Brezhnev and Developed Socialism: The Ideology of Zastoi?

Abstract

The official ideological centrepiece of the Brezhnev years was the concept of Developed Socialism. In the period since Brezhnev’s death, it has become the archetypal symbol of the era of stagnation. Under Gorbachev (and after), Developed Socialism was subject to extensive criticism for a number of reasons. In marked contrast with the optimism, dynamism and utopianism of Khrushchev’s ideological pronouncements — proclaiming the advent of the first phase of communism by 1980 in the Third Party Programme — Developed Socialism appeared to be pessimistic, conservative and pragmatic. It was ‘credited’ with covering Soviet intellectual life in a suffocating grey blanket, stifling creativity, breeding dogmatism and undermining the vitality of Soviet Marxism-Leninism. A huge gap was said to have emerged between the reality of Soviet life and the picture of Soviet life painted by Developed Socialism. In this sense, Developed Socialism was central in the massive loss of faith which Soviet citizens underwent in the 1970s and 1980s. Increasingly, Developed Socialism was said to have been not just a symbol of the era of stagnation, but one of the causes of stagnation.