Digitalization: public opinion landscapes (on the example of Russia)

Economic Annals-ХХI: Volume 180, Issue 11-12, Pages: 48-57

Citation information:
Kamensky, E., & Grimov, O. (2019). Digitalization: public opinion landscapes (on the example of Russia). Economic Annals-XXI, 180(11-12), 48-57. doi: https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V180-06


Evgeny Kamensky
PhD (Sociology),
Associate Professor,
Department of Philosophy and Sociology,
Faculty of Economics and Management,
Southwest State University
94, 50 Let Oktyabrya Str., Kursk, 305040, Russia
kamenskyeg80@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1727-7167

Oleg Grimov
PhD (Sociology),
Associate Professor,
Department of Philosophy and Sociology,
Faculty of Economics and Management,
Southwest State University
94, 50 Let Oktyabrya Str., Kursk, 305040, Russia
grimoleg@yandex.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6883-9898

Digitalization: public opinion landscapes (on the example of Russia)

Abstract. The authors determine and verify the systems of indicators of public reflection regarding the issues of digitalization in Russia, construct and empirically describe their landscapes. The representatives of the Russian and Belarusian scientific expert communities and ordinary citizens of the Russian Federation were the main nominal groups of respondents in the study undertaken in 2019. The research is of an exploratory nature and serves as a tool for testing techniques for studying the problems posed in the article in the context of the technological «hype» of digitalization.

The perception of a number of mass digitalization mythologemes by the experts are of particular interest. A list of mythologemes under estimation goes as follows: «enslaving humanity with artificial intelligence»; «saving humanity by means of artificial intelligence»; «total surveillance is the goal of modern data technology (DT)»; «DT is a way of enriching elites»; Industry 4.0 is just a form of global capitalism»; «DT creates nature and society of the «third-order»; «achieving technological singularity through digitalization»; «reaching the stage of the Posthuman»; «the imminent creation of human-machine symbiots, «cyborgs».

As a result of studying the problem of social reflection of digital declarations which are politically imperative for the national economy and sociocultural life of Russia, we can argue that in reality they do not come to the forefront of partnership dialogue in the institutions of the society. Despite the relevance of consolidating social efforts to achieve a technological breakthrough and the marketability of the topic of digitalization, it is not provided with either the political request of elite groups or the research interest of social sciences or understanding of the essence of the issue by the main groups of the population.

Keywords: Digitalization; Industry 4.0; Digital Economy; Data Technology (DT); Public Opinion; Social Landscape; Technological Progress; Social Changes; Political Elite; Digital State

JEL Classification: О33; Р17; Z13

Acknowledgements and Funding: The research is financed by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 19-18-00504 «Sociotechnical Landscapes of Digital Reality: Ontological Matrices, Ethical and Axiological Regulative Structures, Roadmaps, and Information Support for Management Decision-Making».

Contribution: The authors contributed equally to this work.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V180-06

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Received 10.10.2019
Received in revised form 21.10.2019
Accepted 24.10.2019
Available online 30.12.2019