166-236/336 The Political Economy of Russia

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The collapse of the Soviet system is the single most important political event since the end of the Second World War. Russia has emerged from the Soviet wreckage but remains in acute economic crisis and a state of political prevarication. The twin tasks of institutionalising democratic structures and building a market economy provide a fascinating political-economic landscape. This subject provides a background in Soviet political-economy as an approach to modernisation and the realisation of socialism, its attempts to reform itself, and its ultimate failure. Stress is then placed upon the political effects and processes of economic reforms in Russia since 1991. Reform is considered both conceptually and then in terms of the actual policies pursued, in particular shock therapy and privatisation. The purposes Russian economic policy has purported to serve, the political agents involved in policy production, and those aligned against them, are all viewed and analysed. Discussion will also take place concerning the sociological effects of economic reform. In conclusion the subject moves to critical perspectives on, and the prospects for, the Russian political-economy, both in itself and as part of the world capitalist economy.

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