Nation-state formation: features of social stratification in the late Soviet era

This article examines reasons for the demise of the USSR, suggesting that problems in international relations were more culpable than economic factors, and that 'perestroika' triggered nationalistic forces, along with weaknesses within the center of government itself; the author suggests that the processes in mass consciousness and 'shadow' forces beyond the intelligentsia and reformers disposed the central authority, and that these forces included interest groups from the managerial and republic elites. Issues include a definition of the economic managerial elites, national elites, social and cultural prerequisites for the mobilization of public opinion, post-Soviet perspectives, and national statehood in the transitional period.