SOCIAL SITUATION OF UKRAINIAN STUDENTS IN SOVIET UKRAINE IN THE 1920S

Abstract

Introduction. Social transformations in Soviet Ukraine during the 1920s were linked to Bolshevik occupation and the establishment of a regime that radically altered the state’s role in the economy, forms of ownership, and cultural discourse, profoundly impacting the daily lives of the population. These processes were particularly evident in the educational sphere, especially higher education, where the proletarianization of universities, purges based on social origin, and student vetting restricted access to education and shaped new mechanisms of social stratification. As a social stratum, the student body reflected key conflicts of identification and adaptation to Soviet norms, making the analysis of its social position a tool for understanding broader transformations in Ukrainian society during Sovietization. In the context of social work, this reveals mechanisms of ideological manipulation of consciousness used to suppress resistance and integrate individuals into the totalitarian system. Such practices remain relevant for contemporary social rehabilitation, as they explain nostalgia for the communist past and resistance to innovations during periods of societal change, characteristic of certain population groups in Ukraine. The historiography of the topic is fragmentary, dominated by Soviet narratives, which limits the study of everyday practices of resistance and adaptation. New research fills these gaps, contributing to a deeper understanding of the formation of the intelligentsia under repressive conditions and the development of effective social work strategies for groups traumatized by totalitarian experiences. Communist doctrine proclaimed the creation of a classless society based on principles of universal equality and a life free from property and social conflicts. Through state pressure and total mass propaganda, the party leadership sought to convince Ukrainians that such a society was not only a goal of the distant future but had already been realized within the Soviet Union. In accomplishing this task, a significant role was assigned to the intelligentsia, particularly the humanities one; thus, the training of specialists in higher education institutions aimed to form a «new Soviet intelligentsia» loyal to the authorities and ready to promote communist ideology in society. Purpose and objectives of the article. The purpose of the study is to examine the internal social policy of the communist regime during the formation of Stalinism in Ukraine through the lens of students’ everyday living and learning conditions in higher education institutions as indicators of societal transformations. Results. The results of the study include a reconstruction of the social position of Ukrainian students in Soviet Ukraine during the 1920s. Based on an analysis of the legal regulation of social policy, its role within the system of Bolshevik repressive practices has been identified, along with the key principles of state intervention in the life of this social group. The findings reveal mechanisms of social stratification and ideological adaptation that are relevant for contemporary social work with groups experiencing trauma from the totalitarian past, facilitating the development of rehabilitation and integration strategies.