The talk is based on a chapter discussing the links between pre-communist social structure and post-communist voting patterns among the middle class from her forthcoming book The Estate Origins of Democracy in Russia: From Imperial Bourgeoisie to Post-Communist Middle-Class (coming out with Cambridge University Press in 2022). The book departs from classic accounts in historical political economy and comparative politics that analyze the significance of the bourgeoisie from the perspective of coalitional dynamics and role in genesis of particular orders—democracy or autocracy. Instead, it regards the bourgeoisie as an intergenerational social category that is best analyzed within the context of the transition of late feudal societies into modern knowledge economies where human capital acquires centre stage as a social marker and as a driver of autonomy of groups and individuals; the long reach of this transition in turn has implications for social positioning in present-day illiberal regimes and democracies under threat.

Discussant: Nicholas James (Oxford)