printCOVID‑19 and Redesign of the Late Modern Society
Martianov V.S.
Dr. Sci. (Polit.), Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Law of UB RAS, Russia, Ekaterinburg, Russia martianov@instlaw.uran.ru
The research is supported by grant RFBR, project No. 20-04-60337.
Martianov V.S. COVID‑19 and Redesign of the Late Modern Society. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2022. No 3. P. 135-146
The article supports the hypothesis that the COVID‑19 pandemic accelerated and legitimized societal change associated with the decline of representative democracy, mass employment and economic growth. The ideological coordinates of the society of mass labor are becoming obsolete as a relevant model of description. As a result, a decrease in the military, economic and civil-political significance of the majority is observed. The request of precariat groups to restore their usefulness in alternative criteria is expanding, which will eventually bring about a new political and economic normality. Civil protest intensified by the pandemic and the radical practices of minorities are part of the process of a critical revision of the consolidating values in the labor society and transition to a new normality. The conclusion is argued that the growth of “unnecessary people” actualizes demand for non-economic communitarian values and resources provided mainly by the state. The revision of the usual market and labor hierarchies of society is empirically confirmed by the value gap between generations. First, the pessimism in rising generation regarding the prospects of improving standard of living compared to previous generations. Second, the life strategies of generation Z prefer adaptive practices associated with rent-oriented behavior and loyalty to the generation of parents. Third, late modern society is characterized by a decline of political subjectivity. All this limits potential scope of future transformations, mainly related to basic unconditional income and selective expansion of rental access.
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