Trade workers and their role in transforming the social contract in the 1980s USSR

The article examines trade sector workers in the 1980s as a distinct party to the social contract within Soviet society. The broader context of the socio-economic relations prevailing in the state during the studied period is widely considered. The analysis is based on secondary data, including economic, sociological, and historiographic research, memoirs of workers from that era, and transcripts of in-depth interviews. We conclude that trade workers constituted a crucial component of the state-societal mechanism, as they provided the population with access to goods and services within the conditions of a deficit-planned economy. They acted as a link between producers and consumers, often serving as informants who relayed information about consumer preferences and public needs. Simultaneously, they formed a social group with direct access to products and goods that were “worth their weight in gold” in an economy of scarcity. This positioned trade workers as a privileged group while also fueling social resentment toward them. The conducted analysis demonstrates that the trade sector was one of the foundations for the formation of social discontent during the Soviet period, with trade workers being its primary agents.