printRussian sociological tradition in the context of international discourse:
specific features, problems, and perspectives
Sorokin P.S.
Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Associate Professor, Leading Research Fellow, Head of the Laboratory for Human Capital and Education Research, Institute of Education, HSE University, Moscow, Russia psorokin@hse.ru
Sorokin P.S. Russian sociological tradition in the context of international discourse: specific features, problems, and perspectives. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2017. No 1. P. 117-126
Is there anything in the professional heritage of Russian sociology, which may be considered a certain “competitive advantage”, of the Russian sociological community in its dialogue with foreign colleagues? Addressing this problem, we elaborate a comprehension of Russian sociology as a continuing and integrative tradition of social thought development, unified by a set of underlying common features: (1) publicism; (2) moral and ethical concern; (3) problem orientation. Contemporary Russian sociologists often tend to see these characteristics as obstacles to integration process in international arenas with their more rigorous methodological standards and more independent academic sphere. However, literature analysis demonstrates that attempts to make sociology an as “hard” science as possible, become increasingly questionable. The outlined three features are particularly important, for seeing the opportunities of Russian scholars to make valuable contribution to the global sociology in its response to the issues discussed by the foreign autors.
Back L. (2012) Live sociology: social research and its futures // Sociological Review. Vol. 60. No. 1: 18–39.
Batygin G.S. (1998). Preemstvennost’ rossijskoj sociologicheskoj tradicii [the Continuity of the Russian sociological tradition]. In: Sociologija v Rossii [Sociology in Russia]. Ed. V.A. Jadov. M.: ISRAS (In Russ.)
Bhambra G.K. (2014) Connected Sociologies. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Burawoy M. (2014) Sociology as a vocation: Moral commitment and scientific imagination. Current Sociology. Vol. 62. No. 2: 279–284.
Burawoy M. (2005). Presidential Address: For Public Sociology. British Journal of Sociology. Vol. 56. No. 2: 259–294.
Davis H., Erofeev S. (2011) Reframing society and culture in post-Soviet Russia. Comparative Sociology. 2011. Vol. 10. No. 5: 710–734.
Dimke D.V. (2012) Klassiki bez klassiki: social’nye i kul’turnye istoki stilja sovetskoj sociologii [Classic without classics: social and cultural origins of soviet sociology style]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 6: 97–106. (In Russ.)
Efendiev A.G., Sorokin P.S., Balabanova E.S. (2015) Osnovnye problemy razvitija rossijskih i zarubezhnyh sociologicheskih zhurnalov. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 9: 36–49. (In Russ.)
Efendiev A.G., Balabanova E.S., Sorokin P.S. (2016) Identichnost’ i professional’naja kul’tura otechestvennoj sociologii: opyt bibliometricheskogo analiza. [Identity and professional culture of Russian sociology: a bibliometric analysis]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 3: 45–54. (In Russ.)
Efremenko D., Evseeva Y. (2012) Studies of social solidarity in Russia: tradition and modern trends // American Sociologist. Vol. 43. No. 4: 349–365.
Gane N. (2011) Measure, value and the current crises of sociology. Sociological Review. Vol. 59. No. 2: 151–173.
Gorshkov M.K. (2012) Obshhestvo–sociologija–vlast’: k voprosu o vzaimodejstvii [Society – sociology – state powers: on the question of interaction]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies] No. 7: 23–28. (In Russ.)
Jeffries V. (2005) Pitirim A. Sorokin’s integralism and public sociology. American Sociologist. Vol. 36. No. 3–4: 66–87.
Krotov P. (2012) Pitirim Sorokin studies in Russia in the context of the new section on altruism, morality, and social solidarity in the American Sociological Association. American Sociologist. Vol. 43. No. 4: 366–373.
Lavrov P.L. (1965) Filosofija i sociologija: izbrannye proizvedenija v dvuh tomah [Philosophy and Sociology: Selected Works in Two Volumes]. M.: Mysl’, 1965. T. 1. (In Russ.)
Mihajlovskij N.K. (1922) Chto takoe progress? [What is progress?] Pg: Kolos. (In Russ.)
Mills Ch.R. (1998) Sociologicheskoe voobrazhenie [The Sociological Imagination]. (In Russ.)
Mironenko I.A., Sorokin P.S. (2015) Culture in psychology: Perennial problems and the contemporary methodological crisis. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art. Vol. 8. No. 4: 35–45.
Mosbah-Natanson S., Gingras Y. (2014) The globalization of social sciences? Evidence from a quantitative analysis of 30 years of production, collaboration and citations in the social sciences (1980–2009). Current Sociology. Vol. 62. No. 5: 626–646.
Nichols L.T. (2012) Sorokin as lifelong Russian intellectual: The enactment of an historically rooted sensibility. American Sociologist. Vol. 43. No. 4: 374–405.
Nichols L.T. (2009) Public sociology: problematics, publicity, and possibilities. American Sociologist. Vol. 40. No. 4: 233–234.
Niemonen J. (2010) Public sociology or partisan sociology? The curious case of whiteness studies. American Sociologist. Vol. 41. No. 1: 48–81.
Ol’shanskij V.B. (1994) Rossijskaja sociologicheskaja tradicija shestidesjatyh godov i sovremennost’ [Russian sociological tradition of the sixties and the present] Materialy simpoziuma 23 marta 1994 g. [The proceedings of the Symposium. March 23, 1994] Moscow. P. 61–62. (In Russ.)
Osipov G.V. (2004) Vozrozhdenie rossijskoj sociologii (60–90-e gody XX veka): stranicy istorii [the Revival of Russian sociology (60–90-ies of XX century): page history]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 2: 24–30. (In Russ.)
Osipov G.V. (2009) Otechestvennaja sociologija: istorija i sovremennost’ [Russian sociology: history and modernity]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 3: 8–15. (In Russ.)
Podvoiskiy D.G (2009) “Publichnaja sociologija” v proshlom i nastojashhem: utochnenie koordinat [“Public sociology”, past and present: coordinate]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 5: 13–23. (In Russ.)
Pokrovskiy N.E. (2011) “Pacient otkazalsja ot gospitalizacii”, ili v zashhitu sociologii [“The patient refused hospitalization,” or in defense of sociology]. In: Sociologicheskij ezhegodnik 2011. [Sociological Yearbook 2011]. Vol. 3. M.: INION RAN. P. 45–47. (In Russ.)
Radaev V.V. (2013) Rossijskaja sociologija v poiskah svoej identichnosti [Russian sociology in search for its identity]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 7: 3–17. (In Russ.)
Romanovsky N.V. (2012) Kachestvo sociologicheskogo znanija (zametki redaktora) [Quality of sociological knowledge (editor’s notes)]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 5: 39–47. (In Russ.)
Smith M.C. (1994) Social Science in the Crucible the American Debate Over Objectivity and Purpose, 1918–1941.
Sorokin P. (2015) The Russian Sociological Tradition from the XIXth Century Until the Present: Key Features and Possible Value for Current Discussions. American Sociologist. Vol. 46. No. 3: 341–355.
Sorokin P. (2016) ‘Global sociology’ in different disciplinary practices: Current conditions, problems and perspectives. Current Sociology. Vol. 64. No. 1: 41–59.
Sorokin P. (2016) Vision and Mission of Sociology: Learning from the Russian Historical Experience. American Sociologist. Doi: 10.1007/s12108-016-9303-3.
Sorokin P.A. (1992) Moja filosofija–integralizm [My philosophy–integralism]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 10: 134–139. (In Russ.)
Tirikiyan E.A. (2016) Osovremenivanie Sorokina [Updating Sorokin]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No.3: 13–23. (In Russ.)
Tolstova Yu.N. (2013) Vozrosla li jeffektivnost’ metodov sociologicheskih issledovanij v Rossii za poslednie 100 let? [Has research methods effectiveness grown in Russian sociology for the last 100 years?]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 7: 59–69. (In Russ.)
Тoshchenko Zh.T. (2013) Novye tendencii v razvitii rossijskoj sociologii [New trends in the development of Russian sociology]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 4: 3–13. (In Russ.)
Turner J.H. (2005) Is public sociology such a good idea? American Sociologist. Vol. 36. No. 3–4: 27–45.
Valsiner J. (2012) A guided science: History of psychology in the mirror of its making. Transaction Publishers. Vol. 1.
Vessuri H. (2015) Global social science discourse: A Southern perspective on the world. Current Sociology. Vol. 63. No. 2: 297–313.
Vilenskaja Je.S. (1979) N.K. Mihajlovskij i ego idejnaja rol’ v narodnicheskom dvizhenii 70-h – nachala 80-h godov XIX veka [N.K. Mihajlovskij and his Ideological Role in the Populist Movement of the 70s-early 80-ies of the XIX Century]. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
Voronkov V., Zdravomyslova E. (1996) Emerging political sociology in Russia and Russian transformation. Current Sociology. Vol. 44. No. 3: 40–52.
Walicki A. (2010) Milestones and Russian intellectual history. Studies in East European Thought. Vol. 62. No. 1: 101–107.
Yadov V.A., Grathoff R. (1994) Predislovie [Preface]. In: Rossijskaja sociologicheskaja tradicija shestidesjatyh godov i sovremennost’. Materialy simpoziuma [Russian sociological tradition of the sixties and the present. The proceedings of the Symposium]. Moscow. P. 3–5. (In Russ.)