Understanding Soviet Society by Michael P. Sacks; Jerry G. PankhurstReview by: Terry CoxThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Apr., 1990), pp. 372-373Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4210332 .

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372 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

pursued as vigorously throughout the collection as at least this reviewer would like.

Of course, the implications of the development (or lack of it) of social classes are by no means unimportant. The reader will find a pleasing blend of Western writings and Soviet and East European sources, used especially effectively in two of the central chapters, 'Changing f imes and the Soviet Worker' and 'Social Policy in the Gorbachev Era'. Singling out this recent work is due in no small part to the improved quality of information available under Gorbachev, but Connor is equally judicious in his use of earlier, less productive data.

It is to be expected that certain of the selections will stand the test of time better than others. 'Social Change and Stability in Eastern Europe' (originally published in I977) holds up rather well, especially considering the dramatic events in that area in the late I980s.

'Workers, Politics, and Class Consciousness' (i979) is less satisfactory, partly because discussing regime support raises the question of whether we ought to focus on a potential working 'class' or the emergence of a middle class. Connor, basing his position on Harvard emigre interview data indicating support for a welfare-state agenda, puts the burden of proof on those who want to say the contemporary worker does not support the regime. Adopting a broader framework to consider the expectations of the better-educated bene- ficiaries in a strong (post-war) welfare state might have led to a picture of less bovine contentment.

All told, however, this collection is provocative and well worth reading. Connor's perspective as a political scientist and sociologist raises social concerns too often neglected in the study of politics. St Antony's College MARTHA MERRITT

Oxford

Sacks, Michael P. and Pankhurst, Jerry G. (eds). Understanding Soviet Society. Unwin Hyman, London, I988. xix + 268 pp. Figures. Tables. Notes. Bibliographies. Index. ?25.00; ?9.95 (paperback).

TEACHING undergraduate courses on Soviet society has been aided in recent years by a number of good textbooks and collections of readings, and the latest volume from Sacks and Pankhurst is no exception. As with their earlier collection, Contemporary Soviet Society, their new volume contains interesting and well-researched articles by experts on a range of aspects of Soviet society.

The articles in Part One provide a general context to the rest of the collection, each dealing with a different aspect of social differentiation in Soviet society. These include discussions of the complex pattern of ethnic group membership, the consequences for the industrial working class of the tendency for them to become a self-reproducing 'hereditary' class, an account of Soviet rural society, its institutions and occupational structure, and a very useful overview of the position of Soviet women in their roles both at work and in the family. Building on this foundation, the articles in Part Two deal with key questions of the political sociology of the Soviet Union, concentrating on the central role of the Communist Party in its attempts to manage and guide

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REVIEWS 373

developments in Soviet society. Part Three then focuses on aspects of social problems and everyday life with articles on religion and crime, along with two articles which, perhaps, fit less well into the overall plan of the book, on the implications of full employment policies for Soviet society, and the relation between the military and society.

The collection is also interesting for the attempt by its editors to develop a more integrated comparative and theoretical approach. Rejecting approaches to the study of the Soviet Union which stress its uniqueness, they seek to locate Soviet society in a continuum on which all societies can be placed according to their degree of urbanization, literacy, industrialization and standard of living. It is then assumed that particular forms of social structure and social life follow as consequences of a society's position according to these variables. While the attempt to integrate sociological theory with Soviet studies is to be welcomed, it has not, however, proved very successful in this case. First, the editors employ a theory which has attracted much criticism in sociological debates, especially for its inability to recognize the significance of either peoples' values and ideologies, or conflicts of interest between social groups as sources of the trends which bring about particular social structures. Secondly, it is not clear that all the articles consistently employ such an approach.

Nevertheless, the assembled articles provide succinct and informative discussions of their chosen aspects of Soviet society. They are of value both as teaching texts and as contributions to research. Department ofApplied Social Sciences TERRY COX Paisley College of Technology

Karsh, Efraim. The Soviet Union and Syria: The Asad Years. Chatham House Papers. Routledge, London and New York, in association with The Royal Institute of International Affairs, I 988. vii + I 2 7 pp. Notes. Appendixes. ?6.95.

THE second half of the I98os is characterized by a general relaxation of superpower tensions, as well as of a genuine attempt to solve regional conflicts. One of the more complicated, difficult and volatile regions is the Middle East, where three continents meet, different religions, cultures, ideologies and political systems compete, and the superpowers play out their disagreements.

Efraim Karsh's timely study sets out to shed light on and explain the relations between one regional party to the conflict, Syria, and a military superpower, Syria's closest ally, the Soviet Union. The book spans their relations in the Asad years, from 1970 to mid-i988. These have progressed 'along three major, interconnected axes': the Arab-Israeli conflict, the inter- Arab arena (Syrian-Iraqi and Syrian-PLO feuds), and the Lebanese civil war. The author argues that the Soviet-Syrian connection is not a 'patron-client' relationlship, not one in which the USSR is a 'passive, reactive actor "playing to the tune of its weaker ally"', but rather 'a mutually beneficial strategic interdependence between two allies: a relationship favouring each partner in accordance with the vicissitudes in regional and global affairs' (p. 96).

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