Resumen de Protsess reform époji perestroiki i obshchestvennoe soznanie rossiiskogo obshchestva
“The Process of Reform during the Era of Perestroika and the Social Consciousness of Russian Society, from ‘Letters to the Authority’ Materials,” by Anna Dmitrievna Popova (Ryazan State University named for S. A. Yesenin): This article analyzes the transformation of Soviet public consciousness during the era of perestroika (restructuring). The authors examined letters which were sent by Soviet citizens to then President of the Russian Soviet Republic and future Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin. In these letters, citizens stated their opinions about the transformation of the Soviet political and economic system during this period. The authors’ analysis of these letters reveals that the mentality of the Soviet populace was strongly influenced by its assessment of perestroika. In this public consciousness, citizens placed a large emphasis on the traditional Soviet values of equality, justice, and labor, which defined public opinions about the transformation of Soviet society during perestroika. Soviet citizens demanded that the state deal with the problem of wide-ranging privileges afforded to officials of the Communist Party, while citizens negatively estimated the freedoms in spiritual life accorded to them by the state.
