http://magazines.russ.ru/oz/2005/3/2005_3_30-pr.html

Otechestvennye zapiski  2005, ?3

SUMMARY


Aging of population is currently one of the most acute issues in the world, 
and it affects all developed countries. This process seems irreversible, and 
brings in its wake global consequences that impact many aspects of human 
society. At the same time, the demographic situation in Russia and our 
attitude to old age have a number of peculiarities. We have invited 
demographers, sociologists, economists, psychologists and culture experts to 
share their thoughts on this theme.

The transition to post-industrial society is accompanied by the emergence of 
a system of values and norms that place an individual at the center of the 
family’s care and attention. In the new ethnic and cultural context, old age 
becomes analogous to youth — the age of joy and knowledge. In Russia, 
however, as the article Old Age as Institution by Alexey Levinson 
demonstrates, attitudes towards old age are still determined by archaic 
views (the elderly as bearers of the tribe’s wisdom should pass their 
knowledge on to the young, and then pass away) which exist side by side with 
the modern-day concept of the inalienable, though limited, right of every 
individual to life. Both these concepts have been symbolically merged in the 
notion of a retirement pension.

In his article The Quiet Revolution, Mikhail Denisenko investigates uneven 
population aging throughout the world and arrives at the conclusion that 
this inevitable process will lead to new complications in the geopolitical 
situation — half a century from now, a sparsely populated and wealthy “old” 
North will be confronted by a populous and poor “young” Africa. Moreover, 
demographic aging will inevitably force the aging countries to review their 
social contracts and, above all else, to overhaul the distributive pension 
system, since its shortcomings, in the population aging environment, can no 
longer be offset by the traditional redistribution of resources within 
family groups.

Exploring the awareness of a sample of Russians in 1994 about nine events 
that occurred within the past 60 years, Howard Schuman, Ph.D. and Amy D. 
Corning in the article Collective Knowledge of Public Events: The Soviet Era 
from the Great Purge to Glasnost consider three competing hypotheses about 
how knowledge relates to age: a) adolescence and early adulthood constitute 
a critical age for acquiring knowledge of public events; b) the unique 
content of an event creates age relations; and c) knowledge is influenced 
primarily by a “period effect” that can extend learning over almost the 
entire age range of a population experiencing an event. The authors also 
hypothesize that “years of education” have two different meanings in 
relation to knowledge: one about the socialization that promotes 
state-approved images of the past, and the other about the development of a 
cognitive sophistication that challenges such images. Partial support for 
each hypothesis is reported, and the relation of collective knowledge to 
collective memory is also considered.

The article In Praise of Old Age by Anatoly Vishnevsky challenges the myth 
that population aging is a major factor in the demographic crisis 
experienced by all countries with a low birth rate. The author contends that 
this should be regarded not as a transient crisis, but rather as a regular 
evolutionary process, inextricable from other major changes which constitute 
the essence of a demographic transition leading to the creation of an 
entirely new “time-table” for a generation’s life. The attendant shift of 
the working years towards older ages offers an opportunity to extend the 
years of education — a period, crucial for the creation of modern human 
capital.

OZ presents a synopsis of the book Another Country: Navigating the Emotional 
Terrain of Our Elders by Mary Pipher. This fictionalized research study, 
characterized by a self-confessed subjectivity, is based on the author’s 
personal experience as a practicing psychiatrist. The book is designed 
primarily for American post-war baby boomers, i.e. her contemporaries. 
Appealing to today’s 40-50 year olds to make a greater effort in seeking 
understanding with their elderly parents, the book offers much valuable 
practical guidance to help foster better relations between generations.
Utilizing a system of structural indicators (the elderly age group share in 
the overall population, aging index, demographic burden), Gayane Safarova in 
her article The Aging of Russia’s Population: Demographic Aspects 
scrutinizes the process of population aging in Russia. The article 
demonstrates an uneven aging pattern among different regions of Russia, 
compares Russia’s aging indicators to those of economically developed 
countries and, based on the analysis of mortality rates in different age 
groups, investigates life expectancy for the elderly. Also discussed is the 
impact of population aging on the development of a social policy.

The Outlook for Natality in Russia: Second Demographic Transition by Sergey 
Zakharov looks at the process of a demographic and family transformation, 
which has been taking place in Russia in the past few decades, against the 
backdrop of similar, albeit more profound, processes affecting all developed 
European countries. The outcome of these changes has been that the social 
control over demographic and family behavior is gradually shifting from the 
institutional/collective to the individual level: control over the 
individual, exercised by the state, church, and rural communities, has been 
gradually giving way to self-control, thereby greatly expanding an 
individual’s freedom of choice in everything that concerns his or her 
private life.

At what age do Russians begin to regard themselves as elderly? Is this 
related to retirement on pension? What can present-day Russian pensioners 
afford, how do their life-style and interests alter? What in general 
characterizes aging and old age in modern-day Russia? In the article The 
Social, Material and Emotional Climate of Old Age in Russia, Lyudmila 
Presnyakova attempts to provide answers to these and other questions by 
probing the findings of the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) polls conducted 
in 2004-2005.

The article Social Services for the Elderly, and Community Development: 
Western Experience and Russian Practice by Irina Grigorieva considers the 
difficulties surrounding a transition, currently taking place in developed 
countries, from state-funded social security and commercial insurance 
schemes to a system of community-based care for the elderly. In Russia, this 
changeover is hampered by local cultural stereotypes and an absence of 
generally applicable practices of conflict resolution.

Although it has been proven beyond doubt that the elderly have a development 
potential, our society is clinging to its fear of aging. In her article The 
Spawn of Misconceptions: The Elderly and Old Age, Olga Krasnova contends 
that this is a result of negative age-related stereotypes that form gut 
level attitudes towards old age, play a crucial role in institutionalizing 
ageism and even influence scientific views about older age. Stereotyped 
notions of older age are reproduced both in social policy, and in 
kitchen-sink and mass culture, thereby adversely affecting the personal 
values and self-esteem of elderly people. Overcoming the stereotypes is an 
important factor in improving the quality of life in old age.

The issues of several generations living under the same roof are discussed 
by Elena Vovk in her article Old Folks in the Family: Peculiarities of 
Intergenerational Relations. It seems that the commonly held image of an 
idyllic old age, with grandma and grandpa nurturing the grandchildren, is 
fast becoming outdated. And it is by no means clear whether it is the old or 
the young who have benefited most from this. “Communication between 
generations within the family should be intensive enough — yet interspersed 
to a degree,” the author believes.

The current issue of OZ contains a synopsis of the book As Parents Age: A 
Psychological and Practical Guide by American psychotherapist Joseph A. 
Ilardo, Ph.D. The book is written in the form of a manual for adult children 
whose parents are either approaching or have attained old age. Aging is a 
multifaceted process, but people mostly focus on the medical aspects of old 
age, whereas in fact, for family members, the aging of their parents is a 
problem far more complex than just the issues of sickness. The book is based 
on the author’s many years of practice and offers guidance that is not 
medical, but rather psychological and social in nature. How should adult 
children cope with feelings of frustration and guilt, how to overcome 
alienation setting in between family members of different generations, what 
to do if elderly parents develop psychiatric conditions, how to cope with 
the grief caused by their death — this roughly is the range of issues 
discussed in the book.

Evgeny Gontmakher, Doctor of Economics, Director, Russian Center for Social 
Studies and Innovation analyzes the state of affairs brought about by the 
monetization of benefits. He details the history of introducing the benefits 
in Russia in 1991-1993, as well as subsequent attempts to carry through the 
monetization in one form or the other. Monetization is discussed from the 
political perspective in the context of general budgetary issues.
The article How to Raise Pension Age in Russia by Oksana Sinyavskaya looks 
at the issue of changing the legal and actual pension age levels. Probing 
into the arguments for and against an increase in retirement age, the author 
concludes that this move, while unavoidable in the future, is 
demographically viable only in the case of women. One should begin by 
raising the actual age when pensions can be claimed, which in Russia is much 
lower than the legal pension age. In order to do this, one should reform the 
system of early pensions while increasing the legal pension age for women to 
60 years. Advance planning of this reform will allow for necessary 
adjustments to be introduced to the employment policy.

Tatiana Maleva and Oksana Sinyavskaya in the article Pension Reform in 
Russia: Concerning the Political Economy of Populism analyze the reasons 
behind a major review of the basic tenets of the Russian pension sphere and 
an overhaul of its institutions, while examining attempts to find an 
effective model for a pension system. Looking at the history of world 
discussion on the issue, the authors consider possible options for the state 
pension strategy and weigh the impact that significant socio-economic 
events, such as the “monetization of benefits”, may have on the pension 
sphere. A lot of focus is also given to the initial results of the reforms 
and to the discussion of what lies in store for the Russian pension system.

The article A Review of Foreign Pension Systems by Anna Gryzlova and Evgeny 
Yanenko examines the most efficient and stable pension systems in western 
countries (Sweden, Great Britain, France), and demonstrates the tendencies 
of pension system development in countries where living
standards are comparable to those of Russia (Kazakhstan, Ukraine).

Valery Gartung, Member of State Duma, Chairman of the Russian Party of 
Pensioners asserts that money for the pensions can be found right now; inter 
alia, pensions can be increased by tapping the Stabilization Fund. The money 
is a tool, it should be spent on improving the life of the most needy groups 
in society.

Attitudes to old age are sensitive to socio-cultural context; they should be 
viewed as a changing and shifting phenomenon. In his article Historical 
Attitudes Towards Old Age, Anton Smolkin analyzes the socio-cultural 
dynamics of attitudes towards old age in a broad historical context and 
offers his own interpretation of the social basis for shifting attitudes 
towards old age in a historical perspective.

Alexander Panchenko in the article The Image of Old Age in Russian Peasant 
Culture, maintains that traditional peasant culture treats old age as an 
indispensable period of preparation for death, associating it, on the one 
hand, with social and physical inadequacy, and on the other hand, with 
special knowledge and skills of religious and magical nature.

In her essay Old Age Has Happened: A Model and Anti-Model of Indian Old Age, 
Irina Glushkova takes a diachronic look at the Indian cultural model of 
aging and old age, making use of extensive material ranging from 
mythological texts and folklore to modern drama and social and ethnologic 
research conducted in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. Along with 
the “perfect scheme” which determines the traditional status of old age, the 
author describes its numerous transgressions in a “nonperfect life” (using, 
inter alia, the example of political gerontocracy in India’s higher echelons 
of power) and discovers the emergence of an antimodel which in many ways 
runs contrary to established conceptions of the cultural norms of Indian 
society.

The article About «Chinese Ceremonies», the Cult of Ancestors and Old Age in 
China by Ilya Smirnov takes an in-depth look at old age veneration in 
traditional China, describing its archaic roots (the cult of ancestors) and 
the Confucian principle of filial piety (xiao). As illustrations, the author 
cites numerous legends about filially pious children, as well as verses by 
Chinese poets deliberating on the theme of old age.

Gamid Bulatov in the article Attitudes towards the Elderly and Longevity in 
the Caucasus takes as his basis the comparative psychosocial research on 
elderly and long-lived people, conducted in the late 1970s and early 1980s 
in Kostroma Region and the Caucasus, and demonstrates that unlike their 
Kostroma counterparts, the Caucasus elderly live in a family environment, 
surrounded by the respect of the community. They are therefore almost 
completely spared the feeling of uncertainty and anxiety engendered by the 
fear of social status erosion related to aging. The process of growing old 
and the attendant possible physical frailties produce no adverse effect on 
the psyche of the Caucasus elderly, and this seems to have a direct bearing 
on the phenomenon of longevity.

THE COUNTRY OF OZ

Sergey Dubinin, former Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia offers his 
views on events that took place in Russia in the 90s. He analyzes the 
outcome of those turbulent closing years of a revolution that lasted a whole 
century, and attempts to draw lessons that would help avoid a lapse into yet 
another revolutionary situation.

In his article TV in the Mechanism of Terror, the well-known sociologist 
Daniil Dondurey shares his thoughts on the theme of “terror and the media”. 
In the post-industrial media society, television is not only a provider of 
information, but can also be a major tool in the mechanism of terror — a 
weapon of mass psychological destruction. The author analyzes Russian 
television’s reporting of events in Beslan, compares it to that of the 
western media, and offers his own recommendations on ways to prepare TV for 
future coverage of events related to possible terrorist attacks.

Gennady Aksyonov in the article The Word and Deed of the Church provides a 
critical reappraisal of the official — and most widely held — version of 
Russian history. The main object of the author’s demythifying criticism is 
the exaggerated and idealized role of the Orthodox church. In the author’s 
opinion, the Russian Church has not succeeded in any of its proclaimed 
exulted missions of morally improving the people; on the contrary, the 
Church itself was constantly engaged in the very sins of greed and lust for 
power that it outwardly condemned. The Catholic Church, however, though by 
no means depicted by the author in a radiant light, has, in his opinion, 
developed in a much more organic and constructive way, and, more 
importantly, has been more in keeping with the Christian tenets it preached.

Vera Milchina publishes the 1838 correspondence between Chief of Gendarmes 
A. H. Benkendorf and the Kiev Governor-General D. G. Bibikov, revealing an 
unknown page in “police semiotics”. Count Benkendorf recommended to his 
subordinates a peculiar method designed to counteract the wearing of French 
(Jeune France) beards and imperials, which at the time were a sign of 
liberal ideas. The plan was to obligate the lower ranks of the police to 
grow such beards.