| Summary: | The social cost of “delayed” modernization in post-Soviet societies is discussed. This type of modernization implies that there is a recognized standard of modernization that societies must endeavor to reach. This standard may be regarded as the level of modernization in Western society and is a level that is impossible to reach because of the superficial understanding of Western culture and the collapse of traditional society. There is a large sociocultural gap between processes that are now taking place and those that are deeply rooted in post-Soviet society. Findings from a study of Odessa and Odessa Oblast reveal that although the majority of the public supported the development of a market economy from 1990-95, by 1996, there were more opponents than supporters of market transition. The underutilization of human resources, leading to the “poverty of productive labor,” is the central social cost of reform.
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