Book contents
- The Psychology of Radical Social Change
- The Psychology of Radical Social Change
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword
- 1 Toward a Psychology of Revolution
- Part I Roots of Revolution
- Part II Evolution and Involution in Social Transformations
- 6 Social Engineering and Its Discontents
- 7 Political Plasticity and Revolution
- 8 The Velvet Revolution of Land and Minds
- 9 Wordsworth's Insurgency
- 10 Between the Guillotine and the Velvet Revolution
- Part III Representations of and in Revolution
- Index
- References
6 - Social Engineering and Its Discontents
The Case of the Russian Revolution
from Part II - Evolution and Involution in Social Transformations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 April 2018
Book contents
- The Psychology of Radical Social Change
- The Psychology of Radical Social Change
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword
- 1 Toward a Psychology of Revolution
- Part I Roots of Revolution
- Part II Evolution and Involution in Social Transformations
- 6 Social Engineering and Its Discontents
- 7 Political Plasticity and Revolution
- 8 The Velvet Revolution of Land and Minds
- 9 Wordsworth's Insurgency
- 10 Between the Guillotine and the Velvet Revolution
- Part III Representations of and in Revolution
- Index
- References
Summary
The 1917 revolution in Russia brought to power a communist group, led by Lenin, which was smaller in size than some other active political groups, but more ruthless and determined to monopolize power. This group shared a conviction with behaviorists in the United States: the power of the environment to re-shape human behavior. In this sense, the ‘behaviorist manifesto’ put forward by the radical behaviorist John Watson (1913) in America could have been a ‘Soviet psychology manifesto’. The Russian revolutionaries took great interest in what they saw as ‘scientific psychology’ and attempted to use it as a tool for re-shaping the behavior of Russian people. Alongside psychoanalysis, behaviorism became highly influential in the Soviet Union, as attempts were made to re-shape people to become more productive in collectives, and be less motivated by ‘individual selfishness’. Reorganization of the use of space and also transformations in the education system and symbols used in the built environment were part of this effort to construct new Soviet citizens. The limited success of the Soviets to bring about the changes they desired in mass behavior raises questions about the limits, predictability, and potential of political plasticity, particularly in relation to more recent efforts to ‘nudge’ mass behavior in particular directions.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Psychology of Radical Social ChangeFrom Rage to Revolution, pp. 103 - 121Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018
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