ABSTRACT
One of the central ironies in post-Soviet Russia, erected on the rubble of the Soviet attempt to build the first classless society in the modern world, is how central class structure, class inequality and class analysis remain to understanding Russian politics and society. This chapter will discuss different meanings of class, the class structure of the Soviet system and its contribution to the end of that system, the rise of a capitalist class or “NewRussians”, the increase in inequality, the fate of Russia’s middle and working classes, the extent of poverty, and finally what a class-analytical approach can contribute to our understanding of Russian politics and society.
