On the question of methodological principles of studying Russian basic traditional values

Abstract

The article analyzes theoretical and methodological problems and current methodological approaches to the study of the value structure of Russian society and its impact on political identity in the past and nowadays. It is concluded that modern Russian political science includes at least two global and fundamentally different approaches to the analysis of historical, social, political, economic and spiritual processes, that determine the difference in the research results — liberal and conservative. The limited possibilities of the liberal approach to the analysis of the historical and civilizational originality of Russia, as well as the conceptual understanding of the concepts of “tradition”, “basic values”, and “identity” are shown. A traditionalist-conservative approach, which prefers conservative value principles’ conditioned choice of methodological research tools, is proposed as the most promising for the study of this topic. This provides the possibility of overcoming the one-sidedness and narrowness of liberal interpretation of the phenomena and processes of Russian history, as well as the possibility of presentation a broader panorama of the intellectual development of Russian civilization. Within the framework of the traditionalist-conservative methodological approach, the main sources for studying the processes of external, formal evolution of basic traditional values are various works of Russian thinkers, writers, poets, religious- and statesmen, created at different historical periods, but have become the prior elements of nationwide and statewide consciousness and have greatly influenced the formation of the political identity of the peoples of Russia. As the main methodological tool, the political-textual analysis of sources is used, which allows us to propose a definition of basic traditional values and draw a conclusion about the existence of such values throughout the centuries-old national history, despite the change of political regimes, socio-political and economic structures, the correction of spiritual orientations. Depending on the concrete historical conditions’ changing, certain basic values could evolve, be supplemented with new content and appear in new forms, but they remained essentially unchanged and continued to preserve their qualities as a factor in the formation of Russian political identity. On the basis of the traditionalist-conservative approach, it is proposed to distinguish a separate specific group of values — spiritual and political values.