Gorbachev's Leadership: Another View

A leading British political scientist argues that Gorbachev's responsiveness to different opinions and institutional interests has been a necessary part of the Soviet transition. He stresses the importance of Gorbachev's combination of tactical flexibility and movement in a basically liberal direction. One step back has often been followed by two steps forward. The author maintains that Gorbachev's political acumen and international prestige remain significant assets, suggesting that it would be an illusion to imagine that the task of transforming the Soviet system would proceed more smoothly without him. The essay covers developments through the first week of December 1990. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 124, 822.     

The Politics of the 19th Party Conference

Reasons for caution in interpreting results of the 19th Party Conference are outlined, but an argument for a continuing consolidation of Gorbachev's power and use of the democratization theme as a screen for acceleration of economic reform is made. Various explanations for the lack of significant change in party rules and in procedures for determining Central Committee membership (defeat for Gorbachev, alternative strategies for membership change, solid Politburo and/or military power base for Gorbachev) are examined, Gorbachev's ability to handle the “lame duck” membership problem in the Central Committee being identified as a feature to watch in the future. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 113.     

Gorbachev's Social Contract

The Soviet economic slowdown is explained in the context of an eroding “social contract” between regime and society, established in the 1950s and defined as a set of norms, constituency benefits, and political-economic institutions which elite and public have regarded as legitimate means of regulating their mutual relations. Gorbachev must rebuild state legitimacy; the “objective,” mutually constraining relationship between economic system and state legitimation implies that a new social contract can serve as a “test” of Gorbachev's intent to pursue “radical” economic reform. Evidence suggests that prospects for radical reform have risen substantially since Gorbachev's election as General Secretary. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 830.     

The Quality of Gorbachev's Leadership

A prominent political scientist, identified with views expressing reservations about the success of Gorbachev's policies, briefly evaluates the quality of his leadership. The paper's focus is a response to a different assessment of that leadership by George W. Breslauer, published in an earlier issue of Soviet Economy. The author argues that during 1990 Gorbachev has lost most of the support he once enjoyed within both the Soviet populace and the Soviet political elite. He presents evidence that, during fall 1990, a right-wing coalition opposed to Gorbachev's policies was asserting itself. The essay covers developments through the end of November 1990. journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 124, 822.     

Modeling Soviet Modernization: An Economy in Transition

This paper uses a macroeconomic model to evaluate prospects for Soviet economic growth to the year 2000. Because of the considerable uncertainty regarding the ultimate success of Gorbachev's modernization program and reform package, and because of the long time frame of the projection, a single “most likely” forecast cannot be made. Instead, three scenarios were constructed to reflect different degrees of success for Gorbachev's initiatives. The results of these simulations provide insights into what is possible and illustrate the dynamics involved when an economy administered by central planners for nearly 70 years attempts to change its method of operation. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124, 211.     

Gorbachev's Leadership: A Soviet View

A prominent Soviet political scientist, who has specialized in comparative politics and theories of transition, argues that Gorbachev's strategy of transition was misguided from its conception, which explains his current travails. Yet the author also argues that Gorbachev's leadership has not outlived its usefulness, for he still has an important role to play in preventing the transition from turning violent, and in facilitating the marketization and democratization processes. The essay reflects developments through the first three weeks of November 1990. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers, 124, 822.     

CIA Economic Intelligence on the USSR, 1949-60

Reflecting Gorbachev's demands for glasnost' (openness), the Central Statistical Administration recently published several key statistical series which had not been available in the USSR for the last 5 to 35 years. These included data on grain harvests, life expectancy and infant mortality, and production and consumption of alcohol. The article shows that the newly available data compare well with estimates made by Western specialists. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 225.     

The Heralds of Opposition to Perestroyka

A review and analysis is presented of substantive material published in the journals Nash sovremennik and Mohdaya gvardiya from Gorbachev's advent to power through roughly October 1989. The size of the journals' circulations is noted to assess the influence of writers who are in the vanguard of opposition to perestroyka. The article includes a section devoted to the tradition of Russian “thick journals.” It concludes by examining the popularity and power of Russian nationalism in relation to peresiroyka and the nature of the opposition to it as reflected in both journals. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Number: 052.     

Panel on the Economic and Political Consequences of Chernobyl'

This article summarizes a discussion by a panel of leading experts on Soviet energy analyzing the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl' nuclear plant in the Ukraine on April 26, 1986.

The near-term economic costs associated with clean-up, relocation, and compensating for losses to electricity supplies are significant but manageable. The longer-term effects will focus on likely modifications in Soviet strategies for the nuclear industry, which may shift emphasis back towards conventional fuels and conservation.

The political consequences were managed fairly well by the leadership. Consistent with Secretary Gorbachev's policy of glasnost' (openness) more information has been available on this event than was the case in previous analogous situations. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124, 723.     

The Gorbachev Reform: A Maximal Case

Assumptions that major reform in the Soviet economy cannot be realized are challenged. Beliefs that Gorbachev is unable or unwilling to take necessary political risks, that bureaucratic resistance will forestall efforts at incremental change, and that Communist ideology lacks themes that can be used to mobilize support for innovation are analyzed. Assessment of reform should be based on an awareness of the advantages (as well as risks) of a strategy tying Gorbachev's political fate to reform and of the effectiveness of a timetable that consolidates gains in services and agriculture before confronting an entrenched industrial bureaucracy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 113, 124.     

The Social Dimensions of Perestroyka

The emergence of four essentially new social groups within the Soviet Union is examined in terms of its potential impacts on economic restructuring. The argument is advanced that groups of predominantly urban, professional or paraprofessional, and well educated workers will be more favorably disposed than the population as a whole to increases in material incentives, to glasnost', and to heightened participation in workplace decision making embodied in Gorbachev's reforms. It is suggested that the growing importance of these new groups in an economy undergoing structural change may strengthen the base of political support for perestroyka. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 113.     

Gorbachev's Economic Strategy: A Preliminary Assessment

Gorbachev's economic strategy for the remainder of this decade is analyzed using the information contained in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan covering the years 1986-1990. The plan calls for an acceleration in the rate of economic growth achieved through a modernization of industry, a restructuring of investment, and increased labor effort on the part of the entire labor force. The economic reforms which accompany the plan are fairly modest. Analysis of the plan shows that it is very ambitious, and probably unachievable, although some improvement in economic performance is not excluded. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 113, 124.     

Monopoly and Transition to the Market

An American economist describes recent Soviet thinking on monopoly and traces its impact on the reform process up until 1991. After an overview of industrial concentration in the Soviet economy, the study proceeds to examine the content of Gorbachev's antimonopoly policy, focusing on policy toward dominant firms, mergers, and entry of firms. Drawing on this background and antitrust experience in Western countries, it concludes by analyzing the role of antitrust policy and import competition in the transition to the market. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P20, L40.     

The Aftermath of the 19th Conference of the CPSU: A Soviet Economy Roundtable

The aftermath of the 19th Conference of the Communist Party, held in Moscow from June 28 to July 1, 1988, is analyzed by eight Western observers. The discussion covers impacts of the Conference on Soviet society and abroad, General Secretary Gorbachev's speech at the Central Committee Plenum on July 29, 1988, and reviews results of his policies since 1985. It proceeds to look at the current transitional period of Soviet reforms, including the formation of new enterprise forms and horizontal links in the economy. Finally, the discussants view prospects for political and economic development in the future. journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 113.     

Theorists of Agrarian Perestroika

Agrarian policy is an increasingly important concern for the success of perestroika. This article traces the careers and ideas of A. A. Nikonov, president of the Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VASKhNIL) and Gorbachev's most important academic advisor on agricultural economics, and VASKhNIL Academician V. A. Tikhonov, an outspoken advocate of radical economic reforms. Restoring incentives to the individual peasant through the lease contract (arendnyi podriad), establishing voluntary cooperatives in place of centralized bureaucratic management, and marketizing agriculture are the principal concerns of their work, and were the central issues discussed at the March 1989 CPSU Central Committee plenum on agrarian policy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124.     

Perestroyka and the Congress of People's Deputies

The radical economic reform promised by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 has not materialized, and the economic situation has seriously deteriorated since 1988. The government is introducing a stabilization package for 1990 to restore financial balance and to dramatically expand the supply of consumer goods. A new Reform Commission chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Abalkin is moving ahead to design and implement a reform strategy which will include a radically different approach to property rights. The next year is critical to determining the fate of Gorbachev's reform efforts. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 052, 113.     

The New Model of Economic Management

One of General Secretary Gorbachev's key economic advisors outlines the basic components of a new “model” of economic management in the USSR (e.g., new forms of private and cooperative activity, increased flexibility in production, relationships in state enterprises, election of directors), to be in place by the early 1990s. Also presented is the rationale for the current timetable of the reform. American participants in the first joint Soviet Economy roundtable then discuss with the Academician the role of collectives and local Party officials in the new system of management. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 052, 124.     

Justice for All? Accountable Translations of Texts on Indigenous Law

ABSTRACT

This article addresses challenges arising from the guarantee in South Africa's Constitution (1996) of continued use of indigenous law. This law has been handed down in oral form, but increasingly, written sources are needed when cases relating to indigenous law are heard in South Africa's higher courts. Although access to this kind of information is vital to empowerment and justice in Africa, wider access is hampered by different literacy levels and language differences. This article examines accountable translation into English of legal anthropological texts, referring to a case study on law practised among the Nkuna of Ritavi to demonstrate some of the complexities. The article considers the Anglo-American translation tradition's preference for idiomatic translation (paraphrasis) rather than word-for-word faithfulness (metaphrasis). It advocates focusing on the Skopos (purpose) of texts negotiated with the author. It also proposes foregrounding the hermeneutic engagement of translators as readers. For the text in the case study, it suggests two translations, for two audiences: one into an academic register (for academics, legal experts, and educated members of the Nkuna community), and one into Plain English (mainly for members of the Nkuna community for whom English is a second language). To address political dimensions of responsible translation, metatextual strategies espoused by feminist translators to increase translators’ visibility and accountability can be used, and postcolonial translation theory should be considered.     

STILL PLAYING WITH FIRE

This coauthored article is part of Sangtin Kisaan Mazdoor Sangathan's (SKMS) efforts to participate in the coproduction of dialogical/dialectical relationships between theory and practice, the lettered and the unlettered, academia and activism, and the fields inhabited by members of SKMS, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and academic scholars.We narrate two intertwined tales based on dialogues among four members of SKMS in the context of producing the first four issues of SKMS's community newspaper, Hamara Safar. The first tale focuses on the political transformation of Sangtin, an organization that was conceptualized in 1998 as an NGO for rural women's empowerment based on the mainstream donor-based model of social change. A three-year–long process of critical reflection and writing by nine women on the politics of caste, class, religion, and gender in the context of rural development and women's empowerment programs — as well as on the global politics of knowledge production — paved the way for the emergence of SKMS, an organization that today consists of over five thousand poor farmers, manual laborers, and their families, most of them dalit. SKMS believes that definitions and processes of empowerment must evolve from rural people's struggles and active participation, instead of emerging from donor institutions, NGO headquarters, university-based experts, or think tanks—and then being applied to the rural people. The second story focuses on some of the hurdles in the path of SKMS as it remains grounded in feminist principles, but refuses to work exclusively with women. Together, the two intertwined stories map the archaeology of the shift from Sangtin to SKMS and some of the larger questions pertaining to “women's issues,” “feminist politics,” and “transnational collaborations” that this shift has opened up.