Russia's Economy of Favours: Blat, Networking and Informal Exchange: 102 (Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, Series Number 102) - Softcover

Ledeneva, Alena V.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521627435 ISBN 13: 9780521627436

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Synopsis

The word blat refers to the system of informal contacts and personal networks which was used to obtain goods and services under the rationing which characterised Soviet Russia. Alena Ledeneva's book is the first to analyse blat in all its historical, socio-economic and cultural aspects, and to explore its implications for post-Soviet society. In a socialist distribution system which resulted in constant shortages, blat developed into an 'economy of favours' which shadowed an overcontrolling centre and represented the reaction of ordinary people to the social constraints they faced. In social and economic terms, blat exchanges became vital to the population, and to the functioning of the Soviet system. The book shows that the nature of the economic and political changes in contemporary Russia cannot be properly understood without attention to the powerful legacy of the blat economy.

About this title

Review:

'Russia's Economy of Favours provides fascinating insights into an important and neglected aspect of Soviet/Russian society. Anthropologists, sociologists, and historians will all benefit from this vivid and informed study, based on interview data from the early 1990s, of Russian networking practices. This work by a young Russian scholar is a fine example of an emerging post-Soviet Russian scholarship that combines theoretical sophistication with a solid empirical base and a native 'feel' for the situation.' Sheila Fitzpatrick, University of Chicago

'In a most felicitous fashion this book weds analytical sophistication to the initimate, inside knowledge and 'feel' of Russian realities. Whether a seasoned expert in Russian history and culture or just a person interested in unfamiliar yet fascinating ways of life, the reader will be richly rewarded by a much deeper understanding of how Soviet and post-Soviet society, worked and goes on working, and what the experience of living in that society feels like.' Zygmunt Bauman, University of Leeds

Book Description:

This book examines the little-known phenomenon of blat - the use of informal contacts and personal networks to obtain goods and services under the rationing which pervaded Soviet Russia. Alena Ledeneva analyses the historical, socio-economic, and cultural aspects of blat, and explores its implications for post-Soviet Russia.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0521627435
• ISBN 13: 9780521627436
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256