Main factors in the formation of socio-cultural identity under the conditions of incomplete modernization (case study of the Republic of Bashkortostan)

The socio-cultural space and image of man is changed under the influence of modernization processes. The old social institutions (family, education, religion, culture, etc.) and their structure have been undermined, the usual image of the world and way of life changed. Due to these factors, the search for a new world outlook, cultural and ethnic identity has become relevant. The scientists [6, 8, 18, 19, 20, 21] talk about the “crisis of identity”. The crisis consists in the break up of ties between individuals and the world around them, the lack of integration into the socio-cultural and civil institutions.

Russian scientist P.A. Sorokin highlights three components in the structure of social interaction: “an individual as the subject of interaction; society as the set of interacting individuals with its socio-cultural relationships and processes; and culture as the set of meanings, values and regulations that are owned by interacting persons, the set of carriers that objectify, socialize and disclose these values. None of the members of this triad can exist without the other two [16, p. 218].

Modernization in Russia has not been completed yet. According to S. Gavrov, “modernization in present-day Russia is, in fact, selfwesternization, which seeks to achieve internal development goals, and catch up with the

Western civilization in terms of technology” [2]. RAS Corresponding Member N.I. Lapin points out: “In the coming decade Russia is able to transform the maturity of primary modernization into the preparation and launch of secondary modernization” [12, p. 11]. Bashkortostan occupies an intermediate position between traditional society and information society. The development of information society in Bashkortostan is asynchronous, the level of modernization (degree of informatization, networking cooperation, availability of knowledge, total higher education) is distributed unevenly across the region.

The indisputable recognizable brands of the Republic include not only its diverse and unique nature, Bashkir honey, quray (national musical instrument), but also national diversity of Bashkortostan. This is confirmed by the results of the survey3, in which the majority

³ Sociological study “The socio-cultural portrait of the Russian region. The Republic of Bashkortostan”. Sample size –

Table 1. Distribution of answers to the question: “According to your experience, what attractive features does our Republic have?”

Answer option	Share, %
Beautiful nature	76.7
Kind, sincere people	36.2
This region has good prospects for life	14.6
There are many opportunities for enterprising people here	7.7
Other	0.9
It is difficult to answer	8.6
Refused to answer	1.5

Table 2. Distribution of answers to the question: “In your opinion, what can Bashkortostan be proud of in the first place?”, %

Answer option Share, %* Nature 79.5 Rich history 38.8 Oil industry 31.3 Honey and koumiss 30.6 Preservation of traditions 30.0 Sport achievements 20.4 Interpersonal relations 17.6 Bashkir cuisine 14.0 Folk music and art 12.6 Modern literature and art 3.8 * The total amount of the answers exceeds 100%, because the question implied several answer options. of respondents pointed out the following attractions of the Republic: beautiful nature (76.7%), kind, sincere people (36.2%), prospects and opportunities (14.6%), diverse opportunities for the growth of initiative (7.7%) and others (tab. 1).

The results of the survey4 of young people show that, first of all, they are proud of the following: the nature of the Republic (80%), its rich history (38.8%), such “symbols” of Bashkortostan, as oil industry (31.3%), honey and koumiss (30.6%) and the preservation of traditions (30%) (tab. 2).

According to the results of the survey⁵, the youth is mainly interested in modern life, economic development and nature (figure) ; that is why we believe that social and cultural identity of the younger generation can be formed on the basis of regional patriotism, economic achievements and ecological concept.

At present, Bashkortostan shows quite a successful model of coexistence of cultural diversity that creates favorable conditions for development of various ethnic cultures and religions.

Priority interests of young people in the study of Bashkortostan, %

Source: sociological study “Moral, spiritual, patriotic and physical education and the organization of available cultural leisure of young people in the Republic of Bashkortostan”.

Despite certain problems inherent in any multicultural space, the Republic in general manages to avoid the aggravation of interethnic contradictions or any forms of cultural discrimination.

Judging by the results of the 2010 all-Russia population census, there are 160 nationalities and 13 constituent ethnic groups in Bashkortostan [1]. The most numerous ethnic groups are the Russians, Bashkirs and Tatars; the ethnic and confessional structure of the population comprises the followers of Islam (Bashkirs and Tatars) and Orthodoxy (Russians).

In recent decades the spiritual and integrating social function of religion, which was undermined during the Soviet period, has been revived and is now expanding. Religion is penetrating the mass consciousness, the role of religious institutions in the country is enhancing. All this affects the religious identification of an individual. According to the survey, 79% of respondents consider themselves believers (including rather believers than nonbelievers). It should be noted that the number of religious institutions increases every year. For instance, 757 such institutions were registered in 2008 [10, p.111], and 1090 – at the end of 2012 [11, p.95].

Bashkortostan is characterized by high ethnic and confessional tolerance, low level of stress and religious-based conflicts. According to the sociological survey6, respondents feel most secure (including, those, who consider themselves “rather secure”) from religious harassment (58.6%), discrimination based on national origin (58.1%), age and gender harassment (54.3%).

The greatest concern is caused by the feeling of insecurity from crime (42.5%), poverty (39.7%), arbitrariness of officials (34.7%), law enforcement bodies (31.8%) and environmental threats (31.8%).

If human development is the process of enlarging people’s choices of socio-cultural self-determination, then socio-cultural freedom is an important component of human potential, which helps people determine their identity.

According to the survey7, most respondents (57.5%) consider their identification with the immediate environment (family) to be most important.

A significant part of respondents describe themselves as a person, individual and personality (44.6%) through the prism of personal qualities (37.1%), profession (33.7%) and gender (30.6%). The respondents consider their regional identity more important than ethnic identity (13.2% and 4.3% respectively; tab. 3 ).

The results of the survey show that the most part of respondents name civic identity (74.5%; tab. 4 ). The feeling of kinship with the Russian people is most pronounced in the Russians (80.2%), Bashkirs (72.8%) and Tatars (70.6%). Every second respondent favors the republican identity. Ethnic identity in the Republic is on the fifth place, it is stronger in the Bashkirs (51.9%) in comparison with the Tatars (43.3%) and Russians (41.4%). Thus, the indigenous people is characterized by strong ties with its ethnic group and the Republic.

Table 3. How would you answer the question “Who am I?”?

Write, without thinking, the first five words that cross your mind

Answer option	Share, %*
Recognition of oneself in accordance with one’s role in the family	57.5
Recognition of oneself as a person, individual, personality	44.6
Recognition of oneself through personal qualities, traits of character	37.1
Recognition of oneself as belonging to a certain profession, occupation	33.7
Recognition of oneself in the gender aspect	30.6
Recognition of oneself as a citizen of the definite country, as a resident of a certain area	13.2
Recognition of oneself as a representative of the nationality	4.3
Recognition of oneself as a representative of the definite confession	1.0
Recognition of oneself as a representative of the certain epoch, generation	0.3
Other	17.0
It is difficult to answer	3.4
Refused to answer	1.2
* The total amount of the answers exceeds 100%, because the question implied several answer options.

Table 4. Choose the groups, which you can describe with the statement

“This is us” Determine the degree of kinship with them on the scale: “substantially”, “to some extent”, “I do not feel kinship” (share, %)

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Substantially	50.5	74.4	35.5	45.4	57.9	58.0	37.3	33.5	18.0	35.8
To some extent	36.9	20.9	46.4	42.8	33.5	33.5	46.9	45.8	34.5	43.6
I do not feel kinship	12.6	4.8	18.1	11.7	8.6	8.5	15.8	20.7	47.5	20.6
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Source: sociological study “Twenty years of reforms in Russia in the eyes of residents of the Republic of Bashkortostan”.

⁷ Ibidem.

Family is an institution where an individual adopts life guidelines, spiritual and moral values, and learns his/her mother tongue. Absorbing all the cultural heritage that the society has accumulated, the family, under the influence of cultural change and established traditions, creates its cultural environment and life attitudes of each member, forms the basis for ethnic and national identity, language, and norms of behavior. However, in the 21st century, the role of family and its socializing function are being transformed. One of the reasons is that parents spend too mush time at work and do not nave enough time to spend with their children.

In information society the knowledge of English is an essential prerequisite for success in business, research, and social adaptation. Language carries a certain culture and vision of the world. An individual thinks, feels and lives exclusively in the language and he/she should be developed primarily with the help of it. Language contributes to the formation of a certain “outlook”, characteristic of a certain nation. Native language forms the sense of participation in the history of its people, its ethnic and cultural identity. People, who are alien to national origins, and indifferent to their national culture, are unable to perceive the world experience as well.

For example, according to sociologists8, the majority of respondents learned their native language at home (90%), school (7%) and kindergarten (2.3%). Most part of respondents (70.4%) gave high estimates of the efforts their parents had made to help them master their native language. Despite the fact that communication in native language is widespread within families, it is declining from generation to generation and in the direction from rural to urban settlements.

The result of the formation of the secondary modernization is the general higher education. The level of education, along with the standard of living and longevity, serves as the basic indicator for assessing the human development index (HDI)9. In addition, the index of knowledge, along with other indicators, is the basis for calculating the indicators of modernization in different countries (China Center for Modernization Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CCMR CAS) and in Russia (the Center for the Study of Social and Cultural Change of the Institute of Philosophy of RAS). Thus, education, as a universal value, and its institutions are crucial in the process of formation of socio-cultural identity.

The level of education among the population of the Republic is high. This is evidenced by the data of the 2010 all-Russia population census in comparison with the data of the 2002 census. Positive dynamics of the educational level, according to Bashkortostan Statistics Service studies, is connected with the following factors: competitiveness in the labor market; changes in the standard of living; death of the generation that had a lower education level due to objective reasons [17, p. 3-4].

The HDI ranking of Russian regions placed the Republic of Bashkortostan at the 5th position in 1999 [3, p. 82], in 2006 the Republic ranked 9th [4, p. 198] and in 2013 – 18th [5, p. 150]. The Republic managed to achieve leading positions due to its high education development index (EDI).

However, from year to year the dynamics of this indicator is negative: in 1999 – 0.935, in 2006 – 0.901 and in 2010 – 0.832.

As is known, the value of education, as well as the interest in science, declined in the 1990s during the period of modernization. But in recent years there has been a positive shift in the target orientations; the values of education, especially higher professional education, have become more important in people’s consciousness; it is proved by the decrease in the number of applicants of primary and secondary professional educational institutions and the increase in the number of those enrolled in universities.

Modernization processes left their trace on the activities of the regional cultural institutions, which play an important role in the formation of personal identity.

The Republic is actively engaged in construction and reconstruction of theatres, museums, shopping centers, primarily in big cities; people have more opportunities for spending their free time. However, leisure usually conforms with consumer behavior, especially among young people, and is spent passively. As the practice shows, the culture is westernized (i.e. unified).

The general decline in the level and quality of life, and economic difficulties of the transition period have considerably reduced people’s opportunities in the use of cultural capital10, especially in rural settlements. It should be noted that the use of cultural resources is very different in the city and village.

Rapid development of mass communications and the Internet, and wide spreading of e-book readers have led to a reduction in the number of libraries, especially in the city (in 2 times). According to the target program, the index of the Republic’s readiness to information society ranks 51st in the Russian Federation and 10th in the Volga Federal District (VFD) [9].

As is known, the differences in living conditions and income level of urban and rural residents determine the differences in provision with personal computers and the Internet at home. For instance, rural areas lag far behind cities by the availability of computers and access to the Internet from a home computer. Therefore, libraries are more popular in rural areas: from 1990 to 2012 their number has increased from 1502 [10, p. 98] to 1557 [11, p. 83], and the number of readers remains about 1 million 100 thousand people (for this period in town their number has decreased from 1 million 200 thousand people to 900 thousand people).

According to the sociological research1011, the majority of the respondents visit libraries once a year and less and this figure decreases in rural to urban direction.

Regional publishers experience difficulties with the issuing of printed materials under the conditions of fundamental reforms. From 1990 to 2011 the publication of books and brochures has decreased in 3.5 times, but the issuing of newspapers and magazines per 1000 population per year has increased in 3.7 times [10, p. 109; 11, p. 93]. It should be noted that national publications occupy a significant segment in the media of Bashkortostan. The publications are in the Russian, Bashkir, Tatar, Mari, Chuvash, and Udmurt languages.

Thus, the conditions of rapid development of information and communication technologies make new requirements to cultural institutions.

Recent years saw the rise of interest in the study of history of the native land and town; the study of one’s ancestry; historians and ethnographers from rural areas have intensified their work, which led to the increase in the number of museum visitors. For the past seventeen years, the Republic has managed to preserve and considerably increase the number of museums by means of state support.

Table 5. How often did you visit cultural institutions last year? (share, %)

Frequency of visits	Library	Theatre	Circus	Museum	Stadium	Disco	Cinema
Once a week	4.4	0.2	0.2	0.0	1.5	3.3	2.2
1-3 times a month	7.8	3.2	0.8	1.2	3.4	11.6	10.3
1-3 times every 6 months	8.2	13.1	5.4	6.3	9.8	5.2	16.3
Once a year and less	27.5	30.1	30.4	31.9	25.9	30.7	21.7
It is difficult to answer	38.1	38.7	45.5	43.5	42.2	36.4	33.9
Refused to answer	14.1	14.7	17.8	17.1	17.2	12.8	15.6
TOTAL	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Source: the data of the sociological study “The socio-cultural portrait of the Russian region. The Republic of Bashkortostan”

Table 6. The number of sports facilities (at the end of the year) in the regions of the Volga Federal District

Territory	Stadiums with 1500 seats and more				Flat sports facilities (grounds and fields)				Sports halls				Swimming pools
	1995	2000	2005	2010	1995	2000	2005	2010	1995	2000	2005	2010	1995	2000	2005	2010
Volga Federal District	459	436	431	414	26088	25703	29221	30955	13404	14092	15626	17884	543	549	650	981
Republic of Bashkortostan	41	43	39	36	3692	4351	5104	5579	1997	2213	2420	3367	57	102	108	159
Mari El Republic	4	7	5	10	1157	919	947	954	334	352	360	400	20	23	24	32
Republic of Mordovia	15	17	15	22	1506	1234	1571	1234	454	466	539	560	26	14	17	23
Republic of Tatarstan	28	34	35	40	2228	3512	4246	4661	1556	1679	1842	1935	57	68	100	150
Udmurt Republic	14	19	24	35	440	656	864	1260	571	658	733	1020	26	31	40	56
Chuvash Republic	7	8	10	11	1666	1685	2068	2210	584	632	682	714	35	38	38	61
Perm Krai	40	35	35	34	1669	1680	2305	2204	1159	1137	1172	1528	48	39	70	67
Kirov Oblast	39	30	27	28	1833	889	978	1003	808	803	1394	1287	26	14	23	24
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast	67	66	70	60	2386	2305	2453	2530	1282	1334	1375	1497	50	43	49	132
Orenburg Oblast	32	36	40	28	2223	2050	2286	2490	1042	1067	1126	1173	47	55	54	58
Penza oblast	37	31	26	25	1951	1765	1989	2060	661	678	764	822	42	35	40	68
Samara Oblast	46	46	42	40	2018	1896	1927	1971	1165	1192	1328	1356	47	45	50	65
Saratov Oblast	51	35	34	27	2507	2041	1515	1614	1143	1207	1161	1457	31	16	17	51
Ulyanovsk Oblast	38	29	29	18	812	720	968	1185	648	674	730	768	31	26	20	35
Source: Regiony Rossii. Sotsial’no-ekonomicheskie pokazateli. 2010: stat. sb. [Regions of Russia. Socio-Economic Indicators. 2010. Statistical Digest]. Moscow: Rosstat, 2010. P. 353.

The total number of performances in theatres has already reached the level of the Soviet period after the significant decline in the activity of theatres in the years of radical reforms. In 1990 there were 306 theatre visits per 1000 population, in 2012 – 220 [10, p. 105; 11, p. 90]. This means that even if theatrical activity is revived and the number of theatres is increasing, the number of visitors, however, is declining.

Although the present-day level of consumption of motion picture industry products is different from that in the Soviet times, it has somewhat increased in recent years, though it affected only cities so far. The arrival of major film distributors to the Republic enlivened movie life in town; movies again return into the life of citizens, especially young people and wealthy groups. The situation in rural areas is different: due to the reduction in the number of cinema projectors, TV remains the only way to spend leisure time and the only opportunity to enjoy modern cinematography for the majority of population (72.5%)1112.

¹² According to the sociological study “Twenty years of reforms in Russia in the eyes of residents of the Republic of Bashkortostan”

The results of sociological studies prove the fact that the majority of respondents visit cultural institutions, including museums and stadiums once a year or less (tab. 5) .

N.I. Lapin points out that “Russia ranked 41st (among 131 countries) in the rating of the primary stage of the world modernization in 2010, its index reached 99.9 points (not 100% due to insufficient life expectancy)” [12, p. 8]. Official statistical data show that life expectancy in the region has a positive dynamics: it was 66.7 years in 2000 [13, p. 85] and 69.04 years in 2011 [15, p. 83]. It should be emphasized that the development of health infrastructure is a priority direction in health care.

The infrastructure of physical culture and sports is steadily developing. As for the number of sports facilities, Bashkortostan lags behind other regions of the Volga Federal District (VFD) only by the number of stadiums that seat 1500 people and more. The Republic is the leader by the number of sports grounds and fields, gyms and swimming pools (tab. 6) .

Thus, the research shows that modernization in Russia has not been completed. The desire to create a knowledge society (information society) involves the development of services, innovation, universal informatization, the balance between urban and rural spheres, the availability of general higher education. Bashkortostan meets these requirements only partly. Given the incompleteness of modernization in the society, it is necessary to develop human potential. Taking into account the survey results13, the authorities, educational, cultural and spiritual institutions should use the regional component and scientific and economic achievements in their activities.

Based on the above, we can conclude that social and cultural identity of the population should be formed on the basis of historical, cultural, natural, ethnic and religious characteristics of the region, like in the countries of South-East Asia that adhere to the principle: “Think globally, act locally”. These countries managed to preserve their ethnic identity in the conditions of global unifying processes.