Introduction

Westerners facing the problem often succumb to following preconceived notions or viewing Soviet society as a single entity, disregarding the social, regional, ethnic, and other differences that inevitably characterize a country as large as the Soviet Union. To describe the Soviet way of life without underlining the deep-rooted differences in living standards and lifestyles reduces the scope of inquiry to Moscow and its surroundings, areas better known to tourists, foreign journalists, and scholars. The Soviet middle class inherited little from the past. It is not the heir of the old prerevolutionary bourgeoisie but an outgrowth of middle-level bureaucrats and intellectuals. Soviet society is a complex structure made up of social classes peculiar to its system and a wide array of nationalities following their own cultural paths. The process of reevaluation and "restructuring' ' of the system inaugurated by Mikhail Gorbachev has unleashed long-suppressed social forces and social tensions.