Ukrainian Society

9-40

Authors: Kotygorenko V. O., Panchuk M. I.

The article analyzes the problematic aspects of the terminology of legislation regulating ethno-national relations in Ukraine. In particular, these are denotations of the same or identical concepts with different, and in certain cases incorrect words and phrases, lack or inconsistency in the basic definitions. This situation impedes the adoption of a law that would outline the purpose, principles and long-term objectives of the state ethnopolicy and determine the conceptual foundations of further lawmaking, administrative decisions and practical political actions, as well as entails political and legal conflicts. The article substantiates the necessity of implementation of the following definitions of ethnopolitical terms into Ukrainian legislation: state ethno-national policy (state ethnopolicy) of Ukraine – the system of ideas, goals, objectives, principles, legal regulators, state decisions and actions in the field of ethno-national relations; ethno-national relations in Ukraine are relations between individuals, groups of individuals, organizations, institutions and other public entities regarding the consolidation and development of the Ukrainian nation, its historical consciousness, traditions and culture, as well as the development of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious distinctive identities of all indigenous peoples and national minorities of Ukraine; Ukrainian nation (Ukrainian people) – citizens of all nationalities who continue the centuries-old history of Ukrainian state building; care of ensuring the human rights and freedoms as well as decent living conditions, of strengthening civil concord on the land of Ukraine; strive to develop and strengthen a democratic, social and rule-of-law Ukrainian state; nationality – a person’s recognition of his/her belonging to a certain group, which is united by similar ideas about its ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious distinctiveness and by the similarity of civic interests and values, and which has a common historical native name; Ukrainians – persons who are aware of their belonging to the largest ethnically distinctive group in the population of Ukraine, whose historical native name corresponds to the traditional name of the space, which is the territory of the state of Ukraine, as well as persons of all nationalities who are citizens of Ukraine; national minorities of Ukraine include groups of citizens who, being not ethnic Ukrainians, show a sense of national identity and commonality among themselves, maintain long-standing, strong and continuous ties with Ukraine; indigenous peoples of Ukraine are groups of citizens whose sense of national identity and commonality reflect the genesis of these groups in the space that is the territory of the Ukrainian state, where most of the people belonging to these groups live and who are not ethnic Ukrainians.

52-61

Authors: Poltorakov O. Yu.

In recent decades, the research focus of metaphor studies has gradually shifted from the humanities, to the social sciences, as well as to the related scientific fields, namely cognition and consciousness studies (including artificial intelligence). This emphasizes the necessity of some revision of the conceptual and terminological apparatus, the one expanding accordingly, especially in the focus of identifying the cognitive abilities of different linguistic means, used interdisciplinarily. Accordingly, the processes of “metaphorization” (interdisciplinary terminological extrapolation), as well as “demetaphorization” (as a gradual deprivation of “unnecessary” subjectivization in favor of the dominance of the objectification of the terminological field), to be accentuated and articulated. In this case, “demetaphorization” is “in the shadow” of the research attention to “metaphorization”. However, sociologically, they must be viewed in dialectical unity and complementarity. The dominant research methods (in the social sciences – primarily reconstruction), through the prism of “reflective postmodern” exert their influence on the toolkit of “metaphoricity”. It is the cognitive toolkit of metaphorization and the operational resource of the demetaphorization that is dialectically an auxiliary channel of social science operationalization in the “gray zone” of the classical positivist and alternative cognitive paradigms, which as a whole actualizes and accentuates scientific and analytical understanding of the problem. A general problem of the forms of scientific knowledge (including demetaphorized scientific terms e.g. “privatization of violence”) circulating in society requires further research.

83-107

Authors: Kostrytsia V. І., Burlay T. V.

Recent years have shown that trends in globalization, digitization, demographic change, migration, and others have exacerbated the problem of employment imbalances, which have a serious impact on global and national labour markets. It is noted that this problem will be exacerbated in the nearest future by the shock effect of the COVID-19 pandemic announced by WHO in March 2020. It has been stated that for national governments, this necessitates a focus on addressing the problem of imbalances in the internal labour markets through public policy instruments. For Ukraine, this is also important in the context of achieving the objectives of the Association Agreement with the EU, since imbalances in employment are one of the causes of the socio-economic divergence between them, which has been observed since 2014. The main types of imbalances in the labour markets of Ukraine and the European Union are shown. The dynamics of convergence and divergence processes at the EU-Ukraine level in the employment sector are evaluated, and the potential consequences of these processes are identified. The EU’s current approaches and programmatic tools to tackle imbalances and divergence in employment are comprehensively described. Based on a critical approach, a general description of the current state of the labour market of Ukraine and its state policy in the sphere of labour and protection of social and labour rights of people is given. The most urgent problems in terms of employment, quantity and quality of jobs, dynamics of labour migration, etc., which have resulted from fragmentation and neglect of such policy are identified. A number of recommendations have been developed on the first steps of Ukraine’s public policy aimed at balancing national and regional labour markets and overcoming divergence with the European Union in the field of employment. It is stated that the relevant state policy should be implemented in two stages. Firstly, in the near future, due to the spread of the pandemic coronavirus infection, it is necessary to adopt and urgently implement the Crisis Measures Program, developed based on the OECD Recommendations on urgent employment and social policy actions needed to support the population and business in supporting the population and business with the COVID-19 pandemic. During the second stage – in the period after the cessation of the pandemic of the coronavirus and the abolition of the quarantine regime, the first steps should be the adoption of new labour legislation of Ukraine, comprehensive programs for preserving existing and creating new jobs, strengthening the institutional role of the State Employment Service, improving the domestic remuneration system and other activities.

123-137

Authors: Shkliar A. I.

Paper dwells upon the phenomenon of the emergence of central banks’ digital currencies (CBDC). Forms of digital money as means of exchange have been identified, and differences between central banks’ digital currencies and other forms of central bank money such as physical money and reserves have been analyzed. Key causes of digital currency development by central banks were highlighted: the approach to the cashless economy, the fight against money laundering and tax evasion, the increasing competition of private digital currencies, the improvement of the monetary policy transmission mechanism, and technological advancement of the payment sector. Key differences between CBDC and private digital currencies and physical currencies were analyzed and highlighted in terms of availability, anonymity, P2P transfers, interest-bearing features, and other possible limits. The main advantages of the CBDC were noted: stability and reliability, safety, speed and ease of use. At the same time, a list of prerequisites and factors that could enhance the benefits of central banks implementing their digital currencies were highlighted: more efficient retail payments, diminishing cash payments, strengthening the effectiveness of monetary policy and improving financial stability. Existing options for the design of the CBDC have been clarified, taking into account the technological aspect and the scope: “retail” for the general public and “wholesale” for financial institutions. Key warnings of the central banks of the world about the possible negative consequences of launching the CBDC were noted, in particular, the disturbance of the financial system balance, when the flow of commercial bank clients to the central bank will force the first to raise deposit rates, which will eventually affect the cost of borrowing. The attitude of the key central banks of the world to the phenomenon of cryptocurrency development was noted, in particular, a much more positive attitude towards blockchain technology was observed compared to the position of the central banks on digital assets in general. At the same time, technological problems of blockchain technology in terms of its throughput capacity (number of transactions per unit of time) were noted, which is significantly inferior to other existing payment platforms. Central banks of the world have been grouped based on the CBDC development principles, and public justifications for the need for CBDC implementation. The key ones being to reduce cash use and increase financial inclusion. The four existing options for the introduction of the CBDC were analyzed, each of which has individual features. The combined efforts of the world’s central banks to study and test various aspects of the technical implementation of the CBDC in the form of joint projects were systematized.

149-161

Authors: Bodnarchuk T. L.

Paper dwells upon main conditions and factors of Ukraine’s foreign trade relations formation in the early 1990’s. Author determines socio-political and economic preconditions of Ukraine’s becoming as a full-fledged subject of international economic relations, including the Soviet economy crisis, macroeconomic recession, social and political transformations, the deterioration of the USSR’s international position. It was defined that with the declaration of independence, a course was taken on realizing Ukraine’s export potential, its competitive advantages in foreign markets, establishing diversified trade, industrial, cooperative, scientific and technical ties. The tasks were carried out in complex external and internal conditions, among which, on the one hand, was the reduction of tensions on the world stage, the development of globalization and regionalization, the activation of integration processes, the liberalization of foreign economic activity, and on the other hand, the difficult domestic and economic situation of Ukraine, noted by falling production, hyperinflation, declining national income, economic shadowing, corruption development, increasing country’s import dependency, deepening of social differentiation etc. The author substantiates impact on the development of the foreign trade activity of Ukraine by the system of endogenous factors, in particular, natural-geographical (favorable geographical position, rich natural-resource, and labor potential), socio-political (change of political regime, development of democratic institutions, considerable military potential), socio-economic (pluralism of ownership forms, development of entrepreneurship and market infrastructure, liberalization of domestic foreign economic activity, etc.). The paper establishes a system of determinants of exogenous influence on strengthening the competitive position of Ukraine, among which author highlights the role of supranational institutions, the internationalization of production, the transformation of the European division of labor, liberalization, and intensification of cooperation between the countries of Western and Eastern Europe, etc.

186-200

Authors: Nesterenko Ye. O.

Paper presents the results of the innovative youth project U-Report. Report for January – March 2020: iodized salt сonsumption, youth attitude to iodized salt, extracurricular education, out-of-school education, air pollution, air quality improvement in Ukraine, public monitoring of air pollution, obtaining information on coronavirus, and responding to coronavirus-like symptoms.