Tamara Kusimova1; 1 Central European University, Austria
Discussion
Russia is known for its high levels of inequality: its Gini index is around 0,4, and the richest 10% account for 83% of all personal wealth. Beyond the apparent drawbacks of slowing economic growth, this level of inequality affects opportunities for upward social mobility, an issue that is much more tangible in everyday life. Education is one of the most important channels of upward social mobility, but according to current research, education and one's life trajectory depend mainly on the family's socio-economic status. Despite numerous studies of monetary inequality in contemporary Russia, only a few focus on subjective perceptions of inequality and the moral reasoning behind it. The study I will present is qualitative research of young people with underprivileged backgrounds (usually an intersection of low-income families from a small town or village) that entered top tier universities and moved to Moscow. These are rare cases of upward social mobility through education that presumably allow respondents to grasp the differences between two contrasting socio-economic contexts and articulate their views on the forms of inequality they encounter on their own terms. This research will address several questions: 1) what factors justify their moral attitudes to socio-economic inequality 2) to which extent inequality can be morally justifiable? 3) what constitutes morally "good" and "bad" ways to succeed in life?
