Communist Practices in Relation to Administration

I have always been interested in Communism/Socialism. I studied a lot of Marx and Engels' theories in undergrad. And, in grad school I focused on early 20th century Socialism is Germany. I wrote my MA thesis on Rosa Luxemburg. And, as a grad. student I was involved in two Communist affiliated organizations. (Keep in mind, I went to school in Canada where a Communist party actually exists).

As a LISP student I am finding that I am interested in Communist practices and resources as they are related to the library. And, certain Communist practices may also be related to this class...

Certain administrative and managerial practices were well established in the Soviet Union through the 1930s. But, political campaigning destroyed many of their scientific management theories and practices. During the period of the Russian Civil War heavy industrialization was nationalized (At the abolishment of private enterprises). After the war, struggling to regain its economy, Lenin, Trotsky, and others clung to industrialization and modernization as the threshold of life for the nation. And, beginning in 1921, Western ideas were adopted to facilitate economic development; including work habits inspired by Ford and Taylor's scientific management theories. In 1921 Gastev established the Central Institute of Labor (With the approval of Lenin and Trotsky) and put forth the idea of the "Mechanized Man," or, the perfect industrial worker.

But, the country was undergoing many and significant political changes. The period of relative intellectual and scientific freedsom was coming to an end. Trotsky was defeated in 1928 and Stalin seized power to eventually build an isolated and totalitarian society. Five-Year Plans were implemented to control economic methods, science, and education.

It's interesting to see the ways in which administrative and managerial practices move within a time period and society. As someone who valued the work of Rosa Luxemburg I often wonder if Western European industrial and Communist practices would have been different had she not been murdered. If male tendencies of centralization and opportunism did not have the proper environment to foster would the time period of the early 1900's have been shaped differently? If so, one wonders what routes the U.S. may have taken in its own industrialist period; and, where would Capitalism have led, or... Would it have led at all? It's presumptuous to ask such questions. We can only move forward toward more Socialistic practices in our world, beyond strict Capitalism and manipulation. Perhaps the library can be a driving force in such efforts... Indeed, the library as institute is the forefunner of freedom and justice... Isn't it?

Sources:

Fulp-Miller, R. (1962). The mind and face of Bolshevism: An examination of cultural life in Soviet Russia. New York: Harper and Row.

Lieberstein, S. (1975). Techonology, work, and sociology in the USSR: The NOT movement. Technology and Culture, 16, 48-66.

Merkle, J.A. (1980). Management and ideology: The legacy of the international scientific movement. Berkley: University of California Press.

Smith, S. (1983). Taylorism rules OK?: Bolshevism, Taylorism and the technical intelligentsia in the Soviet Union, 1917-41. Radical Science, 13, 3-27.