Economic Reform, Republican Khozraschet, and Nationalist Mobilization during Perestroika

• In Event: Late Soviet Internationalism in Practice, 1953-1993

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the Soviet concept of khozraschet and nationalist mobilization during the late 1980s Perestroika crisis. It argues that the economic reform debates surrounding the 1987 Law on the State Enterprise represent an important and so far underappreciated link in the chain of events that ultimately resulted in the Soviet Union’s dissolution along republican lines. Khozraschet or “economic accounting” was an idee fixe intended to boost economic growth through greater enterprise accountability, reflecting longstanding concerns about distributive justice and labor incentivization. When the Soviet leadership once again attempted to enact this concept in 1987, the Law on the State Enterprise exacerbated shortages and engulfed the economy in a deep crisis. In addition, however, the law fueled long suppressed concerns about economic justice among the national republics that were now amplified through Glasnost. This manifested in escalating calls for republican khozraschet, redefining economic relations between the republics, and ultimately republican sovereignty. Drawing on press articles, memoirs, national VDNKh guest books, and meeting minutes, this paper shows how the double burden of national republics as both economic units and ethnonational projections became critical during the economic crisis of Perestroika.

Author

• Jonathan Raspe, U of Zurich (Switzerland)