Publications

This study investigates work schedules in online labour markets, operating in 24/7 mode across spatial borders and time zones. Focusing on largely hidden and invisible work of freelancers such as searching for jobs and communicating with clients, the study documents how platforms put pressures and constraints on freelancers’ time through the mechanism of task allocation. We use data on 241,582 timestamped messages posted by 29,759 unique users in 4082 contests on a leading Russian-language freelance platform to reveal how freelancers’ efforts to get a job make them work nonstandard hours, including evenings, nights and weekends. Freelancers have to be responsive and adapt their schedules to clients’ needs. Freelancers who live in time zones which differ from their clients are particularly disadvantaged, working a greater proportion of nonstandard hours. The findings emerging from the study contribute to current debates on the gig economy and a new time-work discipline.

News events with global appeal such as the COVID-19 pandemic, terrorist attacks, mass shootings, plane crashes, and earthquakes are flagship examples of journalistic role performance in action. But so are more ordinary developments like G20 summits, presidential speeches, parliamentary sessions, council meetings, daily crime news, judicial processes, protests, and industry reports. All kinds of news stories and story angles can, at some point or under certain circumstances, serve as exemplars of how the interventionist, loyal-facilitator, watchdog, civic, service, and infotainment roles not only manifest in practice, but also co-exist and interact across and within cultures, topics, types of newspapers, and even single news stories. In this book, we analyzed how professional journalism roles materialize in print news in different organizational, institutional, and social settings, examining journalistic practice under the umbrella offered by the multidimensional concept of role performance. We have made a case for the ever-changing, fluid, and dynamic nature of journalistic roles, which are activated and deactivated by certain triggers, events, and circumstances, showing the extent to which news stories in a given country exhibit indicators of one or more of them.

On the practical aspects

of the interaction between education and the labor market.

It includes the development of requirements for the university

graduates according to the demands of the labor market and the

implementation of these requirements by higher education programs.

There was summarized the experience of research, organizational

and educational work in the field of higher sociological

education including the development of a draft professional

standard for a sociologist, the updating оf the Federal State Educational

Standard of higher education and the elaboration of indicators

of achievement of competencies in exemplary educational

programs of the bachelor and master of sociology, taking

into account the requirements of the labor market.

This article identifies and evaluates the main trends and issues in the conceptual analysis of power, their dynamics, and current status. There are several interrelated basic trends in the conceptual analysis of power in the last decades: conceptual solutions have become more flexible; multidimensional view; synthesis of different approaches; expansion of the concept; blurring the borders between power and non-power. These trends require taking into account a significantly larger amount of empirical data and paying special attention to those forms of social interaction that are hidden from external observation. Expansion of the range of power forms increases the difficulties of their systematization, while interpretation and comparison of the outcomes of empirical studies have become more complicated.

This paper critically looks at the ways in which ‘global sociology’ has been debated and conceived in the past decades. It provides an historical overview of various proposals and ideas and the institutional contexts within which they are put forward and criticized. Two different periods are distinguished. Until the early twenty-first century, on the one hand, criticism of the ‘ethnocentrism of the West’ was often supported by ideas and pleas for an ‘indigenization’ of sociological knowledge. A commitment to the unity of science and to its universalist aspirations remained strong, however. In the course of the twenty-first century, on the other hand, criticism of the ‘northern dominance’ in sociology has become much stronger. Instead of a ‘multicultural’ understanding of global sociology, a ‘critical’ sociology that contributes to ‘global justice’ is now often advocated. Based on this historical overview, it is suggested that global sociology might contribute to more self-reflexivity within the discipline. It helps us to see how different contexts reverberate into the ways in which sociology itself is imagined in this world and provides an analysis of the debates for a better understanding of the challenges which sociology currently faces

Introduction and Aims: Sales and survey data have shown a decline in alcohol consumption in Russia since 2007. This study examines whether this decline is consistent across lighter and heavier drinkers in line with the theory of the collectivity of drinking cultures. Design and Methods: Data was collected through annual nationally representative surveys conducted between 2006 and 2018 of 33,109 individuals aged 18–85. We estimated generalized linear regression with Gamma distribution and used log alcohol volume consumed during the previous 30 days as the dependent variable for five percentile groups: heavy drinkers (95th), near heavy drinkers (90th), moderate drinkers (80th), light drinkers (60th for men and 70th for women) and non-drinkers. Dummy variables for years, percentile groups and their interactions were used as independent variables. The controls were age, education, income, body weight, marital status, household demographic structure, residence, ethnicity and regional climate. Results: Reductions in alcohol consumption were observed in all percentiles, but the scale of change was proportionally smaller among heavier drinkers than among lighter drinkers. However, consumption fell by a smaller amount among lighter drinkers than among heavier drinkers. Results of the regression analysis fit with the descriptive statistics. Interactions between the time period and the percentile groups were significant after 2010. Trends were similar for both genders. Discussion and Conclusions: Downward trends across percentiles were in the same direction but the magnitude of change varied. Obtained evidence fails to support a polarization and points towards soft collectivity hypothesis in the reduction in drinking in Russia.

Post-Soviet countries have experienced historical periods, political regimes, and socio-economic systems that differ fundamentally from each other and have adopted diverse values and norms, which have inevitably influenced the nations’ gendered labor market structures. This chapter considers the differences in labor market position between young men and women in 10 post-Soviet countries over time. The main research question is whether young women in these countries have attained labor market statuses as intensive (in terms of working hours) and high (in terms of job positions) as those of their male counterparts over the last three decades. The study uses World Values Survey cross-section data (1981–2014) as a database. The target group is employed youth aged 18–29 years. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, a time-trend analysis reveals a trend towards differences in job position between young men and women in post-Soviet countries. The results of two binary logistic regressions demonstrate that being a young woman in post-Soviet countries decreases the probability of being employed full-time but that Russia is following the opposite trend. In addition, being a young woman in Russia and Kazakhstan increases the probability of holding a supervisory position relative to the probability for a young man.

Economic and sociological research that touches upon the determinants of alcohol consumption is mostly centered on the traditional factors of human capital (e.g., education). While much attention is given to education as a valid instrument to reduce alcohol misuse, less is given to the impact of non-cognitive skills. Data are collected from a nationally representative Russian panel survey, 2016–2018. We estimate a random-effects probit model for the probability of abstinence and a random-effects tobit model with a Heckman correction for the volume of alcohol consumption. Non-cognitive skills are consistent predictors of drinking in Russia. In both genders, conscientiousness and extraversion have strong connections to the probability and the volume of alcohol consumption, while openness to experience and neuroticism only affect the volume. The estimates for education differ substantially when the Big Five variables are excluded from the model, which suggests that a major part of the effect of education on alcohol consumption patterns may be mediated through non-cognitive skills. Although educational interventions are often seen as a method of solving excessive drinking problems, introducing personality traits into the analysis raises the question of the effectiveness of such interventions.

This book explores the contradictory development of gender roles in Central and Eastern Europe including Russia. In light of the social changes that followed the collapse of communism and the rise of new conservatism in Eastern Europe, it studies new forms of gender relationships and reassesses the status quo of female empowerment. Moreover, leading scholars in gender studies discuss how right-wing populism and conservative movements have affected sociopolitical discourses and concepts related to gender roles, rights, and attitudes, and how Western feminism in the 1990s may have contributed to this conservative turn.

Mainly focusing on power constellations and gender, the book is divided into four parts: the first explores the history of and recent trends in feminist movements in Eastern Europe, while the second highlights the dynamics and conflicts that gained momentum after neoconservative parties gained political power in post-socialist countries. In turn, the third part discusses new empowerment strategies and changes in gender relationships. The final part illustrates the identities, roles, and concepts of masculinity created in the sociocultural and political context of Eastern Europe. 

Analysis of indicators of the dynamics of mass higher education based on the Webometrics Ranking of Universities in the period 2016-2019.

This study draws on a novel survey in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine to develop a framework for conceptualizing and measuring housing status, a multi-dimensional construct reflecting positions in a housing stratification order. We employ structural equation modeling to confirm whether our measures reflect distinct dimensions of housing status. We validate our measurement approach by testing for distinct dimensional effects on subjective housing wellbeing. Our novel measures of housing tenure, quantity, quality, and wellbeing reflect post-Soviet intra-household differences in property rights; the cultural premium placed on having a room of one’s own; constellations of amenities and comforts comprising quality; and the significance of a sense of autonomy for subjective housing wellbeing. Results demonstrate that the three dimensions of housing status—tenure, quality, and quantity—exert independent effects on subjective housing wellbeing, with consistent effects across the four study countries. Our systematic attention to measurement of housing status in post-Soviet conditions models an approach that scholars could adapt for other contexts, including but not limited to other post-communist societies.

The study is devoted to a comparison of three approaches to handling missing data of categorical variables: complete case analysis, multiple imputation (based on random forest), and the missing-indicator method. Focusing on OLS regression, we describe how the choice of the approach depends on the missingness mechanism, its proportion, and model specification. The results of a simulated statistical experiment show that each approach may lead to either almost unbiased or dramatically biased estimates. The choice of the appropriate approach should be primarily based on the missingness mechanism: one should choose CCA under MCAR, MI under MAR, and, again, CCA under MNAR. Although MIM produces almost unbiased estimates under MCAR and MNAR as well, it leads to inefficient regression coefficients—ones with too big standard errors and, consequently, incorrect p-values.

This handbook presents an international state-of-the-art book on love in research and practice. It is anchored in classical, contemporary and postmodern perspectives and various disciplines. The book expands previous theoretical, empirical and applied research by presenting new transcultural and transdisciplinary approaches. The authors describe concepts and theories of love from cultural viewpoints with regard to manifestations of love in digital, social, cultural and political contexts. They also focus on love in the context of religion, belief systems, family and intergenerational relations, in the context of counselling, therapy and psychiatry. Additionally, authors explore love in the context of globalisation, in the literature, in workplace and business contexts and with regard to its dark side.

This volume is a must for scientists, researchers and practitioners interested in positive emotions, love, as well as cultural and international perspectives.

Challenges of the 21st Century: Democracy, Environment, Inequalities, Intersectionality  

This IV ISA Forum of Sociology will be our first virtual Forum, with over 800 sessions, more than 3,000 papers and the participation of sociologists from 125 countries.

This Forum will be a unique opportunity to gather our research results and analyses of the extraordinary time we live and study, of its impact on individuals and societies and on four global challenges it has intensified: democracy, environment, inequalities and intersectionality.

During six days, hundreds of panels will explore the world in the pandemic and the world that may come out of it based on research grounded in the field and topics of the ISA Research Committees, Working and Thematic groups. Young researchers and experienced scholars from different regions of the world will expose their analyses of societies and sociology in the pandemic. Leading scholars from different continents will share their perspectives in the Forum’s Opening and Closing Plenaries: Michael Burawoy, Isabel Casimiro, Manuel Castells, Ashish Kothari, Rita Segato, Boaventura de Sousa Santos and Maristella Svampa. This Forum will also be an opportunity for our global community to pay tribute to three of our most distinguished colleagues to which special panels are dedicated: Immanuel Wallerstein, Erik Olin Wright and Marielle Franco.

The pandemic has stressed how deeply interdependent we have become and accentuated the need of a more global sociology. Epistemologies of the South and intersectional perspectives on democracy, ecology and social justice are more than alternative options for sociology in the 21st century. There are at its core and have deeply transformed it. Opening more spaces for our colleagues from the Global South has been a central goal in this Forum. We are particularly pleased to host semi-plenary sessions set up by the Brazilian Sociological Society with the Porto Alegre Local Organizing Committee, by the Latin American Sociological Association and by the Latin American Council of Social Sciences, and that the president of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa will join us in the closing session.

Sari Hanafi, President of the ISA Geoffrey Pleyers, President of the IV ISA Forum of Sociology

In order to broaden our understanding of journalism as a complex but meaningfully practiced profession, the main goal of this chapter is to map the general differences and similarities in journalistic role performance—specifically in relation to the presence of the interventionist, watchdog, loyal-facilitator, service, infotainment, and civic roles—across and within 18 countries from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. We provide a descriptive overview of the results and trends identified in our project, focusing on the extent to which commonalities of traditional geographies, media system characteristics, and normative frameworks of professional roles hold true in journalistic performance.

A review essay of 4000 words.

Work through online labour platforms, which match freelancers and clients located anywhere, gained prominence in Russia and Ukraine over the past decade. Using survey data of online freelancers in Russia and Ukraine, this chapter inquiries into gender specifics of online work. It shows that some important structural gender differences in online work exist in both countries. These differences are primarily manifested by gender segregation into different sectors of activity. These structural gender differences, along with gender differences in online tenure, working hours, and family responsibilities, translate into persisting gender differences in earnings in both countries. Despite this, women seem to be happier with online work than men (in Russia), or at least as happy as men (in Ukraine). The chapter discusses the reasons and potential policy implications of these findings.