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TERRA ECONOMICUS

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  • 2023
  • No 4
  • The social capital of Russian society: A year under a special military operation

The social capital of Russian society: A year under a special military operation


TERRA ECONOMICUS, , Vol. 21 (no. 4),

In the article, based on the data of the all-Russian survey of the Institute of Sociology of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2023, it is shown that the everyday communication practices of Russians increasingly include intergroup social contacts, and this has a positive effect on the state of various components of social capital. It has also been demonstrated that a high level of intra-group trust is still maintained in the country, however, during the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s in Ukraine, this indicator has significantly decreased. Nevertheless, a high level of interpersonal trust and intergroup interactions have a positive effect on the development of social networks, from which most Russians expect help. For their part, they are basically also ready to help members of their networks, at least in a household form. This willingness to help in most cases is converted into real help. It is also demonstrated that the structure of the Russiansʼ social networks themselves is asymmetric – their “esource base“ consists mainly of a small group of high-resource donors, which are fewer than recipients of aid. It is donors who are the key “nodes” of social networks and provide resource exchange in them, while at the same time being the main beneficiaries of significant types of assistance in them. It is also shown that over the period of special military operation in Ukraine, the resource potential of Russiansʼ social networks has noticeably decreased, there are fewer donors in them. As a result, despite the developed social capital of Russians, expressed in a high level of interpersonal and intergroup trust, as well as in the branching of their social networks, many members of these networks may face a lack of support from them in the future, and, as a result, disappointment, and loss of trust in their environment. The first signs of such a development are already being traced.
Citation: Karavay A.V. (2023). The social capital of Russian society: A year under a special military operation. Terra Economicus 21(4), 91–105 (in Russian). DOI: 10.18522/2073-6606-2023-21-4-91-105
Acknowledgment: The article was supported by the Russian Science Foundation project № 20-18-00505 “The influence of intangible factors on the consolidation of Russian society in the context of new socio-cultural challenges and threats”


Keywords: social capital; trust; communication models; social networks; social networks resource

JEL codes: E24, E25, Z13

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Publisher: Southern Federal University
Founder: Southern Federal University
ISSN: 2073-6606