Longevity: from social practice to social technology

Abstract

Russian research projects on longevity are actively proceeding in line with social constructivism. Since Russian researchers, according to some Western theorists (P. Bourdieu, K. Popper, D. Buettner and others), have long been held captive by historicist il-lusions, it is fundamentally important that the concept of longevity discussed in Russian literature should not be an “utopian” but a “gradual, step-by-step” kind of social engineering as a purposeful activity to improve social reality. It has to include not so-cial practices, but rather technologies because of their greater effectiveness. This article aims to reveal the peculiarity of social technologies of longevity. The main problem is the demarcation between social practices and technology of longevity. The peculiarity of social technologies of longevity in relation to social practices is revealed in the grid of categories, such as spontaneous–conscious (goal), professional–amateur (activity), and scientific–extra-scientific (knowledge). Ideally, any social technology tends to become a practice and get a residence permit in the structures of the everyday world.