Samsonov A.I., Ustinkin S.V. Transformation of Russia’s Social Structure 2022–2024 in the Context of a Long Cycle of Consumer Society Formation (The Case of Nizhny Novgorod Region) ...

Текст статьи.

Abstract

The article is based on the materials of the monthly monitoring of public opinion in the Nizhny Novgorod region and case studies conducted by the ANO “Scientific Research Institute of Social Management Problems” together with the Volga Branch of the IS FCTAS RAS in 2022–2024 under the program for studying Трансформация социальной структуры России 2022–2024 гг. 193 the socio-political and socio-economic situation in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The results of public opinion polls and sociological studies of value orientations, lifestyle, and financial opportunities of the population of the IS FCTAS RAS, WCIOM, and other Russian research centers are widely used. Social groups stratified on the basis of self-assessment of consumption opportunities are identified as the object of analysis. A comparison of sociological and statistical data allows us to form an adequate idea of the level of material well-being of the population, taking into account the individual nature of consumer demands. The general vector of the processes of 2022–2024 is considered in the broad context of a long historical cycle of social evolution in Russia and the formation of ideas about a just social structure in the country, which are currently dominant. A hypothesis is proposed about the natural nature of the changes that are finalizing today, the prerequisites of which were laid in the mid-80s of the twentieth century within the framework of the macrosocial trend of the formation of a consumer society. Based on statistical information and the results of sociological observations of the dynamics of the population’s perceptions of everyday material opportunities and lifestyle, the assumption is substantiated about their direct impact on the public assessment of compliance with the principles of social justice. The totality of the data allows us to conclude that the process of forming a consumer society in Russia has been completed.