BETWEEN HIRED LABOUR AND SERFDOM. DOCTRINAL AND POLITICAL DILEMMAS ON THE EXAMPLE OF SOVIET UNION

This article is an analysis of labour idea in the Marxist vision of a communist society as well as in the pre- and the post-revolutionary (1917) bolshevist thought. It attempts to answer the question, whether the theory and practice of the soviet country in the field of understanding labour and its value was or was not the contradiction to the Marxist vision of labour in a communist society.

LABOUR IN A PREROGATIVE STATE IN THE SOCIALIST VERSION

This article is an analysis of labour idea in prerogative state in the socialist version. It attempts to answer the question, whether the theory and practice of the soviet country and other real socialist countries in the field of understanding labour and its value was or was not the contradiction to the Marxist vision of labour in a communist society

Religious Identity and Family Practices in a Post-Communist Society: The Case of Division of Labor in Childcare and Housework

This paper aims to analyze the way religious identification and practices influence family practices in the division of labor in childcare and housework in contemporary Lithuania. The analysis is based on a quantitative survey (n = 3000) representing the last Soviet generation born between 1970 and 1985. The sample was distributed across five groups according to religious identification and practices—devout religionists, somewhat devout religionists, traditional religionists, cultural religionists and secularists. Statistical data analysis showed devout religionists and secularists were applying equal childcare and housework division practices. Meanwhile, the other three groups were practicing more traditional types of childcare and housework division practice where the main role is played by women. The results also show that religious identity is not relevant in explaining the way couples share housework duties. The results show that religious identification may lead to diverse family practices regarding childcare and housework divisions: reflexive and practiced (non)religious identification leads to more egalitarian family practices.

Walter Benjamin’s communism

What does ‘communism’ mean in Walter Benjamin’s writing? It has been used in some quarters to claim that Benjamin has a quasi-Marxist theory of communist society. This paper will argue instead that Benjamin’s communism is framed by his distinctive conception of experience and that it is understandable only through that conception. Benjamin’s image of ‘communist society’ refers to a specific type of experience (‘collective experience’) rather than a type of social organization. The paper discusses the conceptual background of that image and also points out a number of the difficulties that Benjamin’s conception of collective experience faces given its genesis in a model of individual experience.

An Analysis of the Critical Essence of Marx’s Dialectics

Through continuous inquiry and reflection on the roots of religion, Marx was able to understand the limits of political emancipation when the relationship between political emancipation and religion was correctly revealed. People were not only restricted by the metaphysics of ideas but in reality, they were also restricted by capital. Hegel used concepts while Feuerbach used sensibility as ways to rescue them, yet they were all still trapped in metaphysics. Marx proposed a way on the basis of sublating the two, not only in terms of metaphysics but also the capital by thoroughly criticizing reality. It is through the path of dialectics that Marx was able to introduce a higher-level communist society in the internal criticism and denial of capitalist society by profoundly revealing the theoretical dilemma and internal contradictions of the fusion of metaphysics and capital in the pursuit and realization of human freedom and liberation.

METHODS OF TEACHING SOCIOLOGICAL DISCIPLINES FOR STUDENTS OF THE SPECIALTY «231-SOCIAL WORK»

During the period of reforming of higher education in Ukraine, issues related to the methodology and technology of teaching sociological disciplines in higher education for non-core specialties become relevant. Sociology as a science is especially relevant in Ukraine, as it preconditions the creation of scientific foundations of a conscious civil society, which enriches the population with freedom of thought and harmonious development. In order for an individual to use the obtained freedom responsibly and effectively, it is necessary to understand the fundamental principles of the functioning of various institutions of the state, its social phenomena and processes. That is why there is a need to analyze and improve the existing methods of teaching sociological disciplines. The aim of the study is to research methods of teaching sociological disciplines for students majoring in «231 − Social Work». The following methods and approaches were used in the course of research: system analysis − to find out the characteristics of modern methods of teaching sociological disciplines in free economic zones; comparative and multifactor analysis − to compare the existing types of teaching methods in the free economic zone; method of operationalization of concepts − to describe the specifics of teaching sociological disciplines in higher educational establishments. The method of teaching sociological disciplines is that it forms in students majoring in «social work» culture and thinking, the ability to correctly perceive social processes occurring in our post-communist society, contributes to the formation of knowledge about social reality, explains the logic of social development, develops conceptual apparatus, methodology and methods of sociological research.

„Nu e cazul să ne dăm ceea ce nu suntem”. Spre o înţelegere a comunismului prin Bandiţii de Vasile Ernu

“The Bandits”, Vasile Ernu’s second volume of his trilogy, the trilogy of marginal men, describes the world of thieves, of bandits, of criminality in a communist society, without the narrator ever becoming one of them. He is more of an adopted son, someone who has almost unmediated access to this world without suffering the repercussions of revealing that world’s secrets. This should not to be understood that he has total access to the bandits’ secrets, but that he is not viewed as a threat, even if he reveals more of this world than others. The narrator is accepted because he does his best to be himself and this is a value of utmost importance for this marginal group of people, others knowing and owning their identity, the type of narrative they tell about themselves. On the other hand, the narrator is himself a marginal man as well, considering the fact that he grew up among religious people who were quite fundamentalists in their way of expressing this belief (but not in the way in which we picture today religious fundamentalism: bombing, Muslims, terror). Thus, this essay is meant as a study of one’s sense of identity when having to juggle with more identities, when having to evade (or even be subversive towards) the more pervasive, totalitarian regime in which these marginal men find themselves.

Women’s Leadership in New Religions and the Question of Gender Equality in Post-Communist Lithuania

This article discusses features of women’s religious leadership, social innovations, and transmission of existing gender relations patterns within diverse new religions in post-communist society in Lithuania. The article is based on participant observation in Pagan and Hindu-origin religious groups and interviews with women leaders of these groups. The narratives of women leading Pagan and Hindu religious groups in Lithuania reflected their agency, features of their leadership, and the basis for the construction of their religious authority. Research data showed that the women interviewed took leadership of their respective religious groups after gaining professional experience in their careers. Their agency was not permeated by feminist ideas, but instead the importance of men in their life choices was emphasized throughout their narratives. The three case studies indicate that female religious leadership in these new religions follows the tendency toward a return to patriarchal values in post-communist society in Lithuania, rather than moving towards an ideal of gender equality.

The Compatibility of Freedom and Necessity in Marx’s Idea of Communist Society

It is argued that the manner in which workers organize production and determine its goals explains how freedom and necessity are reconciled in Marx’s idea of communist society. Freedom and necessity are reconciled, moreover, in such a way that both self-realization and engagement in activities that possess some intrinsic value become possible, whereas this is not the case for workers in capitalist society. Communist society is explained in terms of a concept of freedom that incorporates three distinct types of freedom, whereas this concept of freedom is incompatible with the constraints generated by the capitalist mode of production and the social relations that emerge on its basis. The theme of how historical materialism is committed to the idea of historical necessity and seeks to explain this necessity in terms of practical necessity is then introduced.