ABSTRACT
Despite a recent upsurge in interest on financial crises, the Russian crisis of 1998 remains narrowly understood and under-elaborated by the majority of Western observers. This chapter seeks to critically evaluate the meaning and significance of the 1998 financial crash, putting it into the broader context of Russian political economy. Focusing on the political economy of the 1998 financial crisis, the chapter addresses the following questions. What is the relationship between the ongoing changes in global capitalism and the transformations in post-Soviet Russia? What role did national politicoeconomic and social factors play in mapping the future of Russian capitalism? What caused the 1998 financial crisis and what was the impact of the August collapse on the country’s development? Finally, the chapter inquires into the type of capitalism that is emerging from the former socialist terrain.
