No 2 (2015)

Articles

Veterans about the Great Patriotic War: On the results of the sociological survey

Ivanov V.N., Sergeev V.K.

Abstract

The article is a new link in a series of publications devoted to the analysis of empirical data obtained in the inter-regional survey conducted by the Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Moscow Institute of Socio-Cultural Programs. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War were the main object of the study as having certain attitudes and beliefs, worldview and value orientations. The survey was conducted in different regions of Russia including Moscow, Saint Petersburg, regions and republics of the European Russia, the Caucasus, and Siberia. Among other questions, the authors reveal the veterans’ attitude to the events of the war itself (comparative evaluation of the combat capability of the Red Army and the army of Nazi Germany, the factors that influenced the course of the war, the relationships with the commanding staff, etc.). The authors undertake a detailed analysis of the socio-demographic characteristics of the veterans, their typical biographical trajectories during the war, religious beliefs and its changes in the life course. The article pays special attention to the questions asking veterans to assess their current social and financial situation, the availability of cultural facilities, the attitudes towards them from the state in different periods of post-war Russian history up to the present day.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):7-18
pages 7-18 views

“White spots” of the generational analysis: Objective and subjective meaning of the age

Trotsuk I.V.

Abstract

As a rule, it goes without saying that the generational analysis is one of the major tasks of sociology, which aims to diagnose the state and trends of the social development by comparing value priorities, attitudes and behavioral patterns of the age subgroups that constitute the society. Despite the lack of a common definition of ‘generation’ in the scientific discourse and the differences in its interdisciplinary interpretations researchers agree that in sociology we define ‘generation’ not so much as a demographic group of the same age, but as a certain symbolic community whose members were raised in the similar social conditions. Unfortunately, the Russian sociology adheres to the fragmented version of generational analysis focusing mainly on the youth (less often on the working population as a whole) and ‘forgets’ about the elderly and children due to several reasons, but the main ones are evident in both cases - the older generations are largely ignored, and for the youngest it is difficult to choose an adequate methodological approach. The article indicates the thematic priorities of generational analysis in its sociological format (focus on the social status and symbolic features of generations rather than on the culture of childhood, which is the subject of historical research), identifies its key concepts (generation and cohort) and problems, summarized the differences of the methodological approaches (primarily quantitative and qualitative) and research orientations especially in the study of older ages.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):19-35
pages 19-35 views

Marcel Mauss: The practical idea of magic in “pantheism of mana”

Yatsutsenko Y.V.

Abstract

The article assembles theoretic models that define magic as an original social phenomenon fundamentally different from religion. Referring to the definitions of C. Lévi-Strauss, G. Gurvitch and V.I. Garadga the author focuses on the conception of magic proposed by Marcel Mauss. He defined magic as a practical idea in which knowledge and experience coincide, therefore, magic cannot exist as something abstract or theoretical, as an ordinary turnover of representations and experience but rather as their alloy. A representation becomes magical only at the rite, which in its turn can be considered magical only if the principle of mana was intended. According to Mauss, mana is a nominal universal measure of the intensity of connections between natural elements including people. For an adept of magic, the magic reasoning does not suppose discovering some meanings - rather an active interpretation of the idea of potential contact or contrast between all elements. In other words, mana does not possess any real content; this magic institution does not impose meanings, but allows to express and support them in the mutually conditioned oppositions in a differentiation system. Thus, we can identify a magical worldview based on mana as a plastic cognitive formation, in which we can trace a special interlacing of ‘cosmic freedom’ and ‘traditional unfreedom’ for a magician. Magic as knowledge does not substantialize in either society nor nature despite its direct appeal to the physical characteristics of objects and playing up the role orders. Magic is a fine example of a purely social formation for nothing else but inner social machinery explains it; the casuistry of magic cannot be objectified without special collective representations.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):36-48
pages 36-48 views

Interconnection of socio-cultural adaptation and identity in the socialization process

Rakhmanova L.Y.

Abstract

The article considers the influence of the socio-cultural adaptation of an individual on his personality and identity structure; analyzes the processes of primary and secondary socialization in comparison with subsequent adaptation processes, as well as the possibility of a compromise between the unchanging, rigid identity and the ability to adapt flexibly to the changing context. The author identifies positive and negative aspects of adaptation in the contemporary society while testing the hypothesis that if the adaptation is successful and proceeds within the normal range, it helps to preserve the stability of social structures, but does not contribute to their development for the maladaptive behavior of individuals and groups stimulates social transformations. In the second part of the article, the author shows the relationship of the socio-cultural identity and the individual status in various social communities and tries to answer the question whether the existence and functioning of the social community as a pure ‘form’ without individuals (its members) is possible. The author describes the identity phenomenon in the context of the opposition of the universal and unique, similarities and differences. The article also introduces the concept of the involvement in the socio-cultural context as one of the indicators of the completeness and depth of individual socio-cultural adaptation to a certain environment, which is quite important for the internal hierarchy of individual identity.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):49-58
pages 49-58 views

Autopoiesis of the techno-social systems as a factor of social risks proliferation

Orlov D.E., Orlova N.A.

Abstract

The article describes the problem of the unpredictable proliferation and complication of techno-social systems (such as Internet and financial markets). The authors try to explicate the social risks generated by these systems with the theoretical resources of the system theory of communication (N. Luhmann), which is based on the concepts of ‘recursion’, ‘process’ (‘operation’), ‘operationally closed system’, ‘autopoiesis’, etc. The authors believe that the autopoietic system response to external stimuli cannot be predicted by classical means of sociology and cybernetics. Turbulence and continuous complication of techno-social objects let the authors suggest that the dynamics of the systems under consideration contains some features of autopoiesis. Thus, the analysis of the financial market as a complex techno-social object based on the ideas of G. Akerlof (theory of irrational economic behavior) and K. Knorr Cetina (object-centric sociology) allows to better understand the phenomenon of unpredictable market dynamics (the risk of proliferation of market expectations, inability to capture the control level by any of the participants, etc). The authors believe that such a conceptualization helps to bring together sociological practices of the techno-social objects research and perspective methods of applied mathematics (fractal geometry, theory of reflexive relations, ‘soft’ models, etc.), as well as contributes to the search of effective tools for modeling complex techno-social objects, and, thus, social risks accompanying them.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):59-68
pages 59-68 views

Social practices transformation: Peter Berger’s and Thomas Luckmann’s theory in crisis society

Osipova E.D.

Abstract

The article is devoted to Peter Berger’s and Thomas Luckmann’s theory of the construction of reality in the context of social practices transformation in the risk society. According to this theory, daily routine appears to be the basis of social reality that is interpreted as the result of the interaction processes. The article considers the fundamental procedures of the social reality construction - institutionalization and legitimization; such an analysis proves the famous sociologists idea that the daily routine is the foundation of social world. However, while analyzing daily routine practices we can see that the habitual behavior patterns are changing and new types of action are developing in the situation of the unstable and unpredictable crisis society. In the contemporary world, the habitual rational logic that we traditionally followed in everyday life to organize our behavior does not fulfill its functions. As a result, a special type of social consciences named catastrophic thinking is developing. Referring to the data of sociological studies the article considers the most striking examples of the social practices transformation and the new type of rational logic development, such as the changing attitudes to the health and the reviving interest to making a will in the contemporary world.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):69-79
pages 69-79 views

The social dynamics of employees in Russia

Golenkova Z.T., Igithanyan E.D.

Abstract

The article describes the specific features of the socio-structural processes that take place in the Russian economy over the past decades, determine the dynamics of interaction between social groups, and change the criteria of social inequality and differentiation. The authors believe that the transformation of property relations in the Russian society led to a sharp polarization in income and changed the structure of employment. In the first part of the article, the authors analyze the employment by economic sectors, identify general characteristics of the labor market at different levels (macro- and micro-levels in the field of socio-economic and socio-labor relations). In the second part of the article, the authors on the basis of their own empirical studies estimate the positions of employees working in both the public and private sectors, but focus on the private sector employees as a new social class. The authors describe how a class of employees is forming in Russia; indicate the general characteristics of this community, as well as the factors that determine the social differences within it, and the nature of these differences, which depend on the sector of employment, employee professional and educational level, his age, and job position.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):80-92
pages 80-92 views

Structural imbalances as a key factor of unemployment in the Russian labor market

Trotsuk I.V., Nevzorova N.A.

Abstract

In recent years, the problems of the Russian labor market, especially the scale and characteristics of youth unemployment, get very emotional and negative coverage in the scientific and journalistic discourses. The authors seek to show without any emotional evaluations what are the objective macroeconomic causes of the current situation with unemployment, especially youth unemployment. First, the authors identify the main challenges the labor market faces today in terms of the interaction of its key actors (workers, owners of the means of production, educational institutions and various intermediaries, including the state regulating the features of labor recruitment). Second, the article shows the main trends of the last decade that change the structure of employment of the economically active population. Third, the authors name the basic structural imbalances in the Russian labor market, primarily structural and professional imbalance between the demand for labor, the demand for vocational training and offer of educational services, which is quite evident, albeit in different ways, in all spheres of the economy. Fourth, the article describes the specific features of the youth labor market as both affected and contributing to the structural imbalances. Finally, the authors propose a methodology of macroeconomic forecasting that may reduce the problems the Russian society faces in the field of employment.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):93-103
pages 93-103 views

Converting resources into capital in the sphere of tourism (on the example of Veliky Ustyug and Myshkin)

Chernega A.A.

Abstract

The key task of the article is to assess the ability to convert resources into other resources and capital in accordance with the logic of Marxist methodology. Resources are any elements of reality that serve to provide social activities, so all the resources are social in the broadest sense of the word. A resource can turn into capital or cannot turn, so capital is not equal to the object - it is a social process, which implies an increase in the value of the resource. The author discusses the problem of converting resources into capital on the example of the tourism industry, whose main resource is the tourist attraction. The article presents the results of the sociological research conducted in the form of case studies in the cities of Veliky Ustyug and Myshkin. The author notes that a tourist attraction with the help of certain technologies and methods can ‘transform’ in such resources as jobs, urban infrastructure, social networks, symbolic benefits, resources to enhance the activity of a large group of industries connected with tourism, and in such forms of capital as monetary, political, social and symbolic. The author offers some practical advice to those social actors whose position in the tourism activities space contributes to obtaining different forms of capital.
RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):104-117
pages 104-117 views

Cross-cultural management at the enterprises of the capital of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Podoynitsyna I.I., Ivanova A.Y., Ulyanova U.A.

Abstract

The article outlines the key interpretation of the cross-cultural management as a special type of control at the intersection of cultures, which is becoming more and more widespread and recognized due to the development of globalization, on the one hand, and to the increase of migration processes and the formation of complex patterns of interaction between national business models in foreign economic activity and in specific countries and regions - on the other hand. The authors conducted a small exploratory study in service companies in the capital of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to evaluate with the methods of observation and interviews whether these enterprises apply principles of cross-cultural management and realize its importance and necessity; and to understand the extent to which the cross-cultural management affects the behavior of employees. The authors interviewed the migrant workers from far abroad for personnel management in their countries a priori differs significantly from Russian traditions of organizational management. The research focused on such aspects of migrants’ employment as the ways of finding a job at the local enterprises, and migrants’ communication with colleagues at the horizontal and vertical levels. The authors conclude that there is still no cross-cultural management in the city; however, there are some first steps towards symbiosis and cooperation of national cultures at the level of management decision-making in the Yakut organizations.
RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):118-130
pages 118-130 views

The categorical apparatus of the sociological analysis of the public service personnel development

Ivlev E.A.

Abstract

As a rule, publications on the Russian civil service reforms have a pronounced negative evaluation focus and rarely analyze the Russian public service with a stable and common terminology of the sociology of management. Such a situation is unacceptable for sociological studies and public service personnel development, which is why the article presents the theoretical and methodological grounds (categorical apparatus) of the research in the field under study. Based on a systematic approach to the evaluation of the public service, the article offers an interpretation of the notion ‘personnel development’ using the basic terms and concepts of institutional, value-normative and socio-cultural approaches mainly in the macro-context. In particular, the author separates the institutional and personnel potentials of the public service as having different foundations: in the first case, the level of social trust is a tool of legitimization; in the second case the status-role interactions and value proprieties of the public service employees play a key role. The professional environment of the public service is considered as a unity of three levels - material (or institutional), social (interpersonal and group interactions) and socio-cultural (motives and value-regulatory elements in the activities of the public service employees).
RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):131-144
pages 131-144 views
pages 145-158 views
pages 159-160 views

Authors

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RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2015;(2):161-162
pages 161-162 views

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