Narratives of appeal and the appeal of narratives: Labor discipline and its contestation in the early Soviet period

Russian History

Volumn 24, Issue 1-2, 1997, Pages 65-87

  Siegelbaum, Lewis H ^a,b  

^a Michigan State University ^*

^b MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 9944232792     PISSN: 0094288X     EISSN: 18763316     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/187633197X00050     Document Type: Review

References (108)

1. Research for this essay was supported in part by a grant from the International Research and Exchanges Board IREX, with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the United States Information Agency. I wish to thank Leslie Page Moch and Ronald G. Suny for comments and criticisms on earlier drafts and Margaret Somers for helpful suggestions International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the United States Information Agency. I wish to thank Leslie Page Moch and Ronald G. Suny for comments and criticisms on earlier drafts and Margaret Somers for helpful suggestions
2. "Zhaloba k MGSPSu ot Anny Matveevny Malomakhovy," Tsentral'nyi gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Moskovskoi oblasti (TsGAMO), f. 180, op. 1, d. 287, l. 870. gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Moskovskoi oblasti (TsGAMO), f. 180, op. 1, d. 287, l. 870
3. Ibid
4. William H. Sewell, Jr., "Toward a Post-Materialist Rhetoric for History, in Rethinking Labor History, ed. Lenard R. Berlanstein (Urbana and Chicago: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1993), 15-38. Quotation from 34. Labor History," in Rethinking Labor History, ed. Lenard R. Berlanstein (Urbana and Chicago: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1993), 15-38. Quotation from 34
5. Michael Hanagan, "Commentary: For Reconstruction in Labor History," ibid., 183-85
6. Laura Engelstein, "Combined Underdevelopment: Discipline and the Law Russia in Imperial and Soviet Russia," American Historical Review 98 (1993): 353
7. See Sheila Fitzpatrick, "The Bolsheviks' Dilemma: Class, Culture Years, and comments by R. Suny and D. Orlovsky and Politics in Early Soviet Years," and comments by R. Suny and D. Orlovsky, Slavic Review 47 (1988): 599-626
8. Mary McCauley, Bread and Justice: State and Society in Petrograd 1917-1922 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991)
9. Historians of the late imperial Russian working class are far ahead in Industry, 1867-1907 this sense. for example, Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press this sense. See, for example, Mark D. Steinberg, Moral Communities: The Culture of Class Relations in the Russian Printing Industry, 1867-1907 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press, 1992
10. idem., "Worker-Authors and the Cult of the Person," in Cultures Imperial Russia Press in Flux: Lower-Class Valuesractices, and Resistance in Late Imperial Russia, ed. Stephen P. Frank and Mark D. Steinberg (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1994), 168-84
11. Reginald Zelnik, "Russian Bebels," Parts 1 & 2, Russian (1976): 249-89; 36 (1976): 417-47; Review 35 (1976): 249-89; 36 (1976): 417-47
12. idem., Law and Disorder on the Narova River: The Kreenholm Strike of 1872 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press, 1995)
13. and their essays (Reginald E. Zelnik, "On the Eve: Life Histories Identities of Some Revolutionary Workers, 1870-1905, and Mark D. Steinberg, Vanguard Workers and the Morality of Class) in Making Workers Soviet: Power, Class, and Identity, ed. Lewis H. Siegelbaum and Ronald Grigor Suny (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press, 1994), 27-65 and 66-84. and Identities of Some Revolutionary Workers, 1870-1905," and Mark D. Steinberg, "Vanguard Workers and the Morality of Class") in Making Workers Soviet: Power, Class, and Identity, ed. Lewis H. Siegelbaum and Ronald Grigor Suny (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press, 1994), 27-65 and 66-84
14. Margaret R. Somers, "Narrativity, Narrative Identity, and Social Working-Class Formation Action: Rethinking English Working-Class Formation," Social Science History 16 (1992): 601
15. On definitions of narratives, see also William H. Sewell, Jr. Narratives and Social Identities, and George Steinmetz, Reflections on the Role of Social Narratives in Working-Class Formation: Narrative Theory in the Social Sciences, ibid., 479-88 and 489-516; "Introduction: Narratives and Social Identities," and George Steinmetz, "Reflections on the Role of Social Narratives in Working-Class Formation: Narrative Theory in the Social Sciences," ibid., 479-88 and 489-516
16. and J. Hillis Miller. "Narrative," in Critical Terms for Press Literary Study, ed. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1990), 66-79
17. Natalie Zemon Davis, Fiction in the Archives: Pardon Tales and Their Century France Tellers in Sixteenth Century France (Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press, 1987), 4
18. Somers, "Narrativity," 603-05 distinguishes four kinds of narrative: ontologicalublic, conceptual, and metanarrativity
19. Cf. Lenin, "Gosudarstvo i revoliutsiia," Polnoe sobranie 55 vols. [hereafter PSS] (Moscow: Politizdat, 1958-65), 33: 49, sochinenii, 5th ed., 55 vols. [hereafter PSS] (Moscow: Politizdat, 1958-65), 33: 49
20. and "Ocherednye zadachi sovetskoi vlasti," PSS 36: 196. Note inclusiveness of we, the workers as contrasted with the hierarchical arrangement: proletarian dictatorship - proletariat - toiling masses - hooligans. also the inclusiveness of "we, the workers" as contrasted with the hierarchical arrangement: proletarian dictatorship - proletariat - toiling masses - hooligans
21. For analyses and critiques of this agenda, see, inter aliahilip Harvie Ramsay, and Derek Sayer, Socialist Construction and Marxist Theory: Bolshevism and its Critique (New York and London: Monthly Review, 1978), 24-89; Corrigan, Harvie Ramsay, and Derek Sayer, Socialist Construction and Marxist Theory: Bolshevism and its Critique (New York and London: Monthly Review, 1978), 24-89
22. R. Linhart, Lenine, les paysans, Taylor (Paris: Editions de Seuil, 1976)
23. Steve Smith, "Taylorism Rules OK? Bolshevism, Taylorism and the Intelligentsia in the Soviet Union Technical Intelligentsia in the Soviet Union," Radical Science Journal, no. 13 (1983): 3-27
24. and, from a very different vantage point, Richard Stites, Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1989), 41-52, 145-55. Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1989), 41-52, 145-55
25. None of these works specifically addresses labor discipline. For an analysis of Lenin's view of the law, which briefly refers to labor discipline, analysis of Lenin's view of the law, which briefly refers to labor discipline, see Jane Burbank, "Lenin and the Law in Revolutionary Russia," Slavic Review 54 (1995): 23-44
26. Lenin, "Iz dnevnika publitsista," PSS 35: 188
27. It is telling that in this "diary's" list of items for discipline of workers is counterposed to the custom of tramping. In State and Revolution, Lenin posits the establishment of strict, iron discipline on the basis of what capitalism already has created. PSS 33: 49-50. attention, "the discipline of workers" is counterposed to "the custom of tramping." In "State and Revolution," Lenin posits the establishment of "strict, iron discipline" on the basis of what capitalism already has created. PSS 33: 49-50
28. Lenin, "Rech' na III Vserossiiskom s"ezde profsoiuzov," PSS 40: 301-2
29. Lenin, "Ocherednye zadachi," PSS 36: 200-1
30. "Na bor'bu s toplivnym krizisom," PSS 39: 307-08
31. "Rech' na konferentsii zheleznodorozhnikov Moskovskogo uzla, 5 1920 g.SS 40: 112; Fevralia 1920 g.," PSS 40: 112
32. "Rech na III Vserossiiskom s"ezde rabochikh vodnogo transporta 1920 g.SS 40: 219-20; 15 Marta 1920 g.," PSS 40: 219-20
33. "Rech' na I Vserossiiskom uchreditel'nom s'ezde gornorabochikh 297-98; " PSS 40: 297-98
34. "NEP i zadachi politprosvetov," PSS 44: 167
35. For a discussion of this "formal unit of narrative discourse," Hill and Wang see Roland Barthes, Image-Music-Text (New York: Hill and Wang, 1977), 92-94
36. For similar comments, see Mikhail Tomsky's speech to the fourth protokoly factory committees in, Moscow: VTsSPS conference of factory committees in VTsSPS, Konferentsiia fabrichno-zavodskikh i professional'nykh soiuzov IV, 1918 protokoly (Moscow: VTsSPS, 1919), 114-15
37. Many years later, Mikhail Kalinin recalled that before the revolution skilled workers, experts at their jobs, men who believed in labor discipline and never shirked their work had to be chased out of the factory by force during a strike and were not valued in the revolutionary underground because they exerted themselves for the capitalists. It is a different matter now, he added, explaining the difference in terms of dialectics: Formerly we used to negate such an attitude to work. Now we 'negate' this 'negation.' M. I. Kalinin, On Communist Education: Selected Speeches and Articles (Moscow: FLPH, 1950), 137-38. "skilled workers, experts at their jobs, men who believed in labor discipline and never shirked their work" had to be "chased out of the factory by force" during a strike and were not valued in the revolutionary underground "because they exerted themselves for the capitalists." "It is a different matter now," he added, explaining the difference in terms of dialectics: "Formerly we used to negate such an attitude to work. Now we 'negate' this 'negation.'" See M. I. Kalinin, On Communist Education: Selected Speeches and Articles (Moscow: FLPH, 1950), 137-38
38. See also Yuri Larin, Trudovaia povinnost' i rabochii kontrol' (Moscow Kniga, 1918), 93-94
39. In 1895 Lenin railed against the "barracks-like, bureaucratically provisions of an 1886 law which permitted factory owners to fine workers for unexcused absences but was silent about compensating workers for factory shutdowns. PSS 2: 19-60; quotation from 30 captious provisions" of an 1886 law which permitted factory owners to fine workers for unexcused absences but was silent about compensating workers for factory shutdowns. See PSS 2: 19-60; quotation from 30
40. "Ocherednye zadachi." ibid.: 198-99
41. "Otchet o politicheskoi deiatel'nosti TsK RKP(b), 8 Marta 24, 42. [1921]," PSS 43: 24, 42
42. As late as the mid-1960s, the existence of absentees, flitters alcoholics, and bodgers among Soviet workers was attributed to survivals of capitalism. L. B. Genkin. Stanovlenie novoi distsipliny truda (Moscow: Profizdat, 1967), 5-6. alcoholics, and bodgers among Soviet workers was attributed to "survivals of capitalism." See L. B. Genkin. Stanovlenie novoi distsipliny truda (Moscow: Profizdat, 1967), 5-6
43. Pravda, May 1. 1918
44. Krasnaia gazeta, April 28, 1918
45. See also the colorful (red and green) cover illustration of 2-3 /25-26 (1921), showing a (male) worker unrolling a sheath of cloth on which is written Labor discipline - the foundation of communism. Tekstil'shchik, no. 2-3 /25-26 (1921), showing a (male) worker unrolling a sheath of cloth on which is written "Labor discipline - the foundation of communism."
46. See, for example, Trud i distsiplina (Iaroslavl'); Trud i distsiplina (Tsaritsyn). Articles on labor discipline appeared regularly in Professional'nyi vestnik, Organizatsiia truda, Metallist, Zheleznodorozhnik, and Tekstil'shchik. (Tsaritsyn). Articles on labor discipline appeared regularly in Professional'nyi vestnik, Organizatsiia truda, Metallist, Zheleznodorozhnik, and Tekstil'shchik
47. Organizatsiia truda, no. 13 /25 (1921): 16-17; no. 5-6/17-18 (1921) 12-14; Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv Rossiiskoi Federatsii (GARF), f. 5451, op. 5, d. 115, l. 35 (Apr. 16,1921). 12-14; Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv Rossiiskoi Federatsii (GARF), f. 5451, op. 5, d. 115, l. 35 (Apr. 16,1921)
48. V. Kozelev, "Samodistsiplina trudiashchikhsia," no. 5-6/13-14 (1918): 7. It would be interesting to know what moment Jaurès had in mind. Professional'nyi vestnik, no. 5-6/13-14 (1918): 7. It would be interesting to know what "moment" Jaurès had in mind
49. "Rol' profsoiuzov v bor'be s trudovym dezertirstvom," 4-5/18-19 (1920): 4-5. Tekstil'shchik, no. 4-5/18-19 (1920): 4-5
50. A. Ivanov, "Za trud!," Trud i distsiplina (Tsaritsyn), no. 1 subbotnik (1920): 3. The voskresnik (Communist Sunday) was a less common variant of the subbotnik
51. Steinberg, Moral Communities, 241-42
52. P. Ia. Iakorskii, "Tovarishcheskie sudy v period revoliutsii gg., Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta, Ser. 10 (Pravo), no. 4 (1964): 54-66; 1905-1907 gg.," Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta, Ser. 10 (Pravo), no. 4 (1964): 54-66
53. V. F. Shishkin, Tak skladyvalis' revoliutsionnaia moral' (istoricheskii ocherk) (Moscow: Mysl', 1967), 261-65
54. For protocols of such trials see Akademiia nauk SSSR, Institut istorii SSSR, Fabrichnozavodskie komitety Petrograda v 1917 godu: Protokoly, 2 vols. (Moscow: Nauka, 1979-82). 1: 284; 2: 111, 233-35
55. For such lists, see Lewis H. Siegelbaum, "Defining and Ignoring Comrades-Disciplinary Courts, 1918-1922 Labor Discipline in the Early Soviet Period: The Comrades-Disciplinary Courts, 1918-1922," Slavic Review 51 (1992): 709-10
56. and P. Ia. Iakorskii, "Organizatsiia i deiatel'nost' Sovetskoi vlasti (1917-1922 gg.) tovarishcheskikh sudov v pervye gody Sovetskoi vlasti (1917-1922 gg.)" (Candidate's dissertation, Voronezh State Univ., 1966) 51-52, 75
57. For protocols of such courts in the textile industry, see TsGAMO, f. 627 1, d. 59, ll. 3-22. op. 1, d. 59, ll. 3-22
58. Iakorskii, "Organizatsiia i deiatel'nost'," 33-34, 71-74, 180 196
59. N. G. Ermicheva, "Stanovlenie zakonodatel'stva o distsiplinarnoi otvetstvennosti rabotnikov zh. d. transporta (oktiabr' 1917-1930 gg.), Vestnik Leningradskogo universiteta, Ser. Ekonomika, filosofiiaravo, vyp. 3, no. 17 (1973): 114-17. otvetstvennosti rabotnikov zh. d. transporta (oktiabr' 1917-1930 gg.)," Vestnik Leningradskogo universiteta, Ser. Ekonomika, filosofiiaravo, vyp. 3, no. 17 (1973): 114-17
60. The 1919 revised statutes are in GARF, f. 5474, op. 1, d. 100, ll. 1-6 For the situation on the railways during the civil war, William G. Rosenberg, The Social Background to Tsektran, in Party, State, and Society in the Russian Civil War: Explorations in Social History, ed. Diane P. Koenker, William G. Rosenberg, and Ronald Grigor Suny (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1989), 349-73. For the situation on the railways during the civil war, see William G. Rosenberg, "The Social Background to Tsektran," in Party, State, and Society in the Russian Civil War: Explorations in Social History, ed. Diane P. Koenker, William G. Rosenberg, and Ronald Grigor Suny (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1989), 349-73
61. Sobranie uzakonenii i rasporiazhenii rabochego i krest'ianskogo pravitel'stva pravitel'stva, no. 56 (1919): 537
62. Iakorskii, "Organizatsiia i deiatel'nost'," 195-206
63. For English translations of several key decrees, see James Bunyan. ed. Materials Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press The Origin of Forced Labor in the Soviet State, 1917-1921: Documents and Materials (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1967), 110-14, 165-70
64. Perhaps these factors explain why a year after he had signed the decree establishing the comrades-disciplinary courts, Lenin admitted that he had forgotten about them. I don't know how good these courts are, how well and constantly they function, he told a meeting of delegates to the Eighth Congress of Soviets in December 1920. LeninSS 42: 225 establishing the comrades-disciplinary courts, Lenin admitted that he had forgotten about them. "I don't know how good these courts are, how well and constantly they function," he told a meeting of delegates to the Eighth Congress of Soviets in December 1920. LeninSS 42: 225
65. In May 1921 he was still wondering how the courts were functioning. See 43:286 PSS 43:286
66. Figures for 1920 appear in K. Egorov, Moskovskie tovarishcheskie distsiplinarnye sudy za 1920 god (Materialy k X s'ezdu R.K.P. i IV-mu s'ezdu profsoiuzov) (Moscow: M.G.S.P.S., 1921), 10. Figures for 1921 have been compiled from Deiatatel'nost' DTS pri Moskovskikh gubotdelakh Profsoiuzov (1921), TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, d. 286, l. 183. They apparently do not include cases involving 5,416 individuals that came before the twenty uezd union bureaus (uprofbiuro). I have not found data on the courts at this level for 1920. distsiplinarnye sudy za 1920 god (Materialy k X s'ezdu R.K.P. i IV-mu s'ezdu profsoiuzov) (Moscow: M.G.S.P.S., 1921), 10. Figures for 1921 have been compiled from "Deiatatel'nost' DTS pri Moskovskikh gubotdelakh Profsoiuzov (1921)," TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, d. 286, l. 183. They apparently do not include cases involving 5,416 individuals that came before the twenty uezd union bureaus (uprofbiuro). I have not found data on the courts at this level for 1920
67. "Sostav prostupkov i pravonarushenii i rasporiazhenii ikh," op. 5, d. 719, ll. 3, 10. The figures were 11,765 for January through September, and 5,823 for October through December. GARF, f. 5451, op. 5, d. 719, ll. 3, 10. The figures were 11,765 for January through September, and 5,823 for October through December
68. The expansion, advocated by VTsSPS and Egorov on the grounds that it would increase the legitimacy of the courts among workers, was incorporated into revised statutes issued on 5 April 1921. Tovarishcheskie distsiplinarnye sudy (Polozhenie i instruktsii) (Moscow: VTsSPS, 1921). would increase the legitimacy of the courts among workers, was incorporated into revised statutes issued on 5 April 1921. See Tovarishcheskie distsiplinarnye sudy (Polozhenie i instruktsii) (Moscow: VTsSPS, 1921)
69. An English translation can be found in Bunyan, Origin of Forced Labor 262-65 262-65
70. Egorov, Moskovskie, 16. An undetermined number of appeals were also lodged with uprofbiuro courts. lodged with uprofbiuro courts
71. This was the case in Tula and in the coalfields of the Donbass. See Organizatsiia truda, no. 12 1920, 19-20; Organizatsiia truda, no. 12 (1920): 19-20
72. Iakovskii, "Organizatsiia i deiatel'nost'," 255-64
73. TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, d. 286, l. 181. The volume of cases increased from to month: ten in January, twenty-four in February, and thirty-two in March. By comparison, the Kostroma provincial court received eight cases from September to December 1920, but none between January and March, 1921. At this point, the court was transferred from the Commissariat of Labor's provincial department to the unions' gubprofsovet, after which it reviewed forty-two cases, involving eighty-three people. It confirmed twenty-six sentences, reduced three, dismissed two, sent seven to other courts, and was still reviewing three cases when it filed its report in October 1921. GARF, f. 5451, op. 5, d. 524, l. 121. For comparable figures from Tula, Organizatsiia truda, no. 19-20/31-32 (1921, 27-28. Other provincial courts (e.g, Stavropol, Khar'kov) only began to function in 1921. GARF, f. 5451, op. 5, d. 525 month to month: ten in January, twenty-four in February, and thirty-two in March. By comparison, the Kostroma provincial court received eight cases from September to December 1920, but none between January and March, 1921. At this point, the court was transferred from the Commissariat of Labor's provincial department to the unions' gubprofsovet, after which it reviewed forty-two cases, involving eighty-three people. It confirmed twenty-six sentences, reduced three, dismissed two, sent seven to other courts, and was still reviewing three cases when it filed its report in October 1921. GARF, f. 5451, op. 5, d. 524, l. 121. For comparable figures from Tula, see Organizatsiia truda, no. 19-20/31-32 (1921): 27-28. Other provincial courts (e.g., Stavropol', Khar'kov) only began to function in 1921. GARF, f. 5451, op. 5, d. 525, ll. 118, 166
74. I did not come across any tabulation in the archives of cases beyond March 1921. The estimate of hundreds is based on my own counting of cases from TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, dd. 287, 289, 289a, 291, 293, 294, 295, 296, 298, 300, 301, 303. These eleven contain 559 cases, the last of which is dated March 9, 1922. For an explanation of the courts' liquidation, Siegelbaum, Defining and Ignoring, 726-27. March 1921. The estimate of "hundreds" is based on my own counting of cases from TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, dd. 287, 289, 289a, 291, 293, 294, 295, 296, 298, 300, 301, 303. These eleven volumes contain 559 cases, the last of which is dated March 9, 1922. For an explanation of the courts' liquidation, see Siegelbaum, "Defining and Ignoring," 726-27
75. Iavorskii, "Organizatsiia i deiatel'nost'," 327. Iavorskii evidence of an obvious tendency (iavnyi kren) on the part of the court to review cases involving administrative personnel. But as the initiative came from those sentenced by lower courts, it might suggest that administrators were more likely to appeal. The absence of data on the proportion of workers and administrators sentenced by lower courts makes this suggestion speculative. O sokrashchenii kreditov DTS i otchetnosti ikh, Biulleten' VTsSPS, no. 1/32 (1922): 4. considers this evidence of "an obvious tendency" (iavnyi kren) on the part of the court to review cases involving administrative personnel. But as the initiative came from those sentenced by lower courts, it might suggest that administrators were more likely to appeal. The absence of data on the proportion of workers and administrators sentenced by lower courts makes this suggestion speculative. See "O sokrashchenii kreditov DTS i otchetnosti ikh," Biulleten' VTsSPS, no. 1/32 (1922): 4
76. Protocols of plenary sessions of the Smolensk gubprofsovet (May 5, and June 3, 1920), GARF, f. 5451, op. 4, d. 98, ll. 21, 23; Protocol of Sengileev uezd bureau of trade unions [Simbirsk Province] (Nov. 19, 1920), ibid., l. 49. June 3, 1920), GARF, f. 5451, op. 4, d. 98, ll. 21, 23; Protocol of Sengileev uezd bureau of trade unions [Simbirsk Province] (Nov. 19, 1920), ibid., l. 49
77. TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, d. 286. ll. 403, 405. Only one of the chairs Mariia Vasil'evna Ivanova of the Tobacco Workers' Union, was a woman. The lists date from late 1921 or early 1922. Mariia Vasil'evna Ivanova of the Tobacco Workers' Union, was a woman. The lists date from late 1921 or early 1922
78. Absenteeism accounted for 48.6 percent and theft for 15.1 percent of all cases adjudicated by comrades-disciplinary courts in 1921. For (more or less) complete data, Siegelbaum, Defining and Ignoring, 712-13. cases adjudicated by comrades-disciplinary courts in 1921. For (more or less) complete data, see Siegelbaum, "Defining and Ignoring," 712-13
79. TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, d. 298, ll. 19-22 (Sept. 15,1921)
80. On Red Army families' privileges, see Mark von Hagen, Soldiers in the Socialist State, 1917-1930 Proletarian Dictatorship: The Red Army and the Soviet Socialist State, 1917-1930 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press, 1990), 71-73, 77-78
81. TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, d. 207, ll. 484-85 (Nov. 9, 1920), The injection of trade-specific tasks is a trade union variant on the master narrative. For cases involving food-related absences and thefts, ibid., d. 206, l. 25; d. 287, ll. 212-20; d. 288, ll. 700-02; d. 289, l. 246; d. 301, ll. 397-401. For work stoppages pursuant of increased rations, TsGAMO, f. 627, op. 2, d. 197, ll. 74-79; d. 341, ll. 417-20. of trade-specific tasks is a trade union variant on the master narrative. For cases involving food-related absences and thefts, see ibid., d. 206, l. 25; d. 287, ll. 212-20; d. 288, ll. 700-02; d. 289, l. 246; d. 301, ll. 397-401. For work stoppages pursuant of increased rations, see TsGAMO, f. 627, op. 2, d. 197, ll. 74-79; d. 341, ll. 417-20
82. TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, d. 289, ll. 25-44 (March 5-31, 1921)
83. See Siegelbaum, "Defining and Ignoring," 724-25
84. GARF, f. 5451, op. 4, d. 285, ll. 24-31 (Sept.-Oct. 1920); ibid., l. 40 (Nov. 18,1920). (Nov. 18,1920)
85. Daniel Orlovsky, "The Hidden Class: White-Collar Workers in the Soviet 1920s," in Making Workers Soviet, 220-53
86. idem, "Gimpel'son on the Hegemony of the Working Class," Slavic Review 48 (1989): 104-06
87. According to L. B. Kamenev, Moscow had 240,000 bureaucrats and only 150,000 workers in October 1921. Richard Sakwa, The Soviet State, Civil Society and Moscow Politics: Stability and Order in Early NEP, 1921-1924, in Soviet History, 1917-53: Essays in Honour of R. W. Davies, ed. Julian Cooper, Maureen Perrie, and E. A. Rees (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995), 44. 150,000 workers in October 1921. See Richard Sakwa, "The Soviet State, Civil Society and Moscow Politics: Stability and Order in Early NEP, 1921-1924," in Soviet History, 1917-53: Essays in Honour of R. W. Davies, ed. Julian Cooper, Maureen Perrie, and E. A. Rees (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995), 44
88. See note 30
89. GARF, f. 5457, op. 4, d. 60, ll. 40-41 (Protocol of 12th session of Tambov gubdissud of Textile Workers' Union, March 24, 1921). Obedkov denied any personal relations with the accused. Tambov gubdissud of Textile Workers' Union, March 24, 1921). Ob"edkov denied any personal relations with the accused
90. Zhitenev, who was all of twenty-three and a Party member, came before the disciplinary court in October 1921 on an unrelated charge. For his Opelliatsionnoe [sic] zaiavlenie, ibid., l. 54. disciplinary court in October 1921 on an unrelated charge. For his "Opelliatsionnoe [sic] zaiavlenie," see ibid., l. 54
91. See Anne E. Gorsuch, "Flappers and Foxtrotters: Soviet Youth in the 'Roaring Twenties'," The Carl Beck Papers in Russian & East European Studies, no. 1102 (1994): 3-6
92. GARF, op. 5, d. 525, ll. 176, 178 (Oct. 7, 1921)
93. GARF, f. 5451, op. 5, d. 525, l. 172 (Oct. 12, 1921). Two of the women were sentenced to labor camps. were sentenced to labor camps
94. This was a revised version of the play originally written in 1918. The complaint is in TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, d. 296, ll. 107-10. It was published in Vladimir Maiakovskiiolnoe sobranie sochinenii v trinadtsati tomakh (Hereafter PSS, Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, Institut mirovoi literatury, 1957-61),13: 44-49 complaint is in TsGAMO, f. 180, op. 1, d. 296, ll. 107-10. It was published in Vladimir Maiakovskiiolnoe sobranie sochinenii v trinadtsati tomakh (Hereafter PSS) (Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, Institut mirovoi literatury, 1957-61),13: 44-49
95. An excerpted English translation appears in Wiktor Woroszylski, The Life Mayakovsky New York: Orion Press, 1970, 277-79 of Mayakovsky (New York: Orion Press, 1970), 277-79
96. For accounts of, and commentary on, this incident, see A. Fevral'skii Pervaia sovetskaia p'esa Misteriiabuff V. V. Maiakovskogo (Moscow: Nauka, 1971). 194-98; Pervaia sovetskaia p'esa "Misteriiabuff" V. V. Maiakovskogo (Moscow: Nauka, 1971). 194-98
97. and G. S. Cheremin, V. V. Maiakovskii v literaturnoi kritike, 1917-1925 (Leningrad: Nauka, 1985), 117-19. (Leningrad: Nauka, 1985), 117-19
98. For a recent discussion of the play in the context of meanings of communism, unpublished manuscript "war communism," see Lars Lih, "Deferred Dreams: Bolshevik Illusions and War Communism" (unpublished manuscript), 32-35
99. MaiakovskiiSS 13: 45. According to the editors, Gosizdat did not publish Saburov's plays (See 309). publish Saburov's plays (See 309)
100. V. Mayakovsky, The Bedbug and Selected Poetry (New York: World Pub. 1970), 191-207. This poem, "about the place of the poet in the workers' ranks," was published in 1926
101. MaiakovskiiSS 13: 44, 173. Here, I also draw upon the notes Maiakovskii composed preparatory to his appearance before the court on August 25, 1921. Maiakovskii composed preparatory to his appearance before the court on August 25, 1921
102. Both were stretching the truth. Questionnaires showed that 71 percent of workers, 68 percent of peasants and 69 percent of employees and intellectuals had responded positively to the play. MaiakovskiiSS 13: 387. Meshcheriakov's pejorative use of baryshnia with Vaniushina's cited above. workers, 68 percent of peasants and 69 percent of employees and intellectuals had responded positively to the play. MaiakovskiiSS 13: 387. Cf. Meshcheriakov's pejorative use of baryshnia with Vaniushina's cited above
103. MaiakovskiiSS 13: 311
104. Woroszylski, Life of Mayakovsky, 279-80
105. LeninSS 53: 170-71
106. Four months earlier, Lenin had fulminated against Lunacharskii for approving the publication of 5,000 copies of Maiakovskii's 150,000,000, a poem he characterized as stupidity, double-dyed stupidity and affectation. Writing to M. N. Pokrovskii on the same day, he suggested that these futurists are to be published not more than twice a year and not more than 1,500 copies. LeninSS 52: 179. approving the publication of 5,000 copies of Maiakovskii's "150,000,000, " a poem he characterized as "stupidity, double-dyed stupidity and affectation." Writing to M. N. Pokrovskii on the same day, he suggested "that these futurists are to be published not more than twice a year and not more than 1,500 copies." LeninSS 52: 179
107. I borrow this phrase from Diane Koenker, "Factory Tales: Narratives Industrial Relations in the Transition to NEPaper presented at the V World Congress for Central and East European Studies, Warsaw (August 6-11, 1995), 2. of Industrial Relations in the Transition to NEP," Paper presented at the V World Congress for Central and East European Studies, Warsaw (August 6-11, 1995), 2
108. Patrick Joyce, "The End of Social History?," Social History 20 (1995): 85