Soviet Competition and Commercialization at the Cold War’s End

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

This roundtable will examine the broad theme of competition in the Soviet Union as it played out on the factory floor, in beauty pageants, through mass sporting events, and in the emerging global market for athletes during the final years of the Cold War. The roundtable format will allow the speakers to address a common set of questions about competition and commercialization while drawing on a thematically diverse set of research projects. James Nealy will describe evolving notions of “profit” put forward by Soviet industrial and political leaders; Alexis Peri will contrast late Soviet beauty pageants with earlier competitions in labor to look at how notions of “healthy Soviet competition” changed over time and impacted women; Sylvain Dufraisse will discuss how amateur sports clubs began organizing mass competitions, such as running and ski racing, outside traditional channels; and Erik Scott will talk about the global competition for Soviet athletes among agents, advertisers, foreign clubs, and Soviet officials. Approaching the topic from these different perspectives, speakers will consider how the terms and stakes of competition were transformed by a growing emphasis on commercial viability, profitability, and international consumption.

Sub Unit

• History: 1945-1990

Chair

• Julie A. Cassiday, Williams College

Roundtable Speakers

• Sylvain Dufraisse, U de Nantes (France)

• James Allen Nealy, U of Texas at San Antonio

• Alexis Peri, Boston U

• Erik R. Scott, U of Kansas