Vozmitel A.A. Becoming and Development of the Sociology of the Way of Life

Текст статьи.

Abstract

The paper describes the main factors in the research of the problems of the way of life in the USSR and in other Eastern European countries. Traditionally, such studies took place as a part of the diff erent sociological issues such as sociology of the spare time, sociology of the family, or sociology of the education. The results of these studies were new, but they explained only partially the real way of life. The fi rst powerful attempt to overcome this “spherical” approach were the All Union interval studies of the way of life, which were performed by the Sociological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The methodology of these studies were developed and the basic results published in the USSR in the 80s. The transition from a mono-cultural to a poly-cultural society, the diversifi cation of the way of life, and the appearance of its new forms and subjects require a new concept for the study of this phenomenon. This new concept should explain the occurring changes. It should permit an accurate scientifi c understanding of the decomposition and the disintegration of the old way of life as well as the formation and the strengthening of a new way of life. The paper outlines the theoretical and the methodological shift of the concept of the way of life (from the structural-functional construct towards the subject-activity based one). This new concept permits a scientifi c analysis of the real models of human activities, which not only master the available social space, but also shape its future state. Today, the sociology of the way of life is an integrated conceptual construct, which explains the intrinsic nature of the development of the way of life. It clarifi es diff erent forms of individual’s activities, which shape a “dominant” form of integration. It also explains the appearance of the modal personality and the modern society.