Talk:Subbotnik

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[Similar concept]

A similar concept existed in New France (North American French colonies, now Quebec) under the French Regime (effective from 1627 to 1763; it continued until 1854 in some areas). Peasants and workers had to offer a certain number of days of community work ("corvée") each year, to the local authorities. This usually involved work on the shared roads, docks, bridges and other infrastructures. This could be seen as an early collectivist practice. Hugo Dufort 19:30, 15 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There's some difference. Participation in subbotniks was not obligatory. People had the formal right to refuse to work at subbotniks, though such refuses were not welcome. --achp 00:49, 3 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Factory work or community work?

Although I never visited Russia before 1989, I got the impression from Soviet periodicals in the 1970s and 1980s that the most common "kommunisticheskij subbotnik" involved opening a factory production line on an off-day, and crediting the value of production (and wages donated by the volunteer workers) to a socially-approved cause. Eg., from a Krokodil cartoon in this period:
"Vse na kommunisticheskij subbotnik--
krome brakodelov!"
("Everbody, go to the Communist sabbath--

except makers of shoddy goods!")

Hcunn (talk) 03:16, 17 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It may have been the case as a variation on the subbotnik (especially in the late co-operation and self-management era, since your definition involves redirecting profit), but its core definition was what is known in other countries as a community service day. It wasn't only conducted in workplaces, but also in schools and universities, and military bases (units). Most often it involved renovation (including rather involved projects like repainting or plastering entire rooms), managing garbage, weeds, and protecting tress (by painting them with chalk), as well as various other community service work such as gathering and turning in recyclable metal and paper. AyeBraine (talk) 02:12, 5 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

"Saturday" or "Sabbath"?

During the 1970s and 1980s, I never came across the word "voskresnik." Might it be more accurate to translate "subbotnik" in its alternate, religious meaning as "sabbath" rather than "Saturday"? <irony>That would emphasize the more productive outlet that the Party found for the spiritual expression of the masses, rather than wallowing in idle superstition.</irony> Hcunn (talk) 03:24, 17 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]