2025/2026

Culture of Russian Society: Prospects for a Sociological Study

Type: Mago-Lego

Delivered by: School of Sociology

Where: Faculty of Social Sciences

When: 1, 2 module

Online hours: 20

Open to: students of all HSE University campuses

Instructors: Olga A. Simonova

Language: English

ECTS credits: 6

Contact hours: 32

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course is designed for master’s students enrolled in the Sociology of Public and Digital Analytics program, who possess foundational knowledge in the social sciences and humanities, as well as skills in engaging with social science literature. The course is dedicated to the analysis of the cultural dimensions of social life in contemporary Russian society from the perspective of sociological theory and practice. The primary aim is to elucidate the overarching trends and processes characterizing the post-Soviet period in Russian history. The course seeks to describe the cultures of diverse groups, communities, and social strata, identifying areas of social solidarity as well as zones of tension and conflict. To meet these objectives, the curriculum covers topics such as: fundamental concepts, theories, and methods of contemporary sociology of culture; Soviet cultural legacies and their transformation in the post-Soviet era; cultural traumas and the politics of collective memory in modern Russia; and the relationship between culture and social structure. The analysis is grounded in sociological theories, concepts, and methods related to the study of cultural systems in modern societies, including values, social norms, customs, traditions, rituals, and practices embedded within social institutions. Consequently, the course offers a critical examination of key concepts and models within the sociology of culture, adapting them to the context of modern Russia’s cultural life. Particular emphasis is placed on the influence of globalization and cultural interactions on Russian society’s culture, highlighting both its unique and shared characteristics. Additionally, the course focuses on research perspectives and methodological approaches suitable for sociological investigations of contemporary culture. Upon completion, students should be familiar with core concepts and principles of the sociology of culture, possess methodological competencies for studying culture, and acquire both general and specific knowledge about contemporary Russian culture and its theoretical and methodological frameworks. They will also be expected to present findings from current research throughout the course. Aligned with HSE’s curriculum standards, the course includes lecturer tutorials and seminars, complemented by individual work such as reading specialized texts, writing essays, and delivering oral presentations on assigned topics including the topics of students’ specific interests. The course forms part of a blended-learning strategy and is linked to the online course Philosophy of Culture (https://openedu.ru/course/hse/PHILCULT/). Students are required to attend classes as per the syllabus, actively participate in group discussions, and complete individual or group projects on related topics.

Learning Objectives

• The goal of this course is to create a systematic understanding of a culture of modern Russian society by using the means of sociology and to apply sociological thinking and methods in research.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• • ability to apply sociological concepts and theories to analyze social phenomena of contemporary society, including Russian society
• • ability to apply sociological concepts and theories to analyze social phenomena of contemporary society, including Russian society; • to be able to deal with more than one way of thinking about the social world and culture
• • to be creative and able to link ideas from this unit and the other disciplines they are studying to create new ways of thinking about social phenomena, in particular in understanding of socialization process in modern society and Russia
• • to be critical of any data and theories that they read or hear about and, of course, to be critical of their own work; to know about the main sociological research of culture of Russian society;
• • to demonstrate ability to apply sociological concepts and theories to analyze social phenomena of contemporary society; • to be creative and able to link ideas from this unit and the other disciplines they are studying to create new ways of thinking about social phenomena;
• • to demonstrate ability to interpret the main issues of contemporary society from the sociological point of view; • to demonstrate ability to participate in sociological discussions; • to demonstrate ability to read and understand sociological literature;
• • to demonstrate ability to write argumentative essays; to analyze the latest events and processes from the sociological point of view; to know about wide spectrum of methods in sociology in culture research; the ability to choose from the variety of methods and theoretical perspectives for study of culture of modern Russian society.

Course Contents

• Session 1. The main principles of sociological analysis of culture.
• Session 2. Sociological concepts and theories of of culture and their applicability to the learning of the culture of modern Russian society.
• Session 3. The main concepts and theories of contemporary sociology of culture. Socialization.
• Session 4. The concepts, theories and methods of contemporary sociology of culture: the culture and everyday life and its researching.
• Session 5. The variety of sociological methods in the field of sociology of culture.
• Session 6. The main topic of sociology of culture: Culture and social structure in modern Russia.
• Session 7. The culture of post-modern society and a study of the culture of modern Russian society.

Assessment Elements

• Presentation and defence of the individual or group project
• Group discussions
  A Student should participate in online group discussions regularly and know the texts for home reading
• Regular attending of lecturer tutorials and seminar sessions

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 2nd module
  0.4 * Group discussions + 0.4 * Presentation and defence of the individual or group project + 0.2 * Regular attending of lecturer tutorials and seminar sessions

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• "The Russian question" at the end of the twentieth century, Solzhenitsyn, A., 1995
• "Болотная, 13", филиал Государственного музея политической истории России, Санкт-Петербург, , 2012
• "Великая трансформация" Карла Поланьи : прошлое, настоящее, будущее, Барсукова, С. Б., 2006
• "Вопрос вопросов": почему не стало Советского Союза?, Коэн, С., 2007
• Consumption and everyday life, Paterson, M., 2018
• Consumption and social change on a post-Soviet middle class, Patico, J., 2008
• Conversations with Anthony Giddens : making sense of modernity, Giddens, A., 1998
• Cultural sociology in practice, Edles, L. D., 2002
• Datchas, jardins et potagers en Bielorussie. Figures de l' individu post-sovietique : these pour le doctorat de l'universite bordeaux 2. Mention : Sociologie, Hervouet, R., 2004
• Everyday life and the "reconstruction" of Soviet Russia during and after the Great Patriotic War,..., Jones, J. W., 2008
• From Russia with code : programming migrations in post-Soviet times, , 2019
• Globalization and its discontents, Stiglitz, J.E., 2003
• Migration, displacement and identity in post-Soviet Russia, Pilkington, H., 1998
• Persistent poverty in Russia. Препринт (Working paper) #BSP/2000/037 E, Spryskov, D., 2000
• Physical culture and sport in soviet society : propaganda, acculturation, and transformation in the 1920s and 1930s, Grant, S., 2013
• Post-Soviet civil society : democratization in Russia and the Baltic states, Uhlin, A., 2006
• Putin's 'Preventive counter-revolution' : post-soviet authoritarianism and the spectre of velvet revolution, Horvath, R., 2013
• Qualitative inquirt in everyday life, Brinkmann, S., 2012
• Raymond Williams's sociology of culture : a critical reconstruction, Jones, P., 2006
• Rethinking the post-Soviet experience : markets, moral economies, and cultural contradictions of post-socialist Russia, Hass, J., 2012
• Rural women in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia, Denisova, L., 2010
• Russia in the era of NEP : explorations in Soviet society and culture, , 1991
• Sociological methods : a sourcebook, Denzin, N. K., 1978
• Sociology : exploring the architecture of everyday life, Newman, D. M., 2002
• Soviet and post-Soviet economic structure and performance, Gregory, P. R., 1994
• Soviet society and culture : essays in honor of Vera S. Dunham, , 1988
• Soviet Society in the era of late socialism, 1964-1985, , 2014
• The age of anxiety : security and politics in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, Galeotti, M., 1995
• The Blackwell companion to the sociology of culture, , 2016
• The consumer in the Soviet economy, Hanson, P., 1968
• The Dynamics of soviet society, Rostow, W.W., 1967
• The early sociology of culture. Vol.1: Old world traits transplanted, , 2003
• The early sociology of culture. Vol.2: The taxi-dance hall : a sociological study in commercialized recreation and city life, , 2003
• The early sociology of culture. Vol.7: Elements of folk psychology: outlines of a psychological history of the development of mankind, , 2003
• The new American cultural sociology, , 1998
• The politics of transition: shaping a post-Soviet future, White, S., 1993
• The post-Soviet politics of utopia : language, fiction and fantasy in modern Russia, , 2020
• The post-Soviet Russian media : conflicting signals, , 2011
• The post-Soviet Russian Orthodox Church : politics, culture and greater Russia, Richters, K., 2013
• The role of informal economies in the post-Soviet world : the end of transition?, Williams, C. C., 2013
• The spirit of post-war Russia : Soviet ideology, 1917-1946, Schlesinger, R., 1947
• The transformation of urban space in post-Soviet Russia, Axenov, K., 2009

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• A sociology of modernity : liberty and discipline, Wagner, P., 2002
• Civil society and global poverty : hegemony, inclusivity, legitimacy, Gabay, C., 2013
• Communism on tomorrow street : Mass housing and everyday life after Stalin, Harris, S. E., 2013
• Consumer behavior I. Vol.3: Consumer socialization: childhood, children and families, , 2006
• Creating a world without poverty : social business and the future of capitalism, Yunus, M., 2007
• Cultural movements and collective memory : Cristopher Columbus and the rewriting of the national origin myth, Kubal, T., 2009
• Everyday life in early Soviet Russia : taking the Revolution inside, , 2006
• Everyday life in the modern world, Lefebvre, H., 2002
• Gender and everyday life, Holmes, M., 2009
• Generations and collective memory, Corning, A., 2015
• Handbook of socialization : theory and research, , 2008
• Incivility : the rude stranger in everyday life, Smith, P., 2010
• Individual and collective memory consolidation : analogous processes on different levels, Anastasio, T. J., 2012
• Norbert Elias and figurational research: processual thinking in sociology, , 2011
• Political culture, socialization, democracy, and education : interdisciplinary and cross-natioal perspectives for a new century, , 2008
• Poverty, inequality, and democracy, , 2012
• Qualitative research in sociology : an introduction, Marvasti, A. B., 2004
• Remembering the road to World War Two : international history, national identity, collective memory, Finney, P., 2011
• Russian sociology about Russian society, , 2003
• Sociological snapshots 5 : seeing social structure and change in everyday life, Levin, J., 2008
• The Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology. Vol.4: F-HE, , 2007
• The enigma of globalization : a journey to a new stage of capitalism, Went, R., 2003
• The Sage handbook of globalization. Vol.2: ., , 2014
• The urban sociology reader, , 2013

Authors

• Kozlova Mariia Andreevna
• Simonova Olga Aleksandrovna