To the memory of N.I. Lapin: Second Lapin readings

the conference participants were both of general theoretical and methodological nature and were based on the data of specific sociological studies conducted in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the Vologda, Tyumen, Kursk, Ulyanovsk, Sverdlovsk, Tomsk, Samara, Vladimir, Novosibirsk regions, in the Republics of Chuvashia, Yakutia, Bashkortostan, the Perm Territory, and the Republic of Belarus. This is a distinctive feature of the Lapin Readings.

The first day of the conference was held in a mixed format at the Institute of Philosophy of RAS in Moscow.

The plenary session of the conference was opened by L.A. Belyaeva, Doctor of Sciences (Sociology), Acting Head of CIS IP RAS. She expressed her satisfaction with the fact that the important work on the study of socio-cultural processes in Russian regions, started by N.I. Lapin, had quite a few followers, including young people, and in the previous year in a number of the RF constituent entities, it was possible to conduct field sociological research based on the standard methodology developed at the CISI IP RAS. The speaker wished all the conference participants successful work.

L.A. Belyaeva also presented the first report “Civilizational heterogeneity of Russia. Property. Civilizational models of development in the perceptions of the population”. She noted that the heterogeneous nature of Russian civilization is reflected in the social structure, and this structure acts as an indicator of civilizational development, as well as civilizational differentiation. The latter, in fact, manifests the civilizational breaks of society along three axes: the nature and content of labor of the country’s residents; material differentiation of the population and, finally, the uneven development of regions. Analyzing the results of the all-Russian sociological survey of 2023 summer, L.A. Belyaeva concluded that the Russian mixed economy can be characterized as a civilizational mix, in which all types of property are represented, but large property associated with the state in various institutional configurations dominates. When choosing a civilizational model of the country’s development, its inhabitants are more inclined to a distinctive path, while in the resource-rich group the path that can be built taking into account the best achievements of developed countries is also significant.

The report “Experience of studying the values and national traits of the Russian people”, prepared by A.A. Shabunova, Doctor of Sciences (Economics), Associate Professor, Acting Director, and O.N. Kalachikova, Candidate of Sciences (Economics), Deputy Director (VolRC RAS), presented the results of a sociological study covering the regions of the Northwestern Federal District. The research showed that health, material security, and family remained inviolable values. At the same time, respondents more and more often declared the value of self-actualization.

V.A. Podolsky, Candidate of Sciences (Politics), Researcher of the IP RAS, in his speech, developed one of the leading directions of N.I. Lapin’s scientific work. Having addressed the issue of the role of the social state as a means of forming social solidarity in N.I. Lapin’s works, the author of the report emphasized the importance of achieving synergy between the state and civil society. The idea of achieving a welfare state should be replaced by the idea of a welfare society, in which social services become available through the activation of such positions as voluntary solidarity and activism.

Scientists from University of Tyumen presented a series of reports based on long-term research within the Program. V.A. Davydenko, Doctor of Sciences (Sociology), Professor, and E.V. Andrianova, Head of Department, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), developed the concept of “lifeworld” as a continuation of N.I. Lapin’s theoretical and empirical approaches. The authors showed in detail how the ideas of the classics of phenomenological sociology and the theory of communicative action were developed, objectified and operationalized into some structures of the lifeworld as opposed to the subjective nature of the category “lifeworld”. An attempt to describe empirically such structures can rely on the categories of understanding, meaning, meaningful action, intersubjectivity.

Then, G.F. Romashkina, Doctor of Sciences (Sociology), Professor of University of Tyumen, made her report “Paradoxicality of public opinion based on the materials of sociocultural monitoring in the Tyumen Region”. She noted that during 17 years of observations (since 2006) the share of answers “I am glad to live here” increased from 31 to 63%. The share of those who would like to leave for another region or another country had remained practically unchanged over all the years of observation, amounting to 7% of the sample. The highest cognitive-affective estimates were given by those who were not born in the region, moved there less than 5 years ago and considered themselves well-off. Forced migrants and those who came temporarily gave a positive assessment less often than other respondents. The older people are, but at the same time the less time they live in a given place, the more positively they evaluate practically all aspects of their life. Such positive self-determination has a direct connection with the feeling of moving to the region for permanent residence. However, the paradox is that it is weakly connected with real assessments of all aspects of life. For example, these assessments are weakly elastic by type of settlement, education, level and employment status of the respondents. During the observation period the level of modernization of the system of value orientations of the region’s residents has significantly decreased, the level of the previously marginal identity on the scale “friend – foe” with the residents of the former Soviet republics has increased to 36%, when the share of those who noted proximity exceeded the share of those who did not, for the first time during the entire observation period. The growth of settlement proximity and the decrease in intergenerational differences in the components of social optimism were revealed.

In the speech “Personal modernization in the world of social imbalances of modern civilizational development”, V.P. Veryaskina, Candidate of

Sciences (Philosophy), Senior Researcher, Associate Professor of the IP RAS, presented the development of N.I. Lapin’s ideas on modernization processes. As the leading imbalances in the modern world, the author noted the following: social inequality, social imbalance in the labor sphere, long-term trend of population aging, paradigm shift of the social state in the new social reality, challenges in the spheres of education, health care, finally, imbalances in the ethno-cultural sphere and immigration. These imbalances raise questions about personal modernization, about the effectiveness of human potential and human potential in the context of transformation of social development institutions. The author of the report also drew attention to the vulnerability, recorded by sociologists in empirical and statistical data, to the formation of a picture of the value of life as a biological substrate of a man, as a foundation on which personal modernization is realized.

The speech “On the regional structure of the human lifeworld” of Yu.M. Reznik, Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Chief Researcher of the CISI IP RAS, Professor, was built on the basis of the concepts of “place-event”, “topos”, “locus of environment”, “locality” and a number of others. Starting from the attitude toward the localization of the place of being, the speaker said that the human lifeworld was broken up into regions; accordingly, a person needs strength to establish a connection between the places of being. The regions themselves can be divided into external (such as anthroposphere, sociosphere) and internal (here the “self” comes to the fore). The center of personality in this case is the self-consciousness of a person.

The problem of ethnic factors related to human development in the republics of the Russian Federation was raised by R.M. Valiakhmetov, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), Professor, Head of the scientific laboratory of the Ufa University of Science and Technology. He noted that without ethnicity there could be no life world. Accordingly, sociologists need to take into account and analyze ethnic factors. At the same time, such territorial entities as republics require special attention. The speaker presented a comparative analysis of the problems of human development of the republics on the example of Bashkortostan, Dagestan and Tuva. The work was based on a large-scale field sociological study, as well as a series of expert interviews conducted with representatives of science, education, regional authorities and civil society institutions. Tuva experts emphasized the need to take into account the ethnic characteristics of economic activity, culture and traditions of indigenous people in the socio-economic development of the republic. In Dagestan, ethnic specialization of entrepreneurial activity was evident. In Bashkortostan, according to the research, interethnic differences in the standard of living were almost invisible, with the titular ethnic groups in the republic being represented mainly in education, culture and health care.

Section 1 “Sociocultural Development of Russian Regions” revealed the diversity of topics covered in the framework of sociological research by the Program participants. The section was moderated by V.P. Veryaskina, Senior Researcher of the IP RAS, Candidate of Sciences (Philosophy), Associate Professor. A.N. Tarasova (Yekaterinburg), Associate Professor of the Ural Federal University, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), presented an interesting report on the transformation of the value system in instability conditions and features of volunteers’ value structure. Relying on the methodology of value structure analysis developed by N.I. Lapin, the author revealed that the value base of young volunteers is more stable than for all young people aged 14–35 based on the data of a mass survey in the Sverdlovsk Region. A.N. Tarasova showed what value structures were formed in young people in the process of active participation in the volunteer movement. For example, for schoolchildren involvement in volunteering was most strongly correlated with the value of initiative and sacrifice. Students of colleges and technical schools are more often included in volunteering when the value of “independence” is actualized, students receiving higher education – when the value of order dominates, and working youth under 35 – “traditions” and “initiative”.

Senior Researcher of the Institute of Sociology, FCTAS RAS, Candidate of Sciences (Economics) G.P. Bessokirnaya analyzed the socio-cultural development of the Russian regions and value orientations of the population of regional centers for 2003–2020. The speaker aimed to identify how the typology of modernization of Russian regions and values of everyday life were connected. The author concluded that the structure of values of everyday life was identical in large social groups of the population in the regional centers of seven regions, which belonged to different types of modernization. At the same time, the dynamics of the value structure showed a rapid increase in the value of labor for earning money and a decrease in the importance of the value of communication.

Head of Department of the Kursk State University, Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Professor E.A. Kogay together with student A.V. Lapshina presented the assessment of the quality of life and social well-being of the Kursk Region residents, based on the results of a field sociological study conducted in the fall of 2023 on the basis of the standard methodology “Sociocultural Portrait of Russian Regions”. The authors of the report emphasized that in the assessment of social well-being by the region’s residents the material component was not dominant, there was a trend toward an integrative understanding of the quality of life. Residents of the region express the greatest concern about the quality of medical care. The research results indicate that the image and the corresponding quality of life do not allow the residents of the Kursk Region in modern conditions to fully realize their human potential.

Associate Professor of the North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, N.N. Khomutova (Saint Petersburg) revealed the problems and prospects of using digital assistive technologies. The study showed that the ethics of safe use of digital technologies implied their application taking into account age and other individual characteristics, distribution on the principles of equality, openness, and awareness. M.N. Mukhanova (Moscow), Senior Researcher of the Institute of Sociology, FCRAS RAS, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), made a presentation “Households of employed villagers: Socio-economic situation (regional aspect)”. The author noted that the means of subsistence of rural residents were wages or pensions of all kinds, and inflationary processes devalue these incomes, they were mainly spent on essential goods, which strengthens migration sentiments in rural areas. Incomes in the socio-economic situation of rural households had no noticeable regional differences, these or those phenomena were typical, as the institutional pressure equally affected the socioeconomic processes of the territories, labor behavior of rural residents. In rural areas, the problem of poverty remains topical, and in the long term, the risks of being below the poverty line or in the state preceding poverty are quite acute for working villagers.

E.V. Kargapolova, Doctor of Sciences (Sociology), Professor of Plekhanov Russian Economic University (Moscow), made a presentation “Spirituality in the perception of Russians (case study of residents of Moscow and the Moscow Region)”, which provoked a heated discussion, which reflected the novelty and relevance of the author’s approach. The speaker gave an example of analyzing non-linear distributions of self-reflection of spiritual state at different life stages by social, demographic and material structure. For example, the highest indicators of self-reflection are in the middle class, the indicators and assessments of spiritual state are relatively low during adolescence, and in older age people mostly give high forecasts of their spiritual state, and this already weakly depends on their real material situation.

Associate Professor of the Tomsk State University, Candidate of Sciences (History) O.Yu. Smo-lenchuk presented a situational analysis of medical check-ups as one of the regulators of the region’s sustainable development on the example of the Kemerovo Region, based on the included observations, using extensive statistical material and expert interviews results. Such an analysis is rare in sociology, which determined the novelty and relevance of the work. At the end of the report, there was a proposal to expand the research methodological basis to create an objectivized picture of reality beyond the normative-statistical analysis.

K.V. Rakova, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), Junior Researcher at the CISI IP RAS, made a presentation “Russian society through the years: Socio-demographic characteristics of Russians aspiring to power”. The speaker relied on the empirical data of the 6th, 7th and 8th waves of the All-Russian monitoring, implemented by the CISI IP RAS, studying the level of support for the value judgment “a person should strive first of all to have power, the ability to influence others”. This share decreased from 26 to 10% in 2023, presenting “power” as an anti-value in public opinion. The average age of the Russians seeking power has increased by 10 years; today this category includes people aged 35 to 44. The research results indicate that the poor, as well as the Russians, unsatisfied with their lives, are among the least powerseeking people. The discussion showed that the cause-and-effect relationships in this study need to be established additionally, since their direct interpretation may distort reality.

The report by A.F. Neshataev, assistant of the Ural Federal University (Yekaterinburg) was devoted to the role of Russian cinematography in the formation of migration unattractiveness of rural areas and small towns based on the results of content analysis. The author examined an array of 399 films and TV series that showed themes related to rural areas and small towns in 1991–2022. He concluded that the image of rural areas in modern cinematography is characterized as a territory with a dysfunctional environment that stimulates migration loss of population. The conference participants suggested that this phenomenon may speak not so much about the formation of public opinion as about the reflection of the real state of affairs. However, these assertions require additional, deeper verification and are themselves the subject of sociological analysis.

On the second day of the conference, the discussion was held in the online format on the basis of VolRC RAS, Vologda. The moderator of the second session was O.N. Kalachikova, VolRC RAS Deputy Director, Candidate of Sciences (Economics).

Yu.S. Markova, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), Associate Professor, and E.B. Plotnikova, Head of Department and Candidate of Sciences (History) (Perm State University) analyzed the dynamics of values of the residents of the Perm Territory under conditions of social instability. According to the research results for 2006–2023, the value system of the Kama region residents is generally characterized by stability. The “integrating core” of the Perm residents’ values includes such basic values as human life, order, sociability, independence. In addition, the values of freedom, family, well-being, work, which are included in the “integrating reserve” of the Perm residents’ values, are still of high importance. By 2023 there is an increase in the orientation toward the value of independence, which moved from the “integrating reserve” to the “integrating core”, and tradition, which rose from the “opposing differential” to the “integrating reserve”. The importance of the family value, which moved from the core to the reserve, and initiative, which moved from the “integrating reserve” to the “opposing differential” in comparison with 2006, has slightly decreased. These trends show that overcoming the risks of social instability is associated not only with the degree of expression of individualistic (modern) values, but also with the level of support for traditional values.

V.M. Tslaf, Candidate of Sciences (Engineering), Associate Professor, Scientific Director of the Interregional Group “System Consulting

Agency ‘STRATEG’” (Samara) made a presentation “Managed sociocultural modernization – an answer to civilizational challenges of modernity”. The speaker showed how it is possible to study the processes of world complexity, its modernization differential through the data on life-supporting and power-regulating functions of the socio-economic system in terms of N.I. Lapin.

N.M. Lavrenyuk-Isaeva, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), Deputy Director of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ufa University of Science and Technology, presented the report “Social maturity of management in the regions of Russia” based on the materials of the Sample observation of population participation in continuing education in 2020 (Rosstat), on the empirical data of the sociological survey implemented in the Republic of Bashkortostan in 2023. The main conclusion is that the social maturity of management in Russia’s regions has different degrees, depends on a number of endogenous and exogenous factors in relation to the governed and the governed, on the level of social subjectivity, compensated by continuing education and self-education.

Yu.I. Zheusov, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), Senior Researcher of the Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone Siberian Branch of RAS (Yakutsk), devoted his report to the original topic “‘Sober villages’ of Yakutia as a form of socio-cultural innovation”. The speaker paid special attention not only to the introduction of informal or formal prohibition of alcohol sales, but also to the creation of new social norms and practices that promote the population’s choice of conscious sober healthy lifestyle, the formation of conditions for social activity, leisure, self-realization of people and the development of the village as a whole. The conducted sociological research and analysis of statistics, in the author’s opinion, confirm the effectiveness of these socio-cultural innovations. The presentation provoked questions to the author and a heated discussion among the conference participants.

The Smolensk Interuniversity Campus as a driver of complex transformation of economy and culture of the Western borderland of Russia was investigated by A.I. Vinokurov, Candidate of Sciences (Psychology), Associate Professor of Smolensk State Institute of Arts. The speaker presented the research results of transitional epochs of the Russian-Belarusian borderland since 2005 on the example of the Smolensk Region. In particular, he announced the planned changes in the production and social processes of the region caused by the Smolensk Interuniversity Campus.

V.T. Tarasov, Candidate of Sciences (Economics), Associate Professor of the Cheboksary Branch of RANEPA, presented a report “On the issue of civilizational and modernization heterogeneity of Russia”. The speaker relied on the system approach to the analysis of the civilization component developed by N.I. Lapin. The author pointed out the methodological problems arising in the implementation of this approach in practice, noted the possibilities of using a ramified set of tools, and formulated promising directions for the development of the methodology.

In the report “Youth participation in citizen science: Problems and opportunities of involvement”, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology) M.V. Khudyakova and postgraduate student D.Yu. Agafonova (University of Tyumen) clearly showed on large-scale empirical data that the term “citizen science”, which is widely known in the world scientific discourse, is nevertheless not recognized by Russian science and practice. Even less widespread was the development of the motivation of “scientific volunteering”, the recognition of the legitimacy and relevance not only of the processes, but also of the results of scientific activity involving non-professionals by so-called professional science. Here the questions of epistemology, refusal of scientocentrism, subjectocentrism, creation of new forms of organization of scientific activity arise.

The following presentations revealed to a greater or lesser extent the socio-cultural aspects of life in Russia’s regions at the present stage, the problem of regional identity. V.I. Mosin, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), Associate Professor (Tula), spoke about examples of sustainable development and financial and economic performance of management companies, which, in the author’s opinion, should influence their rating in the sphere of housing and communal services. Such practice-oriented examples allow improving the quality of social services and business climate in the region. A.R. Mazhitova, Associate Professor of the Bashkir Cooperative Institute (Ufa), spoke about the synergy of consumer cooperation development in the Republic of Bashkortostan. D.I. Petrosyan, Candidate of Philosophy, Associate Professor of the Vladimir branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration considered the features of regional identity. S.A. Chernyshov, Candidate of Sciences (History), Senior Researcher of TSU (Tomsk), through the prism of interdisciplinary modern approaches to identity showed the correlation of Russian and regional elements in the Siberian regional identity. Candidate of Sciences (History) V.G. Kharitonova (Cheboksary) analyzed the migration situation and migration attitudes of Chuvashia residents.

V.R. Shukhatovich, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), Head of Department of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (Minsk) presented proactive motives in the structure of motivation for choosing a profession among the population of the Republic of Belarus. N.I. Yakovleva, researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (Minsk), considered social media as a resource for the formation of value orientations of the population.

The vision of socio-cultural development by young researchers was reflected in the speeches of students and postgraduates from Moscow, Kursk, Vologda, Tyumen, and Minsk. For instance, V.A. Dzyuba, a student of the Kursk State University, together with Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Professor, Head of Department of Sociology of the Kursk State University, E.A. Kogay presented the results of the conducted field sociological research in the report “Civil identity in the regional dimension (case study of the Kursk Region)”. Relying on the important idea of N.I. Lapin that the interaction between a person and society manifests the active qualities of personality, among which an important place should be given to civic and public culture, the authors presented a wide range of identification assessments, circles of trust, opportunities and real practices of civic participation. D.P. Smirnova and P.I. Kostyleva, students of the Kutafin North-West Institute (Vologda Branch), recreated the features of population migration between Russia and CIS countries at the present stage. Yu.E. Khudyakova, postgraduate student of the Department of General and Economic Sociology of the University of Tyumen, told about the socio-economic development of agricultural organizations in the Tyumen Region. M.I. Gorbach (Minsk), junior researcher of the Department of Sociology of the Social Sphere, postgraduate student of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, considered the features of youth’s self-education in the conditions of information society. Having defined self-education as a type of free activity of an individual or a social group, carried out on the basis of free choice and aimed at satisfying a wide range of needs, primarily spiritual, she consistently analyzed the aspects of self-educational activity peculiar to Belarusian youth. E.S. Vasilenko, E.A. Shaganova, M.A. Kiselev, A.A. Demidova and N.S. Belyaeva, students of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics spoke about important issues of the development of the human spiritual world in their speeches; they touched upon the questions about favorite books in the structure of reading preferences of modern Russian students, about conscience in the perceptions of Moscow youth, and finally, about the image of women in Russian and American cinema.

These presentations showed that young people successfully participated in large-scale research, implemented independent research projects, demonstrated readiness for scientific search, which allowed being optimistic about the prospects for the development of the all-Russian program of research of socio-cultural processes in Russian regions. The section of young researchers was moderated by M.A. Gruzdeva, Deputy Head of Department of VolRCs RAS, Candidate of Sciences (Economics).

At the end of the conference, a meeting of the coordinating council of the program “Problems of Socio-Cultural Evolution of Russia and Its Regions” was held. All participants of the meeting noted the success of the scientific conference, as well as the importance of continuing field research based on the standard methodology “Socio-cultural Portrait of Russian Regions”. These studies make it possible to create an extensive database on sociocultural processes occurring in the Russian space, to track the dynamics of processes, to implement comparative approaches in analyzing social problems. It was also decided to hold the next Lapin Readings in 2024 as part of the All-Russian Sociological Congress organized by the Russian Society of Sociologists.