Welfare State Developments in the Russian Federation: Oil-led Social Policy and 'The Russian Miracle'

This article investigates the main welfare state developments of the Russian Federation that have occurred since the fall of communism. It argues that the contemporary welfare expansion strictly depends on high oil and gas prices, and that this oil-led social policy makes the future of the 'Russian miracle' highly volatile. The main conclusion is that the Russian welfare state will be able to function properly and to ensure social integration and solidarity only under conditions of sustained oil-led growth. The article also identifies a variety of different, but equally important, endogenous, as well as exogenous, factors that have influenced the social policy developments in the Russian Federation since 1989. These correspond to the existence of few veto points present in the political arena, the lack of a well-structured system of interest representation, the presence of informality in the welfare state organization, but also to the presence of national economic vulnerabilities and/or strengths in the now open global economy, as well as to non-contingent decisions taken in strategic sectors of the state, such as those related to the energy or defence sectors.     

Types of Identification and Intergroup Differentiation in the Russian Federation

The fall of the Soviet Union affected the established identity patterns and intergroup relations in the Russian Federation. A survey investigates the effect of Russians' and titulars' identifications with their ethnic group, their republic, and the Russian Federation on intergroup stereotypes. We hypothesized that identification at various inclusiveness levels is differently reflected in the positive/negative stereotypes about in-group and out-groups. While in-group stereotypes would be positively affected by all types of identification, out-group stereotypes would turn more negative by ethnic identification and more positive by republican and federal identification. Further, we expected that republican identification would improve titulars' in-group stereotypes and Russians' out-group stereotypes, while federal identification would enhance Russians' in-group stereotypes and titular's out-group stereotypes. Russians favored their in-group mostly in positive terms. Titular minorities favored their in-group mostly on negative stereotypes. A model of intergroup differentiation is proposed that takes into account social identification at different inclusiveness levels. This model makes clear the potential threat posed by republican identifications to the stability of intergroup relations in Russia.     

Competitive Changes on Russian Markets: The Example of Retail Chains

On the eve of the First Congress of Artists of the Russian Federation a ranking painter and critic gives his ideas on realism versus abstractionism, form versus content and the social responsibility of the artist. ("An Artist's Notes," Kommunist, 1960, No. 8—slightly abridged.)     

Religion in the System of State Power

The author analyzes the tripartite relationship among the state, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and other "traditional" religions, and "nontraditional" faiths, contrasting actual practice with the constitutional and legal norms of the Russian Federation as a formally secular state.     

The “Question of the Ethnic Russians” in the Context of Ethnic Relations in the Russian Federation

The author examines the current and likely future position of the Russian ethnic group within Russia's systems of interethnic and ethnofederal relations. He also examines the meaning of the term nationalism as used in Russian politics and warns about the danger of growing imbalances in state regulation of federal and ethnic relations. He proposes a new federalism that would eliminate asymmetries in relations between ethnic Russians and other ethnic groups inhabiting the Russian Federation.     

俄罗斯联邦行政程序制度述评

行政程序制度是俄罗斯联邦行政法学体系中正在形成和完善的一部分内容 ,相对于前苏联的行政程序制度已经有了较大的发展。俄罗斯行政法学者从研究行政程序的基本概念入手 ,从理论上和词语规范上理清了行政程序、行政司法程序、行政诉讼程序等基本问题 ;以 2 0 0 1年制定的《俄罗斯联邦行政违法法典》为范例 ,行政程序的原则经历了由维护国家管理向规范行政权、保障公民权的回归 ;与俄罗斯联邦建设法治国家的目标相统一 ,必将尽快结束行政诉讼与民事诉讼程序合而为一的状况 ,制定独立的行政诉讼法典 ;建立具有特色的行政法院体系或在普通法院体系中建立相对独立的行政法庭 ,是未来俄罗斯联邦行政程序制度的发展趋势。     

Social Policy in a Cold Climate: Health and Social Welfare in Russia

The Russian Federation faces multiple challenges for its health and welfare systems and for the development of social policy responses. This article provides a review of some of the key challenges for social policy in Russia and assesses the adequacy of the responses to date. The author surveys recent developments in health and social welfare and makes recommendations on priorities for Russia's policy‐makers and international funders. A range of public health challenges including drug and alcohol misuse, health in prisons and mental health is discussed; HIV/AIDS is singled out for particular attention. While Russia is increasingly attracting the attention of social scientists in the West, there is uncertainty about models and concepts suitable for the analysis of this complex society. Although empirical trends are largely discussed in this article, it is argued that theoretical development is required and some suggestions are made about concepts of the ‘middle range’ to assist in future analyses. Intermediate theories, such as those relating to the management of personal welfare, and development of resilience in a formerly collectivized context, are identified as having explanatory potential for this task.     

The social role of alcohol in Russian culture

The year 1995 marks the tenth anniversary of the beginning of perestroika in Russia. The country has paid with its health for all the social, economic and political reforms. The chronic state of social stress, which is already in its tenth year, has led to a sharp growth in alcoholism and drug addiction, an increasing prevalence of neurosis and psychosomatic diseases and an increase in the death rate and decrease in the birth rate. This is the degeneration of the Russian nation. Alcohol stimulates and alcoholism indicates the process of self-destruction of the population. Unfortunately, there are no accurate statistics on alcohol consumption and problems in Russia today, as there is no state monopoly on alcohol production and sale and no common drug treatment service for the whole country. According to generalized estimates from epidemiological investigations, the average prevalence of alcoholism is 200–250 per 1000 adults, but this differs significantly in different professional groups: 10% of the workers in the nuclear energy industry suffer from alcoholism, 35% of the sailors, 22% of the workers in the machine-tool industry and 42% of the people working in the woodworking industry. There is one woman alcoholic for each 5 men. On average, only 1 of every 7 alcoholics seeks medical and social aid. The main cause of alcoholism is alcoholism itself -its uncontrolled and expanding reproduction. The investigation of alcoholism is being intensively removed from the clinical to the social sphere. It can be explained by understanding the role of social and psychological factors in the origin and development of alcoholism and the harsh socio-economic consequences and moral damage. The appearance of a new class of specialists - social workers - in Russia in 1991 was predetermined by these factors. The main objective of social workers is to fight social diseases and alcoholism in particular as the most terrible social disease of the Russian Federation. The history and place of alcohol in modern Russian culture, the stages and forms of the development of alcoholism and its ethnocultural peculiarities in different social strata of the population are described in this article. The reasons for and consequences of alcoholism are systematized, and the principles and directions of the activity of the social services in dealing with the treatment of alcoholism and rehabilitation of the diseased are defined.     

Delayed Effect Zone

On the territory of the Russian Federation there are sixty-four closed educational institutions for children, of which three are for girls. The overall number of child-prisoners in 2000 was 34,000, and in 2003—27,500.     

In This Issue: "Fascism Is Women's Worst Enemy"

This article reveals the kinds of attitudes which Soviet educators seek to foster in schoolchildren through the use of visual aids. It appeared as a supplement to a journal issued by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. ["The Role of Visual Presentation in Education," Narodnoe Obrazovanie, 1960, No. 6, Supplement—abridged.]     

俄罗斯主导法律观的演变及当代变革

在俄罗斯法治进程中,受国家制度变革的影响,不同时期主导性法律观存在较为明显的差异,从十月革命前到苏联时期,再到当代俄罗斯联邦,主导性法律观在历时态上展现出一个演变过程。宗教因素在一定程度上主导十月革命前法律观念,政治因素则成为苏联时期法律观念的风向标,当代俄罗斯受理性主义法律思想的影响,社会因素成为法律观念考虑的主要成分。与前两个阶段相比,当代俄罗斯法律观根本性的转变,基于理论基本立场变化,法律工具论色彩淡化,法律的阶级属性让位给社会性,人本化的法律价值取向正在形成。     

关于俄联邦新民法典的一点思考

编纂于20世纪90年代的《俄联邦民法典》是俄罗斯十几年政治、经济改革的经验总结,在私法领域中标志着计划经济向市场经济的过渡,标志着私法自治精神在民法上的回归,为俄罗斯经济和社会的全面发展提供了必要的法律基础和制度保障。但由于传统与现代因素的综合作用,新民法典在未来的朝向中任重道远。我国制定21世纪的新民法典必须崇扬私法自治精神,但如何克服俄联邦新民法典中残留的公法因素,培育和发展作为私法自治基础的市民社会,以及如何协调强制性规范和任意性规范的设置,实现私法自治目标也是我国制定民法典时应当审慎思考的问题。     

浅析妇联在社工介入社区妇女维权工作中的作用——以福州市妇联社区维权为例

现阶段福州市的社区妇女维权工作取得了一定成效,主要表现为妇女维权意识较强,愿意通过社区妇联维权并对其工作持肯定态度,但仍存在一些不足。本文在问卷调查的基础上,试图在目前＂妇联—社区＂联动的社区妇女维权模式中加入社工变量,弥补当前工作不足,打造＂妇联—社工—社区＂三方联动的创新型社区维权管理模式,并从社会管理创新角度探讨妇联在社区三方联动模式下如何发挥作用。     

妇联系统社会工作专业能力建设——基于项目的个案研究

由加拿大国际开发署赞助,中华女子学院与加拿大马尼托巴大学社会工作学院合作从2004年起,开展了"中国农村基础妇联干部社会工作能力建设"项目。本项目选择在内蒙古赤峰、山东济阳、四川罗江和西昌四个地区进行,以妇联工作为平台,通过对基层妇联工作人员进行社会工作能力建设培训,提升妇联工作人员的社会工作专业水平和服务质量,从而更好地满足农村妇女的需要,提升她们的生活质量以及增强她们的生活和工作能力。本文将根据对本项目的培训的评估,总结了如何将社会工作专业培训与妇联工作结合起来的实践,探讨了开展社会工作专业培训中遇到的问题,并从项目经验出发,分享了收获和经验,为推动社会工作专业化,特别是妇联系统社会工作专业化建设提供了启发。     

Outstanding Work on Problems Pertaining to the Development of Psychology

This year the representatives of pedagogical science note with satisfaction a happy event: the Lenin Prize was awarded to Professor A. Leont'ev for his Problems Pertaining to the Development of the Psyche [Problemy razvitiia psikhiki], published by the RSFSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences in 1959. Professor Leont'ev is a Member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the Russian Federation and a prominent Soviet psychologist.     

Publisher's Announcement

Norbert Wiener of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the leading U.S. scholar in cybernetics, attended the First Congress of the International Federation on Automatic Control and Regulation held in Moscow in the summer of 1960. He was invited to visit the editorial offices of the major Soviet philosophy journal for a discussion with its editors. The following is a stenographic report of this discussion. Professor Wiener's remarks are retranslated from the Russian. ("Norbert Wiener Visits the EditorialOffices of Our Journal," Voprosy Filosofii, 1960, No. 9.)     

In This Issue

Norbert Wiener of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the leading U.S. scholar in cybernetics, attended the First Congress of the International Federation on Automatic Control and Regulation held in Moscow in the summer of 1960. He was invited to visit the editorial offices of the major Soviet philosophy journal for a discussion with its editors. The following is a stenographic report of this discussion. Professor Wiener's remarks are retranslated from the Russian. ("Norbert Wiener Visits the Editorial Offices of Our Journal," Voprosy Filosofii, 1960, No. 9.)     

Poverty and social trends in Russia

The article describes the socioeconomic situation of the Russian population and its dynamics in 1992. The analysis is based on series of regional sociological surveys led by the All-Russian Living Standards Research Center and on official Russian statistical data. The basic unit of analysis is the family, and hence family typology approbated both in research and in practical social work is introduced. Besides describing and discussing the growing poverty tendencies in contemporary Russia, the article also contains methodological recommendations for social policy bodies and social workers on the strategy of work in social maintenance and social support of the least secure population strata.     

妇联系统社会工作专业能力建设——基于项目的个案研究

由加拿大国际开发署赞助,中华女子学院与加拿大马尼托巴大学社会工作学院合作从2004年起,开展了“中国农村基础妇联干部社会工作能力建设”项目。本项目选择在内蒙古赤峰、山东济阳、四川罗江和西昌四个地区进行,以妇联工作为平台。通过对基层妇联工作人员进行社会工作能力建设培训,提升妇联工作人员的社会工作专业水平和服务质量,从而更好地满足农村妇女的需要,提升她们的生活质量以及增强她们的生活和工作能力。本文将根据对本项目的培训的评估,总结了如何将社会工作专业培训与妇联工作结合起来的实践,探讨了开展社会工作专业培训中遇到的问题,并从项目经验出发,分享了收获和经验,为推动社会工作专业化,特别是妇联系统社会工作专业化建设提供了启发。     

行刑社会化视角下的俄罗斯自由刑变革

行刑社会化是世界性的行刑体制发展趋势,俄罗斯刑法典在刑罚体系设计上充分体现了这个趋势,同时俄罗斯刑事执行法也始终贯穿行刑社会化的精神,共同推动了俄罗斯自由刑的变革.但是俄罗斯正处于社会变革过程中,刑罚的丰富和社会的发展难以匹配,造成很多刑罚种类在现阶段难以实现,阻碍了行刑社会化的发展.鉴于中俄两国刑法特殊的历史溯源,从行刑社会化的视角审视俄罗斯自由刑的变革,去芜存菁,将对我国刑法中刑罚的完善和执行产生重要的借鉴意义.