No 8 (2024)

The «round table» discussed the problems of sociology of professions and the prospects for a relatively new section in the journal «Sociological Studies» in the year of the anniversary of the journal. The discussion focuses on the analysis of the subject and object of this discipline, its theoretical and methodological foundations, issues of modern problems of the discipline, the most promising research areas, the specifics of its existence in Russian sociology. The most significant aspects of the sociology of professions subject area are related to the professional activity, the interaction of professionals and professional communities with the state, society, and the market. Attention is paid to the analysis of the discipline origins, the adaptation of its conceptual and methodological approaches: developments in the national sociology of labour, employment and management, studies of the intelligentsia, approaches of sociology, anthropology, ethnography of professions, and other disciplines played an important role. Contradictions in the development of sociology of professions theoretical and methodological explanatory models, as well as research directions, are also shown. It is noted that despite the long-term crisis of the discipline, its potential in the study of modern processes in the field of labor and employment, social policy, and the formation of professional communities is still high.

The article introduces readers to a new academic direction for Russian sociology – social studies of finance. This research field is actively producing new scientific concepts and topics, as well as the epistemic tools to study society. Sociologists play their part in this collective work. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate sociological perspectives of finance, to investigate how sociologists see the subject of their scientific search and its theoretical problems. It is noted that the formation of the academic field has been going on for more than 20 years, therefore, each decade was allocated to a separate research wave, for which an analytical review of key sociological scientific works of the European sociologists from the specialized issues of academic journals (Socio-Economic Review и Economic Sociology. European Electronic Newsletter, Finance and Society etc.) was conducted. This analysis helped identify a range of relevant research issues and theoretical problems, to trace their evolution. As a result, the author concludes that the study of the sociological problems of finance is a key to understand the structure of modern society, for it has transformative influence on society at all its levels – from state and organization to individual.

The article reflects the process of evolution of research approaches to the study of migration from the 1950s to the present. The increasing role of sociological approaches in the study of migration processes is shown. The application of sociological methods in the mid-1970s significantly expanded the research problems of migration analysis. As a result of this analysis of migration behavior, the reasons for migration and migration attitudes were identified. The process of transit of migration research methodologies in modern Russia from normative-economic and statistical approaches in the USSR to modern cross-methodological approaches recognized by international research standards is shown. The paper considers the process of institutionalization of the main research groups – subdivisions of the Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, non-governmental analytical/research centers, state research and expert organizations. It is noted that the main feature of the current stage of research on migration processes in Russia is a greater emphasis on sociological approaches to the study of migration. Special attention is paid to the forms and tools of uniting researchers in scientific discussion platforms in the form of scientific journals, which are in fact the key element that binds the scientific community together.

In recent years social media has turned out to be a new way of controlling minds of people and forming the way they view the world. North Caucasus has always been a complex multi-ethnic and multi-religious region. Territorial disputes and old (but not forgotten) conflicts make North Caucasus easy to try manipulating to stir it away from Russia. The idea of ”decolonization“ of Russia has resurfaced again after the Special military operation. The article presents an analysis of Telegram channels which are connected by anti-Russian rhetoric, promote “decolonization” and are focused on North Caucasus. The social graph method is used to create visual representation of the network of channels and connections between them. The quantitative content analysis method was used to analyze the text. We were able to identify five main thematic categories: “Special military operation in Ukraine”, “Islam”, “pan-Caucasian identity”, “history”, “genocide of the peoples of the North Caucasus”. The main purpose of these publications is to create a negative image of Russia, as well as to create an image of the oppressed North Caucasus colonized peoples. The level of influence of these posts on the real population of the region is the main question. We suggest that there are several information spaces: internal regional (news channels and local bloggers) and external (all the anti-Russian channels). It will be possible to talk about their merger only in two cases: if permanent connections emerge between them or if the thematic content of publications becomes sufficiently similar.

The rise of sociology as a science, reflecting modernization processes in society and exerting significant influence on them, developed during the post-Soviet period of Armenian reality. This development was facilitated by ‘discovery’ of sociology by the post-Soviet society and the close (though not always equal) interaction of domestic sociologists with Western sociological schools. Additionally, the participation of Western sociologists of Armenian nationality contributed to the formation of Armenian statehood as well as to growth of sociology as an academic discipline in Armenia. Under the influence of democratization processes, political sociology focused primarily on the transitional Armenian society, addressing the formation of power institutions and the utilization of political technologies. Regional dynamics, traditional and new foreign policy processes in Armenia, threats, and risks influenced the study of foreign policy guidelines within Armenian society. This also led to the formation and development of sociology of conflict and military sociology, closely linked to political sociology and sometimes inseparable. The effective managing of the Armenian state and society directly correlates with the integration of political sociology into political practices, and with demand for sociological knowledge, especially sociological forecasts, among decision-makers.

The religious aspects of the theory of G. M. McLuhan, the founder of media theory, are considered in application to the current situation in the Russian Orthodox Church. McLuhan’s ideas about the Christian Church, the reasons for its flourishing in the first centuries and weakening in the 15th century (the era of the Reformation, schisms and of Protestantism) are still little known to researchers. According to McLuhan, in modern times, Christianity is repeating the mistakes of the 16th century, which is why Christianity risks weakening and splitting again. McLuhan admits that Eastern Orthodoxy is more in line with the spirit of modernity, for Russia is one of the countries not advanced in written culture as far as the West. McLuhan aims his criticism at the Catholic Church of the Second Vatican Council times, but we clearly see that the behavior of Russian Orthodoxy today might serve as an equally vivid illustration of ignoring the problems of changing eras. Analysis of the construction of the basis of the concept, derived by the author from speeches, interviews and open letters of M. McLuhan, research on the quantity and quality of Orthodox Christians in post-Soviet Russia, taken from open sources, conveys information about the policy of the Orthodox Church in modern Russia, as well as important conclusions of the author.

The study presents findings of an investigation into the growing potential factors of public activity based on regional sociological surveys. It demonstrates dynamics and structures of institutional and generalized trust in the Tyumen region from 2013 to 2023. Comparative interregional assessments of institutional and generalized trust, as well as the potential for growth of public activity across seven Russian regions in 2023, are offered, too. The analysis addresses contradictions in the interrelationships among key social capital resources. A typology of public participation – categorized into “active,” “political participants,” “public activists,” and “passives” – was developed using the example of the Tyumen region residents and subsequently used to evaluate its connection to social capital. The study illustrates increasing public activity levels, primarily linked to generalized trust and communicative resources. Barriers to the growth of engagement in socially beneficial activities are identified.

The article examines evolution and content of the resentment phenomenon. According to the theory of F. Nietzsche, resentment is the feeling experienced by a person towards his enemy or towards the one whom he considers guilty of his failures, which causes his aggression towards another. L. Fishman traces various historical forms of resentment, drawing attention to the fact that the main subject of resentment actions is often not the plebeian, but bearers of the values of the ruling class. Under these conditions, resentment becomes the most important instrument of political struggle, the subject of appeal from one social force to another. Thus, the author studied the phenomenon of resentment from another perspective than the founders of this concept, F. Nietzsche and M. Scheler. Нe treats it as a type of false consciousness, and the concept of resentment in its original form as its criticism from the right. In the modern world, the phenomenon of resentment is embodied in a wide variety of forms – from the precariat to confrontation between states. And as long as there is a division of society into the strong and the weak in the world, social inequality, double standards, resentment will find favorable soil.