A citizen’s duty

Recently Yevhen Holovakha, a well-known Ukrainian sociologist, expert, and friend of Den/The Day celebrated his 60th birthday. It is difficult to count all the services Mr. Holovakha has rendered to academia. Suffice it to say that he is part of the history of Ukrainian sociology. Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), deputy director and head of the sociopolitical processes department of the Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Sociology, editor-in-chief of the academic journal Sotsiologia: teoria, medoty, marketing, Mr. Holovakha is the author of about 300 works on psychology and sociology. Together with Alexander Kronik, a doctor from Bethesda, Maryland, US, he is the creator of causometry, a unique method of studying the human life path, which is currently popular in academic schools throughout the post-Soviet space.

The Den/The Day editorial board sent Dr. Holovakha its heartfelt birthday greetings. And, naturally, we asked a few topical questions about society and his future academic plans.

Mr. Holovakha, what can you say about public expectations after a new team has come to power? Have they fulfilled the public’s expectations?

“Oddly enough, all people have had their expectations — both positive and negative — fulfilled. On the one hand, we have political stability and better relations with Russia. On the other hand, we signed a treaty with Russia on extending the lease of the Black Sea Fleet base in Ukraine, and Ukraine abandoned the idea of joining NATO. Where did the government not live up to expectations? Firstly, the government promised not to raise prices, but fuel prices nevertheless went up. Secondly, much needed reforms remain just a word despite numerous promises.”

The government is going to increase the pension age of women from 55 to 60 years within 10 years. Do you think Ukrainian society is prepared for such an increase? Is this measure really necessary for Ukraine, considering international practices?

“Pension reform should be comprehensive. And, as part of this kind of reform, the issue of pension age had to be raised. It is a difficult process. The government should draw up a reform program that would gradually increase the pension age limit, and submit it for public debate. In this case, the psychological effect was not taken into consideration. Naturally, when people are deprived of something in the course of a reform, they take a dim view of this. But there is no other way out. The same applies to the public utilities reform. They should have first put this reform out to public debate and only then begun to speak about raising utility rates. All these problems are linked to the government’s competence. Taking unpopular measures, the Cabinet should persuade the people that it would be even worse without them.”

It is common knowledge that scientific research has always been underfunded in Ukraine. In the years of independence, the state did not attach proper importance to academia, reducing its prestige as a result. Does the new administration spell change in this respect?

“The attitude towards research has not changed, of course. As before, this is the attitude of a poor transitional state which spends all its funds on keeping bureaucrats well-off and distributes the remaining money among the have-nots so they do not rebel. In a word, I have not yet seen anything new: no new ideas, approaches, or decisions.”

What is to be done?

“To do what others do. Still, academics are often in privileged situations. They are entitled to the so-called academic pension, which is worth the better part of their salaries, so they can count on it. And it is fair that they earn less than those engaged in the financial sphere or politics. Academics spend less time on consumption in order to pay more attention to creative work. The latter is not necessary for the well-to-do.”

Mr. Holovakha, what about your academic plans? What are you working on now?

“At present we are working on the fourth stage of a European social survey. It is good that we managed to receive an international grant. This will be the fourth wave, when we will compare Ukraine with Europe: to what extent we are lagging behind the European Union, what are our chances of membership in the nearest decades, etc.

“I have some personal plans about the methods of exploring new social phenomena. The point is that new social phenomena often put sociologists in a deadlock. The past few decades have seen colossal, I would even say, tectonic shifts in a global dimension. This is especially true of the social space we are living in; I mean the post-Soviet, post-communist space. Very serious changes are affecting the personality. The latest article I’ve written is titled ‘A Self-Controlled Personality and Society.’ I think our major problem is not the social woes linked to the lack of social macrostructures, but in a personality that has not yet formed and is unable to control itself and, hence, the society in which it lives by influencing those who lead it. This lack of feedback in the government, i.e., of the awareness that it can be controlled by people who no longer passively obey it, results in its depravity, irresponsibility, and ineffectiveness. In this case the government has no motives to improve its actions. They can, of course, keep themselves well-off, but whether they are able to keep us well-off only depends on us, on whether we, ordinary voters, will be able to demand from them. To do this, we should at least learn to control ourselves in the new social space.”