Education and Social Mobility in the Soviet Union 1921-1934 (Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies) [Paperback]

Sheila Fitzpatrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 16, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0521894239 | ISBN-13: 978-0521894234

This is a history of Soviet education policy 1921-34 that places special emphasis upon the theme of social mobility through education. One of the hitherto untold stories of Soviet history is the making of the 'Brezhnev generation', a cohort of young workers and Communists sent to higher education during the First Five-Year Plan (1928-1932) and subsequently catapulted into leadership positions in the wake of the Great Purge of 1937/38. A focal point of this book is the educational policies which not only produced the 'Brezhnev generation', but also linked Stalin's regime with the massive upward mobility of the industrializing 1930s. The book is the first comprehensive history of Soviet education in the 1920s and early 1930s, and provides a sequel to the author's highly praised Commissariat of Enlightenment. In this, as in the earlier study, the author has used Soviet archival sources not previously available to Western scholars.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

This is a history of Soviet education policy 1921-34 that places special emphasis upon the theme of social mobility through education. A focal point of the book is the educational policies which not only produced the 'Brezhnev generation' but also linked Stalin's regime with the massive upward mobility of the industrializing 1930s.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (May 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521894239
• ISBN-13: 978-0521894234
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,718,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sheila Fitzpatrick is Bernadotte E. Schmitt Professor of Modern Russian History at the University of Chicago. A past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies and a co-editor of The Journal of Modern History, she is the author of many other books and articles about Russia. She lives in Chicago and Washington, DC.