ABSTRACT
The Soviet Union appeared to be a very egalitarian country compared to Western market economies, at least if social equality was measured with standard measures as income distribution. International comparisons showed agreater degree of social equality in the Soviet Union than in the West. The transition from Soviet socialism to a market economy is considered to imply a fundamental shift in the pattern of social stratification, that is, a shift from status-ordered society to a class society. The concepts of classical sociology were created for the understanding of a transition, that is, of the shift from the traditional order towards a society that was perceived to be more modem. The traditional approach in sociology has been first to examine and outline the social structures and to locate the individuals or some other social actors in the hypothetical structures. The aim was to study the economic activity of ordinary households during a time of rapid transformation of social structures and institutions.
