Sociological Discourse Research Articles

COVID-19 and (the health-related promotion of) physical activity. The situation before, during and after the pandemic

ABSTRACT Building on the sociological discussion of sports and its reflections through Luhmann’s systems theory, this article explores the question: ‘How has the (health-related) promotion of physical activity been perceived before/during/after the COVID-19 pandemic?’ Our findings reveal differences across the three periods studied: (1) before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (2018–2020), physical activity was generally perceived, inter alia, as a means to prevent chronic illness. Despite being driven by different logics, both the sport and health systems competed in promoting physical activity. (2) During the height of the pandemic (2020–2022), most forms of physical activity were considered potential vectors for spreading the virus. While the health system prioritized pandemic control, the sports system faced significant limitations in engaging the population. (3) In the post-pandemic years 2022–2024, while a societal shift re-established the pre-pandemic status quo, several social changes become integral to our daily life. These changes present both risks and opportunities for physical activity. If the previously systemic coupling between the sports and health systems fails to re-consolidate, there may be an increased need for individual initiative and new inter-systemic interactions to keep people physically active. The conclusions highlight this issue as part of rising social inequality.

The Paradox of the ‘Care’ of London’s Children: Discourses of ‘Safety’ and ‘Respect’ in England’s Ministry of Justice Inspection Reports

Using English prison inspectorate reports, the article presents an Ervine Goffman-inspired sociological discourse analysis of official political accounts about the living conditions of incarcerated children held in London’s Feltham prison. Through a close reading of inspection reports, we develop a critical window into their lived experiences in an exceptionally harmful UK prison regime. The construction of this prison estate conjures its dilapidation, unhygienic conditions, and endless social danger. The stigmatizing construction of the child prisoner intimates a pervasive culture of violence and bullying, resulting in their aversion to purposive activities. While, at first blush, prison inspectorate reporting is based on the policy of efficiency to ensure a safe and rehabilitative prison experience for youth, it is argued that the nature of the reporting of incarceration obviates a critique of the wider political fabric that custodial interventions will invariably reproduce. The Inspectorate operates within the state’s dominant class-stratified political ideology. The adoption of a generic labeling discourse in the reports minimizes the communication of harms inflicted on children by criminal ‘justice’ that can only worsen their wellbeing and reproduce the harmful intensity of their pre-existing marginality.

The Introduction of Same-Sex Marriage in Germany—A Question of Conscience and/or Faith? A Case Study

On 30 June 2017, the German Bundestag voted in favor of the introduction of marriage for same-sex couples—a historic moment. Only a few days earlier, the then Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel had released the vote as a decision of conscience and thus dissolved the usual underlying factional compulsion—does this mean that rights for homosexual people are a question of personal conscience and values? Such a localization arouses the interest of religious studies to investigate how the discourse actors from the fields of politics, church and society formulate the decision of conscience as a discursive strategy in the negotiation process of same-sex marriage in Germany argumentatively and which positionings as well as descriptions of others and themselves are derived from this. The starting point is a modernity in which the actors move, understand and articulate themselves. This understanding of modernity is based on the process of a vertical transfer (Gladigow) of sociological theories of religion, among others, whereby narratives of secularization, overcoming religion (as a necessary precondition of modernity) and narratives of an opposition of religious vs. secular or religious vs. homosexual reappear as positions and arguments in the discourse. Using the approach of discursive religious studies (von Stuckrad) in conjunction with sociological discourse analysis (Keller), these processes of positioning, demarcation and negotiation based on the premises of modernity will be analyzed for the period from 2013 to 2017 on the basis of the public debate on religious, political, and social actors in Germany.

Кризові екологічні комунікації в контексті збройного конфліктуяк предмет соціологічного аналізу

The purpose of the studyis to analyze the sociological discourse in the field of crisis environmental communications in the context of crisis (armed conflict).Research methods:the basic research method was case and content analysis, which are suitable for studying previous research on the achievements of scientists on environmental threats and crises, crisis communications, as well as further understanding of the importance of crisis environmental communications during armed conflicts.Results:The war in Ukraine is a crisis that significantly affects the environment and deepens the environmental crisis. Crisis environmental communications and crisis management are important forovercoming such crises. Having a communication plan and a professional team in place in a crisis is the basis for preventing and overcoming it. The author examines the impact of previous armed conflicts, in particular, the war in Yugoslavia, on the region’s ecology, as well as its experience in bringing to justice for environmental damage. In particular, it was found that the experience of prosecution under international humanitarian lawisminimal, and the issue of environmental protection during armed conflict is practically unregulated and extremely difficult to prosecute. Ukraine’s previous environmental crisis communications before and after the Russian army blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam indicates the lack of thorough prior communication training.Conclusions:the analysis shows that understanding and acceptance of environmental risks is important for their prevention and response to crisis situations. Learning from its own experience and analyzing previous crises in other countries, Ukraine should conduct environmental crisis communications in compliance with the rules of conducting such communications, sharing this experience with other countries. This is an important tool for preventing environmental disasters and reducing their consequences. Keywords: crisis environmental communications, crisis communications, Yugoslavia, crisis, war in Ukraine, armed conflict, ecology, Russian Federation.

Trends of changes of national-civic identity during the war: narrative analysis

Today, in sociological discourse, there is a consensus regarding the formation of a consolidated national identity in Ukrainian society, in which the civil and ethnic elements are indivisible. Studies of changes in national-civil identities in the context of a hybrid and full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war record an increase in the number of those who self-identify as citizens of Ukraine. However, it is unclear how these changes occurred and what happens to those who previously had such an identity. The purpose of this article is to document changes in national-civic self-identification under the influence of war at the personal level. Fragments of 38 in-depth interviews conducted in March-April and September-October 2023 with forced migrants were used as empirical material. Some of the informants continued to remain abroad at the time of the survey, while others returned home. From the narratives about how the war changed their lives, a number of episodes were identified that described the changes that occurred in the awareness and experience of national-civic identity. Changes were recorded in the components of social identification as: self-categorization; evaluation; importance; attachment and sense of interdependence; social embeddedness ; behavioral involvement. During the analysis, the following trends were identified: 1 — a change in the place of national-civic identity among other group affiliations, its transition to the place of the dominant self-identification; 2 — strengthening a positive attitude towards national-civic identity both from within, at the personal level, and from the outside, on the part of other national communities; 3 — strengthening the importance of national-civil self-identification due to its awareness, transformation of hidden importance into explicit one; 4 — increased emotional attachment due to an increased feeling that the fate of the group and personal fate are inseparable; unifying own sense of “I” with the group “We”; 5 — strengthening social inclusion against the backdrop of a general increase in interpersonal support; 6 — growth of behavioral practices (linguistic, cultural, volunteer) aimed at strengthening national-civic identity.

Практики обращения в православие возрастной когорты 70+: модель «отложенного обращения»

The article presents an analysis of the practices of conversion to Orthodoxy of the age cohort of 70+ in the context of the "deferred conversion" model. The degree of elaboration of the problem in modern Russian sociological discourse is described. The author's definition of the treatment process is proposed. The theoretical and methodological foundations of the analysis of the process of conversion to Orthodoxy are indicated, including: an interdisciplinary approach; an integrative paradigm in the sociology of religious conversion (religious conversion); a generational approach. The description of a qualitative sociological study of the peculiarities of conversion to Orthodoxy of the age cohort of 70+ is presented. The purpose of the study is to identify the structural components and meaningful characteristics of the process of conversion to Orthodoxy of the age cohort of 70+. It is noted that within the framework of the study, empirical data was collected using the biographical method, the sample was built using the "snowball" method, the survey of respondents was conducted using semi-structured biographical interviews. The subjects of the study were parishioners of urban and rural Orthodox churches (n = 23) – people born in the 1920s (n = 4), 1930s (n = 7), 1940s (n = 12). On the basis of the results of the study, the general description of the cases of "delayed conversion" to Orthodoxy of the age cohort of 70+ is proposed. The practices of conversion to Orthodoxy of this social group are described: mastered in the parental family; reproduced during the period of suspension of the development of Orthodox identity; intensifying the process of conversion in old age.

Social Identity of English Lecturers at Islamic Universities in Central Java in Sociological Discourse

Social Identity of English Lecturers at Islamic Universities in Central Java in Sociological Discourse

Paradigms of Statehood and National Sovereignty in Sociological Discourse

The article aims to study the paradigms of statehood and sovereignty in sociological discourse. Studies of statehood, national sovereignty and national security are important areas of modern sociology, especially in the context of globalization processes that significantly affect these concepts. The authors of the article examine the prospects of sociological research on these issues by analyzing a number of factors, including methodological approaches, the impact of international politics, new security challenges and the transformation of political institutions. The article analyzes in detail two key sociological paradigms – «world-systems» by Immanuel Wallerstein and a four-level model for studying the phenomenon of statehood by Neil Joseph Smelser, that allowed us to describe the role and functions of nation-states in the new realities of the global political crisis, in particular the impact of globalization on sovereignty, economy, politics, and social structures, as well as the search for effective models of political and social governance. The authors attribute the growing scientific interest in the study of geopolitical processes to the specific features of the development of the nation-state institution and the transformation of state sovereignty, which in today's realities is accompanied by a change in worldview paradigms. The active introduction of scientific discourse on the role and place of the nation-state in the modern world contributes to the intensification of sociological research on nation-building.

Personal life environment within the socio-political context of modern Russia: status according to the attribute of certainty

The subject of the article relates to the sociological discourse on the category of uncertainty at the personal level of analysis. The uncertainty of the environment inherently contains risks as a potential possibility of damage from an adverse outcome of events, phenomena, processes. The strategy of the analysis presented in the article takes as the initial and independent position of the study the fact that there is such a context in the environment, such conditions that can serve as sources of risks of various levels. In the research proposed in the article, the author proceeds from the fact that a fundamentally risky socio-political context at the country level (SMO, increasing sanctions pressure) by a particular person may not be perceived as causing uncertainty in the space of his personal life environment. The empirical basis of the analysis is data from a representative survey of the Russian population conducted on a quota sample in June 2023. A methodological approach is applied, the peculiarity of which is the formation within the sample the target groups according to the criterion corresponding to the main goal of the analysis – self-determination of the living environment status. The data was rearranged and analyzed under an intelligence strategy aimed at identifying similarities and differences between those who positively and clearly see their life prospects and those who are in a situation of uncertainty about the future and the present. The analysis of those resources and features that have the greatest weight in differentiating the selfdetermination of the living environment status within the risky external environment made it possible to assess their internal relationship and carry out an empirical (real), as opposed to a priori (theoretical) grouping. The empirical grouping revealed three blocks of resource determinants of differences between target groups in determining the adaptive status of the living environment, which correlate with the components of subjective intelligence: emotional as the ability to recognize, understand and use emotions, with social as skills and experience of communication with the institutional environment, rationality as the presence of skills of self-organization and self-control.

Категория социального пространства в истории социально-философской мысли

This article is an analysis of the development of philosophical thought regarding the category of “social space”, including the relevant historical and philosophical understanding of the category of “space”, which is relevant in this issue. The problem of social space was first formulated in the XIX century, which was an important stage in the study of the category “space”. This ontological inquiry, intrinsic to philosophical discourse, has captivated the intellects of scholars across epochs. In the XIX–XX centuries, the problem of space acquired a broader meaning and began to include the concept of social space. The aim of the study is to scrutinize the category of “social space” through the lens of historical socio-philosophical ruminations and the diverse perspectives offered by philosophers. This analytical endeavor aims to contemporize the discourse surrounding social space, fostering its resonance within anthropological, social, and sociological discourses, alongside its implications for urban studies and urban philosophy

The Representation of the Placemaking Process of Urban Religious and Secular Turkish Identities: The Case of Kizilcik Şerbeti (One Love) Soap Opera

During a 2-year period, the depictions of religious figures and their interactions with secular individuals in urban daily life became an integral feature of Turkish soap operas that gained popularity in the world after the 1990s. While previous studies have explored the portrayal of various actors in them in terms of age, gender, socio-economic status, and historical perspectives, there is a lack of analysis regarding the interaction between secular and religious urban representations. This research aims to investigate the differences in everyday cosmopolitan perspectives in terms of spatiality and temporality between the two groups. To examine this, the soap opera Kızılcık Şerbeti (One Love) was analysed. Research has shown that when two groups develop their identities in opposition to one another, it leads to the emergence of different temporal and spatial dimensions within the same urban setting. While it seems unfeasible to reconcile the daily routines of both groups in the same place, age, gender, education, and class make negotiation possible in shared spaces. This draws attention to the intersectional approach rather than the binary positions of identities in the placemaking process. The main contribution of this research is to integrate religion, which has been forgotten in human geography, into geographical and sociological discussions by focusing on an intersectional approach in an urban context.

Why some states bring more laws to the gunfight

Firearm laws impact rates of injuries and crimes in U.S. states. Researchers, however, seldom examine the factors that influence state-level enactment of restrictive firearm law provisions (FLPs) over time. This study builds on economic threat and group threat scholarship, explaining variation in the number of restrictive FLPs in effect across U.S. states from 1992 to 2019. Analyzing annual state-level panel data using longitudinal negative binomial regression, results indicate that economic threat, group threat, political partisanship, and region are particularly relevant to explaining this phenomenon. I situate this study in the sociological discourse on state-level firearm legislation and provide suggestions for future research.

Концептуализация феномена негативной идентичности

This article provides a systematic analysis of research devoted to the study of various aspects of social identity in order to determine the theoretical framework for studying the phenomenon of negative identity within the framework of sociology. The following theories are considered: social identity, realistic conflict of identity uncer-tainty. The theory of social identity constitutes a conceptual model elucidating how individuals define their iden-tities through affiliation with social groups, emphasizing the significance of social categories and stereotypes in identity formation. The theory of realistic conflict offers an approach to analyzing conflicts based on the prem-ise that they arise from struggles for material, “realistic” values and resources, even when groups are nominally divided. The theory of identity uncertainty, in turn, focuses on situations wherein individuals encounter difficul-ties in defining their identities, encompassing the concept of “entitativeness” within its scope. In synthesizing these theoretical perspectives, this article offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the multifacet-ed nature of negative identity within sociological discourse. By elucidating the underlying mechanisms and contextual factors shaping negative identity formation, scholars can advance theoretical and empirical inquiries into this complex phenomenon.

Theoretical and conceptual foundations of research on religious Conservatism as a social structure in the works of Karl Mannheim and Talcott Parsons

The article is devoted to the study of the theoretical and methodological foundations of the research field of religious conservatism. By itself, religious conservatism as a phenomenon of public life and social structure, since its inception, has had a great influence not only on the religious sphere of society, but also on the political and even economic spheres. The modern research field of religious conservatism is quite diverse, there are a large number of different directions and schools in it, but most of them borrow their methodological foundations from a certain number of classical works on sociology, formed within the framework of mainstream sociological secularism. In this regard, secularism attitudes continue to be reproduced quite often in modern sociological science. The purpose of this work is to examine the early, fundamental theoretical and methodological positions created in classical sociological works on the topic of religious conservatism as a social structure and social phenomenon. To achieve the goal, it was necessary to solve the following tasks: 1) To characterize the works of the early stage of the study of religious conservatism in sociology; 2) To identify and characterize the theories of society in which the main works were created; 3) To define the concept of religious conservatism as a social phenomenon or social structure; 4) Describe the impact of these concepts on further sociological discussion. The research materials were theoretical studies by foreign authors devoted to the conceptualization of the theme of religious conservatism. The research methodology is based on secondary analysis. The results revealed the main patterns of the theoretical foundations of religious conservatism in the works of the classics of sociology.

Corporate culture: institutional regulation and practical implementation experience

The article presents a theoretical analysis of the sociological discourse on corporate culture. The role of corporate culture in the practical activities of the enterprise and its institutional features are discussed. The subject of the study is corporate culture, in particular, the specifics of the use of the term and the components of corporate culture are clarified. It is shown that culture is based on a value component, the development of which in the context of the company should form the value of work and the value of belonging to one's company, which, in turn, should be congruent with the company's strategy and development goals. The article reveals the differences between a developed corporate culture, such as educating and motivating employees to perceive work in the company as a way of life, ensuring staff commitment to the ideas and values of the organization. The article used a theoretical review of scientific literature in the field of sociology of culture and personnel management. The novelty of the research is the translation of the experience of a medical organization (Mayo clinic), which has a highly developed corporate culture based on the ideas of customer orientation, as well as the identification of the principles of its work and the features of building a culture. The importance of compatibility of corporate culture and strategy is also emphasized. It is noted that at the material level, corporate culture can be observed through visible signs (branded clothing, corporate symbols, organizational ceremonies and attributes, work environment, etc.), and at the level of spiritual culture – values and norms that define and regulate the behavior of employees in the company. At the same time, values closely related to visual samples reflect the internal philosophy of the company. It is emphasized that norms, patterns of corporate behavior, through corporate culture are tools for personnel management, and corporate culture acts as an institutional management tool. The article concludes that it is necessary to purposefully form and develop a corporate culture in the process of which the primary should be the creation of a value component related to the company's development strategy.

Panama: An Analysis Of Class Location And Income Distribution

Abstract In this article, the theoretical perspective centered on “dynamic inequality” and inter-category or individual differences is questioned, while the structural approach of extra-categorical analysis is sustained as essential and pertinent to sociological discussions of inequality and, further, attributable to social class, rather than internal or individual differences as posited by some theorists of inequality. From this position, an attempt is made to offer a frame of reference for the analysis and understanding the distributive structure of income in contemporary Panama. Despite presenting one of the best positioned minimum wage and average income structures in Latin America, Panama occupies one of the worst income distributions in the region. The approach subscribed to in this investigation is based on the theoretical assumption that links the conditions of income inequality with the structures of occupation and class location of the workers. The purpose is to build an empirical model of class structures associated with the occupational categories of the workers and, from this, to analyze the trends in the distribution of income in the country. The data analysis was carried out based on the Labor Market Survey of the National Institute of Statistics and Census of the Comptroller General of the Republic for 2000 and 2021.

Visualizing Voices: Exploring the Use of Architectural Visualization to Present Complex Qualitative Findings

In this paper, I discuss the promising use of visual architectural drawings to present findings of qualitative studies, particularly when dealing with a complex, multidimensional human experience. I examine an interdisciplinary integration between qualitative research and architecture that embraces visual elements. I propose using visual drawings borrowed from architecture as a tool to present deep meanings of human experience within a social phenomenon and make the findings visually transparent. The architectural drawings offer distinct views: one provides an overall view of the building, while the other exposes its hidden layers. I employ this visual means to highlight deep meanings obtained from two salient metaphors in the participants’ stories concerning normative identity conflict. This new practice of the importance of using visual means to present findings is consistent with contemporary discussions in sociology about how qualitative findings can be made more transparent and visible to diverse audiences. While this unique use of visual architecture means is still rare, I suggest that their implementation can contribute to innovation and contemporaneity in presenting qualitative findings. The insights of the present paper invite qualitative researchers to utilize visual interdisciplinary means to present findings that engage diverse audiences and enrich qualitative methodological discourse.

Sounding Habitus: An Interdisciplinary Study on the Factors Influencing Musical Preferences

This paper employs Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of 'habitus' as a theoretical framework to scrutinize the multifaceted elements that influence musical preferences and inclinations in individuals. Drawing from an interdisciplinary approach, this study weaves historical accounts with empirical analyses conducted on scholarly articles primarily in sociology and educational studies. It seeks to explore how the constitutive factors of habitus, specifically education, Social Class Background, Cultural Background, and Ideology, affect one’s taste in music. The paper argues that these variables are not merely incidental but play an integral role in shaping a person’s musical predilections. Through a detailed examination of academic literature and historical contexts, the study further contends that understanding the complex web of these contributing factors can offer profound insights into not just musical tastes but also social hierarchies and cultural legitimacies. The findings aim to contribute to the existing discourse in both sociology of music and educational theory, offering a nuanced perspective on how identity is musically constructed and socially embedded.

Sociological discourse of technological development: global challenges and ukrainian realities

Methods. The methodological basis of the study was such scientific methods as analytical – when summarizing the results of scientific research of domestic and foreign scientists regarding the essence, significance and factors of influence on scientific and technological activity in the country; abstract-logical – when formulating a hypothesis regarding the relationship between social relations of taxation and the economic results of management of innovative and technological development; economic and statistical – during the study of the social characteristics of taxation in Ukraine. Results. Based on the analysis of the scientific works of domestic and foreign scientists, it has been confirmed that technologies promote innovation, create jobs and contribute to long-term economic growth. It was established that such generally recognized factors of influence on scientific and technological activity in the country as industrial, monetary and tax policy, as well as financial encouragement of business to introduce innovations and advanced technologies in combination with organizational changes, require a systematic approach to the introduction and addition of additional regulators depending on the situation. Attention is focused on the need to expand the list of factors influencing social changes, in particular, at the expense of tax sociology. Novelty. It has been established that the field of tax sociology can supplement traditional ideas about the economic model of behavior by determining the fundamental dynamics, the long-term ability to invest in research and technology. Practical value. The results of the research are of an applied nature as such that, based on the analysis of tax statistics, it is possible to predict the far-reaching consequences of the impact of tax sociology on socio-economic changes in general, and scientific and technological development, in particular.

Интерпретации феномена профессии в социологическом дискурсе

The article scrutinizes the various aspects of the conceptualization of profession in sociological discourse. The works of both foreign and domestic sociologists are analyzed. Using the method of discourse analysis, inter-pretations of the phenomenon of profession as a social association, a subculture, a set of networks and con-nections, a social institution, as well as an independent discourse have been identified. A discourse analysis of the types of professional communities is presented depending on the main sociological parameters: status, sense of significance/closeness, isolation, cohesion, degree of loyalty, value of belonging to the community. Particular attention is paid to the interpretation of the profession as a social institution, expressed in the pres-ence of attitudes and patterns of behavior, symbolic cultural characteristics, specific ethics and ideology. A set of aspects of the systemic impact of professional discourse on personality is defined. The article develops a generalizing model of interpretation of the given phenomenon in sociological discourse.