MIDDLE CLASS IN THE BALTIC COUNTRIES SINCE 1991

• Authors: Taljunaite Meilute , Sviklas Eduardas Kestutis
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The article presents the analysis of social identifications of Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) population with middle class position between 1991 and 2012. The forms of social identification in different periods of formation of the Baltic countries are analyzed in the context of the dominant ideologies or theories and national self-identification complexity is investigated. The class structure in all Baltic countries is changing. The analysis of social structure in different countries moves mainly in parallel to each other but the data is not strictly comparable neither by themes, nor by sample for each country. Sociologists are no longer surprised of the efforts of researchers in various countries undergoing rapid transitions or transformations to provide new meanings to the concepts of the middle class taking into account peculiarities and history of their respective countries. This article also aims at analyzing social identity of the people of the Baltic countries at the beginning of their formation and further as well. Different surveys are discussed in this article. Since 1991, until now, after the restoration of the independence of the Baltic countries, a number of sociological studies has been carried out to analyze the emerging post-Soviet social structure of society. In practice, every research carried out differed both in methodological and method’s approaches. The aim of this article is to analyze the existing social stratification in the Baltic countries on the basis of sociological studies of the middle class, emphasizing the middle class as the main guarantor of creating a modern society. The novelty of the article is that it makes an attempt to use the data of different, multidimensional researches to discover commonalities or peculiarities of the middle class formation and self-identification with middle class position in the Baltic countries. The analysis has also shown that the identity of the middle class remains the strongest on all stages of formation of the Baltic countries, while only the content and the understanding of the middle class differ. Dominant tendencies of the middle class formation in the Baltic countries are connected with transformations and changes taking place within working class and intelligence. It has been revealed that the Baltic countries middle class is far from being homogeneous.

Keywords

EN

social stratification; social class; middle class; Baltic countries

• Publisher: Daugavpils University, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Journal: Sociālo Zinātņu Vēstnesis
• Year: 2018
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 7-27

Contributors

author

Taljunaite Meilute

author

Sviklas Eduardas Kestutis

Identifiers

ISSN

1691-1881