Петербургская социология сегодня. 2014. Вып. 5.
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2013. N 5
Labor and Organization Sociology
Social Capital: Analytical Approaches and Possibilities of Measurement at the Level of Organization
The paper considers analytical approaches and possibilities of empirical measurement of social capital at the level of organization. The review of the variety of existing theoretical approaches to social capital demonstrates conceptual inconsistency of this notion. A description of the main provisions of the methodology of measuring social capital developed by the authors is presented, which allows overcoming major problems of social capital measurement at the level of organization. It is shown how the measurement of the three components of social capital and their analysis at different levels of the organizational hierarchy allow evaluating the scope and configuration of social capital of the organization and its possible impact on the organizational functioning. The empirical data collected during the survey conducted by the authors in a multinational company of Russian origin, illustrates the possibilities of the developed technique for the diagnosis and monitoring of intra-organizational relations problems.
Characteristics and activities of modern Russian workers
The problem of protecting activities carried out today mainly trade unions. In the experience of the most active trade union organizations identified prerequisites for successful trade union associations. We also consider the new design protective organizations (entities) in the protection of workers’ rights in cooperation with trade unions.
Resources of Russian workers: controversies of industrial and information modernization
The article is devoted to the study of resource workers in the Russian modernization. The reasons of Russian modernization failures could be, firstly, “double” modernization effect — when the movement toward its informational stage is performed while the industrial one is not finished — and, secondly, absence of persons responsible for modernization who really take some actions. From the Russian people’s point of view, the real actors of modernization are workers. However, this is workers who appear to be unprepared for stagnation of the industrial stage of modernization, on one hand, and, on the other hand, for the changes, offered by information society. During the years of reforms Russian workers’ skills turned out to be significantly deformed.
Formation of the conceptual notions apparatus for the sociological analysis of innovation activity
In the paper an attempt is made to analyze terms, that are most often employed in studies, devoted to innovative activity. Some terms are compared with their counterparts in other languages. It is underlined, that many difficulties in research are caused by the absence of unified definitions of the terms, both in research practice and in innovative programs, launched by the state and regional institutions.
Sciences Knowledge, Sociology of Science
Centers for collective use as new form for science organization
The article notes the increase in the costs of research, not only in fundamental science but also in applied disciplines. In this regard, stresses the importance of establishing centers for collective use, the most striking example of which is CERN. The advantages of centers for collective use, their influence on the development of a network of scientific communication are considered, including Russian experience.
Software and context-oriented methods of constructing social knowledge
Problems of Social Knowledge can be solved by constructing knowledge using ontological methods. Modern ontological methods of operating with knowledge are created as software. To create such a program on a professional level are required to study the issue of copyright on software. The article discusses the open source licenses, for example GPL, and the use of such licenses in Russia. Also described the characteristics of the processes of creation and follow-up support software and how they are implemented in the ideology of free software (copyleft).
Sociology of Culture
Johann Arnason's theory of soviet modernity and the studies of Russian political culture
In the article civilizational analysis as a theoretical perspective in contemporary sociology is discussed. The importance of Johann Arnason’s analysis of Soviet modernity for the study of Russian society is characterized. Arnason’s analysis of the multiple forms of modernity is widely discussed in today’s historical sociology. At the same time his study of the Soviet version of modernity has attracted relatively less attention than some other aspects of his work. Nevertheless, Arnason’s analysis of the Soviet model represents an original approach to the communist regime in Russia that deserves further theoretical development. While Arnason does not discuss in detail the processes of social and political change in post-Soviet Russia his approach can be applied to this problematic as well. The functionalist modernization theory cannot account for reversals in economic and political liberalization but Arnason’s ideas add new explanatory dimensions to transformation research. It is argued that Arnason’s theoretical propositions can be complemented with research on Russian political culture by sociologists from the Levada Center. The studies of Boris Dubin and Lev Gudkov present a broad picture of social life in post-Soviet Russia. These authors follow a distinct approach that combines Yurii Levada’s model of the Soviet person with elements of western sociological and political theories. The studies of Levada Centre demonstrate that in the 2000s most of Russian population accepted the Soviet epoch as a kind of ‘invented tradition’ and expressed nostalgia for the years of Brezhnev’s rule. However, some theoretical statements particularly in Gudkov’s works can be questioned from the viewpoint of the multiple modernities perspective in contemporary sociology. The Soviet system can be seen not as a deviation from the only road to modernity but as a specific form of modern society that possessed distinctive civilizational features. The multiple modernities approach can be seen as an important theoretical resource for understanding social processes in post-Soviet Russia.
Practical component of religious lifeworld (the case of orthodox Christians)
In modem science, the problem of the criteria of religiosity is still urgent. The complexity and diversity of the phenomenon of spirituality (religiosity), scholarly conceptualization of the given phenomenon from viewpoints of various theological perspectives, various operationalizations of the term “religiosity determine methodological complications for comparing religiosity even within one world religion, for instance, Christianity.
The first level of our project on studying modern Christians (Orthodox, Protestant, and Evangelical), based on interview materials, was the attempt to maximally understand and describe interconfessional peculiarities of spirituality; the second — to indicate and quantitatively measure those aspects and peculiarities of spiritual life that could become a foundation of the universal criteria of religiosity that could be used in studying both Orthodoxy and Protestantism.
To solve this matter, we proposed the term “religious life world” that we see as a structure of interconnected religious knowledge, beliefs, and practices, which allows us to integrally study the consciousness and behavior of people in the sphere of spiritual life. The given model, according to the level of expression of various components (knowledge, beliefs, and practices), is able to provide a study of various types of religiosity.
In the given article we are to look at the peculiarities of the practical component of religious life world of Orthodox Christians and analyze the connection between the participation of people in exclusively church practices and services that go a bit beyond the necessary minimum of “normative piety”. Such services can be seen as the indicator of the changes in daily life caused by religious involvement.
The target group of our research is the people who not just identify themselves with Orthodoxy or Protestantism, but actually practice their faith, i. e. attend liturgies, participate in sacraments of church, services etc. The questionnaire survey had been conducted in May-July of 2013.154 Orthodox and 68 Protestants took part in the survey. Most of the Orthodox were women (73,4%), the average age — 39,5 (38,4 for women and 42,4 for men).
Due to Cronbach’s Alpha we conducted the a posteriori analysis of the reliability of the scales characterizing the way of life of an Orthodox Christian. In our data for the five components of B-Index (reduced to the five-point grading scales) a took a value of 0,770, and 0,787 for raw values (and 0,829, based on Cronbach’s Alpha based on standardized items). In the first and second cases the frequency of reading the Bible turns out to be the point that minimally correlates with the total result, but, nevertheless, in the course of distancing from the given point the value of a does not increase. One has to note that the components mentioned above (В-Index, as well as the frequency of confession, attending liturgy, frequency of participating in contribution, in which the respondents participate) are closely connected with one another — the value of a, based on the standardized points, is 0,897, which points at a quite high level of reliability of the scale that reflects practical religiosity.
The list of services in the questionnaire (oriented primarily at the comparative interconfessional research) probably failed to completely reflect the diversity of ministries that characterize this or that confession as a whole and particular Orthodox or Protestant communities. Nevertheless, the final data indicate that participation in church sacraments and rituals is not closed within itself but, to the contrary, increases the level of active service to one another inside and outside the church, depending on the increase of intensity of “practical religiosity” of Orthodox Christians.
The results of the research can be used for a further development and approval of the methodological tools of sociological investigation of religiosity and individual spirituality.
History of Sociology
Biological trend in sociology: from the lectures of academician A. S. Lappo-Danilevsky (experience of reconstruction)
This article discusses the historical and sociological views of Academician Alexander Sergeyevich Lappo-Danilevsky (1863-1919). In particular, based on the manuscripts preserved in the archives of the course «Scientific foundations of sociology in their historical development» given his assessment of the «natural science» or «bio-social» trend in sociology. The course was read in 1911. Most detailed Lappo-Danilevsky stayed on the teachings of Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and his followers. Critically assessing the organic trend in sociology for the reductionist methodology and preferring neokantian approach Lappo-Danilevsky seen in the development of alternative organicism epistemological problems of the social sciences. Addition to the manuscripts on the history of sociology Lappo-Danilevsky can serve published after his death, «Methodology of History» (1923), in which the historian gave an overview of the basic nomothetic teachings of the society.
Sociological views of S.S. Shashkov
It is explored the sociological views and ideas of S. S. Shashkov — one of the leaders of the Siberian regionalism of second half XIX — beginning XX centuries. The text begins from short biography of the researcher. We can distinguish two periods in the scientifical heritage of Shashkov: Siberian regionalistic period and postregionalistic one. The analysis of sociological and socio-historical conceptions of author follows this division.
Sociology of Law and Deviation
Theoretical sociological analysis of the dynamics of soviet legal institutions
The author discusses the possibilities of using theoretical approaches of western sociology of law for the analysis of Soviet legal institutions. The limitations of some approaches such as the functionalist theory are demonstrated. It is argued that Bourdieu’s sociology of law is highly relevant for the study of the juridical field in the USSR. The formation of the Soviet judicial system is considered in the article. In particular the activities of revolutionary tribunals that were formed soon after the revolution of 1917 are discussed. The article deals with the peculiarities of functioning of Soviet legal institutions in the 1920s and 1930s. The show trials of the end of the 1930s are characterized from the viewpoint of sociological approaches including ethnomethodology. The development of the judicial system is considered in the social context and in interaction with the political institutions. On the whole the legal institutions were directly subordinated to the political structures. Thus the differentiation of political and legal systems was strictly hierarchical. At the same time the formation of jurists as a specific professional group changed the character of the juridical field. The processes of professionalization and bureaucratization of the Soviet legal system since the end of the 1930s are analyzed in the article. The role of statistical indicators in evaluation of the activities of judges is taken into account. It is argued that, from the view point of Bourdieu’s theory, the juridical field in the USSR tended to function as an “apparatus”. The conclusion is made that combining ideas of Bourdieu’s sociology of law and sociology of politics allows us to reveal the peculiarities of the Soviet juridical field.
Social constructing of teenage deviation in secondary schools
The author discusses the constructivist approach in sociology of deviant behavior. In the article the process of constructing teen-age deviation at secondary schools is considered. The results of a survey of secondary school teachers and psychologists are presented. It is argued that there is a trend in both groups to regard as deviant any behavior that does not conform to the official rules. At the same time some differences between teachers and school psychologists in defining deviation have been found in the study. Thus class tutors tend to be less tolerant towards teen-agers’ sexual contacts and alcohol consumption in comparison with school psychologists. Representatives of these two professional groups focus on different forms of deviant behavior and stress different causes of such behavior. The author argues that the results of the survey allow us to evaluate the utility of the constructivist approach in sociology of deviant behavior. Some restrictions of this approach are singled out. Nevertheless, it is noted that constructivist methodology can be more relevant for the study of deviant behavior than positivist methods.
Sociology of Health
Modern theoretical approaches in conceptualizing health as a social phenomenon: capability approach and the sociology of risk
The principles of sociological analysis of health as an element of adaptation processes are reviewed in the article from the viewpoint of capability approach and the sociology of risk. The conditions of successful individual adaptation are being analyzed within the framework of capability approach while the sociology of risk is important in revealing negative factors that can cause adaptation failures and thus lead to health hazards. The author emphasizes that these theories should be used in complex and presents arguments of their significance for empirical research and the subsequent decision-making in the field of public health in the modern Russia.
Contextual factors of tobacco epidemic in Russia
This article investigates into the basic contextual factors and the role of state, influencing the rise of smoking prevalence in Russia. The analysis of state tobacco policy interventions allows us to reveal the major contextual variables determining the tobacco epidemic on the national-level: provision of state benefits for the international tobacco investments, low tobacco prices, low tobacco excise tax, aggressive promotion and advertising of tobacco products enabled by authorities. The mutual impact of individual and contextual variables on tobacco epidemic in Russia is studied by the means of multilevel modeling approach.
Scientific Life
In Memoriam
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