SHAMING PUNISHMENTS AS PART OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE AUTHORITIES AND RURAL SOCIETY IN THE SOUTH OF WESTERN SIBERIA IN THE 1950–1970s
Authors: Коляскина Е.А. , Руппель И.А. , Явнова Л.А. 
Published: July 2024

В статье на основании широкого круга источников проводится анализ практики применения позорящих наказаний в 1950–1970-е гг. в советской деревне юга Западной Сибири как элемента коммуникации власти и сельского общества. Применение позорящих наказаний рассматривается на трех уровнях сельского общества: первичный трудовой коллектив – предприятие/село – район. В отношении членов коммунистической партии эти уровни дублировались в партийных органах. Авторы видят в практике позорящих наказаний проявление «советского традиционализма», попытку использования традиционных общинных представлений и институтов в ходе выстраивания советских общественных организаций в селах – товарищеских судов, советов старейшин и т.д. Эти организации наряду с концертами самодеятельности и агитбригадами, стенной печатью и районными газетами становятся площадками для коммуникации сельского общества и власти, составным элементом которой являлись позорящие наказания как способ обсуждения девиантного поведения.

The study of traditional elements in the Soviet experience of self-organization and issue resolution within the local rural community is relevant in the light of the ongoing Soviet past reassessment, on the one hand, and in the context of the existing public debate on the interference in the private life of a person on the other. The article analyzes the practice of using shaming punishments in the villages in the south of Western Siberia as part of communication between the authorities and rural society from the 1950s to the 1970s. The customary legal norms of public censure are reconstructed, and their role in the life of Soviet villages is shown. The publication analyzes interviews conducted in the Altai Krai villages, mainly among the East Slavic population, as well as documentary sources and publications in the regional press. A number of conclusions are drawn, including the identification of several social levels of the application of the shaming punishments, which were duplicated in the projection of the party/Komsomol authorities. The authors see a manifestation of Soviet traditionalism in the practice of shameful punishments, an attempt to utilize traditional communal beliefs and institutions in the establishment of Soviet public organizations in selos, such as ‘zhensovety’ (women’s councils), comradeship courts, councils of elders, etc. Along with the rural landscape, amateur performances and ‘agitbrigades’ (propaganda concert groups), ‘placard newspapers’ and district newspapers, they become platforms for communication between rural society and the authorities, an integral part of which were shameful punishments as a way to discuss deviant behavior. The preservation of traditional reasons for applying ‘disgraceful’ punishments, including immoral behavior (drunkenness, adultery) and minor offenses, is noted. They are supplemented by a range of offenses related to the work of villagers (poor performance and quality of work, violation of labor discipline). Verbal or symbolic public censure, i.e. labeling a person with a low reputation status, becomes the main form of shaming punishment.