Description
This book analyzes the Soviet Union's social problems, focusing on those it shares with Western industrial societies. It assesses the social concerns confronting Gorbachev, including poverty; prostitution; health, education, and family issues; and the difficulty of adapting to technological change.
Table of Contents
Introduction -- Politics and Social Problems -- Ethnic Differentiation and Political Communication -- Pollution in the Soviet Union: The Growth of Environmentalism and Its Consequences -- Atomic Culture in the USSR: Before and After Chernobyl -- Soviet Health Problems and the Convergence Hypothesis -- Drug Abuse in the USSR -- Drinking and Alcohol Abuse in the USSR in the 1980s -- Equality of Opportunity -- Perestroika and the Rebirth of Charity -- Aging and the Elderly -- No End of a Problem: Perestroika for the Family? -- Problems in the Schools -- Youth Problems in the Soviet Union -- Crime in the Soviet Union -- Prostitution, the Press, and Agenda-Building in the Soviet Policy Process -- Adapting to New Technologies
