1st Edition
The Kalamari Union: Middle Class in East and West
First published in 1998, this volume asks: are new social classes in the making in eastern Europe? Are class issues withering away? How do different classes organize their lives, what kind of strategies do they adopt in East and West. Markku Kivinen brings Eastern Europe into the class debate. Recent sociological discussions have touched upon questions of class in Eastern Europe only very provisionally. On the other hand, old analyses of social stratification under conditions of 'actually existed socialism' are no longer relevant in the current situation. This book analyses processes of class relations in Eastern Europe from new theoretical vantage-points, using up-to-date empirical data. Under socialism, power was said to be vested in the working class. However, there was a constant tension between the 'holy proletariat' and the real life of the working class. Today, all political forces in Eastern Europe; leftist and liberal alike, are hankering for the middle class. This book explores the real processes in both East and West. This leads to more concrete political and even moral issues. The new 'sacred middle class' is challenged. The contributors adopt several conceptual approaches and perspectives which enter into a fruitful exchange in this book.
Part 1. Entrepreneurs. 1. Transformation of the Estonian Enterprise Sector from a Planned System towards Market Economy. Kari Liuhto. 2. ‘New Russians’ and Social Change. Johan Bäckman. 3. Entrepreneurs in Contemporary Political Structures. Galina Eremicheva and Nina Solovieva. 4. Petty Production in Baltic Agriculture: Estonian and Lithuanian Models. Ilkka Alanen. 5. Attitudes towards Privatization: Winners and Losers. Meilute Taljunaite and Aleksandras Cesnavicius. Part 2. Wage-Earning Middle Classes in Formation. 6. Formation of Class Structure under Conditions of Radical Social Change: An East European Experience. Kazimierz M. Slomczynski. 7. The New Middle Strata in Modern Russia. Vladimir Ilyin. 8. Non-Identical Twins: The Formation of the Middle Class in Israel. Amir Ben-Porat. 9. Intragenerational Mobility and Middle Class Formation in Estonia. Ellu Saar and Jelena Helemäe. Part 3. Managers and Professionals. 10. A Russian Middle Class in Formation? Social Strata and Sectional Trade Unionism in the Aviation and Coal Industries. Peter Fairbrother. 11. Managerial Change in Estonia. Harri Melin. 12. On Transition to the Middle Class: Professional Strategies of Young Intellectuals in Russia. Victoria Semenova. 13. The Fate of Party Functionaries in Post-Soviet Russia. Alla Bystrova. 14. The Middle Classes in the Baltic States – Theoretical Starting Points. Markku Kivinen. Part 4. Identity and Lifestyle of the Middle Classes. 15. The Middle Class and Civil Society. Mihail Chernysh. 16. Capitalism and Democracy in Two Baltic Countries. Jouko Nikula. 17. Class Differences in Consciousness and Reproduction in the Baltic Countries. Raimo Blom. 18. Increasing Differences? Social Background and the Breakthrough of Affluence in Finland 1955-1966. Timo Toivonen. 19. From Status to Class: The Emergence of a Class Society in Russia. Timo Piirainen.
