Social Polarization and Ethnic Segregation in Moscow

Abstract

This paper analyzes processes of change in Moscow's post-Soviet social and ethnic structure, as well as the emergence of residential clusters of ethnic minorities in the city's fragmenting urban space. More specifically, it explores the applicability of Western social polarization theory to post-Communist Moscow; analyzes Moscow's social polarization (e.g., divergent incomes, education levels, and social status of neighborhoods) as a direct consequence of economic reforms and social and demographic distinctions inherited from Soviet development; and examines the level of ethnic segregation of Moscow's population, now changing rapidly as a result of immigration from other former Soviet republics. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: D63, I31, J15, J70. 7 figures, 2 tables, 44 references.