Abstract
The article provides a theoretical-methodological basis for developing civil responsibility of the youth through a synthesis of sociology of education and philosophy of critical thinking. The authors consider contradictions between social demand for active citizenship and ritualized educational practices, which often reproduce passivity and conformism. The proposed integrative approach combines structural analysis of sociology of education and subject-activity perspective of philosophy of critical thinking. The article describes the structural barriers that determine the conformist “school habitus”: reproduction of social inequality through cultural capital (P. Bourdieu) and unintended but negative consequences of rational choice (R. Boudon) contribute to the formation of the conformist, adaptive school habitus. Critical thinking as a set of cognitive skills and social-ethical dispositions is considered as a conceptual counterweight. Critical thinking and reflection integrated into the educational process can help overcome the so-called symbolic violence of educational institutions and transform citizenship from mere memorization of rules into conscious and independent action. The proposed interdisciplinary approach defines civil responsibility as a dynamic result of the interaction between institutional structures and individual reflective work.