Amy E. Randall

In the 1930s the Stalinist regime initiated a campaign to develop "Soviet" trade: a non-capitalist state-organized system of "socialist" retail trade. As the campaign progressed, Communist leaders also began to endorse Soviet-style consumerism. This book project provides a social and cultural history of the Stalinist regime's new approach to retail trade and consumption in the 1930s. It examines official discourse about retail trade and consumption as well as the new institutions, trade policies and retail methods, social identities, and consumer practices that emerged during the trade campaign. The study uses the campaign as a lens through which to gain a better understanding of Stalinism.