Culture of Russian society: prospects for a sociological study

2024/2025

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

6

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Департамент социологии

Статус:

Курс по выбору

Когда читается:

2-й курс, 1, 2 модуль

Преподаватель

Симонова Ольга Александровна

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course is devoted to the analysis of the cultural content of social life in modern Russian society from the point of view of the sociological theory and practice. The aim of the course is to show the general trends and processes of the post-Soviet period of Russian history. We intend to describe the cultures of various groups, communities, and strata, and identify the areas of social solidarity and the areas of social tensions and conflicts. The analysis will be based on the theories, concepts, and methods of sociology related to the study of the cultural system in modern societies: values, social norms, customs, traditions, rituals, practices, etc. included in the system of social institutions. Therefore, this course contains a critical examination of the concepts and models of the sociology of culture to adapt them to the study of the cultural life of modern Russia. Particular attention will be paid to the impact of general processes of globalization and the interaction of cultures on the culture of Russian society in order to show the specific and common features of modern Russian culture. Also, we will focus on research perspectives and research methods fitting to sociological investigations of contemporary culture. In accordance with these objectives, the course includes the following topics: " The basic concepts, theories and methods of contemporary sociology of culture" " The Soviet traditions and their cultural processing in the post-Soviet period" " The cultural traumas of modern Russia: the policy of collective memory" " Culture and social structure in modern Russia" etc. This course is designed for students of the master's program " The sociology of public and business sphere" who have general knowledge in the social sciences and humanities obtained at the previous stage of education, as well as skills in working with the literature on social sciences. As a result of mastering the course, the enrolled students should know the main concepts and principles of the sociology of culture, the main methods of studying culture; he/she should have general and specific knowledge about the culture of modern Russia and the theoretical and methodological instruments of its research and present the results of the current research during the course. In accordance with the curriculum adopted at the HSE, the program " The culture of Russian society: Prospects of sociological research& amp;quot; presupposes lectures and classes. In addition, the students’ individual work is expected: the reading of special books and articles, writing essays, and oral presentations on the proposed topics. There are lecturer tutorials on the issues of the students’ interests. The course is part of blended-learning education strategy and so it is interconnected with the following online courses: “Understanding Russians: Contexts of Intercultural Communications" (https://www.coursera.org/lecture/intercultural-communication-russians/1-4-intercultural-communication-in-the-context-of-other-disciplines-pbwb8) and "Philosophy of Culture" (https://www.coursera.org/learn/filosofiya-kultury ). First academic year (2020-2021) the students enrolled in the course should complete the online course (“Understanding Russians: Contexts of Intercultural Communications") and write the reflexive writing or essay on any topic from the list offered in the syllabus. In the second academic year, the students enrolled in the course should complete the online course (Philosophy of Culture), attend a course of lectures according to this syllabus, participate in group discussions, and present individual or group project on the same or other topics.

Learning Objectives

• The goal of this course is to create a systematic understanding of a culture of modern Russian society by using the means of sociology and to apply sociological thinking and methods in research.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• • ability to apply sociological concepts and theories to analyze social phenomena of contemporary society, including Russian society
• • ability to apply sociological concepts and theories to analyze social phenomena of contemporary society, including Russian society; • to be able to deal with more than one way of thinking about the social world and culture
• • to be creative and able to link ideas from this unit and the other disciplines they are studying to create new ways of thinking about social phenomena, in particular in understanding of socialization process in modern society and Russia
• • to be critical of any data and theories that they read or hear about and, of course, to be critical of their own work; to know about the main sociological research of culture of Russian society;
• • to demonstrate ability to apply sociological concepts and theories to analyze social phenomena of contemporary society; • to be creative and able to link ideas from this unit and the other disciplines they are studying to create new ways of thinking about social phenomena;
• • to demonstrate ability to interpret the main issues of contemporary society from the sociological point of view; • to demonstrate ability to participate in sociological discussions; • to demonstrate ability to read and understand sociological literature;
• • to demonstrate ability to write argumentative essays; to analyze the latest events and processes from the sociological point of view; to know about wide spectrum of methods in sociology in culture research; the ability to choose from the variety of methods and theoretical perspectives for study of culture of modern Russian society.

Course Contents

• Session 1. The main principles of sociological analysis of culture.
• Session 2. Sociological concepts and theories of of culture and their applicability to the learning of the culture of modern Russian society.
• Session 3. The main concepts and theories of contemporary sociology of culture. Socialization.
• Session 4. The concepts, theories and methods of contemporary sociology of culture: the culture and everyday life and its researching.
• Session 5. The variety of sociological methods in the field of sociology of culture.
• Session 6. The main topic of sociology of culture: Culture and social structure in modern Russia.
• Session 7. The culture of post-modern society and a study of the culture of modern Russian society.

Assessment Elements

• Group discussions
  A Student should participate in online group discussions regularly and know the texts for home reading
• Presentation and defence of the individual or group project

Interim Assessment

• 2024/2025 2nd module
  0.5 * Group discussions + 0.5 * Presentation and defence of the individual or group project

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• "The Russian question" at the end of the twentieth century, Solzhenitsyn, A., 1995
• "Болотная, 13", филиал Государственного музея политической истории России, Санкт-Петербург, , 2012
• "Великая трансформация" Карла Поланьи : прошлое, настоящее, будущее, Барсукова, С. Б., 2006
• "Вопрос вопросов": почему не стало Советского Союза?, Коэн, С., 2007
• Consumption and everyday life, Paterson, M., 2018
• Consumption and social change on a post-Soviet middle class, Patico, J., 2008
• Conversations with Anthony Giddens : making sense of modernity, Giddens, A., 1998
• Cultural sociology in practice, Edles, L. D., 2002
• Datchas, jardins et potagers en Bielorussie. Figures de l' individu post-sovietique : these pour le doctorat de l'universite bordeaux 2. Mention : Sociologie, Hervouet, R., 2004
• Everyday life and the "reconstruction" of Soviet Russia during and after the Great Patriotic War,..., Jones, J. W., 2008
• From Russia with code : programming migrations in post-Soviet times, , 2019
• Globalization and its discontents, Stiglitz, J.E., 2003
• Migration, displacement and identity in post-Soviet Russia, Pilkington, H., 1998
• Persistent poverty in Russia. Препринт (Working paper) #BSP/2000/037 E, Spryskov, D., 2000
• Physical culture and sport in soviet society : propaganda, acculturation, and transformation in the 1920s and 1930s, Grant, S., 2013
• Post-Soviet civil society : democratization in Russia and the Baltic states, Uhlin, A., 2006
• Putin's 'Preventive counter-revolution' : post-soviet authoritarianism and the spectre of velvet revolution, Horvath, R., 2013
• Qualitative inquirt in everyday life, Brinkmann, S., 2012
• Raymond Williams's sociology of culture : a critical reconstruction, Jones, P., 2006
• Rethinking the post-Soviet experience : markets, moral economies, and cultural contradictions of post-socialist Russia, Hass, J., 2012
• Rural women in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia, Denisova, L., 2010
• Russia in the era of NEP : explorations in Soviet society and culture, , 1991
• Sociological methods : a sourcebook, Denzin, N. K., 1978
• Sociology : exploring the architecture of everyday life, Newman, D. M., 2002
• Soviet and post-Soviet economic structure and performance, Gregory, P. R., 1994
• Soviet society and culture : essays in honor of Vera S. Dunham, , 1988
• Soviet Society in the era of late socialism, 1964-1985, , 2014
• The age of anxiety : security and politics in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, Galeotti, M., 1995
• The Blackwell companion to the sociology of culture, , 2016
• The consumer in the Soviet economy, Hanson, P., 1968
• The Dynamics of soviet society, Rostow, W.W., 1967
• The early sociology of culture. Vol.1: Old world traits transplanted, , 2003
• The early sociology of culture. Vol.2: The taxi-dance hall : a sociological study in commercialized recreation and city life, , 2003
• The early sociology of culture. Vol.7: Elements of folk psychology: outlines of a psychological history of the development of mankind, , 2003
• The new American cultural sociology, , 1998
• The politics of transition: shaping a post-Soviet future, White, S., 1993
• The post-Soviet politics of utopia : language, fiction and fantasy in modern Russia, , 2020
• The post-Soviet Russian media : conflicting signals, , 2011
• The post-Soviet Russian Orthodox Church : politics, culture and greater Russia, Richters, K., 2013
• The role of informal economies in the post-Soviet world : the end of transition?, Williams, C. C., 2013
• The spirit of post-war Russia : Soviet ideology, 1917-1946, Schlesinger, R., 1947
• The transformation of urban space in post-Soviet Russia, Axenov, K., 2009

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• A sociology of modernity : liberty and discipline, Wagner, P., 2002
• Civil society and global poverty : hegemony, inclusivity, legitimacy, Gabay, C., 2013
• Communism on tomorrow street : Mass housing and everyday life after Stalin, Harris, S. E., 2013
• Consumer behavior I. Vol.3: Consumer socialization: childhood, children and families, , 2006
• Creating a world without poverty : social business and the future of capitalism, Yunus, M., 2007
• Cultural movements and collective memory : Cristopher Columbus and the rewriting of the national origin myth, Kubal, T., 2009
• Everyday life in early Soviet Russia : taking the Revolution inside, , 2006
• Everyday life in the modern world, Lefebvre, H., 2002
• Gender and everyday life, Holmes, M., 2009
• Generations and collective memory, Corning, A., 2015
• Handbook of socialization : theory and research, , 2008
• Incivility : the rude stranger in everyday life, Smith, P., 2010
• Individual and collective memory consolidation : analogous processes on different levels, Anastasio, T. J., 2012
• Norbert Elias and figurational research: processual thinking in sociology, , 2011
• Political culture, socialization, democracy, and education : interdisciplinary and cross-natioal perspectives for a new century, , 2008
• Poverty, inequality, and democracy, , 2012
• Qualitative research in sociology : an introduction, Marvasti, A. B., 2004
• Remembering the road to World War Two : international history, national identity, collective memory, Finney, P., 2011
• Russian sociology about Russian society, , 2003
• Sociological snapshots 5 : seeing social structure and change in everyday life, Levin, J., 2008
• The Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology. Vol.4: F-HE, , 2007
• The enigma of globalization : a journey to a new stage of capitalism, Went, R., 2003
• The Sage handbook of globalization. Vol.2: ., , 2014
• The urban sociology reader, , 2013

Authors

• Simonova Olga Aleksandrovna