This article shows that studying the views of future Russian lawyers on the projective future of society is a relevant development, since this particular socio-professional group does not only put forward certain demands in regards to projective subjective social wellbeing, but also possesses the lawmaking potential necessary for the transformation and normative engineering of Russian society.

The article analyzes the results of the author’s own research, conducted in 2016 in 12 cities of Russia (based on All- Russian State University of Justice and its subsidiaries). According to the author, the results of research in the field reveal a relatively high level of subjective wellbeing registered among the respondents, with their core values being justice, freedom, upholding law and order, public initiative.

In order to measure normative expectations, those surveyed were offered to characterize three models of a supposed society using an array of parameters: “the best society” (utopian), “a bad society” (dystopian) and “a good society” (one that’s attainable and suitable for life and personal growth). As a result, certain projective requirement indexes were obtained for implementing these models in a future society. It came as somewhat of a surprise that, in spite of the widespread belief that the value orientations of modern youth have a “consumer” nature to them, material wellbeing turned out to be far from the most significant parameter. The highest values were shown by indexes which correlated with such virtues as justice, equality and lawfulness, which speaks to their considerable influence on the respondents’ evaluation of their subjective wellbeing.

The authors also noticed a fundamental difference when it comes to future Russian lawyers’ thoughts on the paths towards attaining justice. The indexes for a society constantly subject to reform and a conservative society were practically on the same level. This indirectly points to the existence of a deeply rooted divide when it comes to values, indicating that people are looking into the future with uncertainty, which is proven by a multitude of studies done by other authors.

sociology, social future, social well-being, normativity expectations, «Good Society», projective social inquiry, justice

Alimova O.V., Khizbullina R.R. Features of Valuable Orientations and Leisure Activities of Pensioners in Modern Conditions. Teoriya i praktika sovremennoy nauki = Theory and Practice of Modern Science, 2016: 9 (15): 20–23 (In Russ.).

Bauman Z. Postmodern Controversy. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal, 1994: 4: 69–80 (In Russ.).

Bellah R.N., Madsen R., Tipton S.M., Sullivan W.M., Swidler A. The Good Society. N.Y., Vintage, 1992: 368.

Benfild E. Moral Basis of a Backward Society. Moscow, Novoe izdatel’stvo, 2019: 216 (In Russ.).

Berger P. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2019: 208 (In Russ.).

Durkheim E. The Rules of Sociological Method. New York; London; Toronto, Free Press, 1982: 272.

Dworkin R. Taking Rights Seriously. Moscow, ROSSPEN, 2004: 392 (In Russ.).

Efanov A.A. Emotive-moralistic Discourse as a Technology for Constructing Moral Panics. Vestnik Nizhegorodskogo universiteta im. N.I. Lobachevskogo. Seriya: Sotsial’nye nauki = Vestnik of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod. Series: Social Science, 2017: 3: 88–93 (In Russ.).

Elections against the Crimea Background the 2016–2018 Electoral Cycle and Prospects for Political Transit. Ed. by V.V. Fiodorov. Moscow, WCIOM publ., 2018: 440 (In Russ.).

Etzioni A. The Good Society. Seattle Journal of Social Justice, 2002: 1 (1): 83–96.

Fedotova V.G. A Good Society. Moscow, Progress–Tradicija, 2005: 544 (In Russ.).

Freud S. Psychoanalysis. Religion. Culture. Moscow, Renessans, 1992: 296 (In Russ.).

Galbraith J.K. The Good Society: The Humane Agenda. Boston; New York, Mariner Books, 1997: 152.

Gorshkov M.K. Russian Youth: to the History and Role in Modern Society. Gumanitariy Yuga Rossii = Humanities of the South of Russia, 2019: 4: 16–25 (In Russ.). DOI: 10.23683/2227-8656.2019.4.1

Is Russian society ready for modernization? Ed. by M.K. Gorshkov, R. Krumm, V.V. Petukhov. Moscow, Ves’ Mir, 2010: 344 (In Russ.).

Ivashkovsky S.N. Economy as a phenomenon of culture: theoretical and methodological analysis. Vestnik MGIMO-Universiteta = MGIMO Review of International Relations, 2017: 3: 268–290 (In Russ.).

Kenworthy L. Why the Surge in Income Inequality? Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2017: 46 (1): 1–9. DOI: 10.1177/0094306116681789

Koval E.A, Ushkin S.G. Future Research of the Future: from Technocracy to New Models of Sociality. Vestnik Rossiyskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Serija: Sotsiologija = RUDN Journal of Sociology, 2020: 20 (1): 161–169. DOI: 10.22363/2313-2272-2020-20-1-161-169 (In Russ.)

Koval E.A, Ushkin S.G. Russia’s Paths in the Future: is our Society Ready to become a «Good Society»? Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya = Sociological Studies, 2018: 2: 136–145 (In Russ.)

Koval E.A. Model of the Modern Russian «Good Society»: Construction Problems. Filosofija i Obschestvo = Philosophy and Society, 2017: 2: 40–51 (In Russ.)

Lippmann W. An Inquiry into the Principles of the Good Society. Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1937: 402.

Lukov V.A. The «Good Society» and the «Digital Society». Gorizonty gumanitarnogo znanija = The Horizons of Humanities Knowledge, 2019: 3: 3–15 (In Russ.). DOI: 10.17805/ggz.2019.3.1

MacIntyre A. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. Moscow, Akademichesky proekt; Ekaterinburg, Delovaja kniga, 2000: 384 (In Russ.).

Maslow A. Motivation and Personality. New York, Harper & Brothers, 1954: 411.

Osianin A.N. A Structure of Public Moods and Expectations of Citizens as an Indicator of Social Well-being: a Comparative Analysis. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. Obschestvennye nauki = University proceedings. Volga region. Social sciences, 2019: 2: 130–140 (In Russ.). DOI: 10.21685/2072-3016-2019-2-13

Rawls J. A Theory of Justice. Novosibirsk, NSU publ., 1995: 535 (In Russ.)

Romanovskiy N.V. Future as a Problem of Contemporary Sociology. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya = Sociological Studies, 2015: 11: 13–22 (In Russ.).

Russian society and challenges of the time. Book five. Ed. by M.K. Gorshkov, V.V. Petukhov. Moscow, Ves’ Mir, 2017: 427 (In Russ.).

Sandel M. Liberalism and the Limits of Justice. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992: 252.

Urry J. What is the Future? Moscow, Delo, 2018: 320 (In Russ.)