Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology

This study analyses the ethnocultural specifics of understandings of patriotism, the concepts of "homeland" and "hero" among the indigenous peoples of Chukotka, and the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War in the context of modern geopolitical challenges, including the special military operation. The relevance of this study stems from the need to study the consolidating role of patriotism in a multiethnic region. The research methodology combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The theoretical framework integrates the ethnographic method, memory studies and oral history approaches, focusing on "history from below." Chukotka residents' perception of their homeland is closely linked to their place of birth, family, and nature. Patriotism is interpreted through the prism of traditional values, such as land protection, family ties, and a willingness to self-sacrifice. Thus, in the Chukchi tradition, patriotism can be understood through concepts of blood solidarity. The historical memory of the Great Patriotic War reveals the contribution of the indigenous peoples of Chukotka to the victory (volunteers at the front; construction of airfields on the AlSib highway in Markovo and Uelkal; rear support – supplies of furs, reindeer meat, fish products, marine mammals, fur clothing, fundraising, purchase of bonds, unpaid labour). The article analyses possible reasons for the apparent imbalance in participation in the special military operation between the indigenous peoples of Chukotka and the non-indigenous population ("newcomers"). Indigenous peoples view modern participation in the special military operation as a continuation of the tradition of commemorating the Great Patriotic War and it is associated with voluntary choice, social needs, and a warrior-hunter mentality, expressed in a habit of risk-taking and fatalism. The study revealed that the patriotism of the peoples of Chukotka is deeply rooted and based on a synthesis of ethnic traditions of defending "their land," the Soviet legacy of the Great Patriotic War and contemporary civic solidarity. 86.2% of respondents identify themselves as patriots of Russia. Patriotism is manifested through the continuity of heroism (the Great Patriotic War is a special military operation), solidarity in the face of external threats, and a deep connection to the territory.

The paper examines the commemorative practices of students at three Far Eastern universities related to the memory of the Great Patriotic War. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the concepts of collective and historical memory (M. Halbwachs, P. Nora, J. Assmann), cultural and symbolic capital (P. Bourdieu), cultural trauma (P. Sztompka), commemoration (J. Gillis), and civilisational analysis (N. S. Rozov, B. N. Kuzyk, Yu. V. Yakovets). The empirical basis of the study is formed by the materials of a questionnaire survey of students studying at the Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok), North-Eastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov (Yakutsk), Buryat State University named after D. Banzarov (Ulan-Ude). The total sample size was 616 people. Our study focuses on the forms of representation of the Great Patriotic War in the commemorative practices of student youth. Overall, the memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War among young people in the region is formed at the intersection of state policy, public initiatives, and everyday forms of preserving historical memory. The results of the study also showed that processes of historical memory transformation are taking place in the public consciousness of Far Eastern students, expressed in a gradual shift from collective and institutional forms of commemoration to individualised and mediated practices. Historical memory of the Great Patriotic War for university students in the Far East continues to be an important element in the formation of civic identity, but is characterised by fragmentation and a decrease in personal involvement in the events of the military past. An analysis of sociocultural practices surrounding Victory Day celebrations revealed a diversity of youth participation in commemorative events. Individualised forms of May 9th celebrations are becoming increasingly widespread. At the same time, interest in mass memorial events remains strong. The memory of the Great Patriotic War among students at Far Eastern universities is a complex, multi-layered phenomenon, intertwining institutional, media, and family channels of communication. The resulting trend of change points to a gradual weakening of official forms of commemorative practices, necessitating increased attention to youth audiences within educational, informational, and cultural policies to preserve and promote historical memory as a crucial resource for Russian identity and civic consolidation.

This article attempts to determine whether certain moral norms are part of the Russian cultural code, as well as the specific features of these norms and the extent to which Russians agree on them. To answer these research questions, large-scale AI language models (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) were used to generate a picture of the diversity of approaches to studying the cultural code of nations in global scholarship and conduct a global bibliometric analysis, the results of which are also presented in the article. Based on these results, an empirical analysis of survey data from 2000, 2015, and 2024 from the Institute of Sociology of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as data from the 7th wave of the World Values ​​Survey (WVS), was conducted. It demonstrated that Russians are characterised by a specific system of moral norms that differ both from those typical of nominal West and those characteristic of the "global majority”, suggesting that a number of these norms can be considered a separate element of the national cultural code. According to the study, these include: a persistently negative attitude toward homosexual relations and related lifestyle aspects (same-sex marriage, etc.) while allowing for a relatively high degree of freedom in heterosexual relations; a categorical rejection of treason, which is complemented by the prevalence of norms that ensure peace in a multiethnic and multi-religious country; and a denial of the permissibility of enrichment at the expense of others. A widespread as compared to other countries moral relativism regarding the fulfillment of one's obligations to the state (paying taxes, etc.) was also revealed, although at the normative level, the majority of Russians still recognise the inadmissibility of evading these obligations. Dynamic analysis demonstrated the consistent, widespread prevalence of these norms, while cluster analysis demonstrated the heterogeneity of Russians´ perceptions of moral norms and confirmed that some of them are stable enough to be included in the nation's cultural code. It can also be considered proven that the category of cultural code itself can be applied in sociological research.

Thie paper proposes a constructivist perspective on the institutional nature of the Cossack community and the components of Cossack identity as a whole. The author draws on the concepts of P. Berger, T. Luckmann, and R. Brubaker. Modern Russian Cossacks are presented as a dynamic social community, shaped by historical traditions, the challenges of the times, and new institutional conditions, that significantly influence their ideological and social self-determination in Russian society. The author examines the political, legal, cultural, historical, economic, and educational aspects of the Cossack community, identifying key mechanisms for the legitimisation of social knowledge and certain components of Cossack identity. The formally established order is viewed as the result of externalisation by actors and the basis for the internalisation of norms by Cossacks. The importance of cultural knowledge in socialisation is also emphasised, as it operates within the framework of institutionally enshrined norms that define the vectors of community development. This study emphasises the pursuit of historical continuity in the sociocultural forms of Cossacks in modern times, resulting in a significant portion of social knowledge being relegitimised and reinterpreted. Following the revival of the Cossacks as a social community that began in the late 1980s, they now appear as a formalised structure integrated into the state system, with significant roles in contemporary socio-political processes. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between registered and non-registered Cossacks, an analysis of regulations governing the activities of Cossack societies, and the influence of religious, educational, and media institutions on the formation of the collective identity of the Cossacks. The mechanisms for the reproduction of traditional Cossack practices are examined, as well as their adaptation to contemporary social and political challenges. The work also addresses the prospect of Cossack participation in the Special Military Operation, that contributes to the restoration of the Cossacks' historical status as a military force. It is noted that, despite the differences between registered Cossack societies and Cossack non-profit organisations, the absence of rigid barriers between them can facilitate their integration and consolidation.

The relevance of studying generational relationships in academic and teaching communities stems from significant gaps in sociological research on higher education. The academic community of university academic and teaching staff has a complex structure, the generational one being one of the variety. Its current state and changing dynamics influence the functioning of modern Russian universities, raising concerns among both academic and teaching staff and university administration. The problems of generational relationships within the academic and teaching community, caused by imbalances in its generational structure, form the subject of this article. The purpose of the study is to determine the content and nature of generational relationships within the academic and teaching community. The article presents an analysis of academic and teaching staff's understanding of the problems of generational relationships, including signs of crisis and their orientation toward the ideal of intergenerational relationships. The article considers the reasons for the relevance of the problem, its theoretical and practical significance, scientific novelty, and outlines the possibilities of using the research results to solve important problems of university development. Along with a review of the literature on this issue, an analysis of the theoretical foundations of the study is presented with an emphasis on the conceptual substantiation of generational issues in the works of K. Mannheim. The empirical basis of the article is formed by the data of two sociological studies (2023-2024), obtained in the course of semi-structured interviews with representatives of different generations of scientific, pedagogical and administrative-managerial workers of Russian universities. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the focus on the contradictions of generational relations among scientific and pedagogical workers and the identification of potential zones of intergenerational tensions and conflicts. The main results of this study are as follows: interpretation of the orientation of scientific and pedagogical workers on achieving a balance in generational relations; characterization of the "rejuvenation policy" as a factor in the actualisation of negative age stereotypes; the definition of scientific schools and scientific mentoring as conflict-free zones of generational relations. The authors point to the risks of exaggerating the role of the younger generation, that are generated by state policy in higher education. They conclude that managerial assessments of a university's generational structure based solely on quantitative parameters of the ratio of representatives of the younger and older generations of academic staff are weakly justified.

The article examines the use of per-capita normative financing as a type of managerial rating adopted in the system of inter-university competition and its impact on the situation in the Russian higher education system. The objective of the study is to identify the interconnection between the managerial content of per-capita normative financing, as the main instrument of state support for universities, and the destructive social effects of its application. The authors demonstrate that the theoretical foundations of this approach to education financing are based on the ideas of state managerialism, developed to adapt corporate management methods to the needs of the non-profit sector. The main objective of per-capita normative financing is to reduce state budget expenditures by depriving low-ranked universities of budgetary allocations by not allocating them admission quotas. The article provides a qualitative and quantitative measurement of the social effects of this managerial tool. Research methods: document analysis; mass survey of faculty; in-depth interviews with faculty working in pre-university training departments; in-depth interviews with faculty responsible for ensuring employment indicators. It was found that all indicators for standard per capita funding were divided into three categories: socially significant, achieved through imitation; useless, achieved through imitation; and those posing a real threat to the quality of education. Most KPIs are falsified to varying degrees because universities lack the resources to achieve them. The potential for distorted indicators stems from a profound disconnect between the essence of management work and scientific and educational activities. Management is a continuous process of adding up numbers and formalising processes. Science and education are the reproduction of a good, each unit of which requires individual assessment. In the managerialist management model, teachers find themselves completely dependent on a manager indifferent to the meaning of what they manage. Consciously or unconsciously, effective managers demand results at any cost, preferring to ignore the issue of the quality of the goods created. The main goal of normative per capita funding is to eliminate universities unable to meet the required minimum KPIs from the educational services market. Therefore, widespread fraud, amid resource constraints, resulted from adaptation to inherently discriminatory obligations. The authors conclude that regional universities lack the capacity to meet the Ministry of Education and Science's proposed KPIs for normative per capita funding, creating the risk of imitation and leading to a decline in the quality of the educational process, as well as a loss of universities' social value, that could pose serious risks to the country's development.

The conflict between rich and poor has always been one of the most sensitive issues for ordinary Russians, and their attitude toward it have significantly influenced the level of social tension and the degree of social consolidation. Given the significance of this issue amidst the intensification of external challenges facing our country in recent years, the article, using data from representative nationwide studies conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2005, 2015, and 2024, attempts to demonstrate how perceptions of this conflict have changed in recent decades, as well as the specific factors that contribute to its sensitivity in today's Russia. The primary research methods utilised were dynamic and comparative analysis, as well as various versions of correlation analysis. It is shown that the popularity of the conflict between rich and poor has halved over the past two decades, and in 2024, it became the third most frequently mentioned topic. The two main factors that exacerbate his perception and act in an interconnected manner are the impossibility of achieving the desired standards of everyday life and the feeling of injustice of the "rules of the game" established in society, giving rise to a feeling of powerlessness and the inability to independently change anything in one's life. The standards in question are quite modest and relate primarily to nutrition, clothing and certain non-monetary aspects of life (the ability to change something in it, access to medical care, etc.). It is also shown that it is precisely subjective (i.e., related to the perception of the situation in society as a whole and one's place in it in particular), rather than objective characteristics of a person, that are decisive for his perception of the contradiction between rich and poor as one of the most acute, influencing even electoral behaviour. Of the objective factors, the most significant are, in descending order of importance, the presence in the household of chronically ill people with limited working capacity who do not have the status of disabled; belonging to low-skilled and unskilled workers; low per capita income and old age.

The article provides an overview of the theoretical and methodological seminar in memory of Prof. A.V. Tikhonov, "Possibilities and Risks of Using Artificial Intelligence Technologies at Different Levels of Social Management," held in June 2024. The seminar was organised by the Center for Sociology of Management and Social Technologies and the Laboratory of Infosocial Technologies of the Institute of Sociology of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and three research committees of the Russian Society of Sociologists (Sociology of Management and Organisations, Sociology of Digital Society, and Urban and Regional Development). The papers presented at the seminar explore the history of the creation and institutionalisation of artificial intelligence through its integration into various social practices and areas of public activity. Two strategies for developing hybrid governance systems using AI are identified: one at the level of public administration and business, as a unified technocratic strategy for achieving goals, and a strategy for implementing AI scientifically grounded as a socially oriented. The pros and cons of conceptual foundations and applied approaches to the study and development of AI are highlighted. The urgent need to identify and define the role, place and significance of sociology and industry-specific sociological disciplines in these processes is identified, namely, as a science that has the ability to track, study, and develop socially grounded forecasts for subsequent transformation adequate to the needs of society against the backdrop of large-scale technical innovations. Various points of view are proposed on the current state of the processes of developing and integrating AI technologies at various levels of social governance: societal (institutional) – interaction between the state and society; industry – organisational behaviour and functioning of production structures; territorial and local (interpersonal).