Russian Neoliberal: The Entrepreneurial Ethic and the Spirit of “True Careerism”

Abstract

One of the most important results of the first post-Soviet decade in Russia is the world of affluent businessmen, successful cosmopolitan entrepreneurs, and the proverbial New Russians. Until recently this world was unimaginable and to this day is hidden from the view of most people in Russia. It is inhabited by remarkable characters-biznezmeny (businessmen), bankiry (bankers), brokery (brokers), dilery (traders), ekaunt-menedzhery (account managers), kopiraitery (copy-writers). They are residents of Moscow and a few other large cities, familiar to the majority only from the pages of new mass publications and from fleeting encounters on urban streets characterized by one Moscow sociologist: We often see his shining automobile racing through the city at high speed. Sometimes his slightly plump figure in an expensive cashmere coat is glimpsed as he passes from his car to a restaurant or bank or through the mysteriously glittering doors of a luxurious office.' Most active and successful participants in the world of Russia's private business constitute a group defined quite precisely along generational and gender lines. A magazine that caters to aspiring young entrepreneurs summarizes this world as follows: Literally within a few years a new generation of businessmen-young, energetic, tough-was formed before our eyes. They are as a rule under forty.2 Endless lists of best bankers, best brokers, and best managers, compiled by publications for and about businessmen, describe them as predominantly men in their thirties-according to one list, in 1999, the average age of the country's forty top managers of private companies was 35.5, and thirtysix of them were men.3 Indeed, according to sociological studies, in the second half of the