Primary accumulation in the Soviet transition

Abstract

The Soviet background to the idea of primary socialist accumulation is presented. The mobilisation of labour power and of products into public sector investment from outside are shown to have been the two original forms of the concept. In Soviet primary accumulation the mobilisation of labour power was apparently more decisive than the mobilisation of products. The primary accumulation process had both intended and unintended results. Intended results included bringing most of the economy into the public sector, and industrialisation of the economy as a whole. Unintended results included substantial economic losses, and the proliferation of coercive institutions damaging to attainment of the ultimate goal ‐ the building of a communist society.

Notes

Lecturer in Economics, University of Warwick. I am grateful to the editor, the referees and Dr R. A. Lewis of the Department of Economic History, University of Exeter for helpful comments on an earlier draft.