Ideas and Ideals

The connecting elements of the spirituality and religiosity of the individual are social meanings. The human mind rests on them in moments of truth. The authors analyze the basic foundation of spirituality of an individual - the family-patrimonial memory of the Siberian community. This is an element of spiritual life, capable of constructing social and cultural ethical meanings, determining the fate of people, comprehending one’s existence. Meaning is an epistemological value. It acts as a reference point for the need for a person’s religious choice. Family and tribal memory has a stabilizing cultural-creative function necessary for the reproduction and maintenance of the social order, enshrined in spiritual practices.

Family and tribal memory is defined by the authors as a system of ideas, stereotypes, united by a value-semantic core (family solidarity in understanding one’s historical identity) with the spiritual and activity bases of mental structures for assessing the dynamics of historical events, filled with a variety of personal meanings at the level of semantic functions and variability of semantic interpretations. Family-patrimonial memory is narrative. The study of family mnemonic narratives allowed the authors to determine the significance of sociocultural trauma in the evolution of understanding of their religiosity by members of the Siberian territorial community. The array of interviews with the older generation of Siberians was divided into thematic clusters containing the semantic positions of performing spiritual practices or refusing them. These meanings are passed on by older generations to their grandchildren as a symbolic spiritual capital that influences the behavior of young members of the community. The unity of religiosity and the inconsistency of the content of social memory is devoted to the author’s study of the attitude towards religion of the multi-confessional Siberian community.

Neoliberalism can be understood both as a practice of governance organized around economic norms of competition, flexibility and risk calculation, and as a technique of shaping and transforming modes of subjectivation. These two interpretations are closely intertwined: the institutions that capture neoliberal discourses become the starting point for the formation of a particular subjectivity known as human capital. At the same time, labour is understood very broadly: even pre-reflexive behavioural practices (e.g., sleep) are included in the idea of human capital. The purpose of this article is to analyse and criticise the neoliberal subject’s image of the life-world. The life-world is understood as an area of everyday human activity within which the pre-predicative resources of “common sense” are at work. The author takes an integrative approach, combining ideological theory and the study of everyday life. M. Foucault’s series of lectures, ‘The Birth of Biopolitics’, is used as the main source of content for the theory of neoliberalism. The critique of the neoliberal subject’s life-world is carried out through the ontological argumentation of the Ljubljana School of Psychoanalysis. The imperative of neoliberal ethics calling for unlimited pleasure is clearly evident in the mode of existence of consumer products. A certain commodity exists as a negation of its own idea: non-alcoholic wine, for example, is a negation of the idea of wine itself. In this sense, pleasure is stripped of any barriers, but just as importantly, the process of its reception becomes a meaning-in-itself that is institutionally supported. Pleasure is linked to the structurally constitutive absence of the object of desire. Thus, a critical analysis of ideology actualises the category of alienation. The overcoming of neoliberal subjectivity is only possible through the acceptance of a fundamental rupture (alienation) as the ontological basis of identity, a position that has been called an object-disoriented ontology.

In this article the collection of letters written by voluntary students during the First World War is analyzed from a philosophical point of view. The collection was assembled by Philipp Witkop during the years of the First World War and after it. The author of the article analyzes two philosophical tendencies of materialism and idealism, which appear in the letters. These two philosophical tendencies are considered as phenomena of well-ordered life in peaceful times. The main material of this research is the original text of the collection of letters, as compiled by Philipp Witkop. Then, the texts of Clausewitz, Scheler, Heidegger and Ernst Jünger were added to further enrich the scope of the study. To assess the genuinity and political meaning of the compilation of letters, the author consulted with the contemporary researchers and their results. The main method of this study is the method of reading the text, conducting conceptual analysis and then attempting to develop a philosophical scheme in order to create a senseful context of what was read. Finally, the attempt is made to reunify the contradictions which were discovered as a result of the textual analysis. This attempt of reunification of the discovered contradictions is called the dialectical synthesis. Thus, the dialectical method is one of the important methods employed during the course of this study. The phenomenon of war could be successfully defined as a phenomenon of the destruction of the harmony of usual, peaceful order of life in a state.  The author comes to the conclusion that the content of the letters can be mainly divided in two subgroups. The first subgroup is the subgroup of Idealism. Roughly speaking, these are the students who are enthusiastic about the participation in the war. They have an intellectual tendency towards collectivism. The second subgroup is the subgroup of materialism. This is the subgroup of those students who do not approve of the war. The mindset of these students can be called individualistic. Finally, some letters which attempt to create a dialectical synthesis of these two tendencies could be identified. This dialectical synthesis overcomes the fear of death. But it does not abandon the value of the individual conciousness and the individual personality. The discovery of the dialectical syntheses gives the prove that there can be a more complex attitude towards the historical phenomenon of war as a destructor of well-ordered harmony. It is possible not only to be afraid of death and miss the peaceful times, but also to radically welcome the new times of war. The author highlights the complexity of the human being.

But at the same time, the author offers an argument for the possibility to create a senseful philosophical scheme to make sense of the complex properties of the human experience.

As a rule, the tradition of analysis and description of the Russian city space marginalizes significant parts of this space. Thus, industrial zones, low-rise residential areas, etc. fall outside the concept of ‘city’. The Soviet ‘private sector’ often remains outside the scope of analysis, covering more than half of the city’s territory and a significant part of its population in individual settlements. This discussion in scientific papers has appeared recently, and we want to proceed with it in the space of Far Eastern cities. In this paper, we propose to look at these ‘marginal’ territories and the groups inhabiting them from a fundamentally different perspective, to consider them not as ‘territories of prospective development’, but as already established social space, with its inherent social significances and practices. From the framework of the Khabarovsk city we determine the ratio of ‘normal urban’ (regular urban development) and ‘marginal’ spaces on the basis of two years of observation, three series of in-depth interviews and analysis of statistics, demographic and spatial data, and then combine these two separated parts into a single object - the city, which, as we show in our work, is eminently characterized by both these types of spaces. As the study showed, it is in the ‘invisible’ part of the city that the most stable communities are formed, actively participating in the ‘struggle for the city’, organizing routine resistance to the aspirations of powerful agents to change their space. In areas of regular urban development, on the contrary, communities are increasingly replaced by ‘combinations’, associations regarding the use of common elements of urban infrastructure. At the same time, ‘meeting points’ appear between these parts, uniting the city, giving it a chance to form integrity, or at least coherence. The authors present an analysis of the urban space and urban communities of Khabarovsk in this article.

This article examines the social structure of the Internet, which is based on the process of communication, and the possibility of identification of personality in virtual space. The analysis of the problem of identification and existence of personality on the Internet is built on the psychological and structural components that are integrated in the Internet. Building the analysis of the Internet as a space for identity is founded on the theoretical basis of the personality as a social construct, where an important role is played by interaction with the surrounding social environment. One of the ways, where this interaction takes place, is the communication process. The main features of interaction within the network are highlighted: possible anonymity and detachment from reality, physical non-representation, global openness and universality. Anonymity and detachment allow one to construct a relatively safe space for the expression of repressed traits and desires. Global openness and universality allow one to build social connections without geographical determinants and to find a response among others, to develop interests and skills. In order to outline the possibility of identification of personality on the Internet, the author establishes the connection of needs, meaning spheres of personality with the actual opportunities, which are revealed due to the components of the Internet. One discovers the possibility to realize latent needs and immerse themselves in a vast environment of formation and translation of meanings. The analysis of the formation of Internet addiction confirms the possibility of changing personality traits on the Internet, which provides data for the analysis of the positive impact of virtual space on the change of personality traits. That is, virtual space has a functional ability to influence the personality’s needs and meaning spheres, which in turn opens up the possibility of identifying a person on the Internet. Using the Internet, a person gives themselves the possibility of active, creative and social realization with involvement in virtual interaction, which continues the real identity of the person. The author highlights the idea, that it is necessary to have personal regulation of Internet activity and pay close attention to the meanings that are translated in the virtual space.

This article explores the changing approach to the values in the field of business, primarily in transnational corporations. Just a hundred years ago, the German sociologist Max Weber noted for the first time that values directly affect professional activity. At the moment, society’s requirements for socially responsible business conduct have increased. Violation of ethical standards by the company and its representatives can significantly affect the value of shares, income and the very existence of the company. Adventure capitalism, which sought to benefit by any means, is increasingly being replaced by rational capitalism, built on the principles of ‘universal gain’, when the desire for profit is balanced with the interests of society, and solidarity prevails over competition. Modern large companies try to adhere to the principles of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance). The desire to be included in ESG ratings, in which a comprehensive assessment is made on environmental, social and managerial indicators of sustainable development, is explained by the increase in investment attractiveness and the overall prestige of the company. The percentage of participants in such ratings and rankings is growing every year. More companies consciously get engaged in their organizational culture, develop ethical codes, and publish corporate values in open sources. Ensuring the understanding and acceptance of the company’s values by each of its employees, so that they can implement them in their daily work, is a difficult task, which requires in-depth knowledge in a variety of fields. The use of values by corporations as a tool in management requires compliance with high moral standards, as it is introduced into the subtle and little-studied sphere of the foundations of not only human activity, but also of the entire human existence. There is a great risk of coming to a new form of slavery instead of freedom, creativity and development. In this paper, the author analyzes the conjugating of companies’ activities with their corporate values from the point of view of social philosophy.

This article discusses the main stages in the development of the theory of anarchism. The author started his examination of anarchist ideas from Errico Malatesta’s book “The System of Anarchism in Ten Conversations for the Peasants”. Then, the author considers the works of a French politician, philosopher and economist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. The paper touches upon the problem of practical implementation of his theoretical principles up to the present time. The author also takes into account the works of the geographical school of anarchism (Elise’e Reclus and Peter Kropotkin). The paper analyses the anarchist origins of the classical school of political economy. It is noted that a significant part of Adam Smith’s ideas was previously expressed by his predecessor, anarchist William Godwin. In particular, it is shown that the category of ‘invisible hand’ originated from anarchist ideas about the inner world of a person, and not from the ideas that ‘the market will decide everything’. Some aspects of the history of the First International, the role of anarchists in the creation and activities of the First International are considered. The article describes the emergence and development of anarchism in Japan, it is shown that the Japanese branch of anarchism is closely connected with the works of M. Bakunin. The problem of long-term propaganda of the ideas of anarchism in US universities is touched upon. The main authors of anarchist works are singled out from among them. The author also considers Christian theological anarchism associated with the name of I. Illich, as well as the works of the followers and propagandists of anarcho-Islam that have appeared in recent years. According to the author, the ideas of anarchism are poorly analyzed by historians, which leads to many incorrect assessments of current events and erroneous predictions of the future, especially in recent decades.

The reason for this is ignoring the role of anarchist thought in the socio-economic life of the world. It is noted that the penetration of anarchist ideas into social theories and political doctrines of very different directions takes place in such a way that they become an inseparable part of them and are no longer considered anarchist. Briefly, the main idea of ​​the article can be expressed in the words: “Theoretical anarchism does matter”.

The article is devoted to understanding the origins of the Russian political elite. Relying on the empirical material of 2021, the authors study whether social ties in the Soviet managing class called “nomenklatura” is an important factor determining the position within the top echelon of the Russian political elite. In order to explore the genesis of the Russian political elite, we used a cross-methodological approach as well as the research method based on tracking their social origin. Our empirical basis is an original database for identifying elites including two elite lists, positional and reputational ones. The positional list for our analysis includes 112 personalities who hold positions in power structures provided with significant influence at the beginning of August 2021. The reputation list for analysis includes 100 personalities, based on the widely cited expert model “Politburo 2.0”. To set up the connection between the current Russian political elite and the social group known to us as the Soviet “nomenklatura”, we use the combined method. The “nomenklatura” heritage rating given for career, family and educational environment we assigned and summarized. Based on the results of the study, the following results were reached: as for the positional list, 59 out of 112 personalities (52.6%) are related to the Soviet nomenclature (total ratings of 2 and above), as for the reputation list - 50 out of 100 (50%). Based on a descriptive comparative analysis of two independent lists, we conclude that at least a half of contemporary elite actors have this kind of background among the modern Russian top-tier elite, and another 13-15% can relate to it with a significant degree of probability. It is noticeable that the proportion we found approved regardless of the approach the list of elite personalities is based on.

The article presents an analysis of the main consequences of globalization in the context of changes in the socio-cultural space of globalizing societies. The methodological basis of the study was formed on the grounds of the triangulation of socio-philosophical, sociological and systemic approaches, the complex application of which made it possible to identify the consequences of cultural globalization that take place at different structural levels of social organization. A socio-philosophical analysis of the main potential scenarios for the development of cultural globalization has been carried out, which are defined as glocalization/localization and transculturalism. The role of the regional factor is revealed as determining the outcome of cultural globalization in a particular society and the choice of one or another trend in the transformation of the socio-cultural space, in particular glocalization. The significance of the factor of international migration in this process is substantiated.

The choice of the deductive logic of the presentation made it possible to illustrate some theoretical provisions with the data of an empirical study conducted in the spring of 2021 as part of a qualitative approach using in-depth and semi-structured interview methods. The sample design is determined by the following criteria: ethnicity (donor country), age, period of stay in Russia, educational status. The research case is presented by 12 informants - undergraduates and graduate students from China, studying at universities in Novosibirsk.

The interpretation of the data obtained made it possible to identify the mechanism for implementing the transcultural model for the transformation of the socio-cultural space of globalizing countries through educational migration on the example of Russia and China.

Based on the theoretical framework of the study, it was possible to come to the conclusion that in the process of cultural globalization, migrants are a very effective social category of “exporters”. However, depending on the type of migration and its subject, the results of such an impact vary and affect both the importing country, and to the exporting country of global culture. At the present stage of cultural globalization, the phenomenon of transculturalism has emerged as one of the trends in the transformation of the socio-cultural space, which is realized at the macro-, meso-, and micro-social levels. Its result is the expansion of living space to a transnational format, the formation of a drifting – transcultural identity and the diffuseness of cultures.

The article is a continuation of the series on US presidential campaigns. The latest of these, “A Shadow US Presidential Campaign”, revealed that the donor consortium Democracy Alliance sponsored a secret campaign against candidate Donald Trump in favor of the Democratic candidate, ostensibly “to save democracy”. The alliance-funded political infrastructure has given itself a mandate to transform the electoral system in 2020 under the pretext of ensuring safe voting amid the pandemic. The article describes the history of the emergence of oligarchic alliances in the United States and the extent of their influence on the political life of the country, and in particular, how private foundations directly interfere in elections and donate millions of dollars to organize and finance official counting of votes at the presincts, as happened in 2020. It is noted that the academic study of the influence of oligarchs on the electoral system is difficult due to the secrecy of this activity and, as a result of it, the insufficiency of the sources. The reasons why the classifications of oligarchies available in the literature do not clarify the essence of this problem are analyzed. The author gives a new interpretation of oligarchs and donor political consortiums as independent political subjects. The conditions and limitations of the compatibility of the oligarchs and their consortiums with democracy are discussed. The oligarchs are not divided into Republicans and Democrats, although they have to decide from time to time for which team (party) they are going to play in the next election cycle. There are currently two main opposing consortiums of donors in the US: conservatives and liberals, or “right” and “left”. The article describes the characteristics of consortiums as political entities distinct from other donor entities. The author analyzes a separate cycle of political philanthropy, as well as the political infrastructure of both consortiums. The conditions and limitations of the compatibility of the actions of the oligarchs and their consortiums with democracy are discussed. The article analyzes what exactly are the specific threats to democracy from the oligarchs, their consortiums and political structures sponsored by them, as well as where the actions of the oligarchs come into direct conflict with democratic institutions. The author discusses various deoligarchization strategies in the US and their effectiveness.