The Concept of ‘Developed Socialism’ as response of the USSR to ideological and socio-economic challenges of the time (1964–1982)

Abstract

In the 1960s, Soviet ideology came face to face with new challenges and threats, both internal and external. The leadership of the USSR was aware of these challenges and decided to rework the ideology on the basis of the concept of ‘Developed Socialism’ created in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe. In the Soviet Union, this concept became the ideological basis of the ‘Brezhnev’s society’ and was used to respond to domestic and foreign policy challenges faced by the Soviet Union. In addition, it was based on the idea that the country had achieved a high degree of economic development sufficient for the requirements of modern times, and assumed that the completion of communism would be postponed to an indefinite future. The concept of ‘Developed Socialism’ adopted in the USSR simultaneously had progressive features (an attemptto bringthe ideology in line withthe dictates ofthetime,taking into accountthe ideological experience of other countries, a departure from the illusion of rapid construction of communism), conservative features (a return to the Stalinist concept of transition from socialism to communism), and ‘utopian’ features (communism remained as the goal). In general, this ideological concept had significant disadvantages that hindered its effectiveness in the long term perspective.

Keywords

• ideology
• ideological struggle
• communism
• marxism-leninism
• socialism
• ‘developed socialism’
• ussr
• leonid brezhnev
• mikhail suslov