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Chapter 3 - Socialist Competition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Ahlam Lee
By
Ahlam Lee
Ahlam Lee
Affiliation:
Xavier University
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Summary

The ideology of Marxism–Leninism seemingly contradicts competition, yet competition was prevalent in former communist countries to foster productivity and economic growth. The Stakhanovite movement, originating in the Soviet Union, incentivized laborers to excel as an economic propaganda tool, while also honoring them as socialist heroes but also penalizing dissent as a political propaganda tool. Competition extended to managers of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) vying for government resources. Consumer competition arose from pervasive shortages, driving black market economies. Underground enterprises, which were protected from competition, resisted economic reform from a planned economic system to a more market-oriented system to maintain their privileged status. Post-World War II, some SOEs adopted market-based approaches, competing domestically and globally. This chapter argues that such forms of competition emerge when humans struggle for survival amid perceived inequalities in the existing system, prompting them to seek opportunities and thrive.

Keywords

competitioncommunismsocialismSoviet Unionthe Eastern bloc
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Questioning Conventional Assumptions of Competition Dynamics , pp. 58 - 97
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Socialist Competition
  • Ahlam Lee, Xavier University
  • Book: Questioning Conventional Assumptions of Competition Dynamics
  • Online publication: 07 May 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009348133.003
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  • Socialist Competition
  • Ahlam Lee, Xavier University
  • Book: Questioning Conventional Assumptions of Competition Dynamics
  • Online publication: 07 May 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009348133.003
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  • Socialist Competition
  • Ahlam Lee, Xavier University
  • Book: Questioning Conventional Assumptions of Competition Dynamics
  • Online publication: 07 May 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009348133.003
Available formats
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