ABSTRACT
M. S. Gorbachev first employed the term "socialist pluralism" in his address to media executives shortly after the June 1987 Central Committee plenum, where major economic reforms were adopted. Pluralism, qualified both as socialist and as "pluralism of opinions" then became a frequently repeated totem of liberal critics of Andreevas broadside. Addressing a select audience of leading intellectuals in early January 1989, Gorbachev restated his carefully delimited doctrine of socialist pluralism, welcoming differences of opinion so long as they contributed constructively to perestroika, but rejecting open competition for power. The chapter argues that the leadership strategy of employing glasnost'—that is, encouragement of more open expression in public communication in order to mobilize support for the reform program—has resulted in stimulating more radical, and ultimately unincorporable political expression generated by Soviet society's deeper unresolved cleavages. The debate opened under glasnost' has in turn enabled a variety of social movements to acquire political voice and to demand greater influence over policy.
