printSocial Classes and Exploitation in the USSR:
Reflections from the Perspective of E.O. Wright’s Theory
Valdera-Gil J.M.
Ph.D. (Sociol.), Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, University of Granada, Spain valgil@ugr.es
Valdera-Gil J.M. Social Classes and Exploitation in the USSR: Reflections from the Perspective of E.O. Wright’s Theory. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2019. No 3. P. 13-22
This article offers a theoretical reflection of the nature of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). We refer specifically to those assets control or possession of which can help explain hierarchies within the social stratification system. For this purpose, we examine E.O. Wright’s concepts of social class and exploitation. This neo-Marxist sociologist has indicated that the dominant socioeconomic and political system of socialist societies like the USSR represented a specific mode of production. In this regard, the mechanism of economic exploitation was different from the capitalist mode of production. In a nationalised, centralised and planned economy, control over decisions that preserve the bureaucracy (concerning the organisation of production and distribution) helps to determine the share of social wealth. Thus in the USSR, the higher classes, comprising high-ranking bureaucrats and highly qualified specialists, possessed the economic power to decide the destiny of their socially generated excess and enjoyed a higher level of well-being, defined as the relationship between leisure and work. Had democratisation of the economic management occurred, including greater access among the unprivileged classes to organisational assets, the bureaucrats would have seen their capacity to appropriate social wealth cut significantly. Finally, we question specific means of recruitment to higher positions in the social system of stratification.
Aitov N.A. (1963) Some Features of the Change in Class Structure in the USSR. Voprosy filosofii [Questions of Philosophy]. No. 3: 27–39 (In Russ.)
Belozertsev V.I., Fomina V.A (1963) The Communist Division of Labor Does not Exclude the Complete Development of Man. Voprosy filosofii [Questions of Philosophy]. No. 9: 26–40. (In Russ.)
Cliff T. (2000) State Capitalism in the USSR. Barcelona: En lucha.
De Francisco A. (1994) Problems of Class Analysis: an Introduction. In: Carabaña J., De Francisco A. (eds) Contemporary Theories of Social Classes. Madrid: Pablo Iglesias Publishers: 1–16. (In Spanish)
Djilas M. (1957) The New Class: an Analysis of the Communist System. New York: Praeger.
Figes O. (2000) A People’s Tragedy: the Russian Revolution 1891–1924. Barcelona: Edhasa. (In Spanish)
Giddens A. (1983) The Class Structure of the Advanced Societies. London: Hutchinson.
Glezerman G.E. (1963) About Class Differentiation and Social Homogeneity. Voprosy filosofii [Questions of Philisophy]. No. 2: 11–21 (In Russ.)
Glezerman G.E. (1964) People’s Relations and Interests in the Socialism. Kommunist [Communist]. No. 12: 44–54 (In Russ.)
Glezerman G.E. (1966) The Interest as a Sociological Category. Voprosy filosofii [Questions of Philisophy]. No. 10: 16–26 (In Russ.)
Inkeles A. (1961) Myth and Reality of Social Classes. In: Inkeles A., Geiger K. (eds) Soviet Society: a Book of Readings. London: Constable: 558–573.
Katz Z. (1972) Patterns of Social Stratification in the USSR. Cambridge, MA: Centre for International Studies MIT.
Katz Z. (1973a) The Nachalnik (Executive) Class in the USSR. Cambridge, MA: Centre for International Studies MIT.
Katz Z. (1973b) Patterns of Social Mobility in the USSR. Cambridge, MA: Centre for International Studies MIT.
Markiewicz-Lagneau J. (1971) Stratification and Social Mobility in the Socialist Countries. Madrid: Siglo XXI. (In Spanish)
Marx K. (2003) The 18th Brumarie of Louis Bonaparte. Madrid: Alianza. (In Spanish)
Matthews M. (1977) Class and Society in Soviet Russia. Madrid: Alianza. (In Spanish)
Matthews M. (1978) Privilege in the Soviet Union: a Study of ELite Life-styles under Communism. London: George Allen&Unwin.
Milanovic B. (2011) The Haves and the Have-not: a Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality. New York: Basic Books.
Parkin F. (1978) Class Inequality and Political Order: Social Stratification in Capitalist and Communist Societies. Madrid: Debate. (In Spanish)
Rozental M.M., Yudin P.F. (1955) The Concise Philosophical Dictionary. Moscow: Gospolitizdat. (In Russ.)
Shkaratan O.I. (1970) USSR’s Working Class Social Structure Problems. Moscow: Mysl’. (In Russ.)
Shkaratan O. I., Yastrebov G.A. (2012) A Comparative Analysis of the Processes of Social Mobility in the USSR and in Today’s Russia. Russian Education and Society. Vol. 54. No. 5: 24–64.
Teckenberg W. (1982) The Social Structure of the Soviet Working Class: Toward an Etatist Society? International Journal of Sociology. Vol. 6. No. 4: 2–163.
Trotsky L. (2001) The Revolution Betrayed. Madrid: Federico Engels Publishers. (In Spanish)
Valdera-Gil J.M. (2015) The Legitimation of Social Inequality in Soviet Ideology during the Stalin Era. Mir Rossii [Universe of Russia]. Vol. 24. No. 4: 29–59. (In Russ.)
Voslensky M. (1981) Nomenklatura: the Soviet Ruling Class. Barcelona: Argos Vergara. (In Spanish)
Wright E.O. (1983) Class, Crisis and the State. Madrid: Siglo XXI Publishers. (In Spanish)
Wright E.O. (1994a) Rethinking Once Again the Concept of Class Structure. In: Carabaña J., De Francisco A. (eds) Contemporary Theories of Social Classes. Madrid: Pablo Iglesias Publishers: 17–125. (In Spanish)
Wright E.O. (1994b) Classes. Madrid: Siglo XXI Publishers. (In Spanish)
Wright E.O. (1997) Class Counts: Comparative Studies in Class Analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Yanowitch M., Fisher W. (comps) (1973) Social Stratification and Mobility in the USSR. White Plains; New York: International Arts and Sciences Press.
Yanowitch M. (comp.) (1986) The Social Structure of the USSR. New York: Sharpe.