Marx and Russia

I present the scope andcharacteristics of Marx's interest in Russiaand review its evolution. Initially, Marx'sattitudes were marked by russophobia,pronounced anti-panslavism, assessments ofRussia as an outpost of European reaction andcounterrevolution, and even as the head of aconspiracy to block the world revolution. Withtime, however, Marx came to consider Russia asthe country in which the outbreak of theRevolution was most likely. In his research forsucessive volumes of Capital, he readRussian theoretical works by, among others, V.Bervi-Flerovskij and A. Koshelev. Marx'sattitudes to the anticipated peasant revolutionin Russia remained ambivalent; to a certaindegree he feared its occurrence suspecting thatit could take on an `asiatic' hue.     

Poverty in Russia

This paper is intended to shed light on the extent of poverty in the Russian Federation. We present estimates of poverty lines and poverty ratios derived from subjective questions used in a data collection for a large household panel (RUSSET). We estimate poverty using a subjective approach, where the level of the poverty line is derived using the opinion of the individual, rich or poor, on poverty. This approach differs from the objective approach to poverty, which defines poverty according to the opinion of experts. Three subjective poverty lines are presented: one the Financial Satisfaction Poverty Line, two the Leyden Poverty Line, and three the Subjective Well-Being Poverty Line. The first two poverty lines are based on subjective questions regarding income and economic welfare while the last concept focuses on satisfaction with life as a whole. The results obtained are compared with each other and with results derived using objective measures and official figures.     

Income and Satisfaction in Russia

The Russian Federation has undergone some drastic economic, social-cultural, and political changes since 1989. The income of nearly half of the population has sunk below the poverty line, which has had an enormous impact on their emotional life. In this study, the relationship between income and satisfaction in Russia was examined. Three theories – need, comparison, and personality theory – were considered. Data were drawn from the first three waves of the Russet panel study (1993–1995). Russians were a little more satisfied with their income and life when they had a higher income. A positive change in income caused an increase in income-satisfaction over a one-year period. Results also showed that there was a reciprocal relationship between income-satisfaction and life satisfaction, indicating that in addition to bottom-up effects, top-down mechanisms were also at work: life satisfaction is partly a sum of domain satisfactions, but it also reflects a more trait-like character. Furthermore, within comparison theory, social comparison had the largest effect on income-satisfaction, closely followed by income needed (person-environment fit theory), and income deserved (equity theory) with the smallest effect. The need effect of income on income-satisfaction became non-significant when controlled for these three comparison mechanisms. Correction for measurement error of relationships between the endogenous variables resulted in overall stronger effects.     

Lutherans in Russia since 1990

Likhie gody by Anatoli Krasnov‐Levitin, YMCA Press, 1977, 456 pp. No price.

Atheism and Religion in the Contemporary Struggle of Ideas (Ateizm i religiya v sovremennoi borbe idei) Kiev, 1975, 491 pp. No price.

Russia's Tolitical Hospitals: The Abuse of Tsychiatry in the Soviet Union by Sidney Bloch and Peter Reddaway, Gollancz, 1977, 510 pp., £6.99.     

五花八门的俄罗斯新兴宗教

俄罗斯是一个多民族和多宗教的国家.这里生活着130多个大小民族,信奉着不同派别的宗教.在俄罗斯,东正教、伊斯兰教、佛教和犹太教通常被称作传统宗教,天主教和基督新教被称作非传统宗教.此外,俄罗斯还存在着数量繁多的新兴宗教.据俄罗斯官方统计,目前在俄罗斯司法部门注册的新兴宗教已经超过了100种.     

Political Responses to Dissatisfaction in Russia

This paper seeks to determine how Russian citizens deal politically with the widespread discontent in the Russian Federation. Citizens are not only dissatisfied with their personal life, their job, and their financial situation but their dissatisfaction is also extremely high with government performance on several public problems. To analyze the responses to this deteriorating situation in the Russian Federation, a modified theory of Hirschman (1970) is used.The problems that beset citizens in their daily lives are not translated in political activity. In order to cope with self-located problems on housing, job and financial conditions, private rather than political means are activated. However, when we look at socially located problems, that are objects of government policy – e.g., employment, rising prices, crime rise – the readiness to voice concerns on these issues through political activities is rather small; citizens that are ready to voice prefer to do this by means of voting.Citizens that do not consider the voice alternative as a reaction to their dissatisfaction, cannot be equated to loyal citizens. Silent non-voice lumps together two phenomena. One form of silence may be loyalty, the other form of silence can be covered by the concept of neglect. Political neglect – in the literature sometimes under the label of political alienation or political apathy – is a serious alternative, that deserves a place next to Hirschman's options of active opposition (voice) and diffuse positive support (loyalty). Empirically, the phenomenon of neglect appears to be a widespread response to political dissatisfaction in the Russian Federation.The voice and loyalty response – although treated as alternatives in Hirschman's theory – are different sort of variables. Loyalty is an attitude, whereas voice is an action. Both are related. Loyalty can activate voice, whereas neglect can hamper the operation of voice. Although neglect and loyalty can be treated as mutually exclusive attitudes, voice can manifest itself in combination with both feelings. Voice can thus manifest as a loyal voice and a cynic voice. It is shown in the analysis that if people are ready to voice in Russia it is a voice of the latter kind, with little hope on future improvement.     

论俄国的内在状况

俄罗斯民族是一个不关心政治的民族,她没有对自治的渴求,没有对政治权利的渴望.俄国要实现她的使命,必须遵循自己的理念和要求,而不是那些与她格格不入的理论.俄国有两个方面:国家和百姓.她们之间的理想状态是:人民不干预政府的或行政的事务,给政府无限的统治自由,让政府有行动的权利和相应的法律的权力;而国家并不干预人民的生活方式.给人民以政府保护下的充分的社会和精神生活自由,让人民有发表意见的权利和相应的言论自由.沙皇和百姓之间的正确关系一旦被恢复了,俄罗斯从苦难中就会被解救出来.