Stakhanovism and the Politics of Productivity in the USSR, 1935-1941

The Stakhanovite movement commemorated the mining of 108 tons of coal by Alexi Stakhanov in 1935 and it was an important symbol by which the state urged workers to achieve greater productivity. As Siegelbaum shows, Stakhanovism can be used to explore the social relations within Soviet industry at a critical stage in its development.