Underground Entrepreneurs and the Soviet Shadow Economy under Late Socialism, 1950s–1980s

FAIN: FT-260355-18

James Warren Heinzen
Rowan University (Glassboro, NJ 08028-1702)

Research and writing leading to publication of a book on the Soviet shadow economy during the Krushchev and Brezhnev eras (1953-1985).

Supported by new archival material and newly located interviews, this book project exploring the social and cultural history of the Soviet black market advances three important and promising fields: everyday life under “mature” Soviet socialism; the vibrant history of crime and corruption (including ethnic networks); and the interplay of ideology and the hyper-centralized planned economy. The project makes connections between four levels of analysis: law and legal history; the social dynamics of entrepreneurial activity under an authoritarian socialist regime; the complexity of ethnic networks in a modern multinational empire; and the peculiar politics of anti-corruption in a corrupt party-state. This project thus lies at the intersection of the political, the criminal, and everyday life in the final decades of the Soviet empire. The aim of this project is to conduct deep archival research to shed light on major themes in Soviet history.

Associated Products

Soviet Entrepreneurs in the Late Socialist Shadow Economy: The Case of the Kyrgyz Affair (Article)
Title: Soviet Entrepreneurs in the Late Socialist Shadow Economy: The Case of the Kyrgyz Affair
Author: James Heinzen
Abstract: Supported by new archival material, this article delves deeply into one landmark criminal case to explore key aspects of the social, economic, and cultural history of illegal production and markets in the Soviet 1950s–60s. The goal of the article (and the larger project from which it draws) is to use archival research to shed light on major themes in Soviet history. It touches on three important and promising fields: everyday life under late Soviet socialism; the vibrant history of crime and law in this period; and the history of entrepreneurial activities within the hyper-centralized state-planned economy, focusing on the dynamics of the shadow economy. The so-called Kyrgyz Affair, a famous and expansive shadow economy operation centered in clothing factories in Frunze (Bishkek), Kyrgyz Republic, is at the center of the article. I argue that the scope, sophistication, ambition, and success of this and similar operations helps us understand a significant reason why Nikita Khrushchev decided to introduce the death penalty for aggravated cases of theft of state property and bribery in 1961–62. Associated with and fully permeating the shadow economy, one sees many varieties of practices, attitudes, informal institutions and agreements, and relationships.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/slavic-review/article/abs/soviet-entrepreneurs-in-the-late-socialist-shadow-economy-the-case-of-the-kyrgyz-affair/0687A97CEBDCCA59F2682989CAF97520
Primary URL Description: Slavic Review website.
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Slavic Review

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