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the
soviet period in many aspects represented continuity with the
prerevolutionary period in that it was consistent with some key
features of traditional russian political culture梩he autocracy, the
supremacy of the state over society, the dominance of a state
ideology, and an emphasis on egalitarianism and collectivism. |
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however, in other aspects, the soviet period represented a departure
from elements of traditional russian political culture. the peasant
commune and other forms of traditional social life were destroyed by
the stalinist upheaval to be replaced by large state-run economic
units such as collective and state farms. atheism and marxism were
proclaimed the official doctrine, and attempts were made to turn
marxism into a sort of 搒ecular?religion to replace christianity
and other religious creeds of the tsarist empire. the orthodox
church itself was subject to severe restrictions during most of the
soviet period. |
but
the most significant shifts in russian political culture of the
soviet period were connected with the transition from a
predominantly rural, uneducated society to one that is
overwhelmingly urban and literate. prerevolutionary russia was a
land of peasants, with over 80 percent of its population living in
rural communities. today, the situation has been almost reversed:
nearly three-quarters of the population of russia is classified as
urban. in the late 1920s and over the following six decades, the
social and demographic changes connected with the processes of
industrialization and urbanization transformed the passive neofeudal
peasant society into an urban industrial society with a modern
social structure and an increasingly articulate population. by the
mid-1980s, a large urban middle class had developed, represented by
a substantial professional, scientific-technical, and cultural
intelligentsia with new cultural and material requirements.
the
steadily rising educational levels of soviet society were one of the
consequences of soviet urbanization. by the early 1980s, specialists
with higher or secondary vocational education accounted for 40
percent of city dwellers. the rising educational levels brought
about a cardinal change in the very notion of the intelligentsia.
from a narrow intellectual elite it was transformed into a wide
stratum of educated people incorporating diverse social categories
and groups: engineers, administrators, academics, actors, teachers,
and politicians.
in
addition, the ever-growing pressures of the scientific and
technological competition with the west required the soviet regime
to accept a certain level of openness to outside influences.
scientific and cultural exchanges of people and ideas, though
closely monitored, gradually broadened the channels through which
the diverse influences of the outside world filtered into the soviet
union. in the 1970s and 1980s these external cultural influences
assumed an ever greater importance in shaping soviet political
culture and public opinion.
the
cumulative effect of urbanization, rising educational attainments,
and the influence of global moral and technological trends was
nothing short of a cultural revolution. contrary to the communist
rulers?expectations, soviet modernization did not result in
strengthening the hold of socialist ideology in the popular
consciousness. on the contrary, it led to the formation of a
critically minded, alienated, and democratically oriented
constituency for liberal reforms. the new 揝oviet man?that the
authorities sought to forge turned out to be an individualist and a
pragmatist. his way of life, requirements, tastes, everyday behavior,
and aesthetic preferences more and more conformed to 揥estern?
norms.
the result of soviet industrialization and urbanization was a
population that was shedding fast its 揷ommunal?characteristics,
transforming into a society of autonomous individuals. as socialist
consciousness waned, alternative ideologies spread, and pro-western,
liberal democratic views gained growing popularity, particularly
among the younger, urban, and educated sectors of the population.
