Blat (Russia)
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In
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, ''blat'' (russian: блат) is a form of corruption comprising a system of informal agreements, exchanges of services, connections,
Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...
contacts, or black market deals to achieve results or get ahead. In the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, ''blat'' was widespread because of the permanent shortage of
consumer goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, b ...
and services. This was due to the price of consumer goods being dictated by the state rather than set by the free market. Networks of ''blat'' made it easier for the general public to gain access to much-coveted goods and services. ''Blat'' also took place at the enterprise-level in the form of '' tolkachs'', employees whose explicit role was to exploit their networks to secure positive outcomes for their employers. The system of ''blat'' can be seen as an example of a
social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
with some similarities to networking (especially "good ol' boy" networks) in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, old boy networks in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and the former
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
, and ''
guanxi ''Guanxi'' () is a term used in Chinese culture to describe an individual's social network of mutually beneficial personal and business relationships. The character ''guan'', 关, means “closed” while the character ''xi'' 系 means “system ...
'' in China.


In practice

While certain official privileges would be provided to citizens depending on status (as a party official, member of the intelligentsia, factory worker, or toiling peasant (russian: трудящийся крестьянин)), access was by no means guaranteed even for the upper echelon, as "commodities like
dacha A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...
s and housing in a ministerial apartment block were in extremely short supply, and mere membership in the eligible group was not enough to secure the prize. To get privileges, neneeded contacts with somebody higher up; in short, neneeded a patron." An example of such patronage was depicted in a fantasy sketch by the writer Mikhail Bulgakov: :Motorcycle.... brrm!!! In the Kremlin already! Misha goes into the hall, and there sit
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
, Molotov,
Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (, uk, Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, ''Klyment Okhrimovyč Vorošylov''), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (russian: link=no, Клим Вороши́лов, ''Klim Vorošilov''; 4 Februa ...
, Kaganovich,
Mikoyan Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (russian: Российская самолётостроительная корпорация „МиГ“, Rossiyskaya samolyotostroitel'naya korporatsiya "MiG"), commonly known as Mikoyan and MiG, was a Russi ...
and Iagoda. :Misha stands in the door, making a low bow. :STALIN: What's the matter? Why are you barefoot? :BULGAKOV (with a sad shrug): Well... I don't have any boots... :STALIN: What is this? My writer going without boots? What an outrage! Iagoda, take off your boots, give them to him. Another notable operation of ''blat'' system was the institution of ''
tolkach The tolkachi ( rus, толкачи, p=təlkɐˈt͡ɕi, ''pushers'') emerged in the Soviet Union as employees of enterprises whose role was to use informal connections to enable production managers to meet or manipulate targeted outputs imposed by ...
s''. In the Soviet Union, the ''
Gosplan The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan), was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of ...
'' was not able to calculate efficient or even feasible plans, so enterprises often had to rely on people with connections, who could then use ''blat'' to help fulfill quotas. Eventually most enterprises came to have a dedicated supply specialist – a ''tolkach'' (literally "pusher") – to perform this task.


Usage

''Blat'' was primarily used to describe networks in which people made favors in exchange for other favors. Its
adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...
ial usage is ''po blatu'' (), meaning "by or via ''blat''". According to
Max Vasmer Max Julius Friedrich Vasmer (; russian: Максимилиан Романович Фа́смер, translit=Maksimilian Romanovič Fásmer; 28 February 1886 – 30 November 1962) was a Russo-German linguist. He studied problems of etymology in I ...
, the origin of the word ''blat'' is the
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
''blatt'', meaning a "blank note" or a "list". However, according to both Vasmer and N. M. Shansky, ''blat'' may also have entered into Russian as the Polish
loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...
''blat'', a noun signifying "someone who provides an umbrella" or a "cover". The word became part of Imperial Russian criminal slang in the early 20th century, where it signified relatively minor criminal activity such as petty theft. A similar term, ''protektsiya'', literally means "protection", but with more emphasis on patronage. Another semantically related term, ''krysha'', is derived from the criminal environment and literally means "a roof". The noun ''blatnoy'' (блатной) has an explicitly criminal meaning in Russian. It usually refers to a member of a thief gang – ''blatnoy'' itself means "professional criminal". The term originally meant "one possessing the correct paperwork", which, in the corrupt officialdom of Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union, indicated that the ''blatnoy'' was well connected. It later came to indicate career criminals because they had a ''blatnoy,'' or special status, in the Russian criminal underworld. The word is used to indicate association with the criminal underworld (e.g. "blatnoy language"/
Fenya Fenya ( rus, феня, p=ˈfʲenʲə) or fen'ka ( rus, фенька, p=ˈfʲenʲkə) is a Russian cant language used among criminals. In modern Russian language it is also referred to as blatnoy language (), where "blatnoy" is a slang expression ...
, "blatnoy behavior", "blatnoy outlook").


See also

* Compadrazgo – a similar phenomenon in Latin America *
Guanxi ''Guanxi'' () is a term used in Chinese culture to describe an individual's social network of mutually beneficial personal and business relationships. The character ''guan'', 关, means “closed” while the character ''xi'' 系 means “system ...
– a similar phenomenon in China *
Sociolismo ''Sociolismo'' ("partner-ism"), also known as ''amiguismo'' ("friend-ism"), is the informal term used in Cuba to describe the reciprocal exchange of favors by individuals, usually relating to circumventing bureaucratic restrictions or obtaining har ...
– a similar phenomenon in Communist-run Cuba *
System D System D is a manner of responding to challenges that require one to have the ability to think quickly, to adapt, and to improvise when getting a job done. The term gained wider popularity in the United States after appearing in the 2006 publica ...
– a more or less similar concept of informality from European French * Reciprocity – generalized concept used by anthropologists * Social capital *
Cronyism Cronyism is the spoils system practice of Impartiality, partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. For example, cronyism occurs ...
* Nepotism * Old boy network * '' The Blonde Around the Corner'' – a Soviet 1984 film, which illustrates the concept * '' You to Me, Me to You'' – a Soviet 1976 film, which illustrates the concept *
Blatnaya pesnya ''Blatnaya pesnya'' ( rus, блатная песня, p=blɐtˈnajə ˈpʲesʲnʲə, "criminals' song") or ''blatnyak'' ( rus, links=no, блатняк, p=blɐtʲˈnʲak) is a genre of Music of Russia, Russian song characterized by depictions of bl ...
– "criminals' song", Russian musical genre influenced by the criminal underworld * Sistema (Russian politics)


References


Further reading

* Shelia Fitzpatrick. ''Everyday Stalinism: ordinary life in extraordinary times; Soviet Russia in the 1930s''.
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
2000. ;
Prison casts of Russia
* Velez‐Calle, A., Robledo‐Ardila, C., & Rodriguez‐Rios, J. D. (2015). On the influence of interpersonal relations on business practices in Latin America: A comparison with the Chinese guanxi and the Arab Wasta. Thunderbird International Business Review, 57(4), 281–293. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blat (Term) Society of Russia Society of the Soviet Union Corruption in Russia Second economy of the Soviet Union Russian slang Organized crime terminology