Socialism after communism? The socioeconomic and cultural foundations of left politics in post-Soviet Russia

This article examines socioeconomic foundations of leftist polities in post -Soviet Russia. It is often argued that the reemergence of left politics is the result of contingent factors connected to transitional crises, While t his is one source of strength for the left, there are two more important an d enduring sources: a "socialist value culture" among a large majority of R ussians, and an emerging pseudo-capitalist system that is creating "traditi onal" class-based and left-leaning attitudes and affiliations among particu lar social groups. The article examines the extent of this value culture an d the emergence of these attitudes and affiliations through an analysis of statistical data and interviews conducted with Russian workers and intellig entsia figures from 1994-1997. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.