Macro-social Processes Research Articles

From Big Data to social governance: a discussion across the "double divide"

The emergence of big data has brought the "double divide" dilemma of urban-rural divide and gray divide to the digital divide problem of the aging of migrant workers. In 2021, Chinese scholar Chen Yunsong published Big Data Vision of Humanities and Social Sciences from a Social Perspective. Based on the quantitative research theory at the individual level, this work observes, displays and analyzes macro social processes and human phenomena through massive data. Based on the gradually aging social structure of rural migrant workers in China, this paper focuses on the viewpoints of big data and social governance in Chapter 4 and Chapter 6 of the book, and conducts an empirical study on the "double divide" problem of mobile phone use of elderly rural migrant workers. The research results show that the differences between the elderly migrant workers in urban and rural areas in the willingness, skills and content of mobile phone use have changed, and mobile phone smart application has catalyzed their information differentiation and social stratification to a certain extent. The country needs to eliminate the negative impact caused by the gap pushed by the mobile phone big data algorithm in a variety of feeding ways, so as to effectively implement social governance measures.

The Politics of Shame, Stigma and Gender: Implications for Restorative Justice Conferencing with Justice-Involved Girls

Feminist engagement with restorative justice (RJ) have tended to neglect the importance of gendered factors relevant to RJ interventions used with women and girls who offend. This article begins to address this gap in knowledge and presents findings from qualitative research with offending girls who participated in a RJ conference, a group whose voices are seldom heard, and RJ practitioners. Focusing on the key themes of shame and stigma, the article critically explores how the macro-social processes underpinning stigmatization and the gendered politics of shame can produce harmful implications for girls participating in RJ conferences within an offender capacity.

University Students’ Civic Engagement: The Influencing Factors

This study investigates the state of civic engagement amongst university students and factors influencing their participation. The study employs a quantitative method using a questionnaire distributed online as the primary method of data collection and analyses. A total of 549 Universiti Utara Malaysia undergraduate students from various academic programmes had participated as respondents to the online survey. The findings of this study suggest that the level of civic engagement amongst the university students are considerably high. Based on scoring obtained through the use of the standardised measures developed for this study, their level of participation of civic activities ranges from medium to high. Pertaining to the factors responsible for their level of participation in the civic milieu, the study concludes that national- or societal-level sentiments and influences constitute the major driving force as compared to the more individualistic motives. In this regard, it is reasonable to assume that, for this part of the population, civic engagement stays at a healthy level, with the primary caveat being that the source of inspiration for their civic health resides in macrosocial processes rather than the individual's psyche.

Отношение молодежи к коррупции как проявление экономического менталитета россиян

In the study of legal problems, their psychological aspects are of great importance. The paper presents the main areas of research on corruption. It is noted that in modern legal psychology, the prevention of unlawful behavior of young people in the field of economic crimes is still given little focus. The paper presents an analysis of the attitude of young people, as the most promising social group, to corruption offenses. The research was carried out using surveys among the students of higher education of Moscow. The data obtained were processed with content analysis, expert analysis as well as quantitative analysis of keywords and attitudes under topical areas chosen by the authors. The main results of the study can be summarized as follows: young people's perceptions of corruption are largely formed at the household level and do not reflect the specifics of macro-social processes in the society; students highlight the cultural and historical factors in the spread of corruption, which, in their opinion, act as a historically established social obstacle to overcoming the corruption situation in Russia; oftentimes students assess corruption not on legal grounds, but on psychological ones (on the principles of respect, politeness, mutual agreement, etc.), which does not always allow them to adequately identify corrupt behavior. With this approach to the problem, the research results require serious attention from psychologists, teachers and lawyers (in view of legal education of young people), which is a promising plan for future research.

Group Nominations as an Instrument of Electoral Struggle: Ukrainian Discourse of 2019 Parliamentary Elections

The authors work within the framework of political sociology using interdisciplinary methodology. The article presents the results of a sociological analysis of the functions of group nominations in the electoral struggle in divided societies. The empirical basis of the article is the author's study of the electoral discourse based on the material of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine in 2019, carried out within the framework of the ARDU international research project, as well as a mass poll conducted within the framework of the same project. The authors investigate the electoral struggle as a factor and s reflection of macrosocial processes, relying on a combined theoretical and metho­dological foundation: the sociology of cleavages, social constructivism, and critical discourse analysis. The results of the analysis of the pre-election discourse and a mass survey of the adult population of Ukraine show the relationship between discursive group nominations and objective social cleavages. The division of society into conflict groups is used as a discursive tool for segmentation of the electoral audience, as well as for the consolidation and deepening of existing social divisions. Authors conclude that there is the interrelation between discursive group nominations and objective social cleavages. Group nominations (re) produce a macrosocial split of a complex, regional and ideological nature, which receives a technological dimension in the electoral discourse.

Dynamics of social capital in Urban China, 1999 to 2014: An age-period-cohort analysis

This paper provides new evidence on the dynamics of social capital across the life course and over different periods in urban China. Using three cross-sectional datasets from the Job Search and Social Network survey (1999, 2009, and 2014), this study distinguishes family-centered and work-centered social capital and then constructs age-period-cohort models of social capital. The age effects indicate that social capital stock shows an inverse U shape across the individual life course, with the peak occurring between ages 38 and 42 years old. Period effects suggest a significant increase in social capital stock from 1999 to 2014, during which time family-centered social capital declined, while work-centered social capital was invigorated and became the primary source of social capital for urban residents. Cohort effects indicate that political events and institutional reforms exert profound effects on the accumulation of social capital for different birth cohorts. The birth cohort growing up in 1930–1948 stands out as having relatively high social capital, while social capital underwent a significant decline among those who grew up from 1949 to 1978, followed by rapid growth again among those born after 1979. These conclusions enhance the nuanced understanding of the dynamics of social capital across the micro life course and macro social processes.

THE MAIN STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROSECUTION AUTHORITIES OF THE CHUVASH REPUBLIC IN THE MODERN PERIOD

The article is the first attempt to periodize the history of the modern activities performed by the prosecution authorities of the Chuvash Republic. The methodological basis for singling out the individual stages of this process is its study in the context of macrosocial processes. The use of this approach enables to carry out an interdisciplinary study of individual facts and events in the modern history of the Prosecutor’s Office of Chuvashia. In this case, it is possible to analyze them in conjunction with the general trends in the development of the state and the law of the country in the period under review, the personal contribution of the heads and employees of the prosecutor’s office, and the social changes that took place in society.
 
 The novelty of the study is that the proposed periodization in the modern history of the prosecution authorities of Chuvashia is carried out for the first time. In addition, the use of macrosocial processes context in historical research is also new; it has made it possible to use statutory instruments more widely as sources. Without their consideration, periodization of the activities carried out by law enforcement agencies, which include the Prosecutor’s Office, will not be sufficiently justified.
 
 The results of the study consist in separating three main stages in the activity of the Chuvash Republic prosecution authorities in the modern period: 1) 1991–1999; 2) 2000–2009; 3) 2010–2020. All of them have distinctive features that have become the basis for this separation. These features reflect both global social and political processes that took place in the country in these three decades, and particular regional changes that took place in the life of the republic. This interrelation is also a consequence of the very status of the prosecution authorities, which, on the one hand, have the character of federal authorities, and on the other hand, directly influence and are influenced by regional development processes. The most illustrative features characterizing the stages in the modern history of Chuvashia’s prosecution authorities are considered in the text of the article, which sets out the author’s conclusions.
 
 The conducted research has a high degree of practical significance and prospects for continuing this work. The author is a member of the research group analyzing the history of the Chuvash Republic prosecution authorities in connection with celebrating their 100th anniversary. Therefore, a number of conclusions proposed in this article have the general character of methodological recommendations aimed at preparing a general monographic publication on the topic of the study.

Syndemic thinking in large-scale studies: Case studies of disability, hypertension, and diabetes across income groups in India and China

Syndemics consider where two or more conditions cluster, how they interact, and what macro-social processes have driven them together. Yet, syndemics emerge and interact differently across contexts and through time. This article considers how syndemics involving Type 2 diabetes (DM), disability, and income differ among men and women and between India and China. We use the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) data. Using multivariable logistic regression, we assess the interaction of socio-economic factors and diseases on a multiplicative scale. We found that gender and income interact significantly in China to increase the odds of reporting hypertension and diabetes, but only for reporting diabetes in India. High income interacts with metabolic conditions to increase the odds of reporting comorbidity. Hypertension and diabetes were both independently and jointly associated with increase in the odds of being disabled in both countries, but the association varies by conditions. We argue that, first, our study reveals how these syndemics differ between countries and, second, that they differ significantly between income groups. Both findings refute the idea that a “global syndemic” exists. Instead, we emphasize the need for more ethnographic work that invests in local historical, social, and political interpretations of syndemics. Furthermore, ethnographic evidence suggests that the lowest-income communities face compounded social stress, untreated depression, and poor healthcare access alongside these clustered “metabolic” conditions. This point is most notable to demonstrate the need for chronic integrated care for not only the wealthy but also poorer people with metabolic conditions.

Social origin and educational attainment in China: a historical analysis of 70 birth cohorts

The impact of social origin on educational attainment is conditioned on the social context in which people live. In recent decades, with changes in the Chinese society, how has the impact of social origin on educational inequality changed? Based on an analysis of 70 birth cohorts, this study details the effect of social origin on educational inequality and its trends over the past 70 years. The results of this study also indicate that the historical stages hypothesis (HSH) and model-shift hypothesis (MSH) emphasized in previous studies cannot fully describe the historical changes in educational inequality. In addition to macrosocial processes, there may exist other structural factors that also affect educational inequality but are neglected. The social context and its transformation, which shaped the relationship between social origin and educational inequality, need to be examined in more detail.

Co to znaczy, że psychologia jest nauką społeczną? Próba odpowiedzi na pytanie poprzez psychologiczną analizę migracji arabskiej do Europy

Psychological research rarely undertakes macrosocial issues. An analysis of the specificity of research conducted in the framework of social sciences revealed that incorporating psychology into them is not only possible but also desirable if, while studying these macrosocial phenomena and processes, scientists take into account biological and social factors as well. Basing on the conceptions of evolutionary psychology and the findings of research on the situation of migrants fromArab countries to Europe, it has been shown what value resorting to psychological knowledge in the search for the solution to migration problems may have.

СИНТЕЗ ЭТНОНАЦИОНАЛЬНОГО И ГРАЖДАНСКОГО КАК ОСНОВА РОССИЙСКОЙ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ

The authors consider the concept of Russian identity and review some key social and philo-sophical approaches to the definitions of identity focusing on the contemporary Russian sociological in-terpretations of the structure and content of national identity. The authors acknowledge the complexity and multidimensional nature of national identity, and believe that it develops in history and proves a certain level of national consciousness. The article considers the today’s Russians’ self-identification under the macro-social processes in the Russian society in the crisis period of 2014-2016. Based on the results of the national sociological monitoring surveys conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Acade-my of Sciences the authors identify the Russians’ priorities in the sphere of inter-ethnic and confessional relations in the form of sociological diagnostics. The data of the sociological surveys prove that the identity issues are still among the key problems of the Russian society considering the resources for national con-solidation as determined by the status of the Russian identity and by its structure as depending on the stability of civil and ethnic components combination. Today, Russia has to preserve and to renew its self-identification, to construct the Russian national-civil identity as a synthesis of ethnic and civil components. Thus, the state has to develop the so-called “identity policy” as one of the most important ways to strengthen its key political decisions and legislation and to support the spiritual-psychological climate of the society.

Novija istraživanja porodice u Sociloškom pregledu - doprinos jačanju discipline

The paper analyzes 72 texts relevant to the sociological study of the family, published in the Sociološki pregled/ Sociological Review journal in the period between 2000 and 2017. The analysis includes a quantitative overview of the dynamics of work publishing, characteristics of authorship, representation of topics relevant to the sociological analysis of the family, as well as a qualitative overview of the research context. Special attention is given to papers analyzing the relationship of the family and related concepts (kinship, marriage, reproduction, gender, generations, parenthood), as well as those which focus on the impact of macro social processes and changes on aspects of family functioning. The concusion presents findings on development tendencies within the discipline, as well as the characteristics of sociological study of the family in Serbia.

Entre el mensaje romántico y el etnorock en YouTube: repertorios identitarios en los paisajes virtuales de jóvenes mayas tsotsiles

Se examina el uso de las tecnologías digitales por jóvenes de origen tsotsil, principalmente a través de mensajes de texto por celular y de intercambios en páginas de YouTube de grupos musicales. Se analizan los "paisajes virtuales" como nuevas formas de afectividad, socialización y sociabilidad desde un enfoque etnográfico, semiótico y sociolingüístico. Estos paisajes se caracterizan por ser el vehículo de expresiones identitarias de culturas juveniles étnicas. La investigación aporta al campo de las juventudes étnicas desde ángulos escasamente investigados en América Latina, el de la sociolingüística de la globalización y el de las literacidades digitales prácticas.

Россияне и жители Ростовской области о настроениях и повседневных практиках в условиях кризиса 2016 года: соотношение общероссийского и регионального

The article brings into focus the social sentiments of the population defining the content and direction of changes occurring in society, as well as analyzes adaptive practices that allow residents of the region to integrate into a dynamic social reality and participate in the development of macrosocial processes. The article highlights the expression of social sentiments among residents of Rostov Region in times of crisis in 2016, which are characterized by a decrease in the level of optimism, awareness of the long-term crisis and the growth of unresolved problems within society. While assessing the prospects for development of society, the dominant trend was revealed — the growth of emotional tension and anxiety in public expectations. Based on analysis of empirical data, the strategies for adapting the residents of the Rostov Region to the social and economic crisis were considered. In particular, it was found that residents of the region are characterized by a fairly low level of variability in the willingness to implement adaptation practices. A distinctive feature of regional respondents is revealed: relying on one’s own resources, the independent search for options for adaptation to crisis aspects, and the refusal to seek help from not only state, but also social and religious organizations. The survey was carried out according to methods developed by the scientists of the IS RAS, and as for a number of thematic units, the results are given in comparison with all-Russian data.

Depopulating semi-periphery? Longer term dynamics of migration and socioeconomic development in Romania

Romania is among Eastern European societies facing a massive depopulation in the last two and a half decades. Large-scale emigration has occurred under the circumstances of massive fertility decline and population ageing following 1989. Immigration has been insignificant until now, in spite of the negative natural growth and the presence of large Romanian-speaking populations next to the Eastern borders of the country. Our paper investigates long-term migratory trends and their relation to general macro-economic and macro-social processes. We place the Romanian historical experience concerning developmental aspects of changes in migratory flows and stocks. Existing macro-historical narratives diverge first in their expectations concerning socioeconomic development. On the one hand, models of “migration transition” and “migration cycles” share an optimistic view of developmental prospects of peripheral and semi-peripheral societies. For instance, Skeldon considered the Eastern European region as an “emerging or potential core”. As a consequence, he expected that these societies would become new destinations of global migratory flows. On the other hand, researchers relying on world-system theory emphasize that global structural inequalities are likely to persist, thus Eastern European societies are likely to remain enclosed in their semi-peripheral condition. Under such circumstances massive emigration could continue and could lead to large-scale depopulation of certain regions. Our paper argues that the long-term evolution of macro-structural indicators and migratory flows in Romania do not substantiate developmental optimism. World-system theories could provide useful frame to interpret existing data.

Positive effects of communal coping in the aftermath of a collective trauma: The case of the 2010 Chilean earthquake

Abstract A cross-sectional study examines the relationship between participation in secular demonstrations, spiritual rituals, and communal coping, as well as the question whether these strategies might serve as triggers of post-traumatic growth, and enhance social well-being. A communal coping scale, showing satisfactory structural validity, was administered to a quasi-random sample (N = 517) of people affected by an earthquake in Chile in 2010. The results indicated that adaptive forms, such as communal reappraisal, regulated emotional expression, communal distraction, and communal searching for social support, were associated with social well-being (SWB) and post-traumatic growth (PTG). Participation in spiritual rituals was specifically related to communal reappraisal and contributed to post-traumatic growth. On the other hand, participation in secular collective gatherings also reinforced post-traumatic growth, as well as social well-being, but not through communal reappraisal. Overall, this study confirmed social functions of collective ritualized activities, which through the reinforcement of in-group interaction, foster individual post-traumatic growth and social well-being of people affected by a collective trauma, like an earthquake. Results are discussed in the framework of a collective positive psychology approach on micro- and macro-social processes of coping and their implications for social well-being.

Metis and the Medicine Line: Creating a Border and Dividing a People, by Michel Hogue

Metis and the Medicine Line: Creating a Border and Dividing a People, by Michel Hogue. Regina, University of Regina Press and Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 2015. 352 pp. $34.95 Cdn (paper) $32.95 US (paper). Metis and the Medicine Line comes at a time of renewed focus on Metis history, one that recognizes the immense complexity of nineteenth century Metis life. Michel Hogue's work contributes to this discussion by handling Metis as complex boundary-crossing who, while having a clear sense of themselves as Metis, are deft navigators of the social and political categories used by outsiders to situate them in numerous legal orders, particularly those of the colonial states in their midst. While Metis and the Medicine Line focuses primarily on physically crossing the forty-ninth parallel, it also explores the many other ways that nineteenth-century Indigenous people crossed boundary markers of identity, legal status, and citizenship. Hogue threads sophisticated discussions of geography, identity, political economy, and the social, political, and economic impacts these structures had on Metis throughout the nineteenth, and into the early twentieth, century. One of the strengths of Hogue's work is the ease with which he moves back and forth detailing micro and macro social processes. He profiles the boundary-crossings of Metis families like the one headed by Antoine Oullette and Angelique Bottineau who crossed the forty-ninth parallel like many of their contemporaries, to take advantage of the shifting economic and political realities of the borderlands. These behaviours also reflect the larger movements of Metis people across the medicine line, while they--again at micro and macro levels--ascribed a different meaning to it than the westward expanding empires of the East. Equally important is Hogue's focus on the ways in which Metis adapt identity boundaries to meet their ongoing needs. Unlike older works, Hogue does over-determine Metis-First Nations separation, nor does he overstate their interchangeability. From the outset, Metis and the Medicine Line respects Metis social and political distinctiveness, while at the same time highlighting the closeness with which Metis held their Indian kin. It is clear from this work that Metis and First Nations had integrated one another into their family networks, becoming real and ceremonial kin using these ways to determine who belonged. Such kinship structures were also instrumental in establishing Metis inclusion (both individual and collective) in emerging colonial policies. Navigating these kinship systems was used to restrict Indigenous access to their lands by policing who was and who was not Indian. Like crossing physical boundaries, Metis and the Medicine Line, explores this other form of border-crossing which newly defined Halfbreeds and Indians sought to insert their self-understandings onto racial and social categories given form mostly by outsiders. These newly-formed policy boundaries often placed Metis families outside of Indianness, but complex kinship relations and still-unclear policy categories allowed Metis (and other Indigenous peoples) to strategically situate themselves as Indians or Halfbreeds, and American citizens or British subjects as circumstances required. Despite attempts by the colonial authorities to limit this kind of boundary-crossing, Hogue shows that this was easier done in theory than in fact. …

Study Possibilities of Present-Day Ethnic Revitalization of German Woodsmen in the Little Carpathians

ABSTRACT The article discusses the influence of macro-social processes and issues of assimilation, acculturation, ethnic and linguistic revitalization on the example of one particular group of German woodsmen in the social context of Western Slovakia. It attempts to analyse how historical and political changes during the 20th century influenced changes in the structure, system of values and hierarchy of ethnic group and whether that helped or prevented the assimilation of the group’s members. The article also attempts to indicate the possibilities of today’s ethnic and linguistic revitalization.

Situational Evidence

There is unexamined potential for developing and testing rival causal explanations in the type of data that participant observation is best suited to create: descriptions of in situ social interaction crafted from the participants’ perspectives. By intensively examining a single ethnography, we can see how multiple predictions can be derived from and tested with field notes, how numerous strategies are available for demonstrating the patterns of nonoccurrence which causal propositions imply, how qualitative data can be analyzed to negate researcher behavior as an alternative causal explanation, and how folk counterfactuals can add to the evidentiary strength of an ethnographic study. Explicating the potential of field notes for causal explanation may be of interest to methodologists who seek a common logic for guiding and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research, to ethnographic fieldworkers who aim at connecting micro- to macro-social processes, to researchers who use an analogous logic of explanation when working with other forms of qualitative data, and to comparative–analytic sociologists who wish to form concepts and develop theory in conformity with an understanding that social life consists of social interaction processes that may be captured most directly by ethnographic fieldwork.

Ecosystems Evolution as Source of Sustainable Development

Rural development by regions can be materialized through the elaboration and implementation of sectoral strategies. The design of a development model in the territory according to the fundamental sectoral domains can be achieved following the rural cohesion principles. The rural area, in its multiple diversity, is subject to complex challenges coming from the macroeconomic and macrosocial processes: a). demographic and social challenges from the territorial point of view, segregation of vulnerable groups – the diminution in number of the rural population and the strong demographic ageing on the rise have an impact upon rural cohesion starting from the type of public services, their supply and ending up with the rural labour market; b). challenges of the climate changes – the environmental risks are felt in the territory at different degrees, and vulnerabilization is regionally selective; c). challenges in relation to the loss of biodiversity, through the vulnerabilization of the natural, landscape and cultural patrimony – the regional character of the rural area can be so drastically modified that the territorial identity is lost.