Underground Entrepreneurs in the Soviet Union

 This week’s podcast, “Underground Entrepreneurs in the Soviet Union,” is the fourth in REEES’ Spring series Socialism Past, Present, and Future. In this series we explore the experience of “really existing socialism,” grassroots socialist and communist movements, socialist-inspired economic development and state building, and visions of a socialist future from a global perspective. Guest: James Heinzen is a professor of Modern Russian history and Director of the Hollybush Institute at Rowan University. He’s the author of two books, Inventing a Soviet Countryside: State Power and the Transformation of Rural Russia, 1917-1929 and The Art of the Bribe: Corruption under Stalin, 1943-1953. His new project is a social history of “underground entrepreneurs” and black markets in the Soviet 1950s-1980s. Listen to the interview with James Henizen on the Art of the Bribe. Music: The Members, “Offshore Banking Business,” 100 Hits: Punk and New Wave, 2011.