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Thinking Allowed: Russia's upper class, Flip Flops

Laurie Taylor and banana Flip Flops

02/07/2014

Russia's upper class, Flip Flops

BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed, Russia's upper class, Flip Flops

Flip flops: A global journey. Also, Russia's upper class.

Flip flops: Laurie Taylor explores the global journey of one of the world's most everyday objects. Also, how Russia's upper class acquires social distinction.

Flip flops: the world wide trail of an everyday commodity. Laurie Taylor talks to Caroline Knowles, Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, whose study takes a ground level view of the lives and places of globalisation's back roads, via that most ubiquitous of footwear - the flip flop sandal. Also, research into Russia's elite and how they acquire social distinction. Dr Elisabeth Schimpfossl, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, looks at the strategies employed by representatives of Russia's new social upper class to gain status and prestige. Distancing themselves from the 'vulgar' excesses of the brutal 90s, they've moved away from ostentatious displays of wealth, seeking legitimacy for their position by developing a more 'cultured' image.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

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