Representatives Of Middle Class Research Articles

MIDDLE CLASS IN UKRAINE: GOVERNMENT OR OPPOSITION?

MIDDLE CLASS IN UKRAINE: GOVERNMENT OR OPPOSITION?

МОЛОДЁЖЬ КАК ПОТЕНЦИАЛ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ И РАЗВИТИЯ СРЕДНЕГО КЛАССА В СОВРЕМЕННОМ РОССИЙСКОМ ОБЩЕСТВЕ

The article provides methodological grounds for identifying the middle class in general and the representatives of the youth middle class in particular. It is especially noted that representatives of the middle class serve as the state support in the socio-political sphere, as they have a high level of legal consciousness, civil and political culture, are the main driving force of reforms and innovations in the socio-economic sphere, bearers and disseminators of highly cultural and moral values in the spiritual -cultural sphere of modern Russian society and actively relay all of the above to other segments of the population. Accordingly, expanding the boundaries of the middle class is one of the primary tasks for Russian society, and young people are the immediate potential for its development. All of the above determined the purpose of the work - on the basis of the developed methodology, to identify the characteristics of youth as the potential for the formation of the middle class in modern Russian society, to draw up a portrait of young representatives of the middle class. The article presents a comprehensive methodology for identifying the middle class in general and its young representatives in particular, as well as its theoretical model, including the core, semi-core, near and far periphery. This model involves the use of such criteria as socio-professional, self-identification, leisure and recreational and the criterion of personal responsibility. The aprobation of the presented methodology was carried out in the sociological laboratory of the Department of Sociology and Social Technologies as part of the study “Youth as the potential for the development of the middle class.” An analysis of the youth middle class according to all the stated criteria allowed us to assert that it is this social group that has the immediate potential for the development and expansion of the Russian middle class.

THE VOICE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS AND ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY IN UKRAINE

The purpose of the article is to determine the role of the middle class in political democracy and economic democracy in Ukraine. The role of the Ukrainian middle class in the revolutionary events of 2004 and 2013-2014 – the Ukrainian Maidans, the influence of the middle class on the results of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine and its presentation in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine are noted. The pendulum-like oscillation of self-identification of the middle class between "service to the oligarchs" and "resistance to democracy," the basis of civil society, is noted. The emphasis is placed on the fact that democracy is the rule of the middle class, and the principle of equal freedom is at the core of economic democracy. The compromise between capitalism and democracy is the need to distribute the public good under the supervision of political democracy in the interests of the middle class. Methodology. The theory of economic democracy was used to study the essence and characteristics of the middle class in Ukraine. By means of sociological methods of empirical research middle class identification by indicators of income, education, labor (employment), consumer behavior is given. Differences of "European" middle class from Ukrainian middle class are marked. In connection with the fact that the level of income of the Ukrainian middle class does not correspond to the indicators of EU countries, the necessity of application of subjective indicators to determine self-identification of middle class representatives in Ukraine is substantiated. The definition of the middle class from the opposite, i.e., what the middle class is not (not the oligarchs, not the authorities, not the working class, etc.) is also applied. Results. The trajectories of the middle class in Ukraine have been defined – from active participation in the Ukrainian revolutions to the role of a servant of the oligarchic regime. The middle class is well positioned to establish a regime of political democracy and to oppose the oligarchic-lumpen alliance. What hinders this is the insufficient activity of the middle class during election campaigns and especially after them. The oligarchs' established monopoly in the economy and media space allows for effective election campaigns in the mass media and the financing of political parties. This nullifies attempts of the middle class to establish political democracy in Ukraine. The growing role of the new middle class – intellectuals and representatives of the creative industries – has been noted. The self-identification factors of the middle class include a sense of justice, responsibility for the future and the practice of democratic values. According to sociological research, representatives of the Ukrainian middle class strive for democratic changes, overcoming corruption, deconstruction of the oligarchic regime, and implementation of market reforms. They have higher education, are interested in art, go to restaurants, and can sometimes afford vacations abroad. The political parties that declared support for the middle class and defined it as a target group in the elections included the "Team of Winter Generation," "Veche," "Self Reliance", and "Voice". The first two were perceived as oligarchic projects, while the last two parties made it to parliament, respectively, in the eighth and ninth convocations. Separately, the 2019 elections, in which the voice of the middle class became truly powerful, are examined separately. The "old faces," representatives of the post-Soviet oligarchy, and bureaucrats lost in the majoritarian districts. The middle class refused to support those politicians and parties that had become "servants of the oligarchs" in parliament, taking an important step in building not only a political democracy, but also an economic democracy. Practical implications. The results of the study can be used in the process of European integration of Ukraine, the implementation of reforms to develop political democracy as the rule of the middle class and economic democracy as a democratic system of redistribution of public resources. Value/originality. This study of the middle class and economic democracy allows us to understand the economic factors that influence politics, the role of the middle class and its characteristics in the process of establishing political democracy and economic democracy in Ukraine.

Comparison in the Language of the Social Classes of England (Based on Contemporary Works of Art)

The report is devoted to the establishment of means of expression of comparison in the speech of characters of the upper, middle and lower classes of modern English society. The article analyzes the contexts of using the comparison introduced by the like modifier in the speech of 23 characters in the works of modern English writers, and for the first time reveals the means of representing comparison in the maxims of representatives of different social classes of modern English society. The study demonstrates that the choice of different language means for expressing comparison is dictated by the characteristics of the social layer to which communicants belong, such as leading values, level of education, income, and the degree of freedom in expressing emotions. It is concluded that the comparison of the speech of upper class representatives is expressed by neutral vocabulary to convey positive emotions and informal vocabulary to demonstrate hyperbolized negative assessment, reflecting a critical and ironic view of events. The comparison in the statements of middle-class representatives is expressed by formal vocabulary, French words, rhymes, political terms, cliches, deformed phraseological units that reflect the desire to imitate the upper classes, and indicate the modesty and self-doubt of communicants. Comparison in the judgments of lower-class Englishmen is conveyed by argotisms that help to express a flash of negative emotions, as well as religious and literary allusions that are used out of place and contain an abundance of logical errors.

Agricultural production strategies: world experience

Agricultural production strategies: world experience

Klasa ludowa i klasa średnia wobec kryzysu uchodźczego w perspektywie małego miasta

W polskiej socjologii znaleźć można wiele analiz stosunku społeczeństwa polskiego do uchodźców i wyznawców islamu; brakuje w nich jednak pogłębionego, jakościowego uwzględnienia wymiaru klasowego. Niniejszy tekst prezentuje wyniki analizy materiału zebranego przez zespół Macieja Gduli, który w maju i czerwcu 2017 realizował wywiady biograficzne i scenariuszowe z mieszkańcami małego miasta zlokalizowanego w centralnej Polsce. Miasto to dla celów zachowania anonimowości naszych rozmówczyń i rozmówców nazwane zostało „Miastkiem”. Artykuł podejmuje problematykę zróżnicowania stosunku do uchodźców wśród osób z klasy ludowej i klasy średniej. Stosunek badanych do przyjmowania uchodźców, ocena działań Unii Europejskiej wobec kryzysu uchodźczego oraz preferowane przez badanych sposoby pomocy uchodźcom i uchodźczyniom powiązane została w analizie z dyspozycjami klasowymi i dynamiką habitusów charakterystycznych dla klas ludowej i średniej. W artykule wykorzystana została kategoria islamofobii. Islamofobia jest zjawiskiem występującym zarówno w klasie ludowej, jak i w klasie średniej, odmienne są natomiast sposoby jej wyrażania. Niechęć przedstawicieli i przedstawicielek klasy średniej wobec uchodźców koncentruje się na ich domniemanej odmowie akceptacji reguł społeczeństw przyjmujących, przedstawiciele klasy ludowej natomiast uzasadniali niezgodę na przyjęcie uchodźców ich niechęcią do pracy i oczekiwaniami dotyczącymi wypłat socjalnych. W procesie gromadzenia danych wykorzystano metodę wywiadu biograficznego (Schütze 2012; Bertaux 2012) i wywiadu pogłębionego częściowo ustrukturyzowanego. Wywiady biograficzne w niniejszej analizie traktowane są jako materiał pomocniczy. Oprócz przynależności klasowej uwzględniono również wymiar genderowy i pokoleniowy.

ФОРМУВАННЯ ПЕРЦЕПЦІЙНОГО ПОРТРЕТУ ПРЕДСТАВНИКА СЕРЕДНЬОГО КЛАСУ

Goal. The purpose of this article is to analyze the peculiarities of forming middle class representatives in the Metropolitan Macroregion. Methodology. The methodological basis of the research is the theoretical basis of the functioning of the sociosystem. The main methods of research are: system-structural, synthesis, statistical, ballroom, literary. Results. Approaches to the assessment of the middle class in Ukraine are revealed. The main criteria for determining the middle class are highlighted. Distribution of respondents by their own identification was revealed. The perceptual portrait of the middle class representative of the Metropolitan Macro Region of Ukraine is described. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty consists in the analysis of the peculiarities of the formation of a representative of the middle class in the Metropolitan area of Ukraine. Practical significance. The research is an important part of the organization of perceptual analysis of the middle class in Ukraine. It is aimed at identifying territorial differences in the formation of the middle class, taking into account the system of indicators. Key words: middle class, character of the middle class assessment, self-identification of the middle class, problems of formation of the middle class, perceptual portrait of the middle class.

Середній клас у системі відтворення соціального капіталу

In the article, the role of the middle class in the reproduction of social capital is investigated. For this aim, the dynamics, structure, values, and economic interests of the middle class in Ukraine and its influence on the formation of social capital are characterized. It has been found that the development of social capital depends on a number of institutional conditions and economic factors, one of which is the size and dynamics of the middle class. Based on different criteria, the number of middle class in Ukraine is defined. The specificity of the middle class formation in Ukraine has been clarified. The relationship between the dynamics of income and the size of the middle class has been identified. The structure of the middle class in Ukraine and its readiness for economic change and social transformation are specified. The common interests of the middle class with other strata are identified, which gives grounds for defining the status of the middle class and its ability to perform a communicative function and a special role in the development of civil society and open social capital. Generally speaking, the middle class is the nucleus of social capital. The factors of accumulation and destruction of social capital in Ukraine are revealed. The negative impact of the increasing inequality in income distribution, the spread of poverty and the increase in the share of the unemployed on the formation of the middle class and, accordingly, social capital, are investigated. There is a correlation between the uneven distribution of income, institutional confidence and the work of social elevators. The role of the middle class in building the bridging and strengthening the bonding social capital is specified. The participation of middle class representatives in the formation of economic inquiries and the development of volunteer communities was clarified. Generally, the role of the middle class in the reproduction of social capital is linked to ensuring the development of civil society and economic democratization.

Художественный мир университетского города (на примере Лоуренса, США)

This paper is devoted to art scene of provincial towns. The object is investigated on the example of the artistic life of the city of Lawrence, Kansas, USA. On the one hand the art scene of this local space can be described as something typical for American town (underlining of local originality and a prevalence of production of local and regional authors; prices available to representatives of middle class). On the other hand, the variety, activity and freedom of Lawrence's art life contrast with conservatism of the main territory of Kansas. The reasons of this feature were established as a result of the research.

Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural and Political Aspects

The main idea of the article is to show the importance of education as a factor in identifying the middle class. This means that people with middle class status are involved in various structures of society and they have reached prestigious positions respectively which, in turn, affect the extent of their inclusion in society. Middle-class representatives have complete and successful career realization, and they are signifiantly more inflential from a social point of view in comparison to other individuals which are less integrated and less successful following the public indicators of personal success: education, income, prestige and political power. The paper is primarily based on results obtained through the European Social Survey (ESS) under the 2006, 2009 and 2013 waves. Findings of the present paper are that quality education is not only a function of effort, ambition and persistence, but also of parental involvement, culture capital and family background. Educational achievements are a stimulus for middle-class expansion because they present investment in social contacts and competition on the labour market.

Poltava’s «photographic experience» at the beginning of the twenty century and its subjects

In the article, which is based on materials of archival sources (photographs, memories, periodicals), the author determined "photographic experience" of Poltava at the beginning of the twenty century. The activity of Poltava’s photographic artists and genre priorities in their art are revealed in this article. The author found out the role of the photograph in the life of provincial society, particularly the representatives of middle class, intellectuals and public figures of Poltava in the context of cultural and artistic trends of that time

Segregação social como externalização de conflitos ambientais: a elitização do meio ambiente na APA-Sul, Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte

Este trabalho trata das relações de poder no conselho consultivo da APA-Sul, uma unidade de conservação localizada na Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte. Observa-se uma sub-representação dos setores populares, e os representantes de renda média-alta temem a favelização da região. Conseqüentemente, o conflito ambiental surge em torno da perda da qualidade ambiental nas referidas áreas, em parte associada às alternativas de habitação popular, abrindo oportunidade para discursos que justifiquem a segregação social no espaço e a elitização da paisagem em questão.

Потребительские стили петербургского среднего класса: из экономики дефицита к новому быту

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of the consumer behavior of the representatives of the Russian middle class (on example of Saint-Petersburg). The authors focus on the role of individual consumer strategies in the production of remarkable socio-economic transformations and try to classify the specific characteristics of consumer behavior of post soviet middle class representatives. The first part of the paper determines the main definitions and analyzes consumer style under the conditions of post soviet economy as well as provides the hypotheses for the reasons of plan economy collapse. The second part is devoted to the analysis of the life style transformation and depicting of the peculiarities of consumer styles of Saint-Petersburg middle class under the market economy. The third part considers the leisure activities of the middle class and everyday life consumption practices of the essential commodities. The authors conclude that the transition of consumer styles of post soviet middle class has not finished yet. At the end of the paper the authors give the link between the micro-level of individual consumer styles and the macro-level of national socio-economic transformation of the last 20 years