Gleaning for Communism: The Soviet Socialist Household in Theory and Practice.

Xenia A. Cherkaev's book, "Gleaning for Communism: The Soviet Socialist Household in Theory and Practice," explores the remnants of the Soviet project and how they continue to shape interactions in the post-Soviet era. Cherkaev argues that the goal of Soviet society was to create a nonexploitative social order without the need for the state and the law. The book traces the development of this moral economy and its impact on individuals, such as an electric company worker who helps a woman with her meter bypass. The majority of the book focuses on the Soviet era, examining the creation of socialist ownership and the shift towards communist self-management. While the book could have provided more coverage of pre-Stalinist property campaigns and the Brezhnev era, it offers new interpretations and insights into the attempts to build a communist society and their legacies. [Extracted from the article]