Communication

The nonformal situation of the Soviet 80’s  originated from the postwar period, with its uneasy relationship between the proletarians, bohemia and prosperous urban sectors. Without going into details of this extensive history, it is worth noting that in the USSR there was a special regime for the control of leisure and travel between cities and the history of relations has been largely connected with the history of the country's rapid urbanization.

Emerging social stratification of the population already in the Khrushchev time had increased during times of stagnation, when in addition to the dissidents and the bohemians, the first informal system of relationships associated with music and fashion had appeared. On the one hand, this was a hippie system, on the other a system of irons (black-marketers who were engaged in smuggling supplies of music, clothing to the population and engaged in illegal currency exchange). In addition, there was artistic and ordinary Soviet bohemia which claimed to be in an informal relationship parallel to the usual Soviet, and the usual well-off population, which the hippie system disparagingly called urels, and irons and bohemians "scoops." The lower ranks of society were represented by the proletaria of varying degrees of prosperity and the criminal system which existed in parallel from society as well as established new systems of "Soviet hedonists". Worth noting that by the end of the 80’s levels of prosperity in the Soviet cities rose in proportion to the distrust of communist slogans which promised communism in the upper level of the population already in the 90’s, and lack of confidence of the proletarian strata which observed the inequality in the way of life and the first conflicts of the trade unions and the government which began in the late '70s.

At the same time, when Soviet troops entered Afghanistan and foreign policy situation had deteriorated, in the country on the contrary happened a warming mode, the first disco dance floors and self-organization of students and youth were allowed. Monitoring of this activity was supposed to carry out the youth wing of the Communist Party and Komsomol organizations. But from the beginning, many groups went out of control, causing some persecution on the part of the system. In particular, it was a multitude of fan movements and sections of martial arts and bodybuilding which existed in a semi-legal status. In the early 80's after the Olympics-80 began depression period associated with a sharp rise of prices, increasing of the deficit and start of a tightening mode that hit the dissidents and external political pressure. Apogee of the regime coincided with the emergence of new subcultures associated with rock music fans and fashion, which were automatically caught between two fires and ideological persecution for "non-Soviet way of life" and attempt of a new formation of communities outside of society, and aggression on the part of marginalized proletarians, which the subculture called gopniks (from criminal gop-stop designating a street robbery). In such circumstances, formed a new youth subculture which maneuvered between authorized disco, jazz and pop music of the Soviet period, rather outdated. As part of this subculture, replacing the systems of the 70’s and becoming a city-wide social elevator were indicated their grades within both social and fashion.

Initially, there was a layer of urban children of nomenclature and bohemia, the golden youth who were called “majors”, for the idle lifestyle, and the demonstrative snobbism towards the rest of the population. Part of this layer placed themselves in the withering way of hippies, and part of the new music lover formations, called poppers. True fans of the new wave were the kids of scientific intelligentsia, who instilled a new aesthetic at discos and in the informal relations of students. Less snobbish circles of wealthy citizens got in a new dance communication called breakers, while ordinary visitors of the dance floor designated as the wave, implying that a new trend in the form of Italian disco with little patches of new wave.

The less promising youth who studied in professional-technical schools joined the ranks of rock communication becoming a new type of metallists and  dudes, from the ranks of which soon openly stood out street communications rockers, rockabilly and the early punks. Frankly proletarian population who did not want to participate in disco leisure joined the ranks of hard rock fans and fanatics. And through such stylistic definitions at some point found on the same side of the barricades began a formation of a new communication, in the shortest possible time it overgrew with squats, rock scenes and semi-legal market merchandise, audio and information. It was competitive and anti-depressant, for the simple music lover community to become a hotbed of counter culture which created the first precedent of a new Soviet class, informally-creative. Who throughout the Perestroika tried to ride as well as to control through the Komsomol organizations, as well as the first Soviet entrepreneurs "cooperators". Of course this is only a conditional and rather primitive scheme of separation of the Soviet society in the subcultural framework, but even this is enough to understand how multilayered was the Soviet society who declared social equality, and how conflicting attitudes in the society of communist slogans have become, in which in the mid-80’s no longer believe at least half of the population of the USSR. And despite the relative scarcity of the new communication, it is this informal activity which emerged from under the control of the Young Communist League was subjected to persecution because of their bright contrast, creativity and outright hooliganism disturbing representatives of the authorities and older inhabitants. But ironically, this communication experienced the final collapse of the Soviet society and the collapse of the USSR, which called the disappointed people by the example of the bohemian 60's and 70's the "scoops". Assuming its degraded social and personal relationships, and the lack of a coherent program for the future. Which were exacerbated the new commodity-money relations and national regional conflicts of the 80’s.