Objective and subjectiveaspects of themiddle class distinctionin regional society

The article considers the criteria for the distinction of the middle class in the social
structure of Russian regions. The author uses the theoretical and methodological approaches
conceptualizing the stratification of contemporary Russian society, as well as data of her own
research of middle-income groups in three regions of the Middle Volga: the Samara region, the
Ulyanovsk region, the Republic of Mari El. The identification of the middle class on the basis of
objective and subjective criteria allowed distinguishing regional specifics of quantitative and
qualitative structure of the middle class, and evaluating the self-sufficiency of these criteria.

identification criteria of the middle class, middle class structure, the middle class role in regional development