Social Inequality and the Continuing Russian Mortality Crisis

Abstract

This paper re-examines the Russian mortality crisis drawing attention to the evidence of the intensification of pre-existing mortality gradients and their relationships to social inequality. The paper notes that social scientists and area specialists have lagged behind health and demographic specialists in drawing attention to the links between social inequality and death in Russia. It suggests that social epidemiological approaches offer a way to link the analysis of death to the economic and social structures of society in Russia.

The wounds of post-socialism: a systematic review of the social determinants of mortality in Hungary

“…Social scientists have much to learn from social epidemiologists who have designed robust methodologies and complex theoretical frameworks for analysing the political economic determinants of health. As it has been noted before, social scientists and area specialists should focus more on the mortality crisis in Hungary (Haynes 2013). No critical analysis of postsocialism can be complete without assessing the human costs of economic transformation.…”

“…There is a growing literature addressing the issue of the post-socialist mortality crisis both in Hungary and beyond (Brainerd 1998;Rosefielde 2001;Bobak and Marmot 1996;Cornia and Paniccià 2000;Shkolnikov and Cornia 2000;Cockerham, Snead, and DeWaal 2002;Azarova et al 2017;McKee 2001;McKee and Shkolnikov 2001;Stuckler, King, and McKee 2009;Haynes 2013). Yet as of today there is no systematic review of the scholarly work on the social determinants of mortality in Hungary.…”