Books by Stephen Crowley
Cornell University Press, 2021
Are Russia’s workers the ballast of stability for the Putin regime, or combustible material that ... more Are Russia’s workers the ballast of stability for the Putin regime, or combustible material that might sink the ship of state? At times, workers have defended Putin against attacks from liberal-minded middle-class protesters. At other times, workers have risen up out of desperation, with economic demands that become quickly politicized. As economic growth slows, Russia must reckon with its numerous large industrial enterprises, many of which are struggling to survive. These include hundreds located in “monotowns” – one industry cities and towns left from the era of Soviet industrialization – that some have called a “time bomb” on Russian society.
While such fears are likely overstated, they contribute to the Russian leadership’s anxieties about a potential “color revolution” leading to instability and regime change. Putin has claimed to be the defender of “stability” in contrast to the chaos of Russia’s first postcommunist decade in the 1990s. His popularity soared along with an oil-fueled economic boom in the 2000s. Now that boom has ended, and Russia faces economic stagnation. When Putin’s popularity has sagged, he has portrayed himself as a defender of the country’s rust-belt heartland against the demands of liberal cosmopolitans in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Yet such a populist stance only deepens Russia’s dilemma: With the boom years behind it, economic growth will eventually depend on restructuring the country’s industrial landscape, but doing so threatens to generate protest and instability. Yet continuing to prop up Russia’s industrial workplaces will further burden economic growth, threatening to generate protest and instability.
More information at: https://www.stephencrowley.org/
Democratization in the developing and postcommunist world has yielded limited gains for labor. Ex... more Democratization in the developing and postcommunist world has yielded limited gains for labor. Explanations for this phenomenon have focused on the effect of economic crisis and globalization on the capacities of unions to become influential political actors and to secure policies that benefit their members. In contrast, the contributors to Working through the Past highlight the critical role that authoritarian legacies play in shaping labor politics in new democracies, providing the first cross-regional analysis of the impact of authoritarianism on labor, focusing on East and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
Legacies from the predemocratic era shape labor’s present in ways that both limit and enhance organized labor’s power in new democracies. Assessing the comparative impact on a variety of outcomes relevant to labor in widely divergent settings, this volume argues that political legacies provide new insights into why labor movements in some countries have confronted the challenges of neoliberal globalization better than others.
Journal Articles and Book Chapters by Stephen Crowley
Russian Analytical Digest, 2023
With the war and sanctions, Russia must tread an increasingly narrow path to avoid prolonged stag... more With the war and sanctions, Russia must tread an increasingly narrow path to avoid prolonged stagnation. The decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022 followed a decade or more of declining living standards. While wartime spending on weapons and social benefits has lifted the economy for now, such spending is unsustainable in the long run. Stagnation and resulting hardship will make maintaining social - and, ultimately, political - stability more problematic.
Routledge Handbook of Russian Politics and Society, 2023
A chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Russian Politics and Society, edited by Graeme Gill
Global Labour Journal, 2022
Russia’s political leaders, like those in any capitalist society, face a contradiction in maintai... more Russia’s political leaders, like those in any capitalist society, face a contradiction in maintaining both accumulation and legitimation – that is, accumulating wealth and capital on the one hand while preserving political legitimacy on the other. In the Putin era, legitimacy was maintained initially by significant levels of economic growth during the “oil boom” from 2000 to 2008, allowing the government to claim it had provided “stability” in contrast to the chaos and impoverishment of the 1990s. Yet real disposable incomes in Russia were 10 per cent lower in 2021 than in 2013. Given such economic adversity – now certain to be worsened by economic sanctions – the difficulty of maintaining the legitimacy of Russia’s oligarch capitalism has become even more challenging. While the Putin regime likes to style itself as a defender of the working class and “real Russians” in the country’s industrial heartland, experience shows that the level of tolerance of such groups has its breaking point.
PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo, 2022
The sanctions now imposed on Russia—as severe as they are—are unlikely by themselves to lead to w... more The sanctions now imposed on Russia—as severe as they are—are unlikely by themselves to lead to widespread protests demanding political change. Yet, even before the invasion, there were few pathways out of Russia’s economic malaise that did not raise the prospect of potentially destabilizing social protest. Might the Russian government undertake reforms to revive the economy? If so, the answer to the key question for Russians of Kto vinovat?—Who is to blame?—could shift from the West and its sanctions to the Putin regime itself.
Perspectives in Politics, 2022
Slavic Review, 2020
Beneath the façade of strength and stability, Russia's political economy faces a number of critic... more Beneath the façade of strength and stability, Russia's political economy faces a number of critical dilemmas. One is the contradiction at the heart of Russian urban development. On the one hand, cities are being called the engines of growth in a globalized capitalist system, and Russian liberal reformers, such as Aleksei Kudrin, have pushed the government to inject resources into a handful of potentially "global cities," a priority recently endorsed by Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. Yet Russia's built urban geography is quite different: almost uniquely, rather than a small number of large metropolitan centers, Russia contains hundreds of small and medium-sized cities, most of which were formed during Stalinist and post-Stalinist industrialization. Hence the dilemma: the need for new sources of growth, or in Kudrin's phrase, "cities instead of oil," appears compelling, and yet Russia's existing human geography, and the regime's clear desire for political stability, suggests that such a policy of urban transformation faces overwhelming obstacles.
PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo No. 651, 2020
A shorter version of the article (forthcoming) in Slavic Review
PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo, 2018
A "Policy Memo" on the radicalization of Russia's truck driver protests
How have Russia’s workers responded in the face of Russia’s current economic challenges? In this ... more How have Russia’s workers responded in the face of Russia’s current economic challenges? In this article we explore changes in Russian labor protest over time, through the boom and bust cycles of the Russian economy. Relying on independent Russian databases, we examine
evidence of a significant increase in labor protest in recent years, which also reveals that, despite apparent changes in the prosperous 2000s, Russian labor relations and protest are returning to past patterns. The protests are often spontaneous and their likeliness to spread stems less from union support than from policies that impact workers and others as a single category, such as the Platon road-tax system and its impact on truckers. Russia’s truckers also illustrate the potential for economic protests to become politicized. In view of this potential, Russia’s leadership appears to be reinforcing past practices such as avoiding mass layoffs, but such steps may harm long-term economic growth, itself a cause of protest.
Russian Analytical Digest, Apr 20, 2016
As Russia likely faces an extended period of economic challenges, a major question concerns Russi... more As Russia likely faces an extended period of economic challenges, a major question concerns Russia's workers: Will they remain stoic despite economic hardship, or will they rise up in protest? Thanks to the work of some Russian researchers, we point to clear evidence that labor protest is indeed on the rise in reaction to worsening conditions. However, the potential for these protests to spread, and their ability to influence the country's politics, is complex.
Post-Soviet Affairs, 2015
During the 2008-09 economic crisis, Russia’s monotowns -- one-industry towns left from the Soviet... more During the 2008-09 economic crisis, Russia’s monotowns -- one-industry towns left from the Soviet era -- gained widespread attention as potential sources of social protest and unrest. Will such worries resurface under current economic conditions? While fears about monotowns were exaggerated during the last economic crisis, Russia’s leadership remains concerned. Despite the dramatic transformations of the last two decades, Russia’s post-Soviet industrial landscape has largely survived intact, leaving a significant number of monotowns with unprofitable enterprises in a precarious position. Yet given its emphasis on social stability, we can expect the government to continue subsidies, both explicit and hidden, that seek to maintain employment and avoid social conflict, but that preserve the country’s inefficient industrial geography.
During the 2008–09 economic crisis, Russia’s monotowns grabbed widespread attention as potential ... more During the 2008–09 economic crisis, Russia’s monotowns grabbed widespread attention as potential sources of social unrest. Will such worries resurface under the current economic conditions? While fears about monotowns were exaggerated during the last economic crisis, Russia’s leadership remains concerned. As a result, we can expect the government to continue subsidies, both explicit and hidden, that seek to maintain employment and avoid social conflict, but that preserve the country’s inefficient post-Soviet industrial landscape.
Class structure, class inequality, and class analysis are central to understanding contem- porary... more Class structure, class inequality, and class analysis are central to understanding contem- porary Russian politics and society. And yet Russians themselves—from social scien- tists, to political leaders, to everyday Russians—have struggled to come to grips with the concept of class, which became a taboo topic following the collapse of commu- nism. In recent years, that has started to change. Russian social scientists have placed great emphasis on defining the Russian “middle class,” in a search both for a non- Marxist conception of class and for a social group with the potential to lead Russia toward a more liberal future. Yet the middle class concept remains fuzzy, and the political aspirations for the group have been only partially realized. Meanwhile, much of the rest of Russian society retains a more traditional view of class and class conflict, as reflected in various political struggles and even in popular culture, such as Russian film.
Introduction to Working Through the Past: Labor and Authoritarian Legacies in Comparative Perspec... more Introduction to Working Through the Past: Labor and Authoritarian Legacies in Comparative Perspective. Co-written with Teri L. Caraway and Maria Lorena Cook.
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Books by Stephen Crowley
While such fears are likely overstated, they contribute to the Russian leadership’s anxieties about a potential “color revolution” leading to instability and regime change. Putin has claimed to be the defender of “stability” in contrast to the chaos of Russia’s first postcommunist decade in the 1990s. His popularity soared along with an oil-fueled economic boom in the 2000s. Now that boom has ended, and Russia faces economic stagnation. When Putin’s popularity has sagged, he has portrayed himself as a defender of the country’s rust-belt heartland against the demands of liberal cosmopolitans in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Yet such a populist stance only deepens Russia’s dilemma: With the boom years behind it, economic growth will eventually depend on restructuring the country’s industrial landscape, but doing so threatens to generate protest and instability. Yet continuing to prop up Russia’s industrial workplaces will further burden economic growth, threatening to generate protest and instability.
More information at: https://www.stephencrowley.org/
Published by NotaBene Press: https://notabene.com.tr/urun/putinin-emek-ikilemi-istikrar-ve-durgunluk-arasinda-rus-siyaseti/
Legacies from the predemocratic era shape labor’s present in ways that both limit and enhance organized labor’s power in new democracies. Assessing the comparative impact on a variety of outcomes relevant to labor in widely divergent settings, this volume argues that political legacies provide new insights into why labor movements in some countries have confronted the challenges of neoliberal globalization better than others.
Journal Articles and Book Chapters by Stephen Crowley
evidence of a significant increase in labor protest in recent years, which also reveals that, despite apparent changes in the prosperous 2000s, Russian labor relations and protest are returning to past patterns. The protests are often spontaneous and their likeliness to spread stems less from union support than from policies that impact workers and others as a single category, such as the Platon road-tax system and its impact on truckers. Russia’s truckers also illustrate the potential for economic protests to become politicized. In view of this potential, Russia’s leadership appears to be reinforcing past practices such as avoiding mass layoffs, but such steps may harm long-term economic growth, itself a cause of protest.
While such fears are likely overstated, they contribute to the Russian leadership’s anxieties about a potential “color revolution” leading to instability and regime change. Putin has claimed to be the defender of “stability” in contrast to the chaos of Russia’s first postcommunist decade in the 1990s. His popularity soared along with an oil-fueled economic boom in the 2000s. Now that boom has ended, and Russia faces economic stagnation. When Putin’s popularity has sagged, he has portrayed himself as a defender of the country’s rust-belt heartland against the demands of liberal cosmopolitans in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Yet such a populist stance only deepens Russia’s dilemma: With the boom years behind it, economic growth will eventually depend on restructuring the country’s industrial landscape, but doing so threatens to generate protest and instability. Yet continuing to prop up Russia’s industrial workplaces will further burden economic growth, threatening to generate protest and instability.
More information at: https://www.stephencrowley.org/
Published by NotaBene Press: https://notabene.com.tr/urun/putinin-emek-ikilemi-istikrar-ve-durgunluk-arasinda-rus-siyaseti/
Legacies from the predemocratic era shape labor’s present in ways that both limit and enhance organized labor’s power in new democracies. Assessing the comparative impact on a variety of outcomes relevant to labor in widely divergent settings, this volume argues that political legacies provide new insights into why labor movements in some countries have confronted the challenges of neoliberal globalization better than others.
evidence of a significant increase in labor protest in recent years, which also reveals that, despite apparent changes in the prosperous 2000s, Russian labor relations and protest are returning to past patterns. The protests are often spontaneous and their likeliness to spread stems less from union support than from policies that impact workers and others as a single category, such as the Platon road-tax system and its impact on truckers. Russia’s truckers also illustrate the potential for economic protests to become politicized. In view of this potential, Russia’s leadership appears to be reinforcing past practices such as avoiding mass layoffs, but such steps may harm long-term economic growth, itself a cause of protest.
official has called the war a stalemate, continued funding from both
the US and the EU is in doubt, and manpower for fighting is
dwindling. But what about Russia? Despite the claims of many
observers that the Kremlin wants to fight a “long war,” ample
evidence suggests war fatigue is setting in for Russia as well.
The original with active links is here: https://ridl.io/sanctions-economic-hardship-and-social-in-stability-in-russia/
The color revolutions in a number of post-Soviet societies have followed a typical scenario: After a clearly falsified election, crowds of people, often the young and well-educated, take to the streets and city squares, demanding free and fair elections. But what is different this time is that workers in a number of Belarus’s largest factories have been engaging in strikes in support of the protests. That is deeply troubling for Lukashenko, and for Putin, for several reasons.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/02/10/is-putin-about-to-face-a-colored-revolution/