Food and the Politics of Scarcity in Urban Soviet Russia, 1917–1141

Scarcity pervades popular constructions and images of daily life in the history of the Soviet Union. Shortages in Soviet Russia encompassed a wide range of goods and services, including basic personal necessities such as food, housing, and clothing. Their presence is so extensive and deeply rooted that some scholars have posited the existence of a “culture of shortages.” ¹ Of these various shortages, food shortages were perhaps the most politically charged, a powerful presence in many of the crucial junctures of early Soviet history from 1917 to 1941. Indeed, the major events of these decades, such as the 1917 revolutions, the Civil War of 1917 to 1921, and the Stalin revolution of 1928 to 1932, cannot be fully understood without reference to the presence or the threat of food shortages. But the importance of scarcity in general as a defining characteristic of early Soviet life transcends these well-known turning points. Scarcity was also a main force behind the unique network of breadlines, ration coupons, black markets, and informal barter arrangements that became a central part of the fabric of everyday Soviet life.