ABSTRACT
The post-Stalinist period, with its expanded economic base, has treated social policy on a more equal footing with economic policy. The unfolding of economic and social policy over the years can best be understood within the context of the development of the country’s economic and political system and the dominant ideology. In both economic and social policy the new Bolshevik government moved with caution, realising the difficulties involved in rapid change under the very low socio-economic conditions that were prevailing in the country. The New Economic Policy involved the de-nationalisation of small- scale enterprise, but the retention of medium-sized and large enterprise in government hands. Social policy was modified or was beginning to be modified towards more realistic goals away from the ultra-radical or utopian goals of the war communism period. The emphasis on rapid industrialisation meant a sharp demand for labour which was satisfied by the flow of women and peasants.
