Бумажные иерархии: политика распределения ресурсов в советской плановой экономике в 1950-е — 1960-е гг.

Электронный научно-образовательный журнал "История". 2025. Т. 16. № 6. Статья 31.

Popov A.

Paper had an important symbolic and material significance in late Soviet society. It was  the main carrier of information, the most important material for new high-tech industries and the basis for many advanced consumer goods. Under conditions of directive economic management, the production and distribution of paper was determined by a multitude of factors, forming a specific hierarchy in which perceptions of the importance  of different types of information, changes in the political influence of agencies, the level of available technology and images of an imagined future were intertwined. This article focuses on the hitherto understudied topic of Soviet state policy on paper distribution, using the example of Nikita Khrushchev's attempts to modernise the industry. Based on the analysis of memoirs, official documents and previously unpublished materials of the former secret part of the USSR Gosplan from the collection of the Russian State Archive of Econimics, it shows how the Soviet authorities formulated and solved the problem of shortages of certain types of paper, adapting to the technological challenges and
 limitations of the centralised system. The paper production targets adopted by the Soviet leadership in the late 1950s were never met until 1964, yet paper production grew steadily at a consistently high rate. Although the Soviet industry was capable of meeting publishers' demands for newsprint, perceptions and distribution hierarchies focused primarily on other higher-quality and more complex paper products needed for both high-quality printing and modern consumer products.

Keywords: целлюлозно-бумажная промышленность, modernity, модерность, resource redistribution, pulp and paper industry, перераспределение ресурсов, economic history of the Soviet Union, экономика СССР