The purpose of this study is to determine the social status and environment of the counter-elite groups of the legal left opposition, represented by such political parties as the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia. The study is based on the relationship between social reality and ideology. The latter is not only a cover or justification by certain social groups of their momentary interests (private ideology), but also a reflection of the social position they occupy (total ideology). Some elements of self-positioning of the left legal elite, its social position and environment, attitude to the socio-economic formation existing in modern Russia, as well as a number of other nuances of the social structure of the Russian Federation are determined. In particular, it was established that Party representatives are not associated with the business elite; the desire to increase the number of supporters of left-wing parties should explain the refusal to focus on any particular social class and the active use of national identity (primarily Russians) in their ideological self-positioning; the circle of social contacts of the leaders of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and “Fair Russia” is limited to groups of the bureaucratic and economic elite, as well as the sub-elite “expert” community (they do not enter into direct social contacts with other social groups); the social position of representatives of the two parties of the legal left opposition is generally similar.
Social Position of the “Left” Counter Elite in Modern Russia (on the Materials of Publications By Representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation)
