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How Russia Really Works : The Informal Practices That Shaped Post-Soviet Politics and Business / Alena V. Ledeneva.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Culture and Society after SocialismPublisher: Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2011]Copyright date: ©2013Description: 1 online resource (288 p.) : 11 tables, 7 charts/graphs, 5 line figuresContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780801461682
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 320.947 22
LOC classification:
  • JN6695.A55 C639 2006eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Why Are Informal Practices Still Prevalent in Russia? -- 2. Chernyi Piar: Manipulative Campaigning and the Workings of Russian Democracy -- 3. Kompromat: The Use of Compromising Information in Informal Politics -- 4. Krugovaia Poruka: Sustaining the Ties of Joint Responsibility -- 5. Tenevoi Barter: Shadow Barter, Barter Chains, and Nonmonetary Markets -- 6. Dvoinaia Bukhgalteriia: Double Accountancy and Financial Scheming -- 7. Post-Soviet Tolkachi: Alternative Enforcement and the Use of Law -- Conclusion -- Appendixes -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary: During the Soviet era, blat—the use of personal networks for obtaining goods and services in short supply and for circumventing formal procedures—was necessary to compensate for the inefficiencies of socialism. The collapse of the Soviet Union produced a new generation of informal practices. In How Russia Really Works, Alena V. Ledeneva explores practices in politics, business, media, and the legal sphere in Russia in the 1990s—from the hiring of firms to create negative publicity about one's competitors, to inventing novel schemes of tax evasion and engaging in "alternative" techniques of contract and law enforcement. She discovers ingenuity, wit, and vigor in these activities and argues that they simultaneously support and subvert formal institutions. They enable corporations, the media, politicians, and businessmen to operate in the post-Soviet labyrinth of legal and practical constraints but consistently undermine the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. The "know-how" Ledeneva describes in this book continues to operate today and is crucial to understanding contemporary Russia.On December 6, 2009, Alena Ledeneva discussed her book on the BBC Radio program Forum. Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00551mg#synopsis.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Why Are Informal Practices Still Prevalent in Russia? -- 2. Chernyi Piar: Manipulative Campaigning and the Workings of Russian Democracy -- 3. Kompromat: The Use of Compromising Information in Informal Politics -- 4. Krugovaia Poruka: Sustaining the Ties of Joint Responsibility -- 5. Tenevoi Barter: Shadow Barter, Barter Chains, and Nonmonetary Markets -- 6. Dvoinaia Bukhgalteriia: Double Accountancy and Financial Scheming -- 7. Post-Soviet Tolkachi: Alternative Enforcement and the Use of Law -- Conclusion -- Appendixes -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index

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During the Soviet era, blat—the use of personal networks for obtaining goods and services in short supply and for circumventing formal procedures—was necessary to compensate for the inefficiencies of socialism. The collapse of the Soviet Union produced a new generation of informal practices. In How Russia Really Works, Alena V. Ledeneva explores practices in politics, business, media, and the legal sphere in Russia in the 1990s—from the hiring of firms to create negative publicity about one's competitors, to inventing novel schemes of tax evasion and engaging in "alternative" techniques of contract and law enforcement. She discovers ingenuity, wit, and vigor in these activities and argues that they simultaneously support and subvert formal institutions. They enable corporations, the media, politicians, and businessmen to operate in the post-Soviet labyrinth of legal and practical constraints but consistently undermine the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. The "know-how" Ledeneva describes in this book continues to operate today and is crucial to understanding contemporary Russia.On December 6, 2009, Alena Ledeneva discussed her book on the BBC Radio program Forum. Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00551mg#synopsis.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Apr 2024)