Soviet Politics and Journalism under Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika and Glasnost: Why Hopes Failed

Abstract

The terms perestroika (literally, "transformation") and glasnost (literally, "transparency ") refer to the social change that took place in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. Then USSR leader, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Mikhail Gorbachev, introduced perestroika as a necessary action to improve the nation’s economy and its international relations. Glasnost was meant to promote effective discussions regarding the country’s existing problems and shortcomings. However, only a few years following their instatement, both processes did not improve the sociopolitical situation. On the contrary, they led to the country’s collapse. This article seeks to answer why gracious intentions, meant to actualize the hopes and dreams of the Soviet people, eventually resulted in tremendously difficult times. Special attention is paid to the role of the Soviet media, which became a catalyst for many social problems. The authors raise the issue of the media’s level of responsibility during this social transformation, which appeared to be one of the most crucial conditions for its successful implementation. Keywords: authoritarian culture, social transformation, civic society, perestroika, glasnost, Soviet media

Political Humor in KVN (1986–1999)

“…The late 1980s, Gorbachev's Perestroika, was, on the one hand, a period of economic disaster and, on the other hand, the time of hope (Strovsky, Schleifer, 2021): the youth was expecting serious changes in all spheres. Those days there were many political jokes in KVN: students were ironic about the Communist party.…”