This book explores how the concept of "competition", which is usually associated with market economies, operated under state socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, where the socialist system, based on command economic planning and state-centred control over society, was supposed to emphasise "co-operation", rather than competitive mechanisms. The book shows how the gradual adoption and adaptation of Western practices led to the emergence of more open competitiveness in socialist society and the huge effect of increasing competition on socialist psychology.

Introduction: Competition in State Socialism 1. 'To Catch Up and Overtake' the West: Soviet Discourse on Socialist Competition 2. Optimal Planning, Optimal Economy, Optimal Life? The Kosygin Reforms, 1965-72 3. More Efficiency via Democracy: Debates over Reforming the GDR 4. The Kirov Kolkhoz: A Socialist Success Story 5. Selling Fashion to the Soviets: Competitive Practices in Polish Clothes Export in the Early 1960s 6. Hotel Intercontinental in Bucharest: Competitive Advantage for the Socialist Tourist Industry in Romania 7. Competing for Popularity: Song Contests and Interactive Television in Communist Hungary 8. The World Youth Festival as an Arena of the 'Cultural Olympics': Meanings of Competition in Soviet Culture in the 1940s and 1950s 9. Mole Holes in the Iron Curtain: The Success Story of the Krtek Animated Films 10. Women and Competition in State Socialist Societies: Soviet Beauty Contests 11. Concluding Remarks: Typology and Consequences of Competition