Volume 30, Nº 4 (2024)
MODERN POLITICAL PROCESSES IN RUSSIA AND ABROAD
Hybrid warfare in the context of information confrontation
Resumo
The article reveals the place and role of information influence on the enemy's audiences in conflicts of hybrid format. A brief review of the main scientific approaches to the study of hybrid wars in modern academic literature is given. Methodological and legal difficulties in the search for an adequate definition of the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ are noted. It is emphasised that the ways of hybrid influence on the masses are the result of globalisation and the formation of information society. The peculiarities of unconventional techniques in military-political conflicts are considered by the author in the context of the policy of ‘post-truth’. The objective prerequisites for the spread of various ways of manipulating information in order to achieve political superiority over the enemy are analysed. The existing methods of cognitive influence on the consciousness of citizens are considered as weapons that are used by participants of military-political confrontation anonymously, without a declaration of war. The authors conclude that the success of hybrid attacks depends not so much on technology as on the ability of the authorities to maintain socio-political stability in the state.
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):8-20
8-20
The parties of the parliamentary opposition in the elections to representative bodies of local self-government in 2024
Resumo
The article is devoted to the analysis of the electoral results of opposition political parties in the local government elections, which took place in September 2024. Considering the opposition as the most important element of the modern political system, the author justifies the importance of the presence of opposition political parties at all levels of government. Based on the analysis of latest data of electoral statistics, it is shown that the possibilities of political competition at local elections are slightly higher than at the regional and federal levels. It can be explained by the lower interest of the regional political elite participating in municipal government, especially against the background of a decrease in the budget provision of local government and permanent reforms of the local government. Analyzing the reforms of local self-government the author comes to the conclusion about the gradual integration of local self-government bodies into the general vertical of power and to reproduce its dependence on federal and regional authorities. This, in turn, leads to a low level of trust in the LSG on the part of citizens. At the same time, parties at the local level are becoming important actors of civil society and the main participants in the electoral process, but less than half of the registered political parties are currently becoming participants. The author shows that the main beneficiary of the elections is the United Russia party, while the opposition parties are content to participate rather than win. A typology of opposition political parties is proposed, which is based on the activity of participation in election campaigns (the number of candidates nominated, the number of regions where parties participate, the number of mandates received after the distribution of votes).
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):21-35
21-35
Political participation and digital communications of Russians after the start of the SMO: features and main forms
Resumo
The article is devoted to identifying key changes in the practices of political participation of Russian citizens during the period of a Special military operation on the territory of Ukraine, caused, among other things, by the transformation of public political discourse and the digital environment. Analyzing the phenomenon of social consolidation in the conditions of ITS, key models of political participation and changes in media consumption of Russians over the past two years, the author concludes that after February 24, 2022, a certain transformation of public discourse and structure of media consumption, as well as related practices of political participation of Russians, took place in Russia. There is a differentiation of the socially active part of the population into two unequal groups: on the one hand, a dissenting protest minority, whose main form of political participation and "statements" were emigration or spontaneous protests; on the other hand, a consolidated patriotic majority expressing support for the activities of the country's leadership through traditional as well as new forms of participation: charity, volunteering, "pro-government" electoral behavior, information and campaigning work. It is also noted that the prevailing practices of political participation due to the use of digital technologies today are volunteer activities (including "virtual volunteering"), protest political participation, as well as conventional practices of electoral participation using remote electronic voting technologies.
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):36-51
36-51
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The success of the Eurosceptic opposition forces in the European Parliament deputies’ elections 2024: causes and consequences
Resumo
The article examines the results of the elections of deputies of the European Parliament, which took place on June 6-9, 2024 in all 27 member states of the European Union. Ten mains officially registered European parties participating in these elections are represented, including six so-called Euro-optimistic ones supporting the EU, and three Eurosceptic ones criticizing the current state of the Union. The analysis of the main results of the activities of the European Parliament of the previous IX convocation from 2019 to 2024, including the results of the activities of all parliamentary groups operating in it and representing eight leading European parties, was carried out. The key trends in the transformation of the European party and political system over the past five years are considered, including the decline in popularity of the leading European parties and their member parties: Conservatives, Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens, and the growing attractiveness of Eurosceptic and populist parties in many EU member states, electoral successes in national elections of representatives of the right, including right-wing radicals the parties that have been in opposition for many years and the aggravation of problems related to the security and defense capability of the EU. The electoral positions of the leading European parties, as well as the forecast estimates of their participation in the Eurovision 2024. The results of these European elections are considered and the results of the formation of a new structure of the European Parliament are analyzed, including the formation of new opposition Eurosceptic right-wing groups: Patriots for Europe, formed by the Hungarian Fidesz party of V. Orban, the French National Rally party of M. Le Pen, the Czech ANO party of A. Babiash, etc., and the Europe of Sovereign Nations, which arose on the initiative of the Alternative for Germany party.
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):52-67
52-67
POLITICS AND SOCIAL SPHERE OF SOCIETY
The historical experience of the six waves of Russian emigration and the current policy of preventing brain drain
Resumo
The article analyzes the consequences of emigration after the start of the special military operation for the scientific and engineering potential of the country. First of all, attention is paid to IT-specialists. Within the framework of the historical sociology approach, a model of 6 waves of emigration from Russia over 100 years has been proposed. The waves of Russian emigration are consistently considered with reference to the problems of the relationship between the intelligentsia and the government and the "brain drain". The characteristic of each of the waves of emigration, features, motivations, social composition, orientation, allowing them to be distinguished from each other not only by time periods, is given. Thus, waves No.1, 2, 3, 6 had a political and ideological justification, waves No.4, 5 were exclusively economic, the outflow of qualified personnel was associated with waves No.1, 3, 4, 6. The "idea of a common fate" with Russia was considered as an alternative to the assimilation of emigrants in the host country. A comparative analysis of the perception of Russian emigrants by the host country (the West) in the conditions of the Cold War and detente (the "third wave" of emigration) and in the conditions of hybrid war (the "sixth wave") is carried out. Conclusions are drawn based on the indicated trends that, under the conditions of sanctions, there was no collapse of the Russian economy in general and the IT industry in particular, and there was no personnel disaster with the departure of qualified specialists.
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):68-78
68-78
On the issue of a working model for modernizing the Unified State Exam to overcome inequality of access to higher education
Resumo
The study formulates approaches to determining inequality of access to higher education through regionally determined choice of subjects and Unified State Exam results. The dependence of the choice and results of the Unified State Exam on the quality of education and innovative development of regions is presented. Indicators of inequality are the distribution of students according to “success cohorts” when passing the Unified State Exam and the choice of subject by students to take, and the average score in the region. Quantitative characteristics of the choice of basic and specialized mathematics and other academic subjects by students in the regions are presented. The calculations used data from the entire population of applicants in 2019 and 2020; accordingly, the conclusions of the article relate to the period until 2021. The problem of increasing the efficiency of the Unified State Examination is objective and has matured before the political events associated with the departure from the Bologna system in 2022. It is noted that Olympiads and additional internal university tests are not an alternative to the Unified State Exam. Based on the goals of leveling regional inequality, a variant of the model for modernizing the Unified State Examination with an objective assessment procedure is proposed– a remote creative exam using the existing infrastructure of examination points and video communication. Due to the random assignment of tasks and assessing experts from different regions, universities, organizations, remote creative exam retains the advantages of the Unified State Exam, comparability of results is achieved, corruption and the possibility of “training” for certain types of answers are eliminated. A person assesses the exam results: a teacher at a general education organization or university, the head of a government agency or enterprise. The examination model includes the advantages of Olympiads and internal university examinations without their corruption-prone components. The article notes that any innovation in the field of final/entrance examinations must necessarily go through testing and experimentation with a gradual increase in coverage and adjustment of the applied methods and procedures based on the results of professional discussion.
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):79-95
79-95
EURASIAN INTEGRATION
The integration processes of the EAEU in the assessments of Russian citizens
Resumo
The paper examined the state and dynamics of the ideas of Russian citizens about the activities of the Eurasian Economic Union. Based on the system of indicators and empirical indicators, an analysis of the attitude to the components and results of integration processes was carried out; the relationship of assessments of the EAEU activities with ideas about current social processes in the country was studied. The project is based on comparative representative studies carried out using a single methodology in Moscow and Belgorod over the past decade. It was recorded that in the studied regions the level of approval of the EAEU continues to be quite high (40% in Moscow and 41% in Belgorod). At the same time, the data obtained reflect the fact of a noticeable drop in the level of approval by respondents of the activities of the economic union over the past decade. The results of the study also allow us to talk about the presence of gaps in informing citizens about the essence of integration processes within the EAEU. According to the results, respondents identify several key reasons that impede the intensification of integration processes: national elites pursuing their interests (37% and 30% in Moscow and Belgorod, respectively); lack of unity of integration goals in the EAEU states (36% in Moscow, 26% in Belgorod); political, cultural, economic disunity of the EAEU member states (a quarter of those surveyed in the studied regions of the Russian Federation). It was revealed that certain social processes in the country are negatively related to the level of approval of the EAEU activities. Thus, statistically significant empirical relationships were recorded when respondents interpreted interethnic relations in the region as tense; a negative assessment of the effectiveness of the migration policy of the authorities suggests a lower level of approval of the EAEU.
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):96-111
96-111
GLOBAL AND LOCAL TRENDS IN CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
Sociocultural attitudes in the self-regulation of youth's ideas about the future
Resumo
The article contains the results of the third stage of the study, revealing the stability and differentiating effect of habitus (mental and modern features of national character, life positions) and migration attitudes on defining the goals that are significant for the future of the country. Based on the comparative analysis of two-dimensional distributions using the χ² statistics, it was revealed that both habitus, ascending to mental traits (love of the fatherland, mercy and compassion, love of neighbor), traditional life positions (collectivism and selflessness), and habitus, genetically associated with modern traits of national character (the desire to defend human rights, openness to everything foreign), and an active life position are stable. Habitus with a traditional value basis sharply divides the expressed carriers of the attitude and those who deny its presence in their choice of goals. Traditional attitudes underlie the construction of a more definite subjective reality of the future than modern ones. The most obvious differentiating effect is recorded in the links between the attitude of love for the fatherland and the social significance of a strong family for the future of the country; love for one's neighbor, mercy and compassion, honor, dignity, selflessness and accessible qualified health care. The semantic content of these attitudes is converted into care for neighbors and empathy for those far away, mainly concerns the satisfaction of the vital needs of health and life. They are also joined by the modern attitude of defending human rights in relation to a comfortable living space as a parameter of the image of the future. The least stable in regulating ideas about the goals of the country's future were shown by the traditional attitude of suspicion towards foreigners and modern attitudes towards the country as a place of residence, demonstrative compassion, rational and pragmatic attitude towards others and individualism. In this case, unformed attitudes have a regulating effect, which explains their instability. The attitudes of young people towards emigration, compared to attitudes towards sedentarization and internal migration, are characterized by a devaluation of key socially significant goals and values (strong family, work, education), but greater support for an active civil society as the most complete expression of agency, the possibility of real influence on the political process and making political decisions.
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):112-133
112-133
Comedic styles in media formats across generations: a case study of the Philippines
Resumo
The article examines the methods and techniques used by Filipino media of different generations to achieve a comic effect. The authors rely on the fact that humor inherent in each culture is based on the collective experience lived through by the representatives belonging to this culture; the influence of different events (political upheavals, social changes, technological transformations) is so great that the difference in the presentation and understanding of humorous content can be significant even between successive generations. As part of the study, the authors analyze the transformation of media formats that occurred with the widespread use of the Internet. The study is based on a comparison of several visual humorous media forms of two generations of Filipinos (comics, advertising, movie posters). In the classification adopted by the authors, one of these generations (born 1946–1964) is defined as “political”; the second (born 1965–1980)– as technological/digital. During the study researchers purposefully selected materials related to media forms of different generations, and applied content analysis of changes in the humor of generations. Three pieces of each media form were selected based on the following criteria: they were produced/directed by a Filipino during the generational period in question. The thematic content of the pieces was not limited to politics or popular culture. The selected pieces were compared with their counterparts from other countries to help confirm generational changes in humor in a global context. Understanding the relationship between media formats and ideology is critical to understanding how media shape our social and political landscape. By understanding the dynamic nature of media formats and their ideological content, we can get a clearer picture and better understanding of the role of media in the formation of our social and political reality.
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):134-149
134-149
THEORY AND METHODS OF SOCIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Comparative analytics of empirical ontologies of A. N. Whitehead and B. Latour
Resumo
The article defines and problematizes the zones of influence of A.N.Whitehead's philosophy of the process on actor-network theory and philosophy of modes of existence of B.Latour. Analytical procedures are implemented in the empirical field and touch upon such important topics as: changing the direction of the research vector from being to flux, revealing the structure of empirical experience, understanding the processual nature of the event, defining zones of transitions between events, etc. The study is conducted consistently at two levels: the level of eventfulness and the level of value trajectories. The following thesis is put forward as a working hypothesis: two types of flux in Whitehead– "concrescence" and "transition"– are correlated with Latour's the concepts actor-network and trajectories of modes of existence. In addition, regions of conceptual differences between the two empirical ontologies are revealed. The absence of a potential area of eternal objects in the actor-network theory is the main one. Latour's elimination of eternal objects, which are of primary importance in Whitehead's philosophy, brings his ontological project to the level of actual eventfulness and confronts the need to search for means that provide networks with repeatability, sustainability and stability. Turning to Latour's late project– the philosophy of modes of existence– shows that the area of the potential, taken beyond the framework of actor-network theory, nevertheless appears in his new metaphysical project. According to the author of this article, these are value modal trajectories. In conclusion, a suggestion is made that value modal trajectories can be compared with the category of the virtual in the philosophy of J.Deleuze.
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):150-169
150-169
GREETINGS AND ANNIVERSARIES
Zhan T. Toshchenko – 90!
Resumo
Editorial Board of the journal "Science, Culture, Society" and the staff of the Institute of Socio-Political Research of FCTAS RAS congratulate their dear colleague on his Anniversary. Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Zhan Terentyevich Toshchenko– 90!
Science. Culture. Society. 2024;30(4):170-173
170-173