Andrea Chandler is Professor in the Department of Political Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. She authored two previous books: Institutions of Isolation: Border Controls in the Soviet Union and its Successor States, 1917-1993 and Shocking Mother Russia: Democratization, Social Rights, and Pension Reform in Russia, 1990-2001.

Andrea Chandler's fine new book provides an innovative analysis of the competing discourses liberal, nationalist, feminist, human rights - that political elites and citizens used to debate social policy in Russia from 1990-2011. Chandler assigns discourse a key role in explaining policy outcomes, and argues that social policy has been a major cause of both democratizing and de-democratizing regime changes. Linda Cook, Department of Political Science, Brown University, USA

• Introduction: Democracy, Gender and Citizenship in Postcommunist Russia PART I. DISCOURSES OF THE EARLY TRANSITION; LIBERALISM, FEMINISM AND THE MARKETS IN THE 1990S  1. Welfare and Social Justice in the USSR's Final Years 2. Liberalism and Social Reform in the Early Transition 3. Gender Equality, Individual Empowerment and Pluralism PART II. OPPOSITION POLITICS, NATIONALISM AND THE SEARCH FOR AUTHENTICIT, 1995-2004 4. Social Welfare in the Mid-Transition, 1995-2000 5. The Debate on Public Morality 6. The Rediscovery of the Child PART III. STATISM AND DEMOCRATIC REVERSAL UNDER PUTIN; POLICIES FOR A WAYWARD SOCIETY (2000-2008) Chapter 7. Pronatalism and Family Politics under Putin's Presidency Chapter 8. Gender and the State in Debates on Conscription PART IV. STEPS TOWARDS A POST-PUTIN SOCIAL CONTRACT Chapter 9. Social Justice and Social Inclusion, 2005-2011 Conclusion   ?