The collapse of the Soviet Union has entailed a radical restructuring of the class system in Russia. Class is a central axis along which power and inequality are organized in society, which makes its analysis highly important. This course investigates the re-formation of class relations in contemporary Russia by approaching it from a variety of disciplinary, theoretical and methodological perspectives. It examines what social class means in Russia, how class relations have transformed historically, and how class intersects with other distinctions, such as gender and ethnicity. The primary focus is on examining the cultural and symbolic production of class, such as lifestyles, hierarchies of taste, habitus, and consumption patterns. The lectures analyse cultural representations of class and the ways in which class order is produced in various symbolic and everyday practices. In addition, class is also examined from a structural angle focusing on questions of redistribution and socio-economic inequalities. The course also critically reviews and problematizes Western theoretical discussions concerning class, in particular the concept of middle class.

Enrolment via NettiOpsu