Marketization and community in post-Soviet Russian villages

The introduction of new market institutions in former socialist countries has produced economic and social dislocations in people's lives. Researchers have focused on the impact of these changes on inequality and poverty, but have not given much attention to changes in community relationships. Panel data from surveys of Russian rural households (1995-1999) is used to examine post-socialist changes in community involvement. The surveys show an overall increase in the number of redundant social network helping ties and a decrease in involvement in community-wide social activities. Households with larger (non-redundant) networks and more sales, however, have higher levels of community involvement than do their neighbors. Increases in the size of helping networks and increases in household sales from the first to second waves were associated with increases in level of community involvement. We discuss the implications of these findings for our general understanding of relationships between the marketplace and community.