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Abstract

In everyday understanding, a dream is usually an ardent wish that brings people happiness the moment it comes true. The sociological understanding of a dream, however, goes beyond that, in which a dream is not just a projection of a desired future, but a source of motivation and an incentive. This approach allows researchers to obtain a population’s vision of a desired future, while at the same time determining what things people lack that are significant for them. Respondents’ dreams, or life aspirations, may be analyzed on several different levels. The first is the “macrolevel,” which encompasses what people desire for their society, the type of social structure they would like to see in their country, and what kind of society they would like to live in. These particular aspects of the Russian Dream will be covered in more detail in further chapters of this book. Second and just as important is the “microlevel,” which focuses on what individuals wish for themselves. This level mostly comprises thoughts about the ideal job and family, the quantitative and qualitative features of desired living standards, etc. Even though respondents’ aspirations may vary greatly, and the set of desires they list may be impacted by the precise wording of a question, certain patterns can still be discovered in Russian citizens’ attitudes towards the objects of their dreams. Namely, we can determine the ratio between macro and microlevel dreams, calculate Russians’ general tendency to dream, and describe their thoughts on dreams.