printRussian intelligentsia and institutions:
trust or alienation?
Kuchenkova A.V.
Cand. Sci. (Soc.), Senior Lecturer, Russian State University for the Humanities, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Sociology of FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia a.v.kuchenkova@gmail.com
Kuchenkova A.V. Russian intelligentsia and institutions: trust or alienation?. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2017. No 10. P. 113-121
The article examines features and structure by institutional trust of the humanitarian intelligentsia. The highest level of trust is demonstrated to the President, but those two groups, who express “full” and “partial” trust, differ significantly in their motivations for trust (true supporters/passive observers). The declared trust to the army reflects recognition of its responsible function in ensuring security of the state, protecting the country, past merits. The manifestation of the full trust to the church testifies to the identification with the values and goals of this institution. A low level of trust in political institutions (excluding the President) is demonstrated by intelligentsia and it is a modern international trend, conditioned by the spread of a set of attitudes (feelings of injustice, lack of hope for improvement and confidence in the future, the desire for change), undermining confidence to the state system as a whole. The trust to the police and the court is at a low level, which can be largely due to widespread prejudices, low awareness of the activities of these institutions and rare practices of interaction with them. The declaration of trust to media (TV and the press) among the intelligentsia is not widespread. Despite the fact that television remains the main source of news, the Internet becomes an important alternative. The low level of institutional trust among the humanitarian intelligentsia is combined with paternalistic attitudes, civil and political passivity, and indicates disappointment and exclusion rather than activation of the constructive potential of mistrust.
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