No 5 (2024)

On the eve of the anniversary of the journal, issues of studying labor and labor relations in our country are discussed, including their coverage in the journal. Specialists in the field of labor sociology give varying assessments not only of the previous period of the discipline’s development, but also evaluate its prospects, discussing the undeservedly forgotten names of predecessors and their ideas. The peculiarity of the national sociology of labor development is noted, which, despite the lackibg independent theories as well as ideas ahead of practice, over the past fifty years has always adequately responded to the challenges and demands of its time, fulfilling social orders. Methodological questions are raised about the difficulties of studying social and labor relations, lack of conceptual elaboration of the conceptual apparatus, and the measurements difficulties in the labor sphere are discussed. Important aspects of prospective research in this direction are discussed.

Based on data from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE), analysis is conducted of the basic tendencies that outline changes in the duration of the work day in post-Soviet Russia (1994–2021). It was revealed that if in the 1990s every third worker stayed within the established limit for working hours, in 2021 only every fifth, while everyone else was constantly forced to work extra hours. At the same time, with an increase in the duration of paid work, there was a noticeable reduction in the time spent traveling to and from work, as well as the share of these costs in the total amount of working time. A noticeable differentiation of workers by level of workload has been revealed, which in turn becomes one of the compelling reasons for the growth of differentiation in wages. Analyzing the current situation in the economy, the authors predict the preservation of high rates of working hours in the near future, which increases the threat of emotional exhaustion and physical fatigue of workers.

A conceptual model for the analysis of labor relations based on the methodology of the sociology of life is presented. Labor relations are considered as a synthesizing concept of the life world of an employee of a modern high-tech industrial enterprise. Empirical research data indicate differences in the state of key characteristics of labor relations (labor consciousness, labor behavior and the production environment) between employees of automated («A») and non-automated («NА») production sites. Among the employees of the «A» sites, the proportion of «conformists» is noticeably higher, there is a lower level of social well-being, job satisfaction and its components, involvement in the digital environment, vocational training and a more pronounced willingness to conflict in the enterprise. Among the employees of the «NА» sites, there is a higher proportion of «pragmatists» who are guided by material motives, well adapted to the production environment, satisfied with their current profession, career prospects and demonstrating a high level of social well-being. The conclusion is made about the reasons for this differencing and measures are proposed to accelerate the adaptation of workers to the new content of work in the conditions of the fourth industrial revolution and the formation of their involvement levels in the affairs of the enterprise, the manifestation of initiative and creative attitude to work.

The article substantiates the importance of the methodological problem of analyzing qualitative heterogeneity of an objects’ set in the process of sociological measurement of subjective well-being. It presents the results of an exploratory study aimed at testing a number of tools in reconstruction procedures of social types among the population as qualitatively homogeneous latent formations (according to the nature of subjective well-being). In the first part of the article, an analysis was carried out of the “researchers’ request” for methodological reflection on the use in mass surveys of such subjective well-being generalized indicators as life satisfaction, personal happiness; the problem of the complete set of particular indicators was considered; the expediency of using relationships between the generalized indicator and the particular indicators as a basis for the typology was substantiated.

This part of the article provides a brief description of the fuzzy classification algorithm from the class of logical-combinatorial methods used to search for typological syndromes, that are the basis for identifying typological groups. The results of a typological analysis, based on the RLMS HSE, wave 26, 2017 data are presented. Identification of the qualitative heterogeneity specifics in subjective well-being was carried out for all workers and for groups among them, representing three stages of the life cycle.

The article examines the objective and subjective life prerequisites of modern Russian farming, a new group in the social village structure. Based on the parameters established in practice for the size of farming into small, medium and large groups, the author substantiated the main prerequisites for their rooting in the agro-industrial complex and the life of rural communities. Large farmers are the most securely rooted; medium-sized farmers are weaker. Particularly dramatic is the situation for heads of small farms, whose number has decreased by half over ten years (from 2006 to 2016). It has been suggested that the resources of this group, primarily arable land, will eventually pass over to large farmers. Medium-sized farmers are also close to this situation, mainly due to the lacking heirs capable of farming in rural conditions. This could lead to further reductions in the farming lifestyle. The author’s ideas are formulated on ways to rationalize the sociodynamics of the farms’ composition in order to maintain not only their economic and sociocultural role, but also the employment of the mass of rural residents. Actors of the farming way of life are the subject of transitional social states of society and its individual systems, where the lines of many economic, social and ideological players intersect. When realizing their life plans, they act in a space of uncertain future beyond their control.

The article discusses the religious participation practices in the context of the positive ageing project. It is shown that the formation of a positive old age project, adequate to the challenges of the time, is based on the analysis of diverse and inclusive experiences, not limited to ideas that boil down only to health, wealth and comfortable leisure. The experience of various social groups of the population is interesting and useful for designing a positive old age project. In this article, we combine ageing and the experience of religious participation, the analysis of which was carried out via in-depth interviews as part of a field study of the process of conversion to Orthodoxy. Based on interviews with elderly parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church, the authors show how habitus (cognitive, emotional, motivating structures) functions with elderly people converted to Orthodoxy in different types of religious participation, reproducing and changing values, identities, inner experiences at the gerontological stage of their life path. The analysis of in-depth interviews with religiously converted people permitted to identify a variety of socio-religious solidarity practices, as well as to show positive effect of religious involvement for maintaining trust, participation, activity, and for “capitalizing hope” for a better outcome in difficult life situations at a late age.

In connection with the global trend of the spreading one-person households, the basic concepts and directions of studying loneliness are analyzed. The empirical base is the data from the censuses of 2002, 2010, 2021, Statistical Survey of Income and Participation in Social Programs-2022 and Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey – Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE, 2009, 2021 and 2022), foreign studies results on the problems of single households and loneliness.

The reasons for the spread of single households can be considered as an increase in life expectancy, developing social security system, urbanization, economic independence of women and adult children, nuclearization of families, decreasing levels of marriage and fertility, internal and external migration, spreading individualism values, self-realization and tolerance to various lifestyles. In Russia, the share of households consisting of one person in cities among other private households is doubling from 2002 to 2021 to amount to 43,8%. Against the background of data on developed countries, the indicator is high, which may be due to a different calculating methodology. The proportion of working-age people living in single households in cities has also increased from 46,9% to 59,6%. Such changes were probably facilitated by economic independence of adult children from their parents, an increase in the age of family formation and childbirth, and the practices of intimate and marital relations in different households.

According to the RLMS-HSE data there are more men living in one-person households in young and middle age while for women these ages are older. At the age of 36–59, there are almost twice as many people living without partners who are dissatisfied with life and have nervous disorders or depression compared to spouses in the same age. There are no differences in indicators such as smoking, alcohol consumption, assessment of health and financial situation. There are fewer satisfied cohabitees among women, but not among male cohabitees, who are probably more likely to be satisfied with a situation without obligations. The absence of children can be considered one of the criteria for the empirical identification of single people. At the age of 60 and older, 8% of men and 9% of women in cities did not have native or officially adopted children. The indicators of well-being of those who have and do not have natives or officially adopted children were compared. There were no differences in indicators such as smoking, alcohol consumption, health and financial status assessment. The absence of natives or officially adopted children aged 60 years and more has a negative impact mainly on women’s life satisfaction.

The trend of living in one-person households, including those in working ages, is likely to persist in Russia. From the point of view of fertility, a low level of final celibacy for men and women and the low rate of women’s childlessness in comparison with developed countries are encouraging so far. A high divorce rate is partially offset by remarriages. Cohabitation is rather not an alternative to marriage, at least among educated groups of the population, but only a stage in life for a balanced choice of a partner.

A conversation with Stephen Turner, Distinguished Professor of the Department of Philosophy at the University of South Florida, USA, took place in April 2024 in his office at the university in Tampa. Professor Turner’s scientific interests in the field of philosophy of science, history of sociology allowed him to give a deep analysis and his vision of the fundamental problems of sociology, philosophy, social education, history of American sociology and its place in the global sociological community. The interview highlights the challenges within the American scientific system, sociology’s role in social sciences, and the methodologies and concerns of philosophy in examining modern existence. It uncovers the perspectives of the American sociologist on the importance of an expansive view of sociology that encompasses the social philosophies of non-Western cultures in the lexicon of worldwide sociological research.