Topical Issues in the Study of Soviet Social Policy, 1917−1929

ISSN 1019-3316, Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2022, Vol. 92, Suppl. 8, pp. S800–S809. © The Author(s), 2022. This article is an open access publication. Russian Text © The Author(s), 2022, published in Rossiiskaya Istoriya, 2022, No. 1. Topical Issues in the Study of Soviet Social Policy, 1917−1929 T. M. Smirnova# Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia e-mail: Received November 22, 2022; revised November 24, 2022; accepted November 24, 2022 Abstract—A series of 100th anniversaries of recent years (the First World War, the Revolution of 1917, the Russian Civil War, the introduction of the NEP) has stimulated historians and representatives of related sciences (sociologists, philosophers, political scientists, culturologists, economic historians, etc.) to summarize the study of this turning point for the national history of the period, which is increasingly often regarded as homogeneous (“the time of wars and revolutions”), as well as its immediate consequences, stretching back to the 1920s and 1930s. The works published within the framework of the anniversaries and the discussions that flared up around them more clearly exposed the least studied and controversial aspects of the problems and made it possible to identify urgent tasks for the future. Quite expectedly, the focus was on subjects such as rethinking the causes of the revolutionary events and the role of various social groups in them; comparison of the events of February and October 1917, the degree of discontinuity and continuity of processes and the existence of alternative ways of Russia’s development; characteristics of the armed forces and political movements opposed to the Bolsheviks; the relation of “red” and “white” terror; problems of social stratification in postrevolutionary Russia and the relationship between the concepts of former people, the socially alien, economically dangerous elements, NEPmen; etc. In addition, summarizing the results of studying the revolution and its consequences has contributed to the revival of conceptual discussions about totalitarianism, the social base of the Soviet regime of the 1920s−1930s, and the features of the formation of civil society in Russia, as well as about the conditions for the formation and specifics of the “welfare state” of the Soviet type. At the same time, one should admit that the problem of the social policy of the Bolsheviks, which directly relates to many of the above conceptual or debatable issues, remained practically outside the framework of scientific, historical, and political discussions. Meanwhile, for example, the outcome of the Civil War and the further fate of Russia were largely determined by the nature and priorities of the social policy of the warring parties, the degree of the attractiveness of their slogans for ordinary people in the rear and at the front, as well as the ability to bring these slogans to life. The problems of continuity with the pre-Soviet past of the country, the novelty and relevance for society of the Bolsheviks’ transformations in the social sphere, and their compliance with the global trends of the era also seem key to understanding many debatable issues of early Soviet history. In particular, it is impossible to answer the question about the presence or absence of elements of civil society and the so-called “welfare state” in Soviet Russia without an objective assessment of the social slogans declared by the state and the methods of their implementation, as well as the nature of the interaction between the authorities and society in solving certain topical tasks. Keywords: Russian Civil War, NEP, social policy of the Bolsheviks, populist slogans based on the ideas of social justice, discrimination and class approach, revolutionary legal consciousness DOI: 10.1134/S1019331622140143 HISTORIOGRAPHIC SITUATION AND THE FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM Despite the significant domestic and foreign historiography of the transformations of the Bolsheviks in the social sphere, the problem of a comprehensive study of social policy as an integral historical phenomenon and not of its individual trends remains poorly understood. One should admit that this is to a certain extent due to the uncertainty of the subject of research itself and the vagueness of its boundaries. Under# Tatiana Mikhailovna Smirnova, Dr. Sci. (Hist.), works at the RAS Institute of Russian History. standing that there are two main actors in social policy—the state, which forms social policy, and society, which is the object of application of this policy—we adhere to a broad interpretation of the problems of social policy, since it is difficult to find aspects of economics, culture, demography, etc., that would not directly or indirectly relate to the sociopolitical sphere and would exist autonomously from society and its institutions. Welfare, labor protection, health care, and housing policy; maternal and child health, family and women’s policies; features of the development of public initiatives; the development of the education system and the sphere of leisure; the formation of everyday and festive culture—all this is included in the sphere of social policy. S800 TOPICAL ISSUES IN THE STUDY The question arises: how can all these subjects be combined within the framework of one study? Is this combination expedient? Will such a cumbersome research construction not turn into a “patchwork quilt” devoid of scientific value? How can we reconstruct such a complex, contradictory, and multilevel sociohistorical phenomenon to obtain a holistic, scientifically significant picture? To answer this question, at least a brief historical digression is needed. The first scientific interpretations of the content of social policy and its object, subject, goals, and methods were developed at the end of the 19th century by German economists and sociologists who were members of the German Economic Association (W. Sombart, O. von Zwiedinek, A. Wagner, etc.). In the 20th century, this topic also became traditional for Western researchers1 interested in the social policy of postrevolutionary Russia.2 On the contrary, in Soviet historiography, the theoretical and methodological foundations for studying this problem remained unexplored for a long time. “Welfare” as an integral object did not exist; it was divided into sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and sociodemographic components. Certain issues related to the sphere of social policy were considered within the study of problems such as the struggle for a classless society, the destruction of the exploiting classes, and changes in the social structure; the nationalization of industry and the legislation of labor relations; trade union history; improving the living conditions of laborers and providing them with free medical care; transformations in education, culture, leisure; etc.3 It is indicative in this regard that the multivolume History of the USSR from Ancient Times to (...truncated)