Publications

"In this article, we discuss religious supply in Russia. Evaluations of religious supply are based on the empirical study “50 Confessions”, conducted by the Sociology of Religion Research Laboratory in the fall of 2015. Consideration of religious supply provides us with new insights into explaining religious processes in contemporary Russia. Particularly, it suggests an alternative to the secularization theory explanation of the gap between religious affiliation (70% of respondents call themselves Orthodox Christians) and religious practice (3% of respondents receive communion regularly) for Russian Orthodox Christians. In this Article the religious supply model, developed on the basis of religious market theory (see the works of R. Stark, R. Finke, W. Bainbridge, L. Iannacone, and others), is briefly described. Then this model is applied to the evaluation of Russian religious supply, with the variable being the number of priests in Russia. For the estimation of our model’s parameters, empirical data from the “50 Confessions” study is used. The model allows us to evaluate religious supply limitations, and this challenges general assumptions on the secularized nature of religious processes in Russia."

"In the philosophy of Arendt and Levinas, one’s attention is drawn to the parallelism in the way they put forward the “concealment” / “interiority”, correlated with the “economy” that was originally understood, as opposed to the space where the meeting with the other(s) occurs. Similarity, however, ends where they specify what lies beyond the “economic” and who this other is. If for Arendt, existence outside the «economy» is one of the activity, for Levinas the true face-to-face relation is fundamentally different from any action. Key words: intersubjectivity, public sphere, economy, Arendt, Levinas."

"The article examines the relationship between religiosity and basic values in Russia. Basic values are measured by the Schwartz's Portrait Value Questionnaire. The analysis is based on the data of the European Social Survey conducted in 2012 and the Orthodox Monitor survey conducted in 2012 as well, which is a representative survey of churched Russian Orthodox Christians. Usually based on the results of mass surveys, the connection of basic values with religiosity in Russia is very weak. One possible reason is the use of inappopriate indicators to measure the degree of religiosity. One of the most important characteristics that distinguish churched Orthodox Christians is regular Communion, which presupposes quite serious preparation, fasting and Confession. People make an attempt to rethink their views, values, and change their behavior. If this happens with a certain regularity, then it can lead to a gradual change in basic values, conditioned by religiosity. Such working out the best of oneself may not occur if a person just attends religious services, but does not receive Communion. Churched Orthodox are much more committed to the values of Conservation and Self-Transcendence, and less to the values of Openness to change and Self-Enhancement. One of the unexpected results was the discovery of significant differences in the values of Universalism, in which the churched Orthodox Christians are noticeably ahead of the average Russians, while in most previous studies the relationship of religiosity to the values of Universalism was either negative or absent, and only rarely was weak positive. Also, despite the general low commitment to the values of Openness to change, the differences are due to the great rejection of the values of Hedonism and Stimulation, while the values of Self Direction differ from the average Russians only slightly."

"There are many approaches to religiosity measurement in sociology of religion, but most of the methodological literature is devoted only to the first step of operationalization of this concept — defining the aspects of religiosity and choosing the indicators for each of these aspects. At the same time almost no attention is paid to the inverse operation — the construction of the generalized measure of religiosity based on the operationalization developed. We consider three basic approaches to this problem and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. The first approach is using individual indicators. It allows minimizing the loss of information about the respondent’s answers, but it lacks generalizability and doesn’t allow for comparison of religiosity effects if religiosity is measured with different indicators. The second approach is construction of a generalized measure of religiosity on the basis of several indicators using summation, averaging, the principles of the strongest or the weakest response, and Factor Analysis. An advantage of this approach is that it produces a religiosity scale of at least ordinal measurement level. But one of the problems that emerge when we try to apply Factor Analysis is that it implies a measurement model with reflective (effect) indicators while the theory rather favors the formative measurement model. The principle of the strongest response overestimates the number of highly religious people while the opposite — the principle of weakest response — underestimates it. The third approach is the construction of a typology on the basis of several indicators with relatively homogeneous religiosity groups using Cluster Analysis or Latent Class Analysis. The advantage of this approach is that it doesn’t imply unidimensionality of religiosity phenomena and tries to find types that actually exist in the data. We come to the conclusion that in current situation, characterized by the plurality of social forms of religiosity, it would be most productive to use the latter approach. Further, we develop a typology of Russian Orthodox Christians based on the data of the Orthodox Monitor survey (2011) using Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. The typology is based on four indicators: believing in God, frequency of Church attendance, frequency of attendance at religious services, and frequency of Confession and Communion."

"Usually religion is placed at the center of Emile Durkheim’ theory as it performs the function of solidarity production and maintenance within a community. However, this way of perception of durkheimian conception gets useless regarding present reality because today religion hardly remains the common element of the social life for individuals living together. In «Elementary forms of religious life...» (1912). Durkheim quite superficially touches upon the topic of solidarity in contemporary society, but the reader has every reason to believe that durkheimian theory implies the upgrade of the fundamental bases and solidarity mechanisms. This article proposes to rebuild durkheimian social theory in order to demonstrate the continuity between religion and morality, as Durkheim supposes. Key to successful shift in emphasis from religion to morality is a return to the very key category of «sacred». Sacred is viewed as an integral part of the religious system which is true, but not comprehensive. The interpretation of «sacred» via «religious» overshadows an important fact, that the first one is a generator for the latter. This weighty remark allows us to take the next step and say that just as for religious system of representations, sacred becomes the basis of morality. Here and now the author undertakes an attempt to release the category of «sacred» from a strict religious interpretation, traces the line of functional continuity between religion and morality and reveals a new perspective on the mechanisms of solidarity in contemporary society."

"The author analyzes different approaches towards evaluating the number of Roman Catholic and Protestant priests in the USA and in the Church of England. He considers the three narratives in the framework of which the problem under investigation has been posed: the “demography of the priesthood”, the “priest labor market” and the “territorial distribution of the clergy”. Schoenherr’s model (1993) is built upon the “organizational demography” approaches as well as upon the theory of rational choice and asks the question about what is going to happen to the population of the Catholic priests in the US in the nearest twenty years. Demographic tendencies for a long time prevalent lead to substantial changes in the overall structure of the population. The singling out of such tendencies and the determining factors behind them is extremely important for organizational planning. American Protestant denominations have toward the end of the 20th century found themselves in the situation of redundancy of priests. The research authored by Carroll (1980) is based upon the logic of the labor market and considers the interrelation between three values: number of the members of a Church; number of priests; number of churches. These values reflect the offer and demand dynamics in the priest labor market. The researcher calculates the number of payments necessary to ensure the receiving of constant salary by a priest. He analyzes the factors determining the offer and demand interrelation in the labor market. The research poses the question about the functions exercised by a priest. Still another tendency in the research on the number of priests exists in the Church of England; this tendency is connected with the issue of optimum territorial distribution of priests. The key research work here is the so-called “Paul report” (1964) which establishes the dependence of involvement in religious practices on the three following factors: number of those with full or part-time occupation in the sphere of pastoral activities; number of inhabitants of a given territory; number of churches in a given territory. The article points at the absence in the Christian discourse of normative criteria which could allow to determine the number of priests. The author also investigates how the number of priests influences the religious situation in a country as well as various processes in other social spheres (economy, politics, demography, etc.)."

"This article is an overview of family policy through the lens of relational sociology developed by an Italian philosopher and sociologist P. Donati in the end of XX c. According to him, the aim of family policy is to create conditions, which help family to realize its own possibilities maximally and to perform its functions, i.e. to create the essential base for the full formation of the Self. P. Donati claims that the lack of understanding of the essence and tasks of the family is the main cause of modern family policy's crisis in Europe. He analyzes three socio-political models (liberal, corporative and socialistic) from the family policy point of view and shows that within these models, no family policy is possible. Thus, P. Donati proposes his own model, which he calls “relational”. In this model, the subsidiarity is the main principle of family policy."

"The article suggests sociological analysis of the social relationships in the parish as a factor which promotes parish social work development. Basing on the empirical data, in the fi rst part of the analysis we trace the connection between the type of priests and laity social relationship in the parish and the quantitative indicators of parish social work development. These indicators are the number of non–liturgical activities in the parish, the number of people involved into parish social activities, and the number of organizations the parish has contacts with. In the Second part of the article, we present the description of the parish prior (head of a parish) styles of working with people in the relation of these styles to the formation of diff erent types of priests–laity cooperation and promotion of the corresponding types of social work in the parish."

"This paper discusses factors how morally dense communities regulate the consumer debt of their members by enacting both financial and non-financial mechanisms. We rely on the gift exchange theory to demonstrate how communities with high social density morally regulate consumer behavior of their members. We use the data gathered during an empirical study of economic activities of the members of Orthodox parishes in four Russian cities and suggest the four-stage model of the influence of community on the motivation and behavior of potential borrowers. The four elements, in the order of importance, are regulation of wants, non-financial mechanisms of satisfaction of wants, gratuitous financial aid, and distributed solidary responsibility for consumer credit. In contrast to atomized individuals who act upon the moral principles of preserving independence and relying only on themselves, members of parishes are governed by different moral imperatives: they are encouraged to ask for help and to suggest it to others. This paper demonstrates that communities can operate as agents of natural social control over consumer credit by both inducing deliberation on financial decisions and distributing the risks associated with consumer borrowing."

"The significance of debt relations is constantly growing in the present-day world, so do economic problems related to debt. Credit relationships on market are usually treated as morally neutral despite the fact that debt generates a number of moral contradictions. This paper suggests an understanding of debt that draws on the anthropological theory of gift. It enables to expose the moral content of the utilitarian market exchange as compared to gift exchange and to differentiate between various forms of debt. This approach is used for analyzing consumer credit and for demonstrating that debtor’s behavior is paradoxically determined by striving to avoid the moral obligations of debt. The main moral imperatives are indicated that govern consumer credit — independence and necessity, calculativeness and quantification. This article demonstrates that making the borrower responsible for growing debt makes credit burden increasing rather than restraints it. "

"Sociological research of parish communities (congregations) indicates the significant role of congregations in the processes of religious and nonreligious life, social policy and civil society. Congregations can be either a direct object for sociological studies, or researchers focus on the social functions of parish communities (their role in social services provision, social capital formation, or their effect on individual well-being, etc.). At the same time, congregation as a specific corporate social actor generally is not considered as a distinct theme for theoretical and methodological reflections in sociological literature. This paper contains an analytical review of the main approaches to the “parish community” conceptualization within key contexts of parish communities’ (congregations) studies in sociology. A classification of research contexts for parish communities studies which is introduced in the article, provides the map of key themes in sociological studies of parish communities and gives an idea on the scope and limits of the parish community conceptualizations, currently used in sociology."

"We approach higher education as a source of not only private good but also public one. An analysis of oeuvres was aimed at differentiating between formal and substantive meanings of the term “university responsibility”. Substantive meaning of responsibility appeals to criteria beyond knowledge, appreciates the crucial importance of education effects in various aspects of life, and derives from the very fact of interdependence between the university and the society. We believe that importance of university as an institution forming the society may specifically be put into question in Russia, where the high level of education coexists weirdly with the high level of social hardship. An online questionnaire was completed by more than one third of graduates of a Russian confessional (Orthodox) university residing in more than 100 localities of Russia, former Soviet Republics, and other foreign countries. The data on graduates’ shared values and attitudes obtained in the survey was compared to results of national and international surveys on family issues, civic engagement, values, employment, social capital, and consumption practices. Based on this comparison, we suggest that philosophies and attitudes of Orthodox university graduates have many common points that set them aside from the other population of Russia: they are committed to family and civic values, have a strong attitude of service, and participate in social activities to help people in need. Standardized indices of social capital in the sample of Orthodox university graduates are three times higher than those in the national sample of all higher education graduates. We propose to raise a critical discussion of the role of religion in higher education and to dwell specifically on issues of validity of theology as a scientific discipline, effects of bringing religion to high school, and the problem of confessional universities."

"Religion contains a set of attitudes, norms and values that are transmitted in the course of socialization. Religious socialization is a process of interaction in which religious norms and values are transmitted from one generation to another, from group members to newcomers. The article discusses the problem of conceptualization of religious socialization and its application in the analysis of sociological data on micro- and macro- level. "

"The article examines the influence of religion on social capital formation in Russia. The study suggests that active involvement of the parishes in the organization of social work, based on the principles of delegation of power and authority from priests to the laity, increases the parish social networks, attaching more lay people to it, including those who are "unchurched". The data for the article come from the research projects conducted in 2011 – 2013 at the "Sociology of Religion" Research Seminar, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University: a mass survey of parishioners of 12 Russian Orthodox Church parishes, located in different types of settlement and in different regions of Russia (the total sample size is 985 respondents); in-depth interviews with parishioners and priests at 15 Russian Orthodox Church parishes (153 interviews altogether); and the first wave of a nationwide survey "OrthodoxMonitor" (national representative sample of 1500 respondents)"

"The article discusses factors which determine cross-cultural differences in the strength of relationship between religiosity and its consequences in the sphere of norms and values. Analysis is based on the data of European Values Study (2008). The role of primary religious socialization as an important characteristic of social environment, which determines the nature of this relationship, is examined. The thesis of the importance of religious congruence phenomenon is substantiated."

"The article discusses the bases for the Orthodox parish community concept construction and operationalization, and analyzes the factors contributing to community development. This article is based on the results of the “Russian Orthodox Church social work organization at Moscow parishes” study completed by the “Sociology of Religion” research project team at St.Tikhon’s Orthodox University. The study includes a quantitative survey of priors, priests, parishioners, and social workers of Moscow parishes. Parish size and location, as well as the clergy characteristics and leadership style are emphasized as the main factors contributing to the opportunities of building a “strong” parish community."

"He article deals with the question that is the important for the understanding both the current state of science and education and the history. The author explains the problem of the theology’s place in the system of a scientific knowledge by giving the materials of the discussion at the Office preceding the All-Russia Church Local Council in 1906. He investigates the discussion and detects the systematic point of view."

"Despite the standpoint that postulates the presence of a tight boundary between the state and the church in the area of education and that currently dominates in the public space, there are projects that are being initiated and realized today and that let us question its consistency. The aim of the article is to discuss these “impossible” projects exploiting the friction at the overlap. This article draws on participant observation fieldnotes, as well as 24 in-depth interviews with the staff, students, and graduates of a private Orthodox Christian University, conducted in 2011. In interpreting the research results, the author employs the principle of explaining the entrepreneurial exploitation of uncertainty, which was introduced by David Stark who expounded on the notion of heterarchy as an organizational form conducive to the productive untangling of complex situations."

"The article presents a review of various ways to operationalize the concept of religiosity in quantitative research. The author describes the main stages in the development of quantitative approach to the study of religiosity, and then explores operationalization methods used within four major comparative surveys — International Social Survey Program, European Values Study, World Values Survey, and European Social Survey."

"The article covers fatherhood as a determinant of procreative behavior. Based on in-depth face-to-face interviews, our research was aimed to explore the subjective experience of male as procreative beings. One of the hypotheses is that male's responsibility estrangement prevents them from a decision making and family planning for two or more children."

"The results of research of organizational changes in Russian universities based on quality of education are represented in the article. Typical consequences of introduction of an idea of quality management on organizational structure level are shown in series of interviews with top-management of six state universities. Negative expectations concerning implementation of quality management systems is followed by localization of this idea inside separate university subdivisions and ceremonial organizational restructuring."

"The article analyzes the effects of introducing the institute of ranking into the higher education system. The function of ratings is to remedy market failures, to create incentives for competition, and for the efficient choice of education institution by customers. However, the research of the last decade dealing with the influence of ratings on the behavior of universities shows that ratings gained symbolic power in the education service market, by which they provide advantages to certain institutions to the detriment of others. That has created a lack of trusts to ratings and even their boycott by a number of institutions. The consideration of university rankings as a social comparison practice can elucidate the mechanism of influence of ratings on the behavior of universities."

"The article traces possible channels of influence of a religious factor on the formation of a specific Russian version of socialism. Using the logics of the M.Weber’s work “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”, author reveals the categories that played a dominating role in the people’s consciousness in the pre-revolutionary Russia. According to his conclusion, these categories were “obedience” and “resignation”. It was obedience and resignation that assured the salvation (main value in Orthodoxy) of an Orthodox person. In everyday life such orientations were easily transformed into the readiness to obey the “superior”. Once elaborated, they turned to be quite stable and, being separated from their religious roots, ensured a sort of asceticism on the secular path."

"The article describes and analyzes critical arguments aimed at falsifi cation of the famous hypothesis of M. Weber about the possible infl uence of Protestant ethics on the development of western capitalism. The key theses of the second generation of critics (dated 1930–1960) are presented in the paper. All the main counterarguments to this hypothesis were formulated during this period. The paper also indicates the main points of weberian argument due to which the supporters of the theory still manage to advocate the hypothesis."