Building castles in the sky: The domestication of daily life in urban Russia

The post-Soviet era, though fraught with economic and political turbulence, saw the introduction of new rights and freedoms for Russian citizens. As the state monopoly slowly loosened its grip on the structural minutia of daily life, a legally-recognized market economy emerged. These vast changes propelled a myriad of social issues to the fore. This dissertation examines these issues by looking at the relationship between citizens, the state, and the market in urban Russia, using housing as the foundation. The study traces the politics of daily life, moving between the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, based on seventeen months of anthropological field research in St. Petersburg.;Unlike current works on socialism that posit a great divide between the socialist system and citizens' daily lives, this dissertation asserts that "the system" was a malleable folk category---a category that the state and its citizens forged collectively during the Soviet era. Citizens' beliefs and practices articulated the complexities of Soviet society. From this perspective, "the system" mediated social meanings and daily routines, manifesting the complex relationship between citizens and the state.;With the introduction of reforms---particularly in the housing sector---the state began disassembling Soviet discourses and categories, and rallying for a market economy. As federal and local governments, civic organizations, and citizens have attempted to forge their place in post-Soviet society, certain social practices and meanings have become obsolete, while others have remained potent tools. Despite an emerging market economy, seventy years of socialism has left an indelible mark on Russian society. I suggest that the way citizens have tacked between Soviet and post-Soviet practices and meanings in their daily lives characterizes the fluidity of post-Soviet society. As the relationship between citizens and the state widened to encompass the newly-legalized-market, this study explores how "the system" and the market have affected people's lives---and how those people affected the nature of "the system" and the market.