AMATEUR RADİO REALM AS AN EDUCATION SYSTEM, GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT AND A VEHİCLE FOR SPREADİNG PROPAGANDA OF TELEVİSİON AND RADİO BROADCASTİNG IN THE USSR
Abstract
The article deals with the Soviet Union amateur radio network involved in the country’s momentous transformations in the 20th century. Tsarist government had been attempting to “westernize” the country top-down; alongside with the industrialization public bodies (societies, corporations) akin to their western prototypes were being formed, still, those endeavors proved to be inconsistent and faced conservatives’ resistance. WWI (1914), Russian Revolutions (February and October 1917) and then Civil War (1918-1922) had broken Russian Empire’s current social framework taking it back to the very basics (such as “rural community” (J.Baberowski)). Then the Soviet government quickly started forming artificial social structures – among them being “Amateur Radio Fellowship” comprised of enthusiastic radio amateurs. The latter took part in educational, scientific and also military projects, put into life mass radio and television (used to carry out among other things a propagandistic function). During periods of lack of state financial support for such organizations, personal contributions were used. On the other hand, radio amateurs time and again faced persecution and repressions – the only “liberal” times being so called New Economic Policy (1921-31) and N.S. Khrushchev’s rule (1953-64) periods.
The most difficult period appeared to be 1933-1941 characterized by strengthening of the repressions, mutual estrangement between people and fears leading to formation of the “atomized society” (A.Arendt). Also, state ideological control over amateur radio movement as well as over public broadcasting intensified those times.
Radio amateurs’ movement in the USSR had had 3 important constituents: 1) non-govermental organization per se under various jurisdictions, which finally went under tough monitoring of the state; 2) amateurish activities for radio and television popularization (listening/watching, amateur radio communications, etc.) that were for the most part a display of people’s initiatives; 3) education system oriented towards the needs of the economy and defence (for example, one could mention a voluntary army, aviation and navy support NGO under the aegis of the state called DOSAAF) with prolific special book publishing sector. Amateur Radio movement in the USSR was formed on the basis of vertical integration approach. However, Soviet demise had resulted in crisis and dismantling of the entire system.
Further ways of fostering technical ingenuity and education of the youth had been studied in this work.
Keywords: NGO, radio amateurs, technical education system, television, radio
Accepted: 14.06.2013
Reviewed: 26.06.2013
Published: 31.07.2013
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Copyright (c) 2013 Stepura Igor Volodymyrovych Степура Ігор Володимирович
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