Russian society and elites in 1989-2009: transformation results and future perspectives

Abstract

"The article covers the results of two decades of transition of Russia after 1989, putting an accent on three main issues: the configuration of the research-object (post-socialist Russia in comparison with other post-Soviet counties), the results of transition, and its main actors. The author maintains that in the Russian case of transition, transformation rather than modernization is the appropriate notion for the definition of the process during the past two decades'. In Russia they deal with the contradictory combination of a relatively successful political modernization and very controversial results in the economical domain. Neither in 1990, nor in 2000 was the modernization project fully realized. A systematic and comprehensive modernization that was set as the main transformation task in the beginning of the transition process is still at the national agenda. However, a modernization strategy is difficult to be followed both for historical reasons and current circumstances. The author considers two types of limitations impeding the realization of the modernization project - one is historically determined and one is contemporary, both with an accent on the value orientations of elite and mass groups." (author's abstract)