Small-Town Russia: Postcommunist Livelihoods and Identities: (Basees Routledgecurzon Series on Russian and East European Studies, 12)

This book examines a number of key questions about social change in contemporary Russia - issues such as how people survive when they are not paid for months on end, 'the New Poor', the falling birth rate, why so many Russian men die in middle age, whether regional identities are becoming stronger, and how people's sense of 'Russianness' has developed since the creation of the Russian Federation in 1992. It examines these issues by looking at actual experiences in three small Russian towns. It includes a great deal of original ethnographic research, and, by looking at real places overall, provides a good sense of how different aspects of social change are interlinked, and how they actually affect real people's lives Small-town Russia Focuses On Social Change Within Three Communities In Different Regions. All Three Towns Have Been Hard Hit By Unemployment And Falling Real Wages, Private Sectors Are Small And Inhabitants Have A Sense Of Being Marooned In The Soviet Past, With The Fruits Or 'transition' Reserved For Neighbouring Cities. The Book Examines The Impact Of These Developments, Asking, For Example, What Types Of Household Are Poor; How People Survived When They Were Not Paid For Months On End; Whether Russians Have 'survival Strategies' And, If So, How These Are Gendered.--jacket. Introduction -- Socio-economic And Demographic Trends In Russia And Its Regions -- Characteristics Of Small Towns Across Russia : Sub-regional Variation In Living Standards And Population Trends -- The Fieldwork Towns And Their Regions -- State Sector Employees : The New Poor -- Livelihood Strategies -- The Intelligentsia, The 'middle Class' And Social Stratification -- Civil Society And Politics -- Multiple Identities : Local, Regional, Ethnic, National -- Conclusions. Anne White. Simultaneously Published In The Usa And Canada. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [221]-267) And Index.