“Society of trauma” as a conceptualization of uncertainty

The article explores the society of trauma concept by Zh. T. Toshchenko with reference to specific sociological and psychological research of recent years. The proposed reflections immerse it in the context of socio-philosophical and existential-literary discourse showing the historical importance of studying trauma in social sciences and humanities, as well as for understanding modern social processes. Scientific discourse integrates cultural forms of understanding traumatic events. It works in an interdisciplinary field, predicts risks and negative consequences of social development, and develops ways to overcome them. Thus, it manifests and implements critical and heuristic functions of scientific knowledge. The civilizational meaning of the phenomenon of the society of trauma is emphasized. It addresses the understanding of cultural gaps, radical changes in the activities of social institutions, sharp fluctuations of the lifeworld. Traumatization as a social phenomenon is associated with violations of the continuity in socio-cultural development, its purposefulness and controllability. It generates a long-term negative trace in relation to the socio-psychological well-being of the population. It also causes experienced instability, uncertainty of existence, and a crisis of wellness. In this regard, the article compares the data of different studies to exhibit the features and dynamics of the subjective response to trauma.The analysis carried out in the context of the society of trauma concept indicates a pronounced ambivalence of the public consciousness in modern Russia with its orientation towards a search for stable foundations of a civilized identity. The existing contradictions draw attention to the importance of integrating various parts of public consciousness to avoid new rounds in collective traumatizations.