The Russian Sociological Review publishes an interview with Alexander Gofman about the late sociologist Alexander Kovalev. Gofman and Kovalev had been friends since the 1960s and worked together in the same research department at the Institute for Concrete Social Research, later renamed the Institute for Sociological Researches of Academy of Science of the USSR. They also actively took part in the renowned seminar of Yuri Levada. In his reminiscences, Gofman sheds additional light on the history of the rebirth of Russian sociology in 1960s and its intellectual routes. Conflicts of the 1970s illustrate the problems of the relationship between the sociological community and power and the impact of power on the research agenda, interests and perspectives. In Gofman’s view, Kovalev was an intellectual who decided to take a non-participative position. In this respect he is significantly different from his colleagues from the 1960s (“sixtiers”) who argued for active participation in social life. In the interview, Gofman also discusses the role of many other famous sociologists (e.g. Igor Kon, Yuri Levada, Yuri Davydov and others). This interview is a part of the research project on the history of Russian sociology in the 1960s.