Forced labor in the USSR: Historiographic aspect

Abstract

The article analyzes the modern (from the late 1980s To the 2000s) historiography of the actual problem of forced labor. The methodology of investigation the concepts of modernization, mobili-zation and repressive economy, system approach, methods of historiographic analysis were used. More than 180 articles and monographs related to the problem of forced labor in the USSR have been analyzed. The author comes to a conclusion about the markedly changed today compared to the 1990s, the situation with access to archival sources. The camp theme pushed out of the public space. At the same time actively developing the methodology of studying the problem of forced labor. One of the most promising theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of the problem of forced labor is the concept of "repressive/regime of the economy". Using a systematic approach identified a hierarchy of systems within which the study of the problem of forced labor: Russian civilization Totalitarian state Traditional society - repressive policies; - A mobiliza-tion of the economy; - repressive/regime economy The system of forced labor. The operation of the complex interdependencies within the hierarchy of the above systems explains the high level of the discussion of the historiography problem of forced labor.