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Socialist emulation
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{{Short description|Form of competition practised in the Soviet Union}} [[Image:Socialist competition 1973 award.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"1973 socialist competition winner" award.]] '''Socialist competition''' or '''socialist emulation''' ({{Langx|ru|социалистическое соревнование}}, "sotsialisticheskoye sorevnovanie", or {{Lang|ru|соцсоревнование}}, "sotssorevnovanie") was a form of competition between state enterprises and between individuals practiced in the [[Soviet Union]] and in other [[Eastern bloc]] states.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Funari|first1=Rachel|last2=Mees|first2=Bernard|date=2013-07-01|title=Socialist emulation in China: worker heroes yesterday and today|journal=Labor History|volume=54|issue=3|pages=240–255|doi=10.1080/0023656X.2013.804269|s2cid=144648228|issn=0023-656X}}</ref> == Competition vs. emulation == {{See also|Soviet-type economic planning}} The first variant is a literal translation of the Russian term, commonly used by Western authors. The second form is an official Soviet translation of the term, intended to put distance from the "[[capitalist competition]]", which in its turn was translated as {{Lang|ru|капиталистическая конкуренция}}, "kapitalisticheskaya konkurenciya". Implied was that "capitalist competition" only profited those that won, while "socialist emulation" benefited all involved. The race between teams and team members for overperforming the [[five-year plans for the national economy of the Soviet Union|five-year plans]] led to increasingly unrealistic targets, which could only be satisfied with cheating, double accounting, hoarding of resources, and ''[[shturmovshchina]]'' (last-minute cramming)—which, in the long term, led to a collapse of the supply chain in the economy.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Cogs in the Wheel: The Formation of Soviet Man|last = Heller|first = Mikhail|publisher = Alfred A. Knopf|year = 1988|isbn = 978-0394569260|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/cogsinwheelforma0000gell}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = I chose freedom|last = Kravchenko|first = Victor|year = 1988| publisher=Transaction |isbn = 978-0887387548}}</ref> In 1987, Soviet economist Nikolai Shmelov estimated that out of 450 billion roubles worth of inventories of raw materials and parts, around 170 billion was kept as surplus, with the sole purpose of securing the successful completion of plans.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://echelon.pl/content/%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9-%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87-%D1%88%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%91%D0%B2-nikolay-shmelyov-%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%8B-%D0%B8-%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%B8-avansy-i-dolgi-credits-and-debts-%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2|title = Avansi i dolgi|last = Shmelov|first = Nikolai|date = 1987|journal = Novyi Mir|issue = 6|trans-title = Credits and debts}}</ref> == Organization == [[File:socialist competition winner flag 10.jpg|thumb|270px|right|Socialist competition winner flag]] Socialist emulation was nominally voluntary everywhere where people worked or served: in industry, in agriculture, in offices, institutions, schools, hospitals, army, etc. With the natural exception of the armed forces, committees of the [[Soviet trade unions|trade unions]] were in charge of managing the socialist emulation. An important component of socialist emulation was "'''socialist self-obligations'''" ({{Lang|ru|социалистические обязательства}}). Whilst the [[production plan]] was the major benchmark, employees and work collectives were supposed to put forth "socialist self-obligations" and even "enhanced socialist self-obligations" ({{Lang|ru|повышенные соцобязательства}}) beyond the plan, both either as a collective or individually. Deadlines for tallying up the results of a socialist emulation were usually set at major socialist and communist holidays or notable dates, like the birthday of [[Vladimir Lenin]] or the anniversary of the [[October Revolution]]. Winners were awarded both materially and morally. Material awards were money, goods, or perks specific to socialist systems, such as tickets to resorts, authorizations for a trip abroad, right to obtain a dwelling, or a car outside the main queue, etc. Moral awards were honorary diplomas, honorary badges, and/or putting winners' portraits on the "Board of Honor" ({{Lang|ru|Доска Почета}}); work collectives were awarded with the "[[Transferable Red Banner]] of the Socialist Emulation Winner" ({{Lang|ru|Переходящее знамя победителя в социалистическом соревновании}}). More prestigious was the nomination to state orders and medals for services rendered by individuals and by state enterprises. == History == Vladimir Lenin was the originator and promoter of the idea of socialist emulation as a means for organising "the majority of working people into a field of labour in which they can display their abilities, develop the capacities, and reveal those talents".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.marx2mao.com/Lenin/HOC17.html|title=How to Organise Competition?|website=www.marx2mao.com|access-date=2020-02-04}}</ref> His milestone article was "How to organize the emulation?" ("{{Lang|ru|Как организовать соревнование?}}"), in which among the important goal of the emulation was discovery of persons with organizational and management skills, to replace [[tsarist]]-era specialists. Also, he was the first to set "socialist emulation" against "capitalist competition". Lenin's article however repeatedly highlights the need for strictest "accounting and control" (Russian: ''"учёт и контроль"'') at all levels for the socialist society, postulating mutual "accounting and control" between all layers of the government and supply chain.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How to Organise Competition?|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/dec/25.htm|access-date=2021-02-19|website=www.marxists.org}}</ref> {{See also|Trust, but verify}} Later, [[Joseph Stalin]] wrote in his streamlined style: :''Principles of (capitalist) competition: defeat and death of ones and victory and dominance of the others.'' :''Principles of socialist emulation: friendly assistance to lagging ones by the leading ones in order to achieve a common rise.'' ...etc. While criteria of socialist emulation were easy to set, understand, and quantify in production areas, it was not so in non-production areas: medicine, education, work of clerks, etc., where significant formalism took place and among the criteria a significant weight was attributed to "social activism", not related to the work done.{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}} Social activism, among other actions, meant: * Participating in all CPSU and Komsomol activities * Recruitment of future CPSU members in their workplaces or hometowns * Election campaigns for deputies for the Union and Republican Supreme Soviets and Soviets of People's Deputies * Active work during national holidays Attempt to add a "moral" aspect to daily work was a common feature among 20th century socialist governments, with ''Arbeitskult'' ("work cult") in Germany, which "stressed the patriotic potential of labour, comparing industrial work with the task of a soldier defending the Fatherland" and ''Yan’an heroes'' in Maoist China.<ref name=":0" /> == See also == *[[Gamification]] ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:Soviet phraseology]] [[Category:Socialism]] [[Category:Competition (economics)]] [[Category:Economy of the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Labor history]]
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