Sociology Of Knowledge Research Articles

Actor-network theory: innovative aspects of sociological methodology

In recent years, a discussion about the dissatisfaction of scientists with the current state of sociology has intensified in the world sociological community. In this situation, various ways of raising the scientific level of sociology as a whole are proposed. One of them was proposed by B. Latour in the framework of the actor-network theory (ANT), the theoretical concepts of which were further developed in the works of his like-minded colleages. Representatives of the Russian sociology are actively involved in a versatile study of the contribution made by the ANT to the development of sociology. The article studies the basic provisions of the actor-network theory concerning the subject specifics of sociological knowledge, the fundamental difference between the definition of understanding the subject of ANT sociology and the definitions given by traditional sociological trends and paradigms, as well as the consequences of this innovative understanding for the formation of methodological principles for studying social reality. The authors also dwell on the consideration of the most fundamental and controversial methodological innovation of ANT - the “turn to things” and the introduction of the concept of heterogeneity of agents into the understanding of social processes.
 Particular attention in the article is paid to the analysis of the meaning of the term “actant”, innovative for sociology, borrowed by the ANT from the semiotic theory of narrative and incorporated into sociology and ontology of the network of associations of heterogeneous actants. Concerning the disagreements between the actor-network theory and the sociological mainstream of our time, the authors dwell on the criticism by ANT theorists of the sociological "metaphysics of social forces", understood as a way of theoretical legitimation of social inequality. The purpose of the article is to clarify the unity and interconnection of the key innovative positions of ANT in sociological methodology, and through this, to substantiate the significance and heuristic potential of the innovations proposed by the actor-network theory for raising the scientific level of sociology in the study of social reality. As a result, the authors demonstrate the methodological turn of ANT, that makes possible overcoming the gap between sociological theory and social and political practice, thus opening the way for building a new attitude of sociology to reality, returning it to solving not only scientific, but also social and practical problems.

ПРЕГЛЕД АКТИВНОСТИ СОЦИОЛОШКОГ КЛУБА СРПСКОГ СОЦИОЛОШКОГ ДРУШТВА (ОГРАНАК ССД У НИШУ): РАЗВОЈ И МОГУЋНОСТИ

The paper analyzes the origin and development of the Sociological Club of the Serbian Sociological Society, with a special focus on the work of the Club in the Niš branch. The Sociological Club is recognized as a relevant instrument for achieving the goals of the Society, aimed at promoting sociological knowledge and profession. While the work of the Society has been the subject of previous analyzes, the problem of insufficient connection and involvement of branches has only been sporadically examined. The paper points out the impact of this problem on the development of the Club in the branches. We conducted qualitative analysis of the content of available documentation on the work of the Society, in the editions of the Sociological Review and on the Society’s website. The problem of insufficient visibility of the history of the Club and formalization of the current organization and activities of the Club has been recognized. Significant progress in connecting branches in the last two decades, which was pointed out through the analysis, leaves room for further improvement of the Society’s work through the cooperation of branches, in which we recognize the important role that the Club can play. In order to optimally use the potential of the Club, the possibilities of developing the activities of the Club in the branches, and connecting the branches through the network of coordinators of the Club, were pointed out.

Xeoretical and methodological problems of digital sociology

This article is devoted to the theoretical and methodological problems of conceptualizing a new branch of sociological knowledge — digital sociology. The transfer of various aspects of human life to the virtual space (to social networks and new media) has created a number of challenges for the classical social sciences that have never been faced before. The main one is the assessment of the impact of social processes taking place in virtual space on the reality around us. Today, the phenomena emerging on the Internet are invading our “physical” world with increasing intensity, the so-called “real virtuality” is being formed. At the same time, an important aspect is the reverse effect on the virtual world of the processes taking place in social reality.The response to the virtualization of social life was the emergence of a new branch of sociological science — digital sociology. Having originated in the mid-2000s, it is actively developing: the problem Jeld is being clarified, its subject is being concretized, and the methodological toolkit is expanding. At the same time, there are also problems, “bottlenecks” that require comprehension and scientific overcoming.Within the framework of this scientific article, the processes of virtualization of public life, the essence and features of an electronic social network account are considered, the author’s definition of digital sociology is formed, the methodological toolkit is characterized, and the advantages and challenges of digital sociology are identified.

Sociology of religion in the system of scientiSc knowledge

The article examines the sociology of religion as one of the spheres of sociological cognition, as well as those approaches to the definition of religion that predetermined the specifics of the development and self-identification of the sociology of religion in the system of scientific knowledge. The author compares various ideas about religion that exist in everyday consciousness, definitions of religion in the system of theology and its scientific interpretations. At the same time, it is emphasized that recently the efforts of scientists have begun to focus on finding a new, more balanced and universal approach to the definition of religion, although any attempt to give a final definition of religion is doomed to be limited and debatable.The heterogeneity of the tools and approaches used by the sociology of religion has created a serious problem of its place in the structure of sociological knowledge. The sociology of religion is most often identified either with religious sociology or with an autonomous branch in the horizontal structure of sociology. These two scientific identities of the sociology of religion appear both blurred and limited. Without denying the value of generally accepted directions for the sociological analysis of religion, the author reveals a lot of diverse and heterogeneous directions, within which both classics of sociological science who studied religion and modern sociologists worked. As a result, the sociology of religion is simply an arbitrary set of topics, including the analysis of fundamental works of a predominantly socio-philosophical nature, replete with religious terms that are incomprehensible to a reader unfamiliar with at least the basics of religious studies, especially to a student, seriously complicates the understanding of the essence and methodology of the sociological analysis of religion. For this purpose, the article differentiates and structures the subject Jeld of sociological analysis of religion, highlights its most promising fields of research.The author argues that it is appropriate to talk about the sociological analysis of religion, which has developed and continues to develop within the framework of two major, but equivalent directions. The first focuses on the sociological knowledge of religion in line with the general modern sociological theory, in a broad social context, as one of the subsystems of the general, societal system, organically interconnected with its other subsystems — cultural, social, political, etc. A special place within this direction is occupied by the analysis of religion as a social phenomenon and social institution, social functions and dysfunctions of the latter, including the intensive process of politicization of religion. The second is based on an internal analysis of religion and various religious doctrines, primarily from the point of view of those social relations that are formed within their framework. The perspective focus of the second direction is the social functions of various religions, their influence on the moral values and worldview of individuals and social groups, the peculiarities of manifestation in people’s daily lives, the peculiarities of the formation and functioning of new religious movements, including totalitarian religious cults and sects.

Critical design: a new vision for fashion design studies

This contribution proposes to look out for new inspiration in sociocritical design discourses for an innovative approach in research and education in the discipline of fashion design. For this reason, it is not only investigating sociocritical design in theory and practice within the field of critical design but also interested in the feasibility of the method of discourse analysis as an innovative approach for this specific research area. A vivid and elaborated academic discourse can be found in critical design studies and, simultaneously, openness for systemic change in design as a practice and the designer’s role for the future. In contrast, the status quo in fashion design research is on a very manageable level and locates itself, e.g. in Germany, rather in fashion theory of historical or sociological context instead of questioning fashion design practice of today. Hence, this contribution also seeks to support a livelier exchange in fashion design research with propositioning discourse analysis, more precisely the Sociology Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD), as an innovative research method within this area.

LITERARY METHOD OF FICTION ANALYSIS AS A SOURCE OF SOCIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE (On the example of A.S. Pushkin's drama "Boris Godunov")

LITERARY METHOD OF FICTION ANALYSIS AS A SOURCE OF SOCIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE (On the example of A.S. Pushkin's drama "Boris Godunov")

Семиотический подход к пониманию социокультурного ландшафта региона

The article deals with the phenomenon of sociocultural landscape, which in modern conditions integrates, along with social and cultural components, their semantic components. Based on the concept of sociocultural landscape of the region as a sign system, functioning on the model of the text, it is substantiated that the development of such a concept acquires semiotic character. It is emphasized that the development of the concept of semiotics of sociocultural landscape of the region is adequate to the general logic of the development of sociological knowledge. The object of research in this article is understood as a material space, which includes a sociocultural element in its territory, where huge intersecting dynamic structures, which we define as a sociocultural landscape, inevitably line up. This fluid, spatio-temporal structure is perceived as a system of landscapes composed of different communication flows. The aim of the study is to overcome the limitations of the concept of the regional urbanized landscape and demonstrate the integrative functions of the sign in the formation of social structure and processes in the regional sociocultural landscape. One of the main results of the article, is the conclusion that the sociocultural landscape of the Volgograd region is a frontier, frontier cultural landscape. In modern sociocultural landscapes, the old cultural heritage preserved in the form of tangible objects, traces of traditional human activities and signs of global culture and modern communication, may be dominant and determine the course of many social processes taking place in this territory. In this regard, to consider the specificity of the sociocultural landscape as a sociological object of knowledge and to penetrate into the essence of the specificity of the problem under study, it is necessary to use a semiotic approach.

Exploring alcohol cultures and homosocial relationships in women's amateur AFL teams

Young women's risky drinking cultures are pertinent to the world of amateur Australian Football League, yet they have received limited research attention. Drawing on surveys, focus groups, and semi-structured ‘scroll-back’ interviews, this study provides an in-depth investigation of negotiations of gender and risky drinking in such cultures. A range of intersecting socio-cultural themes were identified, summarised into four overarching elements: drinking as central to initial homosociality; awareness of appropriateness; divergences between women's and men's cultural priorities and alcohol behaviours; and young women's unique cultural prioritisation of collectivity and mutuality. The findings further sociological knowledge on risky drinking and gender.

Religious Values of Youth within the Framework of the Sociology of Culture

In a situation of paradigm pluralism of modern sociology, the selection of certain provisions for the formation of a theoretical framework always causes certain difficulties and problems. On the one hand, there is a clear division of sociological knowledge along the line of the classical – non-classical, and on the other hand, in the present conditions this division looks somewhat artificial and, according to many analysts, should be replaced by the integration of approaches, theories, and concepts, the creation of an integrative paradigm. Therefore, considering the sociological heritage and new developments, it is necessary to select those groups of theoretical propositions that will help reveal the diversity of values in empirical research. The novelty of the research is determined by the existence of a certain hierarchy in the value system. As part of any value system, one can distinguish, first of all, dominant values. The authors show that the system of values determines the criteria recognised by society, based on which control over the activities of people is carried out and their behaviour is regulated, that is, it is the system of values that ensures civil order. It acts as a theoretical framework for social activity. Authors determine that the value system regulates the behaviour of people in society and directs it in the proper, correct direction. It acts as a guideline when choosing a method of action, forms goals and leads to their achievement. The practical significance of the research is determined by the fact that each culture creates its individual system of value guidelines, which serve as a kind of model, determine the direction of the actions of a person or the entire society, that is, values of a certain kind of motivators of actions.

‘An eye more penetrating than other men's’: Finding the Recherche's Narrator in a World of Experts

This essay presents the Recherche's narrator as an expert in a world of experts. Considering previous scholarship on the sociological knowledge present in Proust's novel, I imagine the pursuit of this knowledge as characterizing its narrator, distinguishing him from the other specialists who populate the pages of his récit. Drawing on the work of Gil Eyal, I read this récit as displaying a marked attention to the ‘networks of expertise’ in which these other experts make their knowledge effective. The récit's language, meanwhile, provides information on the network of expertise in which the narrator himself must operate to assume the social position of expert. Ultimately, I argue that thinking about the narrator and his writing in terms of expertise allows us to ironize the narrator's knowledge about the social world. From this ironic distance, the Recherche becomes not a vehicle of such knowledge but an experience of it.

KAJIAN KEAGAMAAN TERHADAP NARAPIDANA DI LAMBAGA PEMASYARAKATAN KELAS I BANDAR LAMPUNG

Prisoners are people who are imprisoned due to their actions that violate the law and are God's imperfect creations as well as social beings who need other people to live. Correctional institutions have the task of fostering prisoners, including guiding in religious studies so that when they are free, convicts can have the quality of piety to God Almighty and have good attitudes and behavior so that they can return to society. The problem taken in this paper is how the influence of religious guidance on prisoners in the process of religious studies at the Class I Penitentiary. This writing aims to determine the effect of religious studies on prisoners. This writing is to provide an overview and explanation of how religious studies are conducted on prisoners and add to the knowledge of sociology from a religious perspective. This research is included in the field research and is descriptive. Methods of data collection in this study using observation, interviews, and documentation. The results of this paper indicate the influence of religious guidance on prisoners. The influence is in the form of changes felt by inmates, including increasing the quality of piety to God Almighty, improving attitudes and behavior of prisoners, and solving problems experienced by inmates.

Modifying my self: A qualitative study exploring agency, structure and identity for women seeking publicly funded plastic surgery in Australia

Our sociological knowledge base about plastic surgery has been predominantly constructed in free market contexts, leaving uncertainties as to how sociological theory around agency, identity, and structure apply in the context of publicly funded plastic surgeries. We draw on narratives of Australian women while waiting for abdominoplasty in the public system and recounting their post-surgical realities to understand the relational, dependent and interdependent agency–structure networks in which women's bodies, affects, lives and eligibility requirements are enmeshed. We found women adopted a ‘deserving’ identity to help them claim and enact agency as they felt and navigated the layered structures that govern publicly funded abdominoplasty in Australia, and theorise how this might influence unfolding patterns of social life. We explicate the importance of locating women's lived experiences of medical (dys)function vis-à-vis the sociocultural histories of medicine, health, gender and citizenship that give rise to publicly funded healthcare.

Beyond Adherence: The Healthwork of People Living with HIV in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Following the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 1996, adherence was regarded by biomedical researchers as the only way to manage HIV effectively in everyday life. The sociological critique of this biomedical stance posits that the everyday management of HIV goes beyond the biomedical conception of adherence, as HIV-positive individuals undertake healthwork practices that form the basis of HIV management. Using symbolic interactionism and social context theory to ground the lived experience of healthwork, this paper explores the kinds of healthwork people living with HIV in Nigeria undertake. Drawing from 32 semi-structured interviews with HIV-positive individuals living in Nigeria, it was observed that healthwork is an individualized practice including spirituality, testing, counseling, adherence, concealment, dieting, and support-group participation. These practices are shaped by the sociocultural, economic, political, and structural factors in the Nigerian context. Meaningful healthwork practices were informed by the personal responses to HIV diagnosis, and such practices were tied to formal rules, local dynamics, and contextual issues that are shaped by structural and institutional factors. This paper contributes to sociological knowledge on HIV management by demonstrating the importance of context and meaning in the design of health interventions and programs connected with the lived experience of people living with HIV.

The Battles of Germantown: Effective Public History in America

The Battles of Germantown: Effective Public History in America

Субстанциальный подход в теоретическом обществознании, его необходимость и принципы

The author of this article is convinced that modern history, which has entered the crisis period of “unsecured outcomes”, poses the most difficult problems to theor­etical social science, the solution of which is facilitated by successful adaptation of people to new social realities. At the same time, the modern social theory ex­periences a crisis of fragmentation and does not have proper conceptual means for adequate comprehension of the changing world. Unfortunately, many modern the­orists seek to legalize the categorical chaos in social theory, to present it as its “natural state”. On the contrary, the author proceeds from the belief that subject-conceptual unity and categorical order in social theory remains “sine qua non” of its existence. Conceptual fragmentation is natural and inevitable in a value social philosophy that evaluates the world and searches for the meaning of human exist­ence in it, but it is intolerant in reflective philosophy, trying to reveal its own logic of the social world, independent of the value preferences of the scientist. The author considers the substance-based approach, the principles of which are disclosed in the article, to be a tool for conceptual optimization of social know­ledge. Relying on the ideas of B. Spinoza and G.V.F. Hegel the author analyzes the category “substance”, proving its necessity for modern social science and hu­manities. The author considers a substance in its modern understanding to be a procedural beginning, which defines a special way of existence inherent in self-targeted information systems with an organic type of integrity, capable of self-originating, self-sustaining and self-development. Correspondingly, the author considers human activity as a substance of the social world, which creates “from itself and for itself” all forms of social life, its subjective, objective, organiza­tional, attributive, taxonomic and other manifestations. Everything that exists in social reality is a modus, attribute or accidence of activity, which allows us to discover objective logical links and transitions between the categories of philo­sophical and sociological knowledge.

ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯ СОЦИОЛОГИЯ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ РОССИИ: КЕЙС А.Ф. ФИЛИППОВА

In the 1990s, Russian sociology made up for the lack of knowledge of Western and pre-revolutionary Russian sociology. The study of Western sociology brought the understanding that there is no well-proportioned building of Western theoretical sociology. Comprehending the results of the reforms, which contradicted the predictions of Russian sociologists, and comparing them with the works of the classics of sociology led to a change in the views of Russian sociologists. Therefore, in the mid-1990s, some Russian sociologists raised the question of creating a theory of post-Soviet society. In such conditions, an article by A.F. Filippov appeared, in which it was argued that there is no theoretical sociology in Russia, the question of creating a national sociology in Russia was raised, the principles of a “good” theory were considered. The article provoked discussions in the sociological community for two decades. Opinions ranged from full support of A.F. Filippov’s theses to denial of the need for theoretical sociology in Russia. It was important to reject the statement about the non-existence of theoretical sociology in Russia, and that gave impetus to the development of new theories.

Attitude of medical students to the study of physical and mathematical disciplines

Using materials from a sociological study, this article explores features of the training of medical students in physical and mathematical disciplines. The issues are considered in the space of the intersection of several areas of sociological knowledge (problems of digital society and digital economy, professional education, sociology of healthcare). In the course of the study, assumptions were made that the nature and activity of cognitive activity of medical students in the study of physical and mathematical disciplines are mainly due to three factors: first, the level of general education received, which affects a person’s ability to analyze and generalize; second, interests in physics and mathematics, based on the idea of the necessity of elements of physical and mathematical knowledge for a modern doctor; third, individual educational trajectories. As a result of this research, a typology of medical students’ orientations to the subject space of the physical and mathematical profile (physiology; diagnostics and physiotherapy; bioinformatics; photobiology and medical biophysics) is proposed, which is associated with the totality of those special courses that most interested them. Various orientations in the physical and mathematical field of students of different faculties (medical, pediatric, dental, pharmaceutical, preventive medicine) have been identified. It is shown that the interest of students of different faculties in special courses of the physics and mathematics cycle generally coincides with their professional interests. The most popular disciplines are the physical foundations of MRI and CT; laser radiation in medicine; the physical foundations of ultrasound methods; biophysics of pathological conditions; biophysics of organs and complex systems. Their choice is connected both with interest in new trends in medical science and with opportunistic considerations. The directions of increasing the interest of medical students in physical and mathematical knowledge are substantiated, which are directly dependent on their needs, motives, abilities, views and attitudes on the process of obtaining the profession of a doctor, as well as the faculty and the age of students.

The potential of modern foreign sociology in the study of social suffering

The article focuses on the conceptualization of the sociology of suffering. The foreign experience of the development of the sociology of suffering in theoretical and applied aspects is considered. Modern researchers in understanding social suffering focus on psychological or anthropological interpretations, but the potential of the relevant branch of sociological knowledge is increasing over time. Meanwhile, the scientific problem is connected with two circumstances, which are reflected in this article. First, we are talking about the need to concretize the role of sociology in the study of the phenomenon of social suffering. Often the prevailing philosophical and psychological interpretations of suffering do not allow this to be done. In them, social suffering appears as an existential state of individuals or a phenomenon of their emotional and sensual tension and experience. However, in sociology, suffering needs to be objectified and considering it only as an existence cannot be productive for relevant sociological research. Secondly, modern studies of social suffering are mainly interdisciplinary in nature and do not reflect the special role of sociology in them. The article shows that the foreign sociology of suffering draws attention to a fairly wide range of phenomena associated with the emergence of social suffering. Here we mean the civilizational aspect, value-normative, sociocultural and others. The role of qualitative and quantitative methods in the study of social suffering is also assessed. Qualitative methods (for example, event analysis, intentional analysis, and others) allow us to present social suffering through the prism of object-subject relations. In this regard, some modern studies of social suffering are analyzed, which allow us to talk about the active development of the relevant branch of sociological knowledge.

Discursive aspect of the trustworthiness of empirical sociological knowledge

The published results of public opinion polls cease to be the subject of narrow professional discussion and become part of public discourse, which reflects the attitude of the non-sociological community to the trustworthiness of empirical sociological knowledge in the form of mass polls. The trustworthiness of empirical sociological knowledge in public space for the general public is determined by the level of confidence in the published data of mass surveys and is achieved by the methodological culture of the surveyor, which is embodied in compliance with all requirements for empirical research, including tools; the level of factual knowledge of respondents; effective participation of pollster-sociologists in the analytical interpretation of the obtained results, reasoned explanation of the answers of survey participants to socially significant questions. Publicity of the customer is also important for polls on electoral and sensitive socio-political issues. Accordingly, markers of the trustworthiness of empirical sociological knowledge in public discourse can be marked out based on two basic criteria: the transparency of the survey and the heuristic potential of the toolkit. Transparency implies maximum publicity of the algorithm for collecting empirical sociological information, including the calculation of the error of the results obtained, the publication of not only the performer but also the customer of the survey. Public information about the performer allows the public to judge his professional reputation, authority, political neutrality, (in) dependence on certain political or business entities. The heuristic potential of the toolkit provides an opportunity to thoroughly explain the results to the public, to clarify the level of factual knowledge of respondents on the subject of the survey. Under such conditions, the surveyor can adequately explain to the non-sociological community possible contradictory results, especially in the case of sensitive socio-political issues.

Ideas of postpositivism in sociology: the reception by J. Berger, M. Zelditch Jr. and D.G. Wagner

J. Berger, M. Zelditch and D.G. Wagner carried out a long-term reception of the ideas of postpositivism in sociology. In the 1970s, these researchers began to apply the concepts of scientific paradigm and research program to studies of the structure and dynamics of theoretical knowledge. They identified conceptual convergences and possibilities of combining various alternative post-positivist approaches in sociological studies. From the mid-1980s, they analyzed the metatheoretical implications of postpositivist ideas in sociology, defined the metatheoretical functionality of paradigms and research programs. In the early 1990s, the basic principles of postpositivism in sociology were systematized (the presence of non-empirical elements in empirical sociological knowledge, all facts are theory-laden, all theories are metatheory-laden). In the 2010s, the functional analogy of paradigms and research programs in sociology was discovered. Theoretical research programs at their local subject level function as universally accepted scientific paradigms and contribute to the theoretical growth of sociology.