In this interview a well-known Soviet and Russian sociologist, Ovsei Shkaratan, narrates his academic career and the renaissance of sociology in Soviet academia at the end of 1950s and the beginning of the early 1960s. He describes the first social research projects in Leningrad, such as the study of “communist labor teams” which pioneered the sociology of labor in the USSR. The interview gives an opportunity to become aware of the Western sociologists who were known amongst the Soviet sociologists during this period and also to further understand the reception of Western theories at the time. The position of Shkaratan with regards to Soviet authorities of that time and of the time of interview (2000s) is of a particular interest. He further shares his views on the social policy of the Russian government and on the perspectives of sociology in modern Russia.