Engineers versus managers

Experts, market-making and state-building in Putin's Russia

Bibliographic Data

ID2159604
AuthorsSusanne A Wengle (0000-0003-1256-3161)
Year2012
Volume41
Issue3
Pages435-467
Publication date2012-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEconomy and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-5147 • E-ISSN: 1469-5766
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03085147.2012.661623
OpenAlexW2119003226
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited24

Market-making and state-building are mutually reinforcing processes. This paper documents the role played in these processes by two groups of experts in Russia's electricity sector: technical experts and managerially trained experts. I develop two arguments: (1) a shift in the relative power positions of these two groups was a constitutive element of the marketization and liberalization of the electricity sector. The victory of the managerial experts made assets legible and therefore ‘value-able’. (2) the paper demonstrates that the promotion of managerial experts at the expense of technical experts was a deeply political transformation, as it involved the replacement of a well-established, well-connected group of incumbent political actors. More specifically, I show how the promotion of managerial experts at the expense of technical experts helped the federal government of President Putin eliminate one of the main challengers to its ability to regulate economic activity from the centre – regional governors

Business · China · Economic system · Economics · Government (linguistics · Liberalization · Market economy · Marketization · Political science · Politics · Promotion (chess · Public relations · State (computer science · Value (mathematics · Victory · Political Conflict and Governance · Russia and Soviet political economy · Law · Marketing · Public Administration

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