Artikel

Doeleinden en ontwikkelingsmogelijkheden van de verbruikscoöperaties in de Sovjetunie

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Abstract

Purposes and development possibilities of the consumption cooperatives in the Soviet-Union - The purposes of the co-operative movement in the Soviet-Union differ much from its sister organizations in the Western world. As private trade has been banned, they must not defend the consumers against the eagerness for gain of traders and industrialists. Neither have they to compete with the state trade as they are not allowed to sell at lower prices than the state shops nor to return a dividend on sales to their members. In 1935 they were obliged to transfer all their shops in the urban centers to the ministry of trade. So their possibilities of development are for the greater part determined by the economic growth in the rural sections of the country. During the period going from 1953 to 1959, the increase of the peasants’ income exceeded that of the workers. This led - as statistics about the output of the different organizations in the Soviet trade sector show - to a growth of the share of co-operatives in total retail figures. The introduction of co-operative commission operations on kolkhoz markets gave a new impetus to co-operative trade. However, as the importance of the kolkhoz markets is declining, there is but a slight chance that the co-operatives will thus regain their former position in urban retail trade. Owing bureaucratic methods, the present system is too rigid to adopt itself to the developing needs of the soviet consumers, so that a more democratic form of distribution should be considered desirable. Decentralisation was recognised by the XXth Congress (1956) as a necessity. Co-operatives acting under supervision of their members could surely do the job of urban retailing better than the state. They were not given a chance till now. Neither politicians nor bureaucrats are eager to give the public the power of controlling and criticising.

How to Cite:

Vandewalle, G., (1965) “Doeleinden en ontwikkelingsmogelijkheden van de verbruikscoöperaties in de Sovjetunie”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 10(1), 57–72. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95717