When Things Fall Apart : Qualitative Studies of Poverty in the Former Soviet Union

This book documents the experiences of
men, women, and children in Armenia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz
Republic, Latvia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and
Uzbekistan as they struggle with the dramatic changes in
lifestyle and extreme poverty that followed the collapse of
the Soviet Union. Based on hundreds of open-ended interviews
conducted by local people over a span of five years, this
book captures the particularities of poverty in each
nation-state as well as a collective sense of
disillusionment and a strikingly similar array of response
to the crisis. certain aspects of the dynamics of poverty in
the former Soviet Union and its interaction with gender,
age, and ethnicity are highlighted. They deepen the
understanding of how poor people in these countries
experience, explain, and cope with their new circumstances.
The studies also identify the range of cultural and
administrative barriers that hinder poor people from
accessing public services and exploiting economic
opportunities. Above all, they highlight important
psychological dimensions of poverty in the FSU, including
the collapse of values and beliefs that accompanied the
increase in poverty and the resulting disorientation
experienced by the poor. Finally, the studies demonstrate
the continuing importance of informal support networks and
the persistence of paternalistic relationships and
expectations that the old regime had fostered.