Maslovskiy M.V. Civilizational Analysis in Historical Sociology and Explanations of the “Soviet Collapse”. Sociology of Power. 2024. Vol. 36. No. 3. Pp. 60-76.

Òåêñò ñòàòüè íà ñàéòå æóðíàëà URL: https://socofpower.ranepa.ru/issues/2024/3/4 (äàòà îáðàùåíèÿ 15.11.2024)

Abstract

The article deals with attempts to explain the collapse of the Soviet version of modernity — and the disintegration of the USSR — in (post)-Sovietology and historical sociology. It is argued that (post)-Sovietological studies were often characterized by a certain degree of ideological bias. In these studies, the example of “Soviet collapse” was generally used for a confirmation of earlier approaches to Soviet history. At the same time, they mostly focused on the immediate preconditions of that event rather than on long-term historical processes. The shortcomings of this approach can be overcome if we draw on historical sociology. The article considers the prediction of disintegration of the USSR offered by Randall Collins and Johann Arnason’s analysis of the Soviet version of modernity. Both sociologists characterized the Soviet collapse in the context of long-term historical dynamics.