How Did the Russian Population Respond to the Global Financial Crisis?

Abstract

The way in which the Russian population responded to the global financial crisis – hunkering down and eschewing industrial action but, as time progressed, resorting with increasing frequency to social protests – suggests that the Putin regime had indeed, as many experts have argued, concluded a tacit social contract with the Russian people. However, this was not a simple matter of trading political rights for sausage. Rather, it depended on the expectation that stability would endure and prosperity would increase. When those expectations were disappointed, Russians showed that they were ready to protest and to challenge their leaders.