Articles

One of the achievements of the reflectivist turn in international relations theory in the late 20th century was the attention given to the role of discourse and other ideational factors in international politics. In recent years, however, approaches critical of the discursive emphasis in international studies have emerged, seeking to restore the significance of non-discursive aspects of international relations such as geography, technology, and the non-human. This article offers a perspective on the development of international relations theory from the standpoint of the debate between materialism and idealism. Within this framework, it provides a brief overview of the historical evolution of international relations theory and subsequently delves into a detailed analysis of three strands of the new wave of materialist theorizing in the field — critical realism, new materialism, and neoclassical geopolitics. The article suggests considering the new materialist wave as, on the whole, a positive development, but also points out the necessity of taking into account the risk of “exiling” the human element from international relations research as such concepts proliferate. The possibility of collaboration between reflecivists and post-reflecivists, as well as between idealists and materialists in general, is underlined for the comprehensive study of contemporary international realities.

The authors determine the features of the introduction of the concept of sustainable development into the socio-political discourse. The research methodology is based on the political analysis of various views of researchers concerning mechanisms and ways for implementing sustainable development. As a result of the study, the authors made conclusion that the implementation of the concept of sustainable development carry out non-linearly and requires a radical revision of relations with the natural system, finding new mutually beneficial models of cooperation between business, civil society and a state, increasing their environmental responsibility, developing innovations and overcoming the problem of the glass ceiling of environmental modernization. The reverse side of the introduction of the concept of sustainable development in the interests of the West and large financial alliances through the mechanism of creating debt of developing countries, putting them in a deliberately losing position and leading to economic stagnation, is analyzed. The authors present own vision of the transformation and implementation trends of this concept in the world. The present research can be used as a theoretical basis in the
development of effective mechanisms for the realization of the concept of sustainable development in the Russia.

In modern political and theoretical discourse, the concept of a ‘ just society’ is usually perceived as a normative idea that expresses the notion of what society “should be”. Nowadays, social justice as a political slogan is becoming an increasingly universal requirement made by social movements, political parties and groups regarding the ways of social organization and its functions. Regardless of the different interpretations, it is inseparable from other related concepts, such as ‘equality’, ‘ freedom’ and many others. It also represents the projection of various concepts of justice on social relations in individual countries, regions, and, finally, throughout the world (‘global justice’ on the scale of all mankind). Comparative analysis of the A.M. Kovalev’s concept of a just society and the main trends in the interpretation of this idea in modern Western socio-political theory indicate that the methodology developed by an outstanding Russian scientist can rightfully be considered one of the most promising. Its distinguishing feature is the creative interpretation of a set of ideas about a just society, dating back to the early works of Marx. It is combined with the analysis of the ideas of the Western European Enlightenment, the philosophy of Kant, Hegel and Fichte, the evolution of the social philosophy of the Frankfurt School and other equally influential areas of modern political theory (R. Aron and others). An analysis of modern political theories shows that the dyad “ justice / state” constitutes the ontological core of the political and philosophical discourse, in the structure of which the ideas of Marxism play an important role. In the A.M. Kovalev’s theory of a just society, the various assessments of the heuristic potential of Marxism acquire additional incentives, opening the way to new creative discussions. The article is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of A.M. Kovalev.

The problem of trust in political institutions is currently relevant and is becoming the object of research in many scientific fields, including political science. The interest of foreign and Russian researchers is not only the understanding of this phenomenon at the theoretical level, but also its empirical analysis for solving practical problems. In addition to the problem of a conceptual explanation of the concept of “institutional trust”, which has developed due to the theoretical diversity of interpretations of this phenomenon, scientists are faced with the need to choose the best way to collect and measure data (depending on the purpose of a particular study). In this paper, the author focuses on the problem of measuring institutional trust, highlights the key areas of institutional trust analysis, considers their advantages and disadvantages.

The article deals with the problem of modern communication of universities with the student audience in the online space. In order to identify the features of user involvement in the work of university groups in social networks, the interests of the target audience and the specifics of user actions, a comprehensive study was conducted, based on the methods of expert survey, event analysis, content analysis, case study and index analysis. The respondents of the expert survey were 18 representatives — administrators of university groups in social networks from Yaroslavl, Kostroma, and Cherepovets. The study also included a review of the posted content in the main Kostroma State University communities on the VK social network and Telegram messenger, the VK student union group in two spring academic months (March — April) and summer (July — August). As a result, classifications of posts posted in online groups by form and content were developed, user involvement in a particular type of content was calculated, the most frequently used publications in different groups were identified, the dynamics of posting posts depending on the type of site and time period were revealed.

In the 21th century, science is one of the key areas for the development of competition between leading countries. Each country strives to develop in accordance with the 4th industrial revolution and the 6th technological order. The development of science is impossible without the support of young scientists. To date, Russia has developed and approved an “Action plan to improve the support measures provided to young researchers” (approved on December 2, 2021). However, for the successful implementation of this program, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of these support measures and their perception by young researchers. This article reflects the data of the study of the research climate for young scientists in Russia in the context of political and economic challenges of 2020–2022. The results will help assess the effectiveness of the measures taken and suggest new steps to improve the research climate during the period of political and economic turbulence.

The article explores new tasks of political education in the complex of social studies subjects and their standardization in connection with new tasks for the formation of personality and citizen in the process of learning and socialization. The formation of the worldview of schoolchildren is mainly realized in the subjects of the socio-scientific cycle — history, social studies, geography. It is necessary to update the sections included in social science, taking into account fundamental scientific directions and certain disciplines that study problems of social development. This approach makes it possible to explain and argue real social practices in the learning process, to show the role and importance of a sovereign state as an institution of political and socio-economic life. It is proposed to significantly advance the positive agenda of the Russian state in the educational process, based on national values in the field of social policy, to supplement the relevant sections of socio-scientific subjects with the study of the problems of modern areas of political education. The article proposes a new structure for studying the subject areas of social studies and the transition in high school to mono-subject teaching.

The article is devoted to exploring the process of political socialization of the Russian schoolchildren, within the framework of which his civic competence is formed. Civic competence includes such components as socio-political knowledge, social activity, willingness to take responsibility and patriotism. In the empirical part of this work, a cluster analysis was carried out on the data obtained during face-to-face survey (N=2610). Schoolchildren were divided into 3 clusters: “pessimistic excellent students”, “paternalistic good students” and “activist poor students”. More detailed characteristics of the clusters were identified on data obtained during interviews with survey participants (N=256). The analysis showed there are no single approach to raising the level of civic competence of pupils. “Pessimistic excellent students” need educational technologies that would increase the involvement of these children in events of social significance. “Paternalistic good students” need to increase their level of responsibility, and “activist poor students” need to systematize basic knowledge about the socio-political reality of Russia.

This article is devoted to a comparative analysis of the basis for youth education concepts of political, patriotic and civic education. Today, the problem of integrating the educational component into the system of state policy in the field of higher education and state youth policy is of high relevance, that’s why the problem of youth education are widely presented in scientific discourse. The most political science studies are devoted to patriotic education and less to civic education. As a result, Russian social and humanitarian scholars examine exclusively the theoretical, methodological and instrumental foundations of these areas of educational activity. At the same time, the political education is poorly studied both at the conceptual and methodological levels, which is associated with the reduction of the political component in educational processes for a long time.

The article presents political-psychological approach to understanding youth political leadership. This approach has complex character and allows to implement interdisciplinary synthesis of the provisions of different branches of social sciences and humanities to study the considered phenomenon in the framework of political science subject field. We highlight such basic parameters to determine youth political leaders as origin from the sphere of youth policy, young people’s perception of such leaders as their own representatives, promotion of the career ladder in public policy and public administration. This study identifies and conceptually substantiates three dimensions of youth political leadership: personal-professional, status-role, image-symbolic. The article considers personal qualities and professional characteristics which are necessary for youth political leaders, status-role positions in the system of power hierarchy, career trajectories and political recruiting specificity, the features of youth political leaders’ image shaping in the consciousness of youth.