Book description
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.…
Why read it?
1 author picked How Russia Really Works as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This book is fascinating because it shows how underlying informal political structures remained the same even after empires and political regimes collapsed.
Ledeneva explores the nature of the informal patronal networks connecting Russian elites and how that explains the persistent non-democratic dynamic over time and under various contexts. This book sheds light on the informal nature of Russian politics.
From Maria's list on changes in society caused by capitalism.
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