ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the research on interviews with men operating in informal economies in Moscow and St. Petersburg during 2004-2011. It explores the creation of a new class of men at the collapse of the Soviet Union and the impact had on identity and culture. The chapter draws mainly upon two projects. The first looked at the post-Soviet experiences of men who used to work in St. Petersburg's shipyards during the Soviet period. The second, and ongoing project, examines the nature of informal work amongst this group in several districts of Moscow. The research is theoretically informed by the work on everyday life by Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau. Lefebvre argues that it is impossible to construct a theory of everyday life as there are so many layers to it and the experience of it is personal to the individual. Russia's demographic crisis is unparalleled outside of wartime in the global north.
