Empirical sociological reflections on transborder interactions in ukrainian and western sociology

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The purpose of the article is to analyze the experience of Ukrainian and foreign empirical sociological studies of cross-border mobility and cooperation as the main forms of cross-border interactions and to outline the subject field and methodological principles of research. The periodization of the development of theoretical sociology was used to organize the discourse of theoretical sociology on cross-border interactions. Methodological principles of sociological research of cross-border interactions are formulated. The consideration of cross-border interactions at four levels is substantiated: micro, meso, macro and inter-level. The micro level of cross-border processes is related to the experience of crossing the state border by specific entities, or trade at the local level. The mezo level relates to cross-border phenomenas that extends to regions such as regional cross-border cooperation. The macro level corresponds to cross-border processes that cover the entire territory of the state (interstate relations, international relations of national actors, interstate trade). The inter-level of cross-border phenomenas is related to the crossing of the borders of several or even many states. The use of the Pareto principle in the study of the dynamics of cross-border interactions is substantiated. The main dimensions of cross-border interactions are identified on the basis of factor analysis of the survey of Ukrainian-Slovak border residents "Information support and implementation of innovative approaches in cross-border cooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine". The toolkit of sociological research of cross-border interactions on the Ukrainian-Slovak border was constructed on the basis of expert interviews with researchers in the field of public administration, sociology, social work, representatives of public organizations and local communities of the Ukrainian-Slovak border.