Late Soviet Sociology about Old Age and Gender: There Were Theoretical Insights

The focus of the article is construction of old age and gender in the late Soviet sociology. The author is engaged in secondary analysis of the texts based on the empirical research conducted in the 1970s-1980s. The author argues that Soviet sociologists produced empirically based knowledge about Soviet elderly, which contradicted with ideological claims of the party state. Their texts were balancing between ideological loyalty and positivist knowledge. Researchers were well informed about international sociological discussion of the time: they criticized ‘bourgeois’ disengagement theory of ageing and hailed active ageing paradigm. Empirical studies confirmed however that the life of Soviet elderly was very different from the normative model of active ageing Soviet style. Not many aged citizens were engaged in social activities, most of them experienced shortage of contacts, loneliness and social exclusion. Biographical passage to retirement has been fearful and traumatic experience with lack of institutional help and family care as the preferred option. Men showed more vulnerability to the losses of retirement than women did who are claimed to be better adapted to the life outside paid job due to the Soviet gender contract. Thus, Soviet sociologists in fact were critical to the elderly care regime of the late-Soviet period, though expressed their criticisms in the veiled way under the disguise of the ideological clichés. Though Soviet sociological research was mostly policy oriented and is criticized for its ‘theoretical poverty’, the author argues that certain theoretical insights are fruitful and relevant for the current research on ageing in Russian society.

The Model of Sociological Education in the USSR (the Late 1950s — Early 1980s)

The article provides an analysis of foreign and Soviet scientific publications devoted to the problem of sociological education, the “revival” of Soviet sociology, as well as to the role and place of sociology among the sciences, in society and education. The given study covers the time period of the late 1950s — early 1980s and briefly describes the education of the population of the USSR at that time. Looking through the works on Soviet sociology, the authors show that sociology was introduced not only into the research areas of specific universities and laboratories, but also into many other branches and spheres of activity, as well as into the authorities’ activity. The authors of the article purposefully focus on the role of consolidation and mutual exchange of sociological research from various sociological services.

SOCIOLOGICAL EDUCATION OF THE POPULATION OF THE USSR IN LATE 1950 - EARLY 1980

In this article, the authors analyzed relevant publications devoted to the formation of "revival" of domestic sociology, as well as the role of what place sociology occupied in science, society, education, History, Economics, etc. In addition, the time period of Soviet sociology of the late 1950s-early 1980s was covered. Within the framework of this article, a brief description of how the implementation of sociological education of the population of the USSR took place in that period is given. Going through the pages of Soviet sociology, the authors substantiate the fact that the sociology of the historical period was tightly used not only in research areas of specific universities, laboratories, but also in many industries, as well as the power structures of the USSR. Further in the work the merit of eminent Soviet scientists in creation of "Institute of concrete social researches" (which since 1972 became called "Institute of sociological researches" and since 1988 Institute of sociology of Academy of Sciences of the USSR, in a consequence of RAS) is noted. The paper substantiates the position that sociological knowledge encouraged citizens of the multinational people of the USSR to act consciously and proactively in accordance with the objective laws of social development. The next major step, on which the authors of the work purposefully sharpened their keen vision, is the role of consolidation and mutual exchange of sociological research (this was especially "vividly" reflected in the late 1960s and early 1980s) in a number of different sociological services.

Igor Kon: «You Can’t Hide Anything From History» From Email Correspondence With I.S. Kon. Part I. 2005-2006

This article is an introduction to the description and analysis of the electronic correspondence of the author with I.S. Kon, held in 2005-2011. Kon belongs to a narrow group of sociologists who stood at the origins of Soviet sociology. For many years, Kon has successfully worked in different areas of sociology, at the same time he is a recognized expert in the history of Russian and Western sociology. All this: 1) makes Kon a unique expert in the field of studying the entire period of development of Russian sociology, and 2) determines the historical, sociological and methodological value of his letters. Let us pay attention to the fact that the study of the correspondence of sociologists is a poorly studied topic, but there is a tendency to increase attention to it. The total number of letters is about 200. The texts of 39 letters for 2005-2006 are given. The history of correspondence and its content is briefly considered.