Stalinism Reloaded: Everyday Life in Stalin-City, Hungary

Description

The Hungarian city of Sztálinváros, or Stalin-City, was intended to be the paradigmatic urban community of the new communist society in the 1950s. In Stalinism Reloaded , Sándor Horváth explores how Stalin-City and the socialist regime were built and stabilized not only by the state but also by the people who came there with hope for a better future. By focusing on the everyday experiences of citizens, Horváth considers the contradictions in the Stalinist policies and the strategies these bricklayers, bureaucrats, shop girls, and even children put in place in order to cope with and shape the expectations of the state. Stalinism Reloaded reveals how the state influenced marriage patterns, family structure, and gender relations. While the devastating effects of this regime are considered, a convincing case is made that ordinary citizens had significant agency in shaping the political policies that governed them. "Highly recommended." —Choice "Horvath's book is a nuanced and probing account of the social and cultural world of everyday socialism following the death of Stalin that takes nothing for granted." —Amercan Historical Review Sándor Horváth is Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of History at the Hungarian Academy and Primary Coordinator of COURAGE, an international research project that explores cultural opposition in the former socialist countries in Eastern Europe. He also is the founding editor of The Hungarian Historical Review and has published widely in Hungarian on everyday life and socialism. Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. Identities 1. Myths The City from “Scratch The Myth of Collective Life Heroes and Rearing: Transforming the Stalinist Visions Chaos and Gold Rush The Melting Pot and Rootlessness: The Visions of the New Intelligentsia The Growing City and the Planned City: The Visions of the Planners Conclusion Notes 2. Downtown America Segregation and the System of Distributing Housing Downtown: “Sztálinváros, Switzerland” L-Buildings: The Skilled Workers District Technikum: The “Prole” District Radar: “Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here!” The South Side: The Sztálinváros “Shantytown” The Old Town and Commuter Villages Conclusion Notes 3. Urban Villagers Producing the Urban–Rural Dichotomy “Civilizing” the Urban Villagers Reproducing Social Barriers Networks of Migration Neighborhood Conflicts Conclusion Notes Part II. Relationships 4. Family The Transformation of a “Gold Digger Camp” to the City of Families Before the Registrar The “Ideal” Man and the “Ideal” Woman Working Women and Fashion Plates Live-in Lovers and Single Mothers Children and State Care Conclusion Notes 5. Abortion The Ban on Abortion and the Myth of the Ratkó Children The Sztálinváros Abortion Committee Determent and Contraception Women Who Had Abortions Conclusion Notes 6. Divorce “Socialist Morals” Divorce at the City Council The Complaints of Wives and Husbands The Private Sphere before the Public Gaze Conclusion Notes Part III. Hierarchy 7. Bars Késdobáló Bar and Béke Place The Fight against Bars The Golden Star Hotel and Restaurant “Downtown” Bars and Bars on the “Outskirts” Conclusion 8. Hooligans The Invention of the Teddy Boy Comic Book Characters as Real Characters Sztálinváros Teddy Boys in the House of Culture Tolerating Consumption Conclusion Notes 9. Slums The Sztálinváros Slum Mrs. P. and the Authorities The Uses of Poverty Conclusion Notes 10. Prostitution Female Workers and Prostitution The Vice Squad and “Cleansing” Conclusion Notes Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index