Skeptic movement: mission and forms of organization

Scientific and educational social movements are gaining more and more popularity in Russia. The interest of the population in the achievements of science, the exposure of pseudoscientific ideas and paranormal phenomena, the promotion of critical thinking, are embodied in the skeptical movement formed in the West in the 20th century. The purpose of the paper is to trace the socio-cultural prerequisites, the direction of activity, forms of organization, and conceptual foundations of such a poorly studied social phenomenon in Russia as scientific skepticism. This new kind of non-academic skepticism can be viewed in two aspects: as a modern social movement with its own specific goals, forms of organization, and social activity; and as a long-standing practice of skeptical scientific investigation of any dubious claims and allegations of supernatural and pseudoscientific content.