Abstract
<jats:p>The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of downshifting as a socio-philosophical response to the crisis of values under conditions of accelerated sociocultural dynamics. The focus is on the study of the axiological foundations of modern Russian downshifting, related to the rethinking of key existential categories – freedom, happiness and the meaning of life. The author identifies the contradiction between the universal models of “success” imposed by the consumer society and individual searches for authenticity, which is aggravated by the splitting of reality into physical and virtual and the increasing transience of network achievements. The methodological basis of the research consists of philosophical, axiological, socio-cultural and comparative analysis. The paper shows that downshifting is not only the practice of “avoiding” imposed standards, but also a positive strategy for converting “freedom from” into “freedom for”, achieving personalized happiness and gaining meaningfulness of existence. Particular attention is paid to the cultural representation of this request in the image of a refusenik antihero in mass art, who acts as a symbolic intermediary legitimizing alternative life scenarios and forming an ecosystem of values of deceleration. In conclusion, the thesis is sub-stantiated on the mutual strengthening of the social practice of downshifting and its artistic embodiment, which together form a new axiology that opposes the manipulative mechanisms of the society of permanent accel-eration and performative success.</jats:p>