Trust in the Face of a Pandemic: In Search for a Common Ground

Abstract

This article examines the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on interpersonal trust relationships, as well as trust in government institutions and official sources of information. The empirical base for the study is comprised of “diaries of professionals” — 34 diaries which were kept by social science experts from March 25 to June 10 2020 (“first wave”), and then from the 20th to the 30th of September 2020 (“second wave”) — belonging to sociologists, philosophers, philologists, anthropologists, political scientists, historians, orientalists. Thus, a collection of thick descriptions was collected, representing a mix between a personal diary and research reflective autoethnography. Based on the review of the scientific discussion on the problem of trust, a significant conclusion is made about the contradictions between “trust” itself, which implies the possibility of choice and pertains mainly to interpersonal relations, and ‘confidence’ in social and state institutions, which implies much less agency of the subject of trust. It is concluded that the epidemic has greatly exacerbated the problem of lack of trust, noted in the context of the spread of “post-truth” and “fake news” at a global level, but especially noticeable in Russia, where this deficit significantly undermines the very possibility of basic solidarity. The authors of the diaries, as researchers, note that “comfortable” forms of a trust prevail in their social milieu, which creates some uncertain illusion of security. People tend to trust those who help maintain their identity and relieve fear, as well as their familiar “trusted” sources. However, many of them sense the diminished reliability of these “pillars of trust” in a new unpredictable situation.

Family Life in the Time of COVID

“…'Responsible citizenship' seemed to be an important aspect of their identity for some people during the pandemic (Kislyakov and Shmeleva 2021;Kholyavin 2020;Tartakovskaya 2021). In our sample, non-routine workers explained that they voluntarily followed public guidelines and were careful not to put others at risk (thus adhering to the WHO ethics: 'no one is safe until everyone is safe').…”

On the study of factors of fake news perception by mass audience (case study of student youth)

“…Пандемия чрезвычайно обострила проблему дефицита доверия, отмечаемую в условиях распространения постправды и fake news на глобальном уровне, но особенно заметную в России, где этот дефицит значительно подрывает самую возможность базовой солидарности [18].…”

“…Причем пользователи среднего возраста (25-44) большую часть этого времени тратят на ВКонтакте. TikTok лидирует по доле времени потребления среди пользователей молодого возраста (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24). Сейчас показатели пользования запрещенными сетями ожидаемо упали, однако сложно учесть число пользователей сервисов VPN, поэтому по факту они могут быть больше.…”

Pay and employee intrapreneurialism in Russia, 1994–2015: A longitudinal study

“…In the latter model, managers deploy personalized concessions, presents and social events to motivate employees. Pay and conditions are only marginally above unemployment benefit levels (Tartakovskaya, 2017). Tartakovskaya and Vanke (2019) argue that these workers have developed a 'neo-liberal subjectivity' featuring internalized selfregulation and performance maximization (pp.…”