Ukrainian Society

18-25

Authors: Pasisnychenko A. V.

The article is devoted to the analysis of modern academic discourse images of Europe. Based on discursive-constructivist approach author stresses attention on how contradictions between images of an «old» Europe and a «new» Europe reflect the problems in the «European identity» conceptualization. Author highlights danger of reification of European identity, provides critical analysis of the violent opposition of historically formed identity of «old» Europe and the identity of the «new» Europe as an institutional development project of the European Union.

37-44

Authors: Pyvovarova N. P.

Article dwells upon some aspects of the modern Ukrainian values, including religion and religiosity in the system of values and life priorities. Author describes the relationship between respondents’ religious self-identification and some of their values and philosophical positions. It is concluded that the primary value in contemporary Ukrainian society, regardless of religious self-identification, is family. Having faith (based on the self-identification as a believer) is a kind of internal moral and ethical code. According to empirical indicators of people who consider themselves believers, they are more responsible towards institute of family. Individuals with certain religious beliefs, compared to non-believers, are more negative towards such social issues as bribery, prostitution, homosexuality, drug addiction and have higher moral expectations for their life value and own behaviour.

54-70

Authors: Sereda Yu. V.

The paper evaluates social capital, particularly, trust, civic participation and communication in informal social networks as factors that may contribute to the modernization in Ukraine. Studies on the relationship between social capital and socio- economic development were reviewed. Using structural equation modeling, a model of the social capital as a resource of institutional effectiveness was developed based on the European Social Survey for Ukraine. It is proved that in Ukrainian society the problem is not the absence or deficiency of social capital, but the weakness of its civic impact.

80-89

Authors: Levin R. Ya.

Among the known channels of social mobility available to most of the general population is educational, but its effective use is prevented by the increasing barrier during the transformation time – deepening educational irregularities regarding the poor. Promising means of minimizing educational irregularities today may be the creation of adequate conditions in the secondary school (in which, because of the low-income users there are no additional paid services – the most vulnerable link in the mass and secondary education) for the cognitive selection, mastering modern information technology, and English (main language of educational Internet), the use of online education.

99-107

Authors: Bondar T. V.

The article presents outcome of the next stage of the international project HBSC, conducted in Ukraine. Results are based on the interviews with students and school leaders regarding the implementation of measures for students’ health protection and their health promotion habit training.