JPRS ID: 8841 USSR REPORT POLITICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL AFFAIRS
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POLIT _ _ RF ~
4 JANURRY 1980 tF0U0 s188) 1 OF 1
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JPRS L`/8841
4 January 1~98~
USSR Re ort
p
POLITICAI AND SOCIOLOGICAL AFFAIRS
CFOUO 1~%80)
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JPRS L/8841
4 January 1980
USS R REPORT
POLITICAL ANI? $OCIOLOGICAL AFFAIRS
(FOUO i/so)
CONTENTS PAGE _
INTERNATIONAL
Book Views U.S. Protest Movement in 1970's
(R. Ye. Kantor; VOPROS~ ISTORII, No 6, 1979) 1 .
REGIONAL
Anticommunist Conjecture on USSR Nationality Relations
Scored
' (T. Khydyrov; IZVESTlYA AKADEMII NAUK TURIQ~NSKOY
SSR SERIYA OBSHCHESTVENNYKH NAUK, No 3, 1979) 7
Tenacity of Religion Among Turkmen Women Examined a:�.
(0. Paltvanova; IZVESTIYA AKADEMII NAUK TURHIKENSKOY
SSR SII~IYA OBSHCHESTVENNYKH NAUK, No 1979) 15
Legal Aspects of Union Republic Level Economic Planning
Discussed
(M. 0. Khaitov; IZVESTIYA AKADIlvIII NAUK TURKNIENSKOY
SSR SERIYA OBSHCHESTVENIVYKH Nl~UK, No 1979 ) . . . . . . . 2~+
- a - [III - U55R - 35 FOUO]
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INTERNATSONAL _
BOOK VIEWS U.S. PROTEST MOVEMENT IN 1970'S
Moscow VOPROSY ISTORII in Russian No 6, 1979 signed to press 5 Jun 79 pp 130-
133
[R. Ye. Kantor review of book* on U.S. protest movements in the 1970's]
+ [Text] Published by the USSR Academy of Sciences Institute of the United
States and Canada, the collective monograph** is devoted to the complex of
very acute and complicated questions of contemporary U.S. history. On the "
basis of an analysis of the country's socioeconomic and political position
and with regard for the basic trends of the development of the United States
since the war the authors aspire to determin~ the principal directions of
the development of democratic movements and reveal on the basis of concrete
material the specific features of each of them and the possibilities of the
working people's joint struggle against monopoly capi~al.
The authors appraach the phenomena. they investigate from the standpoints of
the historical method. They aspire to reveal the sources of the contempor-
ary social struggle and turn repeatedly for this purpose to the recent and
distant past. The book exposes the assertions of bourgeois historians,
political pundits and sociologists who depict the "stormy" 1960's as a de-
_ parture from the mainstream of U.S. development and who serve up the 1970's
as the embodiment of "social harmony" under whose conditions the social pro-
- test movements are utterly without substance. The facts assembled in the
book show that the democratic struggle and the social protest movements not �
only have not ceased but have in a number of areas even expanded and, in
~ others, reached deeper down and in this connection acquired new forms and
ad.vanced new program and tactical requirements and principles.
*"Massovyye dvizheniya sotsial'nogo protesta v SShA (semidesyatyye body)"
[Mass Social Protest Movements in the United States (1970`s)], Moscow, Izd-vo
Nauka, 1978, pp 344, print of 2,400. R1.80.
**Author collective: V. A. Voyna, T. A. Geyevskly, Ye. N. Yershova, A. A.
Popov, L. A. Salych~va and S. A. Chervonnaya. Executive editors: I. A.
Geyevskiy and L. A. Salycheva. ' ~
1
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_ The authors point out that despite the somewhat asynchronous nature of the
demonstrations of different detachmer~,ts: of the mass struggle, they are all
characterized by a common antimonoply directivity. The 1970's have, as it
were, taken up the baton of mass struggle which developed in the 1960's. _
- Although the scale of the demonstrations and fighting speeches has declined
since the start of the 1970's, the sources of social pratest have not dis-
appeared. The main point, as the book emphasizes, is that socioeconomic
problems reflecting--directly or indirectly--the basic social antagonism of
American society have come to the forefront in the 1970's. Such phenomena
~ as a deepening of the "crisis of confidence" in business and tha social po~icy
of state-monopoly capitalism and the working people's refusal to be content
with the illusory "equal opportunity" and the increasingly strong demand for
"equal results" have appeared in the forefront of the struggle.
The authors are perfectly justified in devoting paramount attention to the _
workers movement--the main force opposing the domination of the monopolies
(pp 34-35). The methodological foundation for the analysis of the processes _
occurring in the social psychology and class consciousness of American work-
ers was V. I. Lenin's indication that under capitalism "povertq grows not in ;
the physical but in the social sense, that is, in the sense of the lack of j-
correspondence between the rising level of requirements of the bourgeoisie ;
and the requirements of all of society and the living standard of the work- ~
ing people's masses."* Unfortunately, ~he question of the contemporary forms '
of the alienation. of the worker's personality, which is extremely important ~
for the conditionsof state-monopoly capitalism, is only outlined in the book '
(pp 64-66). And the position of the bourgeois sociologists and their ap-
proach, for example, to the problem of the nature of labor as exclusively
technological deserved more thorough criticism.
The book traces the development of the militant trends in the U.S. working
class (the union rank and file movement, increased strikes, particularly -
"wildcat" strikes--that is, those not authorized by the union leadership--
the development of trends toward national unity and the strengChening of the ;
antimonopoly direction). The authors raise in this connection the question
of the politicization of the working class and the correlation of economic ;
and political demands. The facts contained in the book aft~rd,, however,
an opportunity of more pointedly posing the questior~ of the class nature
of the social policy of U.S. state-monopoly capitalism and, consequently,
an intensification of the political nature of the various forms of social
protest, which is a response to this policy which exposes the class import
and true direction both of bourgeois reformism and at the same time "prac- ~
tical unionism" and similar concepts. '
The authors justifiably empha.size the widening of the gulf "between the ,
objective need for the development of the political struggle of the working
*V. I. Lenin, "Poln. sobr. soch." [Complete Works], vol 4, p 208.
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class and the political backwardness of the union movement" (p 74). Evi-
dently, this problem is closely interwoven with the question of the struggle
of trends in the U.S. workers muvement, which, it seems to us, requires fur-
ther elaboration. From this viewpoint it would be advisable, iri our view,
- to examine certain aspects of the�movement of rank and file union members,
particularly its relations with the conservative policy of the union leaders.
The retrospective analysis of the rank and file movement in the United ~
States ar.~ its conti~uity ~with the demonstrations of the 1920's and 1930's
is of interest. Describing the political policy "of the most reactiunary
- union leade.r,s in the polit3cal world" (p 75), the authors investigate the
system of the AFL-CIO leadership's links with the state apparatus, show the
union leadershiP's place in the political structure of state-monopoly capital-
' ism and conclude that, thanks to this leadership's policy, "the unions;have
; been put in a subordinate gosition in the American system of political po*~er"
(p 76). Further studies in this direction would appear very important.
i
; The monograph analyzes the changes in th~ movement of American blacks com-
~ Fared with the 1960's. Despite the concessions made by the rulin~; circles,
~ raciai discrimination and segregation have not been eliminated, and the
' United ~tates is still far from the point of racial equality. The imprint
of racial discrimination is preserved in the social and professional struc-
ture, in the day-to-day practice of federal and state establishments and
, employers and municipal bodies and in labur relations and the schools. The
~ blacks and chicanos (Americans of Mexican extraction) bear the particularly
heavy brunt of economic crises. In examining the complex question of chaages
in the mass psychology uf black Americans the authors are cautious :in their
~ assessments, and this is perfectly well founded, especially when it is con-
sidered that the negro movement is passing through a transitional period: _
I new militant trends are ma~uring in it connected with the demand for "a
radical improvement in the secioeconomic position of the black population"
(p 125) being made of paramount importance, and a process af surmounting the
i ser..tarian-nationalist trends which gained prevalence at the end of the 1960's
; is underway (p 146). The chapter on the sociopolitica'1 activeness of the
chicanos is one of the first investigations of this problem. And the strug-
; gle for actual equality with white English-speaking Americans, primarily
! in the socioeconomic sphere, is increasingly occupying first place in the
; chicano movement.
I Speaking of the antiwar movement in the United States in the 1970's, the
authors rightly note the broadening of its social base (p 193) and the
, linking of antimilitarist demands w~th socioeconomic demands. Bourgeois
sociologists (and, in unison with them, certain ultraleft sociologists of a
predominantly Maoist persuasion) aspire to create the impression of the
fruitlessness of the antiwar movement in the United States. The material
of the monagraph testifies that this mass niovement forced the country's
ruling circles to agree to definite concessions and reared a generation of
fighters for peace and the security of the peoples. The book notes that -
this movement goes beyond the framework of traditional bourgeois pacificism _
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J (p 193). It is particularly important that, despite the chauvinist posture
of the union leaders, American workers are join3ng in the active struggle
against the danger of war increasingly broadly.
_ The monograph continues the study of the student movement, which entered -
,~ew Fhase in the mid-1970's which differs considerably from the previous
stage in intensiveness, in forms of activeness, in types of organization and
in its political significance (p 237). The authors show that~~the government
. employed the entire might of the state apparatus against the rebellious
students. The moral-political discrediting of the student movement (as of
other forms of social prozest also) by government bodies represents a very
important direction of reaction's offensive. The processes occurring in _
the student movement in the 1970's largely coincide with the general lines
of the democratic struggle in the United States. The significance of socio-
. economic problems is growing, an aspiration to unity of action with other
social protest detachments is strengthpning, and new forms of struggle are '
appearing. It would seem that it would have been possible to have illustrated
in greater detail the question.of increased sociopolitical differentiation i
in the youth movement. ~
The mass movements of the United States in the 1970's are characterized by a I
shift of the center of activity to the local level, which in a cert~in sense
reflects the priority of socioeconomic problems. To what has been said by
the authors it may be added that leaders of the "new left movement"* them- i
selves have also attempted to comprehend this fact, linking it with an
aspiration to unite the community, express the sentiments of all strata
of the population and oppose the oppression of the mighty corporations and
state apparatus on a local level more accessible and close tc~ the mas~es.
"Undoubtedly, work at the local level," the book emphasizes, "is cen"tral for
each movement. However, it produces few results if it is performed over a ;
long period of time in isolation from the movement at a higher level" (p 27_1). ~
The authors also trace the broadening of the social base of the democratic
struggle in the United States (p 281) in the example of the movement for
equal rights for women, which "in the mid-1970's had become an important _
social phenomenon and had also begun to exert a definite influence on the
country's political life" (ibid.) and also of the consumer-protection move- ~
ment (~onsumerism). In general, neither of them go beyond the bourgeois- ~
democratic framework. Nevertheless, the possibilities of a considerable
extension of the antimonopoly front are embedded in them. _
The book studies the question of the reserves of social maneuvering avail-
able to the American monopolies (p 26). In addition to economic resources,
the ruling class ha~ a powerful arsenal of ineans for political coercion _
*St. Lynd, C. Alperowitz, "Strategy and Program. The Essay Toward a New
American Socia.lism,. Boston, 1973, pp XII-XIII.
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- and manipulation of public conscivusness. The two-party system continues
; to keep the workin~; people's political activeness within the framework of
' bourgeois parliamentarianism. The tactic of s,eparating social groups being
pursued by the ruling class is also playing ite part. The unity and fight-
; ing spirit of the working people is being undermined by the appeasing AFL-
j CIO leadership. The authors caution against an underestimation.of the so-
; cial reserves of state-monopoly capitalism and at the same time show that an
; exaggeration of the social possibilities of the monopoly state is also im-
, permissible: the 1970's are graphic confirmation of this.
~ The book attempts to trace the interconnection of the democratic struggle
i in the United States with the process of the relaxation of international
' tension,.and to reveal the objective concurrence of the aims of the parti-
' cipants in the democratic movements and the tasks of the policy of detente
(p 335) .
I
( An illustration of the position and role of the Communist Party of the United
~ States occupies an important place in the monograph. The authors reveal the
communists' struggle for the ideological liberation of the working class
from bourgeois influence and for the strengthening of proletarian unity on
the basis of struggle against monopoly capital. The communists proposed
~ a practicable program of fighting unemployment at the start of the 1970's
! (p 72). Attaching great significance to the movement of rank and file work-
~ ers, the Communist Party of the United States is participating actively in
i the creation of various groups of rank and file workers (p 86). Documents
of the Communist Party of the United States (the "New Pro~ram" and material
of its 21st congress, which was held in 1975) invariably stress the very
~ close link between liberation of tne blacks and the class struggle in the
~ country ( p 141) and determine the principal directions of the struggle of
~ the national minorities and various detachments and strata of the American
people. The 21st Communist Party of the United States Congress called on
the working people to link the struggle for detente with the broad anti-
monopoly struggle, make it a priroity task of the mass democratic movement
~ and make the utmost use to this end of the possibilities and prerequisites
t which have grown out of the previous stage of the antiwar movement. (pp 220-
! 221).
~ The appeal of the Communist Party of the United States Central Committee
~ March (1979) Plenum to American communists points out that the party is
making the strengthening of the unity of the working class against the com-
mon class enemy, the strengthening of the coalition of antimonopoly forces,
the creation of independent forms of political organization and the further
development of the movement of black Americans against racism and
~ 5
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~ discrimination and for economic, political and social equality the center
~ of the struggle.*
The book's entire material leads the reader to the conclusion that the
social protest movements in the United States are caused not by transi-
tory but long-standing factors which express "the general regulariti~s of
American capitalism and the capitalist system as a whole" (p 334). The mono-
graph appreciably enriches our ideas about U.S. social life and at the same
time helps us determine the most important directions of further study there- '
of.
*PRAVDA 18, 24 March 1970; DAILY WORLD 15, 22 March 1979. The urgent tasks
of the struggle of the American proletariat are discussed in detail in
G. Hall's report at the Com~unist Party of the United States Central Com-
mittee Plenum of 17-19 June 1978 (G. Ha11, "Economic Struggles--The Deci-
sive Arena, POLITICAL AFFAIRS, vol LVII, No 7, July 1978).
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Pravda", "Voprosy istorii", 1~79
8850
CSO: 1800 ~
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REGIONAL
ANTICOMMUNIST ~ONJECTURE ON USSR NATIONALITY RELATIONS SCORED
Ashkhabad IZVESTIYA AKADEMII NAUK TURI~IENSKOY SSR SERIYA OBSHCHESTVENNYKH
NAUK in Russian No 3, 1979 signed to press 18 Jun 79 pp 3-9
[Article by T. Khydyrov: "Internationalism of the Socialist Way of Life
and Criticism of Anticommunist Conjectures on USSR National Relation~"]
[TeYt] One of the most importsnt features oF the socialist way oi l.ife which
has taken shape in our country is the irte-rnationalism which permeates every
sphere of activity of the Soviet people. It results fron the internati.onal-
ist naru;e of the socialist social sys~em and first of all from socialist
~~roduction rela~ions; it is based on the uniformity of t~e social-class struc-
ture of all nations and nationalities of the country, on the coimr.unalit~~ of _
their spiritual outlook and Marxist-Leninist ideology.
On the hasis of the socialist transformation ~f all aspecrs of social life
and thanks to the actualization oL a Leninist national policy in the Soviet _
Union, the national question has been completely and irreversibly resolved
in those aspects of it inherited by us from the past. Only under socialist -
conditions has it become possible to resolve the national question success-
fully, as ~ne of the most painful and dramatic problems in the history ot
n~ankind. "Tt~is," said L. I. Brezhnev, "is an achievement which can ri~ht-
fully be placed amon~ the ranks of such victories in building the new so-
ciety in the USSR as industrialization, collectivization and the cultural
revolution" ([bibliography reference] 4, p SO).
A voluntary alliance of tree and equal people~ which is based on the fullest
possible trust and a clear awareness of Fraternal unity, an alliance of which
V. I. Lenin dreamed and which he foresaw, has evolved and become firmly es-
tablished in our couni:ry (1, p 43).
The great achievements of the Soviet people in building developed socialism, _
, including actualization of a Leninist national policy, have been legisla-
- r.ively secured in the new USSR Constitution (3, pp 6, 16-17, 26, 29-30).
Quite understandably, bourgeois ideologues and anti-c~mmunists of all stripes -
are desperately trying to distort and �alsify the great truits of the Lenin-
ist national policy, to subvert the indestructible friendship of the peoples
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of our country. By distorting the results of the Leninist national policy -
in the USSR, the ideological lackeys of the bourgeo3sie axe also trying to
belittle the importance of the Soviet experience in the eyes oF the peoples
of both capitalist and developing countries. Unmasking the conjectures of
b~urgeois ideologues on the national question is therefore one of the import-
ant tasks of ideological work at the present stage of building communism.
Contemporary anti-communists are paying special attention to disCorting the
theoretical f oundations of national policy in socialist society. In this
regard, they declare nationalism and chauvinism to be an ineradicable phe-
nomenon and the eternal attribuCe of nations, stemming, they say, from the
bioLogical na ture of people. Such reactionary and essentially anthrupolo-
gical views in approaching the national quesCion are pre3ched in the writ-
= ings of sucn venerable anti-communists as U.S. Presidential Advisor for Na- !
tional Security ZUigniew Brzezinski, ~Columbia University Professor E. All- I
worth, Harvard University Professor Hans Kahn, British anti-Soviet Jeffrey ~
Willer, and others. It is therefore no accident that imperialist reaction ~
is gambling especially heavily on kindling nationalism in its struggle ag- '
ainst the Soviet Union and other countries of the sucialist community, ag-
ainst the international workers' and couununist movement. Thus, anCi-commun-
ists held a series of "scientific" conferences and symposiums to work out
an ideological platform smash com~unism using nationalism" in a num-
- ber of U.S. c ities in March'!April 1972. I
The ideological arms-bearers of monopolistic capital write that relations I
among socialist countries are based on concepts of nationalism and chauvin-
ism. The comradely mutual assistance and fraternal cooperaCion of the so- ~
cialist nations and the development of international features in ths social.-
ist way of 1?fe are depicted as an ignoring of national interests, as a po- -
licy of liquidating national peculiarities. Thus, for example, Harvard Uni- ,
versity Professor R. Pipes, a vehement anti-communist, wrote in his article
"Rerlections on the Nationality Ques tion in the Soviet Union," in reference I
to the policy of the Soviet state with regard to economic development, thaC, ~
"when planning economic development, Moscow is inclined to ignore national '
- boundaries, viewing the USSR as a unified whole within which it permits spe-
cial capital investments, but which result from administrative and economic
considerations, never from ethnic ones" (S, p 463). ~
This slanderous assertion by R. Pipes is in glaring contradiction to actual- i
ity. While carrying out ambitious plans for creating the material and tech- ;
nical base of commur~ism, the CPSU and Soviet state have paid the most care-
- ful attention to the interests of each republic, each nation and nationality,
and have organically combined them with the interests of the entire Soviet
nation as a whole. ~
One example of the harmonious combining of national interests with those of
each Soviet republic would be the economic development of the Turkmen SSR.
Such modern branches of industry as petroleum, oi.l reFining, gas extraction,
machine building, chemical, light and food, as well as building materials
indusrry and others, have been crea ted and deve~.oped successfully in the
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republic. During the 60 years of Soviet power, the amount oc industrial pzo-
duction in the Turkmen SSR has increased more than 75-fold. During this
time, oil production has increased 114-fold. In 1977, the republic produced
- approximately six times more electric pawer in a single day as it produced
in all of 19I3 (see: 6, pp 27-29). All this is a result of the labor oE
not only the Turkmen people, but of all the peoples of our multinational
country. Turkmenistan receives everythi:~g it needs for intensive develop-
ment of all Firanches of its economy from the fraternal republics: machine
tools and automatic production lines, tractors and vehicles, grain and po-
tatoes from the Russian Federation, the Ukraine and Belorussia; cotton-
- picking machines fro4~ Uzbekistan; coal from Karaganda and the Kuzbass; lum-
ber from Siberia. In turn, Turkmenistan sends the fraternal republics pe- -
troleum and gas, sulfur and superphosphate, ventilators and oil pumps, cot-
ton and silk, rugs, and much other industrial and agricultural output. -
Under conditions of deveZoped socialism, the economic cooperation of the so-
~ cialist nations of the USSR has been ele~~ate~ t~ a qualitatively new degree,
taking on the form of unified aggregate ~abor within the framework of a
single unionwide national economic complex and on a basis of an effective
- system of specialization and cooperation. "The economic and social progress
of Soviet society," pointed out L. I. Brezhnev at the 25th Party Congress,
"is the progress of the Russian Federation, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan, Be-
' lorussia and Moldavia, and the Central Asian, Baltic and Transcaucasi~n re-
publics. The single economic organism which has evolved within the frame- _
work of the cauntry is the solid material foundation for the friendship and ~
cooperation of the peoples" (2, p 46).
Speaking of the anti-communist fabrications about CPSU national policy, we
must note the scientific groundlessness of the methodological principles of
bourgeois socialogy on this question, their metaphysical. nature. Bourgeois -
ideologues tear the national question away from specific social conditions,
_ and instead of a scientiL�ic analysis of the actual status of nations and na-
- tional relations in socialist society, they concern themselves with gross
- falsiFicati.on of these relations. Thus, American politicists R. Pipes and
S. Brown ascribe the relations of mistrust and enmity between bourgeois na-
tions, the growth of nationalism in the countries of monopolistic capital-
ism and in the developing countries, whi.ch are unavoidable rons~quences ot
the capitalist economic system, to the socialist countries ~;.s well and con-
- clude that nationalism and friction between nations are eternal (9, p 21; 7,
p 177) . `
The departure from reality is especially evident when the apologists for im- _
perialism state the reality they wish ~aere so. Thus, R. Pipes asserts in
the article mentioned above that an "e:plosive situation" exists in Che area
of national relations in the USSR (8, 464). And British anti-communist
Arnold Toynbee goes even further, asser.ting that nationalism has gained the
upper hand over communism in the USSR (13, p 291.
Their malicious hatred of communism and animal terror of the ines~apable
downfall of capitalism clearly do not ~~ermit its hired scribblers to analyze
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, objective~.y the reality of the modern era and to draw the correct conclusions -
. from ehat reality. In this regard, bourgeois ideologues are closing their
ey~~s and refiising to see tha t the socialist system in the USSR has ensured
a true tlowering of all. nations and nationalities and established relations
of fraternal mutual assistance and cooperation among them, that socialist
interna tionalism has becon~a a characteristic feature of their daily lives.
Also typical of the bourgeois ideologues is their concept oF the interna-
tional character of the socialist way of life as a rejection of the national,
as national nihilism; they equate national to nationalistic. Thus, London
University Prof.essor H. Seton-Watson writes, "Soviet representatives praise
_ the 'fraternity of socialist nations,' ~ahich, they say, has come to replace
'feudal' and 'bourgeois' nationalism. 'iocaever, Ukrainians, Georgians, Armen- L
- ians and the peoples of Central Asia co~itinue to retain their own national _
cultures..." (12, p 5).
- As is known, "nati.onal" and "nationalistic" are entirely different concepts.
Whereas nationalism is a phenomenon pro;:oundly foreign to the essence of so-
cialism, what is national national lcinguage, national culture, progress-
ive national traditions is preserved under socialism; it is transformed
and developed under new conditions.
The mutual enrichment and mutual influei~ce of. the cultures of the socialist ~
nations is a most important laca of deveiopment of the culture of each social- '
ist nation and of all Sovie t culture. There~ore, there is every justifica- ,
tion for saying that Soviet culture is a synthesis, an organic alloying of
spiritual values created by all the peoples of our country.
One of the clearest expressions of the systematic internationalism oL- the
socialz~~ way of life in the USSR is the formation of the Soviet people, an
historically new social and international community of people.
Formatior? of the Soviet people is declared by anti-communists, and in parti-
cular by Canadian Professor Theresa R~kn~sk-Harmstown~ American Professor S.
Vardis ar.d others, to be a confirmation of the Forced assimilation and Rus-
sification of non-P.ussian na~ions a:?d nationalities (10, p 1; 11, pp 32, 48).
~2uite understandably, such assertions are in obvious conilict with reality. -
The formation oL the Soviet people as a multinational social com~n.unity in no _
way signifies the assirailation of nations and nationalities. In liis report
on 4 October 1977 at r_he USSR Supreme Soviet session which adopted the new
- Constitution, L. I. Brezhnev said: "The socio-political unity of the Soviet
_ people does not at all signify a disappearance of national differences. In
building socialisM, thanks to consistent implementation of a Leninist na- ;
tional policy, cae haJe simultaneously and for the First time i.n history suc-
cessfully resolved the national question. The friendship of peoples is in-
destructible; during the course of building communism, they have orown sread-
ily closer to one another and their spiritual lives have been mutually en-
riched. But u~e would be embarking on a dangerous path were we to begiti to
artiFicially force this objective process of bringing naCions closer to one
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~ another. V. T. Lenin insistently cautioned against this, and we will not
- deviate trom his counsel" (5, p 525).
-I
~ The ~o�~iet people is Che most brilliant model of a unifyinb of all classes,
' social groups and naCions of a country into a single internation3l community.
At the b~si.s oF its formation lies the objective process of internationaliz-
ing social lite during the course oL building socialism and communism.
i
~
I [Jhile speaking out a~ainst the artificial forcing of the process of bringing
nations closer together, the CPSU at the same time "considers any nttempts
wh~itsoever to retard the process of bringing nations closer to one another,
to impede it on any pretext, to ar.tificially reinforce national isolation,
to be impermissible, as it would contradict the general direction of develop-
ment of our sociery, the internationalist ideals and ideology of communists,
and the interests of buildin communism" 4
g ( , pp 63 -64) .
i Under develope~ socialism and in connection with the increasingly broad pro-
~ cess of exchanging material and spiritual values and intensiPying the ex-
change of personnel amon; the Soviet republics, the multinationalil-.y of the -
_ population of each republic is gro~aing. Thus, representatives of more than
100 nations and nationalities currently live in the Turkmen SSR. The collec- -
tives of all factories, plants, institutions and academic institutions, many
kolkhozes and sovkhozes of the republic are also multinational.
In this regard, special stress should be placed on the fact that genuine com-
radeship and Fra~ernal mutual assistance, and highly productive joint labor -
in the name of the victory of communism are characteristic of the moral and
~ psychological atmospilere of multinational collectives, as of all labor col-
i lectives in Soviet society.
I One example characterizing human relations in our labor collectives is the
work experience of a weaver at the Ashkhabad Cotton Combine imeni Dzerzhin-
skiy, Heroine of Socialist Labor Ena Ovezova, a famous tutor who has brought
up more than 50 young girls and transmitted to them the secrets of her pro-
duction skill. ~lmong her pupils have been Turkmens, P,ussians, Ulcrainians,
Tatars and representatives of other nationalities. Many of her former "wards"
; are now themselves production leaders and outstanding tutors of young people.
~
The principles of socialist internationalism are an integral feature of the
way of lire of inembers of socialist society. All this taken together repu-
diates the slanderous fabrications of the apologists of imperialism about
the life of socialist nations in the USSR.
The demands o�- building communism require continued perfection of the entire
_ system of educating workers, and eapecially the younger generation, in a _
spirit of communist consciousness, Soviet patriotism and socialist interna-
_ tionalism, intensifying the struggle against manifestations of bourgeois
nationalism and chauvinism. -
The patrioCic and internationalist consciousness of the workers is developed
by our entire life, by all the experience in building communism. "But here,"
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as L. I. Brezhnev points out, "we also need the conscious efforts of the
party and of all workers on the political-ideological front" (4, p 26). In
order to do this, comprehensive use must be made of all the means, forms and ~
methods of educational work.
Yarty and Komsomol political education are of exceptionally important signi-
ficance to shaping the dialectical-materialist wurld-view ot- the workers, to
rearing them in a spirit of Soviet patriotism and socialist internationalism.
From this point of view, studying the theoretical theses ad~�anced by the 24th
and 25th CPSU congresses on building developed socialism in our country, on
its gradual growth into communism, on the international and national dialec-
tic under conditions of sacialism, on the Soviet people as a new historical
and international community of people, and on the national pride of the So-
viet man, in the political education network play an important positive role.
The works, speeches and appearances by L. I. Brezhnev, and in particular his
_ works "Aktual'nyye voprosy ideologicheskoy raboty KPS~" [Pressing Problems
of- CPSU Ideological Work], "Dokaldy i vysCupleniya o Konstitutsii SSSR" [Re- ~
ports and Speeches on th~ USSR Constitution], and the books of inemoi.rs, "Mal-
aya zemlya" [Little Land], "Vozrozhdeniye" [Rebirth] and "Tselina" [Virgin
Lands], are an invaluable guide in the communist development of the workers,
in the offensive struggle against reactionary bourgeois ideology, against
reformism and revisionism of all stripes. Along with other very important
theoretical and practical questions of building communism, they give a pi- ~
votal place to a thorough analysis and profound generalization of the pro- ;
cesses of further flawering and rapprochement of socialist nations in all
areas of the life of Soviet society. L. I. Brezhnev also describes the tire-
less activity oE the CPSU to further strengthen the community of the frater-
nal countries of socialism, the unity of the international workers' and com- ~
munist movement, and supporting all the revolutionary forces of today.
Socialist competition is an effective factor not only in economic develop-
ment, but also in international and patriotic education. Fulfillment of '
state plans and soci.~list obligations by each enterprise, each brigade and ;
each worker is at the same time fulfillment of a patriotic and international ,
duty.
SocialisC comperition among union republics, between oblasts and cities, be- ~
tween one's own and related enterprises, and between individual workers oF ~
the fraternal republics, is of enormous importance. ~
Clubs of international friendship in the production collectives, WZ's, Cekh- '
nikums and schools are an important means of international education.
One powerful means of cooperation among and rapprochement of socialist na- ~
tions and the international education of the masses has become the Russian
language.
Certain bourgeois ideologues, citing the Lact that a broad range of people t
of non-Russian nationalities of the USSR know Russian, attempt to use this ,
12 i
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z
- to subvert the friendship of the peoples and would have them look on it as
a threat to their national originality. Thus, American politicis~ S. Brown
slanderously depicrs ~hia Lact as Eorced "P.ussiFication" and assimilation ~
uC noc~-RusSi~n p~o~leb (see: 7, p 171).
Aut in reality, Lull equality and th~ free development oF the languages oE
all the country's peoples are eilsured in the Soviet Union. Each member of
society has' the right to speak in any language and to have his children reared
and taught in any language. According to the 1970 census, 90 to 99 percent
of the indigenous-nationality population of the Soviet republics consider
the language of their nationality one of their native languages and use it
fluently in all spheres of social life.
The socialist, international character of the economy, political system and
culture of the country, and the necessity for fraternal cooperation of the
- peoples, exchange of personnel and material and spiritual values have objec-
tively resulGed in the transformation of Russian into the Ianguage of inter- -
national intercourse and cooperation. Very rich values of scientific, ar-
Cistic, technical ancl other branches of spiritual culture have been and are
being created in Russian. The best achievements of the spiritual culture of
all the peoples of the Soviet Union and world civilization have been and are
_ being translated into Russian. Thanks to this, Russian provides access to
the invaluable treasure-houses of all world culture. That is why millions '
and tens of millions oF people of the country's non-Russian nationalities
are voluntarily studying Russian. It is remarkable that, according to the
1970 census, in addition to the Russians themselves, who comprise 53 percent -
of the country's population, 13 million people of non-Russian nationalities
called Russian their tiative language and 42 million fluent in it called it
their second native language.
e1s the internationalization of all aspects of social life under conditions
of developed socialism continues, the social role of Russian as an effective
- instrument of international intercourse and cooperation, an effective tool
for the international development of inembers of society, will increase more
and more.
The more than 60 years of historical experience in developing the Soviet na-
tion en route to socialism and cocrmiunism have irrefurably proven that the
= genuine happiness ard flowering of all of the upwards of 100 nations and na-
tionalities ot our homeland have been linked to the party of Lenin and to
its guiding and directing activity. And no GttempCs or slanderous fabrica-
tions of any kind whatsoever by anti-communists are capable of causing any
wavering of the friendship of the peoples of the USSR, which friendship has
_ become a moving force in the onward movement of the Soviet society on the
path towards conumini sm.
Department of Philosophy and Law, Turkmen SSR Academy of Sciences
Date oF Receipt: 29 January 1979
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Lenin, V. I. "Poln. sobr. soch." [Complete Collected ~dorks], Vol 40.
2. "Materialy XXV s"yezda K}'SS" [Materials oE the 25th CPSU Congress], Mos-
cow, 1976.
3. "Konstitutsiyl (Osnovnoy Zakon) Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh _
, Respublik" [Constitution (Basic Law) of the Union o.E Soviet Socialist
Republics], Moscow, 1977.
4. Brezhnev, L. I. "Leninskim kursom. Rechi i staL'i" [Leninist Course.
Speeches and Articles~, Vol 4, Moscow, 1974. ~
= S. Brezhnev, L. I. "Leninskim kursom. Rechi i stat'i" [Leninist Course. _
Speeches and Articles], Vol 6, Moscow, 197~. _
= 6. Gapurov, P~. G. "Sovetskiy Turkmenistan" [Soviet Turkmenistanj, Moscow, ~
1978. ~
7. Brown, S. "Paew I'orr.,es in World Politics," Washington, 1974.
"~thnicity Theory and Experience," Cambridge, Mass., 1975.
9. "Plationalities and Nationalism in the USSR. A Soviet Bilemma," edited
by Carl A. Linden and Dimitri K. Simes, Washington, 1977. ~
10. PROBLEtIS OF COMMUNISM, Vol 23, No 3, 1974.
11. P1tOBLL'MS OF COMMUNISt�I, Vol 24, No 5, 1974.
12. TH~ JOURNEIL OF CONTLI~IPORARY HISTORY, Vol 6, No 1, 1471.
13. Toynbee, "The In~port of the Russian Revolution, 1917-1i67," London, ~
1970.
COPYRIGHT: Zzdatel'stvo "Ylym", "Izvestiya Akademii nauk Turkmenskoy SSR,
seriya obshchestvennyk nauk", 1979 ,
i
11052
CSO: 1800
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t~ REGIONAL
TENACITY OF RELIGION AMONG TURKMEN WUMEid EXAMINED
Ashkhabad IZVESTIYA AKADEMII NAUK TURKMENSKOY SSR SERIYA OBSHGHESTVENNYKH
NAUK in Russian l~b 4, 1979 signed to press 7 Aug 79 pp ~3-lg
[Article by 0. Pal'vanova: "Some Results of a Specific Sociological Study of
the Level of Religious Belief Among Women in the Turkmen ~~illage"]
[Text] Marx and Engels, discussing the fact that all forms of social con-
sciousness, including religion, are subject to changes, commented: "It is ob-
vious that with every great historical upheaval in the system of society,
there also takes place an upheaval in people's views and concepts, including
their religious views" [1, page 211].
Undermining of the social roots of religion as a result of the victory of
socialism in this country and the fact that mass atheism has become an in-
separable part of the spiritual and intellectual countenance of Soviet
citizens is corroboration of this. Profound socioeconomic and cultural
- reforms, involvement of the toiler masses in building a new life, and the
party's considerable ideological and indoctrinational work have resulted
in tens of millions of people making a perma.nent break with religion. _
However, in spite of the mass withdrawal of Soviet citizens from religion and _
their acceptance of a scientific philosophical position, due to ob~ective and
subjective causes there still remain a certain number of people who are not
free of religious beliefs and traditions; they are particularly numerous
among women. Studies conducted in various part~ of this country attest to
the fact that women comprise approximately 70-80% of all religious believers
[9, page 37; 7, page 124].
According to very recent studies, women comprise 89.8 and men 10.2% of
religious believers in Novozybkovskiy Rayon, Bryanskaya Oblast, while the
figures for Novozybkov are 87 and 13% respectively [5, page 93]. A substantial
differen oe is also observed in degree of religious belief among men and women
[2, page 232; 3, 137; 6, page 94J.
Another reason the problem of overcoming religious faith among women is one
of the principal tasks of atheist indoctrination under present-day conditions
is that women, as we know, play a special role within the home and family,
~
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in the upbringing of the younger generation. Woman's functions as mother
- and educator of children inevitably result to one degree or another in
implanting her own philosophy in the new generation. Scientists correct-
ly believe that the problem of overcoming religious beliefs in general in-
volve to a conaiderable degree overcomin~ religious b~eliefs among women.
All this places before theory of scientific atheism and practical
atheist indoctrination of women a number of fundamental problems, makes
the study of religious faith among women an important task, and makes their
atheist indoctrination a task of practical necessity.
- For a purposeful and effective campaign against religious faith, it is im- _
portant to know the degree and status of religious belief, the character
and forms of its manifestation, and to investigate the sociopsychological,
domestic and other causes promoting its retention, as well as trends of
change. It was precisely with this objective that we conducted a sociologi-
cal study of religious faith among Turkmen rt~ral women. Our study centered
on the Sovet Turkmenistany Kolkhoz of Gyaurskiy Rayon, the Mir and
Leningrad kolkhozes of Ashkhabadskiy Rayon.
We used lists of registered voters as the most suitable basis for selecting ~
persons for our survey. We employed the selective questionnaixe technique,
with a questionnaire to be filled out by one out of every five women on the ~
I
kolkhoz 18 years of age anc'. older, which provided a 20% sampling. We ~
prepared an anonymous-subiect survey questionnaire, the principal feature o� ~
- which was its comprehensive nature. It contained, alongside questions ~
pertaining'to personal philosophy, special questions pertaining to type ~
identification of the sub~ect (sex, age, level of education, family status,
etc). All this made it possible to classify as an aggregate the philosophi-
cal orientation of the women surveyed and the degree of a subject's ideolo~i-
cal maturity in relationship with her practical activities and living con-
ditions. _
The questionnaire contained a total of 42 questions of an obvious and non-
obvious nature. Each question was paired with multiple-choice answers, on
the basis of which one could judge the depth and firmness of the religious
convictions of the women surveyed.
The questionnaires were prepared in the Turkmen lan~uage in order to
eliminate any language barrier and to achieve mutual understanding and trust.
A large number of women were surveyed in order to create an atmosphere of
greater sincerity., A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed, with
- 630 returned. Other methods of sociological investigation were also ex- -
tensively employed in addition to the questionnaire: observation, personal
interview, and study of current materials of the party and public organiza-
tions of the rayons. A household-by-hnusehold tour was also made in order to
study the women's living conditions, the level of their cultural require-
ments and interests.
We know that one of the central items of the method of concrete study of
religious carryovers in any social group is the question of criteria of
religious faith: who should be considered a r~eligious believer and on what
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criteria should that person be distinguished from the nonbeliever or
waverer? In determining criterion of religious belief we took into con-
sideration.both subjective indications (content and level of religious -
consciousriess) as well as objective indicators (religious behavior of
subjects). The religious consciousness of believers, not their behavior
was the principal component of these two indicators, but objective data
served as a supplement or detailing of a person's actual attitude toward
religion [~10, page 21J.
We also took into account the fact that different types of religious
behavior can be connected to a differing degree with religious consciousness.
Some may be of an accustomed, automatic nature, o~hers may be performed
under the influence of public opinion, while still others ma,y be motivated
by needs of an emotional-aesthetic character. Therefore in order to
acknowledge a given action as religious, we had one criterion in mind to
- what degree was this act connected with a person's religiaus views, that is,
oriented on those behavioral actions which could not be caused by non-
religious motives [12, page 110J.
Since religious consciousness and religious behavior are a complex aggregate
of different'elements, we took into consideration in determining the
criteria of religious belief the principal and nonprincipal components of ,
religious consciousness, the principal and nonprincipal forms of religious
behavior. We considered be]_ief in God or in some other supernatural force
to be the main subjective indicator of religious belief, while everything
else (belief in life after death, immortality of the soul, etc) was
secondary. As regards religious behavior, we considered those actions which
are perf.ormed only from religious motives to be the principal forms.
Analysis of the obtained information made it possible to isolate the follow-
ing philosophical groups or types of female religious believers on the
basis of their dttitude toward religion and atheism: atheists 9.2%; non-
believers 28.7%; waverers and indifferent 25.4%; religious believers
31.4%; strong religious believers 5.3%.
The study indicated that there exists a difference in degree of religious
belief of women in relation to age, level of education and occupation
(Table 1) .
Table 1. Correlation Between Philosophical Belief Categories and Age Groups
_ Typological Group Above 51-60 41-50 31-40 18-30
60
~ Strong reli~ious believers 32.2 9.4 9.8 - -
Religious believers by tradition 51.6 75.0 52.7 25.7 -
[davering and indifferent 15.8 12,5 24.4 45.5 22.3
Nonbelievers 3.3 3.5 15.3 19.2 63.7
Atheists - - 3.8 10.6 14.0
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_ According to the table, the degree of secularization of these women is in an `
inverse relationship to age. The most strongly religious women are ob-
- served in the age group from 51 to 60 and older. This is quite understand- ~
- able, since this age group contains for the most part low-literacy individ-
uals, most of whom are retirement-age.
We should like to draw attention to the last age group young ~aomen
between the ages of 18 and 30. Typically these are women who are married
and under the conservative influence of the husbands parents and relatives
primarily in matters of family ethics, morality and traditions. Many of
them are housewives who do not participate in socially useful labor and
who have a low level of education. As a result 22.3% of this category are
waverers, in whom as they grow older there will take place a differentia-
tion of views "by shiftir.g to a position of denial or a position of ap-
proval of religion" [11, page 43J.
What we are saying here is that alongside the existing view of scientists
that the category of religious waverers is a transitional category from ;
faith to absence of faith, there is also another quite correct category in
which some waverers on the contrary move from absence of faith to faith:
while nonbelievers in their youth, as they enter old age, under the in-
fluence of various factors (low level of literacy, loneliness, little
social activity) they join the ranks of the believers if appropriate work
is not done with them (Table 2). Consequently the existence of waverers ~
among young women is an extremely undesirable f actor, which demands
great attention on the part of atheists.
Table 2. Correlation Between Levels of Religious Belief and Education
Among Women
Typological Group Illiterate Elemen- Seven- Second- Higher
and Semi- tary Year ary
literate ' -
Strong reli~ious believers 22.0 - - - '
Religious believers by tradition 56.1 43.7 22.6 12.4 - ,
Wavering and indifferent 21.9 27.1 35.7 19.6 -
Nonbelievers 29.2 29.2 47.1 57.7 40
Atheists - - - 10.3 60 I
As is evident from the tabTe, religious belief among women is in an inverse
relationsr.ip to level of education, that is, the number of female religious ,
believers decreases as educational level rises.
Studies have also shown that the process of secularization takes place more
_ rapidly in those social strata of females who experience to the greatest
degree the influence of socialist production collectives, scientific and -
technological advance, and socialist culture. For example, among the rural
intelligentsia (teachers, medical personnel) there were no religious
believers whatsoever, whiZe waverers or vacillators comprise the majority
of religious believers among blue-collar and white-collar workers. The
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percentage of religious believers is high among retired females (96.6%)
and housewives (34.4% religious believers and 34% waverers).
For a more detailed investigation of the process of overcoming rel~gious
- carryovers, it is very important to know the state of religious conscious-
ness of female religious believers, the character of religious conceptions.
the degree of their depth and stability, and trends of change. Proceeding
from this, in this sociological investigation we sought to determine the
women's concept and view of the world, natural phenomena, as well as their
attitude toward religious ceremonies and rituals. Analysis of this data
wi11 indicate those areas in which atheist efforts among the female popula-
tion should be focused.
As already noted, belief in God is c�.:nsidered the principal subjective
criterion of religious belief. God the essential ideological foundation,
the beginning and end of religious belief of every contemporary believer.
It is not surprising that former religious believers testify that they
became atheists only when they became convinced that there is no God [4,
page 8]. While remaining very persistent and tenacious, the idea of God
undergoes changes in the consciousness of female religious believers.
Typical of women`s religious concepts of God is an increasing interweave
of traditional dogmatic elements with spontaneous and scientific-
materialistic elements.
According to the results of the study, women perceive of God as follows: -
anthropomorphically 14.9%; in the form a spirit 12.8%; in the form
of nature 2.3%; doubt the existence of God 13.9%; cannot picture
God 56.1%. It is characteristic that the majority of women (56.1%)
cannot picture God at ~11. These are obviously women who are on the path
from belief to absence of belief, as well as women who believe that to
picture God is sinful; during an interview they are reluctant to respond
to this question. Evidently for them the idea of God is not a subject for
reflection or meditation but an object of faith, which once again confirms
the traditional character of their religious belief. Departure of a
significant percentage of religious believers from the Islamic interpreta-
tion of the object of their worship, a lack of well-defined concepts of
God as we11 as doubts about his existence constitute vivid evidence of a
gradual breakdown of the religious views of these women.
An important indicator of the religious faith of female believers is the
idea of the immortality of the soul, belief in the existence of hell and
heaven, and a conceptual idea of these places. According to the study
53% of the women believe in immortality of the soul, 23.4% do not believe,
while 22.8% have doubts. As for their concept of heaven and hell, one notes
in these women the absence of a clear-cut picture of life after death.
As studies indicate, religious ~nd scientific concepts of the world inter-
F weave in the consciousness of rural female religious believers, although -
these concepts are diametrical~.y opposite: 22.8% of women believe that the
world is eternal and was not c~~:eated by anybody; 35.0% believe that the world
was created by God, and 42.2% Iiad difficulty answering this question. ~
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Religious concepts of nature proved to be the most vulnerable in the con-
sciousness of these women: the majority of subjects pointed to natural
causes of natural phenomena. Here alsa practical activity is the main
thing, which gradually breaks down the concept of female religious believers _
about nature. Emphasizing the important role of man's practical activities
and knowledge in overcoming religio~ G. V. Plekhanov wrote that "a
religious ideology is an ideology of ignorant people. It is grounded on
ignorance. But the boundaries of the unknown narrow as man's control over
nature increases; when man is able to influence without prayer but by
means of technical action, he ceases to pray" [8, page blJ.
Study of the consciousness of female religious believers indicated that
~ they have no systematized understanding of the teachings of Islam. Almost
all surveyed subjects replied in the negative to the question of whether
they were acquainted with religious literature and whether they under-
stood its meaning and content.
Of r_ourse the data presented here is only approximate, since the women i
did not give frank and candid replies to all the questions on the
questionnaire. They do, however, characterize the overall gicture of
religious belief to a certain degree.
~
The religious consciousness of female religious believers find s expression ~
in the performance of religious rites. We should note that of the three ~
elements of the religious complex (ideological, psychological, and worship),
the worship or cult element, with its complex rites and ceremonies, is
the most widespread in Islam.
Namaz is one of the five basic demands imposed by Islam on its followers.
Only 15% of the women regularly observe namaz, however, and these are
for the most part women of advanced years. Women read prayers most frequent-
ly for their calming effect or by tradition, and least frequently due to
fear of divine punishment or to receive forgiveness for sins, and this
also is evidence of diminishing religious component in a woman's con- ;
sciousness. There is no need to state what harm fasting causes the
organism. According to our studies, however, approximately 40% of all
women observe fast, although its regular observance is characteristic only ,
of women of advanced years. A small number of young women observe fasting
by habit or under pressure by those around them.
The Islamic holiday of Kurban-Bayram is considered to be an important event
for female religious believers; it was determined that 85.5% of women ob-
serve this holiday. Facts indicate that participants include many f.emale
nonbelievers, young people, and even some members of the intelligentsia.
Motivation to celebrate this holiday is as follows: women and adults are
drawn by the solemnity of the occasion, the holiday mood, the opportunity to
visit other homes and entertain guests, as well as tasty holiday dishes. In
addition they enjoy wearing their most attractive clothes, going out, swin~-
in~ on the traditional swing, and particularly engaging in social intercourse. j
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One wi.dely practiced religious ritual in our republic is the sunnet (cir-
cumcision). This ritual is harmful not only in its essence, constituting
a means of setting peoples of the Moslem faith apart from people of other
faiths, bdt also because, when performed ~n unsanitary conditions, it ~is a
threat to the child's health. Nevertheless our study indicated that many
women (88.9%) consider it to be essential, explaining that it is a national -
custom which serves as a sign of the Moslem faith. Manifested here is the
historically established sociopsychological factor of identification of
national and religioiis affiliation. In addition, in recent years there has
_ appeared another view on the necessity of the sunnet its alleged
hygienic benefit.
A special place among the religious carryover.s of Tslam is occupied by _
religious funeral ceremonies, which involve considerable expenditures.
These customs, however, which are connected with the loss of dear one, sub-
sequent grief and the desire somehow to lighten that grief, are very
tenacious. A total of 93.4% of the women surveyed replied in the affirma-
tive to the question of whether they consider the religious funeral and
religious funeral feast ritual to be necessary. And the majority of these
women are religious non-believers.
_ Religious carryovers are also manifested in the religious wedding ceremony, ,
which 85.1% of the women consider essential. In the interview they explain
it as follows: "Our forefathers did it this way, and this ceremony does not
hurt anybody."
In the process of the sociological survey we selectively visited the homes
of villa~e women and discovered the presence of religious ob~ects (small
felt prayer rugs namazlyk amulets affixed above the doors, bunches
of children's hair hanging in a prominent place, etc). Approximately 60%
of the women believe they have a supernatural force, while the remainder
' motivated their presence in the home as a matter of tradition or respect
for religious parents. Thus the religious consciousness of female religious
believers lacks continuity and integrity; religious beliefs are becoming
deformed, are weakening and in the final analysis ceasing to play the role
of principal motivations in their lives. The most important factor here
is not convictions but rather the emotional-psychological aspect, linked
with rituals and traditions.
Synthesis of the results of this study enables us to draw certain conclusions
and to offer several recommendations.
Atheist indoctrination of women should pursue the goal of raising their
level of education, culture, Co~unist consciousness, involvement in social-
labor and political activity, and improvement of living conditions.
Analysis of tlie religious consciousness of women indicated that the
religious ritual element is still strong, that the majority of women ad-
here to conservative religious traditions, equating them with national
and folk traditions. For this reason there is an obvious need to step up
efforts in the campaign against reactionary Moslem religious practices and
successful propaganda of new secular rituals and practices.
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As we have stated, the degree of religious faith varies au~ng the dif-
ferent female age groups: religious belief is insi~nificant among young =
women and quite substantial among the middle-aged and old; it is much greater
among semiliterate women. Consequeutly we must draw up long-range plans for
t~-~z atheist indoctrination of women which specify atheist indoctrination of
women of different age groups: elderly, middle-aged, and young. An entire
system of ineasure5 must be elaborated separately for each of these groups,
taking into account the features of age and level of education; single _
women, widows and pensioners should be singled out and surrounded with care
and attention.
In order to raise scientific-atheist efforts among women to the 12ve1 of
contemporary demands, it is essential to improve the train3ng of atheist
cadres, particularly female cadres. Propaganda of atheism should be con-
ducted in a sophisticated manner, with an understanding of the psychology
of Turkmen women. _
In connection with the fact that in the village there are many women the '
entire sphere of activities of whom is limited to running a household, one
should extensively work ~n an individual basis wi~h femaZe religious believers,
as well as performance of atheist propaganda within the village. The mass I
information media should devote greater attention to atheist indoctrination ;
of women. j
Studies indicate that conservative public opinion is an important factor ~
supporting r.eligioi~s faith among females. In connection with this it is ~
essential to strengthen the role of rural Communists, Komsomol members, . I
intelligentsia, as well 3s women'~ councilS, village meetings, and especial- !
ly the tried and proven councils of elders, which can do much toward shapinR ~
progressive public opinion in the village and st~rengthening the new
Communist principles in village life.
Turkmen SSR Academy of Sciences, Submitted 23 January 1979
Division of Philosophy and Law
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Marks, K. and Engel's, F. "Soch." [Writings], Vol 7.
2. Alekseyev, N. P. "Reasons for the Retention of Religious Belief in the
Psychology of the Kolkhoz Peasantry and Ways to Overcome It," in the
volume "Kollektiv kolkhoznikov" [Collective of Kolkhoz Farmers], Moscow,
19 70 .
- 3. "Voprosy nauchnogo atei~ma" [Problems of Scientific Atheism], Issue 4,
Moscow, 1967.
4. Duluman, Ye. K. "Ideya boga" [The Concept of God], Moscow, 1970.
5. Konovalov, B. N., and Novikov, V. I. "Chelovek, svobodnyy or religii"
[Man Free of Religion], Tula, 1977.
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6. Orlov, A. "Investigation of the Process of Secularization in Tatar
Villages," in the vo~.ume "Voprosy nauchnogo ateizma" [Problems of Sci-
entific Atheism], Issue 16, Kazan', 1974.
7. Pismanik, M. G. "On the Status of Religious Belief and Certain Features
of Scientific-Atheist Indoctrinatic~n Among Women," in the volume
"Konkretno-sotsiologicheskoye izucheniye religioznosti i opyta
- ateisticheskogo vospitaniya" [Concrete Sociological Study of Religious
- Belief and Atheist Indoctrination], Moscow, 1969.
Plekhano~, G. V. "Izbrannyye filosofskiye proizvedeniya" [Selected
Philosophical Writings], in five volumes, Vol 3, Moscow, 1957. -
9. Teplyakov, M. K. "Problemy ateisticheskogo vospitaniya v praktike
partiynoy raboty" [Problems of Atheist Indoctrination in Practical Party
; Work], Voronezh, 1972.
' 10. Ugrinovich, D. M. "On Criteria of Religious Belief and Their Applica-
tion in the Process of Sociological Studie~," VFSTNIK MGU. FILOSOFIYA,
No 4, 1967. ~
11. Chernyak, V. A. "Plany sotsial'nogo razvitiya kollektivov i ateizm"
[Plans of Social Development of Collectives and Atheism], A1ma-Ata, 1974.
~ 12. Yablokov, I. N. "Metodologicheskiye problemy sotsiologii religii"
[Methodological Problems of Sociology of Religion], Moscow, 1972.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Ylym", "Izvestiya Akademii nauk Turkmenskoy SSR,
~ seriya obshchestvennyk nau]c", 1979
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REGIONAL
LEGAL ASPECTS OF UNION REPUBLIC LEVEL ECODTOMIC PLANNING DISCUSSED ~
Ashkhabad IZVESTIYA AKADEMII NAUK TURKMENSKOY SSR SERIYA OBSHCHESTVENNYKH ~
NAUK in Russian No 4,1979 signed to press 7 Aug 79 pp 3-12
[Article by M. 0. Khaitov: "Constitutional Principles of Directing the
Economy of a Union Republic (Based on Materials on the Turkmen SS)"] _
[Text] The nc~w USSR Constitution and the 1978 Constitution of the Turkmen
SSR adopted in conjuction with it devote considerable attention to direction _
of the socialist economy. This is fully in conformity with the conditions
and requirement3 of development of the socialist society. . I
It was specially noted at the 25th CPSU Congress that "the nature of the i
tasks connected with building the material and technological foundation for
communism makes it essential to deal in greater detail in the Constitution
with the principles of direction of the national economy" [3, page 86].
Pursuant to the congress resolutions, the new constitutions of the union '
republics clearly define the principles of guidance and direction of the
economy of developed socialism.
_ ~ Previous constitutions lacked this. In the first Constitution of the
Turkmen SSR, in 1927, for example, guidance and direction of the economy ;
was not formally stated in any substantial manner. Only Article 21 pointed
out that "general supervision of all policy and the economy, as well as es- ;
tablishment of a plan for the entire econom,y and its individual branches j
and sectors within this republic shall be exercised by the All-Turkmen
Congress of Soviets and the Turkmen Central Executive Committee of Soviets" !
~5~ PP 573-588]. ~ _
Obviously under conditions where socialism had not yet been built and where ~ ~
private-ownership capitalism and small-scale production still played a s2ib-
_ stantial role in the economy, constitutional regulation of state supervision ,
and guidance of economic development could not but be of a limited
character.
In conformity with the historical situation of that period, the 1927 Con-
~ stitution specified as the principal task of the Soviet state guaranteeing
th e dictatorship of the urban and aul proletariat, implemented on th e basis ,
cf an alliance with the toiling peasantry, for the purpose of complete ,
neutralization of the bourgeoisie and elimination of man's exploitation by
man [5, At~ticle 1]. ,
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The foundations of a socialist system had been built in the USSR by the
mid-1930's; the socialist system in the economy had become totally dominant;
private ownership of the implements and means of production and man's ex- ~
ploitation of man had been totally eliminated; industrial output volume had
increased enormously; tremendous success had been achieved in accomplishing
the economic tasks specified in the First Five-Year Plan.
Article 4 of the 1937 Constitution of t:~e Turkmen SSR stated that "a social- -
ist economic system and socialist ownership of the implements and means of
production comprise the economic foundation of the Turkmen SSR" [6, pp 443-
468]. Article 11 of the Constitution stated that economic life in the
Turkmen SSR was defined and guided by the state economic plan. Questions
i pertaining to direction of the socialist economy also found reflection in
the competence of top-level agencies of government authority and administra-
; tion of the Turkmen SSR (articles 19, 44). It is true that the term
~ "direction of the economy" proper did not appear in the 1937 Constitution
�of the Turkmen SSR.
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In the years following adoption of the 1936 USSR Constitution and 1937
Constitution of the Turkmen SSR, a developed socialist society was built,
the first in the history of mankind, through the heroic labor of the Soviet
~ people, guided by the CPSU; this fact was fully and comprehensively ex-
~ ~ pressed and formally stated in the 1977 USSR Constitution and in the constitu-
tions of the union republics adopted in confarmity with the USSR Constitution.
~ A mature socialist society is developing on a proper foundation. The na-
I tion's economy has entered a new stage of development, characterized by a
number of distinctive features [see 13].
I
~ A powerful economic complex has been established and is successfully operat-
~ ing in the USSR, a complex which is developing on the foundation of combina-
tion of the scientific and technological revolution with the advantages of
j the socialist system. Under these conditions the responsibility of each
; union republic for prompt quantitative and qualitative fulfillment o�
! economic plans and adopted socialist pledges is increasing sharply. The
successes and failures of each individual union republic in accomplishing
! economic tasks affect the development of the other republics. The
~ prosperity of the Turkmen SSR, for example, depends not only on successful
work by its toilers but also on the work performed by the toilers of
Siberia, the Bashkir ASSR, the machine builders of Moscow, Gor'kiy, etc.
It was emphasized at the 25th CPSU Congress that "economic ties between the
union republics will become considerably stronger witrin the framework of
the unified economy of the USSR" [3, page 151]. This in turn will constitute
a solid material foundation for friendship and cooneration of peoples.
Formation of a unified economic complex is an objective pattern which
proceeds from the material conditions of building socialism and communism
in a multinational country. In the process of establishing the material
and technological foundation of communism, productive resources and
economic links increasingly grow beyond the boundaries of individual areas
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~ and republics and require interrepublic and nationwide forms of utilization ,
and development. Development of the socialist economy as a unified economic
complex ensures the most eff.icient distribution of the country's productive
resources. Today, when the task of equalizing the levels of economic
development of the union republics in the USSR has been basically accom-
plished, we are able to approach matters of economic development primarily
from the standpoint of the interests of the state as a whole and increasing
t.he efficiency of the entire national economy, taking into account the
~ specific interests of the union and autonomous republics.
7'he 1978 Constitution of the Turkmen SSR, in precise conformity with the
1977 USSR Constitution [4, articles 10, 15, 16], contains a detailed _
descri.ption of the goals, tasks and functions of the state as regards
direction of the economy, and for the first time presents a political-
legal definition of the economy as a complex dynamic system which is a -
determining factor in the entire economic foundation of the USSR.
The economy is the most important and determining component of society's
development. Socialist ownership of the means of production in the form ;
of state (owned hy all the people) and kolkhoz-cooperative ownership com-
prises the foundation of the economic system [7, Article 10]. _
~
Article 16 of the Constitution states that the economy of the Turkmen SSR ~
is a component part of the unified national economic complex, which en-
_ compasses all elements of societal production, di.stribution and exchange on '
the territory of the USSR [7]. This signifies strict centralization in ;
direction and guidance of the economy and subordination of all its com- ~
ponents to common tasks and goals.
The entire national economy complex, the entire economic mechanism of
- the socialist state is in the final analysis directed toward satisfying
people's needs. Their interests are the goal of societal production.
This republic's Constitution defines the highest goal of societal produc-
tion under socialism as well as the necessity of improving the forms and
methods of direction and guidance of the economy. Article 15 states, for ~
example, that the highest goal of societal production under socialism is
fullest satisfaction of the people's growing material and spiritual needs.
The 1978 Constitution of the Turkmen SSR formally states that the republic
contains a developed economic base, spells out the powers of the Turkmen
SSR in the person of its highest agencies of state authority and control
in implemer_ting a unified socioeconomic policy, as well as the basic
principles of direction and guidance of the economy.
The Turkmen SSR, within the framew~rk of a unified economic complex, secures
within its territory elaboration and ratification of the republic's state
economic and social development plans and the state budget [7, articles 141,
142, 148].
Thus the provisions of the constitution clearly reflect the link and inter-
relationship of national and republic economic interests.
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The 1978 Constitution of the Turkmen SSR formally stated the most important
principles of direction and guidance of a national economy of develo~ed so-
cialism, which ensure the forward development of the socialist economy,
strengthening of its link with science, and expressing new capabilities of
purposeful influence by tlie socialist state on economic and social develop-
ment.
The pravisions formally stated in the Constitution show a substantial broaden-
ing of the scope and boundaries of constitutional regulation of direction and
guidance of the economy under conditions of a mature socialist society.
These constitutional provisions are of great and fundamental importance and
clearly reflect the contemporary stage in development of the econnmy of the
USSR.
With the present level of socialization of production and with the existence
of complex close interlinks among the numerous components of the nation's
economy, normal functioning and development of the socialist economy is in-
conceivable without a smoothly-running mechanism of economy planning and
management, organized on a nationwide scale. A socialized state of a11 the
people provides such a mechanism [see 12].
Of basic importance for direction and guidance of the economy are the ,
general principles of organization and activity of the Soviet state, which
are stated formally in the Constitution and which express the genuinely
democratic essence of the political system of the developed socialist so-
ciety.
These general principles include democratic centralism, socialist rule of
law, participation by the masses in government, and socialist international-
ism [20, page 3]. They are characteristic of government administration as
a whole. At the same time, Chapter 2 of tY?e 1978 Constitution of the
Turkmen SSR establishes more concrete principles of direct supervision and
direction of the economy, which include: socialist planning, a combination
of centralized direction and economic independence of enterprises and
associations, and a democratic character. of dirP~+-a^r an~i ~�~id3nce of the
socialist economy.
V. I. Lenin and the Communist Party attached enormous importance to planning.
In particular, V. I. Lenin stated that "organization of record keeping,
oversight over the major enterprises, and transformation of the entire
state economic mechanism into one big machine, into an economic mechanism
which operates so that hundreds of millions of people are guided by a single
plan" are essential [2, pa~e 7].
. The 25th CPSU Congress pointed to the necessity under present-day conditions
of securing substantial improvement jn planning. Our country was the first
to follow the policy of planned direction of the economy. Further im-
provement of the planning mechanism is taking place under the conditions of
a developed socialist society. There is an extensive system of annual,
five-year and long-term state plans, which take into account the needs and
capabilities of the nation's economy. At the present time, under conditions~
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of rapid scientific and technological advance and in conformity with the
_ enormous scale of the nation's economy, the Communist Party has advanced
a new task to raise planning activities to a qualitatively higher level.
L. I. Brezhnev noted in his report at the November (1978) CPSU Central Com-
mittee Plenum that "it is essential to raise the practical work of planning `
and economic agencies to the level of those high demands imposed by pzrty
directives pertaining to accomplishment of current economic tasks.... The
new tasks demand new solutions and an innovative approach to organization
of all planning work" [10, page 15].
V. I. Lenin stated that "elaboration of national economic plans must be per- ~
formed "both from above and from below. "...The princip~e of 'only from
below' is an anarchic principle" [1, page 244].
_ Centralized planning of development of the economy is one of the most im-
portant factors in establishment and development of the material and tech- -
nological foundation of communism. In conformity with the resolutions of
the 25th CPSU Congress, centralized direction of economic planning is ~
grounded on improvement of the unified system of state plans of economic ~
and social development of the USSR and the union republics, fuller combina- I
tion of branch and territorial planning, and elaboration of comprehensive ~
programs on the most important scientific and technical problems. I
I
The 1978 Constitution of the Turkmen SSR specifies that direction of the I
economy is effected on the basis of thE~ republic's state economic and social
development plans, taking into account branch and territorial planning ,
(Article 16). In addition, there is a special chapter entitled "State Eco-
nomic and Social Development Plan for the Turkmen SSR," which cont~ins a
number of articles dealing with the basic principles and rules, procedure of
preparation, adoption and execution of the Turkmen SSR state economic and
- social development plan [7, articles 139-144] and the state budget [7, i
articles 145-150]. '
The principal function of state planning is securement of dynamic and
balanced development of the economy both in the long-term and short-term
future. ;
We should note that legal literature, especially in recent years, has con-
tained numerous statements on the necessity of drafting a national-level
legal instrument dealing with planning [11, page 3; 14, page 10; 16, page
89; 17, page 16; 18; 19; 20, page 3; 21, page 127]. Obviously promulgation
of such a Law has assumed particular importance with adoption of the new
Constitution. The provisions of the 1977 USSR Constitution constitute the
legal basis of the USSR Law on Planning. Its adoption will promote not only
elimination of the multiplicity of legal enactments which regulate planning
and which in some cases contain contradictions, but will make it possible
to secure stability of legislative regulation of all planning work and ,
strengthening of its role in increasing the efficiency of societal production
and in strengthening socialist rule of law and state discipline.
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In the 12 December 1977 decree entitled "On Organization of Work to Bring
the Laws of the USSR Into Conformity With the USSR Constitution" [23, -
Article 764], the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet instructed the
USSR Council of Ministers to examine in 1978-1981 the question of the
necessity of drafting a legislative enactment on the Principles of State
Planning directed toward further improvement of economic activity.
A question arises: is it necessary, in addition to a legislative enactment
on the national level, to have laws on planning at the level of the union
republics?
As stated in the literature [see 21], planning falls within the sphere of
joint competence of the USSR and the union republics. The sphere of joint
competence of the USSR and union republics encompasses a number of ques-
tions pertaining to planning where agencies of the USSR and agencies of
the union republics work in coordination. The USSR, in the person of its
highest agencies of government authority and administration, exercises
general direction of the economy. Immediate direction and supervision,
as well as operational-production and economic administration and mar.agement
- within the sectors and branches of the economy which form the sphere of joint
competence of the USSR and the union republics are effected by the union -
republics~in the person of their highest agencies of government authority
and administration.
The corresponding agencies of the USSR and the union republics, with the
active participation of the toilers, elaborate and ratify a system of
mutual.ly coordinated plans, organize their execution, arrange for record
keeping and oversight, and on this basis secure a unity of actions of all
workers in society.
State planning of the national economy of the USSR is inseparably linked
with comprehensive development of the economy of the union republics, by
securement of efficient distribution of production and planned, orderly
exploitation of natural resources, by improvement of socialist division
of labor among the republics, by unification and coordination of their
labor efforts, and by correct combination of the interests of the entire
multinational state with the interests of each union republic. Planning
ard statistical agencies in the USSR are union-republic. With the par-
ticipation of the union republics and central administrative agenci~s of
the USSR, USSR Gosplan specifies the principal directions and areas of
development of the nation's economy, in conformity with which draft branch
and republic economic plans are subsequently elaborated, which attests to
~ a flexible combining under present-day conditions of branch management
~ with interbranch tasks of comprehensive development of the economy of the
republics.
A national-level enactment, however, cannot exhaust all questions of
- planning at the level of the union republics. By dint of this, formally
stating the most general points of organization of planning of USSR
economic and social development, a USSR Law on Planning should, we feel,
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be combined with enactments, based on it, on planning economic and sociaZ
development of the union republics. Particularly since in recent years the
authorities of the union republics in the area of planning and their com-
petence have been significantly broadened [24, Article 154; 25, articles
116-119; 26, Article 31; 28, Article 76], and the responsibility of each
_ union republic for prompt quantitative and qualitative execution of the
uational economic plan and adopted socialist pledges has increased. The
successes and failures of each union republic have a direct effect on the
development of all or many other republics.
Thus adoption in the republics of laws on planning will make it possible
more precisely to demarcate the competence of the USSR and the union
republics, better to coordinate economic and social development plans, etc.
Combination of centralized direction with economic independence of enter-
prises and associations should be pointed out as one of the constitutiona'1
principles of direction of the economy. The proceedings of the 25th CPSU -
Congress stressed the task of organic unification of economic independence
and initiative of enterprises and associations in resolving the problems of
improving the organizational structure and methods of administration and i
_ management. In particular, L. I. Brezhnev noted: "We must simultaneously ~
strengthen both elements of democratic centralism. un the one hand we !
should develop centralism, thus placing an obstacle in the path of depart- ~
mental and local tendencies. On the other hand it is necessary to... un-
burden the top leadership echelons of minor matters and to secure ef- ,
ficiency and flexibility in decision-making" [3, page 60]. _
At the present time large enterprises and production associations are the
principal element of socialist production. Their legal status is -
. specified by the 1965 Statute On the Socialist State Production Enterprise
(with a number of subsequent additions) and the 1974 Statute on the Produc-
tion Association (combine) [24, Article 155; 27, Article 38]. These
- enactments state that the enterprise (production association) is the prin-
cipal (primary) element of the economy. _
The 1978 Constitution of the Turkmen SSR formally stated the need of cen-
tralized direction with economic independence of enterprises and associations.
This constitutional principle is the most important principle of direction
of the economy.
- Centralized direction and economic independence of enterprises, associations I~
and other public organizations is one of the most important manifestations
of the Leninist principle of democratic centralism. Centralism of direc-
tion proceeds objectively from the planned character of societal production.
Already under capitalism machine production creates the material founda-
tion for centralized direction of production. But under capitalism cen-
tralized direction causes a spontaneously anarchic form of movement of in-
dividual plants. Socialist production alone gives centralism a democratic
character and national scale.
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Therefore in the USSR centralized direction is~combined with economic in-
dependence of enterprises and associations. Under conditions of mature
socialism strengthening of centralism takes place with simultaneous growth
in the independence of the primary elements of societal production, which
expresses a harmonious combination of the goals and tasks of the different
levels.
Adoption of the Constitution is connected with performance of considerable
work in the area of improving economic legislation. Obviously legislative
enactments on capital construction, on standardization, and others aimed at
improving the economic management will be adopted not only on a national
scale but also on the scale of the union republics.
The main thrust of that which determines the content of the new Constitutions
- is broadening and deepening of socialist democracy. Socialist democracy,
- wh ich is the most all-encompassing and broad, extends not only to the
sphere of political affairs but also to econamic and cultural affairs.
"Democracy is an empty sound," commented L. I. Brezhnev, "if it does not
encompass the sphere in which man labors every day and applies his produc-
tive forces. Therefore strengthening of the democratic elements directly
in production is of fundamental importance" [8, page 72].
_ The scientific and technological revolution under conditions of developed
socialism is successfully combined with broadened participation by the
people in production management and with development of Soviet democracy.
The increasing complexity of management of a modern economy by no means
places insuperable obstacles in the path of continuous growth in participa-
tion of the masses in management.
The scientific and technological revolution has never been the foe of
democracy. On the contrary, it is the ally of power by the people, for
it makes it possible increasingly more fully to satisfy people's material
and spiritual needs and to ensure conditions for comprehensive development
of the individual [22, page 195].
Lenin's teaching on socialist democracy provides a fundamental methodologi-
cal foundation for combin:~.ng administrative and management labor with
broadened participation by the toilers in management.
V. I. Lenin stated in the initial version of the article "Current Tasks of
the Soviet Government":"The democratic principle of organization in -
that higher form in which with implementation by the Soviets of proposals
and demands of active participation by the masses not only in discussion of
general regulations, decrees and laws, not only in monitoring their execu-
tion, but also directly in their execution means that each representa-
tive of the masses, each citizen should be enabled to participate both in
discussion of the nation's laws, in electing his representatives, and in
implementing government laws...." [2, page 156].
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Participation by the toilers in management under the conditions of a
developed socialist society is effected in various organizational forms
[see 15]: through the Soviets, through the activities of various mass
public organizations, as well as by means of utilization of various forms
of direct democracy. In conformity with their statutory tasks, the trade
unions, Komsomol, cooperative and other public organizations extensively
participate in management of governmental and societal affairs and in
settling political, economic and sociocultural matters.
Labor collectives are the most important, central element in direction of the
economy. Article 8 of the 1978 Constitution of the Turkmen SSR formally
states the political and legal status of labor collectives: in particular,
it is established in constitutional form that "labor collectives partici-
pate in discussion and resolution of governmental and societal affairs, in -
planning production and social development, in training and placement of
cadres, in discussion and resolution of questions pertaining to management
of enterprises and establishments, improvement of working and living con-
ditions, utilization of funds designated for production development, as
well as for sociocultural measures and material incentive reward" [7]. j
Also specified are such tasks of labor collectives as development of so- '
cialist competition, dissemination of advanced work methods, strengthening ~
of labor discipline, indoctrination of the members of a work force, and im- ~
provement of their political consciousness, cultural level and occupational i
skills .
~
i
Formal statement in the Constitution of the status of labor collectives
attests to the increased activeness of labor collectives in directing -
the economy and societal production.
L. I. Brezhnev stated that "drafting of the state plan begins with the
labor collective, and it is natuxal that its fulfillment and overfulfill-
ment depends to a determining degree on their activity. Labor collectives
are an important component part of the entire political system, and there-
fore they are called 'the primary element of our entire organism, not only
economic but political as well [9, page 35].
Consequently success in managing the economy depends in large measure on
ability to direct the energy, will and productive activity of toilers of
_ socialist production to perform the tasks designated by society as well as
by the functioning of labor collectives. The entire affairs of society
economic, politica.l, spiritual and intellectual are reflected in the
labor collective and in the work of its party, trade union, and Komsomol
organizations.
Participation by blue-collar and white-collar workers in production manage-
ment includes their active participation in all basic stages of production
manage~ent, from discussing plans to verification and appraisal of manage-
ment efficiency. According to the Constitution, toilers participate in _
discussing and resolving all basic problems of production.
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Legal regulation of participation by blue-collar and white-collar workers
in production management could obtain expanded expression and formal state-
ment in the USSR Law on Labor Collectives, which is to be pxomulgated in
1980. In addition, statements have been made in the literature about
promulgation of a special enactment as well as drafting of laws on trade
unions and youth [see 15].
We believe that laws on trade unions and youth can sufficiently broadly
~ reflect tlie various forms of participation by trade union and Komsomol
~ organizations in production management.
i
~ The 1978 Constitution of the Turkmen SSR opens up broad prospects for ex-
~
tensive participation by workers and employees as well as young people in
production management. In addition, proceeding from our par.ty's program
i points on expanded participation of trade unions and an enhanced role by
work forces in settling matters of laboi and enterprise activities, the
,i Constitution formally states the right of workers and employees, a
genuine right which is guaranteed by the state, to broad participation in
~ determining all important matters pertaining to management of enterprises
and establishments.
New constitutional legislation specifies that economic accountability,
profit, production cost, and other economic instruments and incentives
shall be utilized vigorously in managing the economy. The problem of
~
utilization of economic accountability, profit, produ~tion cost and other
economic instruments and incentives should be separately discussed [20,
page 11], and therefore in this article we shall not describe them but
merely mention them in connection with the fact that economic instruments
and incentives occupy an important place in the system of direction of the
I economy. Formal specification by the constitution of economic methods in
direction of the economy signifies in particular enhancement of the role
of economic sanctions for failure to meet pledges or delivery of poor-
quality product. Further increase in economic accountability, local
economic initiative, and securement of centralized direction is possible
~ with the extensive utilization of economic instruments and incentives in
direction and management of the economy.
~
I The 1978 Constitution of the Turkmen SSR, formally stating economic methods
in direction of the economy, specifies that- the state ~hall ensure labor
~ proluctivity growth, increased efficiency o~ production and improved work
quality [7, Article 15].
- The above attests to a substantial broadening of the scope and limits of
constitutional regulations in the area of direction of the national economy. _
Now a.ll the basic elements and principles defining economic-organizational
acti~*ity of the Soviet state have been formally stated by the Constitution.
At the same time the Constitution, as the Fundamental Law, cannot and should
not regulate all tlie various matters connected with exercise of economic
management. It merely estab lishes the constitutional foundations of this
direction, on the basis of which corresponding legislative activity is
carried out and all current organizational work by economic agencies ts ~
organized.
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- Consequently 3doption of the new Constitution of the Turkmen SSR is accom-
panied by devalopment and improvement of current legislation; it specifies
adoption of new legislative enactments and the introduction of changes.
All the work of economic agencies is carried out in strict conformity with
the demands of the Constitution, which dictates the necessity of further
improving their activities as well as a substantial improvement in work
style and methods. "We have established the Constitution not for decorative
purposes," stressed L. I. Brezhnev. "It should be and shall be observed in
all its particulars" [9, page 57].
Turkmen State University Submitted 8 January 1979
imeni A. M. Gor'kiy
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Lenin, V. I. "Poln. Sobr. Soch." [Complete Works], Vol 10.
2. Lenin. "Poln. Sob r. Soch.," Vol 36.
3. "Materialy XXV s"yezda KPSS" [Proceedings of the 25th CPSU Congress], ,
Moscow, 1976. ~
I
4. Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist '
Republics, Moscow, 1977. ~
I
S. "Constitution of the Turkmen S~viet Socialist Republic, Adopted by the
Second All-Turkmen Congress of Soviets on 30 March 1927," in the volume
"Istoriya Sovetskoy Konstitutsii, 1917-1956" [History of the Soviet
Constitution, 1917-1956], Moscow, 1957.
6. "Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic,
Adopted by the Extraordinary Sixth Congress of Soviets of the Turkmen
Soviet Socialist Republic on 2 March 1937," in the volume "Konstitutsiya
SSSR. Konstitutsii soyuznykh Sovetskik.h Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik" -
[Constitution of the USSR. Constitutions of the Union Soviet Socialist
RepublicsJ, Moscow, 1972.
7. "Konstitutsiya (Osnovnoy Zakon) Turkmenskoy Sovetskoy Sotsialisticheskoy ~
Respubliki" [Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Turkmen Soviet So-
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8. Brezhnev, L. I. "Leninskim kursom. Rechi i stat'i" [Following a
Leninist Course. Speeches and Articles], Vol 5, Moscow, 1977.
9. Brezhnev, L. I. "0 Konstitutsii SSSR" [On the USSR Constitution], Mos-
cow, 1978.
10. Brezhnev, L. I. "Vystupleniye na Plenume TsK KPSS 27 noyabrya 1978 goda"
[Speech at the 27 November 1978 CPSU Central Co~ittee Plenum], Moscow,
1978.
3~+ -
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11. Vishnyakov, V. G. "Konstitutsionnyye osnovy upravleniya
sotsialisticheskoy ekonomikoy" [Constitutional Principles of Manage-
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gosudarstva i zakony ekonomiki (Teoreticheskiye problemy)" [Economic
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13. Kotov~, F. I. "Organizatsiya planirovaniya narodnogo khozyaystva SSSR"
[Organization of Planning of the USSR National Economy], Moscow, 1974. -
I
j 14. "Pravovyye voprosy planirovaniya prouryshlennosti v SSSR" [Legal
Questions of Industrial Planning in the USSR], ~Ioscow, 1962.
15. Prokhorov, V. G. "Uchastiye trudyashchikhsya v upravlenii proizvodstvom.
Pravovyye voprosy" [Toiler Participation in Production Management.
Legal Questions], Moscow, 1977.
16. Raznatovskiy, I. M. "Pravovoye regulirovaniye planirovaniya
narodnogo khozyaystva SSSR" [Lega7. Regulation of Planning of the
� USSR National Economy], Kiev, 197'~.
17. Samoshchenko, I., and Nozdrachev, A. "Current Problems of Legisla-
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20. Khalfina, R. 0. "Constitutional Principles of Direction of the Economy,"
I SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO, No 8, ].978.
21. Shafir, M. A. "Kompetentsiya SSSR i soyuznoy respubliki.
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22. Shakhnazarov, G. Kh. "Sotsialisticheskaya demokratiya. Nekotoryye
; voprosy teorii" [Socialist Democracy. Some Questions of Theory],
Moscow, 1974.
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1965.
25. SP SSSR, No 17, 1967.
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- 26. SP SSSR, No 7, 1973.
27. SP SSSR, No 8, 1974.
28. SP SSSR, No 13, I975.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Ylym", "Izvestiya Akademii nauk Turlanenskoy
SSR, seriya obshchestvennyk nauk", 1979
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