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Советская инженерно-техническая интеллигенция 1960–80-х гг.: в поиске границ коллективного сознания
This article focuses on issues such as the emergence and existence of a collective
consciousness among the Soviet engineering/technical intellectuals during the period of real socialism,
based on knowledge of the past embodied in the memories of those who represent this group. The
analysis utilizes E. Durkheim’s ideas about collective consciousness. This man of science developed
the concept of collective or common consciousness, tying it to the idea of “organic solidarity”,
which can be interpreted as the ethos of a certain social group, as well as knowledge about social
reality and about the place which a certain group occupies within it, with said knowledge producing
collective identity. This article attempts to reconstruct certain elements of the consciousness of the
Soviet engineering/technical intellectuals group based on analyzing the remaining memories of its
representatives, as well as the ETW (engineering technical workers) discourse concept proposed by M. Lipovitsky, which characterizes forms of group consciousness among the said group. The whole
point of the ETW discourse, according to M. Lipovitsky, is spontaneous positivism and progressism,
confidence in the power of facts, as well as denying complicated polyphonic prisms when it comes to
cultivating a mock form of irony given a lack of critical self-reflection. This work examines the issues
of the social and professional status of the group of Soviet engineering/technical intellectuals, as well
as its position in the social structure of Soviet society. In order to accomplish this, studies by Soviet
sociologists, dedicated to engineering personnel, are utilized. It is stated that the professionalism of
engineering/technical intellectuals was based on the level of education that they received, as well
as the state’s need for a technocratic class, which would make the USSR competitive in defense and
civil spheres. The professional independence of various sub-groups of the engineering/technical
intellectuals was not equal, and it depended on the industrial affiliation of the organization where
certain specialists were at work. Also discussed are certain professional culture characteristics of this
group, including technocratic thinking, rationalism, and a critical outlook on the late Soviet period.
It is shown that the memories of Soviet engineers can somewhat reveal the life and professional
world of this group, they do not, however, indicate the existence of several different professional
environments and forms of collective consciousness within it, which are still waiting for their
researchers. Search and discussion is the purpose of this text.