Book Reviews : Soviet Trade Unions: Their Place in Soviet Labour Policy. By ISAAC DEUTSCHER. (London and New York: Royal Institute of International Affairs and Oxford University Press. 1950. Pp. ix, 156. $1.75.)

• Published date: 01 September 1951
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400327
• Date: 01 September 1951
• Author: H.E. Ronimois
• Subject Matter: Articles

510

it

reflects

the

price

the

leaders

had

to

pay

for

the

industrialization

of

Rus-

sia.

Modern

industrial

society

appears

to

be

incapable

of

getting

along

without

political

and

economic

inequalities.

As

the

book’s

subtitle

indicates

the

author

intended

to

offer

more

than

a

history

of

a

form

of

government

or

of

an

ideology,

so

we

have

here,

a

case

study

on

the

influence

of

ideas

and

ideals

on

social

change.

Moore

concludes

that

a

new

social

order

cannot

be

created

at

will

by

applying

a

&dquo;scientific&dquo;

formula

or

a

&dquo;rational&dquo;

doctrine.

Social

institutions

are

de-

termined

by

many

factors,

including

ideology

which

is

itself

subject

to

change

under

the

impact

of

changing

needs.

How

far

an

ideology

may

change-even

to

the

point

of

self-contradiction-without

jeopardizing

its

function

of

social

integration,

seems

to

have

been

answered

by

the

record

nf

T

T aniniem

GERHARD

KREBS.

U.

S.

Dept.

of

Labor,

Bureau

of

Employment

Security,

Cleveland,

Ohio.

Soviet

Trade

Unions:

Their

Place

in

Soviet

Labour

Policy.

By

ISAAC

DEUTSCHER.

(London

and

New

York:

Royal

Institute

of

International

Affairs

and

Oxford

University

Press.

1950.

Pp.

ix,

156.

$1.75.)

Mr.

Deutscher’s

book

on

Soviet

trade

unions

serves

as

an

example

of

The

Great

Delusion

which

is

current

among

European

socialists-that

in

the

Western

countries

central

planning

is

unlikely

to

enslave

workers

as

it

has

done

in

the

Soviet

Union.

This

delusion

is

manifested

by

incom-

patible

conclusions

arrived

at

in

two

sections

of

Soviet

Trade

Unions.

The

first

section

of

the

book

(pp.

1-134)

describes

the

historical

changes

in

the

relationship

between

Russian

trade

unions

and

the

Soviet

state,

and

shows

how

increased

control

over

Soviet

national

economy

was

accomplished

by

increased

control

also

over

labor

and,

hence,

trade

unions.

In

the

author’s

own

words,

the

curtailment

of

functions

of

trade

unions

&dquo;has

reflected

more

than

the

arbitrary

whims

of

the

leaders....

The

functions ,of

Soviet

’trade

unionism’

have

been

organically

connected

with

the

peculiar

type

of

planned

economy ...&dquo;

(p.

viii).

&dquo;Planning

in-

cluded

labour

policy,

and

consequently,

the

activity

of

trade

unions

was

now

strictly

confined

within

the

limits

set

to

it&dquo;

(p.

82).

Mr.

Deutscher

thus

arrives

at

the

conclusion

that

planning

has

driven

Soviet

Russia

on

the

road

to

serfdom.

These

scholastic

statements

are

entirely

fallacious

in

that

they

ignore

the

general

and,

hence,

international

nature

of

the

present

form

of

the

Soviet

industrial

planning-a

completely

controlled

exchange

where

sup-

ply,

demand,

prices,

costs,

profits,

credit,

savings,

and

investments

are

all

governmentally

planned-and

of

its

freedom-restricting

implications.