Social justice in the views of social groups in Buryatia

Based on the data of a sociological survey conducted in 2020-2021, the article analyzes the ideas of the residents of Buryatia about social justice. The authors have established that the problem of social justice is important for the vast majority of the respondents, who often face its reverse side - injustice. Rural residents with a low financial level and with debts often suffer from social injustice. The respondents consider income inequality and the system of distribution of property to be the most unfair in modern Russia. The authors have revealed that the content of the concept of social justice is connected, first of all, with equality before the law, equality of opportunities and leveling equality, and only secondarily with inequality - distributive and responsible. The analysis of empirical data has shown that the majority of the respondents demonstrate conservative views, associating social justice with a strong state, order and national interests, while the minority appeal to liberal values - democracy, solidarity, freedom. Moreover, the ideas of social justice differ somewhat among different income groups. The higher the income level, the more confident the representatives of this group are in choosing their estimates (as a rule, conservative ones), and vice versa: the lower the income, the more often respondents from low-income income groups find it difficult to answer and almost equally choose conservative and liberal values. The article concludes that social justice in the views of the respondents is not limited to financial issues: also important for them is inter-regional inequality associated with limited areas of residence and life opportunities for residents of the regions, benefits on the periphery of our country, which gives rise to their mass migration to other more prosperous regions of the Russian Federation. Therefore, serious state measures are needed to overcome inter-regional inequality and to ensure a balanced spatial and socioeconomic development of all regions of the country, which will help improve the level and quality of life of the population, improve their social well-being, and strengthen the foundations of social justice. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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