Том 31, № 2 (2025)
OPENING ADDRESS
6-6
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PROCESSES IN THE FOCUS OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
Informal interactions in society: experience of conceptual interpretation
Аннотация
The aim of the article is to propose a conceptual and methodological approach to understanding informal interactions as the ontological foundation of society and a resource for its development. The authors reveal their core essential qualities — recursiveness, temporality, flexibility, variability, and value-ladenness — demonstrating how these drive changes in political, economic, and social practices. The flexibility and adaptability of informal norms ensure the preservation and intergenerational transmission of a spectrum of positive behavioral responses, values, and meanings tied to specific life situations. The recursive “loop” of informality sustains the continuity of social bonds over time. Informal interactions not only complement the institutional environment but, under certain conditions, replace it, shaping new configurations of social reality. They enrich the social landscape, safeguard society against persistent risks, and create behavioral alternatives. It is informality that embodies the “particular” distinguishing one historically formed society from another. However, the proliferation of informal practices beyond a certain “measure” signals the inadequacy or ineffectiveness of a society’s institutional structure and may hinder its development.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):7-21
7-21
The concept of data colonization by N. Сouldry and U. Mejias: content and methodological foundations
Аннотация
The analysis focuses on the theoretical and methodological foundations of the data colonialism concept authored by Nick Couldry and Ulises A. Mejias. It offers an interpretation of the large-scale transformations of modern social life taking place in connection with the widespread use of information and communication technologies and the extraction of user data in the Internet environment. Methodology includes several analytical traditions of social knowledge. Using the comparative historical method, the authors trace the features of historical colonialism over a long period. The key to this is the idea of the colonial-capitalist spiral. According to it, capitalism was not possible without the material benefits obtained because of the colonial seizures. Authors argued that the practices of appropriation and exploitation of world resources, which are the basis of colonialism, find their manifestation in a new form nowadays. Developing the concept of data colonialism, the authors conclude that technology companies through the seizure of human life carry out extraction of new resources. This is because the wealth of manifestations of people's lives are transformed through the use of technologies into abstract patterns of behavior on the web, ready for use in the market operations of digital platforms. Based on the Marxist tradition of analysis, in particular, the concept of alienation of labor, it is shown that in the conditions of data capitalism, business expansion occurs due to sources that are not directly production activities, i.e. indirect sources of exploitation. These include a variety of data about user behavior on the web. At the same time, it brings the formation social relations in connection with data, characterized by a strict power asymmetry between owners and users. Data colonialism is a source of new forms of social and economic inequality. The combination of cognitive capabilities of postcolonial theory and a functional approach allows the authors to consider the content of the main strategies of colonial management in the context of data capitalism: explore, expand, exploit, exterminate. Following the logic of comparative historical analysis, the authors study the legitimization of colonial practices regarding historical and digital colonialism. Authors apply narrative analysis involves studying messages based on their narrative structure. The authors identify and analyze the techniques of leading modern narratives that define power dominance. According to the concept, data capitalism creates toxic conditions for the life of society, since the minimal integrity of human life is at risk. Authors place emphasis on the need for decolonization – countering the emerging social order based on an attempt to colonize new resources in the interests of global elites.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):22-36
22-36
Sociological understanding of the subject of ideology in classical and contemporary approaches
Аннотация
Ideology, as a social phenomenon, represents an action-oriented formation of social images and meanings, and implies the existence of its own carrier – the subject of ideology. The study of this subject is a key condition for understanding ideological processes, which determines the relevance of the topic under consideration. The research problem lies in understanding the factors that contribute to the unification of individuals into ideological communities. Approaches to understanding the subject of ideology have been influenced both by conceptions of the social nature of ideology and by societal changes. Based on the analysis of classical (K. Marx, V. Pareto, K. Mannheim, T. Adorno, A. Gramsci) and contemporary approaches (L. Althusser, S. Žižek), the main properties of the collective subject of ideology are examined. Within the context of the research, attention is given to J. Alexander’s concepts regarding groups as carriers of collective meanings, C. G. Jung’s theory of archetypes of the collective unconscious, and R. Barthes’ interpretation of ideology as a form of modern mythology. It is argued that the subject of ideology is a group characterized by a certain position within the social structure and that it constructs an image of social relations from the perspective determined by this position. In this context, ideology serves less as a tool for rational understanding of its own position and setting development or change goals, than as a means of rationalizing deep-seated social emotions, self-assertion, justifying the inevitability of the existing order or the necessity of its transformation. The networking of social space affects both the properties of the ideological subject and the nature of its activity. On the one hand, “network effects” may emerge in producing new outcomes of ideological activity; on the other hand, real social activism is increasingly replaced by virtual activism carried out within social networks.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):37-49
37-49
Everyday culture in the context of modern challenges: a socio-anthropological approach
Аннотация
The modern contradictory and risk-generating sociocultural dynamics necessitate the actualization of philosophical and culturological analysis regarding the anthropological meaning of culture in general, and everyday culture in particular. The aim of this study is to examine theoretical interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the anthropological significance of everyday culture and to identify their functional potential for addressing contemporary problems. Philosophical-historical, culturological, and semiotic approaches are used in the analysis, including elements of the comparative-historical method for examining the phenomenon of everyday culture and its connection with historical sociocultural processes. The authors reveal various dimensions of the anthropological meaning of everyday culture as a micro-level slice of culture where deep layers of cultural heritage are accumulated and transmitted, while at the same time new forms of human identity are formed. Based on interdisciplinary research, key anthropological challenges of the modern era have been identified: coexistence of archaic and modernized cultures; evolutionary-biological changes affecting humanity; preservation of corporeality as an anthropological value; and human self-realization in the context of artificial intelligence development. It is concluded that under ongoing sociocultural, ecological, and technological transformations, everyday culture becomes an area of heightened vulnerability and simultaneously a source of resistance to destructive tendencies, preserving the profound anthropological potential of society and the individual.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):50-61
50-61
Tradesmen and philistinism as a social group and a phenomenon of bourgeois culture: a Marxist approach
Аннотация
The article is devoted to the place and role of the tradesmanes and the philistinism as a petty bourgeois stratum of urban residents who, engaged in handicraft and trade activities on the "sidelines" of the agricultural economy of feudal society, turned out to be the vanguard of the bourgeoisie as such and the pioneers of the capitalist mode of production. The history of the philistinism began in the IX-XI centuries, when ancient cities were revived and new ones were built in feudal Europe, the first inhabitants of which were mainly artisans and traders who ensured the exchange of products of labor between the city and the village. With them began the history of the bourgeoisie, its development from the petty bourgeoisie as small producers, conducting commodity production, to the merchants, owners of manufactories, factories, plants and bank owners, using hired labor. This layer of townspeople, directly connected with material production, eventually gave rise to a special socio-psychological personality type, which subsequently spread among representatives of different layers and professions of the urban population of modern and contemporary times. The basis of the existence of the philistinism is commodity production and trade as a means of exchange between commodity producers, which plays a contradictory role in society, since its task is to obtain commercial benefits which opens up space for deception, fraud and other violations of the existing norms of morality and ethics in society. The trading side of the life of the tradesmanes forms in them a special type of personality with a corresponding psychology and way of thinking, which subsequently spreads widely in society and is adopted by representatives of other layers and professions of the urban population.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):62-74
62-74
SOCIAL CONTRACT IN THE CONTEXT OF HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY
Social contract in the sphere of healthcare for soviet citizens (1917–1940)
Аннотация
The article considers two historical periods of time, during which significant changes were observed in the basic principles of the organization of the state health policy. The state began to form the prototype of the modern health care system in the first years of Soviet power, immediately after the October Revolution. The initial period (1917-1929) of institutional development of the public health sector is associated with the creation of a central government body - the People's Commissariat of Health, whose efforts were aimed at nationalization and centralization of health care, development of medical infrastructure, training of doctors and other medical workers, as well as the organization of health education work with the involvement of the population in its implementation. Having assumed the responsibility for providing each citizen with free and qualified medical care, the state began to implement its plans in fairly difficult socio-economic and political conditions. In a fairly short period of time, infectious diseases were virtually eliminated in the country and the level of socially significant diseases was reduced. The second historical period - pre-war (1930-1940), is characterized by large-scale reforms of Soviet health care. The tasks facing the sphere were associated with the interests and plans of the state in socialist construction. Health protection was mainly focused on the working population, medical care became as close as possible to the workplace, medical and preventive institutions were created at enterprises. During the years of the first five-year plans, the main services of Soviet health care were formed, including the protection of motherhood and childhood, the sanitary and epidemiological service, etc. The activities of the Institute of Health were assessed quite highly. The development of the public health care system became one of the priority areas of social transformation at that time.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):75-86
75-86
Social contract between artistic intelligentsia and the government during the Great Patriotic war (1941-1945)
Аннотация
In the article, based on a historical-sociological analysis, the role of the artistic intelligentsia and the party-state elite in shaping social cohesion, patriotism, national unity, and the mobilization of the Soviet people's spiritual strength is revealed as key components of the social contract. Author examines the features of the social contract between the artistic intelligentsia and the Soviet government during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Directors, actors, writers, musicians, composers, and artists fought at the front, supported fundraising for the National Defense Fund, conducted agitation and propaganda work, and ensured the stable development of Soviet culture in the rear. Despite the ambiguous attitude towards the Soviet government and the existence of opposition among the creators, during the war, the artistic intelligentsia rallied to serve the interests of the state and the people, significantly contributing to the support of the fighting spirit and the mobilization of the spiritual forces of the people. Thanks to her creativity, appeal to historical roots, symbols and meanings, there was a growth of national consciousness and unity of the Soviet people in the difficult conditions of wartime.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):87-98
87-98
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIO-CULTURAL SPACE
Androgynous gender identity in the context of modern society
Аннотация
In modern social conditions, the androgynous type of gender identity combining feminine and masculine traits is gaining increasing significance as an adaptive mechanism of personal identification in the context of eroding traditional norms. The purpose of the study is to identify characteristics of androgynous men and women that facilitate or hinder their social adaptation. The research draws on data from empirical studies conducted over the past decade and includes an analysis of the interrelations between an individual’s gender status and such aspects as family attitudes, professional choice, group activity, anxiety levels, and social behaviour. Findings indicate that androgynous gender status is dominant among individuals of different age groups, especially among young people. The image of the ideal woman is increasingly shaped within the framework of biarchism (the principle of gender equality) and includes androgynous traits, whereas the image of the ideal man remains largely patriarchal, although "feminine" elements such as emotional openness and caring are beginning to emerge. Androgynous individuals demonstrate high adaptability: they are more successful in their professional lives, possess a broader range of role possibilities, and are characterised by increased social competence. However, in certain contexts — such as the distribution of family roles or perception of personal significance – androgyny may be accompanied by uncertainty and internal conflict. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying its findings in personnel management, government and local self-government bodies, administrative structures, as well as in educational and psychological counselling activities.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):99-110
99-110
Urban gender regimes through the lens of critical toponymy
Аннотация
The article presents findings from a study of the toponymic systems of regional capitals in Russia’s Central Federal District (16 cities, excluding Moscow). The aim was to identify characteristics of urban gender regimes in these cities from the perspective of critical toponymics and to conduct a comparative analysis with similar data from European cities. The theoretical and methodological foundation of the research is based on the concept of gender regimes and key principles of critical toponymics. Data collection for Russian cities was based on the analysis of official documents as well as information from geospatial platforms — Yandex.Maps and OpenStreetMap. For European cities, open data integrated by the projects Mapping diversity and Stnameslab were used. Processing of the collected material involved statistical and cartographic methods using Microsoft Excel and QGIS software. The analysis confirmed the presence of stable gender regimes within the toponymic systems of all studied cities. The main characteristic of these regimes is the clear dominance of male names in street naming, both in Russian and European contexts. However, differences were observed in the content: in Russian cities, names of figures of supra-regional significance prevail, while in European cities — despite a much higher number of “female” anthroponyms — a significant share refers to individuals directly connected to the city and its development. Spatial distribution patterns indicate that urban space is regulated by gender regimes: “female” anthrotoponyms are most often located on the periphery of central districts. The results provide a basis for outlining promising directions for further study of urban gender regimes through the lens of critical toponymics.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):111-128
111-128
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF STATE GOVERNANCE
Value issues in national projects of the Russian Federation
Аннотация
The article explores the theoretical foundations of the concept of “values” in philosophy and sociology, as well as their reflection in contemporary value-oriented policy, using as examples the national projects “Family” and “Youth and Children” and the Strategy for Family and Demographic Policy until 2036. Within the theoretical framework of the paper, the notion of “value” is examined from philosophical and sociological perspectives, based on the works of I. Kant, H. Rickert, É. Durkheim, M. Weber, T. Parsons, V. P. Tugarinov, V. A. Yadov, and N. P. Lapin. The reviewed theoretical approaches have been systematized according to their interpretative characteristics and grouped into three categories distinguished by their focus: normative, ideal, and practical. This classification served as a basis for a comparative analysis between the author's understanding of values and the existing interpretation of this category within Russian legislation. An analysis of the national projects and the Strategy revealed that they include specific mechanisms for transmitting values through upbringing, education, and cultural context, contributing to the reinforcement of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values outlined in Presidential Decree No. 809 of November 9, 2022. However, to increase their effectiveness, broader audience engagement and systematic alignment with already established societal value orientations are required, as current project implementations insufficiently account for these attitudes. The analysis presented allows for the formulation of practical recommendations aimed at improving value-oriented measures in state policy and may be useful for demographers, legal scholars, and philosophers working within the axiological tradition.
Science. Culture. Society. 2025;31(2):129-144
129-144