The Political Economy of Russia

Edited by Neil Robinson

Not available to order

Publication date:

13 July 2012

Length of book:

240 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442210769

This timely book explores Russia’s political development since the collapse of the USSR and how inextricably it has been bound up with economic change. Tracing the evolution of Russia’s political economy, leading scholars consider how it may continue to develop going forward. They assess the historical legacies of the Soviet period, showing how—despite policies implemented after the USSR dissolved in 1991—there are ongoing bitter battles over property and state revenues, over land, and over welfare. The book puts these domestic issues in international and comparative perspective by considering Russia’s position in the global economy and its growing role as a major energy producer. Focusing especially on the nature and future of Russian capitalism, the contributors weigh the political problems that confront Russia in its ongoing struggle to modernize and develop its economy.

Contributions by: Andrew Barnes, Paul T. Christensen, Linda J. Cook, Gerald M. Easter, Neil Robinson, Richard Sakwa, and Stephen K. Wegren.

Chapter 1: Introduction: The Political Problems of Russian Capitalism
Neil Robinson
Chapter 2: The Contexts of Russia’s Political Economy: Soviet Legacies and Post-Soviet Policies
Neil Robinson
Chapter 3: Revenue Imperatives: State over Market in Postcommunist Russia
Gerald M. Easter
Chapter 4: Systemic Stalemate: Reiderstvo and the Dual State
Richard Sakwa
Chapter 5: The Political Economy of Russia’s Demographic Crisis: States and Markets, Mothers and Migrants
Linda J. Cook
Chapter 6: Change in Agriculture: The Development of Russia’s Private Farming
Stephen K. Wegren
Chapter 7: Russia’s Potential Role in the World Oil System: Reciprocal Dependency, Global Integration, and Positive Unintended Consequences
Andrew Barnes
Chapter 8: Russia as Semiperiphery: Political Economy, the State, and Society in the Contemporary World System
Paul T. Christensen
Chapter 9: Conclusion: The Political Dysfunctions of Russian Capitalism
Neil Robinson

This volume examines the link between the development of Russia's economic and political regimes, focusing on how the link has been influenced not only by Soviet legacies but also by the realities of energy, agricultural, and demographic conditions. This work introduced this reviewer to the concept of Russia's "political capitalist" system, a concept that will add new dimensions to class discussions. While edited volumes often suffer from uneven coverage or quality, editor Robinson (Univ. of Limerick, Ireland) avoids this problem, providing an excellent overview in the introduction, followed by a chapter that puts Russia's political economy in context. Chapter 3 ("Revenue Imperatives") starts from the premise that power inevitably finds wealth, and explains how Russia's pattern of revenue extraction influenced state-society relations. Chapter 4 ("Systemic Stalemate") expands this idea, using corporate case studies (Yukos, Toaz) to explore the tensions between developmental and predatory aspects of state intervention. Chapter 5 explores the political economy of Russia's demographic crisis, examining both state policy and societal attitudes toward immigrants and pronatalism. Chapters 6 and 7 focus on problems that agriculture and oil present to Russia's political economy. Final chapters place Russia's economy in global perspective and describe the political dysfunctions of Russian capitalism. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections.