This fascinating and comprehensive volume traces the development, scope and character of sociological research in Russia and subsequently the Soviet Union from the turn of the 20th century to the 1990s. Opening with the lively social debates of pre-Revolution Russia, Elizabeth Weinberg discusses the intellectual factions of the post-Revolutionary period and the eventual replacement of 'idealism' with 'materialism', leading to the emergence of Soviet sociology in 1956. The book examines the methods of research that were accepted as valid for Marxist research, offering a profile of key Soviet sociologists and the research climate in which they operated. It also discusses the main areas of research that predominated in Soviet sociology, with separate chapters on two of the most significant: public opinion research and time-budget studies. This fully revised, newly updated edition of The Development of Sociology in the Soviet Union concludes with a discussion of the involvement of Soviet sociologists in the processes of perestroika and glasnost, and the changing position of sociology from the late 1980s onwards.

This fascinating and comprehensive volume traces the development, scope and character of sociological research in Russia and subsequently the Soviet Union from the turn of the 20th century to the 1990s.

This book represents the first comprehensive historical treatment of sociology in Russia from the mid-nineteenth century through the pre-revolutionary and Soviet eras to the present day. It sheds new light on the dramatic history of sociology in the Russian context; dramatic both in its relationship with state power, and in the large-scale societal transformations it has had to grapple with. The authors highlight several particularities including the late institutionalization of sociology in the Soviet period, the breaks in continuity between its main historical periods and the relationship between sociology and power throughout its history. This valuable work will appeal to social science and history scholars, as well as readers interested in the history of contemporary Russia.

The Development of Sociology in the Soviet Union (1974) examines the institutionalisation of sociology in the Soviet Union. Of primary concern are the obstacles to and mechanisms for the acceptance of sociological inquiry. The study shows how sociology was advanced as a legitimate discipline in the Soviet Union in the post-Stalin years. The social characteristics of Soviet sociologists, the institutional framework within which they work, and the theoretical assumptions underlying their research are analysed. In a survey of areas of research of concern to Soviet sociologists, including time budget research, labour sociology and social stratification, emphasis is placed on the purported relation between these areas and wider aspects of Soviet society. Public opinion research, an area of particular significance in Soviet sociology, is examined in depth.