Social Capital and Social Cohesion in Post-Soviet Russia

The well-publicized political and economic travails of post-Soviet Russia have had profound social and psychological consequences that will reverberate long into the future. The collapse of socialist employment and social service systems-and of the USSR itself-has had profoundly damaging effects, manifested in dislocation and homelessness, ethnic strife, family breakdown, declining life expectancy, soaring rates of violence and crime, rampant substance abuse and disease. All of these pathologies are themselves subversive of efforts to build a robust free society with strong economic, social, and political institutions. This examination of Russia's social fabric by an international team of researchers, assesses the damage that has been done and the prospects for repair. The inquiry ranges beyond the capital cities to identify pockets of resiliency and vulnerability across Russian society. The last section of the book looks to the future, with examples of successful and failed policy intervention.Twigg, Judyth L. is the author of 'Social Capital and Social Cohesion in Post-Soviet Russia' with ISBN 9780765612236 and ISBN 0765612232.