Socially active groups of Russian society: forming a demand for democratic participation

 Based on the data of public opinion polls, the article assesses the degree of politicization and involvement in the practice of civic participation of a social group of “professionals”, by which we mean the Russian people with higher education and, as a rule, earning a living through mental labour. It is believed that this very part of society is one of the main pillars of democratic regimes in most of the developed countries. In the Russian realities, as the authors of the article note, the representatives of this group for a long time were focused on individual self-realization and avoided participation in the social and political life of the country, that led to the lack of adequate representation of their interests in public policy. In the past few years, as demonstrated by the FCTAS RAS studies, a demand for democratic participation began to form against the backdrop of the awareness of “professionals”, as well as of many other representatives of the middle class, of the importance of a favorable social environment (security, including environmental security, the presence of a developed social infrastructure, non-interference in the citizens private life, etc.). The authors believe that this is a request not only for adequate representation of the interests of these groups in the state, but also for changing the very nature of relations between the society and the state. The authors emphasize that the direct involvement of “professionals” in the practice of political and social participation is of “pulsating” nature yet, representing their reaction to certain political events that seem important. Despite the fact that the level of this involvement is not very high, nevertheless, it noticeably (and sometimes multiple) exceeds similar indicators of other socio-professional groups. In the event of a further deterioration in the quality of the socio-political environment and a decrease in the standard of living in the country, the “background” interest of the majority of Russian “professionals” in politics might be transformed into systematic and more active practices of political participation.

  professionals, democracy, civic participation, creative class, emancipatory values, interest in politics, civic activism

1. Almakaeva A. M., Mavletova A. M. Modernization processes in Russia: can we expect the shift to emancipative values? Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes. 2018. No. 6.  P. 91–112. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2018.6.05. (In Russ.)
2. Anikin V. A. Social classes of the new Russia: unequal and different. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya. 2020. No. 2. P. 31–42. DOI: 10.31857/S013216250008492-4. (In Russ.)
3. Bauman Z. Globalization. The Human Consequences. Moscow: Ves’ Mir. 2004. 118 p. (In Russ.)
4. Bell D., Inozemtsev V. L. Epokha razobshchennosti: Razmyshleniya o mire XXI veka [The Era of Disunity. Reflections on the World of the 21st Century] Moscow: Center for Research on Post-Industrial Society. 2007. 304 p. (In Russ.)
5. Brooks D. Bobo in Paradise. The New Upper Class and How They Got There. Transl. from Eng. by D. Simanovsky. Moscow: Ad Marginem Press. 2013. 296 p. (In Russ.)
6. Gelman V. J. “Nedostoynoye pravleniye”: politika v sovremennoy Rossii [The Politics of Bad Governance in Contemporary Russia]. St. Petersburg: European University in St. Petersburg publ., 2019. 254 p. (In Russ.)
7. Golosov G. V. Demokratiya v Rossii: instruktsiya po sborke [Democracy in Russia: an assembly instructions]. St. Petersburg: BHV-Petersburg. 2012. 208 p. (In Russ.)
8. Degoev V. Samooslepleniye: novaya politicheskaya mifologiya Rossii [Self-blinding: a new political mythology of Russia]. Political journal. 2006. No. 45–46. P. 7–15. (In Russ.)
9. Dzolo D. Demokratiya i slozhnost’: realisticheskiy podkhod [Democracy and Complexity: A Realistic Approach]. Moscow: SU HSE publ., 2010. 320 p.
10. Inglehart R., Welzel K. Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence. Transl. from Eng. by M. Korobochkin. Moscow: Novoe izdatel’stvo publ., 2011. 464 p. (In Russ.)
11. Crouch K. Post-democracy. Transl. from Eng. by N. V. Edel’man. Moscow: SU HSE publ., 2010. 192 p. (In Russ.)
12. Lapin N. I. Sotsiokul’turnyye faktory rossiyskoy stagnatsii i modernizatsii [Sociocultural factors of Russian stagnation and modernization]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya. 2011. No. 9. P. 3–17. (In Russ.)
13. Levitsky S., Way L. A. The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism. Neprikosnovenny Zapas: debaty o politike i kulture. 2018. No. 5. P. 29–47. (In Russ.)
14. Lubsky A. V., Lubsky R. A. Etatizm i paternalizm kak kul’turnyye markery tsivilizatsionnoy identichnosti v Rossii [Statism and paternalism as cultural markers of civilizational identity in Russia]. Humanitarian of the South of Russia. 2013. No. 3. P. 90–103. (In Russ.)
15. Magun V. S., Rudnev M. G., Schmidt P. European value typology and basic values of Russians. Vestnik obshchestvennogo mneniya. Dannye. Analiz. Diskussii. 2015. Vol. 121. No. 3–4. P. 74 – 93. (In Russ.)
16. Mastikova N. S. Values of Russians and Residents of European Leading Countries (According to the European Social Research). Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: Economicheskie i sotsial’nye peremeny. 2013. Vol. 118. No. 6. P. 144–152. (In Russ.)
17. Petukhov V. V. Civil Activity as an Alternative to the Anti-Democratic Trend of Russian Politics. Politicheskie issledovaniya. 2013. No. 5. P. 87–99. (In Russ.)
18. Politika apolitichnyh: Grazhdanskie dvizheniya v Rossii 2011 – 2013 godov [Politics of the Apolitical: Civil Movements in Russia 2011–2013] Ed. by M. L. Alyukov, S. V. Erpyleva and others. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2014. 480 p. (In Russ.)
19. Starodubrovskaya I., Lobodanova D. Creative class and creative city: Russian refraction. Economicheskaya politika. 2013. No. 5. P. 127–149 (In Russ.)
20. Tikhonova N. E. Sredniy klass v sovremennoy Rossii: osobennosti identichnostey i mirovozzreniya [The middle class in modern Russia: features of identities and worldview]. Materials of the International Scientific Conference ‘The future of sociological knowledge and the challenges of social transformations’ (Contribute to the 90’th anniversary of the birth of V. A. Yadov). Ed. by M. K. Gorshkov. Moscow: FCTAS RAS publ., 2019. P. 420–425. (In Russ.)
21. Tikhonova N. E. Human capital of professionals and managers: state and dynamics. Vestnik Instituta sotziologii. 2017. No. 21. P. 140–165. (In Russ.)
22. Fedotova V. A. Values of Russians in the context of intergenerational relations. Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Filosofiya. Psihologiya. Sociologiya. 2017. No. 1. P. 78–86. DOI: 10.17072 / 2078-7898 / 2017-1-78-86 (In Russ.)
23. Florida R. The rise of the creative class and how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. Transl. from Eng. by A. Konstantinov. 2011. Moscow: Classic-XXI. 419 p. (In Russ.)
24. Kharitonova O. G. Non-democratic political regimes. Politicheskaya nauka. 2012. No. 3. P. 9–30. (In Russ.)
25. Yadov V. A. K voprosu o natsional’nykh osobennostyakh modernizatsii rossiyskogo obshchestva [On the nation-specific features of modernization in Russia]. Mir Rossii. Sotsiologiya. Etnologiya. 2010. Vol. 19. No. 3. P. 46–56. (In Russ.)
26. Yasin E. G. Modernizatsiya i obshchestvo [Modernization and society] Materials of the VIII International scientific conference “Modernization of the economy and social development”. Moscow: SU HSE publ., 2007. 114 p. (In Russ.)
27. Woolcock M. Social capital and economic development: Toward a theoretical synthesis and policy framework. Theory and Society. 1998. Vol. 27. No. 2. P. 151–208. https://doi. org/10.1023/A:1006884930135