Sociological Community Research Articles

Can anomie be normal?

The idea of rediscovering anomie is analysed, which is associated with the influence of acceleration and complication of modern society. The category of «normal anomie», which is understood as an expanding set of vulnerabilities for society in the form of side effects of innovative, rational-pragmatic human activity, is being investigated in a discussion form. The article is subject to critical rethinking of the transformation processes today. Social practices of «normal anomie» in Belarus are revealed through the prism of sociological research. The author brings up the concept of total anomie for discussion of the sociological community.

Building Global Sociology in a Divided World (1949–1990)

Unlike physics or even demography, sociology is very sensitive to its social environment. That is why the discipline was mired with controversy and confrontations during the Cold War. How did the development of a global sociology become possible in this social context? Due to the complexity of the historical situation, one cannot expect a simple answer. This article contains an attempt at systematically analyzing the globalization of sociology along four lines of analysis and argumentation. The first line follows the stabilization and growth of national sociological communities after the Second World War. Another line of analysis concerns the developmental path of the International Sociological Association from its founding at the beginning of the Cold War up until its maturation at the end of the 1980s. The mutual influence of these processes is the third line of analysis and argumentation. The fourth cross‐cutting line of analysis is guided by the concepts of social actors, relations, and processes as analytical parameters of social interaction. The conclusion is that the adequate explanation of the globalization of sociology should focus on the interplay of these processes. Special attention is paid to the decisive mobilizing and organizing role of the ISA in this regard.

Regime and Sociology: A Comparative History of Sociology in Postwar Europe with Qualitative Comparative Analysis

AbstractUsing Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this article presents a systematic comparison of differences in the institutional success of sociology in 25 European countries during the academic expansion from 1945 until the late 1960s. Combining context-sensitive national histories of sociology, concept formation, and formal analyses of necessary and sufficient conditions, the article searches for historical explanations for both successful and inhibited processes of the institutionalization of sociology. Concretely, it assesses the interplay of political regime types, the continuous presence of sociological prewar traditions, political Catholicism, and the effects of sociological communities in neighboring countries and how their various combinations are related to more or less well-established sociologies. The results can help explain adversary effects under democratic conditions as well as supportive factors under nondemocratic conditions.

Reflections for a Sociological Representation of the Eater

Professor Jean Pierre Corbeau is an important author of the French sociology of food. He played a decisive role in the emergence of the concept of the eater. This essay is a reflexive discussion by the author of one of his theoretical articles published in 1997. It is an opportunity for the English-speaking sociological community to become better acquainted with this current in the sociology of food.

Biographical Analysis in Historical-Sociological Research. Summing up 20 Years of Experience. Interview prepared by Kozlova, L.A.

Doctorov gives an interview where issues are touched upon related to the development and achievements of a project on the history of Soviet/Russian sociology, a project which he has been curating for almost 20 years, as well as to a biographical study in the field of American sociology and the study of public opinion. Doctorov’s project deals with solving the theoretical, methodological and empirical issues of applying the biographical method in historical-sociological research. The author’s main methodological developments include the concept of Russian sociology’s rebirth, substantiation for generational-functional analysis, and the notion of a biographical quality to creative work in sociology, which includes the recently launched development of non-linear biographical analysis. The article discusses the author’s empirical research related to determining the generational structure of Russia’s sociological community, as well as the possibility of its study by means of in-depth interview via e-mail. It also examines the content and relevance of a collection of interviews with Russian sociologists (titled “Big portrait”), as well as an online-book titled “Biographical interviews with social scientist colleagues” (this one is interactive) and the nine-volume “Modern Russian sociology: historical-biographical pursuits”, all of which mention the main findings of B. Doctorov’s project.

Facing Each Other: Japanese and Russian Sociologies

AbstractThe history of sociology as a subfield has long aimed to describe the historical developments of the discipline, within which national traditions offer unique voices while also contributing to a global sociology. How do various sociological paradigms and national traditions approach social reality in similar and different ways? This paper examines Russian and Japanese contributions to the history of sociology by reviewing some of their major concepts and perspectives. On this basis, this paper seeks to probe into the past and present self‐understandings of the two sociological traditions, as well as their potentials for a more active role in global sociological discourse. Both countries have a history of protracted isolation, which has made them more or less invisible in the international sociological community. However, Russian and Japanese sociological traditions exist and are ready to be tapped, even as their production and mobilization of intellectual resources remain strongly embedded in their politics, cultures, and societies. A broader aim of this paper is to enhance mutual understandings and future collaborations between sociologists in Russia and Japan.

The Right of Persons Who Have Undergone Sex Reassignment (Correction) Procedure for Cryopreserved Sperm, Oocytes, Embryons, Biological Material Disposal

Nowadays, the reproductive sphere and the institute of family are at the stage of rapid development and transformation. Despite rather wide and solid scientific base of studies of assisted reproductive technologies, it should be stated that scientific interest is low in issues of access to the reproductive rights for particular categories of individuals, as well as there is lack of legal support for the application of assisted reproductive technologies in Ukraine. The issue of access to their own biological material for individuals who have undergone the sex reassignment (correction) procedure has been considered by describing two practical examples. It has been proposed to amend the list of information required from applicants, provided by the Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine № 771 dated 23.12.2008, eliminating the requirement to indicate sex, as the sex of an individual is not decisive for exercising the right to dispose of their own biological material. Also, the person is suggested to apply to the court in non-litigious (separate) proceedings to ascertain the fact that the person who has applied to a health care institution for cryopreservation of sperm, oocytes, embryos or biological material, and the person who is currently applying for transportation or use of the same cryopreserved sperm, oocytes, embryos or biological material, is the same person. Such proceedings should be held in the same manner as a change of name, surname or patronymic, because the reassignment (correction) of sex does not have legal consequences different from the change of name, surname or patronymic. It has been concluded that there is the need for a research regarding the protection of the right to reproduction for various categories of subjects. Reproductive rights should remain protected and accessible to every person without redundant restrictions that are contrary to human rights.

РЕЦ. НА КН.: ШЕВЧЕНКО И. О. ОТЦЫ И ОТЦОВСТВО В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ РОССИИ: СОЦИОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ. М.: ТРОВАНТ, 2019. 298 С.

Based on the peer-reviewed scientific monograph by I.O. Shev- chenko, the article presents an analytical review of the social practices of fa - therhood in modern Russian society, the phenomenon of lonely fatherhood that is least studied in the sociological community, as well as the issue of divorced fathers and stepfathers. Against the background of many years of sociological research, among the most important issues in the monograph the following are highlighted: Russians’ ideas about fathers and fatherhood; social practices of fatherhood; aisespaternity in families of various structural types. The book shows the evolution of the meanings of paternity as claimed by men of different ages, married and divorced. It defines the anthropological and biological, personal, socio-economic, spiritual, gender meanings of fatherhood and presents the models of paternity: an impersonal father, an authoritarian father, a kind father. The author of the monograph raises an issue of the importance of the father in the life of the child and also manages through analysis of 830 essays written by schoolchildren to build a “live” dialogue between fathers and children. More - over based on 47 in-depth interviews the topic of fathers and children in difficult situations of family breakdown is raised. An image of the substitute father – stepfather is considered, the types of their behavior in relation to the adopted child are highlighted: active, neutral, and passive. The topic of lonely fatherhood, stereotypes of modern society in relation to single fathers is touched upon. Final - ly, among the original plots of the monograph, one can note: the creation of the father’s image in cinema and the analysis of the network communities of fathers. The author of the article concludes that the phenomenon of paternity is multifaceted and contradictory in modern Russian society and that there is the need for its further study in the direction proposed in the reviewed scientific monograph.

РАБОТЫ П. СОРОКИНА ПЕРИОДА ВТОРОЙ МИРОВОЙ ВОЙНЫ: ОПЫТ СОВРЕМЕННОГО ПРОЧТЕНИЯ В РОССИИ И США

The article attempts to analyze the experience of the present-day perusal in Russia and the United States of the works of outstanding sociologist P.A. Sorokin, written by him during the Second World War. P.A. Sorokin, a well-known Russian-American sociologist, has always attracted the attention of the scientific community with his extraordinary works that have opened new ways of development for social sciences. One of the issues of interest to the scientist was associated with the identification of the nature and essence of wars. The sociologist substantiated the relationship between the war and the subsequent militarization of society; viewed the fact of depletion of the nation’s “biological fund” as a result of the war; using concrete material, he demonstrated the relationship between wars and revolutions. Defending a sociological approach, the scientist suggested that a specific event should be correlated with the analysis of the war phenomenon as a whole. In his book “The Crisis of Our Time” (1941), P. Sorokin showed that the cause of World War II should be sought not in the peculiarities of totalitarian leaders, but in the disorganization and value disorientation of both international and internal relations of states after the previous war. In the book “Russia and the United States” (1944), P. Sorokin substantiated the idea of close cooperation between military allies as a necessary condition for maintaining a long post-war peace. All of Sorokin’s books have caused and still cause an ambiguous reaction in the American sociological community: from full acceptance to the rejection of his “marginal thoughts”. Our domestic discourse is built on the idea of preserving Sorokin’s heritage (Russian and American), deep study and popularization of his sociological concept.

Rev.] Sotsiologiya Obrazovaniya: Uchebnik i Praktikum dlya Vuzov. [Sociology of Education: Textbook and Workbook for Universities.] Ed. by A.M. Osipov. Moscow: Yurayt publ., 2020

This article presents a review of a textbook for universities which reflects classic and relevant knowledge about education — the basic social institution of the global world. The theoretical foundations for branch science, its history, subject matter and functions have been outlined in the textbook. This review details the specifics of the authors’ approach towards presenting the social knowledge about education development stages, while presenting a variety of theoretical directions and models in their dynamics — from their genesis and to the present day. The originality of the textbook is reflected not only in the research ideas, but also in the civic position of the authors, in them identifying the problems of international competition between education systems, as well as the most acute issues inherent to Russian education. The latter include susceptibility to ill-conceived reforms, a backward technical base, low social status of teachers, lacking teacher motivation at schools, unwillingness to solve emerging complex problems, an intergenerational cultural gap, and a low demand for scientific knowledge. The book contains the authors’ teaching materials for constructing the “Sociology of Education” training course, while offering a reliable glossary of scientific terms. The textbook will be in demand both for the process of educating college and postgraduate students, and within the professional sociological community.

Структурные особенности коммуникации российских социологов: кейс онлайн-сообщества

Статья посвящена анализу структурных особенностей коммуникации в социологических онлайн-сообществах. На материалах этнографического кейс-стади крупнейшего русскоязычного социологического онлайн-сообщества рассматриваются коммуникативная активность, социальный состав участников и правила взаимодействия. Дизайн исследования построен на смешивании методов, которое включало параллельное применение количественных и качественных методов: контент-анализа, сетевого анализа и онлайн-наблюдения. Было обнаружено, что в изучаемом сообществе неизбежно проявляется специфика онлайн-площадок. Фактически сообщество состоит из небольшого по размерам ядра более-менее активных пользователей и огромного количества периферийных участников (наблюдателей), не имеющих связей. В отличие от российского социологического сообщества в целом, на анализируемой площадке не обнаруживается фрагментации по региональному и профессиональному признаку. Отсутствие жесткого контроля над обсуждениями в онлайн-сообществе позволяет участникам свободно высказывать свою точку зрения.

A Community-Based Theoretical Framework for Impact Investment Research

Impact investment has quickly emerged to become the new frontier for social entrepreneurial finance over the past two decades. Impact investment creates both financial and social returns by supporting hybrid form of organizations that pursue financial and social goals simultaneously. The proliferation of impact investments, however, is not matched by the production of relevant theoretical knowledge. To advance the understanding about impact investing from a theoretical perspective, I first review the existing literature on impact investing through the lens of two commonly used theoretical frameworks—institutional logics and organizational categories. Although these two frameworks have produced useful insights, they tend to ignore the social embeddedness of impact investment in the context of local communities where investment opportunities are located. Next, I develop a community-based framework for impact investment research. Specifically, I draw upon the literature in sociology of community and organization theory to develop theoretical propositions about how the allocation of impact investment capital is influenced by the ecological, institutional and social contexts of local communities where investee organizations are embedded. The community-based framework offers research on impact investment a new theoretical perspective and opens up a new direction for empirical investigation.

Digital Technologies in Social Sciences: Subject and Method of Digital Sociology

The article is devoted to the development of a new direction of research in the social sciences — digital sociology. This direction is connected with the use of new digital technologies for the study of social reality. The article discusses the problems of perception of digital sociology by the sociological community, discusses the use of technologies such as big data and data mining in sociological research.

Value-driven issues throughout the development of sociological theory

The paper examines and compares how the major sociological theories treat axiological issues. Value-driven topics are analysed in view of their relevance to society in times of crisis, when both societal life and the very structure of society undergo dramatic change. Nowadays, social scientists around the world are also witnessing such a change due to the emergence of alternative schools of sociological thought (non-classical, interpretive, postmodern, etc.) and, subsequently, the necessity to revise the paradigms that have been existed in sociology so far. Since the above-mentioned approaches are often used to address value-related issues, building a solid theoretical framework for these studies takes on considerable significance. Furthermore, the paradigm revision has been prompted by technological advances changing all areas of people’s lives, especially social interactions. The global human community, integral in nature, is being formed, and production of human values now matters more than production of things; hence the “expansion” of value-focused perspectives in contemporary sociology. The authors give special attention to collectivities which are higher-order units of the social system. These units are described as well-organised action systems where each individual performs his/her specific role. Just as the role of an individual is distinct from that of the collectivity (because the individual and the collectivity are different as units), so too a distinction is drawn between the value and the norm — because they represent different levels of social relationships. Values are the main connecting element between the society’s cultural system and the social sphere while norms, for the most part, belong to the social system. Values serve primarily to maintain the pattern according to which the society is functioning at a given time; norms are essential to social integration. Apart from being the means of regulating social processes and relationships, norms embody the “principles” that can be applied beyond a particular social system. The authors underline that it is important for Ukrainian sociology to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field of axiology and make good use of those ideas because this is a prerequisite for its successful integration into the global sociological community.

D.E. Serebrennikov [Rev.] Ehrlich E. Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law. [Russ. ed.: Erlikh O. Osnovopolozhenie sociologii prava. Transl. from Germ. by M.V. Antonov; Ed. by V.G. Grafskiy, Yu.I. Grevtsov. St Petersburg: OOO “Universitetskii izdatel’skii konsortsium” publ., 2011.

It’s commonly believed that the book “Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law” (1913) of Eugen Erlich (1862–1922) was historically the first work in which was made an attempt to create a sociology of law as a specific scientific discipline. However the translation and publication of this work in Russian (2011) was insignificant to the sociological community, while in the English-language literature of the last decades we can observe a growing interest to the classic. The author of the article tries to emphasize the main points and advantages of the theory of the “living law” of Ehrlich, showing how the “Fundamental principles...” may be interesting for the modern reader. For this, the author of the article offers a specific strategy for reading the book.

Do you know what you do for a living? Occupational coding mismatches between coders in the Korean General Social Survey

Occupation has been a workhorse variable in stratification and mobility studies in sociology. Despite the widespread usage of the occupation variable, its measurement issues and the related theoretical and practical implications have been little studied in the sociology community. In this study, we review the previous studies on the measurement issue of occupation and examine the match rates of occupational codes between independent coders using the 2010∼2018 Korean General Social Survey. Our results show that the reliability of occupational classification is not as high as previously assumed in sociology. The mismatch rates between two independent coders ranged from 31.3 % for the broad 1-digit occupational groupings to 50.9 % for the detailed 4-digit occupational groupings. We argue that this relatively low reliability is inherently tied to the socially constructive aspects of occupation. The factors associated with the mismatch are also explored. The implications of these findings for sociological research in stratification and mobility are discussed.

Doctor-Patient Relationship: The Difficult Balance between Patient Psychology and Community Sociology

Psychology and sociology share a common object of study, human behaviour, but from different perspectives. Sociologists have focused on macro variables, such as social structure, education, gender, age, race, etc., while psychology has focused on micro variables such as individual personality and behaviours, beliefs, empathy, listening, etc. Despite the importance of interpersonal relationship skills, they depend on the community or social context in which communication takes place, and by themselves may have little relevance in the consultation. The purely psychological analysis of the doctor-patient relationship often leads to an idyllic vision, with the patient-centred consultation as the greatest exponent, which rarely occurs in real life. The purely sociological or community / social analysis of the doctor-patient relationship leads to a negative view of the consultation, which is always shown as problematic. But, the psychological system in the doctor-patient relationship cannot be neglected, and its study is of importance, at least as an intermediate mechanism that is created through socio-community relations. Although the same social causes are behind the doctor-patient relationship, when acting on psychological factors in the consultation, they act as an optical prism scattering socio-community relations that affect the doctor and the patient, giving rise to a beam of different colors of doctor-patient relationship. In doctor-patient relationship there is a modality of psychotherapy, where attitudes, thoughts and behaviour of the patient, can be change, as well as it can be extended on the way of understanding and therefore changing, his social context. Because of the distance between socio-community relations and the form of doctor-patient relations is growing in complex societies, under these conditions, the sociological factor gives the important place to the psychological factor. Given these difficulties of the doctor-patient relationship one may ask how general medical practice can persist with the usual model of doctor-patient relationship. Pain and the desire to relieve them are the basic reasons for the patient and the doctor, and they do not disappear due to the contradictions of the doctor-patient relationship. In this way, the confrontation between sociological and psychological vision is replaced by an alliance of both currents, and each of them takes on meaning only in the general vision.

‘Small sociality’ in the world of large sociology: Reflections on the ideas of R. Collins (to the 30th anniversary of the City Sociological Workshop in the SPSU)

The year 2019 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Sociology Department of the Saint-Petersburg State University. During all this period, there was the City Sociological Workshop with the meetings held several times in the academic semester to discuss the most relevant controversial issues related to both theoretical sociology (especially new approaches) and the Russian society social life. The initial idea of the Workshop was to ensure communication between scientists and researchers, and the development of intellectual activity, exchange of ideas and solidarity of sociologists of Saint Petersburg. Then the scope of discussions widened and covered a broader Russian context and even international topics. Thus, speakers of the Workshop today are from different Russian cities and other countries. Despite the changed format, the Workshop kept its name - City Sociological Workshop - as a well-known and recognizable brand for the sociological community. Today, there are several forms of its activities: methodological workshops, presentations, meetings and schools. As a small organizational form the Workshop has many advantages described by R. Collins. In particular, the analysis of the ‘network maps’ of interpersonal relationship allowed Collins to argue that the creation of ‘small groups of direct contact’ ensures a social space in which new ideas are developed and accumulated, and intellectual rituals, ‘rivalry for the space of attention’ and other basic elements of the evolution of the scientific thought are formed [1]. Despite different difficulties of thirty years under the changing social and technological realities of the information society, the City Sociological Workshop proves its necessity and importance at the beginning of the third decade of the twenty-first century.

History and the Current State of Sociology in Taiwan

This article discusses specifics of the formation and development of sociology, which arises in the local conditions of the island East Asian region of Taiwan in the context of general trends of world sociology. It is shown that in the historical development of sociology in Taiwan there are several key points and «forces of influence». The first was associated with political interests and Japanese influence in Taiwan in 1930–1945. The next turning point in the history of Taiwanese sociology is associated with the sociologists’ resettling from mainland China to Taiwan (Lung Kung-Hoi, Hsieh Cheng-Fu, Chang Ching-yu and etc.). These sociologists did not agree with the political course in the People’s Republic of China headed by Communist Party. During this period, research developed in the spirit of Japanese-Western-American traditions. The article notes that up to the 1980s attention of Taiwanese sociologists was focused on the study of issues of population, family, juvenile crime, urban development. The rapid economic development and rising confidence in the future by the Taiwanese society makes it possible to emerge the new character of sociology in Taiwan in the 1980s together with the beginning of indigenization and liberalization processes. The emphasis in the article is on the fact that by the end of the first half of the 20th century existing scientific sociological trends in mainland China had a strong influence on the discipline. In the 21st century there were taking place two multidirectional processes – «Sinicization» of the Taiwanese sociology and, at the same time, the moves of the Taiwanese sociological community towards creation of own unique sociological academic characteristics. Nowadays there are several sociology departments at the largest universities on the island, the Taiwan Sociological Association; specialized journals and monographs are being published. In general, public impact of sociological knowledge in Taiwan is high, because of its focus on the study of new social processes and active ties of sociologists with the socio-political life of society. The authors conclude that the prevailing trend in the development of sociology in Taiwan is the desire to preserve identity while being involved in the globalization processes.

Constructing the ghetto: an analysis of the representation of Black urban communities in urban and community sociology courses

ABSTRACT This article uses analysis of 72 syllabi to investigate portrayals of Black urban communities in undergraduate Urban and Community Sociology courses taught in colleges and universities in the United States. The authors conducted keyword analyses of the syllabi and content analyses of the assigned readings. Although professors’ course descriptions do not focus on poverty, segregation, and crime, assigned readings relating to Black communities largely focus on those topics. The authors argue that urban sociology classes reproduce the ‘iconic ghetto,’ the lens through which Black urban communities are perceived. This pattern poses a risk of reinforcing current structures of racial inequality. This study identifies a need for more nuanced representations of Black communities within undergraduate Urban and Community Sociology classrooms, particularly in terms of required readings and assignments. The authors provide pedagogical and methodological suggestions around the use of ‘portraiture’ to develop syllabi that are more representative of the range of experiences in urban Black communities.