Article
Нормативно-ценностная система россиян: специфика и динамика
Analysis of system of values and norms in Russian society and its changes in recent years is presented in the article. It is shown that its specifi city compared with other countries lies not so much in a radical contrast of norms typical for Russians, but in objective situation in the country that prevent implementation of these norms and values in practice.
While many past theoretical discussions on nature of social norms were centered on a problem of their precise definition, I propose an analysis of peculiar character of sociological theorizing about norms which is grounded in a wider interdisciplinary context (particularly, on sociologically relevant implications from H.L.A. Hart’s and H. Kelsen’s views on law and norms) and based on systematization of principal norm-related questions which varying types of theories attempt to answer, i.e., nature of norms, social mechanisms of their maintenance and change, analytic and empirically-based distinctions between norms and rules and conventions, irreducible complexity of norms, etc. Besides, the chapter presents a systematic review of classical and modern approaches to elucidation of intricate relations between multiple normative systems, e.g., law and morality. I also discuss some recent arguments against moral relativism in social sciences brought forward by S. Lukes.
This article first gives a brief overview of my adventures in developing two theories of values and the methods to measure them. First came my theory of the basic values on which individuals in all cultures differ. Then, quite unexpectedly, the opportunity arose to develop a theory of cultural values on which societies differ. As the story unfolds, I tell of failures, triumphs, and challenges. Values research has expanded in the past two decades beyond my wildest early imaginings. The second section of the article presents some ideas about future directions worth pursuing in values research. It describes competing theories and controversies as well as ways to go beyond them. I hope it will stimulate further advances in this field to which I have devoted more than 20 years.
The concept of national character is considered in the paper, Russian national character is analyzed from the point of view of Russian and foreign writers and philosophers. Results of researches of values dynamics on the boundary of XXI century on Schwarz's methodology in Russia and abroad are regarded. The values of Russians are compared to values of Western and the Eastern Europeans and to values of China people. The results of researches of values impact on economic development and the attitudes to innovations in Russia are analyzed.
The collective monograph presents the results of the theoretical and historical-sociological research of the normative grammar of social action as well as the moral infrastructure of social order. The research was based on the in-depth analysis of the relevant mainstream and also rather peripheral ideas and concepts of classical and modern social theory, cognitive science and the ‘new’ sociology of morality. Among the main topics of the monograph are the theoretical re-interpretation of the concept of “norm” in an interdisciplinary perspective, the mechanisms of normative morphogenesis, structures of group and professional morals, and theoretical examination of risk-responsibility link in everyday moral evaluations. In addition, historical-theoretical reconstruction of some classical sociological theories is used for outlining new prospects in theoretical interpretation of the processes of normative change and crystallization and also of the multiplicity of normative systems. The book will be useful to readers in many different fields of social sciences and humanities, including those studying sociology at advanced level. It also will make an immediate appeal to the general reader familiar with contemporary social theory.
Several approaches to the concept of fatherhood present in Western sociological tradition are analyzed and compared: biological determinism, social constructivism and biosocial theory. The problematics of fatherhood and men’s parental practices is marginalized in modern Russian social research devoted to family and this fact makes the traditional inequality in family relations, when the father’s role is considered secondary compared to that of mother, even stronger. However, in Western critical men’s studies several stages can be outlined: the development of “sex roles” paradigm (biological determinism), the emergence of the hegemonic masculinity concept, inter-disciplinary stage (biosocial theory). According to the approach of biological determinism, the role of a father is that of the patriarch, he continues the family line and serves as a model for his ascendants. Social constructivism looks into man’s functions in the family from the point of view of masculine pressure and establishing hegemony over a woman and children. Biosocial theory aims to unite the biological determinacy of fatherhood with social, cultural and personal context. It is shown that these approaches are directly connected with the level of the society development, marriage and family perceptions, the level of egality of gender order.