Goods and States: The Political Logic of State-Socialist Material Culture

Abstract

In the two decades since the fall of state socialism, the widespread phenomenon ofnostalgiein the former Soviet satellites has made clear that the everyday life of state socialism, contrary to stereotype, was experienced and is remembered in color. Nonetheless, popular accounts continue to depict the Soviet bloc as gray and colorless. As Paul Manning (2007) has argued, color becomes a powerful tool for legitimating not only capitalism, but democratic governance as well. An American journalist, for example, recently reflected on her own experience in the region over a number of decades:It's hard to communicate how colorless and shockingly gray it was behind the Iron Curtain … the only color was the red of Communist banners. Stores had nothing to sell. There wasn't enough food… . Lines formed whenever something, anything, was for sale. The fatigue of daily life was all over their faces. Now… fur-clad women confidently stride across the winter ice in stiletto heels. Stores have sales… upscale cafés cater to cosmopolitan clients, and magazine stands, once so strictly controlled, rival those in the West. … Life before was so drab. Now the city seems loaded with possibilities (Freeman 2008).

Remains of the Soviet Past in Estonia

“…For instance, jeans were not simply a pair of trousers, but also a manifestation of connections and social capital. Likewise, people decorated their homes with packages of Western products, even if empty, because of their symbolic value (Berdahl 2001;Fehérváry 2009;Yurchak 2005). Nonetheless, the overstocking of commodities and the means of production can be also seen as an indicator of a different relation between people and things (Kiaer 2005;Oushakine 2014).…”

“…Nonetheless, the overstocking of commodities and the means of production can be also seen as an indicator of a different relation between people and things (Kiaer 2005;Oushakine 2014). Shortages and storage were critical components of socialist material culture, generating a 'culture of frugality' (Fehérváry 2009) with sensitivity to the long-term value of things and a particular sense of care, as goods not only required frequent repair but also interventions to make them fully functional (Gerasimova and Chuikina 2009). Certain goods were available only in certain places, at certain times and in certain quantities; a peculiar form of economy which led to quotidian practices of hoarding and repair, associated with idiosyncratic types of waiting, transmission and acquisition (through luck, persistence or special contacts).…”

Household as a Battleground of Modernity: Activities of the Home Economics Committee Affiliated to the League of Women (1957–80)

“…21 Not only the modern household was an element of the State's policy since the Thaw in Poland, but also various social actors produced discourses on the topic. The League of Women and its section named the Home Economics Committee were the most prominent among them.…”

Discourses of Thrift and Consumer Reasonability in Czech State-Socialist Society

“…(Czech National Council, 10th meeting, 18 December 1978) Thus the new expression 'rationalisation of consumption' became ubiquitous; until the 1970s rationalisation almost exclusively concerned the sphere of production, but from the 1970s onward, personal consumption was discursively added to the general rationalisation effort. On the other hand, and somewhat contradictorily, an emphasis on the steady increase in the level of consumption and the standard of living was used more and more frequently as an important political legitimisation of the socialist regime [Fehérváry 2009;Stitziel 2005]. The term 'rationalisation' was now used to indicate the effort to prevent any unnecessary expenses, in much the same way as present-day managerial euphemisms are [Keyes 2011].…”