By Betsy Bowman
Possibly the most cataclysmic and tragic event of the post WWII period was the illegitimate and manipulated demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. As then President Gorbachev was inching toward democratic reform and opening Soviet society to the west, his Western “partners”—Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, James Baker and others were orchestrating the complete collapse of the Soviet economy and society under the program known as “shock therapy.” Many true Russian democrats and socialists were working toward a renewal of a workers’ state with equal benefits to all. Under Chubais’ voucher privatization reform program, for a moment there was a chance of a different outcome for Russia—something more egalitarian and democratic than the oligarchic, authoritarian state that exists today—one built on worker ownership and worker control of the means of production.
In this talk Prof. Buzgalin will review the unknown forms of workers’ democracy that existed in the USSR, the general characteristic of post-soviet capitalism in Russia and the three stages of its development from the crisis of the 1990s to the growth of the basis of high oil and gas prices in 2000; and finally to the stagnation of the last 10 to 20 years.
It is a tragic story of hope and failure—the workers’ hopes for a better future after the Soviet Union succumbed to its inevitable crushing by western imperialist development, and then swallowed up by a local elite for its own profit. The present situation could be so different, and our present world could have realized the peace overtures offered by Gorbachev.
Aleksandr Buzgalin is Economics Professor at Moscow State University and Director of Modern Marxist Studies.
This webinar is part of a weekly series featuring thought provoking speakers on a variety of social issues. The Center for Global Justice is devoted to research and learning for a better world. We offer these webinars every Monday at 1pm. Tune in at www.globaljusticecenter.org. You can also view past programs there.
Webinar
“The Solidarity Economy in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia”
Aleksandr Buzgalin
Mon, May 30, 1pm
Sponsor: Center for Global Justice
Free
