Sociological Analysis Research Articles

Risks of “Social Legitimacy” of Corruption under Sanctions: Assessment of the Sentiments of the Regional Business Community

Introduction. In the context of a large-scale sanctions regime, the intensification of anti-corruption work requires special attention among a number of adjustment measures related to structural changes in the economy and changes in supply logistics. Sanctions become a trigger for the emergence of new corrupt practices. The purpose of this article: using sociological analysis methods, to identify the “social legitimacy” (admissibility, acceptability) of corrupt behavior in the business community as a risk factor for the growth of corruption in unfavorable conditions of sanctions pressure. Materials and Methods. The article is based on the results of a sociological study conducted by the authors using a questionnaire survey to assess the level of business corruption in 2021 pre-sanction and in 2022‒2023 sanction years for the Russian economy among the business community of the Sverdlovsk region (n = 500 annually). In order to compare regional trends with all-Russian ones, the results of sociological studies were used: “Business Barometer of Corruption in Russia” and “Consequences of the introduction of sanctions for Russian business.” Results. Risks to the social legitimacy of corruption under sanctions have been identified: against the general background of a negative assessment of corruption by the business community, there has been an increase in the number of supporters of the position that corruption can help solve pressing business problems, as well as those who are neutral towards corrupt business practices; an increase in the desire of the business community to justify the use of corrupt behavior patterns with the usual “that’s the way it is in Russia” has been revealed. Another risk is the dissonance between values and behavior: “In general, corruption is bad, but in a crisis situation, in my daily practice, I can, even must, use corrupt schemes”. Discussion and Conclusion. The life position of the business community, in which corruption is accepted as an inevitable norm of social interaction, turns out to be a barrier to anti-corruption work. The need to intensify sociological research to study the culture of everyday life in the Russian business community has been recorded. The results obtained can be used by government agencies, the chamber of commerce and industry; the union of small and medium-sized businesses, representatives of the business community to intensify anti-corruption work.

Three Waves of Civilizational Analysis in Sociology

Three Waves of Civilizational Analysis in Sociology

Centering the Most Marginalized: Black Women Movement Actors and Misogynoir in the Movement for Black Lives

This research evaluates the extent to which 30 Black women movement actors (e.g., leaders, organizers, and protestors) narrate their intersectional experiences in the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Specifically, through the narratives and experiences of Black women movement actors (BWMAs) within contemporary social movements, this work uses sociological intersectionality as a theoretical conceptualization and analytical method to link misogynoir to movement literature. Misogynoir was a recurring, embedded concept that had a sustaining effect on movement goals. Also, the amount of time in movement acted as an important identifier of a structural analysis for BWMAs intersectional interpretations. Joya Misra, Celeste Vaughan Curinton, and Venus Mary Green proffer six tenets of sociological analysis that help to illuminate the tools BWMAs use to challenge local organizations to decenter male-centric goals and center women, queer, and differently abled needs for liberation, toward a more comprehensive movement. Implications for future research are discussed.

The Introduction of Same-Sex Marriage in Germany—A Question of Conscience and/or Faith? A Case Study

On 30 June 2017, the German Bundestag voted in favor of the introduction of marriage for same-sex couples—a historic moment. Only a few days earlier, the then Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel had released the vote as a decision of conscience and thus dissolved the usual underlying factional compulsion—does this mean that rights for homosexual people are a question of personal conscience and values? Such a localization arouses the interest of religious studies to investigate how the discourse actors from the fields of politics, church and society formulate the decision of conscience as a discursive strategy in the negotiation process of same-sex marriage in Germany argumentatively and which positionings as well as descriptions of others and themselves are derived from this. The starting point is a modernity in which the actors move, understand and articulate themselves. This understanding of modernity is based on the process of a vertical transfer (Gladigow) of sociological theories of religion, among others, whereby narratives of secularization, overcoming religion (as a necessary precondition of modernity) and narratives of an opposition of religious vs. secular or religious vs. homosexual reappear as positions and arguments in the discourse. Using the approach of discursive religious studies (von Stuckrad) in conjunction with sociological discourse analysis (Keller), these processes of positioning, demarcation and negotiation based on the premises of modernity will be analyzed for the period from 2013 to 2017 on the basis of the public debate on religious, political, and social actors in Germany.

IMPACT OF OCCUPATIONAL POWER AND SOCIAL STATUS DEPICTED IN PAKISTANI TV DRAMAS: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

This research paper is based on how our Pakistani TV dramas portray occupational power and social status through their distinctive setting. Through a sociological analysis, we explored the issue of why Pakistani TV dramas depict typical appearances and specific kinds of dressing to represent a particular social class, e.g., shalwar kameez for the poor and jeans for the rich. Even professional careers such as schoolteachers for the middle class and fashion designers for the upper class are based upon the same factors. A character’s typical background and belongings are also used to show his social status, e.g., in most dramas, middle-class men wear slippers, and the rich wear branded shoes, sunglasses, and watches. In this study, we argue that the depiction of social class is often biased and does not precisely reflect reality. This significantly impacts the viewers’ minds. This visual representation is evident in Pakistani Urdu television dramas of the past ten years. Using a qualitative research design, we collected our data through in-depth interviews to evaluate the social impact of these visual representations. The paper also supports George Gerbner’s Cultivation Analysis theory and its arguments, proving how TV dramas directly impact heavy viewers’ minds, reflecting their behavior.

Problems of Staff Training to Ensure State Technology Sovereignty

Based on a comparison of the guidelines in the Strategies for Technological Development of the Country from 2016 to 2024, a contradiction has been formed in the basic attitudes towards the personnel training system. The authors aim is to present a sociological analysis of the current situation and the existing opportunities for implementing the task of ensuring the technological sovereignty of the country with qualified personnel. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is built on an appeal to classical works representing society: as a system of T. Parsons, E. Giddens, self-organizing system of N. Luhmann; works covering the issues of the influence of scientific and technological potential on the level of competitiveness; state programs and regulatory documents, as well as statistical and analytical materials. Results. Generalization of data on training programs in secondary vocational education, as well as implemented federal programs for its support allowed us to conclude that at the moment the situation is characterized by a gradual improvement, but the number of graduates is insufficient for the growing needs of production. The reasons are both poor training in natural cycle disciplines in schools and, accordingly, a shortage of teaching staff to solve this problem, and the consequences of the demographic pit of the 90s, which led to a reduction in potential students. The authors believe that the solution to the problem of providing qualified personnel is not so much in the constant increase in the number of graduates, but in the revision of both their training programs and the technologies of the production itself in order to replace the stages of operations that can be performed by unskilled specialists with technological developments based on artificial intelligence. The implementation of an integrated approach should be ensured by revising the training programs in universities and institutes, as well as attracting talented developers to the problem of improving production.

What is social science if not critical?

This short article represents a contribution to the debate on the motion "Social science is explanation, or it is nothing." While in the format of parliamentary debating the contribution would fall on the side of the opposition, I will not be arguing against explanation as such. The work of explaining is in no way oppositional to or mutually exclusive with critique. Instead, my contribution will revolve around two arguments: one is that both critique and explanation exhibit characteristics we commonly attribute to science; the other is that reserving the label of science for explanation draws a boundary around social sciences in ways that exclude many of the interesting things it does. Some of the examples include the sociological analysis of governmental approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic, or critical analysis of concepts such as "cancel culture" or "terrorism." The conclusion isthat explanation and critique are mutually supporting elements of science, and that combined they give us insights we cannot glean from either alone.

Mitigation measures for addressing gender bias in artificial intelligence within healthcare settings: a critical area of sociological inquiry

AbstractArtificial intelligence (AI) is often described as crucial for making healthcare safer and more efficient. However, some studies point in the opposite direction, demonstrating how biases in AI cause inequalities and discrimination. As a result, a growing body of research suggests mitigation measures to avoid gender bias. Typically, mitigation measures address various stakeholders such as the industry, academia, and policy-makers. To the author’s knowledge, these have not undergone sociological analysis. The article fills this gap and explores five examples of mitigation measures designed to counteract gender bias in AI within the healthcare sector. The rapid development of AI in healthcare plays a crucial role globally and must refrain from creating or reinforcing inequality and discrimination. In this effort, mitigation measures to avoid gender bias in AI in healthcare are central tools and, therefore, essential to explore from a social science perspective, including sociology. Sociologists have made valuable contributions to studying inequalities and disparities in AI. However, research has pointed out that more engagement is needed, specifically regarding bias in AI. While acknowledging the importance of these measures, the article suggests that they lack accountable agents for implementation and overlook potential implementation barriers such as resistance, power relations, and knowledge hierarchies. Recognizing the conditions where the mitigation measures are to be implemented is essential for understanding the potential challenges that may arise. Consequently, more studies are needed to explore the practical implementation of mitigation measures from a social science perspective and a systematic review of mitigation measures.

Heterogeneous Sex Dolls: Outlining a Sociology of Knowledge Approach to the Abject

AbstractThis paper explores the integration of Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection into the sociology of knowledge, with a particular focus on the cultural phenomenon of hyperrealistic sex dolls. Employing a unique methodological approach, this paper interprets Kristeva’s Powers of Horror through Berger and Luckmann’s The Social Construction of Reality by utilizing two observation-based vignettes. It proposes a novel translation of the abject, typically a psychoanalytic concept, into empirical research frameworks that traditionally emphasize everyday reality. This synthesis extends the boundaries of a sociology of knowledge by incorporating affective responses to transgressive phenomena. The findings suggest that pre-recognition psychoanalytic concepts can significantly broaden the theoretical scope of sociology, offering new lenses to examine events and affects that lie beyond conventional sociological analysis.

The Social Intervention Function of Chinese Pop Music Performance and Its Macro Sociological Analysis

Pop music is a product of human consciousness and widely exists in all known human cultures. Music is not a necessity for human survival, why is it so important to humans? For a long time, social connections have been considered an important function of music and a major factor influencing the evolution of human musicality. The recent hypothesis of music social connection provides a framework for understanding the biological and cultural evolution of music. It suggests that music can coordinate emotions, behaviors, and ideological perspectives among individuals, strengthen intimate relationships between individuals, and thus enhance social cohesion. Pro social behavior is a manifestation of human social connections, which refers to the beneficial behavior of individuals towards others, groups, and society, such as helping behavior. Although studies have shown that listening to prosocial songs and their associated prosocial emotions can promote individual prosocial behavior, it remains unclear whether the music itself and its corresponding emotional experiences are sufficient to influence prosocial behavior after excluding the influence of lyrics. In addition, although some studies suggest that prosocial behavior is related to factors such as individual psychological theory ability and cognitive ability, the mediating effect of music on prosocial behavior through psychological theory ability and cognitive ability has not been verified. Therefore, based on the classic two-dimensional emotional model, this study systematically examines whether music and its induced emotional experiences affect individual prosocial behavior decisions, and further explores the mediating role of psychological theory and cognitive ability.

A Critique of Marvin G. Weinbaum's Review of "The Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan Book"

This paper examines Marvin G. Weinbaum's critique of "The Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan" by Ahmad Shuja Jamal and William Maley. Weinbaum's review, published in the Middle East Journal, offers a comprehensive analysis of the book's structure, strengths, and weaknesses. While Weinbaum effectively highlights the book's deep analysis, historical context, and scholarly rigor, this critique identifies several areas where his review could be further strengthened. These include a more critical examination of the sources used, a deeper exploration of the political and social impacts, a sociological analysis of Afghanistan's twenty-year war, and a comprehensive analysis of the authors' methodology. Additionally, this article addresses significant discussions such as the lack of localization in content, the process of Afghanistan's revitalization, and the impact of Pashtunism on the country's political and social dynamics. By incorporating these perspectives, the critique aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors contributing to the fall of Republican Afghanistan and the complexities surrounding its recent history.

Стратегии выхода выпускников СПО на рынок труда: социологический анализ

Введение. Выпускники образовательных организаций СПО сталкиваются с рядом трудностей при выходе на рынок труда. Среди основных причин – отсутствие практического опыта, неразвитость системы взаимодействия образовательных организаций с работодателями, несоответствие желаемого уровня заработной платы реальному. Цель. Анализ стратегий выхода студентов профессиональных образовательных организаций на рынок труда с учетом региональной специфики и ресурсной обеспеченности семей. Методы. В основе анализа – социологическое исследование, проведенное Центром экономики непрерывного образования РАНХиГС весной 2023 года среди 1098 учащихся выпускных курсов образовательных организаций СПО трех регионов – Свердловской, Волгоградской и Ивановской областей. Регионы отбирались с учетом географического положения и места в рейтинге социально-экономического положения регионов. Результаты. Исследованы планы обучающихся профессиональных образовательных организаций (ПОО) после получения диплома, а также роль ПОО в содействии занятости молодежи. Научная новизна. Представлены прожективные модели трудоустройства выпускников СПО. Практическая значимость. Результаты исследования могут быть полезны при разработке управленческих и организационных решений, направленных на совершенствование молодежной политики в сфере занятости, а также для совершенствования методов профориентационной работы среди учащейся молодежи. Introduction. Graduates of secondary vocational education institutions face a number of difficulties when entering the labour market. Among the main reasons are the lack of practical experience, the underdevelopment of the system of interaction between educational organisations and employers, and the discrepancy between the desired salary level and the real one. Aim. Analysis of strategies for students of professional educational organisations to enter the labour market, taking into account regional specifics and resource security of families. Methods. The leading method was a sociological study conducted by the Centre for Economics of Lifelong Learning of the RANEPA in the spring of 2023 among 1,098 senior year students of secondary vocational education organisations. The survey was conducted in three regions – Sverdlovsk, Volgograd and Ivanovo regions. The regions were selected taking into account their geographical location and place in the ranking of the socio-economic situation of the regions. Results. The result of the study was the analysis of graduates’ ideas about employment prospects, as well as the role of colleges in promoting youth employment. Scientific novelty. The projective models of employment of secondary vocational education graduates are presented. Practical significance. The obtained research results can be used for the development of managerial and organisational decisions aimed at improving the state youth policy in the field of employment. The findings of the study may be of interest for improving the methods of career guidance among students

Digitalization, Social Network and Women Entrepreneurship: A Sociological Analysis

Digitalization, Social Network and Women Entrepreneurship: A Sociological Analysis

Beyond resilience? A comparative sociological analysis of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on five European health care systems

Background The article questions the popularity of resilience as a concept and its application to health care systems as a main lens for understanding the impact the COVID-19 pandemic on them. Methods It develops a sociological definition following a thorough examination of the various proposed meanings for the term. Subsequently, it proposes a conceptual framework to analyze the vulnerability and sustainability of health care systems as a more comprehensive tool that moves beyond the limitations of resilience. This framework is then applied to evaluate its heuristic value in assessing the resilience strategies adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in five European countries (France, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), considered as problematic ‘sentinel cases’ within their health macro-regions. Adopting the six variables provided by the COVID-19 Health Systems Response Monitor of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, a detailed comparative analysis is conducted. This analysis explores the resilience strategies of these countries in terms of the vulnerability outputs they produced and their consequent effects on the sustainability of their health care systems. Results The results show that the resilience strategies adopted during the pandemic were shaped by the different configurations of health care systems and policy decisions regarding resource mobilization. As such, these strategies produced various vulnerability outputs, resulting in different degrees of risk distribution and sustainability. Conclusions These results are pertinent for understanding that what matters from a sociological point of view is not simply how different health care systems cope with external shocks like a pandemic to retain control over their structure and functions (resilience), but the social consequences produced by their strategies.

The role of translation in Turkish feminist theatre: the case of Theatre Painted Bird as an agent of feminist translation

ABSTRACT This article seeks to explore the position of Jale Karabekir as an agent of feminist translation in the field of Turkish theatre. Based on a sociological field analysis as developed by Pierre Bourdieu, this study aims to delineate the heterodoxic practices of Karabekir’s Theatre Painted Bird, which transforms the Turkish theatre’s male-dominated doxa through interlingual, intralingual, and intersemiotic translations, along with indigenous texts. Investigating the tension between the alternative theatres and the field of power in Türkiye, the study focuses on the extratextual discourse of Karabekir to highlight how her theatre collective ventures to maintain the relative autonomy of the theatre field by promoting a collaborative feminist struggle. Ultimately, the study elucidates that Karabekir’s importation of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed as a method of subversion helps her recover unforgotten female voices and enables her to mobilize resistance and produce commentaries to foster feminist solidarity in Türkiye.

Main Directions of Modern Transformation and Modernization of Russian Society, Ways to Overcome the Systemic Crisis in the Context of Technological Revolution: Alternative Strategic Development Models

At the present stage of Russia’s development in the prevailing historical conditions, a period of deep conceptual transformations has begun, measures are being taken to free it from its continued dependence on crisis global processes, from the globalism policy of developed imperialist countries. Today, after three periods of permanent systemic crisis, through which Russia went from the early 80s to the early 2000s, the country is emerging from this dependence, returning to its mental ideological and cultural foundations, to state-political, economic, scientific, technical and technological sovereignty, to the status of a world power, renewed civilization, towards the consolidation of society. This period is characterized as a period of transformation and new modernization of society. The article, based on new approaches and methods of a comprehensive historical, sociological and formational-civilizational analysis of the problems of society’s development, examines the issues of the new modernization of society that has begun, analyzes and evaluates the persistent manifestations of the systemic crisis, issues of implementing an innovative anti-crisis management strategy, strategic planning and strategic management. Possible forecasts and alternatives for social development are considered. These processes require a clear, meaningful choice and implementation of a long-term strategy for the dynamic, innovative development of knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy, labor productivity growth, production recovery based on new reindustrialization and the industrial revolution, the development and implementation of achievements of the fifth technological order, scientific, technical, technological, information revolution, the formation of new scientific, human resources, including in the areas of governance of society and the state, ensuring comprehensive security and sovereignty of society and the state, regulatory support for these processes. This implies the choice of a new socio-economic, formational and civilizational model for further progressive development, taking into account positive domestic and foreign experience, and the corresponding ideological basis for these transformations. All this is becoming an urgent issue for the entire spectrum of social and social sciences, for educational practices.

Monuments in the City of Zagreb as a Reflection of Croatian Society in Space and Time

This paper presents a sociological analysis of the monumental heritage of the City of Zagreb. Monuments are understood and described as „carriers of symbols” through which the ruling elites in a certain time and space endeavor to shape public opinion. A special focus has been given to the analysis of the temporal and spatial dimensions of monument management. The spatial dimension refers to the characteristics of a particular monument and the broader context of the space, that is, the environment in which it was placed. The temporal dimension refers to the management of monumental heritage by the ruling elites, which change in the process of elite circulation. The process of elite circulation is accompanied with efforts for imposing a historical narrative, which is necessarily a selective process in which certain parts of the collective memory are forgotten and others highlighted. Finally, this paper offers a temporal, that is, historical, context of the installation and meaning of the monumental heritage in the City of Zagreb, both for the people of Zagreb and for the entire Croatian nation.

Examining Illiberality and Vanquishment in One Selected isiXhosa Folktale Titled “UNomadlavana” (The Ragged-Clothed Girl)

IsiXhosa folktales continue to embrace the didactic and pedagogical dimensions among young men and women through knowledge that is entrenched in senior citizens or the elderly. This does not exclude young men and women narrating the same isiXhosa folktales among themselves. In this article, the didactic and pedagogical value of an isiXhosa folktale is examined using intersectionality as a theoretical framework in light of recent and long-standing catastrophic phenomena such as HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 deaths that have left many children destitute, resulting in a string of orphans and child-headed families that are difficult to overlook. “UNomadlavana,” the folktale appearing in the appendix of this article, with its English translation, is purposively selected from a published repository and appreciated hereunder as a principal source of data to unravel the persecution and injustice experienced by an orphaned young girl called Nomadlavana. The sociological approach that merges elements of folklore studies, sociological analysis, and intersectionality, and is used as a methodology to uncover the perennial notion concerning stepmothers and orphans, is probed as an interconnected phenomenon, while illiberality and vanquishment of orphans are placed under the spotlight. Ultimately, illiberality and vanquishment are revealed as deeply rooted social problems affecting many unknown and known families, and suggest the need for awareness in a bid to abolish flawed stereotypes pertaining to orphans and stepparents.

Teachers’ Work and Emotions: A Sociological Analysis, written by Tsang, K.K.

Teachers’ Work and Emotions: A Sociological Analysis, written by Tsang, K.K.

Citizen science as a tool to increase residents’ tolerance towards urban wildlife: a case study of raccoon dogs in shanghai

With the increase in the number of urban wildlife, some residents feel anxious and fearful due to the presence of wildlife in urban communities, even when there is no direct physical conflict between them. This research aims to analyze the role of citizen science in increasing residents’ tolerance towards urban wildlife. This research takes the communities with the highest raccoon dog density in Shanghai as the research sites. Forty respondents were selected from local community by systematic sampling. Information was collected through semi-structured interviews and participatory observation. This research used NVivo 12 for thematic analyses. The research found that residents who did not participate in citizen science tended to take crisis observation. They regard raccoon dogs as dangerous wildlife and strictly monitor their behavior to prevent them from causing harm to humans. Residents who are engaging in citizen science tend to take scientific observations. They rationally and objectively record raccoon dogs’ behavior, numbers, and distribution. Based on the experience of scientific observation, residents who had participated in citizen science anthropomorphically observed raccoon dogs in their daily lives and established an emotional bond with them. This research found that citizen science enhances residents’ tolerance towards urban wildlife by producing knowledge and perceiving animal selfhood. In conclusion, this research reveals the complex relationship between residents and wildlife in urban communities by incorporating animals into sociological analysis.