Postmaterialist Values Research Articles

Аксіологічний простір ровесників незалежності України: соціологічні виміри

The paper offers an attempt of theoretical conceptualisation of coevals’ values of independence of Ukraine, as well as carries out the approbation of the put forward theoretical positions in empirical studies with the participation of authors. Coevals of independence are the oldest age cohort of the generation born in free Ukraine, and the central line-forming concept is the concept of “generational values”. The authors emphasised that in the multiparadigmality of modern sociology, it is methodologically expedient to develop several variants of “generational values” concepts following the main lines of sociological theorising, each of which provides appropriate empirical research methods. Paper considers four possible research schemes of these concepts in the framework of the “first”, “second”, “third” sociology (based on the works of G. Zborovsky and P. Sztompka), and a scheme based on the work of K. Mannheim is singled out. Semantic modelling of the “generational values” concept of using the axiological core of the “first” sociology (or neoclassical, objectivist) metaparadigm of sociological theorising with the appropriate method of quantitative empirical research. This allowed testing the theoretical provisions of this concept in the development of methods and empirical research with the authors’ participation and a comparative analysis of sociological information with databases of the World and European Values Surveys 2020 (particularly in Ukraine). The common and distinctive features of axiological spaces of respondents aged 29–30 in the global, European, and local context are determined, the specifics of the axiological system of the older age cohort (coevals) of the generation born in 1991–1992 are revealed to emphasise the peculiarities of the value spaces of Ukraine’s independence coevals, first of all, in relation to the ratio of materialist and postmaterialist values. The general conclusion is the recorded ambivalence of the axiological space of thirty-year-old respondents with barely noticeable shifts towards the older generations in the context of the prevailing trend of transition to post-materialist values.

Law in the Socio-Cultural Dimension

The article uses an interdisciplinary approach to determine the place of law in the system of culture, based on cultural studies and the conclusions of legal science. The legal values of freedom, justice and formal equality occupy a dominant position in the system of the individualistic type of culture. The article shows the dynamics of legal values in the context of the dynamics of culture, which is developing in the direction of increasing recognition of the postmaterialist values of self-expression and rationality-the values of freedom, justice, equality, tolerance, mutual assistance and cooperation. Based on sociological data, the author draws a conclusion about the role of law in the system of socioculture as a value and institutional factor of progress and the result of social development. Interdisciplinary studies of cultures confirm the basic social and legal pattern-the movement towards greater freedom and equality of an increasing number of people.

Humanities students’ views on the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of post-materialistic values

The transition of universities to distance learning during the CODID-19 pandemic caused discussions about the development of the educational system in the context of digitalization of society. The question arose about the readiness of universities, students, and teachers to use digital educational tools. Studies of students’ ideas about distance learning have revealed its difficulties, positive and negative effects. The analysis of the survey data made it possible to reveal the problems of forming the basic competencies of students taking into account the requirements of the digital economy. The authors conclude, based on the analysis of the results of a survey of humanities students, that the previously discovered difficulties of distance learning persist during the «second wave» of the pandemic. They reveal the relevance of survival values for students (according to R. Inglehart and K. Welzel). The authors suggest that the decline in significance of self-expression values and the decrease in the sense of existential security may be a consequence of the pandemic crisis. The possibilities of digitalization of education to strengthen the resources of the subject and increase its mobility have come into conflict with the return of students to settledness when introducing distance learning to implement epidemic restrictions.

Digitalization of post-industrial society in the context of social development

The article explores the technology development as a factor of the evolutionary and creative formation of society. The field of science and technology is constantly expanding due to the exponential growth in the number of technologies and due to the increasing expansion of technologies into the natural environment of mankind. The relevance of considering and socio-philosophical analysis and reflection of technology as a phenomenon of social reality is of particular importance in the modern world in the context of a global pandemic, which brought the digitalization of post-industrial society to a whole new level. Attention is drawn to the fact that technogenic risks increase in the post - industrial phase of social development. In addition, the article breaks down the concept of a post-industrial society under the catalytic influence of digitalization processes. The article substantiates the importance that post-material values acquire in the context of the development of modern society.

Il disallineamento tra orientamenti elettorali e posizioni sui temi: una questione giovanile o di famiglia politica?

The transformation of politics in contemporary democracies has led to the emergence of a new ideological conflict, alongside the traditional left-right scheme, described as liberal–authoritarian or cosmopolitan–nationalist cleavage (Kriesi et al. 2008; Hooghe and Marks 2002). This change brought to a redefinition of the linkages between issue and voting preferences, as many voters decide to support a party regardless of their positions on issues while voting for the same party. Within such framework, the contribute of the new generations to the growth of the electoral dealignment and volatility has been largely analysed (Miller et al. 1996; Franklin 2004; Plutzer 2002). Issue incongruency is part of the process. Young people are often considered to be tolerant and inclusive because they grew up under prosperous and secure conditions and developed post-materialist values of freedom, multiculturalism, progressivism (Inglehart and Welzel 2005; Janmaat and Keating 2019). However, the perspective of left-cosmopolitans engaged in electoral politics contrasts with the image of economically-insecure left-behind group of young people who don’t share the same progressive values (Bartle et al. 2020; Sloam and Henn 2019) and support right-wing political parties. What is still unknown is the extent to which extreme ideological traits and attitudes (e.g. negative discourses on immigration) combine with positions of openness on individual freedom. Likewise, the same contradiction can be found among left-wing voters who assume liberal position on economy or those economically left and culturally conservative. The article aims at analysing the relationship between issue positions and vote (propensity to vote). We test the hypotheses of a coherent vs incoherent ideological space by looking at the structure of voters’ preferences on economic (State vs. free market) as well as cultural issues (individual rights, attitudes towards minorities, European integration) and the differences between young people and older component of the electorate. The analysis is focused on the Italian case. Data are taken from the 2020 Itanes survey.

Value change in the Western world: the rise of materialism, post-materialism or both?

ABSTRACT Numerous studies have investigated the changing values in the Western countries. Some studies have found people’s values to be changing towards materialism, others have found that post-materialism is on the rise. The present study demonstrates that different types of values have been changing in different directions in Western Europe and the USA since the 1970s. Political values have become more post-materialistic and work values have become more materialistic. The paper then discusses the possible reasons for such conflicting value trends and makes some predictions about the future direction of these trends.

Post-Materialist Values of Smart City Societies: International Comparison of Public Values for Good Enough Governance

This study aims to analyze the application of good enough governance in considering the citizens’ value propositions that shape smart city societies. This paper applied a quantitative method with cross-country comparisons. Survey data were derived from the World Values Survey. Malaysia was chosen as the main study area, and compared with Indonesia and other countries worldwide. The findings revealed that politics is the value of least concern across all samples. In terms of qualities for children to develop, respondents in both Malaysia and Indonesia were less concerned about imagination and unselfishness. As for materialist versus post-materialist, the ratios of Malaysia and Indonesia were slightly higher than the average; the post-materialist value of free speech was the lowest value chosen. In the long term, all countries are experiencing the trend of moving toward post-materialist societies. To be sustained under the Collective and Adaptive System of smart city societies, good enough governance in Malaysia and Indonesia should consider the cultural context of the Muslim majority, prioritize governance content that allows more space for political participation and free speech, and cultivate the imagination and unselfishness of children. The generated insights underline the critical role that smart societies play in establishing smart cities.

Post-materialism as a basis for achieving environmental sustainability

A recent article in this journal, 'Achieving a Post-Growth Green Economy', argued that a turn to post-material values by younger generations may be setting the stage for a more environmentally friendly, post-growth green global economy. To expand the foundations for the possible emergence of such an economy, the current article offers empirical evidence from the World Values Survey for the propositions that individual post-material values and experiences leads to (1) a reduction in consumption-oriented activities, (2) a shift to more environmentally friendly forms of life that include living at higher, more energy efficient urban densities, (3) having families with fewer children, and (4) greater political support for environmental improvement. Such behavioral shifts provide a foundation for a no-growth, or even a negative-growth, economy among the affluent nations of the world leading to declining rates of energy and materials throughput to the benefit of a healthier global biosphere.

Contemporary State and Prospects of Female Protest Development: from Deprivation to Mobilization

Introduction. The article presents the analysis of the сontemporary state and prospects for the development of women’s protest in a global perspective. The research focuses on the study of the causes and nature of mass women’s protest in the context of the formation of a new system of relations between the authorities and society represented by certain social groups. The relevance of the problem is determined by the need for a political science analysis of modern practices, causes and forms of women’s protest, making a forecast of the prospects for the development of women’s social movements. Methods and methodology. The methodological basis of the research is the synthesis of the relative deprivation theory by T.R. Gurr and the resource mobilization theory by Ch. Tilly, which makes it possible to present women’s protest through the prism of both psychological (deprivation) and institutional determinants. The empirical basis of the work is the data (338 cases) of the quantitative study “The Women in Resistance (WiRe)”, that is available for secondary analysis in the Harvard Dataverse Repository. Analysis. Women’s protests represent an institutional and non-institutional form of changing the “political field”. A common peripheral role of women in the political space serves as a basis for the formation of a common identity among them. A high degree of consolidation, as well as an active role of women in protest, correlates with the success of collective action. Protests in which women play an active role are more peaceful in nature. This is due to the mediating role of women, which prevents the growth of tension in the conflict. Results. Based on the analysis of statistical information and case-study, it was revealed that the economic and legal structural similarity of states does not determine the nature of women’s protest participation in politics, which is more dependent on historical practices, previously achieved results of women’s protest, the presence of institutional structures that organize protests, as well as on the specific problems of women in the state. The prospects for the development of women’s protest and women’s social movements are determined by the level of success achieved. While in Western Europe and the USA, women’s social movements are fighting for the achievement of postmaterial values, due to the solution of the economic differentiation problems, in Latin America, women are fighting for their natural right to life and their own bodies. A vector of women’s protest is aimed at combating all types of discrimination, but the nature of specific problems is fundamentally different.

Postmaterial Experience Economics, Population, and Environmental Sustainability

Postmaterial values with their reduced emphasis on accumulating material possessions lead to greater political support for limits on environmental pollution and to a less entropic way of life that increases environmental sustainability. Similarly, reducing human fertility to replacement levels can stabilize population and increase environmental sustainability in the future by reducing the pressure of population growth on environmental resources. In recent history, increases in per capita economic well being has been a primary driver of expansion in postmaterialism and reduce human fertility worldwide. The irony of this phenomena is that economic development potentially destructive to the environment leads to more postmaterialism and reduced fertility, both of which benefit environmental sustainability. In this article, the underpinnings of these conclusions will be set out as well as possible ways around the dilemma they bring.

(AÚN) LA EXCEPCIÓN Y NO LA REGLA: LA DERECHA POPULISTA RADICAL EN AMÉRICA LATINA

Undoubtedly, populist radical right parties (rpps) represent the largest family of populist parties. However, in the 18 countries that make up the South American subcontinent, only two leaders seem to fully embody this ideology: Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and José Antonio Kast in Chile. The aim of this article is to examine the reasons behind the scarce proliferation of PRRs in Latin America. In Western Europe the emergence of these parties is related to a sort of silent counter-revolution (Inglehart 1971; Ignazi 1992) in opposition to post-material values on which many traditional parties have converged in past decades. In contrast, in Latin America material values are still of vital importance due to the high levels of inequality in the region. Moreover, the article demonstrates that the simultaneous occurrence of three factors that combine the European experience and characteristics of the continent was the only reason one radical right-wing populist leader has been able to successfully rise to power in Latin America until today. First, the existence of a discourse that politicizes issues such as security and traditional values. Second, the nativist discourse, which unlike most PRR parties in Western Europe and the US —where the excluded are immigrants— is characterized by the fact that discrimination is mostly against native people. Finally, the third characteristic is the reliance on a negative identity against the left.

Public attitudes toward economic growth versus environmental sustainability dilemma: Evidence from Europe

As global warming and other environmental threats intensify and become more visible, scientists are increasingly questioning the desirability of economic growth as an overarching national and global policy imperative. Several theories in environmental sociology and economics—degrowth, steady-state economy, and “agrowth”—offer compelling arguments that environmental sustainability and continuous economic growth are incompatible. However, there is a shortage of empirical evidence about public opinion on the growth versus environment dilemma, despite its great relevance for the social legitimacy of governments’ approach to the issue. In this article, we aim to narrow this research gap by applying multilevel models to data from the 2017 European Values Study (EVS). We find that the idea of sacrificing a certain level of growth for the sake of the environment receives high levels of support in most European countries. Nevertheless, within countries, we find clear indications of social divides in opinions regarding the growth versus environment dilemma: post-materialists, politically left-leaning people, the better-off, and the higher-educated are in favor of reduced growth, whereas materialists, right-wing individuals, and disadvantaged groups prioritize the economy over ecological concerns. At the country level, economic affluence is associated with greater support for reduced growth, irrespective of the differences in post-materialist values and the ecological situation. In practical terms, our results suggest that politicians can be bolder in promoting substantive environmental measures, even those that reduce growth.

Life satisfaction and the conventionality of political participation: The moderation effect of post-materialist value orientation

Does life satisfaction (LS) predict people’s likelihood of participating in politics? Although the relationship between LS and political participation (PP) has been widely debated, its correlation and causality remain inconclusive. We contribute to the literature by exploring the moderation effect of post-materialist value orientation. By conceptualizing the conventionality of PP as a continuous spectrum, we suggest a new typology beyond the dichotomous understanding. Seventh-wave data from the World Values Survey in Hong Kong indicate that individuals who are more dissatisfied with their lives are more likely to engage in radicalized actions such as strikes and boycotts. This negative relationship is particularly strong among people with a post-materialist orientation, yet LS is not related to electoral participation and normalized actions, including peaceful demonstrations commonly regarded as ‘unconventional’ in previous studies. Furthermore, the results of propensity score matching reinforce the causal claim that LS predicts radicalized action negatively.

Post-materialism and economic growth: Cultural backlash, 1981–2019

In recent decades it seems that various factors have led to a cultural background change, which although mainly characterized as incremental, in some cases can be sudden. A question therefore arises as to whether the way in which the cultural background has evolved during last decades affects the growth rate of economies. We use an unbalanced panel dataset comprised from 34 OECD countries from 1981 to 2019, and a Least Squares Dummy Variable Correction (LSDVC) method as well as a series of robustness tests including different methods of analysis, adding control variables and breaking the overall period into subperiods. We conclude that the cultural background during the overall period under consideration is characterized as post-materialistic and harms economic growth. Moreover, we highlight both theoretically and empirically the cultural backlash hypothesis since the cultural background of the countries under analysis presents a shift from traditional/materialistic (from 1981 up to 1998) to post-materialist values (from 1999 up to 2019). Doing so, we conclude on a positive effect of cultural background on economic growth when traditional / materialistic values prevail, and a negative effect when post-materialistic values prevail. These results highlight culture as a crucial factor for economic growth and indicate that economic policy makers should take it seriously into account before designing economic policy and in order to explain the effectiveness of economic policies implemented.

Examining change in migration strategies over the life course of international PhD students.

This article examines PhD students' migration plans and strategies, their development over time, and the circumstances of their potential or real return within the changing life course context. The research is based on a longitudinal qualitative study conducted over six years (2012-17) among 21 international PhD students coming from developing countries, studying in the Netherlands. Results are discussed in the context of a cultural shift and the migration-development nexus. We argue that: (1) strong feelings of responsibility towards both their family and the development of their country of origin are leading factors shaping their migration strategies; (2) specialisation of their research project and its applicability in the home country also importantly influences their return potential; and (3) an apparent moral responsibility towards the home society and a willingness to help countries of migratory origin was growing stronger over the observation time (in harmony with post-materialist values the informants gained when studying in the Netherlands) along the progressing life course, which creates a broad potential for brain gain.

Readiness of boarding school leavers for social self-realization: empirical analysis

The aim of the article is to analytically present empirical data on the readiness of Ukrainian boarding school graduates for social self-realization in the current socio-economic context. The topicality of this research is determined by the need for scientific and sociological support of further transformations of the boarding school network which is one of the main reforms for the national system of general secondary education. This scientific and sociological support should be based on the study of the educational and social potential of boarding schools, aimed at a thorough analysis of the main indicators of readiness of boarding school graduates for social self-realization in present-day conditions.The results of an empirical study conducted on the basis of 14 boarding schools in Ukraine show that a higher level of readiness for social self-realization is demonstrated by senior students whose basic value system corresponds to the type of postmodern personality, i.e. a person whose life activity is structured according to spiritual, post-material values (development of one's talents, self-realization; interesting and creative work; obtaining higher education; helping other people; living according to religious precepts). The study reveals that these senior students ("postmoderners") go far beyond other boarding school students in their aspiration to accumulate future social capital (gaining respect among people, showing gratitude to others for their help, developing relationships with trusted friends), achieve a higher level of education in their lives, demonstrate a much higher readiness for independent life after leaving their boarding school, have higher trust in their own family, teachers, classmates of their own and the opposite sexes, and have a much higher academic performance at the final stage of gaining general education in a boarding school. Senior students of the postmodern type are less prone to problematic, risky behavioral scenarios in boarding schools (early onset of sexual activity and bullying behavior).The conclusions of the study relate to the possibilities of optimizing the implementation of boarding schools' educational and socialization mission in terms of preparing students, most of whom experience unfavorable social circumstances, for social self-realization in the present-day society. The work provides some conceptual guidelines and practical recommendations for education managers and teachers in terms of aiming educational process in boarding schools at promoting the development of postmodern personality type among their students.

Нематериальные факторы протестной коммуникации и консолидации: российский контекст

The author tries to study the problem of the protest genesis through the prisms of the non-material factors influence. Applying to the historical and philosophical tradition, the author discusses the consistency of such non-materialistic methodological paradigms of the social consolidation explaining as symbolic interactionism, the theory of frames, the concept of the post-material values, etc. Consistently investigating the specifics of protest actions all over the world during recent years the author summarizes the consistency of the communicative methodology that interprets protest self-organization as a special communication based on a unique interaction code and value system that is alternative to the one articulated by authority and bureaucracy. However, the expanse of digital media does not turn it into a mechanism for revolutionary self-organization. The Russian situation of the normative limitation of the protest consolidation in spite the widest spread of new media is a vivid example of this.

Virtual University As a Horizon of Higher Education Modernization

The research aim is to analyze the ontological foundations of virtual education in an information society. Among the methods of research used are analysis, synthesis, abstraction, comparison, interpretation, systematization, classification, conceptualization, structural, functional and prognostic methods. The Virtual University is considered as a networking institution that creates unique opportunities for both spontaneous and purposeful manipulation of human development. It is argued that a virtual university must be built with new values in mind: openness, accessibility, democracy, non-discrimination for people with disabilities and other needs of the individual and society. It is argued that the formation of a new picture of the world, which assumes the responsibility of mankind to himself \herself and to nature, the increase of the value of human life, freedom of choice, is also the reason for the formation of new axiological markers that define the virtual university as an information society phenomenon. The research has fixed that the presence of a virtual knowledge environment, in which the learning process unfolds, gives rise to the need to develop a virtual culture, which is a special form of communication between the education subjects in the process of knowledge production and consumption. Virtual communication is defined as a subspecies of semantic communication, which involves the exchange of both information and knowledge. An information society based on the world information economy (knowledge economy) stimulates the development of a planetary information infrastructure that defines the educational trends of the 21st century. In the information society, economic activity is ensured by the information and communication environment, an integral part of which is education. Along with the virtual economy, the virtual financial system, etc., there are virtual educational phenomena, including a virtual university.
 Keywords: virtual university, educational space, global informatics, post-material values, innovation

Postmaterialism and the Perceived Quality of Elections: A Study of the Moderation Effect of a Critical Event

Inglehart’s theory of postmaterialism outlines the influence of intergenerational value change on social change. While the sense of security during a formative period is an essential context for postmaterialist values to be bred among the younger generation in democratic states, social protests and political instability are common in some hybrid regimes. Yet how social protests in a hybrid regime interfere in the building of postmaterialism and its association with other value has been underresearched. Based on the data collected from the seventh wave of the World Value Survey in Hong Kong in 2018 (N = 1,031), this paper investigates the role of a critical event—the Umbrella Movement in 2014—in moderating the relationship between a postmaterialist orientation and perceived quality of elections in Hong Kong. It reveals that the negative relationship between a postmaterialist orientation and perceived quality of Hong Kong’s election was stronger among the people who supported and participated in the Umbrella Movement. Moreover, the moderation effect of the Umbrella Movement was stronger among young people. This paper underscores the context of socialisation in influencing both a postmaterialist orientation and intergenerational change occurring during a critical event, which sheds light on the relationship between value change and authoritarian resilience.

КЛАСС ИКС: ЦЕННОСТИ И ТЕНДЕНЦИИ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ В УСЛОВИЯХ КРЕАТИВНОГО ОБЩЕСТВА

The article analyzes the process of formation of Class X, a new class called creative. It is shown that the need to form a creative class and a creative economy is due to the creative limits of the organizational era. Creativity is becoming a driving force. Knowledge has been declared a tool and working material of creativity; innovation has been turned into a product of creativity, acquiring various forms, such as a new technology, a new model of social relations, new forms of scientific and artistic practice. Referring to the Theory of Class X, set forth by P. Russell, the author explores the features that determine belonging to the Class X, highlighting among the indicators of these features the talent index, the creativity index, and the new creative ethos. As shown in the study, the economic function of the creative class determines the social and cultural decisions of creative professionals and their way of life. It is shown that the creative class consists of those who produce economic values in the processes of creative activity. The composition of the creative class is diverse, but the principle of unification of the Class X is its real role in the economy. In this case, the economic function, as stated in the article, plays the role of the foundation on which the identity of the representatives of the creative class is built. The author notes that the ability of representatives of Group X to refuse to interpret the designated group as a single and integral one is a specific property of the creative class, although the platform connecting the creative class is determined by tastes, interests, and preferences. This idea underlies the statement about the value system corresponding to the creative class. In comparison with the traditional one, it has undergone a radical transformation, including as the dominant values those of them on which the creative identity of Class X is based – the values of the system of an economy of abundance and economic stability (“the post-scarcity era”). Among them are the values of the way of life, which is defined by analysts as a transit from the values of survival to the values of “selfexpression” (the priority range of value preferences includes the categories “quality of life”, “standard of living”, “lifestyle”). The system of designated values (“post-materialistic values”) is classified in the article on grounds such as individual originality, personal abilities and merit, any manifestations of diversity (individuality, meritocracy, diversity and openness).