Chapter 4 - Marxism and Clean Canteens

Summary

This chapter examines the cultural–educational aspect of party activism and relates this to the functions of the PPO examined earlier. It will be shown that the broad range of activities that fell within the scope of the party’s mission of cultural enlightenment gave the latter significant material implications. Because of this, the intensity with which communists engaged in cultural activism was to a significant extent independent of the attitudes prevalent amongst the central leadership, whether with respect to the relative weight attached to the Party’s cultural mission or the actual content of the latter. This observation has significant implications that extend beyond the immediate scope of this book onto the broader historiographical debate of Soviet cultural policy in the interwar period.