Социс 2015 №12

SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES

MONTHLY

2015 № 12 (380)

СONTENTS. SUMMARIES

SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA: NEW TENDENCIES

GОRSHKOV М.К. (Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of sciences, Moscow, Russia), SЕDОVА N.N. (Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of sciences, and All-Russia Institute of Public opinion studies, Moscow, Russia)

“Self-sufficient” Russians and their life priorities p.4

Summary. “Self-sufficiency” of Russians is analyzed as a phenomenon whose criterion is individ’s ability (in self-assessment) to successfully exist and provide for oneself relying only on own efforts and not on the state. “Self-sufficiency” is defined as a specific social marker reflecting a process of generating responsible and independent approach to one’s life. Empirically, the study was based on an all-Russian survey among 4000 Russians in March, 2015. The survey found that “self-sufficiency” and independence from the state is a key trait of existential attitudes of over 40% Russians. Their social demographic and social professional profiles are shown along with a characteristic of their social economic moods and positions; their worldview attitudes are analyzed, too. Self-sufficiency is closely tied to activity and entrepreneurship, material and social success. It is concluded that “self-sufficiency” might at present become in Russian society its social dominant and a pillar for its stable and sustainable development.

Key words: self-sufficiency • independence • successfulness • social group • social strata • social shift • morals • responsibility • trust • civic activity

ТIKHОNОVА N.E. (National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, and Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of sciences, Moscow, Russia)

Obvious and not-obvious consequences of economic crises for Russians p. 16

Summary. Basing on all-Russian surveys, characteristics of main consequences of 2014–2015 economic crisis are compared to those of previous crises. It is demonstrated that along with their obvious consequences (growing prices, lay-offs etc.) no less serious is resulting change in relationships between employers and employees accompanied by rising work load on personnel, falling wages against a backdrop of prices growth, and noticeable growth in the non-compliance of statutory rights of employees. In-between the crises the negative changes are fixed and each following crisis reinforces them.

Кеy words: economic crises • inequalities • labor relations • employment • unemployment • labor remuneration • incomes

PЕТUKHОV V.V. (Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of sciences, Moscow, Russia)

Russian transformation and social moral p. 28

Summary. Reviewed are sphere of values in Russian society and reasons for our citizens’ concerns with looming moral degradation of the nation. Correlation between commitment to certain moral norms and following them in daily lives is discussed. It is concluded that the root cause of the crisis is not so much moral degradation of society as the growing gap between ethical guidelines and requirements of the social environment, resulting in many of the basic rules and principles that recently have shaped the life practices (hard work, honesty, modesty, etc.) remaining unclaimed. Their role as motivations for social action is being lost and, instead, a stable, especially among the younger people, stereotype emerges, according to which life success and adherence to moral norms in modern Russia are almost incompatible things. Advisability and possible forms of reaction of the state on this issue are discussed. It is emphasized that this is needed, primarily, for making and cultivating of universal, stable bases of social activities, for socially approved patterns of behaviour based on the principles of social justice. It is the task of the “shared vision” of the state and civil society, where the state’s role should be to develop “General rules for living” and to control their observance. Government intervention in the private lives of citizens should only occur where morality ends and the criminal code begins.

Key words: moral values • morality • social adaptation • daily behavioral practices • moral • moral state

THEORY. МЕТHODOLOGY

SIMONIAN R.Кh. (Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of sciences, Moscow, Russia)

Society without sociology or sociologists without society p. 41

Summary. Russia plays a crucial role in the modern world. Processes in our country have a huge impact on its sustainability and development. The approaching 25th anniversary of reform actualizes the analysis of causes that led to the current state of Russian society, and the establishment of a diagnosis, as a task of sociology as a general social science. The article discusses combination of factors – historical, ideological, ethical, organizational, etc. that impede implementation of this task by social scientists.

Key words: sociology in Russia and in the West • the disintegration of the general knowledge • diagnosis of the state of society

KIRDINA S.G. (Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of sciences, Moscow, Russia)

Methodological institutionalism and the importance of meso-level of social analysis p. 51

Summary. This inquiry emphasizes the importance of the meso-level for social analysis. We consider the micro- meso- and macro-levels of social analysis and relate these to the institutionalist approaches for sociology and economics. We cite numerous studies that understand the “mesolevel” as a space of rules’ formation in which micro-level actors interact. Their interacting then generates macrostructures taking on their own distinct characteristics, and are thus not reducible to the properties of their constituent elements. For the micro-level of social analysis a principle of methodological individualism is relevant, where as holism principle is significant for the macrolevel. In addition two mentioned principles we promote a new perspective of social analysis that we define as “methodological/ institutionalism”. Its content, as well as applications are considered in the paper.

Key words: holism • meso-level social analysis • methodological individualism • methodological institutionalism

RURAL SOCIOLOGY

NEFEDOVA T.G. (Institute of Geography Russian Academy of sciences, Moscow, Russia); POKROVSKY N.E. (National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Moscow, Russia); TREIVISH A.I. (Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of sciences, Moscow, Russia)

Urbanization, desurbanization and rural-urban communities in the face of growing horizontal mobility p. 60

Summary. The article reveals some of the intricate relationships between urbanization at different stages, human horizontal (spatial) and partial vertical mobility, and changing ruralurban communities. After reviewing the key ideas and schools of urban and urbanization studies, the authors examine the conceptual diversity and many-sided nature of deurbanization as a spatial, societal and cultural-mental transformation. The controversial discourse of the latter, which often implies opposite approaches and phenomena, such as social lifting or downshifting, is stressed, along with the greater role of individual decisions. Stronger social and spatial links between cities and rural areas in the globalizing world manifest themselves in the accelerated formation of the rural-urban continuum and through the growing recurrent spatial mobility of people. Russia’s incomplete urbanization and polarization of its socio-economic space have created two massive opposite flows, i.e. the centrifugal seasonal dacha deurbanization and the centripetal labor migration of Russian villagers and small town dwellers towards large cities. The two streams are interrelated, e.g. temporal urban work, and the lodging of Russian otkhodniks instead of resettling, leading to the prolongation of the life of peripheral localities where their families stay. This habitability, in turn, facilitates the dacha development of small settlements. The article considers the reasons for “guest work” in Russian cities and the variety of dachas, as well as their impact on both urban and rural lifestyles. Mass movements of vacationers and workers and their two-house lives, sometimes balanced in time, complicates the knowledge of how many people actually live and work in the countryside, in small and big cities. This is a serious obstacle to the adequate maintenance and development of Russia’s spaces, since local budgets are designed for permanent population alone – which in many places is partially true.

Key words: urbanization • deurbanization • downshifting • rural-urban continuum • spatial mobility • seasonal dacha deurbanization • labor migration • otkhodniks

DENISENKO M.B. (National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Moscow, Russia); NIKOLAEVA U.G. (M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia)

What happens to the rural population in the Russian Near North? (the case of Kostroma region) p. 70

Summary. The authors discuss social and demographic processes in the rural regions of the Russian Near North and, first of all, in the Kostroma region – one of the socially problematic regions in the Russian Federation. In the article, the attention is focused on the analysis of mechanisms and assessment of scales of the depopulation: high mortality, migration of youth and middle aged people to the cities, deformations in age and gender structure with prevalence of the elderly population and a small share of children. The authors state essential distinctions of demographic indicators between municipalities in the Kostroma region and emphasize importance of social and demographic research on a basic municipal level. Indicators of the low life expectancy, high mortality caused by external reasons (alcoholism, murders, suicides, etc.), and high migration of youth are seen as the objective indicators of social problems in the local communities. It demands special attention on the part of the government authorities that plan social programs and take administrative decisions.

Кеy words: rural population • demography of rural associations • birth-rate • death rate • death rate from external reasons • depopulation • migrations • migratory politics

VINOGRADSKIY V.G. (Saratov Social Economic Institute – a branch of G.V.Plekhanov Russian Economic University, Saratov, Russia)

Peasant world in discourse of generational grief p. 82

Summary. The article presents methodological considerations and some procedural and methodological peculiarities summarizing more than a quarter century author’s experience of sociological fieldwork worlds of peasant Russia. Special attention is paid to “voices from below” – peasant discursive formats, in which natural and integrally embodied movement of peasant life practices form the core of everyday life. In particular, identified and discursive recorded the phenomenon of generational grieving and special chronometrie – some “social gyroscope”. The last notable and useful ability to hold the collective memory of the village community coordinates a productive coveted in the past and, thereby, affect the appearance of today’s emerging new peasant worlds.

Key words: sociology of the village • socio-economic practices • peasant everyday life • narrative • discourse as a signal and the form of existence • chrono nostalgia • evolution of peasant worlds

ЕVDOKIMOVA T.G. (Russian State University for humanities, Moscow, Russia)

Values and value orientations of thr rural population of Russia p. 91

Summary. The specifics of life in rural areas. The basic values and value orientations of the rural population of Russia in the areas of employment, financial status, family and health. The revealed changes in the hierarchical structure of values in the period from the late 1990s to the present. The conclusion about the stability of the value structure, the orientation of the villagers primarily on dematerializations values. At the same time marked feature, which can serve as a characteristic of a return to dematerializations values.

Key words: rural population • value • value orientation • hierarchy of values • materialistic and dematerialization values • terminal and instrumental values

ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY

SHKARATAN O.I., KARACHAROVSKIY V.V., GASIUKOVA E.N. (all – National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Moscow, Russia)

Precariat: theory and empirical analysis (polls in Russia, 1994–2013 data) p. 99

Summary. Article is devoted to studying precariat and precarization in Russian society. Transformation of employment structure in post-industrial economy and conditions illustrating formation of precariat in Russia are taken into account. Theoretical scheme of precariat identification in social structure is developed. Quantitative estimate of the precariat size and its comparison with other social groups of Russian society are based on 4 repeated surveys covering post-socialist period from January 1994 to December 2013. Cluster and factorial analyses and constructed model of probability to be included in precariat (logit model) permited to conclude that in spite of Contents. Summaries 175 gradual weakening of conditions stimulating precarization, 27% Russians can be referred to be in the risk zone.

Key words: precariat • preсarization • social structure • labor market • employment • non-standard employment

SOKOLOVA G.N. (Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences, Minsk, Belarus)

Mechanisms for Belarusian labor market adaptation to structural changes in economy p. 111

Summary. In this article mechanisms of labor market adjustment to structural changes in economy are analyzed. It is revealed that the mechanisms of quantitative adjustment are connected with preservation of unnecessary labor, weaker competition for workplaces. Mechanisms of qualitative adjustment do not provide reaction of educational services market to structural changes in economy. Mechanisms of wages do not stimulate labor tranfer into new spheres in economy. Mechanisms of institutional adjustment do not promote coordination of the above mechanisms. For successful adaptation of labor market to structural changes in economy following steps are necessary: reduction of inefficient workplaces; socially responsible restructuring (including retraining and modern methods of personnel work); coordination of educational services market and labor market; realization by wages of the function stimulating workers to productive and qualitative work; increase of labor market institutional flexibility.

Key words: labor market • mechanisms for quantitative adjustment • mechanisms for qualitative adjustment • mechanisms for wages • mechanisms for institutional adjustment.

SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE

KOZYREVA P.M. (Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of sciences, National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Moscow, Russia); NIZAMOVA A.E. (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of sciences, Moscow, Russia); SMIRNOV A.I. (Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of sciences, Moscow, Russia)

Happiness and its determinants. Part I. p. 120

Summary. The paper analyses features of modern Russians’ ideas about happiness, opportunities and ways people see to achieve it, social and psychological aspects of building a happy life. It focuses on revealing the magnitude of various factors affecting formation and maintenance of a state of happiness. The analysis is based on the data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE). The authors describe difficulties impeding the formation of a positive emotional state and spiritual comfort, dependence of happiness on the age and level of education, social status and employment, material well-being and physical health. This paper argues that despite the variety of ways and means to find a happy life, as well as individual subjectivity of happiness, the state of happiness can be long-lasting and durable only if based on economic foundation that provides a decent, or, at least, more or less acceptable level of well-being. With the improvement of living standards to the fore increasingly go intangible circumstances that help people feel happy. Analysis of the impact of marital status on happiness shows that married statute increases feeling of happiness in individual men and women, but does not increase total numbers of happy people.

Key words: well-being • trust • communication • family • social wellbeing • happiness • life satisfaction.

JARSKAJA V.Н. (Yu.A. Gagarin Saratov State Technological University, Saratov Russia), JARSKAJA- SMIRNOVA Е.R. (National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Moscow, Russia)

Inclusive culture of social services p. 133

Summary. The article is devoted to the principle of inclusion in social policy and social services. Based on the category of social theory and empirical evidence, inclusion is presented as a strategic goal of international organizations, state social policy, as well as a characteristic of everyday life of any social service. Inclusion is formed in the professional activity within specific organizations and, in a wider context, in the course of reform of social policy, with the change of values and needs of the population. At the organizational level inclusion is presented in three aspects: official measures, professional practice, and culture manifested in the interactions of the participants of an inclusive process, their relationship, shared values and attitudes. It is shown that an inclusive culture becomes embedded within an organization when all professionals share the values of 176 Социологические исследования № 12, 2015 respect for human rights and diversity, participation, mutual learning and dialogue with clients. Based on materials from interviews with social work specialists, inclusion of migrants is studied in the context of professional organizational culture. Necessity to take into account inclusion as a parameter in evaluating social services is argued for.

Key words: inclusion • social policy • social services • workers • evaluation

АCАDEMIC EVENTS

АREFIEV М.А., DAVYDENKOVA А.G. Discussing social problems of the village p. 141

ADAMYANTS T.Z. Semiosociopsychological conception of social communication in social cognition: proceedings of a round table (Institute of Sociology) p. 142

BOOK REVIEWS

Rossiya i Kitai: molodezh’ XXI veka (Russia and China: youth of the 21st century). М., 2014 reviewed by A.L. Andreev, E.G. Gesheva; Sasaki M., Goldstone J., Zimmermann E., Sanderson S.S. (eds). Concise Encyclopedia on Comparative Sociology. Leiden, Boston, 2014 reviewed by А.V. Rezaev, V.S. Starikov, N.D. Тregubova; Маlakhov V.S. Integratsiya migrantov: kontseptsii i praktiki (Migrants’ integration: conceptions and pracitces) reviewed by E.K. Byizhanova; An introduction to social entrepreneurship voices, preconditions, contexts/Еd. by Rafael Ziegler. MA, 2009 reviewed by А.А. Atanasova; Bozhkov O.B. Sotsiologhiya. Kurs Lektsiyi (Sociology. Acourse of lectures). SPb., 2015 reviewed by I.V. Popova. p. 145

JOURNALS’ GUIDE p. 157

2015 PUBLICATIONS INDEX p. 162

IN MEMORIAM

KUGEI S.A. p. 171

CONTENTS. SUMMARIES p. 172