The main contradictions of the russian society in the perception of the country’s population: comparative significance, dуnamics, factors

Abstract

Using research data of the Institute of Sociology of the FCTAS RAS for 2005– 2022 the article demonstrates the peculiarities of the perception by representatives of the mass strata of the country’s population of the most acute contradictions of the Russian society; the factors determining this perception are revealed. The dynamics of the attitude of Russians to the key social contradictions discussed in the relevant scientific discourse is considered. It is shown that the contradictions between the rich and the poor, as well as the authorities and the people, were most acutely perceived among the representatives of the mass strata during the entire period under review. Russians mainly viewed state officials as a group that hinders the successful development of the country, although this perception of them strongly depended on the place of residence of the respondents. Russians were usually quite indifferent to the contradiction between Russia’s inclusion in the processes of globalisation according to the model proposed by the West and the orientation towards preserving the identity and independence of the country, although “bursts” of aggravation of relations with the West caused an increase in the significance of this contradiction in the public consciousness. The factors of perception of the contradictions of the Russian society by the population are both objective and subjective. Among the former, the most important are social and material well-being in their various forms, and among the latter, the feeling of injustice of what is happening and subjective material distress. Rethinking in recent years of the country’s place in the geopolitical space leads to an increase in the consolidation of mass strata, the “peaks” of which fall on periods of increased confrontation with the West. This trend continues despite the decline since the mid-2010s in the level of real incomes of the population, however, it does not reduce the acuteness of the confrontation, in the minds of the population, of the mass strata of society, on the one hand, and its economic and political “top”, on the other.