Integrated and Universal Companies (Based on materials of the Cooperative movement in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s)

Abstract

Abstract. The article explores the phenomenon of the emergence and functioning of integral and universal societies within the socio-cultural and economic landscape of the 1920s. The author analyzes the prerequisites for the establishment of such organizations, which served as a response to the challenges of post-war stabilization and the search for new forms of social self-organization. Particular attention is paid to the typology of these associations, their ideological foundations, and their role in fostering the interdisciplinary dialogue of the era. The purpose of the research is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the activities of integral and universal societies as a specific form of institutionalization of intellectual and cooperative movements in the 1920s. The author seeks to reveal the internal logic of their development, identifying common features and differences between the integral approach (aimed at the synthesis of knowledge or resources) and universalism (focused on the comprehensiveness and globality of tasks). The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that, for the first time, based on previously under-researched archival materials and periodicals of the specified period, a comparative characterization of these organizational structures has been carried out. The study introduces a refined definition of the «integral society» as a model that combines economic functions with an educational and enlightening mission. It substantiates the thesis that the 1920s represented a peak moment for attempts to harmonize private initiatives with the public good through the prism of universalist concepts.

Conclusions. The study suggests that integral and universal societies of the 1920s played a critical role in structuring civil society. They served as platforms for experiments in social engineering and intellectual synthesis. Although many of these organizations ceased to exist due to the rise of totalitarian tendencies or the economic crises of the late decade, their experience laid the foundation for modern models of network communities and cooperative associations. It is proven that the idea of «universal reach» was not merely a utopian aspiration but a practical survival strategy in the face of rapid modernization.