Structure Of Social Relations Research Articles

Theoretical and legal aspects of the development and introduction of background and remote work in modern realities

Problem setting. The authors were interested in such issues of labor relations as the distinction between the concepts of home and remote forms of employment by employees. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic and other global destructive processes caused by it. In Ukraine, typical changes are non-standard working hours, remote employment. There are no exact statistics on the number of people working remotely in Ukraine. But these processes in the field of employment already affect the social and labor sphere, because under their influence changes both the structure and content of social and labor relations. This work is devoted to the analysis of home and distance work, as well as the impact of globalization processes on them. Target of research. The purpose of the article is to the provide a comparative description of home-based work and telework, identify their common features and differences, which in turn will identify ways to improve existing legislation in the field of teleworking. Analysis of resent researches and publications. The following scientists were engaged in research of the specified issue: A. Ya. Bartkiv, N. M. Vapnyarchuk, I. Ya. Kiselyova, A. M. Kolota, A. D. Lukina, A. A. Morozova, I. I. Motornaya, M. I. Nanieva, O. A. Naumenko, S. M. Prilipka, A. V. Sardaryan, V. V. Yurovskaya, O. M. Yaroshenko. Article’s main body. A. M. Kolot defines the essence of remote employment and the fact that it is quite clearly defined as a non-standard form of employment, which is applied to the flexible social and labor relations between employee and employer and takes place in a virtual environment using information and communication technologies. S.M. Prilipko and OM Yaroshenko, internal labor regulations are the order of behavior and interaction between employees and the employer in the process of employment at a particular enterprise. In fact, this is the rule of law within the enterprise. In other words, the internal work schedule determines the organization and procedure of work, as well as the related rights and responsibilities of the employer and employees. Naumenko O.A. emphasizes that, the advantages of home-based work are that not being able to increase the wages of employees by the employer, he can encourage a convenient mode of work, which can compensate for the lack of material incentives and meet his needs more than additional funds. The opportunity to spend more time in a social environment, to have freedom in movement, location, choice of their rhythm of life, which provides home work, is more important than a high salary or a prestigious position. The main value of this definition is that homesteading acts as an additional form of employment and is of great economic importance. The development of this type of work allows to expand production, make fuller use of local resources and industrial waste without high costs for the construction of new production facilities and administrative and production staff. The development of home-based work is constrained by the lack of proper legal regulation of this area of activity. Conclusions and prospects for the development. Author think, this article will be useful both for novice scholars, as it contains many generalizations of theoretical material based on the work of many authors, and for experienced professionals in the field of labor law. Because the authors focus on many problematic issues related to remote and home work. It can serve as a springboard for scientists to further research, both the institutes of telecommuting and home labor, and labor law in general.

Эволюция нравственности в истории человека и культуры

В статье рассматривается возникновение феномена нравственности и его эволюция в истории человечества и его культуры. Авторы представляют нравственность как универсальное определение человека, его неотъемле­мое свойство и всеобщее условие его бытия. Люди не могут существовать без человеческого отношения друг к другу, без нравственности, и именно в этой связи И. Кант утверждал автономность морали. Подобно мышлению, языку, сознанию, труду, в неразрывной связи с ними и с обществом в целом нравственность с необходимостью возникает на самых ранних ступенях развития человеческого общества. Она развивается вместе с развитием че­ловека, человеческой культуры, всех общественных отношений и в своем развитии отражает качественные изменения общества. Возникшие на заре истории человечества нравственные категории наполняются новым содер­жанием, обретают новый смысл, возникают новые категории, а старые ухо­дят в прошлое. Обращаясь к примерам из древнегреческой мифологии, а за­тем из разных исторических периодов, авторы показывают, как в ходе истории менялись представления людей о нравственности и о человеке во­обще, как эти изменения происходили параллельно изменениям в структуре общественных отношений. Опираясь на воззрения древних мыслителей – Сократа, Платона и Аристотеля, а затем на воззрения Канта, Монтескьё, Маркса, Фуко, – авторы исследуют формирование нравственных категорий в зависимости от понимания человеком его места в мире и в обществе и та­ким образом приходят к общим определениям, которые они анализируют на историческом материале, и, наконец, приходят к выводу, что общество, в котором снижен авторитет нравственных ценностей, размыты нравствен­ные ориентиры, существовать не может.

КОНСТРУИРОВАНИЕ ПРОЦЕССОВ ИДЕНТИФИКАЦИИ И САМОИДЕНТИФИКАЦИИ ЛИЧНОСТИ В НАТУРАЛИСТИЧЕСКОМ ПОДХОДЕ

Issues of identity formation affect the essential foundations of human being in the world. The identification processes carried out by a person allow him/her to self-determine in society, to understand his/her own place in the structure of social relations and the purpose of his/her life. To date, science has no unambiguous understanding of the essence of identification. In this regard, this article is aimed at identifying the bases and factors of the processes of identification. In this study, the author mainly used a naturalistic approach to the understanding of the processes of identification, since it offers the basis for identification to consider the individual need of a person for self-determination. Based on the methods of comparative analysis, synthesis, generalization and abstraction, the basic concepts on the problem of identification were compared, the general and the specific in the points of view of various authors were identified, which contributed to a more thorough and detailed study of the phenomenon of identification. Identification is a process of interaction with the external, mainly social environment, during which a person identifies with objects and phenomena of the external world. The basis of identification, as shown by the study of most of the concepts available in science, is the human need for self-recognition. It is this need that initiates the process itself. However, in the course of identification, the sociocultural context plays a crucial role, in which a person recognizes oneself in others by searching for common foundations of being. In turn, selfidentification allows comparing the components of oneself with each other via thought communication. In unity, the processes of identification and self-identification form the identity of a person, both to oneself and to society. Identity initiates behavioral manifestations. In itself, it is unstable, since it is influenced by the external social environment. Identification can occur both for several reasons, and for many. Moreover, the sense of identity can be both actual, based on the analysis of the qualities of objects of the external world and their comparison with their own characteristics, and fictitious, formed as a result of inspiring the individual to be convinced of similarity. In the latter case, we are talking about manipulation. Identity is a prerequisite for the successful socialization of an individual, as it allows not only identifying identity with society, but also realizing its integrity and isolation from it. All this allows a person to function and develop harmoniously. The materials of the article are of practical value, since they can be used as a theoretical and methodological basis for the further development of the problem of personal identification in the framework of sociophilosophical or wider humanitarian research.

Conformance Checking of the Activity Network with the Social Relationships Structure in the Context of Social Commerce

Control and management of e-markets are one of the essential needs in social commerce context. Social commerce systems include not only informational flows, financial and goods/services but also social relationships and interactions. The focus of this research is to find the meaningful relationship between social relations and the network of various commercial flows among human resources (i.e., activity network) in social commerce context. If the activity network conforms with social relations, then business processes and, in general, the e-market can be steered by social relations. The proposed research framework has been constructed from a combination of process mining concepts, multi-layered network modeling, network analyzing, and social theories. Such a combination in the conformance checking field is an original contribution of this study, not yet explored. Two simulated sample datasets in four different versions are applied for the evaluation. Furthermore, Friedman's statistical test is employed to proof of the research hypothesis and gain more confidence in the obtained results. The results indicate that, despite the structural mismatch of the social network with the activity network, social relations affect the formation of business interactions among human resources. This effect is also different for various flow types. Multi-layered network modeling demonstrates this difference.

ВЕДУЩИЕ ПРИНЦИПЫ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ПРОДУКТИВНОГО СОТРУДНИЧЕСТВА СТУДЕНТОВ ДЛЯ СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЯ ИХ СОЦИАЛЬНОГО ОПЫТА

The formed social experience of the university graduate will allow him/her to be in more demand on the labor market, especially in the field of management of various organizations. However, most students show difficulties in understanding the complex structure of social relations. It is therefore necessary to utilize the potential of training cooperation in the training process. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the leading principles of organizing productive cooperation between students. The empirical and theoretical research allowed to reveal the following principles: sharing responsibility for the results of teamwork; flexibility of students' role position based on the goals of activities; environmental friendliness of interpersonal and business relations in the process of educational cooperation; activation of external cooperation in the process of industrial practice and increase of students' involvement in scientific activities.

Civic Organization beyond the ‘Open Society’ Battle: Cases from Hungary

Our paper aims to contribute to the understanding of civil society in Hungary by looking beyond the struggles around open society and international NGOs, a topic that has dominated public debates on civil organizations in Hungary for the last decade. Our starting point follows the literature that has broadened the understanding of NGOs in the post-socialist space with the perspective of their insertion in global hierarchies in terms of unequal knowledge and resource transfer, material dependencies and the effects in local social settings. More attention recently has been given to the social positions of domestic civil organizations and the political and material dependencies they operate within. The analysis of organizations which represent and defend different interests within different social strata is crucial to understanding civil society in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Following this thread of discussions, we look at three segments of civil society which were previously understudied, to expand on how social relations structure civil society in contemporary CEE: 1) nationalist but anti-governmental organizations, for example in the field of housing; 2) urban and rural informal self-organization in order to cope with material hardships collectively has been significantly growing in the recent years; 3) rural civil organizations aligned with local elites, embedded in material dependencies, which have been present since 1990, but occupy a more and more significant role after the illiberal turn. We think that adding these segments to the study of civil society in CEE can help to broaden the analysis beyond the discursively and ideologically thematized struggles around NGOs, and contribute to a better understanding of illiberal regimes and the counter-movements they produce.

CONSUMPTION AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON

Formulation of the problem. In the processes of socio-cultural dynamics of modern society, a significant role is played by the consumption process, which is not only a marker of the development of society because it creates new semantic connections and forms a symbolic continuum of social relations, but also significantly influences the processes of personality socialization and formation of social practices. Moreover, just the discourse of consumption that creates and represents patterns of behavior, shapes values and norms that make up the socio-cultural aspect of the late-20th-the beginning of the 21st century, which they call “consumption society”. Consumerism is the ideology of “consumption society” is the dependence of the level of personal happiness and enjoyment on the value and prestige of things, that are consumed. In sociological discourse, consumption is interpreted as the conscious activity of people to construct their own identity through consumption.Analysis of recent research and publications. Consumption as a phenomenon and society of consumption as a new image of society during a long period of time has been on the focus of Western researchers, especially economists, sociologists, philosophers, the most illustrative are the works of K. Marks, M. Weber, T. Veblen (consumption is interpreted as a process of socio-economic stratification), J. Baudrillard, G. Marcuse (consumption as a symbolic exchange), P. Bourdieu (field of consumption as a lifestyle), E. Giddens (consumption as a process of identity construction), N. McCendrick, J. Brewer, J. G. Plumb, etc., among Ukrainian researchers, these issues are studied by O. Gerus, A. Doroshkevich, N. Zinchenko, O. Serdyuk.Formation of goals. The purpose of the article is to reveal the essence of the phenomenon of consumption and consumer practices, to reveal their influence on the processes of socio-cultural dynamics of modern society.Presentation of the main material. The concept of “consumption” has become on the focus of attention of intellectuals in connection with the philosophy of “consumption society”, which was developed by J. Baudrillard as a result of rethinking K. Marx’s theory of political economy and its replacement with the theory of symbolic objects. J. Baudrillard interprets consumer society as a practical reality that contains a “mythological dimension” in its own “objective” definition.J. Baudrillard proves that consumption is not reduced to satisfaction of needs, but encourages their production, turns into an “active mode of relation” to objective reality. Beyond consumption, it is impossible to explain human behavior. Not only goods and services are consumed, but the whole system of objects as a symbolic structure, whereby the need becomes a structural mode of productivity, and the product is reduced to values-signs, not things, but ideas of things are consumed.The specificity of the consumption process is conditioned by the influence of purposeful pressure of economic levers and the system of value determinants, which are constructed within a certain society, mainly through the media space, as well as by the fact that the objects of consumption are not material but socio-cultural objects. Significant importance is attached to the peculiarities of consumer behavior and reproduction of their consumption practices, because it is through consumption that person realizes and asserts.Conclusions. Consumption in the processes of social dynamics and social transformation becomes functional, significantly influencing the status position of the individual in the structure of social relations. It is a means of social reproduction and a marker of the individual’s position in the social hierarchy system. Through advertising and fashion, individual consumes a set of certain images and lifestyles, values and patterns, which then he reproduces in everyday practice, in communication, in social interactions. Consumption of certain goods, services is important for self-identification and self-affirmation of the individual.

Social Organization in Prison: A Social Network Analysis of Interpersonal Relationships among Dutch prisoners

The current study examined the structure of social relations among Dutch prisoners using a social network perspective. Data came from the Life-in-Custody-study (LIC-study), a nationwide prospective study designed to examine the quality of prison life in the Netherlands. We used a subsample of 233 male prisoners from nine prison units for whom additional network data was collected using peer nominations to indicate who they get along with most. Exponential Random Graph Models revealed that network structure in prison resembles known friendship network structure outside prison, including reciprocity and transitivity in social ties (“the friends of my friends are my friends”) and homophily (i.e., a preference for similar others) on major sociodemographic dimensions such as religion and age. In conclusion, this study shows that a social network approach leads to valuable insights in social organization in prison that are also relevant for prison policy.

НИГИЛИСТИЧЕСКИЕ ТИПЫ ЛИЧНОСТИ И ЭКСТРЕМИСТСКОЕ СОЗНАНИЕ В ТВОРЧЕСТВЕ Ф. М. ДОСТОЕВСКОГО (НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ РОМАНА «БЕСЫ»)

By the material of F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Demons”, the article examines socio-philosophical and philosophical-anthropological aspects of nihilism as a sociocultural and spiritual basis of revolutionary underground and extremist consciousness. The authors examine the consequences of nihilistic attitude among the Russian radical left-wing intelligentsia, its interrelation with anthropological degradation, formation of a nihilistic human and extremist consciousness. The paper proposes a typologization of nihilistic personalities of revolutionary underground and analyses the structure of social relations between them.

Pacifying Muslims in Germany’s ‘City of Peace’: interreligious dialogue as a tool of governance in Osnabrück

ABSTRACTAddressing Muslims as a target group in municipal politics is a relatively new development in German cities. Interreligious dialogue, often initiated by established Christian actors, provides a format for doing so. In our local West German case study, the politics of dialogue link up with a historical narrative of Osnabrück as ‘City of Peace’, creating a semantic framework which is hard to resist, yet not undisputed. As a governance tool, interreligious dialogue has the potential to pacify and to structure social relations. It tends to prefer and support certain subject positions, while neglecting others. In this contribution we focus both on actors who are involved in local interreligious dialogue as well as those who – for diverse reasons – do not participate, and who question or oppose it. Thus, we analyse the effects of interreligious dialogue on local subjectivation processes, including alternative reactions that might challenge the dominant paradigm.

A community approach to engaging Gypsy and Travellers' in cancer services.

While cancer outcomes in the UK have improved, inequalities remain with poorer and some ethnic minority populations experiencing lower survival rates. Research has addressed Gypsies' and Travellers' cancer-related beliefs, experiences and practices as part of wider studies but this is the first study in the UK to specifically focus on cancer. Findings suggest that health beliefs and practices are shaped by historical and contemporary social processes and the marginal position of Gypsies and Travellers in the UK society can result in a preference for seeking information and support from within the community. Starting from a health assets perspective, findings indicate that the structure of social relations in Gypsy and Traveller communities could be more widely utilized in health promotion programmes. Developing and extending techniques employed by Gypsy and Traveller Non-governmental Organisations such as community-based interventions and the use of lay health advisers, could be an effective method of health promotion by raising knowledge of cancer, engaging community members in preventative programmes and encouraging earlier access to services.

A Hebrew Exegesis Of Isaiah 62:1-5 The Restoration Of Zion

In this study, spiritual, social-ethic and political background will be scrutinized to assist to understand Isaiah chapter 62 comprehensively. Spiritual life of God’s people is declined in the book of Isaiah because of idolatries and nations. Hebrew people make idols out of trees and worship pagan wooden idols (40:18-20; 44:9-20). Isaiah employs prophetic images for the covenant-breaking idolatry and worship of other gods by adultery and illicit sexual intercourse. It is clear that Isaiah is not exclusively interested in the interpersonal and social relationship structures within Israel. He is also concerned with the broader canvas of international politics.

Social relations and age-related change in memory.

Previous research suggests that social relations are associated with age-related memory change. However, social relations are complex and multidimensional, and it is not yet clear which aspects (structure, quality) may be beneficial over time. Further, the strength and direction of associations may differ depending on relationship type (partner, children, other family, friends). Using longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 10,390; Mage = 69, SD = 9.53 at baseline), latent growth curve models tested which aspects of social relations predicted 6-year episodic memory trajectories. Both structure and quality of social relations were associated with initial memory level, such that being married/partnered, reporting more frequent contact with children and friends, reporting less support from family members other than partners and children, and reporting less strain across relationship types were each independently associated with better initial memory. In contrast, only structure was associated with subsequent memory decline. Specifically, being married/partnered and reporting more frequent contact with friends were each independently associated with slower memory decline. No evidence of bidirectionality was found, as baseline memory did not predict subsequent changes in social relations. This longitudinal study helps to clarify which aspects of social relations are most likely to influence late-life episodic memory trajectories. Future intervention studies may focus on increasing social interactions with nonfamily members to minimize memory decline with age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Reimagining racism: understanding the whiteness and nationhood strategies of British-born South Africans

ABSTRACT This paper explores strategies deployed by a sample of white, British-born South Africans to account for their positions during apartheid and post-apartheid. Whereas literature on white racism identifies denial as a key strategy towards racial discrimination and the maintenance of privilege, the historical and political 10 context of South Africa makes this tactic implausible. The paper contributes to understandings of pluralism within white identifications through investigation of diverse discursive strategies used to frame the overtly racist, apartheid regime and the present post-apartheid, supposedly, ‘post-race’ state. A range of positions attempting to minimise individual implication are identified. 15 A common feature however is to reimagine the structure of social relations in order to diminish responsibility for the sins of the past or the success of the future; suggesting profound difficulties in adjusting to the new social reality.

Dealing with the ‘Wicked’ Problem of Race and the Law: A Critical Journey for Students (and Academics)

In 2014, we co-facilitated the specialist elective ‘Race and the Law’ as an LLB summer school intensive. Our pedagogical design was informed by Indigenous philosophy and knowledge (Watson, 2014; Morgan, 2012; Moreton-Robinson, 2007) and by Critical Race and Whiteness Theory (Delgado & Stefanic, 2012; Goldberg, 2001; Moreton-Robinson, 2009). Our aim was to prompt students to think critically about the ongoing significance of race to law (and law to race), how systems of race structure social relations, the capacity of mainstream law to operate as a racialised system of power, and whiteness as a position of privilege. We also sought to empower students by engaging them in a reflexive praxis through which they could develop self-awareness of the significance of race and respond to its influence in their personal and professional lives. As Liptsitz argues, there is a ‘possessive investment in whiteness’ because of the close relationship between white supremacy and the accumulation of assets, or what he calls the ‘wages of whiteness’ (Lipsitz, 2006). This ‘possessive investment’ became evident in our class discussion once we turned attention to an examination of special measures, affirmative action and other mechanisms that aim to equalise opportunities and alleviate the material inequities mediated by race – that is, the wicked problem, racism. In this paper, we share our reflections on our success in using theory as a practice to challenge the wicked problem of racism in the law classroom, and within the law curriculum. In addition, we reflect on the value of team teaching in this complex and dynamic teaching space and the significance to legal institutions and the profession of engaging law students in critical learning on race and whiteness.

Land Deals, Wage Labour, and Everyday Politics

This article explores the question of political struggles for inclusion on an oil palm land deal in Ghana. It examines the employment dynamics and the everyday politics of rural wage workers on a transnational oil palm plantation which is located in a predominantly migrant and settler society where large-scale agricultural production has only been introduced within the past decade. It shows that, by the nature of labour organization, as well as other structural issues, workers do not benefit equally from their work on plantations. The main form of farmworkers’ political struggles in the studied case has been the ‘everyday forms of resistance’ against exploitation and for better terms of incorporation. Particularly, they express agency through acts such as absenteeism and non-compliance, as well as engaging in other productive activities which enable them to maintain their basic food sovereignty/security. Nonetheless, their multiple and individualized everyday politics are not necessarily changing the structure of social relations associated with capitalist agriculture. Overall, this paper contributes to the land grab literature by providing context specific dynamics of the impacts of, and politics around land deals, and how they are shaped by a multiplicity of factors-beyond class.

Experiential Logic in the Transformation of Contemporary China’s Social Governance

How does Chinese society maintain its orderly operation and show stability and harmony to the utmost while China rapidly transforms its economic system and international circumstances become increasingly complicated? This is an important question that this essay tries to answer, and the analysis mainly involves the exploratory practice of the transformation of Chinese social governance. This exploratory practice is a process through which China constantly breaks through the traditional blockades of vested interests, overcomes newly formed challenges, and forms a new Chinese-style “one axis and multiple components” pattern of social governance during its rapid re-establishment of both social relationship structure and social psychology order on the unbalanced and insufficient conditions of development within its vast territory. During this process, the constant return to the CPC’s mass line, as well as the “mechanism of reversed transmission of pressure,” the “anticipation-led mechanism” and the “mechanism of turning crisis into opportunity” that the CPC has improved during its long-term revolutionary struggles and its deepening of reform and opening-up, has played an important part. The simplistic duplication of Western theoretical analytic paradigms cannot explain the experiential mechanism for the transformation of social governance, which is peculiar to China. The creation of research framework of “system and life” is just an effort for comparison and dialogues with Western classical theories. It is not only helpful for the development of sociology about Chinese transformation, but will provide new knowledge for worldwide social transformation.

ТЕОРЕТИЧНИЙ ОПИС КОНЦЕПТУАЛЬНОГО ПОЛЯ СОЦІАЛЬНОЇ НАПРУЖЕНОСТІ В РОЗРОБЦІ МЕТОДИКИ ЇЇ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ

The article presents the results of the conceptual (theoretical) validation of social tension in the form of a theoretical description of its conceptual field in the development of a methodology for its study. In its framework, the consistency of the measured construct of social tension with the corresponding theoretical positions, theories, and concepts is shown. Before proceeding to a sociological dimension, it is necessary to develop a construct, a model which is, at the same time, a result of logical inferences based on research practice, and integral corresponding theories, concepts, theoretical positions that determine the maximum completeness of the structure of social tension, its recognizable aspects, characteristics and algorithm of their research. As such, in our analysis were: mismatches of interests, dissatisfaction with expectations, the concept of social (relative) deprivation, (basic) needs, social exclusion, protest, conceptualization of emotionality in the structure of social relations, and others.

Идентичность как коммуникативный проект: «новые мифологии» в пространстве современной культуры

The article deals with the “identity” concept from the point of view based on cultural science and philosophy of culture, i.e. in a broader meaning of this notion as “sociocultural identity”. The latter is viewed not as a readymade “givenness” (national, ethnic, regional, local etc.) but as a dynamically forming social relations structure. It suggests inclusion into the researcher’s attention field the theory of structuration by Anthony Giddens as well as various forms of constructivism. Along with different approaches authors of mentioned theories have a point in common: the identity concept plays a specific role in political field connecting group integration models with individuals and groups behavior. Therefore “self-identity experience” (according to an initial identity definition in psychology) evolves into a culturological reflection on experience of this kind and formation of “new mythologies” determining “desirable future” (up to I. Young’s idea about delusiveness of any group identity and, as a consequence, a necessity to get rid of identity discourse). That starts in its turn a mechanism of “new mythologies” feedback effect on new identities formation. Among most common ideas of this kind “network identity” reflecting modern communication practices can be mentioned. “High tech society”, e.g. “transparent society” (D. Brin) is viewed by corresponding concepts authors as an ideal pattern, which could help to conform modern values contradictions by placing them into culture space where differences are recognized, where they have their place. Though analysis of each of the pointed out patterns demonstrates that “demand for differences” repressive potential is not less than fixation on one’s own culture and values exceptionalism. Hence the necessity to overcome an uncritical acceptance of new “identity mythologies” and consistent effort for their balanced estimate.

Social learning with differentiated products

AbstractLearning from friends is a key process by which consumers acquire information about available products. This article embeds social learning in a model of firms producing differentiated products. I consider how the structure of social relationships between consumers influences pricing and welfare. In particular, how a variety of characteristics of social networks ‐ distribution of friendships, homophily, clustering, and correlations between an individual's preferences and number of friends ‐ influence these outcomes. I also find conditions under which consumer awareness and the sensitivity of demand to prices are useful measures of the informational efficiency of markets.