Soviet man: the experience of understanding the socio-historical reality

  • Zhan T. Toshchenko Russian State University for the Humanities, 6 Miusskaya Square, Moscow 125993, Russia; Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 24/35 Krzhizhanovskogo Street, 5 building, Moscow 117218, Russia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33581/2521-6821-2022-3-23-31

Abstract

The article makes an attempt to comprehend appearance of the phenomenon of Soviet man in the historical arena, the specifics of its functioning at various stages of the formation and development of Soviet society. It is shown that the consciousness and activity of the Soviet person developed gradually, within the framework of overcoming objective and subjective contradictory circumstances. Particular attention is paid to the Soviet person as a decisive link in the emergence and existence of a social contract as the basis of Soviet society. A brief critical analysis of anti-Soviet concepts is being implemented. A search is being made for an answer to the question why the phenomenon of the Soviet man continues to live in the minds and hearts of Russians three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Author Biography

Zhan T. Toshchenko, Russian State University for the Humanities, 6 Miusskaya Square, Moscow 125993, Russia; Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 24/35 Krzhizhanovskogo Street, 5 building, Moscow 117218, Russia

corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, doctor of science (philosophy), full professor; head of the department of theory and history of sociology, faculty of sociology Russian State University for the Humanities, and chief researcher, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences

References

  1. Gak GM. Formirovanie novogo cheloveka [Formation of a new person]. Moscow: Vysshaya partiinaya shkola pri TsK KPSSS; 1962. 64 p. Russian.
  2. Smirnov GL. Sovetskii chelovek. Formirovanie sotsialisticheskogo tipa lichnosti [Soviet man. Formation of the socialist type of personality]. Moscow: Politizdat; 1971. 376 p. Russian.
  3. Lifshits MA. [Moral significance of the October revolution]. Rossiiskii ekonomicheskii zhurnal. 2012;5:3–33. Russian.
  4. Alferov Zh. [And yet, why socialism?]. Rossiiskaya gazeta [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2022 June 12]. Available from: https://www.rline.tv/podrobnosti/2018-10-04-i-vse-taki-pochemu-sotsializm-statya-zhoresa-alferova-/. Russian.
  5. Kiva A. [Why Russia does not have an organic unity of history]. Nezavisimaya gazeta [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2022 June 12]. Available from: https://www.ng.ru/ideas/2020-04-08/7_7838_history.html. Russian.
  6. Alekseev VV, Nefedov SI. [The death of the Soviet Union in the context of the history of world socialism]. Obshchestvennye nauki i sovremennost’. 2002;6:66–77. Russian.
  7. Ul’yanov VM. Krizis SSSR. Prichiny i sledstviya [Crisis of the USSR. Causes and effects]. Moscow: Dialog-MGU; 1999. 91 p. Russian.
  8. Arkhangel’skii A. Bazovye tsennosti: instruktsiya po primeneniyu [Basic values: instructions for use]. Saint Petersburg: Amfora; 2006. 288 p. Russian.
  9. Novikova AA, Dyulo EA. [«Soviet» on modern Russian television as a manifestation of glocalisation]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika. 2010;1:23–37. Russian.
  10. Buzgalin AV, Kolganov AI. 10 mifov ob SSSR [10 myths about the USSR]. Moscow: Eksmo; 2010. 448 p. Russian.
  11. Zinov’ev AA. Ziyayushchie vysoty [Yawning heights]. Moscow: L’Age d’Homme; 1976. 564 p. Russian.
  12. Popov ME. Sovetskii chelovek kak sotsial’no-kul’turnyi tip lichnosti [Soviet man as a socio-cultural type of personality] [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2022 June 12]. Available from: https://superinf.ru/view_helpstud.php?id=3873. Russian.
  13. Latypov N. [Cytocine storm of Western civilisation]. Nezavisimaya gazeta [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2022 June 12]. Available from: https://www.ng.ru/ideas/2022-03-09/7_8386_storm.html. Russian.
  14. Zubov AB, editor. Istoriya Rossii. XX vek. Degradatsiya totalitarnogo gosudarstva i dvizhenie k novoi Rossii (1953–2008). Tom 3 [Russian history. 20th century. Degradation of the totalitarian state and movement towards a new Russia (1953–2008). Volume 3]. Moscow: Eksmo; 2017. 688 p. Russian.
  15. Vyzhutovich V. [Soviet personality type]. Sibirskii tsentr mediatsii [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2022 June 12]. Available from: https://www.emediator.ru/investigations/469-russian-history?start=3. Russian.
  16. Kukushkina EI. Istoriya sotsiologii [History of sociology]. Moscow: Vysshaya shkola; 2009. 488 p. Russian.
  17. Bol’shakov AM. Derevnya: 1917–1927 [Village: 1917–1927]. Moscow: Rabotnik prosveshcheniya; 1927. 486 p. Russian.
  18. Kogan LN. [Experience of sociological research at the industrial enterprise]. Voprosy filosofii. 1959;8:97–111. Russian.
  19. Levada YuA, editor. Sovetskii prostoi chelovek. Opyt sotsial’nogo portreta na rubezhe 90-kh [Soviet simple man. The experience of a social portrait at the turn of the 90s]. Moscow: Mirovoi okean; 1993. Russian.
  20. Toshchenko ZhT. Paradoksal’nyi chelovek [Paradoxical man]. Moscow: Yuniti-Dana; 2009. 479 p. Russian.
  21. Dedkov I. Vozvrashchenie k sebe. Literaturno-kriticheskie stat’i [Return to yourself. Literary-critical articles]. Moscow: Sovremennik; 1978. 319 p. Russian.
  22. Yudin YuB. [On the anthropological revolution in the USSR]. Nezavisimaya gazeta [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2022 June 12]. Available from: https://www.ng.ru/ideas/2022-03-14/7_8390_feelings.html. Russian.
  23. Gutionov P. You are on the bright path, comrades. Novaya gazeta [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2022 June 12]. Available from: https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/04/22/85025-svetlym-putem-idete-tovarischi. Russian.
  24. Epshtein M. [From the scoop to the bob]. Novaya gazeta [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2022 June 12]. Available from: https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2014/12/05/62220-ot-sovka-k-bobku. Russian.
Published
2022-09-29
Keywords: man, Soviet man, worldview, classification of interpretations of the phenomenon of Soviet man
How to Cite
Toshchenko, Z. T. (2022). Soviet man: the experience of understanding the socio-historical reality. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology, 3, 23-31. https://doi.org/10.33581/2521-6821-2022-3-23-31
Issue
No 3 (2022): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology
Section
Articles and Reports

Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:

  1. The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  2. The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
  3. The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)