Illegal work practices and social transformations in Russia

Illegal work practices and social transformations in Russia centers on issues of changes in law as a systemic societal institution. Changes here are occurring in context of transformation process in Russia and differ, in time from,other spheres, i.e., economics and politics, while lagging considerably behind, those two spheres. Authors founded their deliberations on a research (2001) of mass-scale illegal labor practices in Russia involving three component parts' VTSIOM survey data (N = 1376) in-depth questionnaire among individuals from five social and professional groups, in-depth interviews with I employers in enterprises of related branches. Authors' approach was based on liberal concept of-law, delimitating the notion of rights as against law. They emphasize, respectively, illegal and unlawful social and, more narrowly, labor practices. This serves to build typologies of specific legal situations depending on proportions of formal and informal norms. Factors and mechanisms are analyzed with regard to frequency of illegal practices in labor sphere, as well as issues and consequences of institutionalization of illegal practices.