Russian sociologists on the foundations of solidarity: subjectivity, predictability and common feelings

Abstract

Each concept of solidarity emphasises certain grounds and factors of solidarisation of society, linking them to social changes or, on the contrary, to the constants of human existence. In periods of social change, not only a decrease or increase in the degree of social consolidation takes place, but also a weakening of some forms of solidarity and the formation of others. The purpose of this study is to identify the bases of solidarity related to sociality and anthropological parameters of being. Although forms of solidarity change from society to society and at different historical stages of their development, no society remains viable and progressive in the absence of solidarity. The present study of the foundations of solidarity goes beyond both traditional sociological concepts of integration and disintegration, of normal society and anomie, and psychological theories of group needs and self-expression, that describe only the immediate preconditions and effects of solidarity. The author relies on secondary analysis of sources and theoretical analysis of sociological concepts of sociality and social reproduction. The research materials include publications by Russian scholars from the 19th century, when the first concepts of sobornost', omnipresence and positivist-practical interpretations of solidarity emerged in Russian sociology, to the present day, devoted to the issues of conditions for the formation of solidarity, consolidation and deconsolidation of society. The author identifies explicitly and implicitly present in the sources of understanding about the foundations of solidarity related to the constants of human existence and sociality: subjectivity, predictability and commonality of feelings. The subjectivity of social actors as the highest, reflexive level of subjectivity determines their ability and will to social creativity and actions in favour of the social whole. The predictability of the social environment ensures the majority's adherence to acceptable common rules, belief in common values on the basis of mutual trust and justice. Mutual aid and altruism within solidarity communities are considered as impossible without the third foundation of solidarity - the community of feelings of social subjects, associated with the commonality of their life worlds.