In order to understand today"s Russia and former Soviet republics, it is vital to consider their socialist past. Caroline Humphrey is one of British anthropology"s most highly regarded thinkers on a number of topics including consumption, identity, and ritual. This book brings together eleven of Humphrey"s best essays, which cover, geographically, Central Russia, Siberia, and Mongolia; and thematically, the politics of locality, property, and persons. Bridging the strongest of Humphrey"s work from 1991 to 2001, the essays do a great deal to demystify the sensational topics of mafia, barter, bribery, and the new shamanism by locating them in the lived experiences of a wide range of subjects.