Life Has Become More Joyous, Comrades: the construction of the Soviet consumer culture

Authors

  • Jukka Gronow University of Helsinki http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2636-9079
  • Sergey Zhuravlev Instituto de Historia Rusa de la Academia Rusa de las Ciencias

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22325/fes/res.2020.67

Keywords:

Consumer culture, USSR, socialism, food consumption, luxury

Abstract

In this article, our aim is to describe the emergence and consolidation of the consumer culture in the Soviet Union, paying particular attention to one of its iconic examples: the food culture. Our text will be divided into three sections. Firstly, we will refer to the peculiar and original development of the Soviet consumer society at the height of Stalinism. Secondly, we will focus on the specific space of food consumption, with a reference to two specific issues: the development of catering services and the launching of goods associated with this new culture of consumption, such as champagne. Finally, the concluding remarks will focus on a critical assessment of this peculiar form of consumer society.

Author Biographies

Jukka Gronow , University of Helsinki

Jukka Gronow is Emeritus Professor at the University of Helsinki. 

Sergey Zhuravlev , Instituto de Historia Rusa de la Academia Rusa de las Ciencias

Sergey Zhuravlev is the Research Director of the Institute of Russian History at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.

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Published

2020-11-25

How to Cite

Gronow, J., & Zhuravlev, S. (2020). Life Has Become More Joyous, Comrades: the construction of the Soviet consumer culture. Spanish Journal of Sociology, 29(3 - Sup1), 231–244. https://doi.org/10.22325/fes/res.2020.67

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 3 - Sup1 (2020)

Section

Monographic sections

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