From the editor

It is very exciting and, one might say, easy to talk about reputation in the high sense of the word. Reputation as a phenomenon in the light of the theory of social progress, mechanisms of reputation formation in science, sociological models of reputational risks, reputation as one of the regulators of business processes - all this is described well and fully. True, it is better and more complete - outside the borders of our fatherland. But within the boundaries of the fatherland, everyone (it seems) knows that one must take care of one’s honor from a young age, and one’s dress again, that one must swear an oath legibly, and once sworn in, keep one’s word, do not ask for service, but do not dissuade yourself from serving. More or less universal adherence to the brief instructions of the elder Grinev would, in principle, perhaps be sufficient for us not to devote this volume to the “power of reputations.”

However, for some reason this instruction does not lose its didactic relevance, which has not yet been properly assimilated by compatriots, although two hundred and forty years have passed since the action of “The Captain’s Daughter,” and one hundred and seventy-eight years have passed since its publication. Moreover, we constantly strive to subject the short list of rules to revision, updating it in different ways in different eras. Relatively vegetarian times lead to an excess of leisure and complete licentiousness among thinking citizens and educated city dwellers: they begin to want the beautiful and demand the impossible. Which is easy to expose them for. For example, having proven, using historical examples, the redundancy and utopianism of expectations, according to which the state should be governed by noble and enlightened men, science by brilliant and at the same time businesslike scientists, education by great teachers and organizers of the educational process rolled into one, medicine by dedicated physician-managers, economics by honest, effective entrepreneurs, art and culture - ...well, it’s better not to manage them at all. What else do we need? Well, let's say, parks and gardens should be managed by talented gardeners, libraries by bibliophiles, theaters by brilliant directors. So that shame eats into the eyes of those who have acted badly. So that ideas about bad, good and shameful are clear and close to all of us. The list of claims could be endlessly long, but overall the trend is clear.

In truth, it is not so difficult to understand and accept the reasoning that all this is impossible. After all, we don’t have all this. And nothing - we complain, but we live. And we will live, just as we will continue to complain. Another question is that completely philistine, insignificant, in essence, very practical dimension of reputation, without which at times it becomes really sickening, and sometimes even protests, riots and major unrest occur. We are talking about the minimum sufficient level of public trust that is necessary for peaceful life. And without which, as it turns out, there is no stable convention at all that makes it possible to live with dignity: to give birth, to study, to receive treatment, to pay taxes, to obey laws, to work conscientiously, to sort garbage, to be elected and to be elected, not to steal, not to shit in the notorious entrance , do not give bribes, remember yourself, die. The connection between reputation and trust is obvious and undeniable, although it is hardly possible to measure it and express it in dry numbers. In addition, the sociologists who traditionally deal with this matter in our country do not have the most enviable reputation and do not enjoy trust.

In this issue of OZ we analyzed reputation as a complex cultural, social, philosophical, political phenomenon - in the version, so to speak, hautecouture. But at the same time, we kept a simple thought in mind: public trust - and we need it like air - can only arise when society itself begins to at least somewhat resemble a well-functioning reputation factory producing practical things for everyday wear, prêt-a-porter . We will continue our research. Follow the review of new collections 2014-2015.