Кеңес Одағындағы социалистік бәйгелесу

Form of competition practised in the Soviet Union

Socialist competition or socialist emulation (Lang ru, "sotsialisticheskoye sorevnovanie", or соцсоревнование, "sotssorevnovanie") was a form of competition between state enterprises and between individuals practiced in the Soviet Union and in other Eastern bloc states.

The first variant is a literal translation of the Russian term, commonly used by Western authors. The second form is an official Soviet translation of the term, intended to put distance from the "capitalist competition", which in its turn was translated as капиталистическая конкуренция, "kapitalisticheskaya konkurenciya". Implied was that "capitalist competition" only profited those that won, while "socialist emulation" benefited all involved. In Soviet practice, according to Victor Kravchenko and Mikhail Heller, the competition between workers and industries was, however, not voluntary and much fiercer than the Western one. The race between teams and team members for overcompletion of the five year plans led to increasingly unrealistic targets, which could only be satisfied with cheating, double accounting, hoarding of resources, and shturmovshchina (last minute cramming)—which, in the long term, led to a collapse of the supply chain in the economy. In 1987, Soviet economist Nikolai Shmelov estimated that out of 450 billion roubles worth of inventories of raw materials and parts, around 170 billion was kept as surplus, with the sole purpose of securing the successful completion of plans.

Socialist emulation was nominally voluntary everywhere where people worked or served: in industry, in agriculture, in offices, institutions, schools, hospitals, army, etc. With the natural exception of the armed forces, committees of the trade unions were in charge of managing the socialist emulation. An important component of socialist emulation was "socialist self obligations" (социалистические обязательства). Whilst the production plan was the major benchmark, employees and work collectives were supposed to put forth "socialist self obligations" and even "enhanced socialist self obligations" (повышенные соцобязательства) beyond the plan, both either as a collective or individually. Deadlines for tallying up the results of a socialist emulation were usually set at major socialist and communist holidays or notable dates, like the birthday of Vladimir Lenin or the anniversary of the October Revolution. Winners were awarded both materially and morally. Material awards were money, goods, or perks specific to socialist systems, such as tickets to resorts, authorizations for a trip abroad, right to obtain a dwelling, or a car outside the main queue, etc. Moral awards were honorary diplomas, honorary badges, and/or putting winners' portraits on the "Board of Honor" (Доска Почета); work collectives were awarded with the "Transferable Red Banner of the Socialist Emulation Winner" (Переходящее знамя победителя в социалистическом соревновании). More prestigious was the nomination to state orders and medals for services rendered by individuals and by state enterprises.