Статьи журнала - Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast
Все статьи: 1587
Social contract: historical and contemporary realities in Soviet/Russian society
Статья научная
The article provides an analysis of the currently little used concept - the social contract. For this purpose, a brief historical digression was carried out: an assessment was made of the contribution of thinkers of the Enlightenment, who were the first to substantiate the proposal to consider the relationship between the state and the people through the prism of reaching agreement on the arrangement of public and private life, calling it a social contract. After a break, interest in this phenomenon revived in the 20th century, which is given more detailed information on the example of the consideration of the essence and content of the social contract by foreign and Russian researchers. On this basis, it is concluded that the social contract is an independent scientific and social phenomenon that embodies various forms of social consent between the people and the state, given that they are not only open, but also latent, reflecting the underlying processes taking place in public consciousness. The article defines the criteria inherent in the social contract - goals, means of achieving them, ideological support, the effectiveness of feedback and participation of the people in managing the affairs of society and the state. A comparative analysis of the process of its functioning in the Soviet and modern Russian society is given, estimates and conclusions are made about the problems of its implementation at various stages of historical development. It is especially noted that the social contract has both explicit and latent characteristics, which, through the analysis of the state, trends and problems of social development, allows us to speak about the degree of its effectiveness and efficiency in preserving and strengthening the state.
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Social demand of Russians for innovation (according to a sample survey)
Статья научная
This article was supported by the Russian Foundation for the Humanities under the grant “Innovations in modern Russia: development trends and impact on the standard of living of the population” (project 16-02-00561).The population’s choice of values in the use of digital technologies depends on a whole range of factors, including economic, political, social, cultural, and psychological ones. Is the attitude of the respondents to the innovation-driven changes in their lives the same? If it is so, then what factors determine the choice of a particular behavioral pattern in terms of using innovative products and services? This article provides the data of a survey designed to analyze the social characteristics of respondents depending on their attitude to innovative products. The results of a sample survey carried out by the authors in the spring of 2017 in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast were used as an information basis. The surveyed sample comprised 1,115 individuals aged 15 to 86 years, including 55.5% of women and 44.5% of men, which generally corresponds to the age and gender structure of the population in the regions surveyed...
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Social development of rural areas as agriculture stability factor
Статья научная
The essence and factors of agrarian sector stability are considered in the article. The analysis of social sphere of the Vologda rural territories is carried out as well. The basic directions of quality improvement of rural life are defined. The experience of realization of the pilot project «Development of social potential of rural settlements» is reflected.
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Social forecasting in the strategic management of the development of higher education in Russia
Статья научная
Social forecasting is directly related to the management of changes in the economy and social sphere, including higher education. The relevance of the study is associated with the analysis of the problem of forecasting indicators of higher education through the prism of the targets of national projects implemented in the context of a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The global epidemic aggravates the socio-economic situation in the world community, makes it highly instable and uncertain, thereby increasing the demand for social development forecasts. The purpose of our research is to study the potential of social forecasting in the state strategic management of the development of higher education in Russia. A special task revealing its scientific novelty is to diagnose the problem of measurement and profiling the methodology of reproduction of the “strategic intelligentsia” (elite) as a “transformative” subjectivity. In the study, we rely on the theory of the socio-cultural management model put forward by Professor A.V. Tikhonov, as well as on the authors socioprognostic approach to management, which acts as a special methodological means of scientific search, integrating ideas and theoretical constructs in the field of social sciences and humanities, while substantiating the solutions to promising problems with the use of modern project-based technologies. With the help of these tools, we profile the multivariate levels of scientific foresight and strategic management, analyze the forecasting and regulatory actions of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation as a macroregulator of the functioning and development of higher education, and identify key components in reformatting and optimizing social forecasting in the state strategic management of higher education development. The work is based on the perspective practice of research of manageability of regional development and social group formation, which is in demand by the academic community, acquired by scientists of the Center for Sociology of Management and Social Technologies of the Institute Sociology - Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2015-2020, including that achieved in the study of higher education as a resource for managing the socio-cultural modernization of regions. The materials of the article have theoretical and practical significance; they are intended for specialists in the field of state, regional and municipal management, as well as experts in social forecasting and strategic management of the development of higher education in Russia.
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Social impact assessment as a tool for sustainable development of the Russian Arctic
Статья научная
In the context of dynamic economic development of the Arctic, one of the strategic tasks is to ensure environmental safety and preserve the conditions and quality of life of the local population. It is possible to solve this problem by conducting environmental impact assessment (EIA) at the stage of economic activity planning, which is mandatory in all Arctic countries. During the EIA process, companies assess possible environmental and related social and economic impact of the planned investment project. For this purpose, appropriate techniques are used, and their number is sufficient to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the impact on the natural environment. At the same time, assessing social impact of economic initiatives is quite a challenge for companies due to the fact that Russia lacks the documents and methodological recommendations that regulate the implementation of such an assessment. This fact is confirmed by the practice of EIA and by scientific research, according to which the assessment of social impact of economic activity is one of the most difficult and least studied issues in modern science. It becomes particularly important to find a solution to this problem for the Russian Arctic, where the indigenous population lives, whose conditions and quality of life largely depend on the state of the environment and preservation of traditional economic activities. In this regard, we set a goal to find an approach to the development of a methodology for forecasting social changes for the Arctic region of Russia. To achieve the goal, we do the following 1) we analyze the existing methodological approaches to assessing the social impact of the planned economic activity in the context of Russian and foreign research, as well as the practice of EIA; 2) we describe a system of indicators of the social environment of the Russian Arctic; 3) we build a matrix of social impact of the planned economic activity. The findings of our study can become the basis for the development of specific techniques, including sectoral methods, to assess social impact of the planned economic activity; these techniques can be used for a comprehensive environmental assessment of the planned economic activity by public and private companies.
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Social innovation as an effective response to modern challenges in education
Статья научная
The system of education is an engine of progress in the modern world. On the one hand, it shapes human capital thus contributing to social development and improving the competitiveness of economies; on the other hand, it is a kind of mechanism that helps adapt to changes in the global labor market. At the same time, educational systems all over the world are continuously faced with certain challenges and problems associated with the development of globalization, informatization, integration, knowledge economy, etc. Social innovations are one of the effective tools to address these challenges. The article brings to the fore the issues associated with the development of social innovation in the system of education. The goal of the work is to highlight specific characteristics of social innovation in education, to analyze the current state of social innovation in Russia on the example of the system of education, to highlight drivers of and barriers to the development of social innovation in Russian education under the research project “Social Innovation: Driving Force of Social Change” (SI-DRIVE) of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union, one of the participants of which was Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences...
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Social innovation in Spain, China and Russia: key aspects of development
Статья научная
As traditional methods of governance are unable to promptly respond to the conglomerate of issues brought about by system-wide changes and modernity, social innovation is seen as a promising alternative. Its uptake, however, is facilitated and hindered by a variety of factors. Using Spain, China, and Russia as country cases, this article explicates the findings of a systems-based comparative analysis on the drivers and barriers to the development of social innovations as effective tools in addressing social problems. In depth research projects carried out at national or regional levels provides the background knowledge to analyze the scope, size, trajectory, goals and target groups of the initiatives, as well as the geographical, historical and socio-economic frameworks and environments of the social innovations studied. It was found that there is a need to further clarify the concept of social innovation and to stimulate awareness and public support for social entrepreneurship across all three cases. Specific fiscal, legislative, and social measures are also identified for social innovation initiatives to flourish in each of the three countries analyzed. These findings provide a valuable contribution to public policy by illuminating practical ways to move forward in making social innovation an effective and sustainable strategy for addressing pertinent societal issues.
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Social investment as a tool for modernization of the demographic development in the Far East
Статья научная
The experience of domestic and foreign studies demonstrates a growth of interest in the problem of rational distribution of public financial resources as social investments in human capital development, which is described in our paper with the help of demographic development parameters; this corresponds to the modern tradition of considering the relationship of economic and social dynamics in extreme regions through the prism of demographic changes. In this context, the perspective estimates of public spending on the social sphere in relation to the Far East, a region that was proclaimed a strategic priority of Russia in the 21st century, are of particular value. The goal of our study is to develop and test the tools that allow us to quantify the scale and structure of public spending on education, healthcare and social policy, and that promote the achievement of the target values set out in the concept of demographic policy of the Far East for the period up to 2025. Using the model constructions built on the basis of dynamic data for 2000-2017, we obtain the estimates of the impact of social investment on demographic development parameters on the example of Khabarovsk Krai...
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Статья научная
Social movement is a battlefield of meanings; a movement campaign contains a cluster of diverse meanings given by those participating in the campaign. Stimulated by such theoretical concepts as “network of meanings”, scholars have attempted to seize the collective meaning attribution process and resultant meaning clusters, as well as central/dominant and peripheral meanings in social movement campaigns. However, such a meaning cluster in the actual movement campaign has never been captured to date. This paper is an attempt to draw what we call “mental map,” mapping a cluster of meanings the movement campaign accommodates. Employing network analysis technique, we draw a network graph showing a cluster of meanings present in the movement campaign. We used the 2012 anti-nuclear movement campaign in Japan as a research site where we collected empirical data. The analysis of the 2012 network graph clearly showed central meanings considered to dominate the signification process of the 2012 campaign and a cluster of meanings that constituted a subset in the entire web of meanings. To ensure the capability of our research technique to differentiate meaning clusters from one movement campaign to another, we compared the 2012 campaign against the 1954 campaign. The differences were stark: the 2012 campaign was strongly driven by motherhood mentality to protect children and a concern over local environments, while the 1954 campaign dominantly drew its signification from collective memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and risk on food safety. The mental map approach can help us understand “why” of the movement campaign from yet another perspective; it can also assist us in understanding the change in the mentality and meaning attribution processes of social movements, as, given the data exist, it can be applied to the past campaigns.
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Social policy in a multi-regional agent-based model
Статья научная
In the modern scientific and technological development, the role of the welfare state and the importance of solving the problem of inequality as a manifestation of social injustice is increasing. The purpose of the work is to develop a spatial agent-based model (ABM) in the direction of a detailed representation of social transfers block and the study of the economic agents’ behavior in response to the changes of the state’s social policy parameters. The isoelastic function of social welfare (FSW), which is based on the households’ utility functions with correction factors reflecting the degree of social insecurity, is used to include ethical considerations in the economic analysis and formalize the goals for social justice. The novelty of the work is associated with the study of the dependence on different variants of the benefits structure, taking into account the agents’ heterogeneity. The proposed ABM takes into account five main types of monetary transfers: pensions, unemployment benefits, child benefits, poverty benefits, and other social transfers. In addition, the experimental calculations consider two additional social benefits: the proportional transfer and basic income. The experimental calculations results show that social benefits are quite successfully integrated into the original ABM, and the main effects of these benefits are fully manifested in it. The relative characteristics of individual benefits differ significantly from the point of view of certain concepts of social justice and the corresponding changes in the FSW. By the example of the ratio of child benefit to the poverty benefit, it is shown that the effect in terms of the FSW at high levels of inequality rejection is achieved only through the complex use of transfers.
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Social policy of active aging in Russia and European welfare states: comparative analysis
Статья научная
Population aging is a global process that characterizes both European countries and Russia. One proportionate response to the challenges of global aging is to create conditions that maximize autonomy and activity, as well as social support for older people and the opportunity to be active. The purpose of the work is to analyze the features of social policy in the field of active aging in the European welfare countries and the Russian Federation. The study highlights key trends and differences between Russian and European social policies, and identifies the main features of understanding active aging in Europe and Russia. The analysis is based on the experience of European countries, which occupy the leading positions in the world quality of life ranking for the elderly, where special attention is paid to elderly citizens and the features of their aging and activity. These countries have been implementing a variety of mechanisms in the field of active aging for many years. The article reveals the features of implementation of such a policy and provides a critical review of the strengths and weaknesses of active aging policies in European welfare states and Russia.
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Статья научная
The present-day Russia is characterized by the decline in population size and its health impairment. The author considers that it is possible to overcome this negative trend and lowering human capital when the poverty being decreasing and the population inequality in income and pay being overcoming.
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Статья научная
The way of life of the indigenous and incoming population of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation requires a detailed study, since it is in these areas that the exploration and extraction of minerals for the purpose of territorial industrial development has been actively carried out in recent decades. The article reveals the social portrait of residents of Russia's Arctic regions, who are immediate participants in the changes taking place in the territories of their residence and associated with the implementation of large-scale mining projects. We conducted the empirical part of the study in 2017-2020 in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where placer gold and diamonds are currently explored and mined, and in the Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets Municipal District of Krasnoyarsk Krai. The object of the study was the economic behavior of local residents of the Arctic regions; the subject was their attitude toward the activities of mining companies. As a result of a sociological survey in the form of questionnaires (cluster sample, 859 people, age selection from 18 years and older), informal conversations with local residents, we gave their socio-demographic characteristics, presented their attitude toward traditional trades and crafts and toward the industrial development of Russia's Arctic regions. The practical significance of the study consists in analyzing modern characteristics of an Arctic resident; this analysis can be of use to various stakeholders involved in the implementation of state programs for the development of Russia's Arctic territories. The study of the problems and needs of indigenous peoples of the Arctic zone of Russia allows avoiding resource conflicts between state structures, industrial companies and the local population.
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Social risks of international immigration into Russia
Статья научная
The article explains the sociological theory of immigration risks. Despite the fact that domestic sociology has been recently attracting more attention to the risk theory, risks of migration processes have not yet been properly considered. According to the authors, such a theory must consider social risks for all participants of the migration process: host countries, countries of origin and immigrants. The typological model of immigration risks is based on the theory of integration by H. Esser and F. Heckmann. The model describes how various risks are manifested at the micro, meso and macro level of social reality taking into account the four dimensions of social integration: cultural, structural, interactional and identification. Based on the theoretical model the authors identify several groups of risks for the host population: risks based on local and migrant population interaction at the micro level and perceived risks which can be formed by the media under the influence of certain political forces at the macro level...
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Social security of Russia's population: an overview of the past years studies
Статья научная
The aim of the article is to evaluate the level of social protection and to define the most acute problems and risks (threats), undermining the feeling of social security in the people of Russian regions. It is determined, that the population feels less protected due to the onset of poverty, crime and environmental threat. According to the analysis results, the type of society existing in the regions can be defined as unsatisfactory for the social activity of an individual, since the population is poorly protected from external objective risks and threats.
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Social vulnerability of families with children in modern Russia
Статья научная
When performing its reproductive function, the family - the main institution for population reproduction - continues to bear increased risks of poverty. The goal of our paper is to study manifestations of social vulnerability of modern Russian families with children. Despite the active demographic policy implemented with the help of national projects since 2006, the actual situation concerning families with children has not undergone any significant changes. The birth of a child continues to reduce the standard of living to the point of crossing the poverty line; the housing market remains inaccessible, and the tools for combining parenthood and professional activities do not work. The resources of an average family do not promote the formation of human potential of the child population that would meet the demands of the knowledge economy and are reduced to a set of primary needs. The existing mechanisms of social support do not guarantee that the life of families with children will actually improve; childcare allowances are not growing and are not focused on achieving any standard of living, even the minimum subsistence level. Having few children becomes a conscious choice against the background of the crisis of marriage, which ceased to serve as a kind of contract according to which the husband is a breadwinner, and the wife gives birth to children and runs the house. Women have become full-fledged actors in the labor market. However, they still face discrimination in this regard. The analysis of gender statistics shows that women who have the same level of education, sphere of activity and official status as men receive an average wage that is one third lower compared to that of men. However, the phenomenon of working wives is not only and not so much a reflection of their desire for professional self-realization. Two working adults in an average family will provide a per capita income at the subsistence level in case they have no more than two children. In addition, satisfaction with the availability and quality of education and health services - the institutions that support the reproduction of the population and human potential - remains far from the desired level. Under the circumstances, the family with children remains one of the most socially vulnerable population groups; this fact requires the revision of the mechanisms of social policy and the principles of the social state in general. Scientific novelty of our study consists in the fact that it analyzes and classifies the manifestations of social vulnerability of modern families with children and puts forward the proposals to improve the social and demographic policy of the state. The findings of our research can be used in the practice of public administration.
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Social well-being and expectations of the youth in the industrial region
Статья научная
The article covers the social expectations of young people in a large industrial region of Russia in relation to their social well-being. The information framework of the article consists of results of a sample study conducted by the sociologists of Ural Federal University supervised by Yu.R. Vishnevsky in 2016 in the Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk oblasts. The survey sample includes 2,512 people aged 15-30, target quota sample was used, with quota signs such as employment (working, studying, and unemployed youth), age (young people of three age groups - under 20, 21-25, and 26-30) and type of settlement (residents of Ekaterinburg, other large cities in the region, medium or small towns, villages and urban-type settlements). The present paper raises the problem of studying the social well-being of young people, with a key factor being their focus on the future, their expectations and life strategies. Based on analysis of scientific concepts devoted to the population’s social well-being, an important feature of the youth as a socio-demographic group is revealed: their focus on the future and a vast planning horizon...
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Social well-being of the Belarusian youth: a sociological analysis
Статья научная
The article considers the concept «social wellbeing» from the point of view of the theory and a technique of its sociological studying. Results of empirical research of social state of health of the Belarusyouth in comparison with other age groups are given. Conclusions concerning the social wellbeing of modern youth in the conditions of world financial and economic crisis are made.
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Socially oriented taxation and how it is perceived (case study of a survey of economists-to-be)
Статья научная
The article discusses the prospects for adapting unconventional tax mechanisms to tax administration in a secular multicultural state. The purpose of the study is to identify significant factors which determine the advisability of establishing socially oriented taxes as perceived by economists-to-be that do not possess enough information about alternative tax practices and mechanisms for their implementation. Scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that it considers socially-oriented taxation in more detail; this type of taxation is suggested to be considered in conjunction with religious tax practices, which significantly complements existing ideas about the specifics of functioning of modern tax systems. The research methodology includes the use of the questionnaire method. The respondents are future economists - students of Saint Petersburg State University. At the first stage, we test the level of awareness of respondents about alternative tax practices...
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