The modern world is a global world, which at the same time is more divided than ever before. The problems of divided societies began its development in science in the West back in the 1960s and 1970s. The works of Rokkan, Lipset and Lijphart have deservedly become classics of world political science. In the 1990s, the problem of the division of society became relevant for Russia. Like their foreign colleagues, Russian researchers attract cases from various regions of the world. The purpose of the article is to present the prospects for the development of scientific discourse on the problem of divided societies based on the analysis of Russian studies. According to the author, there is a trend towards expanding the interpretation of the concept of divided societies. If the works of the classics focuses on formalized institutions, then Russian research focuses more on informal practices. A serious problem is associated with the lack of a generally accepted definition of the concept of divided society. The subject field of the concept of divided societies also does not have clear boundaries. The current situation encourages political scientists to read the concept of divided societies in a new way in order to develop an updated middle-range theory that will be important not only for science, but also for the political practice of conflict resolution and tension relief in social processes.