Материална категория или състояние на духа? Социологически портрет на руската средна класа
The Middle Class in Russia: Who Needs It and What Does It Look Like?

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the structure and functions of the middle class in Russia, based on a nation-wide survey in Russia in 2007. The years of Putin’s presidency can be seen as an effort to create a middle-class project in Russia. Already in 1999 Putin announced that the priority task for the Russia’s successful future was diversification of economy by getting rid of the dominant role of raw-material economy, and boosting the development of advanced technologies. However, Russia still suffers heavily from dependence on the oil and gas sector and narrow industrial base. Consequently the potential share of middle class in current conditions is only 8-10 %. Currently the largest group is the traditional “soviet” professionals, like doctors, teachers, etc, who were not brought into the middle class by the economic growth of early 2000s. Due to their low incomes, the middle class is not interested in saving money or investing into pension funds or other typical forms of middle class behavior. Socially they have no trust for either state or private institutions, they are not members in any party or in any social organization and almost none of them have participated in any form of social activity. However, the urban middle class way of life is a fact in Russia and it is visible in housing, consumption patterns and leisure activities. To large extent middle class is more an income group or consumerist concept than a social class as such.

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