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Про равенство и неравенство
The article deals with issues of social stratification and mobility. The author reviews various forms of equality and inequality and analyzes their existence in societies of various types. The work is based on the findings of polls conducted over a period of several decades. The analysis of the findings attests both to the existence of actual inequality in Soviet society and to the reflection of this fact in mass consciousness. The article examines the specific features of mobility, Soviet style. The paths of careers and the circumstances of their realization varied in different periods of Soviet history, yet rigid bureaucratic control over vertical mobility, which eventually led to stagnation— actual cessation of the turnover of high-status groups—and subsequent collapse of the system, remained unchanged.