Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2016 number

The article focuses on the concept of the Bolsheviks’ Party between the February and October Revolutions in 1917 as a means of social mobility and reviews its social mobility functioning. This involves evaluation of trends in membership and organisational structure of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolshevik) (RSDLP(b)); study of the formation of a top-down governance structure, introduction and use of “admission” filters that impacted RSDLP(b) membership, and the party’s role in the social mobility system in Russia in autumn of 1917. The author concludes that by the time of the February Revolution, the RSDLP(b) was a political outsider. Its impact on social mobility and stratification of the Russian society was insignificant. Nevertheless, since the moment when it emerged from the underground and until the end of October 1917, RSDLP(b) numbers surged from 15,200 to 350,000 members, meaning a 23 times increase in its significance as a means of social mobility. On the one hand, this proves an increase in its significance for social development in Russia, while on the other hand, this emphasizes its more than moderate role, taking into account the country’s population at that time. However, it is incorrect to evaluate RSDLP(b) as a means of social mobility only based on these statistics. An unbiased analysis of this phenomenon requires taking into consideration the fact that traditional means of social mobility after February 1917 (such as government bodies or the army) were on the fast track to self-destruction and their impact on mobility and stratification was diminishing at the same rate. However, Russia experienced robust development of new means of social mobility, including Soviets, trade unions, soldiers’ committees, etc. In this environment, RSDLP(b)’s role grew rapidly over the eight months of the revolution, so that it became a kind of a spring-board that helped the Bolsheviks to take high posts within the new society framework exceptionally fast.