printSociocultural and Political Aspects of the Lifeworld of Russian Rural Society
Velikiy P.P.
Dr. Sci. (Phil.), Leading Researcher, Laboratory of Social Development of the Agro- Industrial Complex and Rural Territories of the Institute of Agrarian problems RAS, Russia, Saratov. iagpran@mail.ru
Vyalshina A.A.
Cand. Sci. (Sociol.), Head, Laboratory of Social Development of the Agro- Industrial Complex and Rural Territories, Institute of Agrarian Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saratov, Russia. anvyal@mail.ru
Velikiy P.P., Vyalshina A.A. Sociocultural and Political Aspects of the Lifeworld of Russian Rural Society. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2025. No 4. P. 3-19
The article examines specifics of the current culture of rural residents. The essence of the transition from the use of local socio- cultural infrastructure to a wider scale of mastering cultural values through networks, streams, virtual channels, and home pastime is shown. In studies of the rural population culture, the dominance of meanings and values corresponding to the all- Russian identity is noted. Human culture is most fully manifested in life situations in which the choice between right and wrong, justice and its antipodes is inevitable. Among spiritual values, the importance of religion has grown. Although the share of those who consider themselves believers varies from a third to a half, the semantic connotations of the attitudes towards God are very contradictory. Numerous “prophecies” on television prevent people from understanding the religious dogmas of traditional religions. The community transformation processes are studied based on the assessment of the participation degree of rural community members in modernization processes, as well as their adaptability to changes and characteristics of social resources available to the rural community. From these positions, the evolution process of the peasant mentality from classical traditionalist forms in pre-industrial society towards rationalization and individualization in modern society is analyzed. A number of works defend the idea of the uniqueness of the social group of farmers in Russia as a separate original class, different from peasants, which requires the development of a separate approach and deep social and cultural studies of the normative- regulatory and activity- motivational foundations of their life. From this perspective, it is important to assess other groups of rural residents. The differentiation of social and structural groups in terms of participating in public activities is quite significant. The most active are representatives of the rural intelligentsia (teachers, doctors/paramedics, settlement administration employees), there is potential for activity expansion among unemployed women engaged in homework and children care. Young people are attracted by environmental and patriotic actions, for they see prospects of developing interaction between the authorities and citizens by modern communication methods – development of the platforms for negotiations with municipalities, broadcasting successful practices of interaction between the authorities and the public. However, some young people are not interested in and do not need public and political activity. Public sector employees are characterized by higher support of traditional values compared to other groups. Housewives, engaged in raising children appreciate family security, social justice and social order, respect for traditions and the opinions of others. Farmers appreciate equality and social order, and hired agricultural workers – social justice, while rural pensioners appreciate traditionalism and equality. It is concluded that the “rigid” technology of quantitative methods has been supplemented in recent years by the use of qualitative methods of sociological research. This was facilitated by several factors. First, an understanding of the role of intangible factors in the development of society has come not only among sociologists but also among managers. Second, the use of the methodology of participatory research contributes to the formulation of new research hypotheses, the construction of sociological concepts that have not yet been noted by scholais. All of the above is more fully and deeply accessible for analysis by means of qualitative methods, but often a survey of rural residents is dictated by the need to maintain a representative sample rather than an interest in the problems of the village: rare surveys are characterized by a fragmentary problem field, a small sample size, and a simplified research methodology.
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