An inrivalled master of analyzing the difficult fate of Russia’s workers

This article attempts to examine and describe the professional path and the scientific contribution made to domestic industrial sociology by a veteran of the Saint-Petersburg sociology scene, one of those who established the contemporary methodology for formulative research of employment relations in the industrial labor field — B.I. Maksimov. The fact that he chose sociology as his profession at the beginning of the 1960’s is due to the fact that back then industrial enterprises started employing sociologists as full time staff. “Factory sociology” emerged in a country where conducting any sort of survey or social analysis was equated to treason, due to a longstanding Communist rule. Analyzing the development stages for the research B.I. Maksimov conducted at industrial enterprises, evaluating the scale on which the results of his studies are used by his colleagues — his “labor peers” — helps us understand not only how his professionalism and skills grew, but also how “factory sociology” progressed in our country. Additionally, the article emphasizes the fact that, during his lifetime, B.I. Maksimov was one of the most recognized analysts of problematic situations in the labor field — first in Leningrad, and later in the entire country. He was the most published researcher in that particular field. In his printed work he was able to show the magnitude of that critical situation which is currently taking form within the field of labor relations in Russia’s manufacturing industry.