I.V. Shilnikova Punishment as an element of incentive system for textile workers in Soviet Russia (1918-1929): microanalysis

Abstract: The article describes the main measures that were used for stimulation of the labour of textile workers in the first decade of the Soviet regime. The methodology of the study is based on a versatile approach, developed by researchers at the International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam); it has been repeatedly and successfully applied in Western and Russian studies. In accordance with this approach, the classification of the worker labour intensives includes three categories: 1) the remuneration (salary, bonuses, benefits and various forms of social security, etc.), 2) coercion (monetary, administrative, including criminal liability), 3) motivation (related to employee awareness of the importance and usefulness of the work, patriotism, pride results etc.). In this paper, we review a second category of incentives that relies on coercion and involves the use of various forms of punishment (or the threat of punishment) to maintain the proper level of discipline and productivity. The study is based mainly on documents from the central and regional archives, which allowed us to combine the principles of micro-and macroexamination. The objects of the microanalysis were individual large textile factories. The real work practices that reflect the mechanisms for motivating textile workers were studied on the basis of the comprehensive documentation of the archives of the industrial factories. The study of processes at micro level (case studies) was conducted taking into the account the nature of the processes taking place in the Soviet industry as a whole.

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