Soviet Work Attitudes and Politics, 1953-91: A Preliminary Historical Sociology

The main question investigated here is the extent to which Russian workers’ changing attitudes toward their labour contributed to the systemic political crisis of the Soviet regime during the latter part of the 1980s. The related issue of the workers’ understanding of what has been called the “social contract” between themselves and government is also explored. The goal is to assess the relationship between their political allegiance and historical Soviet practices that guaranteed rudimentary welfare and job security, irrespective of work performance.