Reflections on Modern Russian Sociology and its Prospects

Reflections on Modern Russian Sociology and its Prospects


Šubrt I.

Dr. Sci. (Philos.), Assoc. Prof., Head of the Department of Historical Sociology, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic Jiri.Subrt@ff.cuni.cz

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Šubrt I. Reflections on Modern Russian Sociology and its Prospects. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2021. No 1. P. 5-15




Abstract

In this article, the author reflects on the past, present and future of Russian sociology. The key question is not the evaluation of existing development (the article is not a contribution to the history of Russian sociology), but the current state, and especially the perspectives that this state raises, of Russian sociology. The article is based on the results of observations made with varying degrees of intensity since the mid-1980s. The basic sociological question is: why is the country’s performance, with the potential that Russia has, not significantly higher? The author sees room for the future development of Russian sociology in: 1) better use of the human capital which it has at its disposal; 2) the development of creative courage and openness to new and unusual ideas; 3) a deepening of internal division of labor with regard to the regional development of of Russia; 4) interdisciplinarity; 5) overcoming methodological nationalism and developing a global perspective; 6) an emphasis on the diverse analysis of large data sets; 7) an orientation on globally-strategically important areas of scientific research. The author aims to provoke a certain discussion to enable the reader to better understand the current situation of Russian sociology, and its possible perspectives.


Keywords
science; Russian sociology; sociological theory; sociological research; quantitative methodology; qualitative methodology; micro-sociology; macro-sociology; universities; scientifiс institutes; individual scientific careers; Marxism

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