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Social Inequality and Political Instability: What does the Qualitative Evidence Tell Us?

Olga Kryshtanovskaya
University of Glasgow
Olga Kryshtanovskaya
University of Glasgow

Abstract

In this paper we focus on a qualitative perspective, using the evidence of a dozen focus groups conducted outside the two capitals in the summer of 2013 (we hope to be able to make use of a parallel series of focus groups conducted in China at about the same time). The focus groups, we suggest, offer a series of insights, particularly in relation to the social tensions that led to the political crisis of 2011-12. We asked, in this connection, how ordinary citizens understood ‘fairness’, and how much inequality they were prepared to accept and still regard a society as ‘fair’. On the evidence of our discussions, a significant section of the population have failed to adapt to market conditions and are frustrated by the way in which their hopes for the future have not been realised. The popular protests that took place in 2011-12 can be interpreted as confirmation of J. C. Davies’ proposition that revolutionary changes take place not when living standards are at their lowest, but when expectations for the future are disappointed. We hope to illuminate the variety of ways in which the social changes of recent years and widening inequalities in particular are perceived by citizens themselves, and what implications this may have for the stability of the postcommunist system.