From Blue Jeans to Checkered Bags

This thesis studies consumer culture in the Soviet Bloc during the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras and takes a particularly close look at the role which women played in creating an underground consumer market. Section I establishes the basis for identifying the Soviet Bloc as a consumer culture, Section II studies the way that this consumer culture was driven through social connection rather than capital, and Section III looks specifically at the role that women played in creating and maintaining these essential social connections. To see the complete thesis, please visit https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/02870x218.