Rich Russians: From Oligarchs to Bourgeoisie

by Elisabeth Schimpfössl

Overview

The lives of wealthy people have long held an allure to many, but the lives of wealthy Russians pose a particular fascination. Having achieved their riches over the course of a single generation, the top 0.1 percent of Russian society have become known for ostentatious lifestyles and tastes. Nevertheless, as Elisabeth Schimpfössl shows in this book, their stories reveal a bourgeois existence that is distinct in its circumstances and self-definition, and far more complex than the caricatures suggest. Rich Russians takes a deep and unprecedented look at this group: their personal stories, trajectories, ideas about life and how they see their role and position both on top of Russian society as well as globally. These people grew up and lived through a historically unique period of economic turmoil and social change following the collapse of the Soviet Union. But when taken in a wider historical context, their lives follow a familiar path, from new money to respectable money; parvenus becoming part of Society. Based on interviews with millionaires, billionaires, their spouses and children, Rich Russians concludes that, as a class, they have acquired all sorts of cultural and social resources which help consolidate their personal power. They have developed distinguished and refined tastes, rediscovered their family history, and begun actively engaging in philanthropy. Most importantly, they have worked out a narrative to justify why they deserve their elitist position in society - because of who they are and their superior qualities - and why they should be treated as equals by the West. This is a group whose social, cultural and political influence is likely to outlast any regime change. As the first book to examine the transformation of Russia's former "robber barons" into a new social class, Rich Russians provides insight into how this nation's newly wealthy tick.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190677787
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/29/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Elisabeth Schimpfössl is Lecturer in Sociology and Policy at Aston University. Her research focuses on elites and social inequality as well as questions around post-Socialist media and self-censorship.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: A Short Story of Enrichment Chapter 2: Becoming Bourgeois Chapter 3: Quests for Legitimacy and Superiority Chapter 4: Family History Chapter 5: Rich Russians' Philanthropy Chapter 6: A Man's World Chapter 7: The Inheritors' Coming of Age Chapter 8: Rich Russians and the West Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

"The book is a substantial contribution to a burgeoning academic field. The focus on such a riveting topic as the lives of nouveau-riche Russian elites almost guarantees the attention of a wider public to what was initially intended as research for a PhD...This examination of how the Russian super-rich are reinventing themselves as a legitimate elite avoids political slogans and sociological clichés; instead, it clarifies how distinctions are imagined and how they develop into social divisions. The book contributes to studies of elites that go beyond the immediate regional context." — Oksana Morgunova, RUDN, Moscow, Russian Federation, Europe-Asia Studies

"Schimpfössl's study is quite unique and remarkable." — Jukka Gronow, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology

"Schimpfössl's study is quite unique and remarkable." — Jukka Gronow, EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CULTURAL AND POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY

"This amazing book is a stunning combination of serious sociological analysis combined with the astonishing stories of the lives of super-rich Russians, as told to the author in 80 interviews with members of this top one-tenth of one percent. In the process of learning how the novye russkie (newly rich) Russians of the 1990s became proper members of the Russian and British social upper classes, we also learn about rising social inequality in general from an entirely new angle." - G. William Domhoff, author of Who Rules America? The Triumph of the Corporate Rich

"Elisabeth Schimpfössl is a gifted observer and a sharp analyst. Rich Russians, based on unique access to the country's financial inner circle, dispels the myths around the Russian plutocracy and explores how today's rich emerged, often from the Soviet nomenklatura, to espouse global neo-liberalist values without wholly sacrificing the communitarian past. A compelling and cogent guide to today's Russia."- Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian, University of Oxford

"This unique inside-look at the history and soul of fabulously rich Russians and their quest to trade vulgarity for Russian respectability has it all: robber barons, the wild East, and their fortunes. A must-read to understand the new Russian bourgeoisie." - Derk Sauer, Founder of The Moscow Times and Vedomosti

"Rich Russians is a superb and fascinating study of the new Russian rich that combines elegant writing, compelling narrative, a cast of outrageously colorful characters and scholarly analysis of the social and culture development of the superwealthy potentates known as the Oligarchs that places them in Russian society and power structures. The result is both highly entertaining and essential reading for understanding the Russia of today in the age of Trump and Putin."- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Catherine the Great and Potemkin, Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, and The Romanovs

"This book offers an original and nuanced look at the Russian bourgeoisie in the contemporary moment. Schimpfössl uses her impressive access to millionaires and billionaires to explore their family origins, their lifestyles, and the narratives they draw upon to legitimate their privilege, as well as how their practices have changed since the cutthroat period of the 1990s. Rich Russians makes a valuable contribution to the growing field of research on global elites and cultures of wealth."-Rachel Sherman, author of Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence

"[A]n engrossing and fresh account of how the Russian elite sees itself." - Max Seddon, Financial Times

"Her book is a valuable and intriguing analysis of the emergence of a class that will shape Russia for centuries." -Oliver Bullough, The Guardian

"Schimpfössl's book benefits from the long parade of interviews she has conducted with nearly 100 of these millionaires and billionaires, their families, and their associates, which put a human face on her analysis." - Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs

From the Publisher