Sociology as a science represents the branch of scientific knowledge about society and its components: social relations, systems, laws of development, social institutions, etc.
Sociology in Russia has a difficult fate. Political upheavals directly affected the development of sociological theory and practice.
Researchers believe that sociology in Russia got its start in the mid-nineteenth century. The reason was the political and social problems of Russian society. By the end of the XIX century, the level of development of sociology was quite high in comparison with foreign sociological theory. In this regard, it should be noted that the formation of scientific concepts of pre-revolutionary sociology was influenced both by the works of foreign sociologists and the social movements in Russia of this period - Slavophilism and Westernism.
Experts note that the period beginning of the twentieth century was marked by the achievements of Russian sociologists in the development of scientific sociological knowledge and the formation of the Russian sociological school. Sociology in Russia introduced new directions to the European scientific community. Piritim Sorokin distinguished the following sociological schools of this period: mechanical, synthetic, geographical, biological, biosocial.
After the events of 1917, sociology in Russia, like other social sciences, came under the strict ideological control of the state. The practical significance of science has been called into question. Representatives of sociological thought were either forced to leave the country or suffered from a totalitarian regime. Perhaps this process is due to the fact that already during the revolutionary events of 1905 there was a confrontation of most Russian sociologists with theorists of Marxism. The result of the relationship of ideological isolation was the separation of sociological science from European. The names of Russian sociologists were forgotten, and the works of Western scholars were presented through a certain ideological view.
Speaking about the development of sociology in Russia, it is necessary to mention those researchers who played a significant role in the formation of sociological knowledge in Russia.
Danilevsky Nikolay Yakovlevich (1822-1885). Representative of the anti-evolutionary model of the development of society. Developed the ideas of pan-Slavism. The scientific work "Russia and Europe" is popular in sociological circles to date.
Lavrov Peter Lavrovich (1823-1900). Representative of the direction of sociological thought "anthropologism." Historians associate the origin of subjectivism with the name of Peter Lavrov. It should be noted that subjective sociology in Russia developed in the direction of determining the leading role of the individual in historical progress. Peter Lavrov defined many of the concepts of sociology that are still used in scientific circles.
Mechnikov Lev Ilyich (1838-1888). Representative of the "geographical school" in Russian sociology. The development of society was associated with the importance of geographical conditions, it substantiated the stages of development of civilization under the influence of water resources: river, Mediterranean, oceanic.
Mikhailovsky, Nikolai Konstantinovich (1842-1904). A follower of the populist trend in literature and sociology. He developed sociological ideas about the role of the individual in social progress.
Kareev Nikolay Ivanovich (1850–1931). He made a great contribution to the history of sociology, the development of its methodological foundations.
Pitirim Sorokin (1889-1968) Representative of empirical neopositivism (critical realism). The central idea of sociological thought in P. Sorokin is value. He had a huge impact on the formation of modern sociology. His works require further reflection and analysis.
The development of science in modern Russia is undergoing a limited scientific upsurge. Studying the history of sociology allows applying sociological thought in new historical conditions.