Prospects for the Development of Sociology in Russia in the XXIst century (discussion with V. Ilyin, K. Clement, I. Olimpieva, E. Zdravomyslova, A. Temkina, A. Kondakov, M. Burawoy, March 24, 2015)

Abstract

The purpose of the discussion is to discuss the prospects for the development of Russian sociology: its possibilities to explain what is happening in Russian society, to respond to social challenges and to represent the interests of those social strata that are crowded out to the periphery along with global market development. Russian sociologists who study social inequality from different perspectives and develop critical discourse in Russian sociology participate in the discussion: Vladimir Ilyin (St. Petersburg State University), Karin Clement (St. Petersburg State University), Irina Olimpieva (Centre for Independent Social Research), Elena Zdravomyslova and Anna Temkina (European University St. Petersburg), Alexander Kondakov (European University St. Petersburg), with closing remarks — Michael Burawoy (University of California, Berkeley). Moderator of the discussion — Svetlana Yaroshenko (St. Petersburg State University). Can sociology be independent of society and the processes occurring in it? What is the relationship between sociologists and society today? What are the prospects of sociology as a science, as a profession and as a vocation? What are the features of social order for sociological research and how does it affect the commercial environment? How relevant is the class approach to today’s social theory? Does today’s Russia need a public sociology and what should it be? What are the most relevant dimensions of social inequality? These and other issues were discussed during the discussion.