THE REIFICATION AS A FACTOR OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES SUBJECTIVATION: XXI CENTURIES’ MAGIC

The perception by people of their everyday satellites, assistants, and sources of disturbance factors that are electronic devices is discussed in the article. The presence of signs of animatism and magic actions in relation to devices is noted, the reasons for their preservation in the secularized society are highlighted, and the perspective of devices subjectivation is considered. Among the factors of the subjectivation, the contribution of engineers to the anthropomorphization of the user interaction with devices, as well as the influence of media on the “reputation” of gadgets, are distinguished. Based on the results of the modern media publications headlines content analysis, it is illustrated how the media influence the perception of gadgets by an ordinary user. «Grammatical» and «semantic» techniques, due to which the image of «subjectivity» of devices is created in news publications, are distinguished. A parallel is drawn between the mechanisms of the formation and preservation of the «cult of the dead» in society and the way the society attitudes towards «smart» devices. It is emphasized that the strength of the noted factors becomes essential, first of all, due to the phenomenon of reification. Since in the practices of everyday use of the device, the user does not think about the nature of the device itself, or about their interactions with it, the origins, reasons for these practices and ideas about the internal structure of the device are not tracked in any way, a foundation for the reification of gadgets is formed, which is already especially noticeable in the fact how children relate to the «smart» technologies around them. It is noted that at present the fact of such a pseudosubjectivity of electronic devices is not obvious and generally accepted in the mass consciousness, however, reification can lead to the institutionalization of electronic devices as subjects of the social world in the future. The perception by people of their everyday satellites, assistants, and sources of disturbance factors that are electronic devices is discussed in the article. The presence of signs of animatism and magic actions in relation to devices is noted, the reasons for their preservation in the secularized society are highlighted, and the perspective of devices subjectivation is considered. Among the factors of the subjectivation, the contribution of engineers to the anthropomorphization of the user interaction with devices, as well as the influence of media on the “reputation” of gadgets, are distinguished. However, by drawing a parallel with the mechanisms of formation and preservation of the «cult of the dead» in the society, it is emphasized that the strength of these factors acquires a significant character, primarily due to the phenomenon of reification.

Inclusive Capacity of Ukrainian Media Discourse on Muslims: the Results of Empirical Research

The article summarizes the research data of the discourse on Muslims in the Ukrainian media in terms of determining their inclusive potential. Based on the theoretical concepts of social inclusion, othering, social distance and discourse, the concepts of «inclusive discourse» and «inclusive potential of discourse» are conceptualized. The latter is understood as a characteristic of the influence of a certain discourse about a social group on the possibility and conditions of social interaction with this group. Considering the results of quantitative and qualitative analysis of the array of Ukrainian media publications about Muslims, the article presents the meanings of the nodal sign «Muslim» that influence social interaction with this group: extraterritoriality, exoticism, violence, disasters, accidents. An analysis of the headlines points to social distancing from Muslims through such discoursive mechanisms as «presenting the group as homogeneous» and «denying subjectivity». The five discourses of Muslims in the Ukrainian media identified in the previous stages of the study are characterized in terms of their inclusive potential. The main indicator of inclusiveness is the convergence of «we-they» discourses, what is embodied in the similarity of the chains of equivalence and the logic of difference between «we» and «they» discourses. With the usage of this tool, it has been proven that the discourses «Muslim-the hero of Ukraine» and «Muslim-protester» have inclusive potential in Ukrainian society, while «Muslim-terrorist» and «Muslim-victim» do not have such potential. In addition, the «Muslim-believer» discourse also is characterized has some inclusive potential.

VIRTUAL SPACE AS A SOURCE OF PRIMARY SOCIAL INFORMATION

The rapid development of the Internet has had an unprecedented impact on the improvement of the sociological method. At the turn of the millennium, this has led to the search for a new methodology and a gradual loss of interest to use of quantitative methods, which was perceived by specialists as a "crisis of empirical sociology". In the last decade, it turned out that almost all social processes of any level find their reflection in the virtual space, leave and accumulate so-called "digital footprints", which opens to researchers the widest perspectives for study of social reality. This article considers the features of digital primary information and generalized approaches to its use in terms of quantitative methodology. The author emphasizes that the classical sociological methods, which are based on mathematical statistics, are suitable for the analysis of digital reality and getting adequate research results. At the same time, as noted by most authors, who have studied this subject, there are perspectives for improving traditional sociological methods through: 1) a combination of representativeness of quantitative and depth of qualitative approaches to information analysis; 2) in-depth collection of paradata; 3) opportunities to study hard-to-reach social groups; 4) opportunities to fully implement the "principle of freedom from evaluation" due to the "non-reactivity" of digital data; 5) the ordering of digital footprints in space and time by clearly fixing the hosting. The post-demographic model of the social actor opens new ways to build samples of quantitative sociological research, which may be representative in terms of the classical sociological approach. The examples of research from this article show that the classical sociological method easily to adapt for the new digital reality and can be the basis for sociological consulting, development of social technologies in various spheres of social life.

IDENTITIES RESEARCH TRADITIONS IN CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN SOCIOLOGY: FOCUSES AND CONTEXTS

The article is focused on the historical sociology analysis of social identities studies, the results of which are presented in scientific publications in top Ukrainian periodicals. The direction of development of such researches in thematic, theoretical, and methodological aspects of their socio-cultural context is outlined. Possible new directions of research on the problem chosen by the author are determined. The author conducted a content analysis of the professional publications where the subject is identity and identification placed in the online archives of professional publications of Ukraine in sociology for the last decade. An analysis of the thematic diversity of the articles revealed that the vast majority of them are devoted to specific identities, primarily ethnic-national and local, identity is considered as a specific feature of the group; only a quarter of the publications have a general theoretical character and focused in the analysis of identity as such. It was found that the dominant research focuses have long been dominated by conceptualization and analysis of the formation of a selected social identity, but in recent years the authors pay more attention to the functional load of social identities, in particular their impact on Ukrainian society, especially its integration/disintegration, on conflicts and solidarity. The conclusion about a certain decrease in attention to the subject of social identities, and at the same time theoretical, methodological, thematic, and subject complication of their researches are formulated. It is emphasized that further comprehensive studies of identities (their connections, contexts, and social consequences) have a scientific perspective because it is possible to reach a deeper understanding of the processes taking place in modern Ukrainian society with their help.

THEORETICAL AXES OF THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL COHESION: RETHINKING OF E. DURKHEIM'S SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE

The paper is dedicated to reviewing the scientific heritage of the classic of French sociology E. Durkheim through the optics of identification of theoretical foundations of the concept of social cohesion. Methodological complexity of the research task is due to the lack of well-formed and clearly defined concept of social cohesion in the scientific heritage of E. Durkheim, reconstruction of theoretical axes of which requires sociological imagination and inductive method using. The author attributes the relevance of this research perspective to the fact that in most foreign studies dedicated to social cohesion phenomenon research there are either limited mentions of E. Durkheim as one of the founders of social cohesion concept or inaccurate interpretations of his views. The paper identifies seven theoretical axes of the concept of social cohesion, presented in the scientific heritage of E. Durkheim - homogeneity / differentiation, value-normative consensus / anomie, lack of interactions / constancy of interactions, mechanical solidarity / organic solidarity, relationship between individual and collective, inclusion / exclusion, integration / disintegration. The author has determined semantic purpose and presence at different social levels for each axis. It is established that some elements of certain theoretical axes are present as components of models of social cohesion empirical operationalization in contemporary foreign studies conducted by J. Chan, R. Berger-Schmitt, J. Jenson. It is summed up heuristics of E. Durkheim's definition of essence of social cohesion as a social process that has a dynamic nature of formation and reproduction, requires avoidance of extreme states of its implementation (overpowering or deficiency) and has an impact on all social levels – macro-, meso- and micro-. Emphasis has been placed on the identification of the classics of French sociology social cohesion practical significance as a social phenomenon that has preventive properties against a wide range of negative social phenomena and processes. This fact, according to the author, makes the concept of social cohesion heuristic not only for scientific discourse but also for contemporary state social policy.

POST-SECULARITY AS A SUBJECT OF RESEARCH: PROBLEMS OF CONCEPTUALIZATION AND PLURALITY OF APPROACHES

Today, in many countries around the world, the role of religion in the public sphere is strengthening. This causes the methodological problems of the theory of secularization, which claimed the gradual and irreversible decline of religion. At the same time, the processes of religious revival in societies that have undergone secularization do not lead to the restoration of religion in the forms that preceded it. To denote this state of society, which occurs after secularization, Jürgen Habermas proposed to use the term "post-secular". A number of both foreign and domestic scientists became interested in this issue. But the purposeful study of postsecularity is still in its infancy and is mostly descriptive. In the scientific works devoted to its research, insufficient attention is focused on specific characteristics of postsecular societies. Therefore, there is a need to generalize these characteristics in order to better understand post-secular society. To achieve this goal, the article analyzes some conceptual approaches to the study of postsecularity. These approaches argue that the "return" of religion does not preclude the preservation of a powerful (or even dominant) secularization cluster in society. Post-secularization is a move forward and the creation of a new system characterized by religious freedom, pluralism, competition between different denominations, rather than a return to the traditions of the pre-modern era. In a post-secular society, as the authors of the works analyzed in the article prove, religion has all the opportunities from secular power for its development. At the same time, there is a reduction in the role of religious institutions and the individualization of religious practices, ie the "privatization" of religion, which is an element of secularization. But this "privatization" is significantly different from secularization, because it is not due to coercion, but to pluralism of choice. According to many researchers, a post-secular situation is possible under the condition of ideological pluralism and parity between religious and non-religious people, when each party has the opportunity to propagate its opinion, but does not impose it, when there is no place for privileged and discriminated, but awareness of mutual coexistence. That is, post-secularity is possible only in democratic and legal societies. The post-secular situation is also characterized by religious competition, intensification of missionary work, manifestations of fundamentalism, globalization of religious piety, transformation of religion into a commodity and the emergence (mostly in the West) of the phenomenon used to refer to the term "spirituality". The situation of post-secularism is a situation of uncertainty, when it is not known how the processes of interaction between the secular and the religious will take place in the future, and it is impossible to make any predictions about how stable this situation is. As the analysis carried out in the article shows, the post-secular approach has not become a full-fledged theory, but is perceived mostly as a program of what should be paid attention to, as a certain correction and continuation of the secularization approach. But with its help, scientists are trying to describe religious processes in modern societies.

Rural intelligentsia in the conditions of transformation of agrarian sphere of modern Ukrainian society

The article provides a comparative analysis of the attitude to the village reform and other issues of its life by representatives of different groups of the rural population, especially rural intellectuals and manual workers. It is emphasized that the rural intelligentsia, which is called to become one of the main agents of village reform, as it has a higher level of potential and real social subjectivity, nevertheless does not always realize its potential in the interests of modernization of agriculture, which, in particular, features of their mentality. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the specifics of the nature of the mental worker in the agricultural sector is that often in addition to the implementation of its main functions related to position and profession, he is engaged in rural work (work on the farm, cattle care, etc.). The way of life of a rural intellectual determines the peculiarity of his mentality, which has an ambivalent character. On the one hand, the mentality of the rural intellectual is determined by his education, the mental nature of work, the level of culture, including the city culture. On the other hand, his mentality is due to the traditions of the rural community, rural labor, cultural patterns of the villager. Sociological research shows that the rural intelligentsia is less influenced by traditionalism than other social groups in the countryside; it is more willing than other peasants to leave the village. In the context of the attitude to reforms in the agricultural sector, special attention is paid to the decentralization reform, which is carried out in Ukraine and has not only economic, organizational, but also institutional and socio-cultural consequences. It is noted that these effects are manifested differently in urban and rural areas and are perceived differently by different social groups. According to the research, it is shown that the attitude to reforms in rural areas, in particular to the creation of united territorial communities (OTG), among the rural intelligentsia is more positive than among the representatives of manual labor. It is emphasized that, despite the ambivalence of the attitude of the rural intelligentsia to the OTG (according to the data presented in the article), its representatives are twice as many of their opponents than supporters; however, at the same time, the interviewed mental workers feel more like members of the new territorial-administrative formations in the countryside than other social groups living there.

Ukrainian emigration in Poland: from “earners” to highly qualified specialists

The article deals with the Ukrainian emigration to Poland. The article emphasizes that migration is a normal phenomenon in the global world, and therefore it is important not to dramatize the situation but to pay more attention to the adaptation of migrants in the recipient countries. Main terminology used for migrants and migration’ description is sharpened. It is emphasized that it is not appropriate to treat any migration from Ukraine as “labor migration”. The article provides quantitative data on Ukrainian migration abroad and its dynamics as well as results of researches on migrational intentions and plans. Arguments are being made that the current migration of Ukrainians (after 2010) can be identified as the fifth wave of Ukrainian emigration. The dynamics of the structure of Ukrainian migration abroad is described. Quantitative estimates of Ukrainian migration in Poland are given as well. It is shown that the Ukrainian migration to Poland is changing both quantitatively (growing) and qualitatively: the number of highly educated migrants and those who intend to stay in the country for permanent residence increases. It is reasoned that Poland is interested in Ukrainian workers because they produce reasonable part of Polish GDP and replace Poles who leave the country. That’s why Polish state and non-state institutions and organizations try to improve conditions for Ukrainians in Poland and create new opportunities for work and living in the country. It is argued that research on this topic will be an important contribution to understanding the (post)modern society because the role of migrations in it is changing. Migrants’ self-awareness and identity are changing as well which leads to changes in ways of adaptation and integration of migrants in recipient countries. In particular, cultural factors that determine the decision about emigration become more important: seeking for the environment that fits best for cultural demands of potential migrants becomes crucial. Differential approaches to different groups of migrants on the basis of sociological researches can be a better ground for practical decisions to improve adaptation of migrants.

Hitchhiking as an Alternative System of Spatial Mobility

The article is devoted to the analysis of dominant and alternative mobility systems in contemporary world. It is emphasized that mobility can be both real and potential actions in their connection with social relations in space and time. Mobility cannot exist without human need or desire to be at a certain time in a certain place. These factors lead to various types of mobility systems. It is noted that the mobility system is a complex of social relations and material infrastructure that make a certain type of spatial movement possible, repetitive and predictable. Any action or movement is possible only as part of a specific mobility system. In the modern world, there are dominant institutionally fastened mobility systems. One of the most common of these is the tourism system. The article analyzes some theoretical approaches to the study of tourism presented in the works of such scientists as Z. Bauman, J. Urry, T. Veblen and others. The attention is focused on the fact that the tourism system is highly influenced by market relations. Tourism has become a product of conspicuous consumption and one of the factors of social inequality reproduction at the same time. It is emphasized that there are alternative spatial mobility systems that are excluded from market logic. One of the most common alternative spatial mobility systems is hitchhiking, that is, the practice of free travel on passing nonscheduled vehicles with the consent of the driver. The features of the functioning of spatial mobility systems in the modern world are investigated. The properties of the dominant and alternative mobility systems are considered, as well as the differences between them are also analyzed. It has been revealed that alternative spatial mobility systems are built upon personalized trust relationships. Conclusion is made that hitchhiking performs the function of social integration.

Heuristics of “social activity” concept in Yelena Yakuba’s interpretation: view from sociology of knowledge and view from 2019

The article reveals the heuristic potential of the sociological concept of social activity developed by the founder of the Kharkov Sociological School E. A. Yakuba in the 1960- 1980s. Based on historical and sociological material and conceptual analysis, the author demonstrates the potential of this concept from the sociology of knowledge perspective. He analyzes a number of related categories and problems that are introduced by E. A. Yakuba to discuss the problems of social activity. It is emphasized that the elected by E. A. Yakuba position allows to study and measure social activity in detail (that is, answer the question “how?”), However, it is the sociology of knowledge that gives a chance to study the sociogenesis and ontogenesis of social activity (that is, answer the question “why?”). The definition, systemic connections and methods of operationalization and indication of social activity proposed by E. A. Yakuba are given and analyzed. A separate emphasis is placed on the analysis of how the category of “social activity” is associated with the category of “subjectivity”. The most important plot is the connection of the social essence of activity, that is, its inclusion in the sociality of the individual as a connection with the social whole. The evolution of the views of E. A. Yakuba on these categories, as well as their relationship with social maturity, activity, personality, is investigated. The possibilities of the sociology of knowledge in synthesizing various aspects of E. A. Yakuba approach are explored. Particular emphasis is placed on the consistency of E. A. Yakuba’s theory, and also the limitations and specifics of the (often implicit) influence of Marxism on its development have been studied. The conclusion about the possibilities and limitations of updating the concept of “social activity” in a sociological-knowledge reassembling of E. A. Yakuba’s theory is formulated.