2008. Vol. 9. No. 2

The results of transformation process in Russia came out to be just the opposite to the reformators’ expectations at the beginning of 1990s. That is why the government has changed the course of reforms and implemented the traditional for Russian economy practices the given mechanisms in the new forms. The general theory of institutional transformations gives another explanation towards what is going on. The explanation differs from the popular assumption of renaissance of plan economy and renewal of the institutions of power-ownership. According to this theory Russia has witnessed the creation of the «economy of the liberal distribution», the characteristics of which become the state contract and state order as modern forms of institutionalization of the “take-give” relations, state corporations become the basis for production function while the basic economic mechanism will be budget accounting 

The purpose of the paper is to consider the traditional object of micro-economic analysis from the approach of the “cultural” mediators – advertising agents – and to show the mistakes of traditional differentiation between economic and cultural analysis and well as reduction concepts steaming from it. At the same time the definitions of “market” and “product” will let us use the knowledge more efficiently and make it easier to understand the institutional processes of bordering between markets and products. The knowledge is got from the research of consumption and material culture. Along with the theoretical and substantial statements the paper contains the methodological thesis: ethnographical studies are of principal value not only for their obvious necessity to keep the relations with social practices but also for the basis for further theoretical development.  The given task is solved by the analysis of progress by the advertising agency of two products: oil “Johnson’s Baby” and crispy rolls «Energen»

The enterprises that are intergraded into the transnational corporations account for qualitative changes in the labour relations. How do the traditional practices of the trade union adapt to the policy and actions of the new owner? What problems stem from this interaction? Do the preferences and work formats of the trade union change in the organization? The author provides the answers to these questions by analyzing the experience of Samarkand metallurgical plant.

The paper deals with the phenomenon of downshifting – the sharp and voluntary downward change of social status, refuse from conventional  goods and prestige in order to have personal comfort lifestyle. The author tried to build in this phenomenon into the current classifications and describe the downshifters as a group on the basis of the stratification criteria.