Actual and Perceptual Social Inequality under Transformative Change in Russia and China

This essay aims at comparing social inequality in Russia and China and how it is perceived by the urban population. The study from which evidence is drawn was conducted through a common methodology of representative surveys of the adult population in two big cities—Shanghai and St Petersburg. The investigation shows that although people in Russia and China have broadly egalitarian attitudes, there are significant differences in the way in which Russians and Chinese regard the current system of distribution. Attitudes to social inequality are much more complicated than a direct link with the objective social situation would suggest. Egalitarian attitudes are connected not only with the actual incomes but they are very powerfully affected by subjective assessments of the distributive system. The essay argues that behind a tendency towards the convergence of political regimes in the two countries at the present time there are different patterns of legitimacy based not only on economic achievement but also on the attitudes of the population, which the ruling elites use in seeking to strengthen their monopoly.