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Airbrushed out of history: the Soviet middle class and lessons for inequality

From the fall of Russia’s last Tsar to the rise of the communist state and beyond, there remains an unlikely survivor: the Russian middle class.
From the fall of Russia’s last Tsar to the rise of the communist state and beyond, there remains an unlikely survivor: the Russian middle class.
Tuesday 18 January 2022 | 5 minutes 53 seconds

How did the Imperial Russian bourgeoisie endure such a seismic revolution? And what can this stubborn reproduction of social structures tell us about addressing inequality today?

In her new book, Professor Tomila Lankina challenges materialist notions of inequality, instead highlighting the significance of social, cultural, and educational capital in the perpetuation of social hierarchies – even under the most brutal communist dictatorship bent on obliterating the social remnants of the past.

🔴 Read more about this research in #LSEResearchForTheWorld:

🔴 Find out more about Professor Tomila Lankina’s book: The Estate Origins of Democracy in Russia, Cambridge University Press, December 2021 https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/estate-origins-of-democracy-in-russia/3EBD479CE270DB1647CD5E6A57F1C121