Neo-Stalinism: Difference between revisions

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	Denis J.B. Shaw's ''Russia in the Modern World'' considers the Soviet Union as Stalinist up until the post-1985 period of transition to capitalism.		Denis J.B. Shaw's ''Russia in the Modern World'' considers the Soviet Union as Stalinist up until the post-1985 period of transition to capitalism.
	Shaw identifies as features of the "political geography" of "neo-Stalinism" as follows:		Shaw identifies as features of the "political geography" of "neo-Stalinism" as follows:
			<blockquote>
	~~<blockquote>~~*1. A well developed core-periphery structure, reflecting marked differences in levels of economic development and living standards. This is in part the product of a tendency towards 'incrementalism'{{ndash}}seeking to gain economies by allocating a considerable proportion of resources to those regions which have benefited most from previous investment...		*1. A well developed core-periphery structure, reflecting marked differences in levels of economic development and living standards. This is in part the product of a tendency towards 'incrementalism'{{ndash}}seeking to gain economies by allocating a considerable proportion of resources to those regions which have benefited most from previous investment...
	*2. The inbuilt conservatism of the system and the bias towards heavy industry the continuing importance of traditional industrial regions with 'smokestack' industries, such as the Donets-Dnepr region of eastern Ukraine and the Urals.		*2. The inbuilt conservatism of the system and the bias towards heavy industry the continuing importance of traditional industrial regions with 'smokestack' industries, such as the Donets-Dnepr region of eastern Ukraine and the Urals.
	*3. 'Extensive' (ie, resource-demanding) rather than 'intensive' (resource-saving) development, leading to waste of resources and environmental deterioration in the core, growing dependence of the core on the resources of the periphery and pressure to develop the latter in the cheapest and often most short-sighted manner.		*3. 'Extensive' (ie, resource-demanding) rather than 'intensive' (resource-saving) development, leading to waste of resources and environmental deterioration in the core, growing dependence of the core on the resources of the periphery and pressure to develop the latter in the cheapest and often most short-sighted manner.
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	*6. A well developed hierarchy of well-being in the settlement structure, whereby, in general terms, the best endowed settlements were the biggest ones with major administrative and political functions...conditions as they became smaller.		*6. A well developed hierarchy of well-being in the settlement structure, whereby, in general terms, the best endowed settlements were the biggest ones with major administrative and political functions...conditions as they became smaller.
	*7. The development of regional economies...greatly influenced by the 'military-industrial complex' with the progress of individual cities, groups of cities and even entire regions (including peripheral ones) very much bound up with the needs of the military machine.		*7. The development of regional economies...greatly influenced by the 'military-industrial complex' with the progress of individual cities, groups of cities and even entire regions (including peripheral ones) very much bound up with the needs of the military machine.
	*8. Continental and inward-looking development induced by the longstanding tendency towards economic autarky. Isolation from the world economy...Only from the 1960s were autarkic tendencies modified, encouraging further economic development along land frontiers, on coasts and at ports.<ref>Shaw, Denis J.B. ''Russia in the Modern World: A New Geography''. Wiley-Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0631181342, ISBN 9780631181347. Pp. 81-84.</blockquote>		*8. Continental and inward-looking development induced by the longstanding tendency towards economic autarky. Isolation from the world economy...Only from the 1960s were autarkic tendencies modified, encouraging further economic development along land frontiers, on coasts and at ports.<ref>Shaw, Denis J.B. ''Russia in the Modern World: A New Geography''. Wiley-Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0631181342, ISBN 9780631181347. Pp. 81-84.</ref></blockquote>

	In February 1956, ] leader ] denounced the ] that surrounded his predecessor, Joseph Stalin, and condemned crimes committed during the ]. In 1956 Khrushchev gave a 4 hour speech condemning the Stalin regime, however it was criticized for fabricating information and exaggerating claims hugely. <ref>{{cite news\|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4744288.stm\|title=The speech Russia wants to forget\|author=Tim Whewell\|publisher=BBC\|date=2006-02-23\|accessdate=2009-94-29}}</ref>		In February 1956, ] leader ] denounced the ] that surrounded his predecessor, Joseph Stalin, and condemned crimes committed during the ]. In 1956 Khrushchev gave a 4 hour speech condemning the Stalin regime, however it was criticized for fabricating information and exaggerating claims hugely. <ref>{{cite news\|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4744288.stm\|title=The speech Russia wants to forget\|author=Tim Whewell\|publisher=BBC\|date=2006-02-23\|accessdate=2009-94-29}}</ref>

Revision as of 02:41, 11 May 2009

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Neo-Stalinism is a term that describes rehabilitation and glorification of Joseph Stalin, restoration of Stalinist policies, or a moderated Stalinist state, "without political reprisals but with persecution and total control." The American socialist writer Hal Draper used "neo-Stalinism" in 1948 to refer to a a new political ideology–new development in Soviet policy, which he defined as a reactionary trend whose beginning was associated with the Popular Front period of the mid-1930s, writing that "The ideologists of neo-Stalinism are merely the tendrils shot ahead by the phenomena – fascism and Stalinism – which outline the social and political form of a neo-barbarism”

Denis J.B. Shaw's Russia in the Modern World considers the Soviet Union as Stalinist up until the post-1985 period of transition to capitalism. Shaw identifies as features of the "political geography" of "neo-Stalinism" as follows:

1. A well developed core-periphery structure, reflecting marked differences in levels of economic development and living standards. This is in part the product of a tendency towards 'incrementalism'–seeking to gain economies by allocating a considerable proportion of resources to those regions which have benefited most from previous investment...

2. The inbuilt conservatism of the system and the bias towards heavy industry the continuing importance of traditional industrial regions with 'smokestack' industries, such as the Donets-Dnepr region of eastern Ukraine and the Urals.

3. 'Extensive' (ie, resource-demanding) rather than 'intensive' (resource-saving) development, leading to waste of resources and environmental deterioration in the core, growing dependence of the core on the resources of the periphery and pressure to develop the latter in the cheapest and often most short-sighted manner.

4. Administration of the economy by sectors and tendencies towards 'narrow departmentalism' to the development of a series of ministerial 'empires', lacking intelinkages, reducing the scope for scale economies, encouraging excessive transportation and leading to the economic overspecialization of many cities and regions, especially peripheral ones...

5. The relative neglect of agriculture, transportation, consumer welfare and numerous services...

6. A well developed hierarchy of well-being in the settlement structure, whereby, in general terms, the best endowed settlements were the biggest ones with major administrative and political functions...conditions as they became smaller.

7. The development of regional economies...greatly influenced by the 'military-industrial complex' with the progress of individual cities, groups of cities and even entire regions (including peripheral ones) very much bound up with the needs of the military machine.

8. Continental and inward-looking development induced by the longstanding tendency towards economic autarky. Isolation from the world economy...Only from the 1960s were autarkic tendencies modified, encouraging further economic development along land frontiers, on coasts and at ports.

In February 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced the cult of personality that surrounded his predecessor, Joseph Stalin, and condemned crimes committed during the Great Purge. In 1956 Khrushchev gave a 4 hour speech condemning the Stalin regime, however it was criticized for fabricating information and exaggerating claims hugely.

In October 1964, Khrushchev was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev, who remained in office until his death in November 1982. During his reign, the truth about Stalinism was suppressed, leading to the exile of many dissidents, most notably Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. According to Alexander Dubček, "The advent of Brezhnev’s regime heralded the advent of neo-Stalinism, and the measures taken against Czechoslovakia in 1968 were the final consolidation of the neo-Stalinist forces in the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, and other countries."

Mikhail Gorbachev took over in March 1985. He introduced the policy of glasnost in public discussions – in order to liberalize the Soviet system. The full scale of Stalinist repressions was soon revealed, and the Soviet Union fell apart. Still, Gorbachev admitted in 2000 that "Even now in Russia we have the same problem. It isn't so easy to give up the inheritance we received from Stalinism and Neo-Stalinism, when people were turned into cogs in the wheel, and those in power made all the decisions for them." .

By the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st Century, Turkmenistan’s Saparmurat Niyazov regime was largely considered a neo-Stalinist one.

As of 2008, nearly half of Russians view Stalin positively, and many support restoration of his monuments dismantled in the past. In 2005, Communist politician Gennady Zyuganov said that Russia "should once again render honor to Stalin for his role in building socialism and saving human civilization from the Nazi plague."