Sociological Theory in Russia Today – The Case of the «Arrow of Time»

Аbstract. The monograph entitled «The Arrow of Time in the mass consciousness of Russians: assessments of the past, judgments about the present, and ideas about the future» (2024, prepared by a team of scholars at the National Sociological Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Edited by M. K. Gorshkov) allows to reflect on some typical current problems in recent Russian theoretical sociology. It would not be an exaggeration to say, that empirical component of the conducted research as well as generalizations of data obtained “in the field” and their comparisons with the previously collected data available to sociological science stand out for their qualitative excellence. Obviously, post-Soviet sociology in Russia bears the marks of 1990^th shallow hopes that interiorising theoretical achievements of their Western colleagues would eventually serve as a sound basis for development of social knowledge in 21-st century Russia. Against this historical background the theoretical facets of the monograph look rather modest, when it comes to issues of time and space, to relevant concepts and terms. At this level of theorizing, the questions arise for the reviewer whether the notions of “arrow of time” and “chronotope”, in particular, are at place to mirror respective realities in Russia these years and in the minds of respondents’ surveyed. To add, the image of future construed on the basis of information obtained in the surveys meets with certain difficulties in assessments of fundamental events and processes in the recent Soviet and Russian history.