Pitirim Sorokin’s FORERUNNER: Autobiographical Novel by Sociologist Involved in the Whirlpool of Politics
Faculty of Humanities, CU cordially invites you to a lecture by Marina Vasilyevna Lomonosova (St.-Petersburg State University): Pitirim Sorokin’s FORERUNNER: Autobiographical Novel by Sociologist Involved in the Whirlpool of Politics.
Abstract:
In contemporary society, issues of social justice, and of justice considered more broadly in an existential sense - both at the level of local communities and on the global level of world politics - are the subject of intense debate and controversy. Reform and revolution have been the main instruments employed in the pursuit of social justice. However, is it not possible that reform or revolution are not the only way? Is revolution good or bad? The sociologist Pitirim Sorokin sought to answer these important questions. The key concepts elaborated by Sorokin – social stratification, social mobility, and sociocultural dynamics – are related to the concept of sociology of revolution. The manuscript of his novel The Forerunner [Predtecha] together with his sociological writings, gives a unique document of the period of the 1917 Russian Revolution. In regard of global challenges of the 21st century, the work of Sorokin has again become relevant. He studied a vast array of empirical data and historical facts, and convincingly proved that man and his behavior has changed since antiquity only in outward form but not in essential content.
LOMONOSOVA Marina Vasilyevna:
Candidate of science in sociology, Associated professor of the Chair of Theory and History of Sociology, St.- Petersburg State University. Research interests: history of sociology, Pitirim Sorikin, sociology of revolution, archival research, ethics of scientific research, sociology of health and medicine. Scientific advisor of documentary films: "Antithesis of Pitirim Sorokin" (2009), "Letters from the province. Great Ustyug "(2017).
The organization of the lecture is supported by Charles University program PROGRES 20 "Culture and Society".
