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DISSERTATION ABSTRACT

The transition to a market economy has deeply transformed the urban space of Moscow (Russia) as well as the class and gender processes in which its residents participate. Focus on the transition from state to private economy ignores the profound effects of current policies on fundamental daily economic activities such as domestic work and income earning in the second economy. Consequently, the transformation of related class and gender processes is not being addressed. This dissertation developed an alternative framework of "multiple economies" to analyze the connections that exist between class, gender, and urban space in the "formal" economy, informal wage work, and domestic labor. A small portion of downtown Moscow, strongly affected by privatization of economy and buildings, was used as the study area. 45 in-depth interviews of 30 households with young children (single-, two-parent, nuclear, and extended) were conducted regarding their past and present income earning activities, domestic work, and uses of urban space. Digital micro-scale base maps of the study area and building uses for 1989 and 1995 were analyzed using GIS. Other data included interviews with local urban administrators and secondary sources. The dissertation documented past and present class and gender processes in the "formal" economy, in the "informal" "second" economy, and the "informal non-monetized" economy of household production. A new urban geography shaped by the transition has replaced neighborhood-oriented stores and services with producer services and elite consumption sites that exclude local residents. The reduced consumption leads to increased household-based production of goods and services. The performance of household members in the formal economy is in a dynamic relationship with their class and gender positions in multiple economies. New configurations of class and gender in the labor market depend largely on the organization of labor in the informal non-monetized economy of households. Women often become full-time housekeepers but they also emerge as primary wage earners when other household members, including husbands, take on their domestic tasks. Women with children but without networks of support are most marginalized by the market economy while single parents with daily networks of support are able to secure private sector jobs.