One of the most prominent figures in this field is Elena Blinovskaya, who, according to her own narrative, transformed herself from a housewife into a billionaire by teaching others how to “dream properly” and make their wishes come true. Through a carefully curated online presence that showcases a luxurious lifestyle and a happy marriage, Blinovskaya markets the idea of personal transformation for as little as €40. Her brand, Marathon of Wishes, offers motivational speeches, self-help exercises, and meditation techniques.

Drawing on the content of the Marathon of Wishes as well as Blinovskaya’s broader media presence—including Instagram posts, interviews, and talk show appearances—Tamara Kusimova’s research examines the concept of the self and of social relationships that emerges across these materials. Treating contemporary self-help as a cultural toolkit, she explores how individuals are encouraged to understand themselves through their capacity to desire (“the wishing self”) and through their perception of relationships as forms of conscious exchange of material and spiritual resources.

In a conversation with the sociologist Elgen Saurborn, Tamara will focus on the normative dimension of this framework: that is, its capacity to promote a specific mode of working on the self and its relation to society within a defined ethical horizon. While locally situated, these materials reproduce globalized imaginaries of a desirable future centered on entrepreneurial selfhood, financial success, and postfeminist gender norms. At the same time, they position themselves within a transnational market of digital self-help and spiritual practices that promise to shape individual futures in times of growing inequality and socio-political instability.

Tamara Kusimova is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Central European University and a research fellow at IGREC. Tamara's research is situated at the interdisciplinary field of culture and cognition. She particularly focuses on opportunities for and barriers to upward social mobility.

Elgen Sauerborn is a sociologist and researcher at the CRC Affective Societies. Her work focuses on the sociology of emotions and affects as well as the sociology of knowledge, with a particular interest in social inequality and class.