TY - JOUR

T1 - Sociology, labour and transition in post-Soviet Russia: A view from within

AU - Morrison, Claudio

AU - Bizyukov , Petr

AU - Ilyin, Vladimir

AU - Kozina, Irina

AU - Petrova, Larisa

PY - 2023/6/1

Y1 - 2023/6/1

N2 - For almost 20years, since the early 1990s, Professor Simon Clarke led multipleinternational research projects in Russia, China and Vietnam studying labourrelations, enterprise restructuring and household economics under post-socialisttransition. Breaking out of post-socialist scholarship’s narrow confines, bothsocial and ideological, he led an exploration of the void opened by formerSoviet Union disintegration reconnecting with those who brought the brunt of it. Equally unique among western scholars was his promotion of a vast networkof former Soviet Union researchers and activists, later formalised in the Institutefor Comparative Research in Labour Relations. Here, for the first time, some ofits leading scholars reflect on his legacy, methods and ever-lasting contributionto the advancement of sociology and social activism in Russia. Their accountsconvey the radically alternative character of the overall project, returning bothachievements and limitations. In substantive terms, the emerging picture confirmsthe indeterminacy and complexity of Clarke’s original findings: no lineardevelopment from ‘the subsumption of labour under capital’ to ‘familiar patternsof class conflict’ has occurred. Instead, growing labour protests follow labourdegradation and restructuring, a strong state becoming the arbiter in the standoff between neoliberalism and workers’ resistance.

AB - For almost 20years, since the early 1990s, Professor Simon Clarke led multipleinternational research projects in Russia, China and Vietnam studying labourrelations, enterprise restructuring and household economics under post-socialisttransition. Breaking out of post-socialist scholarship’s narrow confines, bothsocial and ideological, he led an exploration of the void opened by formerSoviet Union disintegration reconnecting with those who brought the brunt of it. Equally unique among western scholars was his promotion of a vast networkof former Soviet Union researchers and activists, later formalised in the Institutefor Comparative Research in Labour Relations. Here, for the first time, some ofits leading scholars reflect on his legacy, methods and ever-lasting contributionto the advancement of sociology and social activism in Russia. Their accountsconvey the radically alternative character of the overall project, returning bothachievements and limitations. In substantive terms, the emerging picture confirmsthe indeterminacy and complexity of Clarke’s original findings: no lineardevelopment from ‘the subsumption of labour under capital’ to ‘familiar patternsof class conflict’ has occurred. Instead, growing labour protests follow labourdegradation and restructuring, a strong state becoming the arbiter in the standoff between neoliberalism and workers’ resistance.

KW - Capital, labour relations, Russia, industrial sociology

KW - capitalism, labour relations, sociology of labour, Russia

KW - ISITO

KW - former Soviet Union

KW - industrial relations

KW - post-Soviet studies

KW - Russia

KW - labour

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/34b21333-bfe5-3ad6-80b6-87c9e30d3a5b/

U2 - 10.1177/03098168231171814

DO - 10.1177/03098168231171814

M3 - Article

VL - 47

SP - 211

EP - 217

JO - Capital and Class

JF - Capital and Class

SN - 0309-8168

IS - 2

ER -