The Problems of Yury Levada’s Sociology

Abstract

The empirical analysis of transformation processes of post-Soviet Russia undertaken by Yury Levada, his description of the ‘Soviet man’ anthropology and research on public opinion grew from intensive theoretical work, which he had been conducting in the 1970-1980-s and which remains mostly unfamiliar to modern Western and Russian sociologists. The author reconstructs the theoretical and methodological contexts of Levada's sociology and the basic principles, which guided Levada in his empirical social researches. Various works by Y. Levada, represented in his books ‘Articles on Sociology’ (1993), ‘From Opinions to Understanding’ (2000), and ‘In Search of a Man’ (2006) are also examined.