ABSTRACT
The inequality in rural Russia today mirrors the growth in inequality throughout Russian society and is significant because it represents a fault line within rural society. In other words, there is fragmentation between urban and rural sectors and fragmentation within the rural sector. Rural inequality is also significant because it affects 38 million people who live in rural areas; it influences rural social structure, interaction between economic strata, and underpins the formation of nascent classes. Within Russia’s new economic environment some rural dwellers have adapted and improved their lives, many people have not. Inequality creates both positive and negative incentives for making a living. On the positive side, inequality creates motivation to be one of the “winners” and thereby contributes to economic growth. On the negative side, individuals and households that either lack assets or are not able to convert their assets in the rural market economy – the very poor and the disadvantaged – are resigned to chronic poverty and are motivated to migrate out of the countryside.
