The dynamics of worldwide sociocultural transformations in the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The year 2020 has become a turning point for all spheres, including culture. Due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, all cultural institutions around the globe were forced to close and educational institutions transferred to distance format. However, sociocultural development did not cease to exist, but rather threw efforts of adaptation to the current conditions. This was facilitated somewhat facilitated by the expanding digitalization, which boosted the dialogue of cultures. On the one hand, the countries suffered heavy financial losses, while on the other – the creative approaches have made the image of the countries more attractive, mainly because the digital culture has vast audience and opportunities for distribution. However, the globalizing world challenges the cultural identity. This intensifies the need for finding ways to develop the world cultural space – without dominance of the stronger over the weaker, which can be promoted by culturological approach towards their comprehension and a humanistic language for describing these complex and dynamic processes. The humanistic values of coexistence and solidarity become more universal, allowing to avoid conflicts and strengthening international information and communication processes. On the other hand, these values are changing, and interethnic conflicts have aggravated during the pandemic. The object of this research is international cultural relations at the current stage of development. The subject is the peculiarities of the development of cross-cultural relations in the conditions of social transformations dictated by the pandemic. The goal is to reveal the potential of international cultural cooperation that is affected by the external and internal factors. The novelty lies in theoretical substantiation of changes and analysis of the diversity of models of cross-cultural interaction. Practical importance of this research consists in summary of the experience and opportunities for spreading the new formats of activity of cultural institutions.