National Social Systems Research Articles

К вопросу о проблематике отечественной бюрократии: социально-философское рассмотрение

The article is an attempt at an unbiased assessment of the role of the Russian bureaucracy in the context of the socio-historical process. Despite the diversity of the available theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of domestic bureaucracy, the analysis of historical facts shows that only a centrally soldered authoritarian model that ensures the realization of mobilization potential demonstrated effectiveness. In the course of the historical evolution of the state apparatus, a political and managerial tradition has been formed – a historically established, stable and repetitive system of norms and rules that determines the type of relations primarily within the political and administrative sphere. At present, the domestic bureaucracy is one of the main contradictions for the national social system, playing the role of thesis and antithesis at the same time. On the one hand, the established state administrative apparatus is organically connected with society, and its destruction will inevitably lead to the social system into a systemic crisis, or even to a rapid collapse. On the other hand, the destructive influence of bureaucratization is obvious and boils down to the following points: 1) a lack of flexibility and speed in decision-making, which is relevant in today’s rapidly changing world; 2) a tendency to minimise grassroots initiatives, the potential of which is not adequately understood by the majority of the population; 3) alienation between the population and administrative officials, who are increasingly becoming a separate group, working against social unity and integrity.

ПРАГМАТИЗМ ТА ЙОГО ПРОЯВИ В УКРАЇНСЬКІЙ МЕНТАЛЬНОСТІ

The article covers an issue of development and functioning of pragmatic features in Ukrainian mentality. Mentality is not a stable way of thinking, it constantly changes due to impact of various factors. A nation constantly improves one’s mentality through new attitudes and perception based on which one’s attitude towards the world is developed. The natural development of pragmatic features is emphasized based on the impact of socio-economic, political and cultural preconditions. Evolution of Ukrainian mentality in the history of Ukraine was traced. Main stages and features of origination of pragmatic features of Ukrainians were highlighted. The role of Cossacks during development of capitalistic features in the structure of a national mentality was emphasized. Emphasis is made on contribution of Taras Shevchenko to the process of development of a new Ukrainian mentality. Pantheism was highlighted as a basis for other factors of a national mentality. Issues that arose for the mentality of Ukrainians during the Soviet period were indicated. The role of sovereignty in assistance in establishment of strengths of our mentality and their mani­festation during the years of armed struggle against the russian aggression was disclosed. Pragmatism as a social feature of a national culture is a component of a national social system in general, it reflects features of thinking and behaviour mechanisms of people in socio-economic activity of a person and society. Pragmatism is certainly reproduced in society and people leading to transformation of economy, enrichment of culture, spirituality, state policy, people themselves. The essence of social mechanisms of origination, formation, development and transformation of Ukrainian mentality was analyzed, namely in the aspect of the balance of individualism and collectivism. The essence of social mechanisms of origination, formation, development and transformation of Ukrainian mentality was analyzed, namely in the aspect of the balance of individualism and collectivism. Legal shortcomings that create problems on the path of further development of pragmatic features of a national mentality were mentioned.

Урбанизация ремесленных деревень Вьетнама в дискурсе теории социологии

The relevance of the topic of urbanization is due, on the one hand, to the total spread of these processes around the world, and, on the other, to the specifics of changes in national social systems as a result of these processes. Vietnam’s artisanal villages have undergone significant transformations, which can be studied through the use of sociological theories that explain the nature of the ongoing transformations at the macro- and micro-level of the village as a social organization and community. The article examines the changing func-tions of artisan villages in the course of urbanization on the basis of structural-functional theory, the emergence of new and the transformation of traditional behaviors – using M. Weber's classification of actions. With the help of R. Park’s theory, the positive and negative outcomes of the urbanization processes of Vietnamese artisanal villages are outlined. For instance, the urbanization of villages contributed to the growth of incomes of the population, increased employment and living standards, the ability to meet the growing needs of the popula-tion, but it led to a reduction in the number of households engaged in traditional Vietnamese artistic creativity, contributed to an increase in the migration of rural artisans to cities. reduced the area of agricultural land and seriously worsened the environment.

International Trade Development After the Post-Covid Age

The report focuses on the current situation, influenced by a global health crisis that has completely reconstructed national social systems and economic policies, and Russia's subsequent military invasion of Ukraine. These two factors are generating in their wake disastrous consequences and many state models are proving unprepared for them. However, international trade has managed to recover extremely quickly from the effects of the crises and to generate growth as early as 2021 on several its indicators. A viewpoint is formed summarizing the importance of each actor in the global economic system, especially the largest economies, but also the role of implementing international cooperation in the field to achieve real results and provide assistance, especially to countries in need.

К вопросу о проблематике отечественной бюрократии: социально-философское рассмотрение

The article is an attempt at an unbiased assessment of the role of the Russian bureaucracy in the context of the socio-historical process. With all the diversity of the available theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of domestic bureaucracy, the analysis of historical facts shows that only a centrally soldered authoritarian model that ensures the realization of mobilization potential demonstrated effectiveness. In the course of the historical evolution of the state apparatus, a political and managerial tradition has been formed - a historically established, stable and repetitive system of norms and rules that determines the type of relations primarily within the political and administrative sphere. At the moment, the domestic bureaucracy is one of the main contradictions for the national social system, playing at the same time the role of thesis and antithesis. On the one hand, the established state administrative apparatus is organically connected with society and its destruction will inevitably lead to the social system to a systemic crisis, or even to a rapid collapse. On the other hand, the destructive influence of bureaucratization is obvious and boils down to the following points: 1) lack of flexibility and speed in decision-making, which is relevant for the modern rapidly changing world; 2) the tendency to minimize grassroots initiatives, about the possibilities of which the social majority does not have adequate ideas; 3) alienation between the population and administrative officials, increasingly closing in a separate group, which works against social unity and integrity.

Social services in Italy tested by the Pandemic: New challenges and scenarios

In the 2-year period 2020–2021, the serious economic and social costs of the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the already numerous structural issues of the national social system and raised new ones. In response to a significant increase in material needs but also a wide and diverse range of non-material needs (amplified by difficult situations such as a lack of self-sufficiency, loneliness, distance learning and problematic family settings), there is now an urgent need for innovation in social interventions by combining a bottom-up approach with direction from central authorities. This paper offers an interpretation of the pandemic’s impact on social services in Tuscany (Italy) by analysing the experiences of social workers and managers (22 in-depth interviews and two focus groups). The need created by the pandemic phase to reorganize the times and methods of social work has highlighted two distinct but closely interrelated perspectives: individually, the issue of redefining professional identities and self-representation; and collectively, the challenge of reorganizing social intervention with new methods and priorities, considering new healthcare measures for the containment of Covid-19. These two processes join the pre-existing ones of externalization and precarization. Against this backdrop, the essay examines two main research questions: first, how and in which ways communication time, relationship time and their ‘rhythms’ have changed during social intervention; and second, what impact containment measures and management of the epidemiological emergency had on professional practices.

Prevalence of Hearing Impairment by Age: 2nd to 10th Decades of Life.

Background: Accurate data on the prevalence of hearing impairment and severity across age and gender are paramount to formulate hearing health policies. Here, we sought to analyze audiometric data from a large group of age-diverse people in Japan, which has not been previously described in detail. Methods: We analyzed retrospective hearing threshold data of 23,860 participants (10–99 years; left-right hearing threshold difference <15 dB; air-bone gap ≤10 dB) at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, and then classified them for hearing impairment severity according to the WHO Classification. Findings: There was a significant gender difference in median hearing thresholds, starting in 20-year-olds up to early 80-year-olds. Twenty-five percent of men in their late 50s had some level of HI, ~50% in their late 60s, and ~75% in their late 70s. For women, 25% had some level of HI in their early 60s, ~50% in their early 70s, and ~75% in their late 70s. For participants in their early 80s, 50% of either gender had moderate or more severe HI. Interpretation: Our results, derived from a large number of participants, provide basic information about the prevalence of hearing loss by age decade. Since people can expect to live longer than those in previous generations, our detailed data can inform national social systems responsible for hearing screening in making decisions about hearing-aid qualification, which may reduce barriers to older people’s independence, productivity, and quality of life.

The Formation and Social Activities of the Protestant Community in St. Petersburg in the First Half of the 18th Century

In the early 18th century, Peter the Great, who wanted to promote the westernization of Russia s national society or modernization with the West as a model , accelerated the trend of westernization in Russian society as a whole. Accordingly, the Russian government reestablished diplomatic and legal relations with Western European countries such as Germany, while granting legal and economic benefits to migrants from Western Europe in order to attract professional engineers, intellectuals, and capital necessary for the construction of a new national society. These migrants were mostly Protestants, and the communities formed in St. Petersburg by them were not only religious and religious communities, but ‘sociocultural communities’ acting in various fields of Russian society. They also had a great influence on the formation of a new cultural consciousness in russian society. In addition, these communities made a great contribution to the construction of a new national social system in Russia beyond the realm of ‘community’. They served in senior positions in the administrative, economic, trade and military fields, and in the commercial field. So they also contributed to the establishment of modern production and distribution systems as western European society. They were also actively involved in the construction of the new city, St. Petersburg. Furthermore, these Protestants introduced Western European lifestyles and ideas, and had a great influence on the daily life and popular culture of the newly formed St. Petersburg city. The schools they established and operated were modeled after Western Europe, and they also played a role in producing elites in Russian society. Therefore, the influx of new ‘Western European’ religious values and diversity played an important role in changing the popular consciousness of Russian society. Overall, in the transition period from the Middle Ages to the modern era, these Protestant communities brought about great changes to Russian society which had long maintained religious and cultural isolationism.

Network assessment: Design of a framework and indicators for monitoring and self-assessment of a customized gender equality plan in the Mediterranean Engineering Education context

With more than 28 active members, the Mediterranean Engineering Schools Network (RMEI) is the most active network on gender equality in the Mediterranean area. Supported by the HORIZON2020 TARGET project ‘Taking a Reflexive Approach to Gender Equality for Institutional Transformation’, in conceptualizing gender equality learning and system change, the network took a context-specific approach based on a theory of change and other STEM organizational frameworks, to design a self-assessment framework and indicators, considering the systemic view of SDG5 horizontally connected to all SDGs, national context complexity, and transdisciplinary requirements. 95 simple, practical, user-friendly indicators were designed, fitting in the specificities of the Mediterranean-Engineering context. The analysis showed that the network realized its vision, made the ‘passage’ from theory to praxis on gender equality change, effectively developed meaningful processes/structures, formulated a policy statement, built a community of practice and inspired members. It also achieved trustful relationships and inspired outputs, effective communication, sharing of information and resources, and top management commitment. Critical aspects are a) the analysis in depth of issues linked to the existence of gender-based stereotypes and bias in engineering schools of the Mediterranean that entails tackling gender ideologies considering the whole national social system and existing structures; b) sustainability of gender equality structures created at the member institutions with the support of TARGET project which is depending on the willingness of institution’s leaders to continue/advance with gender-sensitive strategies in their institution.

Nationalistic Collective Rituals, Intergroup Relations, and Legitimation of National Social Systems

In this article, we test if international football matches in Latin America can be understood as nationalistic collective rituals and if participating in them leads to prejudicial attitudes toward immigrants and to legitimize the national social systems. Based on social identity theory and literature on collective rituals, we propose that participating in collective rituals makes cognitively salient social identity over self-identity through collective emotions. Therefore, individuals are more motivated to perceive the social systems as fair and legitimate and to show outgroup derogation. In Study 1 (N = 414), interest in football was associated with national identification a week before an international tournament in Brazil, Chile, and Spain. This association was mediated by fusion of identity with the national ingroup but not by experiencing collective positive emotions. In Study 2 (N = 118), we used an experimental design and showed that nationalism moderated the effect of participating in nationalistic collective rituals on measures related to behavioral intentions. Specifically, these rituals decreased outgroup prejudice among high nationalistic participants. Collective rituals are discussed as a form of collective self-affirmation that may have reduced defensiveness and led nationalistic individuals to behave according to the predominant values within a society.

Strategies to Improve Education Quality through Facilities and Infrastructures Management in Singkawang Vocational School

The school is a social institution whose existence is part of the nation's social system which aims to produce capable, democratic, responsible, faithful, faithful, physically and spiritually healthy individuals, possessing knowledge and skills, having a steady and independent personality. To achieve these objectives, a strong curriculum is needed, both infrastructure and superstructure. This study aimed to reveal the strategy to improve the quality of education through the management of facilities and infrastructure in Singkawang 1 Vocational High School (SMK) with a focus on 1) Facilities and infrastructure planning at Singkawang State Vocational School, 2) The use of facilities and infrastructure in Singkawang Vocational School 1, 3) Supervision of Facilities and Infrastructure at SMK Negeri 1 Singkawang, 4) Reporting on facilities and infrastructure at SMK Negeri 1 Singkawang, 5) Obstacles faced in facilities and infrastructure at SMK Negeri 1 Singkawang. The research method used is descriptive research with a qualitative approach. Data collected by in-depth interviews, participant observation, documentation and analyzed through data reduction, data presentation, conclusions or verification. Data reliability testing is done by extending the observation period, and triangulation and member checking. The results of the study concluded: 1) planning of facilities and infrastructure programs have been made by the student department to develop facilities in school activities. 2) The use of facilities and infrastructure is carried out in accordance with the learning needs by each teacher and regulated and monitored in an orderly manner, 3) Supervision of facilities and infrastructure has been carried out directly by the school principal, 4) Reporting has been carried out periodically by the student body to the principal school, 5) Constraints faced in facilities and infrastructure are financing both for procurement and maintenance. Based on the results of the study suggested the following things: 1) The principal is expected to optimize the supervision of all activities that have been planned so that the specified goals can be achieved. 2) Need to involve the community in the procurement of financing and maintenance of facilities and infrastructure. 3) Teachers, the administration is expected to be involved in the management of facilities and infrastructure.

Editorial: An Assessment of the Legacy of Chavism in Venezuela and the Americas

This second number of Latin American Policy (LAP) for 2017 first presents studies about “Chavism” and its legacy in Venezuela and the Americas. José Briceño-Ruiz, our Regional Editor based currently in Bogotá, circulated a call for papers through which some of the articles included were submitted. The story of Chávez and his legacy in Venezuela has been a hot-button issue in Latin American and International Relations studies for several years. Venezuela's geostrategic strategy has attempted to pit U.S. interests in the region against Russia's desire to penetrate it and China's push for more financial and political influence around the world. Venezuela's abundant oil reserves have placed it in a unique position within this geostrategic maneuvering, since the state has used them to create a national social system with its own characteristics, to negotiate with its Latin American partners, and to take a novel approach on the world scene. Much has been written about Venezuela, about Chávez and his successor, Maduro, about petro-diplomacy, and about the pros and cons of Chavism's unique socialistic and nationalistic flair. Still, the current turmoil in the country and the conflicting response from within its borders, as well as from abroad, keep it on the list of current events to be analyzed and judged, particularly as a paradigm of Latin American policy and legacy. This issue offers five articles that consider different aspects of the legacy and of effects Chavism, each from a different lens. Alejandro Gutiérrez's article weighs economic and social policies during the Chávez years, while Rogelio Pérez and Andrea Santa Cruz's contribution focuses on the effects on Venezuela's justice system. Victor Mijares’ article turns the approach toward the realm of foreign affairs, explaining the complexities and equilibria built by Chavists with the United States, Russia, and China. Andrés Serbin and Andrei Serbin's article assesses Chávez petro-diplomacy under the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of America (ALBA) and other regional organizations. Finally, Heather Martin's contribution explains the technology of political survival for a regime that lasted 14 years and whose legacy is still affecting Venezuela and the Americas. These perspectives that focus on different aspects of Chavism provide our readers with background, analysis, and future considerations regarding this hot topic. The rest of the collection includes analyses on different public-policy topics that affect key Latin American countries—poverty-alleviation programs in Chile (by Cecilia Osorio and Germán Puentes), neoliberalism and the developmental state in Costa Rica (by Marietta Morrisey), and the link between external voting rights and remittances (by Hafthor Erlingsson and John Truman). Felipe Gonçalves Brasil, Ivan Henrique de Mattos e Silva, and Aline Vanessa Zambello also offer a descriptive article on the profound effects of policy change on public higher education in Brazil. In our Book Review section, readers may find another critical review of books concerning hot topics for the region, focusing this time on the institutional design of Supreme Audit Offices. Isidro Morales is a researcher and professor in the School of Government and Public Transformation at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, and an external fellow of the Mexico Center at Rice University's Baker Institute.

From Resource to Burden: Rescaling Solidarity with Strangers in the Single Market

Abstract‘Organised solidarity’ of a mediated legal form constitutes the backbone of the modern welfare state built on solidarity between strangers. The interplay between the single market and the national social systems is key in defining who owes what to whom under the ‘transnationalised’ European solidarity. Free movement rights have increased the ‘entanglement’ of national social systems' revenue and expenditure sides, considered to jeopardise their steering capacity. As a corollary to free movement, transnational solidarity does not take place beyond or between national welfare states, but rather within: as solidarity with strangers. Here transnational solidarity is applied by way of a sociological framework to trace the evolutionary path of free movement of persons as it fluctuates between ‘commodification’ and ‘decommodification’. Against that backdrop, this article reviews whether a paradigm shift is currently promoted as to the question where solidarity with strangers begins and ends.

The Role of Ancient Chinese Philosophy in the Designs of Chinese Buildings

Buildings are the condensation of the national, ethnic, or cultural identity. They are also the specific materialized form of the national social systems, folk customs, and ideologies. Architectural design and philosophy constitute an isomorphic relationship with each other. This study focuses on the Chinese traditional philosophy. Using Kuanzhai Alley in Chengdu as an example, philosophical expressions, such as “holistic thinking,” “group form layout,” “heaven and man,” “yin–yang and the five elements,” “ancient architecture design,” “good” aesthetic concepts, and “conformal”rationalism, are discussed from the aspects of the selection of the environment, spatial layout, architectural symbol, planning, and design significance. The traditional architectural forms and types are analyzed and interpreted based on the Chinese traditional philosophy. The role of the ancient Chinese philosophy in the Designs of Chinese Buildings is summarized. Traditional ideas on Chinese architecture should be recognized from the aspect of philosophy to propose a new design direction for developing modern Chinese architectural designs.

由 《漂海録》 看中国文化传承的分析

Cultural heritage means a great lot to a nation's social system and its people's behavior consciousness and plays an important role in its self-development and improvement. It is essential for a nation's self-education and renewal. Improper cultural heritage will be disastrous because it may fall a nation into a loss of terrible chaos. Only the proper cultural heritage can make it always self-awaking, self-correcting and remaining vital in life. This paper, from the perspective of Choi Bu's Pyohaerok, makes a thorough analysis of the unbalance heritage of Chinese ancient culture for thousands of years. For example, many fine traditions gradually vanished in our actual life or only take half their life in heritage nowadays, such as our ancient broad and profound Confucian etiquette, ancient exquisite brocade art and architecture, ancient advanced ship-building technology and many other advanced numerous technological inventions; however, too much unwanted cultural rubbish keeps constant prevailing and takes repeated successions in the life, such as the heavy-form-and-light-content management mode, borrowing power to do evil, neglecting technological inventions long time and generally believing in ghost theory,etc.. This paper mainly focuses on the partial successions of the bad cultural heritage and its bad influence on the country, and concludes that it is just that that makes the country more and more backward. Therefore, the paper makes some pondering over these issues and proposes some related ideas of country-building to attract others participation to deal with them.

Innovations in European social services: context, conceptual approach, and findings of the INNOSERV project

National social systems in Europe are currently facing common and fundamental challenges that strain the existing social structures in all European countries. In this context, concepts of “(social) innovation” become more and more important. While taking into account European and National Contexts for Social Services, the INNOSERV project takes a comparative bottom-up approach in order to identify key trends in social innovation and the elements informing innovation in social services. In this respect the authors deliver a definition of innovation in social services and set out the INNOSERV research design, which includes visual sociology methods. As the main result of the INNOSERV project, seven themes for innovation in social services are presented in this article. These themes give a concise description of the most salient research questions and issues in the social sector, which will shape and help to improve social services in Europe in the years to come.

Development of Social Policies Increasing Employment Opportunities on Labor Market in Periods of Transition

Development of labor market and social policies in periods of transition from planned to market economy and afterwards is an issue discussed as an example of the some processes happening in national economies and labor markets characterized by a number of peculiarities in accordance to the countries and regions being objects of transformations. The nature and changes in the labor market as a specific market and its interconnectedness to economic and social development is scrutinized from the point of view of the changes in the role of state and national social systems. Being an instrument of special consideration in transition periods, social policies’ development is accompanied and influenced by lots of other significant alterations. Furthermore, they are in the center of the public and state institutions attention and a subject of many discussions on their effectiveness and usefulness. Current paper presents challenges to development of labor market and social policies in transition periods through the example the transition from planned to market economy in the Republic of Bulgaria analyzing some of the most important characteristics of labor market in common and Bulgarian labor market already experienced a transition to market economy and further European integration.

Maastricht Social Protocol Revisited: Origins of theEuropean Industrial Relations System

AbstractThe Protocol and the Agreement on Social Policy annexed to the Treaty onEuropeanUnion (the so‐called ‘social protocol’) stipulated the procedural rules of theEuropean system of industrial relations about twenty years ago. It has been pointed out, however, that the procedure has such distinct features as centricity of cross‐sectoral agreements and a close nexus between legislation and negotiations, which most of the national social systems lack. This article locates the origins of these features in the historical processes towards the 1991 social partners' agreement through some primary and secondary documents as well as a series of structured questionnaire studies and hearings. It is discussed that, contrary to what some conventional interpretations assume, the social protocol was an original model of horizontal subsidiarity, with actors' different preferences on the desirability of labour market order governed by both legislation and negotiations in its background.

Comparing Adult Learning Systems: an emerging political economy

Adult learning systems have come to be dominated by the view that the essential role of adult learning is to generate the high levels of skills deemed necessary for competitiveness and growth in the globalised economy. This ‘education gospel’ is underpinned by human capital theory (HCT) and its contemporary conceptualisation in terms of the knowledge‐based economy. Nevertheless, it remains the case that there are significant differences in the strategies of national governments towards adult learning and in patterns of engagement with the learning opportunities that are made available.This paper sets out to explore how this diversity in national systems of adult learning might be addressed analytically. Adult learning is embedded in characteristic regimes of economic and social institutions, which can be understood in terms of a systematic international political economy. In particular, adult learning systems are explored by reference to the models of capitalist organisation elaborated in the neo‐institutionalist analysis of ‘varieties of capitalism’ (Hall andSoskice, 2001): the liberal market economy and the co‐ordinated market economy. A major alternative is provided byEsping‐Anderson's (1990; 1999) analysis of ‘welfare state regimes’. Moreover,Rubenson andDesjardins (2009) have used this theoretical framework as a means of analysing systematic variations between national adult learning systems.These analyses raise questions about the use of national states as the key unit of analysis. Significant divergences in institutional arrangements and access to opportunities for adult learning (by social group or locality, for example) may be obscured by this method of comparative analysis. Moreover, consideration of the micro‐theoretical foundations of these approaches highlights the difficulties in moving beyond the economistic ‘rationality’ ofHCT. The issue here is the extent to which norms of behaviour in relation to engaging in adult learning can be appropriately understood in terms of a relatively homogeneous, national social system, rather than in terms of a much more socially differentiated repertoire of norm‐based orientations.

Labour Migration and Social Security Coordination: Effects on Welfare in Countries of Origin and Destination - The Cases of Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo

This paper discusses the mutual effects of labour migration, social security coordination arrangements and the welfare states. It analyses country cases outside of the European Union’s coordination rules, but with a tradition of relatively functional social security coordination regimes. The assessment emphasises the importance of social security coordination. Apart from the obvious advantages for migrant workers, it shows clear advantages for both the countries of origin and destination. In that, the content of the social security agreements is equally important. It further identifies key points that require improvement. Finally, the assessment shows that reforms of the national social systems will affect the future of the social security coordination arrangements. The conclusion offers recommendations for policymakers in the region and the EU on how to improve governance of social security coordination.