Brodersen Arvid. The Soviet Worker: Labor and Government in Soviet society

New York: Random House, 1966. — 291 p.The purpose of this book is to offer the Western reader, and particularly the college or university social science student, a brief introduction to the role of the working class in contemporary Soviet society. Although a key figure, the Soviet worker has been somewhat neglected by researchers in favor of other groups—the ruling elite, the party and organization men, the intellectuals, the new middle class. We shall therefore direct our attention to him—and to some related problems and hypotheses—not in isolation, but in the context of the industrial society in which he forms but one class interacting with others.The Worker’s Role in HistoryThe Bolshevik-Menshevik schism
Marx’s conception of the worker
Lenin’s conception of the party
The workers’ role in the Russian revolutionThe Worker in Bolshevik Theory and POlicy, 1917-1928The dictatorship of the proletariat
The first Constitution and the 1919 Party program
Soviet labor legislation, 1917-1927
The intraparty debate on labor policy, 1917-1929Centralized Planning for IndustrializationThe Stalin era
“Socialism in one country”
The Legal basis of the labor force
Industrial growthThe Formation of the Labor Force, 1928-1955The mobilization of labor
The logic of industry
Control
Discipline
Training
Demographic trends and population policiesWorking Conditions in the Stalin EraWork time and leisure time
Work norms
Wages
Supplementary benefits
Living standardsLabor Productivity in the Stalin EraFactors of production
The battle for labor productivityThe “New Course” in Soviet Labor PolicyThe wider scope of free movement
Living standards and labor output
The education reform of 1958
Harnessing science for greater productivity
— and After KHrushchevThe Worker in the Social StructureSoviet society in Soviet-Marxist theory
Soviet society in modern social theory
Social stratification
The social composition of the working classWorker, Intelligentsia, and POliticsIntelligentsia — the Soviet definition
The intelligentsia and social change
The hard facts of stratification
The worker’s role in Soviet politics
Who rules the Soviet Union?The Promised LandTasks in the economic field
An improved living standard
The political futureBibliography and Reference Material
Index