Vol 20, No 2 (2020)

Theory, Methodology and History of Sociological Research

Metamorphization of society: The factor of ‘side effects’ and globalization of nothing

Kravchenko S.A.

Abstract

Today physical, biological and social worlds develop increasingly quicker and in a more complex way that includes the phenomena of metamorphoses. Traditionally, they were considered as determined mainly by external factors, i.e. the forces of nature. Contemporary metamorphoses seem to become of a complex man-made nature. Compared to traditional metamorphoses with ‘rigid’ and predictable results, contemporary metamorphoses of societies can produce both negative and positive consequences, which proves the non-linear dynamic picture of the world. There is also a traumatic tendency - when something is metamorphosed into ‘nothing’. Due to digitalization, ‘nothing’ becomes more complex and ‘pure’ from cultural and humane characteristics, thus, revealing new expressions of the ‘death’ of the social: humans are metamorphosed into ‘digital beings’. Metamorphization of society can produce common goods as a side effect of the bad. The author argues that the formal-rational, pragmatic transformations of society and nature, like the scientific and technological innovations of mercantile type, deform and dehumanize life-worlds. The global traumatization in the form of ‘liquid’ catastrophes permanently changes the living and non-living nature, structure of soil, water and air, desocializes human relations, facilitates transformations of something into nothing, people into ‘non-people’, places into ‘non-places’, things into ‘non-things’. However, people as reflexive actors can turn metamorphoses into ‘things-for-man’. To start this process, it is necessary to change the pragmatic monodisciplinary principles of science by the interdisciplinarity ones to ensure a humanistic turn in science and technologies.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):201-211
pages 201-211 views

Temporal phenomenology of Otherness by A. Schütz (or the birth of phenomenological sociologism)

Bankovskaya S.P.

Abstract

The author considers the construction of the ‘temporal sociologism’ by A. Schütz from the ‘general thesis of the alter ego’ to the Stranger and the Homecomer. The background and starting point of this construction is Schütz’s criticism of the Husserlian egological approach to the basic category of the Other and the radicalization of phenomenological reduction. The Husserlian primordial reduction to an isolated monad is replaced by a radical reduction of the ‘cultural pattern’ as a phenomenon of the ‘social a priori’. Social a priori and the Stranger serve as necessary conditions for intersubjectivity as not derived from the Ego and acquire temporal features in the categories of ‘cultural pattern of the group’ and ‘Homecomer’. In Schütz’s interpretation, the Stranger combines temporal and functional (spatial) features, which allows to define the category of ‘cultural pattern of the group’ and describe the relations of the Stranger with the group in terms of ‘temporal sociologism’. The Stranger category is the result of reduction of the taken-for-granted ‘cultural pattern of the group’. Schütz’s temporal sociologism places any manifestation of the social not only in the intersubjective space but also in the continuum of alterations in intersubjectivity. After this radical reduction of the ‘natural attitude’ to the ‘cultural pattern of the group’ by the Stranger category, Schütz goes further and reduces the ‘natural attitude’ to the belonging to/identification with any group by the ‘Homecomer’ category, which allows to explore the continuum of alterations in intersubjectivity exactly at the moment of its breaching. The experience of Homecomer restoring a ‘breach’ with his group represents the reduction of taken-for-granted ‘self’ in itself - turning into a Stranger for oneself, which allows to find a social basis in oneself. Thus, Schütz’s temporal sociologism develops as a definition of the social through changes in time and preserving social identity despite changes in the continuum of intersubjectivity.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):212-225
pages 212-225 views

Reconceptualization of status liminality in the sociological theory

Katernyi I.V.

Abstract

This article aims at filling some theoretical gaps in understanding status liminality as a ‘transition state’ in the processes of social mobility. Based on the ideas of A. van Gennep and V. Turner on the nature of rites de passage, the author reconstructs the types of status liminality - ascending, descending, recursive, permanent liminality and liminoidity. The article identified some features that distinguish liminality from marginality and deviance: transitivity - the altered preliminal position and identity combined with the incomplete metamorphosis; temporality - normative temporal and (possibly) spatial boundaries of the transition period; consequentiality - social significance of the postliminal status transformation for both its bearer and society or social groups involved. The phenomenon of ‘communitas’ discovered by Turner is of particular importance for understanding the state of liminality for it represents a tendency of liminal people to depart from the ‘mundane domain’ into the anti- and non-structural social-psychological state in which social ties are vividly affective and social experience has a profound existential effect. For each type of status liminality, the author provides examples from the traditional and modern societies using research in sociology of death, medical sociology, criminal sociology, sociology of tourism, social psychology, etc. To conclude, the author considers such phenomena as precariat, morphological freedom and edgework in the liminality perspective. Thus, the heuristic potential of the concept ‘liminality’ can make a significant contribution to the study of social changes and understanding mechanisms of reproducing social order at the individual, group and societal levels.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):226-238
pages 226-238 views

Media mythology of the social in the contemporary society

Plotichkina N.V.

Abstract

The article considers the media mythologization of the social: the media create representations of the world as a place for power struggle and suggest various versions of sociality which are legitimized in mythical narratives. Academic arguments emphasize the complexity of the social, the necessity of its theorization and dereification in the digital context. The study of the social/media dialectic reveals three myths - of natural collectivity, of the mediated center and of big data. The myth of the mediated center is a double construct: a narrative about the center of knowledge, values and meanings in society which produces normative or descriptive truth; and a mythical narrative of the media as representing society to its members and having a privileged access to the center of the social reality. This myth legitimizes the symbolic power of the mass media and is supported by rituals. The myth of ‘us’ aims at ‘naturalizing’ the network sociality, convincing users of the naturalness of its contacts, interactions and communities, providing the sense of cohesion and constructing a digital identity. The myth of ‘us’ is a narrative about collectivity determined by the joint efforts of users and designers of social platforms. This myth hides the decay of the social in the digital reality and indicates its media-mythical compensation. Big data represent new landscapes of objects, methods of cognition and definition of sociality. Big data is not only a source of knowledge, innovation and change but also a mythology which should be critically examined. The article considers different approaches to the analysis of big data mythology developed within the interpretation of digital artifacts as a reflection of the social context and the best form of social knowledge. This myth presents its version of sociology - with new epistemology, ethics and methodology - and hides other sources of knowledge about sociality in the digital media (mythologizes data policy (agency), economies, ethics and epistemologies).

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):239-251
pages 239-251 views

On the way to eliminating theoretical difficulties of sociology of morality

Sanzhenakov A.A.

Abstract

The article aims at presenting theoretical difficulties of sociology of morality and possible ways to overcome them. The importance of this issue is determined by the necessity of the scientific study of moral elements of the contemporary society in order to prevent its dehumanization. Sociology of morality focuses on the empirical study of various moral phenomena (justice, duty, conscience) in the social space. At the first stage of such a study, sociologists conduct observations and collect data, and at the second stage, they generalize moral facts to identify moral patterns. In sociology, morality is considered as an element of society; therefore, it is not analyzed by itself but within a system of social relations. One of the difficulties of such studies is the ambivalent nature of morality, i.e. its existence in both public and individual consciousness: if sociologists ignore the individual mode of morality, they misrepresent the content of moral facts. Another reason for theoretical difficulties in the study of morality is that sociologists use outdated ideas about the nature of moral truths and researcher’s impartiality - moral judgments are considered as not being true or false, and the researcher should ignore his value attitudes when collecting and analyzing data. The elimination of these difficulties can lead to the loss of the sociological research specifics and to the merger of sociology and moral philosophy. Representatives of the ‘new sociology of morality’ have to reform this field but ensure its status of an independent scientific discipline. One of the ways to solve this task is to use ideas of analytic philosophy, in particular, of moral realism that defines moral qualities as qualities of real things, and moral truths as having the same status as scientific truths.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):252-262
pages 252-262 views

Contemporary society: the urgent issues and prospects for development

The state youth policy in contemporary Russia: concept and realities

Podyachev K.V., Khaliy I.A.

Abstract

The article considers the document ‘Foundations of the State Youth Policy’ and its implementation in the Russian regions. This analysis allowed the authors to show that the document provides neither a political strategy nor effective management measures. The authors present the results of the analysis of the youth policy implemented by government agencies online - on the websites of regional administrations and in the social network VKontakte. The websites do not provide any current information, while the social network, on the contrary, is quite effective. The article describes the perception of the state youth policy by regions and local communities based on the empirical research conducted in 2018-2019 in 7 regions of the Russian Federation - the Tver, Kursk, Pskov, Astrakhan, Rostov, Moscow Regions and the Republic of Karelia. The main methods of data collection were in-depth interviews and focus groups (43 interviews and 26 focus groups). Respondents represented regional and municipal administrations, including departments of the youth policy, local enterprises - industrial, commercial, hotels, etc., health and education organizations, cultural institutions and youth groups. There were also focus groups with the youth: 3 groups with university students and 3 groups with students of special secondary institutions. The article shows inefficiency of the ‘two poles’ approach - when the state aims at supporting the talented youth and the most vulnerable groups (orphans, children from dysfunctional families, etc.). Such an approach excludes from the policy and public discourse the ‘middle’ youth that needs but lacks rather participation in the life of the country than financial support. Today only the ‘forum campaign’ is implemented, in which the youth are happy to participate, but this campaign cannot strengthen the youth’s social role. Thus, there is still no system youth policy in Russia.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):263-276
pages 263-276 views

Correlation of national and ethnic identity of the youth (on the example of Saint Petersburg)

Sikevich Z.V., Skvortsov N.G.

Abstract

Based on the empirical research, the article considers the correlation of national and ethnic identities of the youth of Saint Petersburg. The authors’ conclusions are based on a series of sociological studies conducted in 1996, 2011 and 2019 by the Laboratory of Ethnic Sociology and Psychology of the Faculty of Sociology of the Saint Petersburg State University under the guidance of Z.V. Sikevich and also on the data of other researchers studying similar issues in different Russian regions. The authors present their interpretation of the structure of national identity and typology of ethnic identities; consider the following forms of correlation of national and ethnic identities - dominant ethnic identity, ethnic radicalism, dominant national identity, ethno-national radicalism, ethnic and national indifference; focus on the rank of national identification in the system of group identities and on the indicators of national consolidation; use content analysis to identify the symbolic interpretations of the words ‘Russia’, ‘citizen’ and ‘patriot’; analyze contradictions in the national identity of the youth. The article presents the following most important findings of the study: 1) national (civil) identity dominates other forms of social identification of the youth; 2) in the structure of social identities, confessional identity is insignificant, while there is negative distancing towards representatives of Islam; 3) ethnic and ethno-national radicalism is typical for men; 4) compared to 2011, the positive trend of statist attitudes and the negative trend of critical attitudes to power are obvious; 5) the perceived norm and attitudinal behavior of the youth are not quite consistent; 6) gender affects the level and type of both ethnic and national identity.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):277-291
pages 277-291 views

Typology of historical memory about the World War II: Methodological aspects of the study (on the example of the RUDN students)

Puzanova Z.V., Narbut N.P., Larina T.I., Tertyshnikova A.G.

Abstract

The study of mass consciousness is one of the most pressing sociological issues. Historical memory is a part of mass consciousness, and it is obvious that the historical memory about any event has its specifics in different societies. Today memories about the World War II became an object of manipulation for various political forces that aim at changing public opinion in favor of particular parties, and the youth is especially affected by such influence. The student youth is a reactive social force and can subsequently transfer such influence into actions. Therefore, the study of the international students’ types of historical memory provides a unique opportunity to reveal the global perception of the World War II. The article presents a typology of historical memory based on the classical structure of social attitude as consisting of affective (views on the justice of the war results), cognitive (knowledge of the war milestones) and behavioral components (knowledge and participation in commemorative events, and family stories). There are nine types of historical memory: personal-historical, dispositional, formal-historical, emotional-historical, fragmentary-historical, mythological-historical, subjective-historical, value-historical, ‘lack-of-memory’. The majority of students have an emotional-historical, formal-historical types and ‘lack-of-memory’. Without ‘lacking-memory’ students, the share of which is smaller among Russian students, foreign students have mainly an emotional-historical and formal-historical types of memory, while Russian students rather formal-historical and value-historical types. The article explains the way for identifying types of memory. Thus, it can be useful for methodologists and researchers in sociology of history.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):292-306
pages 292-306 views

The World War II and its falsification in the Russian youth representations

Ponomareva E.G.

Abstract

The events of the World War II play a special role in the contemporary social discourse as the basis of collective memory and civil culture. The current attempts of some Western countries to misrepresent and rewrite the history of the World War II and to belittle the role of the Red Army in the rout of Nazism pursue serious geopolitical goals. Effective opposition to the falsification of history depends on the quality of youth’s knowledge about that period (active historical memory) and the younger generations’ emotional association with the war winner. The article presents the results of the sociological study conducted on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory. First, there was a survey at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (students aged 18-23) to identify the level of historical knowledge and assessments, sources (fiction and movies) of representations, ideas about reasons for the falsification of the World War II history and measures to oppose it. The questions were divided into three groups: historical (the level of basic knowledge), cultural-pedagogic, or emotional (questions about books and movies) and evaluative-predictive (reasons for the falsification of history and measures to oppose it). The study also aimed at comparing the results of the survey with all-Russian opinion polls and foreign surveys. Second, the author analyzed estimates of the reasons for the falsification of the war history and suggestions to oppose this negative trend, which were provided by leading experts from Russian and foreign universities and analytical centers. The comparison of the students’ and experienced researchers’ opinions revealed both similarities and differences in generational estimates, and allowed to identify some general ways to resist the intensified trend of the falsification of the war history.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):307-322
pages 307-322 views

Religiosity of the urban community in Kazakhstan

Alimbekova G.T., Shabdenova A.B., Lifanova T.Y.

Abstract

Religious values as the most important component of the worldview can significantly affect various aspects of human life - from everyday practices to political preferences. The analysis of changes in religiosity shows that in the post-Soviet space, there is a clear tendency of the transition from atheistic attitudes to the religious revival. In the contemporary Kazakhstan society, a complex model of religious identity develops - it combines ideals and norms of religious consciousness with ideas of spirituality and national revival, but the confession values can often only be of an external, declarative nature. According to different studies, in Kazakhstan, the share of believers following religious practices increases. The question is whether people really observe religious rites and traditions and follow religious regulations. The article summarizes the results of the study conducted by the Center for the Study of Public Opinion to assess the religiosity of the Almaty urban community. The survey showed that the share of people who identify themselves as a part of some confession is significant; however, this is not a direct indicator of the increase in the number of true believers seeking to actively follow all religious rules and practices. The article presents the data on the activity of respondents in religious practices, their knowledge and understanding of some religious postulates. The study showed that the religious renaissance among the youth can be accompanied by undeveloped religious consciousness and insufficient religious knowledge, which provides grounds for the dissemination of pseudo-religious ideas including the extremist ones.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):323-332
pages 323-332 views

New working class as a political subject

Gavrilyuk V.V., Malenkov V.V.

Abstract

The authors consider the new working class as consisting of both industrial workers and employed in the service sector. The article aims at identifying changes in the social-political status of the new working class and at describing the civil-political component of its political subjectivity. The authors attempt to theoretically reconstruct the idea of the working class as a political subject. The first part of the article presents conceptual approaches to the analysis of the working class as a political subject. The authors identify three periods: 1) classical works that laid the foundation for the study of the working class as a political subject and its special historical role; 2) studies of the marginal political status of the working class in Western countries, when leading theorists described the transformation of workers into an object of manipulation in the era of mass communications and the widespread consumerism ideology; 3) works of contemporary authors (including the new working class studies) opposing the policy of the traditional industrial working class and the new working class exclusion from the social-political space, which is pursued by the ruling class of the neoliberal international. The empirical part of the article describes the political subjectivity of the working class in Russia and its position in the political space at the institutional and individual levels. Despite the underrepresentation of workers in politics, since 2010, we have witnessed a return of the working class to the public space. The representative survey conducted in three regions of the Ural Federal District and narrative interviews prove a weak interest of the new working class youth in politics, their tendency of non-participation in it, and a high level of national patriotic identity.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):333-347
pages 333-347 views

Development of public-private partnership in Belarus

Andras I.A., Kabiak A.V.

Abstract

In the Republic of Belarus, the authorities chose public-private partnership as an alternative to privatization which allows to keep socially important objects in the state property. The results of the survey of entrepreneurs and civil servants show the readiness of the authorities and business for equal partnership under the proclaimed socially oriented market economy. On the example of the metropolitan region, the authors analyzed the institutional-adaptation period in the development of public-private partnership in Belarus. The sociological approach to the study of public-private partnership aims at considering the relationship ‘power-business-society’ as a system of interdependent actions of civil servants, entrepreneurs and population. The analysis of behavioral strategies of participants of this interaction was conducted through their social expectations with the methods of expert surveys of entrepreneurs and civil servants and an opinion poll of the population of Minsk. The authors made the following conclusions: society is only an observer due to the poor knowledge of public-private partnership; the behavioral strategies of entrepreneurs are determined by regulatory-legal factors, of civil servants - by system-legal factors; the key barrier for the public-private partnership projects is the low assessment of one’s qualifications by civil servants and entrepreneurs; entrepreneurs consider civil servants as competitors in conflict situations and define their style of behavior as ‘pressing’; the state prefers contracts as the main form of interaction with business, which emphasizes the independence of partners. Therefore, the state and entrepreneurs take risks and responsibilities in the public-private partnership projects in the agreed shares, and the authorities fully control such projects.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):348-362
pages 348-362 views

Features of settlement and integration of migrants in Moscow and the Moscow Region

Ermakova M.A., Varshaver E.A., Ivanova N.S.

Abstract

International studies prove the relationship between migrants’ settlement patterns and their integration. Russian researchers have studied integration for many years but not migrants’ settlement patterns. The authors aim at filling this gap and describing different aspects of migrants’ settlement in Moscow and the Moscow Region as affecting integration. The article presents a classification of migrants’ settlement patterns on four grounds: tenure, type of building, social circles and ways to get to work. Each type is illustrated by examples of settlement patterns and other details to provide lively descriptions of migrants’ everyday life. The study consisted of 65 interviews with migrants in Moscow and the Moscow Region which were based on the principles of the grounded theory. In the study, migrants were people born in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, both Russian and foreign citizens. The data show that, despite stereotypes, there is a great variety of migrants’ settlement patterns, for instance, in terms of tenure there are those who have their own apartments and those who rent a bed at the workplace, while in terms of social circles, there are those who live with members of their nuclear family and those who share apartments with new acquaintances from different countries. The article presents some considerations on the relationship between certain migrants’ settlement patterns and their integration, for instance, on the positive effect of property ownership on the structural and identity integration and on the relationship between using the employer’s transportation and social aspects of integration.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):363-381
pages 363-381 views

Digital literacy of schoolchildren and teachers: A comparative analysis

Yefanov A.A., Budanova M.A., Yudina E.N.

Abstract

The article considers digital literacy as a fundamental component of the media competence development. The study of the history of the issue and analysis of the existing theories showed that the research focus on the digital literacy of the adult population and do not take into account minors who demonstrate the highest interest in media technologies. The authors develop a theory of the deep mediation of the social space and argue that the indicators of digital literacy of schoolchildren should correlate with the data on teachers, who, according to the contemporary educational strategy, are responsible for increasing the media competence of society - starting from the media-oriented courses in school. In 2019, the authors conducted a survey “Media competence of schoolchildren and teachers” (N=500+500) in 10 cities of the Volga Federal District with the lowest digital literacy index. Based on the results of the comparative analysis, the article identifies a number of challenges in the field of media literacy, in particular digital literacy, and the main one is the digital divide between two generations (schoolchildren and teachers), which indicates a communication barrier that hinders interaction not only in education, but also in the social space. While schoolchildren demonstrate high interest in media technologies, their teachers seem not to be interested in media technologies not only in professional activities but also in everyday life. The authors believe that the inverse correlation of the digital literacy levels of schoolchildren and teachers prevents the harmonious development of the media competence in the Russian society.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):382-393
pages 382-393 views

Sociological lectures

Features of social, emotional and cultural intelligence and recognition of emotions by Russian and Asian students

Karabuschenko N.B., Pilishvili T.S., Chkhikvadze T.V., Sungurova N.L.

Abstract

The article presents the results of the empirical testing of the authors’ model of the social-intellectual features of facial expressions recognition by the Russian and Asian students, and of the personal emotional, cultural and social intelligence. The importance of the research at the theoretical level is determined by the need for a cross-cultural social-psychological study of holistic constructs related to the personal social, cultural and emotional intelligence and recognition of emotions. At the practical level, the dynamics of Russian-Asian relations, in particular of the student mobility, explains the need for competent social-psychological support of foreign students in the internationally oriented university, which consists mainly of developing the intellectual potential and corresponding flexible skills. The authors empirically confirmed the hypothesis of the common grounds and specific features of the manifestation of structural, functional and substantial, dynamic and procedural components of the proposed model of intellectual personal manifestations in recognition of facial expressions. The hypothesis was empirically tested on the RUDN students (242 respondents) by the factor analysis: the study confirmed the common basis for the manifestation of structural components of the model (social-personal and active), presence of the substantial-regulatory factor in the substantial component, implementation of anticipation, adaptation and regulation in the functional component, reflective-evaluative manifestations in the substantial component, and manifestation of the dynamic and procedural components. Specific features of the model are determined by such differences as the unequal dynamics of each group of components (structural, functional, substantial) due to the cultural-social requirements and norms beyond the psychological domain, which require further research through the cultural-integrative and ethnic-specific conditions (theoretically also represented in the model).

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):394-404
pages 394-404 views

Code-switching in the computer-mediated communication

Darginavičienė I., Ignotaitė I.

Abstract

Most authors admit that code-switching is the process of switching different languages, their varieties, speaking styles, etc. Today the majority of people in the world are multilingual and often mix languages in different ways, which makes code-switching a quite common global phenomenon. Code-switching incorporates government, cultural, religious and network contexts, and the frequency of code-switching in such multilingual conversations is an indicator of the global dominance of multilingualism. Online communication fosters social communicative practices consisting of code-switching and marks the development of verbal behaviour of multilingual communities. Code-switching also affects language visuality, its images are tools for the social construction of reality. The developed verbal practices support effective communication and affect the expression of new meanings. The article aims at presenting the features of code-switching in digital communication with 8 examples of different length, topic and author, in which the native Lithuanians code-switched to English and used elements of the Internet language. These examples were taken from the social networks Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and the authors analyzed the grammar, spelling and punctuation of both Lithuanian and the English words, the type and use of the code-switched English elements, special characters, abbreviations, emoji and other features of the Internet language. The results show that online communication is not entirely textual, with various means of text composition communicators make their code-switched English elements more visible and alter the appearance of messages. Such practices correspond to the features of social networks and seem to follow the popular Internet culture trends.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):405-415
pages 405-415 views

Comparative analysis of the Russian and Western education and scientific-training system

Ruban L.S.

Abstract

The article compares the Russian and Western strategies of higher education and scientific training and their implementation in the state policy. The author considers the three-level structure of scientific training which includes in the West Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programs, while in Russia in the previous period - specialty, PhD program - to defend the thesis and get the degree of Candidate of Science - and Postdoc program - to get the degree of Doctor of Science. After Russia signed the Bologna Declaration at the Berlin Conference of ministers of education in September 2003, these differences were eliminated and already in 2010 Russia implemented all basic principles of the Bologna process by having transformed its system of education and scientific training on the basis of the British-American model. The author considers both advantages and losses of this reform. Thus, Russia introduced the same education standards with the West and accepted the single certification system (Bachelor, Master, PhD), which is certainly a positive side of the reform. On the other hand, by removing the specialty level, Russia lost the basis for mass scientific training without the Master’s level: today we have a negative situation in the system of higher education, when thousands of young people with Bachelor’s degree cannot find job or continue studying and scientific career without Master’s degree, but they do not have money to pay for Master’s program due to financial difficulties. As a result, the production and science systems do not get enough qualified specialists and young scientists for whose training the state has already spent a lot of money. The author concludes that it is necessary to use effective foreign experience but without ignoring the Russian education and science achievements and with taking into account national traditions and specifics of the national development.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):416-429
pages 416-429 views

Reviews

Traumatization of consciousness as a new form of political violence

Podberezkin A.I., Zhukov A.V.

Abstract

This article is a review of the book by Zh.T. Toshchenko The Society of Trauma: Between Evolution and Revolution (Theoretical and Empirical Analysis) (Мoscow: “Ves Mir”; 2020). In recent years, a new type of political violence has developed - traumatization of consciousness, which is especially typical for ‘the society of trauma’. The book by Toshchenko examines the challenges that the world and Russia face due to the complex changes in public consciousness, which are mostly of a man-made character. Previously the research focused on the relatively individual questions such as ‘pathological agency’ (P. Sztompka) or construction of the politically biased meanings that traumatized the public consciousness (J. Alexander), while Toshchenko defines the issue much broader - dysfunctional changes of the whole society - and studies its transformations through the realities of ‘the society of trauma’, the features of which can be seen in different countries that entered the path of a long, turbulent, unstable and unsustainable development. In the societies of trauma, there are no clear worldview ideas, which leads to gaps and paradoxes in the public consciousness and to the loss of life guidelines. Political pressure on the public consciousness is exerted through ‘soft power’ based on demagogy about democracy, freedom and human rights. Toshchenko sees the way out of the society of trauma and the way for overcoming the ideological and political anomie in the development of civil activity and the strategic goal and means to achieve it. The book allows to identify further research topics, in particular, the study of new mechanisms for traumatizing the public consciousness, which would help to search for the transition of our society to the humanistic development trend.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):430-435
pages 430-435 views

Russian symbolism on social aesthetics

Ivleva M.L., Romanov D.D.

Abstract

This article is a review of the book Literature and Religious-Philosophical Thought of the Late 19th - First Third of the 20th Century. To the 165th anniversary of V.S. Solovyov (Book 2. E.A. Takho-Godi (Ed.). Moscow: Vodoley; 2018) published with the support of A.F. Losev house-museum and the journal Solovyov Studies . The authors analyze the philosophical theories of the key Russian thinkers of the Silver Age, primarily the symbolists, which focus on such issues as the fate of the Russian society, the place of man in the world, cultural values, social aspects of religion, life-creation, and aesthetic understanding of social-cultural reality. The review shows the inner logic of the book based on the alternation of philosophical and literary approaches, and its main line - from personalities (V.S. Solovyov, V.F. Ern, D.S. Merezhkovsky, F.M. Dostoevsky, M.N. Katkov) and their contribution to the national philosophy and culture to the trends of the era of historical and ideological changes. The interdisciplinary approach of the book is the result of the joint work of scientific schools and generations of researchers from different countries. The book’s methodology is based on the integrative approach of social aesthetics - the tool of philosophy of integral knowledge and unity, which can be applied to the field of social knowledge.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2020;20(2):436-442
pages 436-442 views

This website uses cookies

You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.

About Cookies