Russian urban sociology: current state and development prospects

The article is devoted to the study of the current state of Russian urban sociology as a special branch of sociological knowledge. The author identifies the methodological features of urban research conducted by sociologists in the Russian Federation.

The sociological understanding of the city in modern Russian society is characterized by a pronounced applied orientation associated with a general decline in interest in theoretical issues, which was observed already in the 1990s as a result of cardinal and large-scale changes in the social system in our country. Insufficient attention to the national urbanization theory is paid, and this circumstance, according to the author, is due to the small number of theoretical and methodological studies of Russian urban sociology.

Today, there is a diversification of research directions in Russian urban sociology, manifested in the consideration of city in the context of various social processes determining the specifics of modern societies (globalization, digitalization, etc.). At the same time, many sociological urban studies conducted by Russian scientists in recent years are highly specialized, which leads to fragmentation of the Russian urban sociology subject field.

The author also points out that one of the trends in the sociological urban study by modern Russian thinkers is interdisciplinarity, which, on the one hand, expands the sociologists’ cognitive capabilities, and on the other hand, causes the blurring of disciplinary boundaries between Russian urban sociology and other sciences.

It is concluded that the modern period in the history of Russian urban sociology is characterized by the presence of crisis phenomena in its development, which is primarily due to the lack of a unified theoretical framework for the sociological development of urban issues in Russia. At the same time, this state of affairs, according to the author, allows to outline areas for future urban research in the context of Russian sociology. In conclusion, the prospects for the development of Russian urban sociology are determined.

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