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Klappentext The word blat refers to the system of informal contacts and personal networks which was used to obtain goods and services under the rationing which characterised Soviet Russia. Alena Ledeneva's book is the first to analyse blat in all its historical, socio-economic and cultural aspects, and to explore its implications for post-Soviet society. In a socialist distribution system which resulted in constant shortages, blat developed into an 'economy of favours' which shadowed an overcontrolling centre and represented the reaction of ordinary people to the social constraints they faced. In social and economic terms, blat exchanges became vital to the population, and to the functioning of the Soviet system. The book shows that the nature of the economic and political changes in contemporary Russia cannot be properly understood without attention to the powerful legacy of the blat economy. Zusammenfassung This book examines the little-known phenomenon of blat - the use of informal contacts and personal networks to obtain goods and services under the rationing which pervaded Soviet Russia. Alena Ledeneva analyses the historical! socio-economic! and cultural aspects of blat! and explores its implications for post-Soviet Russia. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of cartoons; List of figures and tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Blat: the unknown phenomenon; 2. Understanding blat; 3. The Soviet order: a view from within; 4. The use of personal networks; 5.Blat as a form of exchange: between gift and commodity; 6. Networking in the post-Soviet period; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.
