Academic literature on the topic 'Post-communism – Social aspects – Russia (Federation)'

Introduction. Pneumococcal meningitis (PM) refers to severe manifestations of pneumococcal disease with high mortality and frequent post-infectious complications. In the context of the introduction of vaccination against pneumococcal infections in the Russian Federation healthcare practice increases the importance of close monitoring of the spread of the PM in the country, identifying areas of concern, the definition of risk and serotype structure of pneumococcus, which is an essential component of the assessment of the effectiveness of vaccination. Materials and methods. We collected 1380 cases identified by the PM on the territory of the Russian Federation in 2010 - 2014. We analyzed the incidence, mortality, mortality, age distribution, social belonging PM patients in the whole country, and in the federal districts. Determined serotype affiliation 35 pneumococcal strains isolated from patients with PM in Russia in 2015. Results. The proportion of pneumococci in the etiological structure of bacterial meningitis during the 2010 - 2014 fluctuated in the range of 18.4 - 24.8% and averaged 22.1%. The incidence of the PM in the Russian Federation in 2010 - 2014 determined at the level of 0.19, the death rate - 0.03. The level of mortality in pneumococcal meningitis in the Russian Federation in 2010 - 2014 increased from 13 (2010) to 21.1% (2014), the average was 17.1%. The most vulnerable age groups were adults over 25 years old and children up to 6 years. Among children under the age of 6 years mortality was 10.7%. The study of serotypes of 35 pneumococcal strains showed that in 2015 serotype structure of invasive pneumococcal vaccine serotypes maintained dominance, the proportion reached 75% for PCV13 and 54% for PCV10. Conclusion. The problem of pneumococcal meningitis remains valid in the Russian Federation. Active use of vaccines, especially in children, will reduce the incidence of this infection and the severity of its consequences.

The article examines the problems of transformation of migration policy and territorial devel-opment strategy of Russia in the post-Soviet period. Some aspects of the development of market relations and integration processes in Russia are analyzed in historical retrospect. Conclusions from the comparison of the stages of integration development within the framework of the CMEA and the EAEU are summarized. The objectives of the "Concept of the state Migration Policy of the Russian Federation for 2019-2025" and "Strategy of Spatial development of the Russian Federation for the period till 2025" are analyzed. The inconsistency is noted between the goals of territorial development of the Russian Federation, proposed the "Strategy of spatial development of the Russian Federation for the period till 2025" approaches to reducing uneven socio-economic development of the Russian Federation, the quality of life of Russians, excluding migration as an important mechanism of territorial redistribution of Russians on the territory of the country. The author gives an example of his own participation in the development of theoretical and practical approaches to reduce the severity of the problem of significant territorial differentiation of the quality of life of Russians in the period of administrative-command, planned economy in the RSFSR. Emphasizes the enduring social purpose of the concept of a Unified Settlement System (USS) proposed by B. S. Khorev on the territory of the RSFSR. It raises the question about the need for creative adaptation of the proposed by USS solutions to the social territorial inequalities in the digital economy. The need to use the USS methodology to select and formulate the goal of territorial development of the Russian Federation — the social state. Take into account the specifics of modern processes of globalization — the regionalization, both in the concepts of migration policy and in the strategies of territorial development of the Russian Federation in the coordinates of the prospects for developing and defining the goals of the concept of demographic development within the EAEU, proposed for discussion by S. V. Ryazantsev.

The paper considers some aspects of governmental control for relations between peoples and ethnic groups in multicultural Soviet and post-Soviet Russia in setting the stage of inter-ethnic communication culture in student youth community. The historical conditions of appearance of academic interest to easing inter-ethnic and inter-confessional tension among humanities scholars and researchers focused on problematics challenged by social sciences are described. Also, the paper sums years-long experience of public management of inter-ethnic relations in three multicultural territories of modern Russia (Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Republic of Tatarstan, Republic of Chechnya); the author expresses her own views on effectiveness of state control measures aimed at building inter-ethnic relations culture in student community resided these regions of the Russian Federation.

This article examines the effectiveness of using discourse analysis and content analysis for studying the political reform in Russia, as well as assesses the heuristic potential of both methods. Attention is turned to methodological difficulties that emerge in the context of sociological study of the systemic social processes. On the example of content analysis of the messages of the President of the Russian Federation, the author demonstrated the correlation between the discourse around the reform and the real course of reforms. The conclusion is made that proliferation of the interpretation of social reality as a text in sociology increases the relevance of both discourse analysis and content analysis, which is confirmed by their wide application in the course of sociological research of the political sphere. The author considers feasibility of the use of discourse analysis and content analysis for studying the political reform in Russia, and assesses the heuristic potential of both methods. The author draws attention to the methodological difficulties that arise in the sociological study of systemic social processes. It is established that the topic of reforms in the various spheres of social life is present in all messages of the President in one way or another. However, the connotation of the very concept of reform has gradually changed from solely positive in the first years of post-Soviet history, when the need for the early transition to new types of economic, political and social relations was justified, to neutral or rather negative, when the reforms are localized in particular spheres of society or are interpreted as disadvantageous.

Epidemiological situation related to the spread of streptococcal infection and post-streptococcal diseases in the world remains tense in recent decades. According to the World Health Organization, more than 616 million cases of streptococcal pharyngitis occur annually in the world. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in infectious diseases and one of the main human pathogens. The prevalence of severe cases of GAS infections amounted to 18.1 million people worldwide. At the same time, in recent years outbreaks of scarlet fever have been recorded in some countries. In 2011, scarlet fever rate was 10 times higher than the average rate of the previous decade. In the past 3 years, epidemics of scarlet fever have been registered in the UK, with an increased incidence every year. Although there are significant achievements in the fight against rheumatic fever (RF), it keeps reminding of itself in the form of new outbreaks. Currently, acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is not a mass disease, but it is a serious problem associated with heart damage. In the article, we analyzed incidence and prevalence of RF, rheumatic heart disease (RHD), chronic pharyngitis, nasopharyngitis, sinusitis and rhinitis. We present the comparative characteristic among children, adolescents and adults. We also describe high epidemiological and social significance of the problem and possible increase of RF and RHD, which cause significant social and economic damage, remaining the urgent problem of public health in Russia. It was revealed that the situation with ARF and RHD in Russia remains unstable. Between 1997 and 2016, epidemiological indicators of streptococcal infection tend to increase moderately. ARF incidence significantly increases with an average growth rate (AGR) of 2.5 %, while its prevalence has the opposite tendency to decrease. AGR was –29.2 %. RFD incidence showed a significant indicators increase with AGR of +1.1 %. At the same time, the prevalence tended to decrease and STP was –2 %. The situation makes it necessary to strengthen the epidemiological control of streptococcal infection and increase the alertness of doctors regarding the new cases of ARF and RHD.

Methodological approaches to the organization of social and labour relations are systematized. The dynamics of the institutional environment of the labour market and vocational training system interaction in Russia is revealed. The peculiarities of the Russian experience of institutionalization of labour relations in the field of qualifications are shown. Post-industrial development of socio-economic systems, the processes of globalization, the transition of the Russian economy to an innovative model of development, the knowledge economy, the acceleration of scientific and technological progress and other objective challenges have necessitated the development of new human resource management mechanisms. In modern conditions the staff of an organization is considered to be the human capital, i.e. the field for strategic investments, a key factor in ensuring the competitiveness and sustainable development of the country, the region, the sector, the company rather than the costly part of the economy. Currently, one of the main problems of human resourcing for economic growth in the European Union and the Russian Federation is professional and qualification imbalance of supply and demand on the labour market. The National Qualifications System is aimed at solving the problems of linking the labour market with vocational training. Problematic aspects of development of the Russian National Qualifications System are marked.

The author made an attempt to study the role of the descendants of the nobility in the new socio-economic and political realities of Russia at the end of the XX - first decades of the XXI century. The author focuses on the processes of recreation and subsequent activities of noble societies. The basis of the source base was a series of interviews with the descendants of the nobility living in the territory of the Russian Federation and in the countries of the post-Soviet space. The research identified the stages of development of the noble organizations, the main aspects of their activities. A comparative analysis was carried out with the pre-revolutionary noble corporate organization, which made it possible to characterize the main ideals of this social group and to make a comparative analysis with the value system of the class of the pre-revolutionary period. The range of problems faced by noble societies in modern Russia is highlighted. The results of the study can be used to comprehensively characterize the activities of corporations of the nobility in Russia, as well as the activities of the descendants of the nobility in the modern world.

The paper analyzes a symbolic notion that entered Polish political discourse at the time of political transformation, namely the notion of homo sovieticus. The author emphasizes a dichotomy in how this notion has been presented in Poland and in the Soviet Union, and later in the Russian Federation. In Poland this symbol was primarily assigned all the negative features associated with the pre-transformation society and with soviet ‘communism’ (Rev. J. Tisch- ner). In Russia, the associations most frequently evoked by the notion of homo sovieticus were more varied (A. Zinovjev, S. Alieksiyewich, W. Yerofieyev). Ideological zeal, or commitment to the ethos of work, were referred to more often there. Czes3aw Milosz presented an- other interesting approach to the topic, interpreting homo sovieticus more in terms of a victim of the ‘totalitarian system’ while emphasizing the issue of violence – both symbolic and subjective, and the uniformization of society (which had a considerable impact on ‘shaping’ the social mass as desired by the authorities). The paper attempts to stress the fact that the notion of homo sovieticus or soviet man is frequently refused the right to an actual identity, as it is mainly associated with the negative aspects of human nature. It is forgotten that an individual identity is the sum total of many factors: its self-identification and placement, the collective self-consciousness of the group, the historical conditions or axiological system prevailing and socially accepted in a given historical period.

As of this time, the religious behavior of young people, the specifics of their religious practices and their general attitude to religion have not been adequately studied. The same fully applies to the influence of youth religious culture on the religious environment. Meanwhile, a better understanding of the religiosity level among young people and its specific features would have produced a more balanced and more adequate religious policy and helped preserve interconfessional harmony and stability in the post-Soviet space. In the course of our studies we defined the level of religiosity by the extent to which the sacral duties (i.e., fasting, praying, pilgrimage to holy places and voluntary offerings) were observed. The attitude of the younger generation to religious extremism was also examined. We based our research on the results of public opinion polls among the young people in the cities of Turkestan (Kazakhstan) and Nizhnekamsk (Tatarstan, Russian Federation). It turned out that the level of religiosity (as per the above parameters) among the young people of Tatarstan was lower by almost two times than that in Kazakhstan, yet the type of their religious culture does not negatively affect religious stability. The high and ever-growing level of religiosity among all population groups (younger generation included) is present in the southern regions of Kazakhstan (the Turkestan Region being no exception), which are seen as a zone of high risk of religious extremism. The results of recent studies, however, confirmed that current social instability is not rooted in youth radicalism: the level and nature of religious activity in this population group are not a threat to religious stability in the region. Indeed, the majority of the respondents in the Turkestan Region had no personal experience of dealing with radical religious extremists; a smaller part (a third) of the respondents believes that the threat is real. In Tatarstan, on the other hand, the share of respondents who are aware of the threat of religious extremist activity and fear it is nearly 40%; the share of those who admit that religious extremists are present among the republic’s younger generation is even higher (81%). While the majority of the respondents assessed the religious situation in Tatarstan as fairly stable, 40% remained convinced that religious extremists may destabilize the religious environment in the region. Since the level of religiosity among the polled young people in Tatarstan is nearly half the size of that in Kazakhstan, it can be defined as a zone of low youth religious activity. The level of religiosity in Turkestan makes it a zone of average religious activity. Comparative analysis of the religiosity level among the younger generation helped us identify certain factors that negatively affect interconfessional stability in Kazakhstan and Russia and suggest an efficient religious policy.

Although it is commonly known that the dominant trend in the development of modern post-industrial society is globalization, today we can already talk about glocalization as a bidirectional process of integration and localization, complementary to the dialectical development of mankind. This process implies the unification of all spheres of social life in a single global space and the isolation of individual regions and ethnic groups as a protective reaction to preserve their uniqueness and identity. The described social trends are now becoming decisive for the development of the education system as the main social institution. Migration processes and related problems of integrating migrants into a new society, preserving the national language and culture, searching for identity - all these phenomena necessitate innovative methodological solutions that should be implemented in the context of learning the Russian language at a multicultural Russian school. The article considers topical problems related to the implementation of the program of teaching the Russian language in a multicultural environment. The authors propose a conceptual definition of a multicultural school. They analyze the pedagogical experience of individual educational institutions developing their own training methods for use in a multicultural environment. This analysis makes it possible to identify socio-adaptive, cultural, psychological and linguistic aspects of teaching Russian in a multicultural school. Along the way, an increase in the psychoemotional burden of teachers working in multi-ethnic classes is noted. Additionally, the effective experience of implementing preschool language training of non-native speakers in the Moscow region is analyzed. In line with the above, the authors review the current situation with regard to teaching the Russian language in the multiethnic regions of Russia through the example of the Republics of Sakha (Yakutia) and Tatarstan. In particular, it is noted that for the regions of the Russian Federation it is methodologically incorrect to use the term multicultural school, since in the national constituent entities of the Russian Federation there is a special type of national school, and a program for studying Russian as a non-native language is also being implemented.

Defence date: 16 April 2016
Examining Board: Professor Dr. rer. Pol. Dr. h.c. Hans-Peter Blossfeld, European University Institute; Professor Dr. Dmitry Kurakin, Higher School of Economics; Professor Dr. David Bills, University of Iowa, Professor Dr. Klarita Gërxhani, European University Institute.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent rapid shifts in economic, political, and social institutional arrangements – labeled here as a regime change – offer a unique opportunity to explore how patterns of social inequality vary across broader institutional contexts and over time. How the stratification order between different social groups has changed in the aftermath of the regime change in Russia is a central question I raise in this thesis. In contrast to prior research, I draw on a life-course perspective and address several rather untouched aspects of social inequalities in Soviet and post-Soviet societies and investigate them in terms of school-to-work and work-to-school transitions in the earlier and later life courses. Empirically, I employ powerful longitudinal data from the Education and Employment Survey for Russia (EES) linked to the Russian Gender and Generation Survey (GGS), which cover life trajectories in a time-frame between 1965 and 2005. Compared with previous studies, that data enable me to utilize a much larger observation window to scrutinize long-term consequence of the regime change in Russia. First, I tackle social inequality in terms of horizontal gender differences and vertical gender inequalities upon labor market entry. My findings reveal that despite proclaimed equality principles, the school-to-work transition was by no means gender-neutral in Soviet Russia, with women facing a net vertical disadvantage in job authority. This inequality has increased even more since the collapse of the Soviet Union, particularly due to worsening chances for female entrants. Second, I explore inequality of adult-educational opportunity due to initial educational level and occupational position. My results suggest that selective participation in adult education might lessen or exacerbate inequality of adult-educational opportunity depending on type of adult education and analyzed group of participants. Nonetheless, the collapse of the Soviet Union has contributed to inequality of adult-educational opportunity, thereby strengthening the exacerbation effects of adult education on social inequalities. Third, I investigate whether participation in adult education may improve career opportunities, thereby mitigating social inequalities that emerged in the earlier life course. My findings show that adult education either benefits all participants or those who are already advantaged. Overall, the results point to a mechanism of persistence or reinforcement of social inequalities. Furthermore, returns to adult education have decreased or been not offset since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Finally, throughout my thesis I put a particular focus on gender. Altogether, my findings unravel noteworthy gender inequalities arising in the initial career stages. These initial (dis-)advantages cumulate over men's and women's life courses, thereby contributing to overall social inequality in Russia, and specifically during the post- Soviet period. I conclude that the regime change was accompanied by a widening of preexisting social distances and an effective amplification of the Russian society's stratification order.

Who supports social policy in the developing world? Most of what we know about micro-level preferences for social policy comes from well-developed, wealthy countries of the OECD, where governments can credibly commit to policy enforcement and implementation. This dissertation explores preferences for social policy in post-communist countries, where weak constraints on the state challenge the welfare state. In doing so, it provides novel insights both into social policy debates in these countries and the coalitions which support (or oppose) social policy. I argue that support for social policy depends on how institutions shape the expectations of actors about the costs they pay into social policy programs versus future benefits. I draw on existing theories of political economy to propose four mechanisms -- misappropriation, contract enforcement, free-riding, and macro-economic risk -- that alter the distribution of winners and losers from social policy. Misappropriation stems from officials' ability to divert funding away from intended uses. While for most this imposes dead-weight costs on social policy, where institutions are poor. the politically well-connected can benefit from diverted funds to decrease social policy costs. The contract enforcement mechanism emerges due to the inability of weakly constrained states to enforce contracts. Predictions are similar to misappropriation, but actors also cannot trust other private actors with control of social policy. Free-riding emerges when bureaucrats are unwilling to expend effort to ensure tax compliance. Again, this imposes dead-weight costs on most, but garners support from tax evaders, who can free-ride. Finally, the macro-economic risk mechanism suggests that macro-economic volatility is heightened in settings with weak institutions, which increases both individual risk and support for social policy. The empirical portion of the dissertation tests the observable implications of each of these mechanisms. Chapter 2 provides a first-cut, cross-national test of part of the argument using micro-level data from a cross-national survey of 28 post-communist countries. I draw on work on informality in the post-communist world to identify individual characteristics associated with tax evasion to test the free-rider mechanism. Consistent with it, I show that those associated with evasion support social policy more where institutions are weaker. Chapter 3 posits that if the mechanisms I propose matter, actors will appeal to the logic of my theory during concrete reform debates. I test this using evidence from the 2001 pension reforms in Russia. I combine analysis of the legislative debates surrounding reform with in-depth content analysis of the Russian media, which draws on an original dataset of all mentions of reform in 352 Russian newspapers, journals, and trade magazines. I show that all four mechanisms were indeed major concerns. Chapter 4 tests the theory at the firm level, using a survey of 666 Russian firms to look at preferences where institutional quality is weak. I test whether firms that I predict support the welfare state in such settings -- those with political connections and a comparative advantage in hiding from the authorities -- actually do so. In addition to providing some support for the misappropriation and free-riding mechanisms, this chapter is a contribution in its own right: it is among the first to use surveys to study firms' preferences for social policy. Finally, chapter 5 uses a survey experiment conducted on 1600 respondents to attempt to understand the ceteris paribus effect of institutions on the average individual. Using a simple framing experiment, I provide three different treatment groups with information about bribery, tax evasion, and the extent to which private pension funds commit fraud to test the misappropriation, free-riding, and contract enforcement mechanisms, respectively. The chapter offers mixed evidence. The dissertation makes contributions to both the study of the welfare state and the political economy of institutions and investment. First, the dissertation explores preferences for social policy in the developing world and introduces institutional quality concerns to this literature. My work particularly focuses attention on the ways certain groups can abuse social policy to pass costs onto others, adding nuance to existing understandings of who benefits from social policy. Second, it advances our understanding of how institutional quality shapes economic decision making and provides evidence as to how different pathologies of poor institutions shape economic decisions.