Everyday Economy in Russia, Poland & Latvia

Edited By Karl-Olov Arnstberg & Thomas Boren
December 2003
Sodertorns Hogskola
ISBN: 91-89315-32-4
216 pages, Illustrated, 6 ½" x 9 ½"
$67.50 Paper Original


How do people make ends meet in societies undergoing fast and large-scale political and economic change? Eleven researchers present the results of field studies carried out among ordinary families and their neighbors, among businessmen, pretty street traders, and homeless people. They examine formal and informal means to earn a living in the transition period. The concept "Everyday economy" is the focus and common denominator of all contributions. These original contributions to the debate on post-Soviet societies should be of interest not only to social scientists and specialists, but to all who wish to gain a deeper understanding of this crucial period. Contents include: What are Friends for? Rationales of Informal Exchange in Russian Everyday Life, "Cash in an Envelope: Corruption and Tax Avoidance as an Economic Strategy in Contemporary Riga, Selling & Buying Power: the Economy of a Magic Center in Moscow, Foreign Companies & Everyday Economy in Russia, The Higher School of Trading: Subsistence Sources and Informal Economy of Krakow Students, Survival Competence in Kaliningrad, Street Traders in St. Petersburg, Neighbors and the Everyday Economy, Hunters and Gatherers in the Urban Jungle: Ways of Coping among Homeless Russians, An Everyday Moral Economy, NGO Activism among Young Latvians.

Economics
Sodertorn Academic Studies No. 16

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