Publisher's Synopsis
This book provides a sociological approach to the changes in economic relations that took place in Soviet society under Gorbachev, including both the growth of small scale private ownership and centralized management of the economy. The events described form the immediate background to the current confused situation under Yeltsin in which successive governments have attempted to build a new economic system based on private ownership and market regulation of the economy. Focussing on the changing interests of different social groups, the author argues that despite the dramatic political changes that took place during the perestroika period, there were also strong elements of continuity in social and economic relations that link Soviet society before Gorbachev to the perestroika period and the post-Soviet period.
