Katharina Bluhm, Freie Universität Berlin

Ewa Dąbrowska, Freie Universität Berlin

This chapter analyses the interaction of Russian growth strategies, understood as a chain of decisions (and non-decisions) taken by political and economic actors, with welfare state reforms. It focusses on the period since 2000 but puts the recent developments in a broader historic context. The authors argue that Russia’s electoral authoritarianism did not manage to establish an effective growth regime beyond energy revenues. The resource sector and especially the oil sector accounts for a bulk of Russian growth. Oil revenues are used for financing budget expenditures, state investments and as a reserve for oil-price-driven crises, but these revenues are not enough to stimulate growth in the presence of often inefficient governance institutions, oligarchic dominance in the economy, relatively low wages and low innovation that is due to insecure property rights and systemic corruption. Nevertheless, alongside this ineffective oil-based growth regime Putin’s government established an oil-based socio-economic regime around federal financial institutions, state holdings, and state banks, which is capable of dealing with recurrent crises. This regime emerged partly by purpose, partly due to non-intended effects of reforms and power struggle. Not economic growth as such, but resilience vis-à-vis crises and provision of political support for Putin defines such a regime’s workings. A set of social policies are an integral part of this regime.

As of the winter semester 2021/2022, the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS), in cooperation with the Freie Universität Berlin, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), is opening invitations to a new multidisciplinary research colloquium. The colloquium is to serve as a discussion forum for work in progress by PhD candidates, postdocs, and established researchers whose work in the social sciences focuses on Eastern Europe. With this colloquium, the aim is to establish a permanent meeting point in the Berlin-Brandenburg area for those engaged in research on Eastern Europe. The research colloquium will take place online every second Wednesday at 6pm in the months during the semester. We will send the access data shortly before the beginning of each session.

If you wish to participate, please register with Anja Krüger (events(at)zois-berlin(dot)de).

Organisers

• Prof. Dr. Gwendolyn Sasse, Zentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien
• Prof. Dr. Katharina Bluhm, Freie Universität Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Sabine Kropp, Freie Universität Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Silvia von Steinsdorff, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Timm Beichelt, Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Anja Krüger
Communications Coordinator
events(at)zois-berlin.de