Russians’ Dreams for Society and Themselves

Abstract

This article examines the specific features of the “Russian dream” and some of its key elements using materials from a number of national studies conducted by the Institute of Sociology over the past several years. It highlights the cultural-civilizational features of the Russian dream and its connection with the values and identities of Russians. It will show that the presence of a dream is the norm for Russian culture in general, but that in recent years this norm has eroded. Although the Russian civilizational project with its characteristic “high dream” still exists, it is gradually losing its significance; instead, the dreams of a consumer society are transforming into dreams about ordinary survival.

Keywords:

• dream
• culture
• values
• norms
• civilization
• image of a desired future
• Russian civilizational project
• cultural dynamics
• social awareness

Notes

1. This study was conducted in February 2014 by the Institute of Sociology (led by M. Gorshkov and N. Tikhonova) using a national sample of 1600 people representing the population by region, gender, age, and type of community. In addition to this sample, in various regions another 300 people were surveyed in proportion to the sizes of the region’s population in relation to the entire country’s population. These 300 people had incomes above the median for their type of community, an education not below a higher education, and nonphysical jobs. In total, 942 respondents were identified by the study’s authors as members of the middles class (for more information see http://www.isras.ru/analytical_report_sredny_klass_10_let_spustya.html).

2. This refers to the study “What Do Russians Dream About,” which was conducted in March 2012 by the Institute of Sociology (led by M. Gorshkov and I. Tikhonova) using a sample representing the country’s population from the ages of 16–55 in terms of region, gender, age, and type of community (for more information see O chem …, 2013). The data from this study provide the basis for this article. Special note will be made when data are used from other studies.

3. For example, the 2008 study by Saint Petersburg scholars “Shared Dreams of Young People as a Unifying Idea” (led by M. Belousov), which was conducted in the form of 16 focus groups and 30 interviews in four different localities, and V. Anikin’s online survey “What Does Russian Youth Dream Of?” (2012), where the respondents were students from Moscow universities and institutes, namely, the Higher School of Economics National Research Institute and others.

4. Without going into too much detail about this point, which I have illustrated many times in numerous empirical studies (see Tikhonova, 2001, 2005, 2011, and others), I will simply note that the orientation toward the “consensual” nature of relationships with the government clearly continues to dominate in Russian society today.

5. This study (led by M. Gorshkov and I. Tikhonova) was conducted in March 2011 using a national sample of 1,750 people representing the country’s population in terms of region, gender, age, and type of community.

6. The study “The Middle Class in Contemporary Russia.”

7. Judging from empirical data, Russians much more frequently aspire to live “no worse than others” than they aspire to wealth as such.

8. In light of this, I would like to remind readers that we are speaking about dreams, values, and attitudes and not about actual behavior, which could significantly differ from these things and could be dictated by various kinds of external circumstances. Nevertheless, if significant dynamics are recorded at the level of norms, we can expect gradual changes in the corresponding direction at the level of behavior.

9. Data from the national study “Citizens of the New Russia: Who Are They? How Do They Live? What Are Their Hopes and Dreams?,” which was conducted by the Institute of Sociology in March 2007 using a national sample representing members of the population aged 16–65 in terms of region, gender, age, and type of community.