Ukrainian Society

9-23

Authors: Lukeria T. M.

Paper dwells upon approaches to the concept of electoral behaviour and emphasizes the importance of constructing a model based on the synthesis of macro- and microfactors that determine it and the one that takes into account the conditions of democratic processes development in Ukraine. The analysis of empirical studies shows that there is a lack of concepts in Ukrainian scientific theorizing that would explain the essence, content, and factors of influence on electoral behaviour in modern Ukrainian society, since empirical investigation continues to prevail in this area. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a multifactorial analysis of electoral behaviour based on the latest theoretical developments and up-to-date methods of empirical research, which would consider changes in theorizing in the present world sociological thought, and the methodological procedures proposed on their basis, which have been adapted to Ukrainian realities. Author has distinguished several classical approaches to the interpretation of electoral behaviour in the social sciences, in particular in sociology, social psychology and economics based on the analysis of relevant scientific literature of a multidisciplinary nature. Paper describes limitations and possibilities of using these approaches under modern conditions together with the heuristic possibilities of M. Archer’s theory of dualism, which modified according to Ukrainian specificity. This allowed providing a synthesized conceptual model for the study of electoral behaviour through the synthesis of macrofactors and agent’s actions, with the identification of relevant concepts and their definitions. In particular, personal factors include social status, socio-demographic characteristics, personal motives, level of political culture, political activity, level of trust to political institutions, affiliation to religious denomination, political socialization. Macro factors are divided into three groups: political, economic and cultural. Paper elaborates possible interdependence (correlation) of the actor’s (voter’s) action and macrostructures in the context of contemporary Ukrainian society. Three types of correlations are proposed to explain voter’s action and system features: correlation between systems, correlation between systems and voter action, correlation between voter actions (microfactors).

54-72

Authors: Dmytruk D. A., Levin R. Ya.

Based on the materials of the sociological survey authors analysed and showed differences between participants and non-participants of the lifelong learning process and revealed significant advantages of the first in the main dimensions of life activity. The paper outlines the qualitative and quantitative characteristics, which are crucial for personal well-being and social development for lifelong learning participants. In particular, participants in the lifelong learning are far more likely to have a positive assessment of their health than those with a predominantly negative self-esteem; there are more of those who show higher life satisfaction; they are more objective in assessing social reality, have better understanding of the job market demands and life in general; and they are more aware of the influence of factors related to one’s personal qualities on the life success achievement in today’s domestic society than the rest of the population. Lifelong learning participants are more gender-sensitive than the archaic society as a whole. The number of life learning participants is especially higher among the group of respondents with a better financial situation. They have a number of advantages in the skills required for successful living in today’s Ukrainian society and the globalized world (there are many more of them among regular computer users, Internet users, and much more among those who speak basic European languages at a sufficient level). The obtained results demonstrate that it is advisable to develop and implement a special direction of the state socio-economic policy to promote the participation of the population in lifelong learning as one of the promising strategies for accumulating a country’s human capital in favour of national development.

84-98

Authors: Yarovyi V. D., Fraier O. V.

The paper investigates the formation aspects of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), its models and forms in different countries. The foreign experience of CSA in the context of its implementation perspectives in Ukraine is generalized. Preconditions for the development of CSA, producers and consumers’ incentives to join CSA, and conditions for its social and economic efficiency are summarized. The CSA forms, such as traditional and cooperative ones in the USA, local community partnerships in Great Britain, and social CSA in Spain are envisaged. The emerging problems of CSA formation and ways out are investigated. The paper proves that the tasks and functions of CSA are consistent with national and local economic interests in Ukraine and, being an integral part of the agrifood system, the CSA is able to complement mechanisms and instruments of sustainable development that are currently used nationally and locally. It is shown that social demand for CSA in Ukraine is not generated today and demand for relevant CSA services is much smaller than in countries with a well-developed agrifood system. Thus, the inclusion of stimulation objectives for the development of CSA to the priorities of national agricultural and rural development policy is suggested. Priority CSA development paths that need support at the state and local levels in Ukraine are defined. The family farm cooperation model and social CSA in partnership with local communities are among them. The role of small CSA producers in greater access to markets as a component for the development of family farms working on the basis of informal private households is observed. It is shown that the decentralization reform and transforming of state agricultural land into the communal property of communities form preconditions and economic framework for the development of social CSA as a mechanism for implementing local development goals. The introduction to the strategic plans for the development of local community measures to create and support CSA is proposed.

109-123

Authors: Huk L .P.

The article dwells upon the problems of matching the supply of labour force with a certain educational level, which creates market for educational services; and the demand created by the national labour market. Author investigates the existing distribution of the employees by educational levels in Ukraine and this investigation reveals the correspondence of the acquired educational qualification level and the actual necessity in order to fulfill the professional duties. Based on this distribution, paper offers balance between the national labour market supply and demand of workers belonging to groups with secondary vocational qualifications. The principles of transformation of the educational structure of the employed population are established and it is determined that the general tendency for Ukraine is to change the structure of the employed population towards an increase in the number of people with higher education and a dramatic decrease in the low-educated cohort of the population. From an economic viewpoint such imbalance, creates problem of excess education. It is established that the demand for workers of secondary vocational level remains stable. According to the distribution of employed population with vocational education by age groups, it is determined that there is a gradual transition of the employed with this level of education to a cohort of older employees, and therefore incapacitated, as well as there is a refusal of young people of vocational education. This will lead to a rapid reduction of the group of skilled workers with vocational education in the near future. Analytical evaluation of employees by large professional groups, which are related to the secondary vocational education level, provided a general idea of the labour market security by specialists trained in vocational schools. The study of the specificity of the labour market saturation by specialists of certain professions allowed to form a list of professions that have the greatest influence on the imbalance of supply and demand of workers with secondary vocational education level at the Ukrainian labour market.

133-145

Authors: Balakireva O. M., Dmytruk D. A.

Based on the data of the nationwide survey, authors present the assessments of the socio-economic situation, social sentiments, the structure and size of income, self-assessment of the financial standing of the population, trends and the structure of savings.

9-22

Authors: Ignatieva I. I., Melnikov A. S.

The paper focuses on theoretical and methodological achievements in the sociology of conflict, particularly the adaptation and development of mental mapping method. The main objective of the study is to define, characterize and specify the basic analytical components of mental mapping with regard to studying a conflict as a social phenomenon. Mental map is defined as an image or model of outer space gradually formed over time in subject’s consciousness. The method of mental mapping was described as a graphic representation of certain area by informant at researcher’s request. The classical concepts of mental mapping and their application in the studies of conflicts are presented in the historical retrospective. Thus, there is an overview of particular cases of the mental mapping methodology implementation, such as the study of relationships between communication channels and perceptions of dangerous urban areas in Los Angeles, the translocal identity of Polish emigrants’ children in Scotland, the “micro-geography of emotions” of migrant children in Paris and Berlin, the perception of Milan by migrants, the conflict topology imaginations of high school students of Israel and Palestine, spatial projections of social conflicts in Cyprus, North Ireland, Belgium, and Ukraine. Authors suggest theoretical and methodological generalization of the mental mapping of conflicts based on the approach of Jack Gieseking or the “Gieseking matrix” composed of four categories (mechanics of method, graphic elements, narratives of place and personalization), each of which contains a set of analytic components and techniques (a total of 57 units). The paper outlines the methodological specifics of analytical components in mental mapping of conflict, and notes the integrative interdisciplinary potential and the prospects for the development of this method.

34-45

Authors: Rakhmanov O. A.

The main markers of social perception of private owners by the Ukrainian population are the content of private property and the form of personal involvement of private owners in production. The research objective was to analyse the social perceptions determinants of private owners of enterprises and land. Using the data of a sociological survey conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine in August 2019, private owners’ social perceptions of the production means with different forms of management were analysed: small enterprises, large enterprises, land cultivated by the owner’s family, land cultivated by hired workers. The owners of small enterprises and the owners of land cultivated by their families enjoy greater sympathy among the Ukrainian population than owners of large enterprises and owners of land cultivated by hired workers. However, even in the case of the last two categories of private owners, positive feelings outweigh negative ones. The methods of binary logistic regression used in this research, reveal that the social perceptions of the private owners of the production means are largely consistent with social status, an ability to adapt to a market economy, and relevant value-ideological beliefs. The negative perception of private owners depends on the type of production means. In particular, respondents’ negative feelings about large enterprises owners and landowners who use hired labour are determined by the support of a planned economy and the rejection of liberal values. The impact of an external locus of control of the respondents became decisive in the negative perception of small business owners. Negative feelings about landowners who cultivate the land themselves are evident in respondents with low levels of education. Positive feelings in all cases are conditioned by the respondents’ support of liberal and mixed type of economy, their positive perception of liberal values, adaptability to market conditions, high level of education and wealthy financial situation. Neutral feelings towards private owners of all categories are evident among respondents who are undecided about the type of economy.

59-77

Authors: Anufriieva K. V., Shkliar A. I.

Paper dwells upon approaches to understanding the concept and role of financial inclusion. It is established that financial inclusion is one of the factors for economic development; the study of the role of financial inclusion among the factors for socio-economic development is substantiated. The evolution of the term “inclusion” has been traced from the area of social processes analysis at the social groups’ level, including various social relations, to the macroeconomic level. It has been revealed that a consistent definition of “financial inclusion” by key standards-setting institutions has been extended by financial market experts: interpretations of the term “financial inclusion” include its definition as “process”, “stage” (of development) or “state” (of development). Authors define the concept of financial inclusion as a process of interaction between financial market entities and financial services’ consumers, which, by providing equal access to financial services, offers a level of participation of financial services’ consumers in the financial relations, which contributes to the sustainability of financial institutions and increase of social welfare. There is an alternative view of the financial inclusion definition through its opposite concept of financial exclusion, which is either voluntary or forced, and is determined by four groups of reasons. It has been found that the most crucial is the need to reduce the fourth group of reasons, which are subject to compulsory exclusion, since this category of users is excluded from the financial system because of regulatory deficiencies or market barriers. Authors analyses consensus offered in the scientific literature regarding the three main aspects of financial inclusion: coverage, use and quality of financial services. Positive factors and risks of financial inclusion development, as well as negative aspects of financial exclusion are highlighted.

92-106

Authors: Khovrak I. V.

Communication on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be based on unilateral communication, in which stakeholders are “passive listeners”. However, more effective is a bilateral interaction that engages stakeholders in the communication process while developing and implementing a CSR strategy, enabling establishment of the dialogue. That is why the objective of the study is to reasonably expose the impact of the communication toolkit of implementing the CSR strategy on establishing dialogue with stakeholders. The author develops an algorithm for organizing a stakeholder communication process that takes into account communication barriers at each stage: creation, encoding, transmission, receiving, decoding and responding. The internally-oriented, externally-oriented and universal communication tools of CSR strategy implementation are characterized. The functions of the communication toolkit of CSR strategy implementation are systematized: informational, contact, educational, interpretative, emotional, holistic, mobilizing, strategic, preventive. The author compared CSR communication strategies (one-sided, two-way asymmetric and two-way symmetric) according to the following criteria: the achievement of communication ideal: transfer and joint creation of CSR meaning, stakeholder needs, the role of stakeholder, method of determining CSR priorities, strategic goals for establishing communications, third-party approval of the CSR strategy. Much attention is paid to specifying forms of indirect and direct communication, as well as to the analysis of their relevance to the main CSR communication strategies. It is established that the identification of stakeholders is an important part of CSR communication, which is why the author summarizes main forms and the result of interaction with them. It is justified that effective interaction with stakeholders holds a dialogue capable of identifying existing problems and jointly formulating ways to solve them.

136-145

Authors: Nesterenko Ye. O., Liudohovska K. V.

The results of the U-Report innovative youth project surveys conducted in June – September 2019 are presented: art education, reasons for refusal to study art, radicalization, assessment by U-reporters of radicalization average level in Ukrainian society, medical services for adolescent girls, problemsadolescent girls face when addressing doctors.

9-34

Authors: Chernysh N. Yo.

The article assesses the state of sociological theorizing in Ukrainian sociology from the last years of the Soviet period to the present. It was stated that, despite the lack of ideological pressure, after institutionalization of Ukrainian sociology as an independent academic discipline, its development was mainly due to the construction of the middle range theories and, to a greater extent, through the implementation of applied sociological research. At the same time, the structure of sociological knowledge in Ukrainian sociology was incomplete and it was not completed by the establishment of its higher level – the general sociological theory. Author considers the reasons of methodological chaos and phobia for theorizing, which in many respects are due to the so-called Soviet heritage (Soviet legacy). It is emphasized that the construction of a general sociological theory in both its branches (“grand theory” and meta-theory) in modern conditions is possible either through the efforts of the sociologists themselves or through the application of interdisciplinarity, and it is argued that the second option at the beginning of the 21st century is the mainstream of world sociological thought. Nowadays, methodological turns and interdisciplinarity are examples of scientific reflexivity that provide a significant increase in sociological knowledge in its entirety and at all levels of theorizing through interfaces of sociology and other branches of scientific knowledge, including the natural sciences. The cases of the exchange of meanings between sociology and philosophy (mostly post-classical) that can be considered new to Ukrainian sociology are analyzed; attention is focused on new possibilities of studying modern social systems in coordination with new discoveries of natural sciences. It is substantiated that such kind of interfaces form horizontal locus of mutual interaction of sciences without the dictation of any of them and on the terms of contingent consent and a polylogue between them. An authorial position is formulated in relation to the meanings that sociology today is able to emit for its own sake, based on the reflections on globalization and fragmentation of mankind.

51-60

Authors: Dziuba O. M.

Discourse analysis as a research method of hidden semiotic aspects of media texts has recently been disseminated in Ukrainian sociological science. It generates some new tasks. The article proposes a method for determining the nomination of a research object in the Ukrainian discourse-analytic tradition. This method was developed by the author based on the research results of English-and Ukrainian speaking academic discourse devoted to discourse analysis, including the discourse about Muslims and the discourse created by Muslims; an expert survey on the peculiarities of perceptions of nominations in the English and Ukrainian languages and on the adequate translation of these nominations into Ukrainian, considering the shades of meaning. The purpose of the analysis is to standardize the nomination methods of the discourse-analytical research object and thus to achieve mutual understanding in the academic space. In the article different subject-object variables in the creation of discourse nominations are considered. The following standardization of nomination creation is offered. Author suggests and rationalizes the following standardization of the creation of object nominations for the discourse-analytical study (based on the Muslim discourse): the phrase “Muslim discourse” refers to the discourse with the nodal sign “Muslims”, that is, the discourse on Muslims; the discourse in which Muslims act as the subject of speech, where the “Muslim discourse” is the discourse created by Muslims with any nodal sign.

84-96

Authors: Shyshkov S. Ye.

Paper highlights classification factors of capital markets in the context of the imperfection of the Ukrainian stock market and the features of its unattractiveness for international investors. Author determined peculiarities and consequences of formation and deepening of the stock market deformations in Ukraine, as a reaction to the institutional trap of oligarchism. It was noted that Ukraine does not belong to the world leaders either in terms of the aggregate wealth of the richest people, nor in terms of their number, nor their share in the economy, nor inequality in society as a whole. However, due to the study of sectoral specialization of the billionaires’ assets in the economies of different countries, it was revealed that Ukraine has one of the highest concentrations of billionaire assets in the “raw” industries and the smallest in the financial and innovation sectors, which is one of the reasons for low values of quality of life and pace of their growth. The emphasis is on the consequences of such an economy and property structure that leads to lower competitiveness, insufficient financial incentives for innovation, reduced attractiveness for foreign investment through stock market instruments, simplified monopolization of strategic sectors of the economy and maximization of profits, complexity of market valuation of assets and fair taxation, generating profits and attracting investment in more attractive jurisdictions, limiting the sources of development internally at the stock market. It has been revealed that currently the regulated Ukrainian stock market is represented almost exclusively by government bonds, while the market for other securities is in a depressed state, not least because of the imperfect implementation of European standards, in particular squeeze-out procedures, as well as the lack of incentives for the functioning of public companies and public offerings. It was noted that the oligarchic nature of the Ukrainian economy with the predominance of semi-raw material specialization actually conserves the current state of the stock market with its key deficiencies (illiquidity, limited number of financial instruments, and the inability to form objective prices). As a result, due to a number of objective (socio-economic) and subjective (distorted regulation) reasons, there are no conditions and opportunities for the formation of fair prices for the vast majority of financial instruments (with the exception of only government bonds), including securities, which are used to calculate stock market indices, which determines their periodic staggering growth.

111-126

Authors: Balakireva O. M., Dmytruk D. A.

Based on data from a nationwide survey, assessments of the socio-economic situation and social sentiments, structure and size of incomes, self-assessment of the financial standing, dynamics and structure of savings are presented.

9-22

Authors: Stehnii O. G.

The article considers the urgency of establishing effective public control over all branches of government in the modern Ukrainian society. The theoretical interpretation of the concept of “civic participation” begins with the analysis of the concepts of “citizenship”, “public”, emphasizes the distinction of civic participation from civil practices. It is argued that the necessary social environment for civic participation is civil society, the essence of which is to distinguish in society the most socially active part. It is noted that organizational forms of civic participation are determined primarily by the peculiarities of the social context of a particular society. The author draws attention to the methodological importance of distinguishing the form of civic participation and its real social content, which will avoid the false definition of civic participation of those forms of engagement, which are not consistent with the content (the phenomenon of “professional protesters”). The constitutional and legal principles of the indirect influence of the public on state policy are considered in detail. Despite the long history of the existence of the Institute for Public Discourse in Ukraine, the majority of elements of the Soviet practice of conducting such discussions are preserved, primarily the formalities of the aforementioned procedure. The article highlights the importance of using the potential of such an organizational form of public participation as public councils. However, the practice of such councils indicates significant impediments to their normal functioning. Among the main reasons is the organizational and financial dependence of such councils on executive bodies, the lack of information openness of the latter to the public, and the problem of legal protection and personal security of local activists. Instead, the main indicator of the effectiveness of the institution of public debate should be the use of constructive proposals put forward by the executive authorities based on the results of such discussions.

40-61

Authors: Golikov A. S.

The article analyzes the knowledge structures of Kharkov residents on the example of judgments about permissible and unacceptable. Using the conceptualizations of Z. Freud, M. Mauss, E. Durkheim, J. Baudrillard, S. Zizek, the author performs a retrospective analysis of sociological developments in the area of prohibited, unacceptable and correct. Based on the methodology of “synthetic” theories (primarily P. Bourdieu), as well as the developments of phenomenology (P. Berger, T. Luckmann), theories of consciousness (J. R. Searle), the theories of the sacred (Collège de Sociologie and others), the author explores the inner structure, content and parameters of a set of judgments about permissible and unacceptable. The author tests these theoretical achievements on an empirical basis using index, factor, and cluster analyzes. Based on the results of an empirical study conducted in December 2017 by a team of the Sociology Department of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, the author describes the latent structure of knowledge aggregates about the unacceptable. The ratios between the permissible and the unacceptable are demonstrated, and the possible axes of the (un)acceptable for the Kharkovites are highlighted. The internal structure of judgments about the unacceptable in different groups and in relation to various objects of prohibition is investigated. A final conclusion that the multitude of judgments about the (un)acceptable, despite its apparent discontinuity, is a consistent set of judgments internally connected into a single continuum of social knowledge, is formulated. Author describes the limitations of the study associated with the categories of doxa, fabrication and social construction.

73-88

Authors: Pyvovarova N. P.

Paper dwells upon the opinions of Ukrainian experts on religious issues regarding the changes in the religious sphere of Ukrainian society during 2016-2019, particularly, in the context of getting Tomos by Ukraine and related future perspectives in the religious, state-church, socioreligious areas. Author presents expert opinions of existing and potential problems between Orthodox churches of different jurisdictions and central authorities in Ukraine. The attention is given to the experts’ assessment of the support level for the reform activities aimed at the relations between the Orthodox churches of different jurisdictions and the state by the central authorities, the population, western and international organizations and by the religious organizations themselves, and also of the awareness level of such activities. Paper emphasizes the experts’ recommendations for improving relations between the Orthodox churches of different jurisdictions and the central authorities in Ukraine.

105-124

Authors: Balakireva O. M., Dmytruk D. A.

Based on data from a nationwide survey, an assessment is made of the socio-economic situation and social attitudes, as well as the income of the population. Authors analyse trends for indices of socio-economic assessments and expectations for different socio-demographic groups, self-assessment of the financial standing. The dynamics and structure of savings are considered.

137-146

Authors: Nesterenko Ye. O., Liudohovska K. V.

Paper presents results of the innovative youth project U-Report polls. Report for the first quarter of 2019: language use, U-reporters’ language use in families, language choice preferences while using services, youth and election, reasons for non-participation in elections, cyberbullying, reactions of youth to cyberbullying.