Stalin's Quest for Gold
Stalin's Quest for Gold tells the story of Torgsin, a chain of retail shops established in 1930 with the aim of raising the hard currency needed to finance the USSR's ambitious industrialization program. At a time of desperate scarcity, Torgsin had access to the country's best foodstuffs and goods....
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| Главный автор: | |
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| Формат: | Online |
| Язык: | английский |
| Опубликовано: |
Cornell University Press
2024
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| Предметы: | |
| Online-ссылка: | ONIX_20241105_9781501758539_9 |
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Нет меток, Требуется 1-ая метка записи!
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| _version_ | 1869530772231159808 |
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| author | Osokina, Elena |
| author_browse | Osokina, Elena |
| author_facet | Osokina, Elena |
| author_sort | Osokina, Elena |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | Stalin's Quest for Gold tells the story of Torgsin, a chain of retail shops established in 1930 with the aim of raising the hard currency needed to finance the USSR's ambitious industrialization program. At a time of desperate scarcity, Torgsin had access to the country's best foodstuffs and goods. Initially, only foreigners were allowed to shop in Torgsin, but the acute demand for hard-currency revenues forced Stalin to open Torgsin to Soviet citizens who could exchange tsarist gold coins and objects made of precious metals and gemstones, as well as foreign monies, for foods and goods in its shops. Through her analysis of the large-scale, state-run entrepreneurship represented by Torgsin, Elena Osokina highlights the complexity and contradictions of Stalinism. Driven by the state's hunger for gold and the people's starvation, Torgsin rejected Marxist postulates of the socialist political economy: the notorious class approach and the state hard-currency monopoly. In its pursuit for gold, Torgsin advertised in the capitalist West, encouraging foreigners to purchase goods for their relatives in the USSR; and its seaport shops and restaurants operated semilegally as brothels, inducing foreign sailors to spend hard currency for Soviet industrialization. Examining Torgsin from multiple perspectives—economic expediency, state and police surveillance, consumerism, even interior design and personnel—Stalin's Quest for Gold radically transforms the stereotypical view of the Soviet economy and enriches our understanding of everyday life in Stalin's Russia. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-147494 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Cornell University Press |
| publisherStr | Cornell University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1474942024-11-08T08:28:08Z Stalin's Quest for Gold Osokina, Elena Gold for Soviet industrialization Soviet economy of the 1930s People’s strategies of survival in the USSR 1930s Mass famine of 1932-1933 stalinism Torgsin thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHX Political structures: totalitarianism and dictatorship Stalin's Quest for Gold tells the story of Torgsin, a chain of retail shops established in 1930 with the aim of raising the hard currency needed to finance the USSR's ambitious industrialization program. At a time of desperate scarcity, Torgsin had access to the country's best foodstuffs and goods. Initially, only foreigners were allowed to shop in Torgsin, but the acute demand for hard-currency revenues forced Stalin to open Torgsin to Soviet citizens who could exchange tsarist gold coins and objects made of precious metals and gemstones, as well as foreign monies, for foods and goods in its shops. Through her analysis of the large-scale, state-run entrepreneurship represented by Torgsin, Elena Osokina highlights the complexity and contradictions of Stalinism. Driven by the state's hunger for gold and the people's starvation, Torgsin rejected Marxist postulates of the socialist political economy: the notorious class approach and the state hard-currency monopoly. In its pursuit for gold, Torgsin advertised in the capitalist West, encouraging foreigners to purchase goods for their relatives in the USSR; and its seaport shops and restaurants operated semilegally as brothels, inducing foreign sailors to spend hard currency for Soviet industrialization. Examining Torgsin from multiple perspectives—economic expediency, state and police surveillance, consumerism, even interior design and personnel—Stalin's Quest for Gold radically transforms the stereotypical view of the Soviet economy and enriches our understanding of everyday life in Stalin's Russia. 2024-11-06T04:26:30Z 2024-11-06T04:26:30Z 2024-11-05T14:55:21Z 2023 book ONIX_20241105_9781501758539_9 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/94184 9781501758539 9781501758515 9781501778940 9781501758522 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/147494 eng open access image/png image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/94184/1/9781501758539.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/94184/1/9781501758539.pdf Cornell University Press Cornell University Press 10.1515/9781501758539 10.1515/9781501758539 05937e7b-c222-4680-9580-c09c5ce7a11e 9781501758539 9781501758515 9781501778940 9781501758522 Cornell University Press 348 Ithaca open access |
| spellingShingle | Gold for Soviet industrialization Soviet economy of the 1930s People’s strategies of survival in the USSR 1930s Mass famine of 1932-1933 stalinism Torgsin thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHX Political structures: totalitarianism and dictatorship Osokina, Elena Stalin's Quest for Gold |
| title | Stalin's Quest for Gold |
| title_full | Stalin's Quest for Gold |
| title_fullStr | Stalin's Quest for Gold |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stalin's Quest for Gold |
| title_short | Stalin's Quest for Gold |
| title_sort | stalin s quest for gold |
| topic | Gold for Soviet industrialization Soviet economy of the 1930s People’s strategies of survival in the USSR 1930s Mass famine of 1932-1933 stalinism Torgsin thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHX Political structures: totalitarianism and dictatorship |
| topic_facet | Gold for Soviet industrialization Soviet economy of the 1930s People’s strategies of survival in the USSR 1930s Mass famine of 1932-1933 stalinism Torgsin thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHX Political structures: totalitarianism and dictatorship |
| url | ONIX_20241105_9781501758539_9 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT osokinaelena stalinsquestforgold |