SUMMARY

SOCIAL MOBILITY

The problems of social mobility in today's Russia are severe. The country has been undergo­ing a serious social and economic transformation that has led, in particular, to the destruction of tra­ditional mechanisms and channels of social mobil­ity. Suffice it to recall the formerly active "school/ college/career" chain which has now broken down into its separate links. School education is being per­manently reformed, higher education is being rap­idly devalued, and neither of them correlates with opportunities for employment and career growth. Today, moreover, many countries and societies are faced with a crisis of social mobility. In this issue, Social Mobility, OZ will try to provide answers to a number of questions, including the question of whether it is worthwhile to look for some specifi­cally Russian causes of this situation.

FORMULAS OF MOVEMENT

Alexander Filippov. Paradoxical Mobility

The article summarizes some of the prelimi­nary theoretical findings of the research project Phenomena of Order in Mobile Communications carried out at the Center of Fundamental Sociol­ogy of the National Research University "Higher School of Economics." The author's main idea is that the concept of mobility in sociology is undergoing substantial changes. For many years sociologists were interested above all in vertical mobility as movement between social positions. Today there has arisen a new interest in move­ments in physical space. The lessening of political obstacles to travel, motorization, the emergence of electronic means of communication, the use of so-called mobile gadgets are all characteristic and familiar features of a new mobility which, howev­er, has certain no less evident yet relatively rarely thematized consequences. The study of these con­sequences enables one to say that the new mobility has a paradoxical character: many things about it contradict the very concept of mobility and make it possible to take a fresh look at the present-day way of life.

Richard Robert. Declassing: A New Social Problem?

The article offers an overview of works ex­amining declassing, a process that has in the last few years been destroying the nucleus of French society—its middle classes. The author analyzes the inability of both right-wing and left-wing poli­ticians to find adequate approaches to the problem of social mobility. In this context, the causes of the relative success achieved by the centrists, headed by Frangois Bayrou, are brought to light.

Larisa Kosova. On Inequality and Equality

The article deals with issues of social strati­fication and mobility. The author reviews various forms of equality and inequality and analyzes their existence in societies of various types. The work is based on the findings of polls conducted over a period of several decades. The analysis of the find­ings attests both to the existence of actual inequal­ity in Soviet society and to the reflection of this fact in mass consciousness. The article examines the specific features of mobility, Soviet style. The paths of careers and the circumstances of their realization varied in different periods of Soviet history, yet rigid bureaucratic control over verti­cal mobility, which eventually led to stagnation— actual cessation of the turnover of high-status groups—and subsequent collapse of the system, remained unchanged.

Tatiana Sidorina, Oksana Timchenko. Social Dependency: The Other Side of Welfare

History knows unsuccessful attempts to bring to life the dream of an ideal state which supports its citizens, helps them in complicated social situations and creates conditions for harmonious development of the individual and for his self-realization. In the 20th century, attempts to build a state of universal welfare were not abandoned. Perhaps, society has already become mature enough for it? The opinions are divided. Critics of welfare policy insist that this system promotes the culture of social dependency: a passive society devoid of motivation is wasting the state budget while unemployment and tax rates keep growing; therefore, the system is destroying itself. In the article, an attempt is made to get an idea of what the complex phenomenon of social dependency, including the economic, social and psychological aspects, actually is. Notably enough, in addition to cultural panic, articles calling social dependen­cy a myth or justifying it from the standpoint of history ever more often appear in Western sources. Questions are also often raised whether negative connotations of social dependency are correct and why this term is so much stigmatized.

Alexei Levinson. Poor Education Is a Good Elevator

The article is an attempt of sociological in­terpretation of the circumstances which have de­veloped in the system of education over the last 20 years and which are usually regarded as a conse­quence of corruption, distortions, dysfunction, etc. The author, on the contrary, believes that the educational system has demonstrated notable flex­ibility, having adapted itself to new requirements of the public and of the labor market.

Vladimir Nikolayev. Movement for the Sake of Advancement

One of the main features of social mobility in Russia is its exceedingly strong link to territoriality. The set of social positions is so different at various points of the country that an individual who was not lucky enough to be born in a major city is prac­tically unable to realize his or her ambitions (pro­vided he or she has them), having not moved in space. As a result, young people are washed away from villages and small towns. In a new place, how­ever, attractive positions, as a rule, are not vacant, and so people still find themselves on the lowest rung of the social ladder. In a sense, when leaving the social lower depths, they take them along to a new place.

Nikita Kharlamov. The Space of the Mobile World

The article focuses on the interconnection between globalization and space through the idea of mobility. The idea of globalization as changes in the character of social institutions, widespread in sociology, is contrasted with a view of globaliza­tion as changes in the spatial form of social life. The sociological meaning of mobility in space is unraveled through an analysis of the concepts of Manuel Castells's network society, Zygmunt Bau-man's liquid modernity and John Urry's sociology beyond societies. Serving as the key to clarification of the role of space is Georg Simmel's sociology of space. The main conclusion of the article is that globalization does not at all lead to the disappear­ance of space and time. On the contrary, underly­ing the visible liquidity and mobility of the social world is space in the form of massive and ordered mobility infrastructures shaping any day-to-day social interactions.

Alexander Rubtsov. Power in Russia: People, Elevators, Corridors

In the early Yeltsin period, the social or, rath­er, cadre elevator raised ideologically committed people to the upper stories; under the present au­thorities, it acts more like a garbage chute moving trash upwards. That is, it raises only those who are capable of very little yet who are not simply loyal to the regime but are loyal to it zealously and os­tentatiously.

BOOKSHELF

Larisa Kosova. On the Importance of Words

The article features a review of the new book by Ovsei Shkaratan, Sotsiologiya NEravenstva: Teoriia i realnost [Sociology of INequality: Theory and Reality]. It is noted that the book will be of interest to various readerships. It will be interesting and useful as a textbook to students, and profes­sionals will find in it material for discussion. The author examines a number of discussion topics, in particular, the absence of a class of problems, in tackling which the socialism/capitalism dichot­omy is an efficient and effective research tool, in contemporary research practice.

Alexei Tsvetkov. A Tale of Two Cities

Some American cities live and thrive, while others die. The author asks himself a question: What determines the success or failure of a city? In part he finds the answer in the book The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berke­ley. Moretti notes that the process of this "Great Divergence" has an autocatalytic character, as it were: winners tend to become stronger, and los­ers tend to lose further ground. Growth may begin because of entirely accidental causes: a small com­pany of innovators appears in a city, they attract others, the creative potential at that place increas­es, and this ensures an upsurge. Yet precisely this leads to an outflow of highly skilled people from other places, which gradually fall into decline.

OTHER SHORES

Philippe Guibert, Alain Mergier. French El­evator: Descent without Ascent

OZ is publishing a section from the book Le descenseur social by the two French sociologists. Based on the findings of a poll conducted among broad strata of the population, the authors show that in today's France one should speak not about a breakdown of the social elevator but rather about gradual shaping of a mechanism working in the opposite direction, moving only downwards. What is meant here is a vicious spiral practically inevita­bly pushing people who have lost permanent jobs to the lower depths of society.

Wesley Young. Paper Tigers

The success that Asian Americans have achieved is usually cited as an example proving that in the United States ethnic minorities can realize the American Dream single-handedly. In his article, the author shows that in reality things are much more complicated. In the United States, panic-level racial fear, which only grows stronger in the course of time, is usually experienced in re­spect of descendants from Asia. As for Asians, it is very hard for them to adapt to Western norms of behavior and wipe out the standards previously instilled in them by their families back in their homeland. In order to help them cope with this and change their entire system of world percep­tion, they are offered an adjustment course aimed at teaching them to regard themselves as socially successful people, which they do not consider themselves to be.

Sergei Makeyev, Svetlana Oksamitnaya. So­cial Mobility without Equalizing the Chances

The article offers the findings of a survey of the dynamics of vertical intergenerational social mobility in Ukraine in the postwar period, includ­ing the first few years of the new millennium. Use was made of the findings of polls conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology within the framework of the ULMS (Ukrainian Longitu­dinal Monitoring Survey, 2003-2007) project. As could be expected, the postwar restoration of the economy contributed to the growth of every type of mobility, including social mobility, and the stage of stagnation that followed that period led to its re­duction. It is interesting, however, that this reduc­tion continued in the years of independence. That is, the chances of advancement to a social position higher than the one occupied by parents dropped rather than grew after the downfall of the Commu­nist regime.

HISTORY

Peter Mostovoi. The Ruling Class in the Past and Future of Russia

In the author's opinion, the absence of a rul­ing class is the cause of most of the negative phe­nomena in the socio-political life of today's Rus­sia. He criticizes the "theory of elites" which, in his opinion, does not give an understanding of the actual mechanisms of the formation of the rul­ing class. On the basis of his own notions of the processes ensuring the life cycle of ruling classes (emergence—reproduction—decline—disappear­ance) and the role in them of social elevators, the author explains the causes of the departure of the ruling classes of the Russian Empire and the USSR from the historical scene.

Mikhail Rozhansky. A "Thaw" in the Siberian Frost: An Oral History of Shock-Work Construction Projects

On the basis of biographical interviews col­lected in the Siberian towns of Angarsk, Bratsk, Ust-Ilimsk and a number of others, the author describes how the regime accomplished the economic tasks of developing the territories by relocating workforce and specialists to shock-work construction projects. In parallel with this, socio-political tasks were fulfilled: in this post-repression way, the most mobile social element that posed a danger for bureaucracy and for the entire system was "dumped." The article vividly depicts the euphoria of collectivism and the role this euphoria played in the personal enhancement of participants in the "great construction projects of communism."

Alexander Shpagin. The Price of Success in So­viet Cinema

Most of the Soviet films about contempo­rary life viewed man as a being aiming to achieve social success. However, the understanding of success was different in different periods. The most important is that different answers were given to the main question—that of whether an individualist can realize himself within Soviet space or it is only in a collective that a person can achieve success.

PRACTITIONERS

Nadezhda Zamyatina, Alexei Yashunsky. The North as an Area of Growth for the Provinces

Contrary to popular belief, the North remains an attractive region for Russian young people, par­ticularly those in the provinces. Newcomers there do not feel outsiders, and it is easier for a creative-minded person to realize himself or herself and ob­tain a high-quality education there. Yet sooner or later Northerners return—as a rule, to their own or their parents' native places. The authors note that the inflow of former Northerners to the provinces has an extremely favorable impact on them. They bring modern life standards, world views and work ethics into the rather conservative provincial envi­ronment. They are better educated and incorpo­rated into broad social networks.

Yuri Plyusnin. Otkhodnichestvo in Today's Russia

Based on the findings of field surveys con­ducted in 2010-2012, the article centers on a special type of labor migration in Russia—otk-hodnichestvo (peasants' seasonal migratory work). The author compares present-day otkhodnich-estvo with the specific features of seasonal migra­tory work 100 years ago. Supposedly, more than 40 percent of Russian families participate in sea­sonal migratory work. In particular, the article fo­cuses on such questions as what forms does such work take today, which spheres of the country's economic life are particularly attractive for labor migrants, what specific features of the structure of consumption exist in the families of otkhodniki (peasant seasonal workers who traditionally leave the villages for temporary work in industry), and, finally, what possible social consequences otkhod­nichestvo, a phenomenon which is large-scale in Russia, may have.

Darya Dimke, Irina Koryukhina. A Time-Pro­ducing Factory

Based on interviews with local residents, the authors analyze the changes that have taken place in the urban settlement of Mishelevka, Usolye District, Irkutsk Region, after the closedown of the Khaitinsk Porcelain Factory, the settlement's main employer. They arrive at the conclusion that, in addition to obvious consequences (unemploy­ment, growth in crime rate, alcoholism, etc.), the closedown of the factory had still another, not quite trivial consequence—the loss of common time which the factory created. Together with the dis­appearance of common time, the settlement itself as a special life world and social community disap­peared as well. It was replaced by a new way of life, the main element of which is out-of-timeness," the loss of a unified time perspective.

Anna Turchik. Sky-High Mobility

The profession of flight attendant is consid­ered one of the most "mobile" yet, at the same time, emotionally intense and physically exhaust­ing professions. Describing her experience of working as a flight attendant with the transnational air corporation Emirates Airlines, the author ex­plains in her article what mobility and space are to the company's flight attendants and how the mobile character of their occupation modifies their "spatial" consciousness. The article is based on the author's interviews with her colleagues, flight at­tendants, and on her own observations.