Small-town Russia: Postcommunist Livelihoods And Identities: (basees Routledgecurzon Series On Russian And East European Studies, 12)

Small-Town Russia After providing a detailed overview of economic and social trends in Russia since 1991, and the enormous diversity of experience both across and within Russia’s 89 regions, 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 of ‘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. It discusses why many Russian men die in middle age, exploring the links between economic depression, stress, self-image and social networks. It also investigates whether those networks, and community spirit in general, are weakening; whether there is a new ‘middle class’ emerging in the small towns; whether regional identities are becoming stronger; and how far ethnic Russians have developed a sense of ‘Russianness’ since the creation of the Russian Federation in 1992. The answers to such questions are usually sought from national data or from research among Russian city dwellers. This book is original in that it offers an entirely different perspective, based on 141 interviews in small towns. On a theoretical level, the book’s originality lies in its juxtaposition of the concepts of identities and livelihood strategies. It is intended as a contribution to the small but growing body of literature which emphasizes that even the apparent ‘victims of transition’ maintain identities as coping individuals. Anne White is Senior Lecturer in Russian and East European Studies, University of Bath. BASEES/RoutledgeCurzon series on Russian and East European studies 12 Series editor: Richard Sakwa Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent Editorial Committee George Blazyca Centre for Contemporary European Studies, University of Paisley Terry Cox Department of Government, University of Strathclyde Rosalind Marsh Department of European Studies and Modern Languages, University of Bath David Moon Department of History, University of Strathclyde Hilary Pilkington Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham Stephen White Department of Politics, University of Glasgow This series is published on behalf of BASEES (the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies). The series comprises original, high-quality, research-level work by both new and established scholars on all aspects of Russian, Soviet, post-Soviet and East European Studies in humanities and social science subjects. 1 Ukraine’s Foreign and Security Policy, 1991–2000 Roman Wolczuk 2 Political Parties in the Russian Regions Derek S. Hutcheson 3 Local Communities and Post-communist Transformation Edited by Simon Smith 4 Repression and Resistance in Communist Europe J.C. Sharman 5 Political Elites and the New Russia Anton Steen 6 Dostoevsky and the Idea of Russianness Sarah Hudspith 7 Performing Russia – Folk Revival and Russian Identity Laura J. Olson 8 Russian Transformations Edited by Leo McCann 9 Soviet Music and Society Under Lenin and Stalin The baton and sickle Edited by Neil Edmunds 10 State Building in Ukraine The Ukranian parliament, 1990–2003 Sarah Whitmore 11 Defending Human Rights in Russia Sergei Kovalyov, Dissident and Human Rights Commissioner, 1969–2003 Emma Gilligan 12 Small-Town Russia Postcommunist livelihoods and identities A portrait of the intelligentsia in Achit, Bednodemyanovsk and Zubtsov, 1999–2000 Anne White Small-Town Russia Postcommunist livelihoods and identities A portrait of the intelligentsia in Achit, Bednodemyanovsk an