Soviet dissidence and power: on the evolution of forms and methods of interaction

Introduction. The article discusses the causes of anti-Soviet sentiment in the late 1960s, social preconditions of formation and development of dissident movements, influenced the transformation of social thinking in terms of rigidly ideological attitudes of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the evolution of forms and methods of interaction with the government. Methods. The author relied on a relatively historical method, which allowed to reveal some regularities in the development of Soviet dissidence, problem-chronological, contributing in chronological order to consider the process of formation of the dissident movement in close connection with the process of formation of attitude on the part of official authorities; descriptive narrative method facilitates the identification of the nature and essential content of the dissident movement and the specifics of the relationship with the authorities in a particular historical period. Results. Despite a number of steps taken by opposition movements and groups to draw the attention of the highest organs of the party and the Soviet state to the problems of Soviet society in the socio-economic, political and spiritual spheres, the authorities have not been able to find a way to adequately interact with dissidents, which ultimately led to unnecessary confrontation. Discussion and Conclusion. The inability and unwillingness of the Soviet government to conduct a constructive dialogue with the opposition, prosecutions, expulsion abroad, deprivation of citizenship, forced placement in special mental hospitals of prison type, etc., eventually led to the emigration of a solid part of the intellectual elite, which could serve the cause of the country’s renewal, and the complex of reasons for the socio-economic and political order, which the dissidents spoke about, led to the inevitable collapse of the USSR.