Poverty and inequality as challenges to the national-state identity and the formation of the civil nation of Russia

The article examines the impact of poverty and social inequality on the process of formation of national-state identity and civil nation of Russia, namely the formation of a sense of solidarity, of belonging, of the collective perception of «we are Russians», The author displays the growing extent and forms of inequality both on a global and national scale, analyzes the perception of poverty and social inequality by Russians, as well as the position and possibilities of the state to regulate the level of social inequality.