Latov Y. Path Dependence of the social Structure of the previous Development: “…the Moderns rage against the Old”? (Reflection to the 25-th anniversary of the new Russia). Social Sciences and Contemporary World. 2017. ¹4. P. 141-152.

Abstract

The new collective monograph under the editorship of O.I. Shkaratan and G.A. Yastrebov is a good opportunity to discuss some of the outcomes of a 25-year socio-economic development in post-soviet Russia. The conceptual and polemical nature of the approach of the authors of this monograph is stated in its title - “Is the new Russia new?”. To this question the authors answer in the negatively: the institutions of power-ownership are reproducted in the new Russia, rooted in russian civilization from the thirteenth century. In the new book impact depending on the previous “oriental-despotic” development is considered from the point of view of the understanding of social structure and dynamics of modern neo-etatcracy Russian society. The general analytical result is ambiguous. On the one hand, the idea in herented in the title of the book (to show that in the new Russia the old “rules of the game” continue to persist) is realized: the concept justifies the reproduction of power-ownership empirically proved the absence of gaps in the development of mechanisms of social mobility and social polarization. On the other hand, the desire to combine the concept of the reproduction of power and property with empirical data about the social life of post-soviet Russia managed to realize less. In the book there are a number of new arguments in favor of the fact that Russia is still “the state is stronger than society” (the most original and beautiful - it is a case of “choice of doctors”). However, comprehensive evidence is still there. This is due mostly to the fact that the book is based on the results of the work of sociologists with “ordinary people”, including representatives of the “state-class” who practically are not included in the sample.