The end of communism in Eastern Europe ushered in an era of markets and modernity. Post-communist capitalism has also wrought stratification with intensified upward and downward socio-economic mobility. Examining the case of Latvia, we offer an analysis of one of post-communist capitalism’s most apparent effects: the creation of a broad and diverse mass of economically disadvantaged inhabitants. While numerous writers have framed their analyses in terms of the ‘winners and losers’ of change, most research has treated these categories as exclusive entities and has paid little attention to the sociological relationship between them or the diversity within them. This work elaborates the relationship between the economically disadvantaged and both post-communist capitalism and the upper socio-economic rungs of society. As well, we offer three ideal-typical categories for description and analysis of post-communism’s economically disadvantaged masses.
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