Professional Identity in Soviet Society: Factors and Mechanisms of Formation (Articulation of Issue)

Abstract

Objectives: For the first time in domestic historiography this study considers the complex problem associated with consistent formation of professional identity in Soviet society. Methods: The authors describe the quantitative variety of real models of identity genesis that were realized within separate social groups among which the industrial workers and the technical and liberal intellectuals are particularly distinguished. An image of a Soviet engineer personifying the romantic idea of Industrialization is studied as a representative example of changing professional identity. Findings: The authors of this study come to the principal conclusion that the identity characteristics of separate personalities and social groups were formed by the ruling elite who extensively applied the mental tools associated with ideological stigmatization, with purposeful search for the alien Other, with large-scale deconstruction of traditional values. Applications/Improvements: The results of the study will facilitate further investigations of the issues of consequential transition from labor to professional identity and of gender-related and social aspects of personal identification.