapse of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Filtzer argues that initially perestroika was designed to modernize the Soviet economy while keeping the existing political and property relations of society intact, which required a thoroughgoing restructuring of the labour process within Soviet industry. When ultimately this policy failed, the regime in mid-1990 opted to move to a full-scale restoration of capitalism, a task which could not be fulfilled so long as the traditional work practices and work relations within industry remained unchanged. Filtzer argues that the collapse of the USSR has brought the solution to this problem no nearer, and that post-Soviet capitalism is rooted in corruption and speculation and cannot ensure long-term economic growth.
Reviews / Votes
"One may or may not share Filtzer's vision of a proletariat uniting society and forming collective bodies featuring worker self-management and political representation, but it is hard to see any other social force coming to the rescue. While the Marxist categories he employs have gone out of fashion among both Western and ex-Soviet social scientists, in his hands they retain a subtlety and depth that will be hard to match." Contemporary Sociology "...this lively, well-written book analyzes the role of labor policy during Gorbachev's reforms and painstakingly developes the reasons for their failure." B. B. Brown Jr., ChoiceMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
522 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-05653-3 (9780521056533)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Content
Introduction: the roots and limits of perestroika; 1. Attempts to create a labour market: employment, unemployment, and the labour shortage; 2. Economic incentives: the disintegration of the 1986 wage reform; 3. Political incentives: enterprise 'democratization' and the emergence of worker protests; 4. 'Market mechanisms' and the breakdown of economic regulation; 5. The labour process under perestroika I: the politcal economy of working conditions; 6. The labour process under perestroika II: the failure of restructuring; Conclusion: the demise of perestroika and the emergence of class conflict.