Social Structure
| Social Structure | |
|---|---|
| Moravska State Archive · 1976 | |
| Classification | Culture |
| Status | canon |
| Last updated | 2026-11-03 |
| Archive source | 03 Culture/Social Structure.md |
| Length | 691 words (3 min read) |
| Internal links | 7 outgoing, 6 incoming |
| Sources | 4 cited |
Contents
[hide]Moravska has two social orders at the same time. The first is kinship. The second is the party rank of 1976.
Kinship decides who helps you. Rank decides what you can buy. A person needs both.
Kinship: two systems [edit]
The coast and the interior use different kin systems. Both are strong. A marriage between the two systems needs a written agreement.
| Feature | Coastal system | Interior system |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | The house (*kashta*) | The compound (*zadruga*) |
| Head | The senior woman | An elder pair, Dedo and Baba |
| Property line | Mother to daughter | The compound holds it in common |
| Where the bridegroom lives | In his mother's house | In the compound of the bride |
| Size | 4 to 9 people | 15 to 40 people |
| Main asset | House, pier share, boat share | Land, herd, timber plot |
See Coastal Matriarchies and Zadruga System.
Rank in 1976 [edit]
The party rank orders the state. It does not replace kinship. It adds a second ladder.
| Rank | Group | Size (1976) | Main privilege |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Party leadership and the Central Executive Council | about 900 | The plan, the budget, the pass |
| 2 | The Kray officers and naval intelligence | about 3,400 | Port access and import inspection |
| 3 | Merchant Marine Caste officers | about 5,200 | Travel outside the bloc, hard currency |
| 4 | Plant managers and engineers | about 12,000 | A flat, a car place, a resort permit |
| 5 | Skilled industrial workers | about 190,000 | A flat in a new block, overtime pay |
| 6 | Cooperative farmers | about 410,000 | A private plot and a market stall |
| 7 | Seasonal resort staff and transport hands | about 60,000 | Seasonal work only |
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Notice:
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The invisible rank
The list hides one group. About 120,000 people work in the informal trade. They have no rank and no card. They have cash. See Prestizh and the Black Market.
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How a person moves up [edit]
Three roads lead up the ladder.
- The party road. Join the party at 18, work in a committee, take a post.
- The skill road. Pass the technical academy, take a plant post, and get noticed by a manager.
- The sea road. Join the fleet as a deck hand, take a certificate, and become an officer.
The third road is the fastest and the most risky. An officer who loses a ship loses the road.
Women and rank [edit]
A woman holds rank in her own name in 1976. She also holds the house in the coast.
The two facts create a double power. A woman can be a plant director and the head of a house with a boat share. The party has 34 percent women in 1976. The leadership has 4 percent.
Marriage across rank [edit]
A marriage across two ranks is legal and common in a port. A marriage across the coast and the interior is harder. The two systems disagree on where the couple lives.
|
Note:
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The port marriage
A Kray officer marries a canner's daughter. He moves into her mother's house. His rank buys a car. Her house keeps the address. The neighbours accept the pair in 2 years.
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The old elite [edit]
The old merchant families lost the plant in 1949. They kept the house and the school habit.
They now work as engineers, doctors, and teachers. The party calls them "the old intelligentsia". The party watches them, and it needs them.
The Marches [edit]
The Turkish-speaking minority of the Southern Marches sits outside both systems. It has its own kin rules and its own faith. Its rank is often 6 or 7. See Religion and Regional Divides.
Rank and speech [edit]
Rank shows in speech. A person uses the short name with an equal. A person uses the full name and the title with a superior.
A worker uses drugaryo ("comrade") in the party office. The same worker uses bai ("mister, older man") in the market. The two words mark two worlds.
See also[edit]
Sources[edit]
- Decree State Sports Council (1972). State Sports Council Decree 214. State Sports Council. SSC-1972-4730. Cited in The old elite, Women and rank. See also Zadruga System.
- Monograph K. Mladinov (1975). Settlement and custom in Medenik. Zaligrad University Press. ZUP-1975-9138. Cited in Marriage across rank, The old elite. See also The Kray.
- Statistical compendium Zaligrad Editorial Board (1972). Comecon statistical yearbook, 1976. Comecon Secretariat. COM-1972-5564. Cited in Kinship: two systems, The Marches. See also Merchant Marine Caste.
- Primary source I. Petrov (1972). Field notes from the the old coast survey. Zaligrad Institute of Ethnography. ZIE-1972-4198. Cited in Kinship: two systems, The old elite. See also Prestizh and the Black Market.
References[edit]
Documents in the archive that cite or cross-reference Social Structure:
- ^ "Child-Rearing and Academies". Culture, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Coastal Matriarchies". Culture, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Merchant Marine Caste". Society and Power, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Svetla Radulova". People, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "The Kray". Society and Power, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Zadruga System". Culture, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.