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Sociology of the Russian image of the future:
preliminary results

Tokarev A.A.,

MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia, a.tokarev@inno.mgimo.ru

elibrary_id: 637634 | ORCID: 0000-0002-8196-0518 | RESEARCHER_ID: AAD-3009-2020

Kravchuk I.D.,

Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH), Moscow, Russia, kravchukid19@gmail.com

ORCID: 0000-0003-3620-5289 |

Boyko M.Y.,

The Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (MSEN), Moscow, Russia, m.boiko@inno.mgimo.ru

ORCID: 0000-0002-9741-2858 |

Ilyinsky R.V.,

Donetsk National University (DonNU), Donetsk, Donetsk People’s Republic, ruslan.ilinskiy@gmail.com

ORCID: 0000-0003-3256-2174 |

Article received: 2022.03.02. Accepted: 2022.07.04
DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2022.05.09

Rubric: Russia today

For citation:

Tokarev A.A., Kravchuk I.D., Boyko M.Y., Ilyinsky R.V. Sociology of the Russian image of the future: preliminary results. – Polis. Political Studies. 2022. No. 5. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2022.05.09

The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and EISI (project No. 21-011-31440). The authors thank S.A. Belanovsky, D.A. Volkov and V.V. Fedorov for valuable critical comments on the research methodology. The authors are also grateful for their help in preparing the text: MGIMO students A. Kolga, P. Lapin, M. Tekhov, master student of St. Petersburg State University O. Zakharova, postgraduate student of Moscow State University V. Andryukhin, master student of MHSES A. Vasilchenko, student of Moscow State University M. Fedotov, master student of Moscow State University L Mishishina, RSUH students E. Polyushko, A. Vedenkina, KemSU student S. Shestakova.

Abstract

The text is the first in a series of articles about the image of the Russian future, which was formed in Russian mass consciousness in 2021-2022 and considers a 10-year horizon for its evolution. Using the psychographic method in focus groups across the country, the authors try to answer the question: “How do Russian citizens see their future?” The respondents are divided into three age groups: 18-30 years old, 31-55, 56+. Researchers present a study of 36 focus groups conducted in 18 localities of 14 Russian regions (from Moscow to Kamchatka). Despite the focus on the perception of the future, actual problems faced by Russians are also described, and compared with the data of the leading sociological centers. Based on the analysis of drawings and transcripts of the focus groups, the researchers highlight 6 large contradictions (splits) inside Russian society, which could provoke a largescale socio-political crisis in the long term. The first article of the cycle describes in detail the tendencies of unconditional paternalism, the low level of personal responsibility of citizens, the deep inequality of Russian regions, and the mutual alienation of the authorities from society. 

Keywords

focus groups, psychographic method, image of Russian future, mass consciousness, socioeconomic development, domestic politics, regions of Russia.

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