Publishing cooperation as a catalyst for the formation of the national market of book products in the conditions of the NEP (theoretical aspect for studying the problems of economic history)

The subject of the study is the role and place of cooperative publishing houses in the formation of the domestic consumer market of book products and scientific assessment of organizational, publishing and trade activities of publishing cooperatives in the context of the new economic policy (NEP). The purpose of the scientific article is to study the role and place of cooperative publishing houses in the formation of the domestic consumer market of book products and, through the prism of studying the problems of economic history, to give a scientific assessment of organizational, publishing and trade activities of the NEP. Methods of research. All components of the study are based on fundamental principles – scientific, historicism, objectivity, system, development, priority of concrete verity, pluralism; and also the methods of knowledge of social and economic processes of social development – analysis, synthesis, problem-chronological, comparative analytical, archaeological, retrospective, statistical, a systematic and integrated approach. Research methodology. In the process of the study, the fundamental principles were based on Economic History and History of Economic Thought, the Ukrainian and foreign scientists’ works and experts in this area. Results of work. In the context of this issue, we explored the role and place of cooperative publishing houses in the formation of the domestic consumer market of book products and, through the prism of studying the problems of economic history, gave a scientific assessment of organizational, publishing and trade activities of the NEP. The field of application of results. The results of this research can be applied to study the issues of Economic History and History of Economic Thought, History of the Publishing Industry. Conclusions. Thus, cooperative publishing houses were business-type societies, organizationally and functionally belonged to cooperative societies, and on the other hand - were public associations with editorial, production, economic and socio-cultural functions. Examining the activities of cooperative publishing houses, it can be stated that they occupied an important place in the distribution and printing of various literature: socio-economic, socio-political, agricultural, artistic, children's books, textbooks, natural, military. Consumers of book products of cooperative publishing houses were the most various social and professional groups of the population: workers, peasants, employees, women, youth, military, children. By distributing literature in a country where almost two-thirds of the population was illiterate, publishing houses contributed to the full operation of educational institutions, raising the intellectual and spiritual level of society, creating conditions for the development of science, art, culture and education. There was a completely organic connection between publishers' cooperatives, cultural, educational, and scientific institutions, and a kind of intellectual and spiritual dependence developed due to the high demand for books, as publishers published literature from all fields of knowledge. The activities of cooperative publishing houses of the NEP period, especially the formation of the organizational structure and the implementation of advertising and propaganda work should be taken into account when developing the legal framework of the national program of book publishing in Ukraine.