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socio-economic factors of identity have a more pronounced ‘economic and
STRATA/CLASSES 2003-
2012
Count (%)
1
2
Distressed 29
7
1 strata 5
1
2 strata 12
2
3 strata 12
4
Low-income 42
48
4 strata 25
26 1 2
5 strata 17
22
Middle-income 16
23
6 strata 8
11
7 strata 8
12
Upper-income 11
19
8 strata 5
9
9 strata 6
10
High-income
(10 strata) 2
3
social emphasis’, one cannot but mention studies with a ‘social emphasis’.
Thus, typical of such studies is the approach of M. Gorshkov,
Count of the Main Strata/Classes of the Russian Society,
Identified by Living Standards, 2003/2012, % of the Population Aged
55 or Younger
107
who focuses on either the labeling of social groups on the basis of
the awareness of belonging to microsocial communities (family, friends), or
the awareness of belonging to abstract symbolic communities (people with
similar views, representatives of a certain generation or the same
107
Tikhonova, N.E. (2014) Sotsialnaya struktura Rossii: teoriya i realnost [Social
Structure of Russia: Theory and Reality]. Moscow: Novy khronograf [New
Chronograph]: RAS Institute of Sociology. P. 115-116. (In Russian).
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
81
profession), or the value and civilizational grounds (moderniststraditionalists)
108
.
The socio-cultural dimension of social phenomena is inextricably
linked with the trend of refusal to consider ‘the person in general’, the
‘individual’ in favor of approaches that accentuate the leading role of
culture in the development of public institutions, group and personal
behavior. The most important socio-cultural characteristics of identity are
worldview and ideology. Worldview is one of the key social characteristics
of individuals and social groups that constitute the society. Worldview
attitudes, apart from the ‘global picture’, also comprise ideological
components that manifest themselves in the processes of social
identification, representation, rationalization of social actions and status
claims.
The relationship between the category of ‘identity’ and the concept
of ‘ideology’ was first put forward by the American scientist E. Erikson in
the context of the personality development problem. It was not accidental
that the work was titled "Identity: Youth and Crisis". Interpreting identity as
role and ideological adaptation to the changing stages of the development of
the human ‘Self’, Erickson clearly pursues a line on the changing nature of
identity and, at the same time, emphasizes that adolescence is the most
important period of worldview development and is connected with seeking
answers to questions like "Who am I ? Who I want to be? Who do I not
want to be?".
It is the loss of confidence in the old ideology that the crisis of
identity, so much spoken about after the collapse of the USSR, shows itself.
108
Gorshkov, M.K. and Tikhonova, N.E. (2013) Sotsiokulturniye factory
konsolidatsii rossiyskogo obshchestva [Social and Cultural Factors of the
Consolidation of the Russian Society]. In: Gorshkov, M.K. and Tikhonova, N.E.,
eds. Moscow: Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 54 p.
(In Russian). Electronic version – URL: http://www.isras.ru/inab_2013_01.html
(In Russian); Gorshkov, M.K., Tikhonova, N.E., and Krumm, R. (2010) Gotovo li
rossiyskoye obshchestvo k modernizatsii? [Is the Russian Society Ready for
Modernization?]. In: Gorshkov, M.K., Krumm, R. and Tikhonova, N.E., eds.
Moscow: Izdatelstvo “Ves mir” [Ves Mir Publishers]. 344 p. (In Russian).
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
82
To overcome it, a new ideology is required as “an unconscious set of values
and messages reflecting religious, scientific and political thinking"
109
.
If at the macro-group level the functioning of ideologies was
associated with the legitimization of social interests, on the individual and
micro-group level, sociological science associated their manifestation with
self-awareness (self-identification) and the functioning of stereotypes. Selfidentification was seen primarily as a ‘social Self’, which was a symbolic
link between a person and a social environment. Ideology in this case was
the most important way of self-identification through symbolic
constructions, through which a person or group defined themselves within
the social context. The study of ideology in the context of the ‘identity’
concept characterized the feminist sociology of multiculturalists and
postmodernists.
The concept of "identity" has become especially significant in the
context of sociocultural studies of problems of ethnicity and gender, sexual
and racial minorities. Ideology in this case is treated as a means of identity
representation and building. The term "identity", largely similar to the
concepts of "selfhood" and "self-awareness," has a certain ideological
meaning. On the one hand, it has a reifying (re-materializing) potential,
giving an ontological connotation to that which exists only in the context of
sociocultural interactions. This is particularly evident in the case of using
this term to analyze the problems of gender, nation, and ethnicity. On the
other hand, the problem of legitimizing group identities (especially in the
context of new social movements) involves the use of ideological
techniques and, consequently, makes the concept of "ideology" quite
functional.
Most ideologies define patterns of interpretation not only of social
actions and phenomena, but also schemes for constructing identities. Who
are WE and who are THEY? And, most often, why are WE so good, and
THEY, to put it mildly, not very good. The latter question is typical, first of
all, for conflict situations. Such basic assumptions undoubtedly influence
the ‘opinions’ and OUR attitude towards THEM in standard situations of
social interactions. Nationalism of all shades is able to coordinate the
feelings and ‘opinions’ of social groups that share nationalist values and
109
Erikson, E. Identity, Youth and Crisis (Russian edition, 1996). In: Tolstykh,
A.V. (translation from English, editing, and preface). Moscow: Progress. P. 85 (In
Russian).
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
83
nationalist beliefs about minorities or immigrants. All this can be
manifested in the context of problems of employment, education, places of
residence and conferment of nationality. Almost the main cognitive
function of ideologies is the organization of specific group (or national)
attitudes and relations.
The scheme of group identity, defined by ideologies, can look like a
chain of questions like:
✓ Who belongs to OUR number and why? (group affiliation)
✓ What, how and why should WE do? (target activity)
✓ What is OUR place in the society and relationships with other
groups? (position)
✓ What do WE have at our disposal, and what we don’t? (what
resources)
Of course, the answers to these questions can have different shades
and semitones due to the peculiarities of socialization of one or another
member of the group. For example, individual members of a group may be
more orthodox or "advanced" than others, but this does not change the
substance of the matter. Finally, a person can belong to several groups at
the same time and even profess several ideologies, each of which influences
social practice in its own way, depending on the situation. Today's era gives
us many examples of existence of almost chimerical from the traditional
point of view formations such as eco-feminism, eco-fascism, or social
liberalism. At the same time, an ideology of a group, which is the core
ideology in a certain situation, can be expressed in a discourse. An example
is a hidden connotation in the discourse of ethno-nationalism, that
minorities cannot be patriots and, therefore, must not be allowed to govern
the state
110
.
If we briefly consider the basic theories of ideology, they directly
or indirectly point to the prominent role of ideology in the processes of
identification. And this is equally inherent in both traditional Marxism (with
its teaching on class consciousness, in fact, class identity), and post-Marxist
110
Tuzikov, A.R. (2011) Kontseptsiya ideologii i ideologicheskogo diskursa v
sovremennoy sotsiologii – metodologiya issledovaniya sotsiokulturnykh
osobennostey molodezhnogo ekstremizma v mirovom prostranstve [Concept of
Ideology and Ideological Discourse in Modern Sociology – Methodology of
Research in the Specifics of Youth Extremism Wordlwide]. In: Tuzikov, A.R. ed.
In: Herald of Kazan Technological University. No. 17. P. 222–229. (In Russian).
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
84
theories, including postmodernist experiments. For example, in
L. Althusser's ideology theory (French neo-Marxism), the identifying
mechanism of ideology is embodied in the technique of interpellation, in
fact the question "Who am I? With whom and against whom am I?"
K. Geertz
112
, who develops the anthropological approach, ideology appears
111
. For
as a symbolic reality that affects identity, setting the interpretation of the
joint activity of society members.
That is, the identity of the group and its members in this vein can be
interpreted as ideologically given patterns of interpreting joint actions and
their results. It looks like this: WE are those who do this and that, for this
and that, and this is right and necessary. Naturally, actions are supported by
symbols and rituals, which acquire "physical meaning" and self-worth
(demonstrations, clothes, etc.). As A. Sanina has justly noted, "A
researcher’s task, therefore, is to determine the totality of attributes that
people themselves consider relevant and perceive as markers of belonging
to their own or another group"
113
.
The phenomenological and sociolinguistic turn in sociology (the
poststructuralism of P. Ricker, P. Berger and N. Lukman, etc.) brought with
them the ideas of the discursive construction of social reality. Identity
problems did not stay aside. One of the classics of the Cultural Studies
school, S. Hall, emphasized that identity is most often conventional and
random. He introduced the concept of ‘discursive identity’, noting that in
the modern society, any identity "manifests itself in the game of special
modalities of power and, therefore, is rather a result of production of
distinction and exclusion than a sign of an identical, naturally constituted
‘identical ...’ community in its traditional meaning"
114
.
Language in its socio-symbolic meaning of discursive constructions
(what, how, where and by whom to is spoken, and what it is customary to
111
Althusser L., Ideological State Apparatuses / in S. Zizek (ed.), Mapping
Ideology. London: Verso, 1994. – P.100–140.
112
Geetrz C. Ideology as Cultural System / in Ideology and Discontent, ed.
D.Apter. Glencoe: The Free Press, 1964, Chapter 2. P. 47–76
113
Sanina, A.G. (2014) Genezis idei identichnosti v sotsiologii i smezhnykh
naukakh [Genesis of the Idea of Identity in Sociology and Related Sciences].
In: Sociological Studies. No. 12. P. 3–11. (In Russian).
114
Hall S. Who Needs “Identity”? // in Hall S., Gay P. (eds). Questions of Cultural
Identity. London: Sage, 1996. P. 4
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
85
keep silent about) has been considered the most important tool for the
formation of social relations. At the same time, language is the environment
and instrument of ideologies operation. Accordingly, ideological discourse
can be regarded as a tool for ideological construction of identifications.
Examples include feminist discourse, discourse of nationalism, discourse of
extremism, etc.
Identifications multiplicity can be manifested in the simultaneous
combination of national (civil) and ethnic (ethnocultural) identity - for
example, an American of Italian origin. Accordingly, in this case, the
challenge lies in the construction of a common citizenship ideology, which
allows combining these two identities. T. Parsons
115
wrote about the
possibility of such a combination, insisting that "maintaining the unity of
the nation does not require the ‘dissolution’ of ethnic groups in the national
community, and in order to overcome ethnic conflict it is necessary to
strengthen the general civil basis of the modern nation."
Multiple identities contribute to some extent to better adaptation,
since the loss of one identity does not entail complete self-destruction, as it
would be in case of a ‘one-modal’ identity. Multiplicity (pluralism of
identities) reflects the multiplicity and hierarchy of social roles that a person
must play in modern societies, which is more, under the constant dynamics
of changes. Ideology in this case can serve as some system-forming and
chaotization opposing force. However, the world of modern ideologies is
also not strictly hierarchical.
According to the theory of Slovenian scholar S. Žižek
116
, the
‘ideological space’ today is full of ‘floating signifiers’ of unrelated concepts
with an open meaning such as ‘freedom’, ‘democracy’, etc., as well as some
‘ideological attachments’ that give a more specific meaning and
interpretation (for example, order or justice). For example, the feminism
ideology can act both in the socialist and liberal versions and even in the
ecological scenario. This is the result of attaching the ‘floating signifiers’
(or ideologemes). In this case, it is possible to create even chimerical
constructions. And the creation itself of structures that allow us to
115
Parsons, T. (1998) Sistema sovremennykh obshchestv [System of Modern
Societies]. Moscow: Aspect-Press. 270 p. (In Russian).
116
Žižek, S. (1989; 1999) The Sublime Object of Ideology. Translated from
English. In.: Žižek, S., Russian edition. Moscow: Khudozhestvenny zhurnal
[Moscow Art Magazine]. P. 93 (In Russian).
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
86
simultaneously involve a lot of ideologemes into their orbit is the essence of
the modern ideological struggle.
As a result of the ‘chimerical ideologies’, chimerical identifications
arise that build and structure identifying markers in the context of
‘ideological attachments’. For example, how can today's ‘democratic
Facebook-global identification’ be interpreted with the nationalism of the
most fascist type? As the new democratism or global nationalism?
The semantic field of the ‘identity’ concept intersects with the
notion of ‘solidarity’, which reflects ownership and willingness to act
within the group with which identification occurs. Evolving this approach,
Russian scientist E.L. Omelchenko addresses new forms of sociality of
Russian youth and notes that "it focuses on the nature of intra- and intergroup communications, which are considered as the most important for
forming shared group identity and defining border lines that separate
insiders from outsiders"
117
. This approach allows you to look through the
boundaries that separate groups with similar identities, not only across
territorial borders (the Internet erases them), but also socio-cultural ones.
Studies headed by her revealed "significant ideological and value
vectors, the capstones of direct or indirect solidarist communication of
young men and women belonging to different subcultures, movements,
groupings ..., from different social environments and educational
experiences. They can be conditionally placed within a value continuum, as
space of special attractions and rejections, consent and stress. If the vectors
are designated as conditional and polar to each other alternatives, they will
look as follows: Belligerence (aggression) – Pacifism; Order (loyalty) –
Anarchism; Authoritarianism – Democracy (Liberalism);
Nationalism/xeno/homophobia – Tolerance; Patriarchate – Gender
Equality; East – West; Pro/Antipatriotic sentiments; Pro/Anti-immigrant
sentiments; Pro/Anti-capitalist sentiments; and Consumerism (glamour
hipster) – Asceticism.”
117
Omelchenko, E.L. (2014) Solidarnosti i kulturnyye praktiki rossiyskoy
molodezhi nachala XXI veka: teoretichesky kontekst [Solidarities and Cultural
Practices of the Russian Youth of the Beginning of the 21st Century: Theoretical
Context]. In: Sotsiologicheskiye issledovaniya [Sociological Research]. N. 12.
P. 52 (In Russian).
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
87
So, here again, the influence of ideological discursive constructions
that determine the value attitude to identifiable practices and ‘solidarist
communications’ is manifested. The very concept of ideology, in our
opinion, retains its heuristic potential in study of the problems associated
with modern youth identity configurations.
As already noted above, with the development of modern society,
the ideas of a normal (single) identity, began to give way to the ideas of
multiple identities. The ideas of multiple identity began to gain momentum
particularly in the framework of a new scientific approach to the study of
ethnicity (F. Barth)
118
. As opposed to the traditional (primordialist)
approach (Yu.N. Bromley, E. Smith, E. Shils), reifying the ethnic identity
outside history and socio-cultural circumstances, non-traditional approaches
(constructivism, instrumentalism) appeal to the situational emergence and
development of ethnicity (B. Anderson, V.A. Tishkov, F. Barth, et al.).
The multiple identity is particularly popular in the postmodern
approach in sociology, which denies the totality of metanarratives, but
promoting total relativism
119
. In other words, one can not get an
unambiguous answer to the typical question of the identity researcher:
"Who are you?" Transgenders, transhumanists, cyberpunks, ‘parents
number 1’ and ‘number 2’, creative class, knowledge workers, etc. are
terms that characterize the relative and borderline identity as compared with
the previous concepts, connected both with sex and social affiliation. In our
opinion, identity chaotization and propagation of these processes is a
negative trait leading to devastating consequences for society and has
nothing to do with the notion of ‘progress’.
However, the plurality of the identifications of a modern person and
the processes taking place in the socio-economic, socio-political and socio-
118
Barth, F. (2006) Etnicheskiye gruppy i sotsialniye granitsy. Sotsialnaya
organizatsiya kulturnykh razlichiy [Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social
Organization of Culture Difference]. In: Fredrik Barth ed., Igor Pilshchikov
(translation from English into Russian). Moscow: Novoye izdatelstvo. P. 198 (In
Russian).
119
The term ‘metanarrative’ implies the existence of fixed in the culture in the form
of typical stories basic values and norms of society. For example, the narrative of
the struggle between good and evil is reproduced in a variety of artistic subjects.
Meta-narrative is a narrative of narratives that affects both art and politics,
economics, social sciences, etc., for example, ‘freedom’ or ‘humanism’.
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
88
cultural life of a man of today and especially young people put the problem
of identity configuration at the forefront. R. Fogelson put forward the
concept of the ‘struggle of identities’, in which he separated the ideas of
multiple identities and singled out four opposing components: the real (the
individual's idea of him or herself in a particular period of his or her life),
the ideal (the pattern of behavior and existence which the individual aims
at), the negative (‘the image of oneself’ which the individual seeks to
avoid), the presented (a set of images that the individual communicates to
other people in order to influence their evaluation)
120
.
In 1991, J. Burke put forward the thesis about the ‘set of identities’,
with which he tried to ‘cover’ the disintegrating plurality of identifications.
Russian researcher A.G. Sanina, studying modern Russian identity,
sees it as a ‘set of identities’, namely, civil, state and ethnic, and emphasizes
the need to balance these identities as the main configuring mechanism
121
.
The rise of polar approaches in the format of primordialism –
constructivism and ‘traditional objectivity’ – ‘subjective objectivity’ creates
a situation of search for complementarity and polyparadigmality. In Russian
theory and practice of sociological study of identity, we note the approach
of V.M. Capitsyn
122
. The author made an attempt to show the dynamics of
forming of the ‘unifying’ national identity. He identifies the components of
‘partial’ identities and their configurations – the social and the political. The
social configuration includes the ‘horizontal’ identities of everyday life.
Such identities include: territorial (instinct), natural (corporeal), spiritual
(cultural), agent (professional).
Normally, “the majority of population prefers a quiet life
unshadowed by any calamity. Especially that there is a delimiting
‘stockade’ of private interests between people; it is formidable to start
120
Fogelson, R.D. Person, Self and Identity.Some Anthropological Retrospects,
Circumspects and Prospects // Psychosocial Theories of the Self. N. Y.; L., 1982.
P. 64–87.
121
Sanina, A.G. (2014) Genezis idei identichnosti v sotsiologii i smezhnykh
naukakh [Genesis of the Idea of Identity in Sociology and Related Sciences].
In: Sociological Studies. N. 12. P. 3–11. (In Russian).
122
Capitsyn, V.M. (2014), Identichnosti: sushchnost, sostav, dinamika (diskurs i
opyt vizualizatsii) (Identities: The nature, composition, dynamics (the discourse
and experience of visualization)). In: Capitsyn, V.M. Polit Book, Vol. 1.
(In Russian).
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
89
political actions. However, if everyday’s benefits, ecology, transport, public
utilities, education, health services, employment, etc. worsen, then people,
going beyond their everyday life, try to protect their violated rights. Social
identity cannot stay within the scope of everyday life and goes into the area
of interest interaction (political life) where vertical identities function with
their respective values and symbols”
123
. The vertical (political)
configuration includes the following varieties of identities: international,
national, collective, individual. At the intersection of horizontal and vertical
axes of identities, ‘unifying’ identities are formed (national and historical).
The ‘unifying’ national identity is a multi-dimensional concept, an
exciting content of the terms ‘historical’, ‘imperial’ identities, ‘citizenship’,
‘patriotism’, ‘nationalism’. It is directly related to the integrity of society
and the state's consistency.
V.M. Capitsyn asserts that "people in perception of themselves,
society, the entire world are building a universal set of ‘partial’ identities,
that can be identified analytically by referring to everyday life. However,
the content of these identities, their balance or dominance of some in
relation to others in different ethnic groups and nations varies considerably.
Hence the uniqueness of the ‘unifying’ national identities of one or another
nation (state). This also reflects the constructivist influence of ideologists,
politicians, political technologists”
124
.
One can discuss the degree of completeness of identities
classification, but the matrix-like approach to the analysis of identity
configurations looks promising and allows us to come up with new schemes
for interpreting empirical data.
In addition, V.M. Capitsyn identifies situations where ‘partial’
identities, affected from outside, generate counter-identities as alternatives
shattering the ‘unifying’ identities.
123
Capitsyn, V.M. (2014) Identichnosti: sushchnost, sostav, dinamika (diskurs i
opyt vizualizatsii) (Identities: The nature, composition, dynamics (the discourse
and experience of visualization)). In: Capitsyn, V.M. Polit Book, Vol. 1. (In
Russian).
124
Capitsyn, V.M. (2014) Identichnosti: sushchnost, sostav, dinamika (diskurs i
opyt vizualizatsii) (Identities: The nature, composition, dynamics (the discourse
and experience of visualization)). In: Capitsyn, V.M. Polit Book, Vol. 1. (In
Russian).
RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND RUSSIAN CIVIL IDENTITY
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