This volume deals with one of the most understudied aspects of everyday life in Russian
society. Its main heroes are the providers of goods and services to whom people turn for
healthcare instead of official medical institutions. A wide range of agents is described-from
network marketing companies to 'folk' journals on health as well as healers complementary
medicine specialists and religious organizations. Krasheninnikova's book is based on rich
empirical observations and avoids both positive and critical assessment of the analyzed
phenomena. Her investigation pays particular attention to the legal social and economic
status of informal healthcare providers. She demonstrates that these agents tend to flourish in
bigger towns rather than in small settlements where public healthcare is lacking. The study
reveals the important role of institutions that are generally not related to alternative
medicine such as pharmacies libraries and church shops. The result is a vivid and thorough
introduction to the world of self-medication and alternative healing in contemporary Russia. A
special emphasis was made on the flexibility of boundaries between formal and informal
healthcare due to the evolution of rules and regulations.
