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SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

TITLE

Transformation of Ideas and Meaning of Labor: from the Cult of Labor to the Cult of Consumption (an Experience of Historical and Sociological Analysis). Part II

Zhan T. Toshchenko

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INDEX

RAR (Research Article Report)

JEL J08

https://doi.org/10.52180/1999-9836_2025_21_3_0_371_383  

AUTHOR

Zhan T. Toshchenko

The Russian State University for Humanities, Moscow, Russia

Institute of Sociology - Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

OCRID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7729-3660

SPIN-code: 7025-0028

RSCI AuthorID: 1382

Researcher ID: R-4569-2016

Scopus Author ID: 6507646287

FOR CITATION

Toshchenko Z.T. Transformation of Ideas and Meaning of Labor: from the Cult of Labor to the Cult of Consumption (an Experience of Historical and Sociological Analysis). Part II. Uroven' Zhizni Naseleniya Regionov Rossii=Living Standards of the Population in the Regions of Russia. 2025;21(3):371–383. https://doi.org/10.52180/1999-9836_2025_21_3_2_371_383 (In Russ.)

Abstract

The article analyzes the attitude towards work in the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century and in the conditions of the new Russia in the 21st century. It is shown that the cult of labor formed during the years of the first five-year plans received a new impetus for development, first during the years of economic recovery, and then during the implementation of such grandiose social tasks as the development of virgin lands, the construction of new cities and enterprises in Siberia, the Far East and the Far North, which was associated with the development of the natural resources of these regions. The importance of labor was also enhanced during the implementation of the Atomic and Space Project, which also contributed to strengthening the greatness of labor. New forms and new initiatives of production workers born during the implementation of these projects are revealed. At the same time, consumer attitudes that began to mature in the consciousness and behavior of people, which first tangibly manifested themselves during the years of perestroika, are analyzed. Then it is shown how, in the conditions of the new Russia, a number of fundamental provisions on the role and importance of labor were subject to corrosion and the cult of consumption began to come to the forefront among value orientations, which gradually became the leading motive among the behavior of a significant number of workers in most sectors of the national economy and culture. Based on statistical and sociological information, the reasons for such a change in relation to labor are revealed, as well as the consequences that led to serious, including negative consequences.

Keywords

USSR, Russia, labor, culture, economy, perestroika, employment, market reforms, consumption

Acknowledgments:

the work was supported by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation No. 23-18-00093.

AUTHOR'S BIOGRAFY

Zhan T. Toshchenko

Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Scientific Director of the Sociology Department, Russian State Humanitarian University, Chief Researcher, Institute of Sociology - Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences

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