Russian Intelligentsia: New Outlines of Identity

About the authors:

Maria M. Akulich, Dr. Sci. (Soc.), Professor, Department of General and Economic Sociology, University of Tyumen; m.m.akulich@utmn.ru; ORCID: 0000-0001-7112-3639

Ilona V. Ilyina, Senior Lecturer, Department of General and Economic Sociology, University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia; i.v.ilina@utmn.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3118-2372

Roman R. Khuziakhmetov, Junior Researcher of the Research Center, Institute of Finance and Economics, University of Tyumen; r_o_m_a_n_14@mail.ru; ORCID: 0000-0003-0850-4716

Abstract:

This article analyzes the social boundaries of intelligentsia — a group, which occupied a significant place in the social structure of the pre-revolutionary and the Soviet societies, and which partially dissolved in other social groups nowadays. This paper employs a systematic approach to define essential traits of the intelligentsia, which differ it from creative class and intellectuals. The authors identify similarities and differences of the intelligentsia’s role and function in the contemporary and past Russian societies. The empirical base of the research involves analyzing the modern intelligentsia identity through various data collecting methods, such as surveys, in-depth interviews and narrative analysis of interviews with guests of “Pozner” TV talk-show. The authors find that under contemporary conditions, the Russian intelligentsia keeps some of their essential characteristics, while their other features may change. In conclusion, this paper suggests the solutions to the problems of a sustainable social identity formation.

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