Abstract: The subject of this research is the phenomenon of modernization and its role in the current political processes. The goal of the article is the substantiation of the possibilities of implementing sociocultural mechanisms aimed at elimination of uncertainty of the transitional period in the post-Soviet societies. The author gives a detailed analysis to the adaptive-pursuant strategy of modernization, which simultaneously requires socialization of the society and establishment of the highly-qualified government structure. Individuals unprepared for changes cannot establish a modern state, and the unprofessional politicians cannot manage sophisticated dynamic processes. This work is based on the specifically devised and scientifically proven sociocultural concept, highlighting precise stages and phases of its realization. A special attention is given to the detection of factors that impede development of the society and formation of the sociocultural model of government. Focus is made on the problem of underestimation of the leading role of science, intellectual capital, and scientific foundation of state policy, without which the institutionalization of the processes is unattainable. An important role played theories of social mobility and social cooperation, as well as four principal standards of the “functional imperatives”: adaptation, targeted orientation, integration, and the theory of Talcott Parsons. Social changes serve as the social reformation of the post-Soviet societies. The author’s contribution into this topic is that the following questions are raised: 1) do the changes carry goal-oriented or spontaneous character (i.e. what is their nature); 2) what are the conditions for changes (basis and resources); 3) what needs to be changed, in what way, and by what means, etc.

Keywords: diagnosis of the situation, sociocultural examination, social diseases of the society, anti-crisis policy, stabilization, sociocultural order, sociocultural mechanisms of modernization, adaptive-pursuant policy, sociocultural space, scientific management of society

Abstract: The subject of this research is the international consulting activity of the non-governmental organizations (NGO). The main access of NGO to the international arena is the cooperation with the international governmental organizations. This cooperation is formally established with attainment of the consultative status (as the United Nations Economic and Social Council of the UN) or other official status. NGOs that operate on the international arena represent a particular group of organizations; they are identified by specific relationship with the government. In turn, the government adheres to a certain vector with such NGOs. This article reviews precisely the Russian NGOs, which conduct an international consulting activity; it based on the results of the sociological research via the method of expert interviews. The research was conducted in the spring of 2015; overall, 12 experts, representing the Russian NGOs or the government authorities that cooperate with these NGOs, participated in the survey. The scientific novelty consists in the examination of a particular group of NGOs that revolve in the international consulting field. The author’s main conclusion is that the Russian government structures collaborate with the Russian NGOs by following the general line, which can be describes as the line of resource support. There are two strategies characteristic to the Russian NGOs with regards to the government authorities: the strategy of active cooperation, and the strategy of limited cooperation.

Keywords: Non-governmental organizations, International consulting activity, Intergovernmental organizations, Strategies of NGOs, Sociology of international relations, Resource support of NGOs, Expert interview, Consultative status, ECOSOC, Russian NGOs

Abstract: In order to determine the organizational-theoretical foundations of the unification of the youth movement in Soviet Russia, the author meticulously studied the materials from the congresses and conferences of the Communist Party and Komsomol, legislative acts of the USSR and the RSFSR, speeches of the party and Komsomol leaders, as well as the edicts of the plenums of the Central Committees of the Russian Communist Party and the All-Union Communist Party. Based on the documents mostly kept in the Russian state archive of socio-political history and achievements of modern Russian historiography, the author presents the historical-legal research that demonstrates the key factors of the formation of monopoly of the Communist youth union. A special attention is given to the theoretical foundations of the correlation between Komsomol and Scouts, cultural-educational and religious youth unions, as well as the Russian social-democratic union of working youth. The author discovers the prerequisites of extrusion of rustic and student alternatives to Komsomol from the Russia’s youth movement.

Keywords: Komsomol monopoly, Communist Party, rustic alternatives, Scouts, student years, students, youth movement, Komsomol, socialist- democrats, political control

Abstract: The object of this research is the political conspirology of the Russian political discourse. The subject is the peculiarities of the genesis and development of the political conspirology within the Russian Federation. The author examines such aspects of the topic as the causes of formation of the political conspirology in Russia. The author also reviews the main subjects that articulate the conspirological theories within the framework of the Russian political discourse. A special attention is given to the stages of development of the political conspirology in the Russian Federation, as well as the transformation of the conspirological narratives under the influence of the factors of Russia’s foreign and domestic policy. Among the main conclusions of the conducted research is the determination of the genesis and main stages of development of the political conspirology in the Russian Federation, as well as classification of the existing conspiracy theories within Russia’s political discourse. The scientific novelty consists not only in the discovery of the stages of development of the political conspirology, but also the trend of transition of political conspirology into the ranks of political techniques used by the government-associated structures of the Russian Federation.

Keywords: political technology, crisis, super conspiracy, Russian Federation, political discourse, development, genesis, conspirology, disorder, massification

Abstract: The subject of this research is the human choice in the conditions of paradoxicality, compared in the series of reviewed precedents with the uncertainty and risk. A special attention is given to the choice in the area of public and political relations. Rational and intuitive choice is being analyzed from the perspective of the influence of rational-logical paradoxes, freedom of choice paradox, and limited choice paradox. The author also draws attention to the examination of the restrictions of human choice, which include gender, rational, procedural, situational, intuitive, etc. The article presents the examples of human choice within the world history and modern political sphere. The scientific novelty of the conducted research consists in the author’s approach towards formation of the analytical spatial model – “foundations/criteria/terms of choice”, which would reflect key variables of the analysis of human choice with the focus upon the information-analytical component of the process. The author also concludes that the intuitive choice requires moderate and rational optimization, which can be achieved by using the information-analytical methodologies of increasing the fullness and structuring of information that lay at the core of the rational choice.

Keywords: manipulation of choice, paradox of choice, limitation of choice, uncertainty, choice, paradoxology, paradox, intuitive choice, rational choice, freedom of choice

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the analysis of the means of constructing ethno-regional identity on the post-Yugoslavian space. The object of the research is the socio-political reality of the post-Yugoslavian space. The subject is the mechanisms, methods, and practices of legitimization of the political and social identity in the modern Montenegro. The authors note that after the collapse of Yugoslavia the policy of construction of a new sociality was taking place in the newly independent Balkan states in a similar way. Political and intellectual elites strived to break the ties with the past, rewrite history, and change the public consciousness. Similar processes also took place in Montenegro. The main vectors of structuring the ethno-regional identities became the underlining of the ethnic differences between the Serbs and Montenegrins, and creation of the “image of the enemy”. The article examines the ethnic, linguistic, religious and historical aspects of the socio-constructive activity of the political elites of the Montenegro. The social differentiation into Montenegrins and Serbs is only one of the aspects of the complicated ethnic composition of the country. The authors note that the role of the minorities in the construction of the ethno-regional identity of the modern Montenegro is not as evident as it is in the Serb-Montenegrin dichotomy, but the place in the formation of the modern political field of Montenegro is fairly weighty.

Keywords: Ethno-regional identity, Montenegro, Political elite, Political identity, Region, Historical discourse, Ethnos, Regionalism, Post-Yugoslavian space, Balkans

Abstract: This article presents certain preliminary results of the complex research on the far-right ideologemes within the consciousness of the student youth of the Rostov Oblast, conducted in 2015 by the scientific team led by S. P. Potseluev. The first part of the work is dedicated to the analysis of the rate of spreading of one of the two primary concepts of fascist ideology – palingenetic myth, within the student consciousness. The theoretical base of this research consists of the author’s concept of political ideologemes, developed upon the integrated linguistic and politico-philosophical notion of ideologeme (Mikhail Bakhtin, Fredric Jameson, and others); Michael Freeden’s concept-morphological approach, as well as Roger Griffin’s “corpuscular" web of far-right extremists are also used in the course of this research. The aforementioned theories were adjusted to the Russian political and sociocultural specificity. The research yielded specific data on the spread of far-right ideologemes within community, as well as on the ideas and values that can potentially develop into far-right ideologies. It is demonstrated that the imperial interpretation represents the sociocultural specificity of palingenetic myth on the consciousness of the youth of the Rostov Oblast.  

Keywords: right-wing radicalism, morphology of ideologies, concept, ideologeme, political ideologies, ultranationalism, fascism, youth, public conscience, sociological survey

Abstract: The subject of this research is the evolution of socio-political ideals in the Soviet literature during the period of 1970-1980 within the framework of the national vector, strengthened by the crisis of the imperial ideology, and etatization of the Soviet culture. The national dimension of socio-political ideals includes in itself both, the image of Russian people (on the example of village community, religious community, national culture, and perception from the “significant others”), as well as the legitimatization of the Russian state in its “white” and “red” versions. The following conclusions are made in the course of this research: national vector of evolution of the socio-political ideals had a dual orientation, reflecting the state as well as public demand for national development; representatives of the Soviet literature made a significant contribution into the creation of the “imagined community”, concentrated on the past and the present of the Russian people. The novelty factors of the conducted research include the comprehensive study of the Soviet literary works of the 1970’s-1980’s with highlights of the national vector and its elements.

Keywords: Orthodoxy, vilage community, Soviet literature, country prose, Russian people, national elite, Our contemporary, national ideology, "white" version of legitimacy, "red" version of legitimacy

Abstract: The subject of this research is the socio-political ideals of the Soviet literature during the period of 1953-1991, particularly the representatives of the “country prose” in the literature. The object is the history of development of the Soviet literature starting with the very first post-Stalin publications of Ilya Ehrenburg, Fyodor Abramov, Vladimir Pomerantsev, and finishing with the works of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Vladimir Nabokov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Anna Akhmatova, and others. The analysis of the “country prose” allowed us to thoroughly examine the process of revision of the principles of socialist realism and rebirth of the “timeless values” within the literature that affected the Soviet political atmosphere. The scientific novelty consists in the comparative and historical analysis of the various directions in the Soviet literature, including the “country”, “urban”, and “military” prose, which allows speaking of waves of continuity and intermittence of the Soviet and Russian literature tradition, and their important contribution into the process of political transformation of the Soviet society and government.

Keywords: urban prose, nationalism, ideology, country prose, thaw, socialist realism, Tamizdat, Samizdat, Soviet literature, collectivization

Abstract: The relevance of this topic is substantiated by the peculiarities of politicization of the Islamic factor in the modern world, and higher threat of the religious and political extremism and terrorism. This article is dedicated to the analysis of religion, as well as its effect upon the social, political, and spiritual life of society. The subject of this research is the possible developments in Islam justified by political processes. The object of this research is the Northern Caucasus. The author gives a detailed review to such aspects as religious schism within Islam and emergence of various new directions, as well as reformation attempt to renew and revive Islam through the mechanisms and ideals of political power. A special attention is given to the conservative Islam, driven to the temptations of political authoritarianism, and liberal-modernist Islamism realized in the political conformity. The possible politicization of Islam can result in the rebirth of spiritual values for the good of the community, or can equally disrupt the harmonious development that can bring violence and terror. The biggest threat to the modern world order is the radical-extremist Islamism, exposing its destructive nature, which has nothing in common with actual Islam. The novelty and conclusions of this research are substantiated by the search for ways and mechanisms of socio-political actualization of the reformation prospects of the liberal-modernist vector of Islam as the one that is closest to the global, civilizational trends of development of the modern world order. The authors conclude that in the modern world, terrorism as a destructive trend of politicizes theocracy undermines the humanistic essence of any religion, including Islam.

Keywords: multiculturalism, transformation, globalization, terrorism, extremism, politicization, radical Islamism, conservative Islamism, tolerance, spiritual values

Abstract: This work analyzes the public policy in the post-Soviet Buryatia in the sphere of religion. Focusing on the cooperation of the Russian Orthodox Church and the government, the author examines how the notions of “Russian” and “Orthodox” fuse into one on the level of public policy. The focus is made on the processes that allow the Russian Orthodox Church to directly affect the political decisions on behalf of a large ethnic group. The author researches how the Orthodoxy – in the process of active transformation of the confessional field of the republic after the collapse of the USSR – received the status of traditional religion. The new institutional approach allowed studying the normative system of unification of Russian and Orthodox population of Buryatia within the framework of public policy. The author concludes that in the end, this phenomenon reflected in a system of norms that shifted between formal and informal scheme. In any of the cases throughout the entire post-Soviet period this normative system defined the public policy in the sphere of religion. The gradual inclusion of the Russian Orthodox Church into the political process served as a cause for granting this religious organization the status of an independent social organization, which represents the interests of the Russian population of this region.  

Keywords: Russian Orthodox Church, representation, new institutionalism, institution, Russian, Orthodoxy, public policy, post-Soviet, Buryatia, traditional religion

Abstract: The subject of this research is subsidiarity, as a principle of political-territorial structure within the context of decentralization of government power. The author gives an in-depth review to the social teaching of the Catholic Church and Protestant ethics upon the formation of perception in the Western political thought on the acceptable level of state involvement and preference towards greater decentralization of government power. A special attention is given to the demarcation of the notion “horizontal subsidiarity”, which is more likely sharing of responsibility with the institutions of civil society. Within the framework of the review of the “vertical subsidiarity” a separate attention is given to the Catholic perception on correlation of authority and society, as well as society and individual. The novelty of this research consists in the examination of the form of political-territorial construct as a system subject to a substantial influence of the religious factor. The work presents the translation of several encyclicals of Roman Popes, which reflect the key principles of state functionality in the perception of the Catholic social doctrine during the end of the XIX – beginning of the XX centuries.

Keywords: calvinism, encyclical, Italy, European Union, catholic social teaching, decentralisation, regionalism, federalism, subsidiarity, protestantism

Abstract: The subject of this research is the interdisciplinary collaboration of sciences and knowledge overall, and sociological science in particular. The experience of the development of sciences most often confirms their formal mutual cooperation; at the same time methods and techniques of conducting the applied researchers are being borrowed. Every so often, sciences tolerate the partial use of the methods of empirical sociology. They do not evaluate neither the adequacy of implementation of one or another method or means of measurement, nor devise necessary tools. Such state of collaboration cannot be called interdisciplinary as it exists; thus, the article focuses of the determination of boundaries of interdisciplinarity within the socio-humanistic knowledge. The subject of the research is being reviewed in the broad spectrum of the value-conceptual phenomena within mutual systematic cooperation. Among the main conclusions are the following positions: sociology utilizes many research methods, and other sciences borrow first and foremost the methodological base. However, interdisciplinarity also provides other conditions and results of the collaboration of the scientific knowledge: a) theoretical and methodological reflection; b) accord of actions in resolution of a specific scientific problem; c) establishment of a connection with foreign researches; d) creation of  a scientific school, etc.

Keywords: methodology, social knowledge, cognition, norms, values, sociology, society, culture, science, problems of sociology