Beryozka Stores: Consumption Paradoxes in the Late USSR
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Beryozka Stores: Consumption Paradoxes in the Late USSR
14.99 €
Foreign currency transactions were considered a criminal offense in the USSR, the cult of Western goods among Soviet citizens was a constant object of criticism in the newspapers, and the existence of a privileged supply was officially denied. Nevertheless, the state-owned Berezka stores, where certain groups of Soviet citizens could buy scarce imported goods with currency and its substitutes (certificates and checks), functioned successfully throughout the Soviet Union. Moreover, they became an important part of late-Soviet everyday life. American jeans, Japanese tape recorders, and Italian boots were bought at Berezki not only by diplomats or artists on tour, but also by Soviet workers providing "technical assistance" in Third World countries, dissidents receiving foreign currency transfers from abroad, and ordinary Soviet citizens who dared to buy currency substitutes on the black market for rubles. Berezka stores were perceived in Soviet society as both a benchmark of consumption and an example of social injustice. In Anna Ivanova's book, retail currency trading in the late USSR becomes the object of historical research for the first time. The author examines the reasons for the emergence of Berezka stores, describes the categories of Soviet citizens who had access to "closed" currency stores, and the image of the currency trade in official discourse and among consumers. The book is based on documents from central and republican archives, materials from the Soviet press, memoirs and personal interviews with both employees and users of the currency trading system.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series The culture of everyday life