Fundamental Social Institution Research Articles

How do childhood and children's rights mean what they mean? Innovating the debate around the social semantics of childhood and children's rights through an interdisciplinary approach

AbstractThis article discusses children's rights as social semantics, approaching them as a form of self‐description of a paradoxical relationship that has emerged from the late twentieth century within several social systems, a relationship between generational order and children's position as holders of human rights. Charles Taylor's theory on the evolution of the semantics of human value is combined with a wide interdisciplinary array of contributions from Childhood Studies, Social Work, Pedagogy, Studies on Constitutionalism to propose an innovative social ontology of children's rights. Although the UNCRC has been the object of critical scrutiny since the early 1990s, the authors are not aware of any previous attempt to approach children's rights as social semantics in an attempt to illuminate the dynamic and paradoxical coupling within discourses on childhood between a fundamental social process, the reproduction of generational order and a fundamental social institution, human rights as codified in western modernity. The authors argue that while describing a paradoxical coexistence between intergenerational order and human rights, the semantics of children's rights maintains its unity as a cultural form because another semantic distinction, between human rights and personal rights continue to generate social meaning. It is hoped that the scholarly debate will benefit from the contribution of this article to enrich the debate around the social ontology of childhood and children's rights.

THE SPECIFICS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL INSTITUTION OF THE STATE IN THE 21ST CENTURY (ON THE EXAMPLE OF RUSSIA AND BELARUS)

The article deals with topical issues of sovereignty, integration and security of such a fundamental social institution as the state. This issue is considered on a specific material, namely, such states as Russia and Belarus are analyzed. The article shows the aspects of integration of the above-mentioned countries based on the principle of social justice. The author postulates the need to strengthen national security in the light of foreign policy threats. As the author emphasizes, cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus plays an important role in ensuring security. In the light of this interaction, 28 union programs are being implemented, examples of which are discussed in the article. The author concludes about the specifics of the state development of the two friendly countries, this specificity is predetermined by the strategy of union integration

ДОВОЕННЫЙ СССР И НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫЙ ВОПРОС: АДЫГЕЯ В ОЧЕРКЕ АМЕРИКАНСКОГО ЖУРНАЛИСТА ДЖ. КЬЮНИТЦА (1931)

This article analyzes an essay by the American writer J. Kunitz, who traveled across the Republic of Adygea in the early 1930s as part of a group of foreign writers to the southern parts of the USSR. The main theme of the essay of the foreign journalist was the consideration of the methods and ways of solving the national question in the Soviet Union using the example of the Adyghe population. At the same time, the essay examines the process of a radical restructuring of the na-tional republic, both in terms of production and economics, and as part of a change in the very so-cial structure of traditional Caucasian society. Kjunitz documents the transformation of funda-mental social institutions in Adygea, such as the role of the family and women, religion, and edu-cation, in comparison to pre-revolutionary eras. The American author expresses his feelings open-ly, passionately praising the changes he sees before his eyes as modernization and a true “cultural revolution” in the life of the Adyghe people.

CONSTRUCTING TEMPORAL BOUNDARIES OF THE CHOICE OF A MARRIAGE PARTNER IN THE YOUTH AUDIENCE

In the article the authors consider the institution of family and marriage as one of the fundamental social institutions, emphasizing the main problem in it - natural growth, namely reproductive function. They cite the statistics of fertility, and also consider the research aimed at studying the social well-being of women raising preschool children.

Chief-Editor's Note: The role of the family in child education

The family has the most critical, valuable, and effective roles among all institutions, organizations and social institutions. The family is the most natural and legitimate unit of reproduction and the most comprehensive social unit. The family has educational and social importance. People step into the realm of existence from the family and in the family, and society also comes from the formation of individuals. Therefore, it is one of all society’s main pillars and symbols. The normality or abnormality of society depends on the general conditions of the families, and none of the social harm occurs without the influence of the family. The main and obvious role of the family is reproduction and the transfer of cultural and religious values and heritage from one generation to another. Raising the generation and, providing basic human needs and creating psychological, emotional and social balance in the members are among the importance of the family. In Islam, the family is considered a solid foundation and a fundamental social institution. The family is established through marriage as a contract based on rights and laws based on death and mercy. Forming a family is a covenant and a commitment between a man and a woman, whose purpose is to provide human needs and peace and tranquility to each other. Parenting is mandatory and a social necessity. It is a skill that we must learn before having children so that parent-child relationships are formed properly. Parenting is a set of methods that parents use for the growth and development of their children. The methods play a role in satisfying the needs, learning, behavior, performance, way of thinking, communication, and raising their child. Therefore, it can be said that learning the skills of growth in child rearing is one of the primary and vital foundations of raising children.

Truth on Demand: Influences on How Journalists in Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria Responded to Covid-19 Misinformation and Disinformation

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted fundamental social institutions, and the media was no exception. Journalists were challenged to report on an outbreak of pressing health-related information, complicated by malinformation erupting in a time of enhanced public demand for reliable facts. This study uses in-depth interviews with journalists at leading news outlets- both public service and commercial, in Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria (N = 24) to examine how they responded to misinformation and disinformation arising in the initial months of the pandemic. Using the frameworks of journalistic epistemology and the hierarchy-of-influences model, we explored the norms, routines, and practices guiding journalists’ truth claims as well as the individual, routine, organizational, and social-systems influences shaping their decision-making. We found three common narratives of conspiracy theories consistent across different media systems: “big state” concerns, evident in people questioning the very existence of the coronavirus as a pretense for globally enforced state supervision on individual freedoms; “big pharma,” or people blaming the lack of a cure for COVID-19 on pharmaceutical companies pushing for vaccinations; and “big fear” attitude - falsehoods about vaccines potentially causing more harm than good, including changing people’s DNA. We also discuss three common strategies journalists used to respond to COVID-misinformation: deflecting, countering and false equivalency approach.

THE PROBLEM OF CORRUPTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF LAW

The article analyzes the problem of corruption, which, within the framework of the sociology of law, is a systemic socio-legal phenomenon that evolves along with the fundamental social institutions of society throughout the history of mankind. This phenomenon represents such a characteristic of social institutions as the ratio of their perfection and imperfection («corruption») at each stage of cultural and historical development. The origins of perfection and, at the same time, the «corruption» of institutional norms (institutions) are rooted in the social relations of people, the basis of which is social solidarity. The socio-cultural conditions of the «corruption» of social institutions, which are not reflected in law, but rooted in the customs and traditions of peoples, are considered as the initial (pre-legal) stage, the «premechanism» for the implementation of socially approved corrupt behavior underlying corrupt practices.

Lived Experiences of Married Postgraduate Students at University of Zambia Regarding Marriage Mate Selection

This research sought to find out the lived experiences of married postgraduate students at UNZA regarding marriage mate selection. The study used a qualitative research methodology as well as a Case Study as its research design towards data collection. The data was collected using a semi-structured interview guided questions. The sample selection was 16 in total of postgraduate students at UNZA which included 8 males and 8 female participants. The general literature overview of this research indicated that marriage is a fundamental social institution that exists throughout the world. And that marriage mate selection is one of the most important decisions of people’s social life which determines their happiness in marriage. However, the findings in this study revealed that people looked for attributes or factors such as education in marriage mate selection because they believed that marrying a fellow educated person made it easy to relate as their thinking would be aligned to theirs. Secondly the financial stability of a potential marriage partner was also an important attribute that both males and females looked for in their prospective mate. Thirdly the study showed that a God-fearing partner was preferred unlike a non-believer because of the belief that Godly people were less likely to indulge in unholy conduct such as infidelity. The other perspectives includes some female preference of a man who is tall in height and dark in complexion, while some men preferred women who are beautiful with small and curvy body structure. Finally, the overall attributes in marriage mate selection included a man who is loving, caring and with good leadership qualities, while males preferred a woman who is respectful, intelligent, trustworthy, understanding and one who refrained from taking alcohol. For further studies, it is recommended that other research focus should be conducted in communities where there are less educated males and females.

We Are Citizens of the World: A Defence of the American Literature Survey (in the Name of Cosmopolitanism)

In this frictionless age of individually tailored newsfeeds, in which deeply illiberal movements on both sides of the Atlantic have set about dismantling fundamental social and political institutions, it is crucial that we in our Scandinavian undergraduate English programs do not abandon our commitment to the traditional American literature survey in favour of more internationally oriented courses in World English, as has been proposed by stakeholders both within and without our discipline. The ability to think critically and independently about our own cultural space, largely defined by American terms, can only emerge dialectically, through a continued engagement with the common patrimony of poets, novelists, and thinkers that have articulated and interrogated the very core values and beliefs of our liberal democracies. Reading deeply in this tradition makes our students better and more informed members of society, more principled in their thought, more sensitive to the difference between universal and relative values, more alive to the existence and needs of others, more aware of how our culture is predicated on questioning, challenging, and critiquing those who hold power and the structures that make the exercise of that power possible. As such, defending the teaching of the American canon is not a conservative, rearward-looking stance, concerned with the primacy and preservation of the works of dead white males. On the contrary, it is a position predicated on the urgent belief that the future health and vitality of our society depends on a continuous critical negotiation with our artistic past.

The Revival of the Russian Idea Ethic and Aesthetic Traditions in the Anthropologic Social and Conservative Paradigm

Russian idea formation in the framework of mental and artistic forms largely determines its ethic and aesthetic trends. The following philosophic conceptualization of the Russian idea turned out to be connected not only with the empire project, but also with the expression of national traditions in the classic culture, from architecture to philosophy. Under the conditions of the global technological crisis of spiritual culture that has captured the quasi-westernized modern Russia, the conservative progress understanding implies in fact the integration of anthropological and social conservatism. Russian idea modernization as an important direction of the domestic philosophy renewal, implies the critical analysis of post-philosophic –suicidal in relation to man, national sovereignty, fundamental social institutions, - doctrines and substantiation of absolute importance of classic and national spiritual traditions, moral and aesthetic context of material and technical progress, cultural self-sufficiency and originality. The panhuman character of the Russian idea in the 21st century consists in the project of co-evolutionary preservation of man, philosophy and culture.

A Comparison between Traditional Chinese and Western Marriage Culture

Marriage is the most fundamental social institution in human society. Applying the comparative method, this paper aims at analyzing within the scope of marital and familial aspects of Chinese and Western culture, revealing specifically the underlying causes of the differences demonstrated in traditional Chinese and Western marriage culture. The paper finds that behind the apparent ritual practices, China and the West have different principles and priorities rooted in their ideological distinctions, namely, the differences in ethical foundations as well as family values. Chinese people, under the overwhelming influence of Confucian doctrines, regard parents as the sole authority in marriage, and ancestor worship has become the ultimate goal in the whole process, urging couples to conform to an extended family. In contrast, their western counterparts give priority to religious significance, and marriage is viewed as a divine unity of the two, which can be independent from large family relations thus forming a nuclear family of their own.

Performance-based assessment of students’ communication skills

Higher education is a fundamental social institution that supports the latest theoretical developments and builds advanced skills. All institutions of higher education require that undergraduate and postgraduate students acquire performance skills as communication. Despite the fact that nearly every higher education program and discipline includes such skills among their learning outcomes, there are few instruments available with which to assess such complex competences. This article presents the findings of a study in which an instrument to measure communication skills was operationalized according to Habermas’ theory of communication, which distinguishes between strategic and understanding-oriented communication. The instrument introduced and used was based on role-plays that included standardised instructions and standardised observation forms. In addition to the empirical investigation into the theoretical dimensions of strategic and understanding-orientated communication, this study also examined two correlations: the correlation between performance-based testing and self-assessments and the correlation between performance-based testing and non-verbal communication. Two dimensions can be found in confirmatory factors analysis. Furthermore, the study found a medium correlation with non-verbal skills, but low correlation with self-assessments. Following a presentation of the study, the article concludes with a discussion of the benefits as well as limitations of such an instrument.

УПРАВЛЕНИЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬЮ В РЕЖИМЕ ДИСТАНЦИОННОГО ОБУЧЕНИЯ В СВЕТЕ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ

In the light of such a direction of sociology as «social structure, social institutions and processes» (22.00.04), it is important to consider such a fundamental social institution as education. The article deals with the issues of managing educational ac- tivities in higher education and secondary schools in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The possibilities of distance learning in certain social conditions are analyzed, the advantages and disadvantages of online learning are identified, conclusions are made about this type of educational process and about the possibility of effective management of educa- tional activities in the distance learning mode. The method of sociological research of online learning during the coronavirus pandemic was included observation. The re- sults of this study are presented in the article. The authors consider the possibilities of educational institutions in the implementation of the learning process in a distance format. The possibilities of effective implementation of elements of this type of training are revealed. The article describes the use of the Moodle electronic learning system at the Bryansk state University named after academi- cian I. G. Petrovsky, which greatly facilitated the introduction of online learning in the educational process. The results of the study consist in analyzing both the advantages and disadvantages of online learning in a given period of time, and giving a picture of this phenomenon in a single University. This analysis is necessary for applying the experience in modern conditions - during the period of systemic innovations in Rus- sian education, for successful and effective management of educational activities in difficult conditions.

TOPLUMSAL CİNSİYETE DAYALI ŞİDDETİN TEMELLERİ ÜZERİNE

Toplumsal cinsiyet, biyolojik cinsiyetin toplumsal ve kültürel kurgulanışıdır. Doğanın içinde yazılı olmayan, cinsiyete dayalı yatkınlıklar uzun bir toplumsallaşma cabasının ürünü olarak ortaya çıkarlar. Erkek şiddeti, erkeğin kadın üzerindeki iktidarının bir şekli olarak bütün alanlarda görülen ataerkil kontrolün bir sonucudur. Cinsiyete dayalı şiddet belli bir hiyerarşi kurmak adına çocukluktan itibaren kullanılan bir mekanizmadır. Aynı zamanda şiddet erkeklerin bilinçli ya da bilinçsiz bir biçimde ayrıcalık taşıma hakkına sahip oldukları algısına dayanmaktadır. Bu nedenle kadına yönelik şiddetin, toplumsal yapı, ataerkil ilişkiler ve bunları besleyen kaynaklar analiz edilmeden anlaşılamayacağı aşikârdır. Çünkü erkekliğe yüklenen toplumsal anlamlar ve erkeklik konumunun iktidarla ilişkisi cinsiyete dayalı şiddetin temeli olmaktadır. Bu nedenle çalışmamız erkeklerin kadınlar üstündeki gücünü ve bu gücü gösterme şekli olan şiddetini meşrulaştırıp sürdüren temel toplumsal kurumların ve değerlerin neler olduğunu sorgulamaktadır. Erkek şiddetinin toplumsal kurgulanmasına ve ideolojik olarak meşru sayılmasına kaynaklık eden yapıların neler olduğunu irdelemektedir. Şiddetin ataerkil toplumların örgütsel yapısı ve talepleri doğrultusunda ortaya çıkıp beslendiğini kavramanın aynı zamanda şiddeti önlemeye yönelik adımların temelini oluşturacağı kanaatindeyiz.

ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКИЕ КАДРЫ В БРЯНСКОМ УЕЗДЕ ОРЛОВСКОЙ ГУБЕРНИИ НА РУБЕЖЕ XIX- XX ВЕКОВ: СОЦИАЛЬНО- СОЦИОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ

In the light of such a direction of sociology as "social structure, social institutions and processes" (22.00.04), it is important to consider such a fundamental social institution as education. The article deals with the issues of training teachers in the diachronic aspect. A socio-sociological analysis of the state of the issue in a particular region of Russia-the Bryansk district of the Oryol province at such a time interval as the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The relevance of the review of historical experience in the selection and training of teaching staff is not in doubt. The success of education at all times depended crucially on the level of teaching. In modern society, the issues of education reform are very acute, so it is legitimate to turn to the historical past. After the peasant reform, the need for educated people increased dramati- cally, and consequently, it was necessary to train many teachers. Various long-term and short-term pedagogical courses have played a huge role in improving the skills of teachers. The following research methods were used for data analysis: historical, sociological, and quantitative methods of data analysis (one-dimensional statistical analysis). A deep analysis of the source base of the study-the works of Gusev D.V., Zabolotny N.F., Kos- modamianskogo M., Sokolov Ya.D., materials of the state archives of the Bryansk and Oryol regions. The results of the study are that the system of training teachers in this period of time is analyzed, and a detailed picture of this phe- nomenon is given in a single district of the Russian Empire. This analysis is necessary for applying historical experience in modern conditions - during the period of systemic innovations in Russian education. The results of historical and archival research can be applied in such fields of knowledge as regional history, educational history, his- torical local history, and sociology.

Prawo własności w nauczaniu episkopatu II Rzeczypospolitej

The attitudes of Polish Catholic Church hierarchs and the shaping of their views on the fundamental social and economic institutions of the Second Polish Republic were not free from the influence of the Church’s social teaching that developed at the turn of the20th century. One of the key issues that was widely deliberated was that of ownership. In spite of the fact that ownership was a major social institution, it had been for long neglected in the teaching of the Catholic Church in Poland. However, although ignored during the period of Poland’s partitions, once the country regained independence, land ownership issues became suddenly within the interest among Polish bishops, and increased greatly when the government put forward its proposals of reforms in agriculture. The most conservative views and attitudes on land property and the role of land ownership in the social and economic sphere were then activated and, despite the enlightened opinions of some leading Catholic priests in the period 1918-1939 who followed the teaching o f Pope Pius XI and advocated fair pay, fighting unemployment, working on social legislation, and the idea subsidiarity and corporate attitudes in economy, the majority o f the Polish Episcopate remained steadfast in their utterly conservative convictions, especially on the issue of Church property and its preservation. Thus, the opinions of the few Polish bishops (i.a. Teodor Kubin or Stanislaw Adamski) to the contrary were exceptional and isolated, particularly because even the Holy See treated them as too far advanced and modem.

Governance and leadership implications for academic professionals in the era of technological disruption

Whether employee unions have a role to play in Universities (and what that role might be) has always been troubling, with views ranging from philosophical antipathy to wholesale endorsement. In some jurisdictions, levels of membership and support also have varied in response to such external factors as statutory changes to governance structures of universities, voluntary unionism, changes to the direct role of unions in furthering the statutory responsibilities of employers such as in promotion of health and safety in the workplace, and such internal factors as casualisation, centralisation of power and decision making and policies of workforce flexibility via redundancy and other strategies. An emerging “threat” that is garnering increasing levels of concern is that of disruptive automation in the higher education sphere, not only in ancillary functions such as learning management systems, information processing and provision of student support services, but also going to the root of the academic function—the education experience. This development will have fundamental implications for higher education, as for other service industries, and poses essential challenges for employee unions in terms of their relevance, governance and leadership, particularly where that automation threatens job security and careers. This paper will explore those challenges by reference to analogous developments such as MOOCs, “cookie-cutter” courses and programs, casualisation and the growth in on-line, flexible and blended delivery modes. As a review and commentary, the exploration will focus on the Australian context but to ensure broader relevance, will be grounded in political economy, reflecting the tensions that emerge between the funders of universities, both public and private, who seek higher profits, control and power, and those who see universities as a fundamental social institution. Arguably, it is in the space created by such tensions that the future for unions is located. It is a matter of determining what that future looks like. This approach permits both contextualisation of the discussion and provides opportunities for international comparisons, thereby providing a basis for future research within the context of academic leadership.

Горизонтальная прфессиональная мобильность, профессиональное образование и рынок труда в России в динамике лет

The study of educational reality and the interrelationship of the sphere of education and the labour market began to occupy one of the principal places in the analysis of social structure and social stratification. The gap between the sphere of education and the labour market reveals a serious discrepancy in the interaction between people and fundamental social institutions, and the gap between the requirements of the real economy and the actual knowledge and competencies of employees is deepening.According to experts, another round of technological development will lead to a change in the employment landscape. It is not just about the disappearance of existing professions and the emergence of new spheres of professional activity but also about changing approaches in understanding employment, productivity, and efficiency of work. The proportional correlation of emerging and replaced professions certainly depends on the level of technological development of the country, economic and social factors. At the same time, intellectual potential and human capital is still the main factor of future development. Nowadays an important role will be played not only by the level of education but also by the ability to learn new skills, constant adaptation and professional mobility.In the article, an attempt was made to study horizontal professional mobility in the dynamics of years, to understand its scale and territorial specifics in the Russian Federation on the available materials of state statistics and data of the RLMS-HSE during 1998-2016 years. Specialists and workers of various qualifications aged from 30 to 49 years old more often tend to change their profession, and their level of education is not a statistically significant determinant of such a choice. It has been shown that different professional groups have unequal capital of flexibility and mobility, meanwhile specialists and workers remain the core of labour resources. Specialists and workers more than other professional groups are in the risk zone not only during a difficult economic situation, but also in the situation of technological changes and automation of the labor market. It is noted that without an appropriate contribution to the development of skills technological progress does not translate into economic growth, and the country loses its competitiveness in a rapidly developing global economy.

Problem „tego co polityczne” a tożsamość badawcza politologii

Dyscypliny naukowe różnią się od siebie pod wieloma względami, przede wszystkim różnicują je zasadnicze problemy i odrębne metody badawcze. Nauka o polityce jako dyscyplina jest definiowana głównymi problemami badawczymi, przez utrwalanie „polityki” we wszystkich niezliczonych formach. Polityka przyjmuje wiele form i obejmuje wiele poziomów społecznych, począwszy od klanów i plemion tradycyjnych społeczeństw, przez nowoczesny samorząd, firmy i instytucje, aż do suwerennych państw i poziomu międzynarodowego. Autor niniejszego artykułu stwierdził, że zdefiniowanie polityki jest najważniejszym krokiem w procesie budowania teorii politycznej. Jego zdaniem powinniśmy definiować politykę jako instytucje społeczne; jako kompleks pozycji, ról, norm i wartości ulokowanych w poszczególnych rodzajach struktur społecznych i organizacji stosunkowo stabilnych wzorców aktywności ludzkiej w odniesieniu do podstawowych problemów w produkcji środków podtrzymujących życie, w reprodukcji osobników i utrzymywaniu struktur społecznych w danym środowisku. Polityka to instytucje społeczne, które rozdzielają władzę, wyznaczają cele społeczeństwa i podejmują decyzje. Autor stwierdził, że najbardziej skutecznym sposobem zrozumienia, czym jest polityka, jest definiowanie jej jako podstawowych instytucji społecznych.

A Constitutional Future for Abortion Rights in Canada

In 2015, Abortion Access Now PEI legally challenged the restrictive abortion policy of Prince Edward Island. This article studies their challenge as a unique case in the building of a constitutional future for abortion rights in Canada. The article tracks how AAN PEI drew on classic rule of law arguments of transparency, accountability, and constitutional justice to shape and claim abortion rights as democratic rights, an entitlement to fully and equally participate in and benefit from the health care system as a fundamental social institution of the state.