"Good" and "bad" billionaires in post-soviet Russia (1997–2020)

The article shows the idea of American economist Ruchir Sharma about "good" and "bad" billion-aires in relation to modern Russia, indicates the criteria proposed by Ruchir Sharma for classifying billionaires as "good" and "bad". The ratio between "good" and "bad" billionaires in modern Russia is studied for the period from 1997 till 2020. To identify "good" billionaires, their list for 2008, 2015 and 2020 is given, indicating companies and industry. For the same years, the shares of "good" billionaires in the total amount of billionaires and their total property were calculated. Sig-nificant growth of a number of "good" billionaires and their share in their total amount and total property of billionaires has been found. The main factors that determined the dynamics and share of "good" billionaires are indicated: the dynamics of world oil prices and the maturity of the Russian bourgeoisie. The share of "good" billionaires in Russia is being compared with the remaining 19 countries analysed by Ruchir Sharma. It turns out that even in the best year of 2020 for Russia in terms of the share of "good" billionaires, it was far behind other countries. Objective and subjective reasons for Russia’s catastrophic lag in the share of "good" billionaires are shown. Objective reasons include the youth of Russian capitalism and the huge demographic losses of Russia in the XX century, especially among the creative part of the population. Subjective reasons include the vices of the carried out in post-Soviet Russia political and economic reforms and the resulting economic and political structure. The negative consequences of the small share of "good" billionaires are analysed. These include the economic crisis in Russia in 2008 and the unsatisfactory structure of the Russian economy, as well as a huge social differentiation. The author proposes measures for accelerated modernization of the Russian economy, creating the most favourable conditions for the growth of "good" billionaires.

Making others (un)equal: The social ethics of Scandinavian enclaving in Maputo, Mozambique

This article explores practices and ideologies of equality as the central mechanisms through which cosmopolitan Scandinavians in the capital of Mozambique simultaneously build themselves as a community and sever relationships with locals, thereby constructing a socioeconomic, cultural and moral enclave within the city. Scandinavian sociality is predicated upon the absence of overt signs of social differentiation and these practices are reproduced in their interactions in Maputo. Egalitarian values, paradoxically, allow Scandinavians to mask the structures of inequality inherent to local society and engage in structurally unequal relations in which they act as if all interactions were between autonomous equals, possessed of equivalent social and economic capital. Specifically, the article explores the ways through which Scandinavian expatriates justify the use of domestic labour while refusing to recognise the implication of this structurally unequal employment in the local context. By insisting on equality and autonomy as the basis for social interactions, Scandinavians reject local forms of constructing relationships that are predicated upon the recognition of unequal positions and an obligation of responsibility towards dependents. They thereby refuse to engage with local expectations and understandings of labour relations and fail to recognise the implications of their position within the Mozambican social hierarchy.

Wealth of nomads – an exploratory analysis of livestock inequality in the Saami reindeer husbandry

Social inequality is pervasive in contemporary human societies. Nevertheless, there is a view that livestock, as the primary source of wealth, limits the development of inequalities, making pastoralism unable to support complex or hierarchical organisations. Thus, complex nomadic pastoral organisation is predominantly caused by external factors, i.e., historically nomadic political organisation mirrored the neighbouring sedentary population's sophistication. Using governmental statistics on reindeer herding in Norway (2001 - 2018), this study demonstrates nothing apparent in the pastoral adaptation with livestock as the main base of wealth that level wealth inequalities and limits social differentiation. This study found that inequality was generally decreasing in terms of the Gini coefficient and cumulative wealth. For example, the proportion owned by the wealthy decreased from 2001 to 2018, while the proportion owned by the poor increased. Nevertheless, rank differences persist over time with minor changes. Especially, being poor is stable: around 50% of households ranked as poor in 2001 continued to be so in 2018. In sum, results from this study indicate that pastoral wealth inequality follows the same patterns as all forms of wealth. Wealth accumulates over time, and because the highest earners can save much of their income (i.e., newborn livestock), low earners cannot. High earners can thus accumulate more and more wealth over time, leading to considerable wealth inequalities.

Indexical borders: the sociolinguistic scales of the shibboleth

This paper engages with the notion of the shibboleth, an indexically loaded, usually referentially indifferent set of (ideologically constructed) minimal pairs that is used in order to mark and perform social differentiation. We argue that the shibboleth is to be considered an interpretive (metapragmatic) phenomenon that operates on different sociolinguistic scales, notably the discursive scale (ideologies of communication), the performative scale (performance and metapragmatic stance-taking), and the subjective scale (lived experience). We propose a scalar metapragmatic theory of the shibboleth as an “indexical border” that takes into account how shibboleths emerge (are enregistered) and how they depend on contextualisation (or the indexical field). As a case in point, we present analyses of biographical construals of sociolinguistic displacement in the context of remigration from German-speaking countries to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Specifically, we focus on construals of displacement that are connected with (mis-)performances of phonologically rather subtle but indexically highly salient Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian affricate shibboleths (<č/dž> and <ć/đ>).

COVID-19 and Social Differentiation in African Agriculture

This brief presents a summary of key findings from a multi-country study of social differentiation in African agricultural value chains in the context of COVID-19. It aims to understand how trends in the politics and participation of different actors in agriculture have contributed to patterns of social differentiation, and how these patterns have interacted with the shock of COVID-19. It brings attention both to the implications of political decision-making and the effects of the pandemic on value chain structures and those working within the sector.

Social differentiation and well-being in the Italian Iron Age: exploring the relationship between sex, age, biological stress, and burial complexity among the Picenes of Novilara (8th–7th c. BC)

The possible association between “biological” and “social” status in the past is a central topic in bioarchaeological studies. For the Italian Iron Age, previous research comparing skeletal and funerary variables depicts a multifaceted scenario consistent with nuanced biocultural patterns. This calls for additional studies on a broader series of archaeological contexts and skeletal assemblages. Here, we contribute new data about the biological correlates of social differentiation during the Italian Iron Age by comparing paleopathological and funerary variables in the Picene necropolis of Novilara (Marche region, 8th–7th c. BC). Novilara is one of the largest Picene necropolises in the Italian Peninsula and one of the most important funerary sites of the Italian Iron Age. The skeletal sample includes 147 individuals (females: 70; males: 35; 10 unsexed adults; 32 non-adults). We use linear enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, non-specific periosteal lesions, and stature to approximate non-specific stressors and compare them with archaeological variables summarizing funerary variability by means of logistic models, Mann–Whitney and Spearman tests. Results are heterogeneous and vary according to the considered variables. On average, they however show that (a) adults featuring a more complex funerary treatment have a lower probability of showing stress-related skeletal changes, and (b) even though funerary features suggests a strong gender differentiation, frequencies of paleopathological variables do not differ between sexes. Our analyses point to a complex link between biological and social status in this population and call for a critical reflection about the theoretical and methodological issues affecting similar studies.

Fishing Livelihoods and Social Diversity

This chapter shifts scale from Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-79591-7_2 to focus on the local context and analyse the everyday sets of social relationships that frame the lives of those engaged in fishing livelihoods. The broad structural forces of migration, technology and markets along with the wider economy all intersect with local sets of social structures to shape the conditions in which fishing livelihoods operate. Here we present two examples of how different forms of social differentiation interact with fishing livelihoods. In the Western Philippines, class and status intersect with cultural values to generate power relations and hierarchies in different roles associated with fishing livelihoods. In Pacific Island countries, gender norms structure the different types of fishing activities in which men and women are involved.

Politics, Power and Social Differentiation in African Agricultural Value Chains: The Effects of COVID-19

Since the structural adjustment policies of the 1980s, policymaking at a national and continental level has increasingly turned to agricultural commercialisation as the foundation for Africa’s long-term nutrition and food security. However, socio-economic inequalities, land tenure and food insecurity, as well as livelihood and income precarities remain widespread challenges. The effects of shocks, such as COVID-19, have overlaid emergent and entrenched patterns of social differentiation that shape access to resources, markets, and other opportunities for those involved in commercial agriculture. This paper considered the impacts of COVID-19 on value chains in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, to ask: 1) What can political settlements analyses tell us about agricultural value chains and responses to COVID-19 in the countries studied? 2) How are structures and power relations throughout the value chains and actors’ responses to COVID-19 related to social differentiation in the context of African agriculture?