Blat (Russia)
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In
Russian culture Russian culture ( rus, Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii, kʊlʲˈturə rɐˈsʲiɪ) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and both Eastern cultu ...
, ''blat'' () is a form of
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
comprising a system of informal agreements, exchanges of services, connections,
Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...
contacts, or
black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...
deals to achieve results or get ahead. In the context of
corruption in the Soviet Union Corruption in the Soviet Union and Soviet Russia was observed since the early days of the Soviet Russia and until the last days of the Soviet Union. Corruption happened at all levels of positions of power, including political corruption. History ...
, ''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 an intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good. W ...
and services. This was due to the administrative-command economy and coexistent
maladministration Maladministration is the actions of a government body which can be seen as causing an injustice. The law in the United Kingdom says Ombudsmen must investigate maladministration. The definition of maladministration is wide and can include: *Del ...
. 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 consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...
with some similarities to networking (especially "good ol' boy" networks) in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
old boy network An old boy network (also known as old boys' network, old boys' club) is an informal system in which wealthy men with similar social or educational backgrounds help each other in business or personal matters. The term originally referred to soci ...
s 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and the former
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
, 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" and "caring" while the character ''xi'' 系 mean ...
'' in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.


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 ()), access was by no means guaranteed even for the upper echelon, as "commodities like
dacha A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of former Soviet Union, post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ...
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." Another notable operation of ''blat'' system was the institution of ''tolkachs''. In the Soviet Union, the ''
Gosplan The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( ), was the agency responsible for economic planning, central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of the Soviet Unio ...
'' 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, an adjective, another adverb, a determiner, a clause, a preposition, or a sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, or level of certainty by ...
ial usage is ''po blatu'' (), meaning "by or via ''blat''". According to
Max Vasmer Max Julius Friedrich Vasmer (; ; 28 February 1886 – 30 November 1962) was a Russian and German linguist. He studied problems of etymology in Indo-European, Finno-Ugric and Turkic languages and worked on the history of Slavic, Baltic, ...
, the origin of the word ''blat'' is the
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
''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 a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term 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 A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...
'', 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 originated among the travelling peddlers and currently used in the Russian criminal underworld and among former detainees of Russian p ...
, "blatnoy behavior", "blatnoy outlook").


See also

*
Compadrazgo The term compadre (, , literally "co-father" or "co-parent"), known in Slavic countries as kum ( Russian and Ukrainian: кум, ; masculine derived from Balkan Vulgar Latin ''cómmater'' - "godmother") denotes the relationship between the paren ...
– 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" and "caring" while the character ''xi'' 系 mean ...
– 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 is a direct translation of French . The letter ''D'' refers to any one of the Fr ...
– a more or less similar concept of informality from European French * Reciprocity – generalized concept used by anthropologists *
Social capital Social capital is a concept used in sociology and economics to define networks of relationships which are productive towards advancing the goals of individuals and groups. It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interper ...
*
Cronyism Cronyism is a specific form of in-group favoritism, the spoils system practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. ...
*
Nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...
*
Old boy network An old boy network (also known as old boys' network, old boys' club) is an informal system in which wealthy men with similar social or educational backgrounds help each other in business or personal matters. The term originally referred to soci ...
* '' 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 Russian song characterized by depictions of criminal subcultu ...
– "criminals' song", Russian musical genre influenced by the criminal underworld * Sistema (Russian politics)


References


Further reading

*Fitzpatrick, Sheila. ''Everyday Stalinism: ordinary life in extraordinary times; Soviet Russia in the 1930s''.
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
2000. ;
Prison casts of Russia
prison.org * {{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