Search

The paper examines Russia's cultural expansionism that extends beyond the military invasion in Ukraine since 2014. In the first part, I trace Russia's systematic efforts to seize and manipulate Ukrainian heritage, often under the guise of protection. I also touch on the role of museums in this expansion, where they are used to preserve collections through coercive acquisition and to promote a Russian-centric narrative. The second part of the article delves into the historical relationships between Russia and Ukraine, especially in the context of the Soviet era's museum infrastructure. Overall, the text calls for new concepts and international efforts to critique Russia's actions and protect Ukrainian culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the digitization of cultural heritage in Russian libraries, archives, and museums. In order to achieve the research goals, both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were adopted to analyze the current status of legislative principles related to digitization through the literature review and the circumstance of the latest projects related to digitization through the literature and website review. The results showed that these institutions seem quite successful where they provide a wide range of services for the users to access the digital collections. However, the main constraints on digitization within libraries, archives, and museums in Russia are connected with the scale of the work, dispersal of rare books throughout the country, and low level of document usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia is using the Black Sea as a diplomatic tool in its foreign policy to achieve its maritime and foreign policy objectives, which are also linked with the country's strategic culture. This research investigates the significance of the Black Sea in Russia's Maritime Strategy for achieving its foreign policy objectives by using the balance of interest theory. This research employs two conceptual schemas. Firstly, with the help of maritime diplomacy, it analyses a tool to achieve foreign policy objectives in the waters. Secondly, the research uses the concept of strategic culture, which helps explore the diplomatic importance of the Black Sea in Russian foreign policy through the perspective of history and attitudes of decision-makers. This research highlights the case of the Black Sea for Russian maritime strategy, which also has a great economic significance for the region and world. It also highlights the importance of the Black Sea in the Russian maritime doctrine (2022) and links between maritime strategic culture and foreign policy objectives. It concludes that Russia is successfully pursuing its cooperative, coercive, and persuasive maritime diplomacy in the Black Sea region by providing humanitarian assistance, blocking Ukrainian access, and operating a stronghold at Sevastopol port as its naval base. In conclusion, this paper argues that strategic culture plays a vital role in employing the three diplomatic dimensions for achieving maritime objectives in the Black Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ethos (0860-8024) is the property of John Paul II Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista EntreLínguas is the property of Revista EntreLinguas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article investigates the idiosyncrasies of creative work in Russian art institutions through a study of their materialities. As identified in previous research, social inequalities are a significant feature of creative work. I argue, however, that in order to reveal inequalities that are constructed performatively, that is, in the 'here' and 'now', we need to further develop the existing arsenal of methods that is employed in critical creative work studies. In the Russian case, art institutions display a wealth of techniques for constructing and maintaining hierarchies, which of necessity must frequently be re-established due to conditions in the local context. In particular, the following explores two perennial paradigms of cultural production: 'high culture' and 'creativity'. As these paradigms coexist in the economy of the Russian art world, they compete for resources, including funding, public attention and legitimation. In the struggle, a binary of purity/dirt develops the social space of institutions, organisational identities and hierarchies inside and between organisations. This paper primarily focuses on an ethnographic study of cultural producers from the visual arts sector in Russia's two largest cities: Moscow and St. Petersburg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs the concepts of cultural narrative to examine career choice among post-Soviet Russian teenagers going into higher education. Drawing on insights from cultural sociology more broadly and the cultural autonomy thesis more specifically, we demonstrate how the cultural narrative of a university degree as a 'must-have at all costs' subjugates various career decision-making logics identified, while downplaying individual agency and reflexivity. We argue that, by misdirecting career choice from opportunities to constraints, the dominant narrative serves to limit, rather than diversify, young people's career choice and social mobility potential. We go on to theorise the interplay between culture and social institutions. Drawing on the cultural interpretation of Unified State Exam – a neoliberal educational governance tool – we show how cultural narrative hijacks institutional interpretations and usages, re-grounding neoliberal sensibilities in Soviet-era ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The four articles in this section deal with anthropological study of New Age beliefs and practices in post-Soviet Russia. They are in part the result of a joint German–Russian research project titled New Religious Cultures in Late Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia: Ideology, Social Networks, Discourses, supported by the German Research Foundation and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. In this introductory paper I will briefly discuss the principal outcomes of this research as well as general analytical issues related to the field of New Age studies both in global and local (post-Soviet) contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the national security strategies of EU member states in the 2009–2018 period, and conceptualizes three security strategies EU member states have adopted toward Russia – flexible accommodation, cooperative deterrence, and calibrated confrontation. It tests strategic culture hypotheses against those of realism and commercial liberalism to explain the variation of EU member states' security strategies toward Russia. While a realist explanation would predict EU member states geographically proximate to Russia would possess more confrontational security strategies, geographic proximity and confrontational security strategies toward Russia are not positively correlated. Bilateral economic interdependence with Russia, the presence of populist parties in EU member states governing coalitions, and EU member states' alignment or status as an occupied state during the Cold War also do not explain EU member states' security strategies toward Russia. A more consistent explanation of the variance in EU member states' policy on Russia revolves around the strategic culture of the state in question. States with a more Atlanticist perspective tend to be more confrontation with Russia than their more Europeanist counterparts, regardless of geographic proximity or economic interdependence with Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews challenges and opportunities that the Department of Library and Information Science of St. Petersburg State University of Culture (Russian Federation) faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Didactic problems were caused by a lack of experience among teachers in organizing undergraduate and graduate digital learning (DL). There were two types of technological problems: a lack of a proper LMS system and a lack of proper computers and software in teachers' and student homes. There wasn't any clear and strict policy of DL but in some way, this has provided flexibility in the organization of the DL process. Besides, the lockdown and the isolation situation were psychologically quite hard to deal with: it caused constant anxiety and the feeling that one is late with everything while working 24/7. To deal with these issues, we developed some new DL strategies, used technologies that were 'in hand': Zoom videoconferencing and Russian social network VKontakte, compensated for the lack of the equipment at home by increasing flexibility of teaching and learning, developed the DL environment that included learning and teaching materials and the digital library. We organized the DL process using didactic strategies such as delivering short interactive lectures via Zoom and then keeping their records. We focused on problem-based and project-based learning online motivating students to work together exploring professional problems through projects and research that needed a deeper knowledge in the field. We also found new ways of assessment and evaluation of students' learning progress with online quizzes and solving cases. To manage anxiety, we strengthened the supervising and mentoring work. With the new challenges and trends of the pandemic, the Department has been preserving its educational traditions that allowed for the improvement of the quality of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of effective anti-corruption measures relies on a sound understanding of underlying country-specific cultural patterns of corruption. However, finding these patterns faces the problem of ecological fallacies when tracing back the results of comparative macro-studies to the national level or of using ex-post explanations for cultural variances in experimental research designs. Thus, we ask how cultural patterns can explain country differences in the propensity to act corrupt without neglecting the aforementioned problems. Based on institutional theory, we model path-dependent cultural patterns at the macro, meso and micro levels promoting propensity to act corrupt in Poland and Russia. The results of experimental data gathered from students in Poland and Russia show that the extent to which legal nihilism and ethical dualism are institutionalized at the macro level, as well as the micro factors of gender-specific socialization and studying law, has a significant effect on the propensity to act corrupt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article author provides historical sociological analysis of changes in the system of higher education during the period from the second half of the 19th century until the 1930s in the Russian Empire and later on in the Soviet Union. By analyzing historical materials, legal acts and interpretations author also addresses two important questions of the sociology of education. First one is what role plays education in the forming of modern society. Second is how the higher education institutions in general and Universities in particular reflect the changes in the society and adjust to those changes and how state and government affect the education in general. The purpose of this article is to analyze the higher education system in Russia and its role in the life of Russian society from the second half of the 19th century to the 20s of the 20th century. As theoretical framework author uses modernization theory of Czech-British philosopher and social anthropologist, Ernest Gellner (1925-1995) and his idea of education as source of new universal high culture which forms modern societies. Another theory which is also used in the following research is the ideas of modern Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells and his ideas of the role modern universities play in Western societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study sought to obtain information that would allow the evaluation of respondents' opinions regarding the increase in Russophobia, in the context of the crisis in Ukraine, determined by the so-called "special military operation". We measured the degree of perception of the respondents towards the measures adopted by the international community towards the Russian Federation, in various fields of activity (culture, scientific research, sport, economy, politics and diplomacy and the military field). The study was built on the basis of the questionnaire applied to a figure of 1754 people, with permanent residence in Romania and the minimum age of 18. The data were collected between 15 October-15 November 2022, at a reasonable time interval from the onset of the crisis in Ukraine, assuming that the opinions of the interviewed persons regarding its negative impact on societal life are well settled. In the context of the sanctions ordered by the international community against the Russian Federation, the study reveals that important percentages of the age samples of the respondents who are aware of the obstruction/prohibition of the promotion of elements specific to culture (28.2-50%), to scientific research (21.1-54.7%), sports (58.5-93.4%), economic exchange (63.9-96.3%), and political and diplomatic relations (62.6-92.5%) between the Russian Federation and the democratic world. Representative percentages of respondents consider the above-mentioned approaches beneficial in the field of sports (50.3%), in the field of economic exchanges (64.9%) and in the field of political and diplomatic relations (58.3%), while a much smaller share of them have similar opinions in the field of culture (19.8%) and in the field of scientific research (20.9%), with the vast majority of respondents rejecting such an approach. The study highlights that 43.9% of the respondents believe that the political and diplomatic isolation of the Russian Federation by the countries of the democratic world will lead to the resolution of security issues at the regional and global level, and 78.5% of them believe that the Federation Russia is interested in regaining global superpower status and reconfiguring a new geopolitical architecture. In this context, 76% of the respondents believe that the Russian Federation is not interested in establishing a global climate of peace and security, as a result, 45.4% of the respondents consider that it is not appropriate to reintegrate the Russian Federation into the system of international relations, even in the event of signing a peace agreement with Ukraine. On the other hand, the study highlights that 74.8% of the respondents consider the support offered by the international community to Ukraine to counter the military aggression as being beneficial, and a percentage of 53.6% of the respondents consider such an approach by Romania to be appropriate, even if 39.7 % of them share the opinion that the security interests of Romania would be affected. Although the Russophobic attitude, at the level of some important segments of the population in Romania, has a temporary continuity influenced by major political contexts that have marked bilateral relations, it is noted that with the start of the "special military operation" by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the level of Russophobia has acquired a new degree of significance among the citizens of Romania, manifesting itself in various areas of societal life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ancient trees in the Tuva Republic have both cultural and scientific significance. Our study provides a synthesis of the results of the dendrochronological research carried out by the Siberian Dendrochronological Laboratory over the past 16 years in the Tuva Republic, Russian Federation. By applying state-of-the-art dendrochronological analysis, we identified the oldest dead larch tree (Larix sibirica Ldb.) in the study region, which had reached 1,307 years old. Living larch trees from the forest-steppe zone (1,000-1,500 m asl) and at the upper treeline (2,000 m asl) are known to have reached 779 and 662 years respectively. Such old trees are of great interest for the scientific community and society. Old living larch trees have witnessed the rise and fall of great nomadic civilizations and agricultural changes. Their identification and protection increase their attraction for tourists and enrich the cultural significance of the region. Until now, however, these trees have remained unprotected and are not registered in international and national registers of long-living trees. In this study, we aim to raise awareness of the need to develop forest protection policies and to preserve ancient living larch trees in the Tuva Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis, a wave of scholarship resorted to realism and its core assumptions in an attempt to explain Russia's assertiveness. This article challenges these predominant accounts by contending that the co-constitutive link between identity and foreign policy deserves far greater attention to understand Russia's international actions. To this end, it examines the evolution of an underexplored yet central subset of Russia's foreign policy in the post-Soviet space, namely its cultural diplomacy. Concretely, it applies a poststructuralist research design to a textual selection including official documents and Presidential declarations from 2008–2018, semi-structured interviews with policy-makers, cultural operators and experts, and participant observation. The article finds that, between 2008 and 2012, three competing articulations of identity were proposed in Russia's cultural diplomacy, targeting Russian (Russkiy) ethnicity, the country's multi-ethnicity, and its collective memory. However, after the 2012 presidential elections, these were replaced by a new articulation reproducing Russia's identity through a) radicalization of cultural differences (with the West/the EU) and b) negation of alternative identities (within Russia and the post-Soviet space). Amidst increased political contestation with the 2011–12 Russian protests, this hegemonic intervention from the state-level sought to (re-)produce this identity through an antagonistic delimitation of the social and secure the regime's survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In post-soviet Russia, sobornost' has been a historic ideal and cultural resource that diverse actors have used in order to construct anew the nation's dignity and status. This study analyses the promotion of the (imperial) culture of sobornost' by Patriarch Kirill and Patriarch Alexy based on 36 speeches they delivered from 1993 to 2022 at the World Russian People's Council, in a forum purposefully established to enhance the culture of sobornost'/solidarity in Russian society. The findings of a qualitative thematic analysis of the speeches identified common themes (such as 'true historical path'), thematic changes (such as the adoption of geopolitical discourse on family), thematic emphases uniquely present at particular 'times' (such as at the EU enlargement of 2004), themes related to the promotion of sobornost' at the level of the trans-national church, and its correlates—Russian state-civilization, globalization, and confrontation with the West. The findings demonstrate agreement in the messages of Patriarch Alexy and Patriarch Kirill as well as specific content and style that were articulated only by the latter. In the conclusion, we compare Kirill's culture of sobornost' with Roman Catholic synodality and with Russian 19th century applications of the same concept, and Kirill's entrepreneurial construction of national identity from the perspective of glocalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategic environment is evolving rapidly with the recognition of cyberspace as a domain of warfare. The increased interest in cyber as a part of defence has heightened the need for theoretical tools suitable to assess cyber threat perceptions and responses to these threats. Drawing from previous research, we will formulate an analytical framework to study the formation of Russian thinking on cyber threats as a part of Russian strategic culture. This article identifies a sense of vulnerability, the narrative of Russia as a besieged fortress and the technological inferiority of Russia as specific factors influencing Russian cyber threat perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine how different factors (multiple stigmatization, perceived social status, and workers' sex) as well as their interactions are associated with the dehumanization of workers. In the preliminary study (N = 991), we selected 16 occupations with different types of stigmatization and perceived status relevant to the Russian socio‐cultural context. In two experimental studies (N1 = 1060, N2 = 1081), we demonstrated that multiple stigmatization increases metaphor‐based and attribute‐based animalistic but not mechanistic dehumanization: low‐status workers were more animalistically dehumanized than high‐status workers; the high status decreased the metaphor‐based animalistic dehumanization of occupations with multiple stigmatization, and the attribute‐based animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization of workers regardless of their stigmatization; and male workers were more mechanistically dehumanized than female ones but there were no differences in animalistic dehumanization. The results obtained are discussed in the context of understanding the specificity of workers' dehumanization and the possible consequences of this dehumanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses, and subsequent increases in turnover, have been extensively documented. This article examines a profile of nurses which included (1) the degree to which direct-care nurses are caring for themselves, (2) the degree to which their manager acts in a caring way, (3) the degree to which nurses have clarity about their professional role and about how the system works, and (4) the degree to which nurses are satisfied with essential social and technical dimensions of their jobs, to help understand how some of the critical internal states and working relationships of nurses fit together as a model. To test the model, authors used structural equation modeling with a 35-item measurement tool in three countries (Russia, Serbia, and Turkey; n = 984), replicating a recent 8-country study. Results revealed a good model fit, similar to the original study, despite statistically significant differences in mean scores between the countries studied. Good model fit with a second group of countries, despite differences in mean scores, suggests that results from both studies can be used for a global conversation about how caring, clarity, and job satisfaction in nursing relate to one another. These results provide evidence that health facilities should study variables such as caring for self, caring by the unit or department manager, clarity of role and system, and job satisfaction to learn about, recover, and monitor nurses' health and experience of work as they emerge from the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a critical examination of various scholarly works that attempt to study political cultures of Russia and Kazakhstan in order to explain the ways in which participatory trends are taking place. The existing literature on political cultures of these two countries is impressionistic and somehow contradictory. Reviewing recent insights into the new types of political participation both offline and online, I argue that Almond and Verba's (1963) 'civic culture' lacks contestation, a fourth form of political culture. Contestation in the forms of various protests, central to less open and more autocratic societies such as Russia and Kazakhstan, have strengthened in the emerging era of Web 3.0 and globalisation. Drawing from different surveys and recent political events, the present study argues that in order to study political cultures and participation in Russia and Kazakhstan, one needs to consider contestation along with the 'civic culture' offered by Almond and Verba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Second, US military culture prioritizes conventional interstate war over intervention in foreign internal conflicts, whereas Russia and Iran have a broader view of the military's mission. At a press conference in 2015, Barack Obama predicted that Russian intervention in Syria would end in ignominy and Moscow would be "stuck in a quagmire."[1] Rather than repeat America's own tough experience in recent Middle Eastern wars, however, the Russian operation helped Syrian president Bashar al-Assad seize the initiative and recapture Aleppo. Why the United States Is Losing - And Russia and Iran Are Winning [44] The experience of sustained counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan spurred greater attention to irregular war and led to the rise of counter-insurgency experts, or "COINdinistas", like David Petraeus.[45] During the last decade, however, the US military has pivoted back to its comfort zone of preparing for interstate war. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Social Compass is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)