Russian Workers

Following the strike waves of 1989 and 1991, many commentators expected Russian workers to play a decisive role in determining the course of transition. In the event, workers have stoically endured a catastrophic decline in living standards, a loss of security and wage delays of six months or more. This book confronts this paradox, dissecting the apparent "patience" of Russian workers through an analysis of the forms of social integration fostered within the Soviet and post-Soviet enterprise, and an examination of the barriers, which have prevented trade unions from effectively representing workers' interests during the transition. The analysis of the book is based on an ethnographic case study of a South Kuzbass coal mine. On the basis of interviews with workers and trade union activists, Ashwin relates large-scale political, social and economic changes to the dilemmas of everyday life, showing how workers' responses to reform are influencing the post-communist recomposition of the Russian state and economy.