Vol 18, No 3 (2018)

Theory, Methodology and History of Sociological Research

FEATURES OF THE SOCIOLOGICAI DIAGNOSTICS OF THE MEDIA FIELD IN THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

Danilov A.N., Rotman D.G., Postalovsky A.V., Buzovsky I.I.

Abstract

The article considers methodological approaches to the study of the media field transformations under contemporary changes and presents the results of the annual sociological monitoring conducted in the Republic of Belarus (2003-2017). The authors claim the redistribution of influence on the audience from traditional media in favor of Internet resources and other forms of network communications. Traditional mass media and communication media undergo radical changes, the subjects of which are professional editions and journalists together with the consumers of mass media information, who reproduce and disseminate the meaningful for them content in the Internet through the networks of virtual media communications. The sociological monitoring allowed to identify the level of influence of different types of media at the certain period of social-political and social-economic development of the Republic of Belarus. At the first stage of the media field studies (2003-2005), traditional mass media held leading positions, but from 2006 the Internet has rapidly increased its impact, and in 2014 a fundamentally new segment - the social media - stood out from the Internet and became a new actor of the media field. In 2017, the Internet together with television play a decisive role in the development of the media field. At the same time the interest to sociological studies of the features and content of mass media functions has increased, and there is also an obvious request for developing new methods and improving the existing techniques for the sociological study of the contemporary media field.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):383-403
pages 383-403 views

SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERACTION OF JURISTS AND FORENSIC EXPERTS: THEORETICAL-METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES

Maslovskaya E.V.

Abstract

The article considers the current discussion on the possibilities and limitations of different theoretical-methodological approaches to the study of the representation of expert knowledge in court proceedings, and on the peculiarities of interaction of forensic experts and jurists. The author emphasizes contribution and methodological limitations of the interpretative traditions and focuses on the potential of the actor-network theory for the study of interaction of forensic experts and jurists, such as implementation of Bruno Latour’s principle of “generalized symmetry” and the concept “juridical chain” for the analysis of the legal sphere. The author believes that Latour’s exclusive attention to the “specific rationality” of judicial practice prevented him from revealing complex trajectories of networks both within and outside the particular legal institution that he studied. The article claims that representatives of science and technology studies contribute to de-legitimization of the results of scientific research represented in forensic expert reports for this approach ignores the asymmetry of power relations between experts and jurists. Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of the juridical field allows to overcome the one-sidedness of the actor-network theory for it considers the inner logic of the juridical field development, reveals the asymmetry of power relations within it, competition between bearers of different forms of juridical capital with specific interests and resources, and the influence of other fields on the juridical field. The author believes that the most promising perspective is the combination of actor-network theory, its interpretations in science and technology studies and Bourdieu’s theory of the juridical field, which would allow to analyze not only the inner logic of circulation of expert knowledge but also the external context of its production and transformations within the juridical field.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):404-417
pages 404-417 views

Contemporary society: the urgent issues and prospects for development

INDIVIDUAL PROFESSIONALIZATION IN INFORMATION SOCIETY: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

Tsvyk V.A., Tsvyk I.V.

Abstract

The article considers individual professionalization in information society, reveals the essence of professionalization, identifies its stages, analyzes its features under the informatization of education process and professional activities. Professionalization is defined as a process of professional growth and professional training, i.e. professional self-realization is a form of self-actualization. Under the computerization of social-cultural reality, which is typical for information society, we witness informatization of all forms of professional development and a wide introduction of information technologies into individual professionalization. Globalization of informatization processes determined changes not only in the content of our knowledge about the world, but also in the ways we acquire, reproduce and transfer knowledge, which eventually had a significant impact on the structures of personality. New information technologies changed our ways of thinking and communication, perception of others and self-concept. Computer technologies reveal unprecedented opportunities for education and professional development. However, like any other technical achievement, computer technologies have negative consequences including those in the field of vocational education - the most important stage of professionalization. In the cognitive-mental aspect, these are non-linear, associative, mosaic thinking, an overabundance of information, and weakening of creativity. In the humanitarian aspect, information technologies mechanize and standardize educational activities, impersonate learning process, and weaken the humanitarian aspects of education in general. Thus, global and thoughtless introduction of information technologies into professional development can lead to many problems and eventually to a serious impoverishment of professionalism turning it from a complex creative process of professional development into a primitive, though high-speed, transfer of wealth of information, into ‘operationalism’ instead of professionalism.
RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):418-430
pages 418-430 views

TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEM AND A PARISH COMMUNITY

Podlesnaya M.A.

Abstract

The article considers the issue of how the Orthodox community as the most traditional social community adapts to the contemporary system of technologies. First, the author describes the phenomenon of technological system, identifies its main features, capabilities and limitations. Among the key features of the technological system, the article focuses on decentralization, weakening hierarchy and strengthening horizontal links, flexibility, self-regulation, adaptability, totality and the use of man as an algorithmically acting subject. The author emphasizes that the system approach in sociology plays an important role in the study of technological systems, and N. Luhmann’s approach is relevant for the study of parish communities, though the author mentions the limitations and critique of his works. The article examines contemporary church discourse about modernization of parish communities, which is also determined by the popularization of the views of Luhmann and other representatives of the system approach. The author also focuses on the most important question of the contemporary world under the technological development, which is the future of the mankind, and the article mentions concepts ‘cyborg’, ‘mutant’, ‘clone’, ‘virtual person’, and ‘posthuman’. The author makes a number of conclusions about how the parish community will react to the changes of the mankind, and what the most possible risks for the parish communities are considering such changes. Thus, the transformation of the parish community into a well-managed and well-functioning system or network means its rationalization, which at first seems necessary and solving urgent problems, but then one can see that it deprives the community of its vitality: a man finds himself in the community, but it does not seem to be Christian any more.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):431-442
pages 431-442 views

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE PERCEPTION OF RUSSIAN STUDENTS

Slisovskiy D.E., Medvedev N.P.

Abstract

How are the security issues perceived and evaluated not only by the global world leaders, experts, and scientists, but also by representatives of different social groups? Can their opinions and ideas change anything and reduce the level of international tension, or nothing depends on them? Answers to these questions are the methodological key to understanding the complexity of what is happening in the contemporary world considering the challenges of its global and local security. There must be something encouraging and reducing misunderstandings and mistrust in the field of peace-keeping and harmonization of international relations, even though we recognize the high level of influence of propaganda on the attitudes of people in different countries to the issues of security and other relevant questions in both Russia and throughout the world. The article presents the results of the analysis of the data of a number of surveys conducted among Russian students to find out their attitudes to the issues of global, regional, information and personal security. Based on the sociological research the authors describe how the younger generations (students) in Russia today react to the news on international security issues, how they interpret basic concepts of security and their meanings, what are their expectations, feelings and intentions, goals and fears. The results of the analysis of the students’ ideas and representations of the international security issues prove a more positive perception of the future directions of international cooperation and provide more grounds to hope for the joint efforts of the leading countries of the world to counter security threats than one can expect relying on the mass media information, politicians’ forecasts and expert community’s estimates. Perhaps, this part of the younger generations worldview can be considered irrational and even naive. However, one should take into account that the current social status of this group will inevitably change in the near future, which promises that the Russian participation in the public and political international activities will help to decrease the level of international tension and confrontation. Thus, there are hopes for the development of dialogue forms of relations and paths to trust and joint efforts to counter threats and challenges of global security.
RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):443-451
pages 443-451 views

PEARL INDUSTRY IN THE UAE REGION IN 1869-1938: ITS CONSTRUCTION, REPRODUCTION, AND DECLINE

Aqil K.

Abstract

The article focuses on the United Arab Emirates’ pearl industry during the period of British colonialization of the Arabian Gulf region, and, specifically, during the rise and decline of the pearl industry. The article aims to explore and analyze the development of the pearl industry in the UAE region, how it was constructed and reproduced from 1869 to 1938. One of the objectives of the study is to show that the pearl industry in the UAE region was a social construction in which the minority profited from financing the pearl extraction and export of pearls. The research also revels political, economic, and cultural factors of the reproduction of the pearl industry. The author shows that it was the colonial power behind the construction and reproduction of the pearl industry that was hierarchically structured. Within the hierarchical structure, the British rule implanted the financiers of the pearl industry, who served at the top level of the hierarchy. Other classes within this hierarchy consisted of local tujar merchants, tawawish middlemen, nawakhodha ship captains, ghawasin divers, siyub divers’ assistants, etc. The research proves the exploitative nature of the pearl industry financial distribution among different strata. The differences within the hierarchy in terms of role, power, myth, and financial distribution further helped this reproduction. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, several factors led to the decline of the pearl diving industry, such as the spread of Japanese cultural pearling. This decline led to the decline of all the classes in the UAE pearling industry and to the rise of new classes related to the oil industry. The article considers a wide range of approaches ranging from statistical, from British archival materials, to discursive analysis of the relationships between colonial and local, rules and citizens, local and non-local, and different strata within the hierarchy of the pearl industry.
RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):452-469
pages 452-469 views

Surveys, experiments, case studies

POLITICAL VALUES OF THE RUSSIAN SOCIETY (results of the comparative research)

Ivanov V.N., Nazarov M.M., Kublitskaya E.A.

Abstract

The article presents the results of the comparative study of political-ideological views of the Russian population on the values of freedom, democracy, social justice, the role of the state, etc. The research covers almost a quarter of a century - the surveys based on the same questionnaire were conducted among Muscovites in 1992 and 2016. The results of the comparative study show that the structure of the views on basic political values has not changed significantly. However, there are still different, often opposite social-political representations in the Russian society, which is clearly manifested when opposing freedom and inequality, democracy and socialism, social justice and individualism. Moreover, the shares of respondents expressing opposite views are approximately equal. At the same time, the attitudes structure revealed at the end of the last century has changed if compared to the data of 2016 survey, especially considering the role of individual activities in determining life trajectories. There is growing support for the importance of individualism as opposed to social justice and for the expectations of various types of state social guarantees. The results of the multidimensional statistical classification prove that there are several groups with different political-ideological orientations - from supporters of liberal democratic ideas to those who prefer socialist values. However, most groups still support the paternalistic ideas of the Soviet period such as the importance of social guarantees and social role of the state.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):470-480
pages 470-480 views

THE YOUTH’S PERCEPTION OF RELIGIOUS VALUES: A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY

Ivleva M.L., Kurilov S.N., Rossman V.J.

Abstract

The article considers the younger generations’ perception of religion and the role of religious values. The authors argue that in the last decades the attitudes to religion in the Russian society have transformed. Religion determines values of every culture that influence the worldview of different generations. In the contemporary secularized society, religion plays the role of a moral referee, forms a national mentality and a worldview. Younger generations as a dynamic social group do not tend to follow conservative traditional values, which allows to understand further trajectories of social development. The youth’s interpretation of key life values significantly differs from the understanding of the same values by older generations. Younger generations are usually characterized by social dynamism, psychological lability, changing perception of cultural traditions and values, constant search for innovations and revision of the established traditions. Religious values are traditional and conservative by nature, thus they turn people to the past rather than to the future, that is why the youth is often unclear about religion. The data of international and Russian surveys prove that the youth consider religion quite pragmatically, as a kind of psychotherapy. The article presents the results of the sociological research, in which religious values were compared with other cultural values - artistic, scientific, moral and practical. According to the data, the number of people interested in religion and faith issues has significantly increased compared with the late Soviet period but religious values for younger generations are not a priority for other cultural values seem to be more important.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):481-493
pages 481-493 views

CULTURAL MODEL OF THE RUSSIAN IDENTITY: AXIOLOGY, SEMANTICS AND COMMUNICATIVE POTENTIAL

Onosov A.A., Gasparishvili A.T., Szafraniec K.

Abstract

The article presents empirical data of the project aimed at the study of the migration situation in Russia. The authors describe the current value system of the Russians and hierarchy of its basic life attitudes relying on both mass survey and expert estimates on the situation in Moscow and the Moscow Region. The article provides a sociological description of the content and levels of the system of values that are most important for the Russians; identifies its structuring function for the Russians’ mass consciousness. Before focusing on the identity of the Moscow Region’s natives (as it is perceived by the Russians), the authors consider the social-cultural situation in the metropolitan agglomeration. The quantitative sociological study relied on a wide set of criteria to study the identity, which included both the respondents’ value system and their personal life attitudes. The authors believe that the cultural model of Russian identity is capable of ensuring a broader and more diverse field of social relations for a peaceful and constructive ethnic interaction of the Russians with other nations than the ethnic model. However, the cultural model of Russian identity differs from the Western model of multicultural and multiconfessional society, which has already proved its inefficiency under the contemporary crisis conditions. The value landscape of the Moscow Region’s Russian population reflects both the necessity to preserve the Russian character’s traditional features and a desire for values of civil society. The sociological data allow authors to argue that today the ethnic identity of the Russians interacts with the strengthening civic identity on the basis of relevant values and ideas and goals that unite the nation. The article aims at better understanding of the Russians’ ethnic identity and of the communicative potential of the cultural model of identity.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):494-506
pages 494-506 views

LEARNING HOW TO WORK IN THE ARTS FIELD IN PORTUGAL: A BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH TO THE MIGRANT ARTISTS’ TRAJECTORIES

Ferro L., Abrantes P., Veloso L., Teixeira Lopes J.

Abstract

The article considers the key dimensions of the life trajectories of the immigrant artists living in the Lisbon metropolitan area focusing on those related to the socialization process both in formal institutions and in a broader setting of informal learning. The authors conducted a sociological analysis of 20 biographical interviews with a heterogeneous set of individuals, including musicians, dancers and plastic artists. These interviews were a part of the research project on the social trajectories of migrant artists from the non-European Union countries living in Portugal. The results of the analysis show that formal and informal learning together with the migrant experience are intertwined and constitute the key factor in the configuration of migrant trajectories. There is often a mobility pattern across art styles, which makes differences between formal and informal circumstances in the life trajectories of migrant artists evident. Migration has a strong impact on the artistic work; this impact affects different areas of biographical experience: contact with the Portuguese culture, development of ethnic references, and participation in transnational art movements. The condition of immigrant artists generally implies a long trajectory of artistic training, including significant experiences of formal and informal learning in multiple social contexts throughout the life course. For those dedicated to the new transnational urban cultures (hip hop, graffiti, etc.), informal learning is the most important element. For those engaged in the traditional arts, the attendance of lengthy artistic programs seems to be a fundamental prerequisite for training and recognition. Together with the long and significant artists’ investments in their education, the sociological study also revealed the great vulnerability (and precariousness) of their life trajectories, and the lack of structures supporting their access to the labor market.
RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):507-520
pages 507-520 views

SOCIAL PORTRAIT OF THE FEMALE TEACHER (on the example of the Tyumen Region)

Efimova G.Z., Semenov M.Y.

Abstract

The article presents official statistical data that indicate the prevalence of women in the teaching staff of general education in Russia and some other countries. Structural feminization of education requires a study of social-cultural and other consequences of this social-professional phenomenon. The authors combine the consequences of teachers’ feminization into two groups: assimilation of the predominantly feminist model of behavior and gender asymmetry in education. The article aims at describing social characteristics of female teachers in Russia and the impact of the teaching profession on the daily life of women based on the surveys (in 2015 and 2016) conducted by the Sociological Laboratory of the Tyumen State University on the representative quota-nesting sample. The authors focus on social rather than professional characteristics of female teachers in Russia, that is why they chose the following indicators: satisfaction with the current social status; proportion of time free from professional and household activities; state of health; look into the future. The main contradictions and peculiarities of everyday life of female teachers were outlined: there is a low level of dissatisfaction with one’s social position due to the awareness of one’s social status and specific social expectations for women due to the prevailing traditional models of female roles; female teachers assess ones’ state of health higher than an average Russian woman due to the strong social capital providing a higher level of social support, which is acquired in the course of professional activities. Perhaps, this is also the reason why the share of female teachers that perceive their future negatively starts to grow later than on average in Russia.

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):521-531
pages 521-531 views

Sociological lectures

NATIONAL VALUES OF THE RUSSIAN EDUCATION UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATION

Shafranov-Kutsev G.F., Yarkova E.N.

Abstract

One of the widely discussed challenges under the international integration of the Russian education is the preservation of national educational values. The fate of the Russian educational traditions largely depends on the attitudes of the scientific-pedagogical community towards them. The article aims to identify the position of the representatives of this social-professional group to the values of the national education, to describe their role in the processes of modernization of the Russian education. The main empirical basis of the article is the contemporary Russian scientific-educational discourse - articles and monographs considering the values of the Russian education and their role in the processes of international integration of education. The key method of the research is the qualitative content analysis of a wide range of research texts. Based on the results of the analysis of the contemporary scientific-pedagogical discourse, the authors identify three main approaches to the traditions of the national education: nihilistic, apologetic, and realistic. The authors emphasize the counter-productiveness of both unambiguously positive and unambiguously negative attitudes toward these traditions and insist on the creative potential of the realistic, i.e. critically-analytical, approach. The article affirms the significance of the versatile (multidisciplinary) education, of the fundamental, holistic, systemic, elite education, and the great importance of the unity of education together with the high value of patriotic education. The specificity of these values is revealed through correlation with their antipodes such as narrow, limited-applied, eclectic-fragmentary, mass, morally and patriotically neutral education. The authors believe that the competitive education is the one that aims at developing of creative-scientific competences rather than utilitarian-technological ones.
RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):532-541
pages 532-541 views

THEORY OF FAMILY EDUCATION IN THE GENERAL THEORETICAL CONTEXT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Dementieva I.F., Golenkova Z.T.

Abstract

The article considers the challenges for the development of the theory of family education as one of the youngest and most promising branches of the contemporary science. Today’s relevance of this theory is directly related to the transformations of the Russian society in the last decades, which had a great impact on the family ideology in general and changed the goals, objectives, content and methods of family education in particular. The theorists of the family education intensified the search for a new self-determination and a new identity for the Russian family as an educational institution. Under such conditions, the theory of family education adopts the conceptual findings and relevant ideas of other social sciences to develop methodology and techniques of raising and educating children in the family context. The article considers the sources of such ideas in the particular theories in the field of pedagogy, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, economics and informatics. The author identifies and briefly characterizes three groups of different social theories that contribute to a deeper understanding of the goals of family education: pedagogical theories (of free education, self-determination, self-education, culturally appropriate education, ecological education, assimilation and accommodation, pedagogy of cooperation, programmed teaching, pedagogical empiricism, and pedagogical education focused on children), psychological theories (of step-by-step formation of mental actions, personality, adaptation, affiliation, interpersonal interactions, activity mediation of interpersonal relationships, isolation, and imitation), and sociological theories (of globalization, social capital, information, social inequality, social risks, power sharing, gender, rational choice, synergetics, small groups, and mass communications).

RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2018;18(3):542-554
pages 542-554 views

Reviews

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