THE CORPORATE ETHIC,THE ETHIC OF SAMOSTOYATELNOST AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM: REFLECTIONS ON MARKET-BUILDING IN POST-SOVIET RUSSIA

Abstract

This article attempts to elaborate a culturalist approach to the problems of the current economic reform in Russia, which is based on the works of Karl Polanyi and Max Weber. It argues that the currently predominant corporate ethic of Russian industrialists may not necessarily be viewed as an obstacle to national market-building. On the contrary, it may prove useful in the initial phases of constructing the Russian national market, because it seems to foster the creation of financial and industrial concerns, united in a national network of exchanges. However, the article also argues that a profound cultural change is a prerequisite for the later stages of successful market-building in Russia. The potential for and mechanisms of the transition from the corporate ethic of the currently dominant economic actors to the new individualistic ethic of samostoyatelnost are discussed. The Weber-inspired analysis points to the curious cultural change which has already occurred in some groups of formerly zealous collectivist ascetics.