On possibilities of applying the underclass theory in Russia

The main purpose of the paper is to discuss the possibilities of applying the underclass theory to explain the reasons for the reproduction of poverty in Russia. Together with colleges from Komi Scientific centre I have been conducting research on Russian poverty in the last two decades under the conditions of radical social transformation caused by market reforms and by the transition from real socialism to real capitalism. Longitudinal qualitative research among registered poor was combined with surveys among urban residents in a Russian region. As a result, I propose the comparative prospects of borrowing a theory created in a specific national context and the conditions under which such borrowing allows reconstructing an outdated theory. From one side, I place the theory of the underclass within the framework of the critical theory and consider various mechanisms of social exclusion (from hidden exploitation to cultural imperialism), and on the other, I reveal the external anomalies of the post-socialist context inheriting the achievements of real socialism with full employment and a developed budget sphere. It is proved that the reproduction of poverty in postsocialist Russia has its own specifics: it takes the form of an unfolding exclusion. At the same time, the structuring of positions in persistent poverty goes along class and gender lines and is mediated by defensive strategies: mobilizing previously accumulated resources to cover costs associated with deprivation of means of subsistence, being forced to work for a living wage and selling labor in conditions of lower status.

Keywords

comparative theories of the underclass, regime of social exclusion, truncated social citizenship, defensive life strategies, postsocialism

Received

20.09.2019

Publication date

25.09.2019

Number of characters

30706

Cite

GOST	Yaroshenko S. On possibilities of applying the underclass theory in Russia // Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya – 2019. – Issue 9 C. 28-38 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/socis/s013216250006672-2-1-en (circulation date: 19.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013216250006672-2
MLA	Yaroshenko, Svetlana S. "On possibilities of applying the underclass theory in Russia." Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya 9 (2019):28-38. DOI: 10.31857/S013216250006672-2
APA	Yaroshenko S. (2019). On possibilities of applying the underclass theory in Russia. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya (9), pp.28-38 DOI: 10.31857/S013216250006672-2

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