Policing Stalin's socialism : repression and social order in the Soviet Union, 1924-1953 / David R. Shearer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shearer, David R., 1952-

Series:

Yale-Hoover series on Stalin, Stalinism, and the Cold War.

The Yale-Hoover series on Stalin, Stalinism, and the Cold War

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Police--Soviet Union--History.

Police.

Political persecution--Soviet Union--History.

Political persecution.

Social control--Soviet Union--History.

Social control.

Political purges--Soviet Union--History.

Political purges.

Socialism--Soviet Union--History.

Socialism.

Soviet Union--Social conditions.

Soviet Union.

Soviet Union--Politics and government--1917-1936.

Soviet Union--Politics and government--1936-1953.

Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953--Influence.

Stalin, Joseph.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (512 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Policing Stalins Socialism is one of the first books to emphasize the importance of social order repression by Stalins Soviet regime in contrast to the traditional emphasis of historians on political repression. Based on extensive examination of new archival materials, David Shearer finds that most repression during the Stalinist dictatorship of the 1930's was against marginal social groups such as petty criminals, deviant youth, sectarians, and the unemployed and unproductive.It was because Soviet leaders regarded social disorder as more of a danger to the state than political opposition that they instituted a new form of class war to defend themselves against this perceived threat. Despite the combined work of the political and civil police the efforts to cleanse society failed; this failure set the stage for the massive purges that decimated the country in the late 1930's.

Contents:

Introduction: Policing, social order, and repression under Stalin

A new kind of class war

Police and social disorder

A Soviet gendarmerie

Informants, surveillance, and prophylactic policing

Cataloging the population

The campaigns against marginals

Policing juveniles, policing debates

Passports, identity, and mass policing

"Once and for all time" : background to the Great Purges

The mechanics of mass purging

Outside the margins : the case of Kiril Korenev

The war and postwar trends

Conclusions: Repression, citizenship, and Stalin's socialism.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-35322-5

9786612353222

0-300-15622-7

OCLC:

923594992