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Rethinking Class in Russia

Hardcover

Published: 28th May 2012
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Social differentiation, poverty and the emergence of the newly rich occasioned by the collapse of the Soviet Union have seldom been analysed from a class perspective. "Rethinking Class in Russia" addresses this absence by exploring the manner in which class positions are constructed and negotiated in the new Russia. Bringing an ethnographic and cultural studies approach to the topic, this book demonstrates that class is a central axis along which power and inequality are organized in Russia, revealing how symbolic, cultural and emotional dimensions are deeply intertwined with economic and material inequalities. Thematically arranged and presenting the latest empirical research, this interdisciplinary volume brings together work from both Western and Russian scholars on a range of spheres and practices, including popular culture, politics, social policy, consumption, education, work, family and everyday life. By engaging with discussions in new class analysis and by highlighting how the logic of global neoliberal capitalism is appropriated and negotiated vis-a-vis the Soviet hierarchies of value and worth, this book offers a multifaceted and carefully contextualized picture of class relations and identities in contemporary Russia and makes a contribution to the theorisation of class and inequality in a post-Cold War era. As such it will appeal to those with interests in sociology, anthropology, geography, political science, gender studies, Russian and Eastern European studies, and media and cultural studies.

Introduction: rethinking class in Russia, Suvi Salmenniemi; Class analysis in the USSR and contemporary Russia, Harri Melin and Suvi Salmenniemi; Part I Class in Public Discourse: Business for pleasure: elite women in the Russian popular media, Saara Ratilainen; Post-Soviet khoziain: class, self and morality in Russian self-help literature, Suvi Salmenniemi; Doing class in social welfare discourses: 'unfortunate families' in Russia, Elena Iarskaia-Smirnova and Pavel Romanov; Political parties and the construction of social class in Russia, Sirke Makinen.; Part II Classed Practices: Making and managing class: employment of paid domestic workers in Russia, Anna Rotkirch, Olga Tkach and Elena Zdravomylova; 'We are not rich enough to buy cheap things': clothing consumption of the St Petersburg middle class, Olga Gurova; Women's use of legal advice and claims in Russia: the impact of gender and class, Vikki Turbine.; Part III Living Class: Wealth brings health? Class, body and health in Russia, Marja Rytkonen and Ilkka Pietila; Class differences and social mobility among the college-educated young people in Russia, Elena Trubina; Re-inventing themselves? Gender, employment and subjective well-being amongst working-class young Russians, Charles Walker; The excluded class: Russia's forgotten middle-aged men, John Round; Afterword: thinking and rethinking class, Steph Lawler; Index.

ISBN: 9781409421375
ISBN-10: 1409421376
Audience: Tertiary; University or College
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 272
Published: 28th May 2012
Dimensions (cm): 24.1 x 16.5  x 2.4
Weight (kg): 0.679