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This study reexamines the relationship between the coexistence of distinct ethno-cultural groups and social connectedness. Although previous research suggests a negative association between neighborhood-level ethnic diversity or ethnic minority shares and individual integration, alternative theoretical perspectives propose that integration can occur equally well in neighborhoods with distinct ethnic groups but may require more time. Moreover, the causal nature of the observed negative relationship is unclear due to potential confounding biases related to neighborhood selection. To address these issues, this study presents a framework for estimating the longitudinal effects of neighborhood ethnic composition on social ties with neighbors. The objective is to estimate the differences in neighborly contacts between individuals in low- and high-minority share neighborhoods, under a counterfactual scenario where all households stay in their neighborhood for the same period. The findings challenge previous research by showing that the ethnic composition does not impact the quality of neighborly contacts. In addition, residing in a neighborhood for five years significantly enhances social connectivity, regardless of ethnic composition. These results suggest that reduced cohesion in areas with higher minority presence may be due to other factors such as socioeconomic disadvantage and housing instability.

Abstract This study investigates the challenges and opportunities in infrastructure development, inequality, and employment in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is a critical gap between infrastructure planning and execution, exacerbated by inadequate funding, bureaucratic hurdles, and a lack of technical expertise, leading to profound inequality in infrastructure and employment opportunities, particularly affecting rural and marginalized communities. The study aims to identify the mismatch between current job market needs and the workforce's skills, analyse the impact of rapid population growth and insufficient educational initiatives, and propose solutions for integrated infrastructure planning and equitable policy development. This research employs qualitative semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis using NVivo to gain in-depth insights into the institutional characteristics influencing infrastructure development, inequality, and employment. Findings reveal significant disparities in infrastructure and employment opportunities, with rural and marginalized communities being disproportionately affected. There is a notable mismatch between job market needs and the available workforce skills, further complicated by rapid population growth and inadequate educational initiatives. The study recommends an integrated approach to infrastructure planning that encompasses sustainability, accessibility, and equitable distribution. Policies should address inequality, ensure equitable access to infrastructure benefits, and align education and skill development with the evolving job market. Leveraging public–private partnerships is also suggested to accelerate infrastructure development efficiently. This paper contributes to the discourse on infrastructure, inequality, and employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing a roadmap for addressing these intertwined challenges through integrated policy initiatives.

Abstract E-governance has become a crucial element in transforming government institutions globally. In the digital era, governments are increasingly adopting information and communication technology (ICT) to improve efficiency, transparency, and public participation in decision-making processes. This article conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) of studies from 2018 to 2023, examining the intersection between e-governance and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through a rigorous inclusion and exclusion process, 52 articles were identified, focusing on the relationship between e-governance and SDGs. This study aims to highlight critical trends and knowledge gaps in the current literature and offers insights into how e-governance can contribute to achieving SDGs. Additionally, it provides policy recommendations and suggests future research directions to enhance governance practices. While this research significantly advances understanding of e-governance’s role in sustainable development, it is limited by its reliance on a single database and narrow search terms, which may constrain the comprehensiveness of the findings. Expanding the scope of future research to include multiple databases and broader search terms is recommended to provide a more holistic view of the field.

Abstract This article explores the profound macroeconomic consequences of forced migration on Lebanon's economy, with a specific focus on labor market dynamics. Drawing from extensive research and analysis, the study examines the factors driving migration, its impacts on the labor market, and the resultant economic challenges. It delves into the wage disparities, employment rates, and the informal sector's expansion due to the influx of migrants. The article also evaluates existing public policies and proposes strategic interventions aimed at fostering migrant integration and promoting sustainable economic growth. By addressing these critical issues, the forced aims to provide comprehensive policy recommendations to mitigate the adverse effects of forced migration and enhance Lebanon's economic resilience.

The morality of artificial intelligence (AI) has become a contentious topic in academic and public debates. We argue that AIs moral acceptance depends not only on its ability to accomplish a task in line with moral norms but also on the social status attributed to AI. Agent type (AI vs. computer program vs. human), gender, and organizational membership impact moral permissibility. In a factorial survey experiment, 578 participants rated the moral acceptability of agents performing a task (e.g., cancer diagnostics). We find that using AI is judged less morally acceptable than employing human agents. AI used in high-status organizations is judged more morally acceptable than in low-status organizations. No differences were found between computer programs and AI. Neither anthropomorphic nor gender framing had an effect. Thus, human agents in high-status organizations receive a moral surplus purely based on their structural position in a cultural status hierarchy regardless of their actual performance.

The desire to improve living conditions and social well-being has always determined efforts of both researchers and reformers, especially since the last quarter of the 20th century, filled with different types of development ideas. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Agenda implies accelerating the pace of basic human development with “leaving no one behind”, focusing mainly on improving the standard of living. However, in the contemporary world, well-being has become a multidimensional rather than a purely objective-economic concept, which determines the need for relevant approaches and methods for assessing and ensuring social well-being, especially in the non-western, developing countries. The first part of the article presents an overview of conceptual approaches and empirical methods typically applied in the study of well-being as rather a universal and unambiguous phenomenon, which is not relevant for the contemporary social realities. The second part of the article presents a specific case (Ghana) proving the validity of criticism in relation to the objectively ‘biased’ measurements of social well-being. One of the key social-economic challenges in Ghana is the low standard of living, especially in rural areas and northern regions suffering from the “multidimensional poverty”. In Ghana, basic studies of welfare and measurements of poverty (supported or conducted by the state institutions) rely on the monetized consumption and income approaches, following the European Commission’s definition of poverty as a state of economic deprivation, thus missing its subjective and social dimensions crucial for ensuring equity and social justice. The authors suggest an interpretation of social well-being as a combination of personal (overall satisfaction with life), relational (quality of social connections) and societal (social integration, acceptance, contribution, actualization and coherence, institutional trust) measurements, i.e., a combination of economic wellbeing, life satisfaction and societal well-being in the assessment of poverty and inequality at the national level. This interpretation was tested in the sociological survey conducted in 2022 as a basis for such an understanding of social well-being that aims at reducing inequality and improving living standards through better informed policies and programs.

This article considers the managerial aspect of digital transformation - various programs and infrastructure that have recently received the general name “algorithmic management”. The boom in the use of such tools occurred during the covid-19 pandemic as a unique set of circumstances for the digitalization of human life. The authorities of several countries monitored their citizens’ behavior, including with the QR-code systems that limited their rights, in the fight against the spread of the covid-19, which has caused discussions and even protests. Businesses accelerated their digital transformation in HR management due to government restrictions and lockdown measures and to production needs in the new conditions. Quarantines are over, but the active development of algorithmic management continues; it extends beyond the platform economy and plays an integral role in Industry 4.0, which makes the study of algorithmic management relevant and timely. A significant contribution to understanding algorithmic management was made by the report of the experts from the European Commission and International Labor Organization. Based on the relevant publications up to 2022, they suggested giving up the narrow understanding of algorithmic management as a platform economy issue; however, most studies are still based on this interpretation. The article presents a broader definition to identify additional social contradictions and challenges of digital transformation. The author considers algorithmic management in the perspective of sociology of management and sociology of technology, in particular the works of A. Feenberg and P. Edwards. The approach of sociology of technologies studies (STS) allowed the author not only to analyze the events of the recent pandemic but also to consider the future of such technologies under the transition towards Industry 4.0. The article identifies three elements of algorithmic management together with hidden social-managerial biases and contradictions related to their implementation and shows how the new approach integrates direct and indirect control in management.

In recent years, the unfinished sentences technique has become increasingly popular, especially for identifying everyday interpretations of concepts with ambiguous connotations (e.g., patriotism, heroism, etc.). The authors applied the unfinished sentences technique to study the phenomenon of cancel culture, which has been included in the scientific discourse relatively recently. The article presents different approaches to the definition and study of cancel culture, focusing on possible consequences of this phenomenon for society, and some concepts that are associated with cancel culture and can provide (albeit partial) explanation for it. The article describes the procedure and results of the exploratory study conducted by the authors and based on the unfinished sentences technique. Thus, respondents tend to define cancel culture as a means of influence used by society in case of unacceptable behavior. Respondents believe that no one is safe from “cancellation”, but decent people are less likely to be among the “cancelled”. Contrary to the media position, respondents more often associate cancellation not with media personalities (as its most likely objects) but with everyday immorality and stupidity; therefore, in general, attempts to cancel someone are perceived negatively based on the belief that cancel culture leads to emotional and social problems. As a rule, respondents consider actors with abnormal behavior (criminals, dishonest people, etc.) as deserving cancellation, thus, considering cancel culture as a means of protecting society from the destructive behavior of its members. If “cancellation” affects their personal interests, respondents would use the following tactics: in case of their “cancelling” respondents would prefer to correct their mistakes; if their loved ones are cancelled, respondents would focus on support and assistance; if the organization whose services respondents use is cancelled, they would rather be indifferent, since this situation does not directly affect their personality or self-perception.

The article shows how Russian students assess the role of the university as a socialization institution in strengthening the value of family and in their preparing for marriage, birth and raising children. Based on the results of the sociological study conducted in 2023, the authors consider issues related to the content of the educational process and make some recommendations for its optimization in the context of the state demographic policy. The empirical basis of the study consists of (1) the data of the survey of the Russian student youth from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Irkutsk, Orenburg, Pskov, Krasnodar, Perm and Stavropol (N=719); (2) the results of a series of focus groups with students of the Perm State National Research University (N=36). The article aims at identifying the ideas of Russian students about the influence of the university environment on the formation of family values. According to the students, the university educational environment still focuses on solving educational problems: transferring knowledge and skills required for successful employment of graduates and creating favorable conditions for learning - providing students with dormitories, forming scholarship funds. The authors argue that the measures taken to strengthen family values in universities are still insufficient: the students rate the lowest such conditions as taking into account the marital status of graduates when distributing them to workplaces, the availability of psychological and medical services, and the use of different formats for discussing family and childbearing issues. At the same time, some universities update and strengthen the guidelines for maintaining a balance between educational and upbringing activities related to family values. The authors make a conclusion that it is necessary to further improve educational-methodological, organizational, infrastructural and other conditions for maintaining a family-friendly environment at the university.

In 2023, the Center for Sociological and Political Research of the Belarusian State University conducted a longitudinal sociological study “Family Formation, Stable Family Relationships and Fertility in the Changing Social-Economic Conditions” in the framework of the international project “Strengthening the Scientific and Educational Potential of the Republic of Belarus in the Field of Collection, Analysis and Use of Demographic Data to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, implemented by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and funded by the Government of the Russian Federation. The conceptual and methodological basis of the study is the international research program “Generations and Gender” launched in 2001. Based on the methodology of this program, the similar studies were conducted in 26 countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Japan, Italy, Belgium, Norway, etc. The article presents the results of the second wave of the study, focusing on the current functional problems of the Belarusian family in the changing social-economic conditions: trends in family formation in the new life circumstances, criteria of stable family relations, and the evolution of social attitudes towards having children. The authors make conclusions about the dominant reproductive attitudes, the planned number of children, and changes in the family intergenerational relations. The results of the study will contribute to the development of additional measures to improve the state socialdemographic policy.

When implementing national projects, the Russian government aims at monitoring their achievement of national development goals, identifying changes in different ways. Thus, there is a need for social expertise that would allow to assess social effects of projects and to obtain feedback necessary for ‘smart’ management. The article presents some results of testing the methodology of remote social expertise developed by the Center for Sociology of Management and Social Technologies of the Institute of Sociology of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This methodology was designed to verify the fulfillment of the ‘social contract’ between society and the state in the framework of project decisions and to assess the extent to which these decisions refer to the interests, requests and needs of the population. This type of expertise allows to increase the reliability of data, since it implies questioning direct participants and beneficiaries of project decisions. The study aimed at testing the developed methodology of remote social expertise and obtaining objective information on the status of national projects, including problems accumulated in them. The expertise focused on 12 national projects. The methodology was tested in four regions of Russia with different levels of social-cultural modernization. The analysis of the data obtained proved the heuristic potential of the developed methodology as expanding the diagnostic, analytical and prognostic capabilities of assessing large projects.

The basis for the effective use and mobilization of the resources of the scientificpedagogical staff (SPS) of Russian universities in the interests of their development are adequate approaches to assessment. The practices of the SPS assessment are a part of university management activities, and today these practices require critical analysis for identifying directions for their improvement. The relevance of this research task is determined by the lack of comprehensive knowledge about the resource potential of the academic staff of Russian universities and about the possibilities of this potential productive realization under the current resource constraints of the higher education. The article aims at presenting management approaches to assessing the SPS resources applied in regional universities and at identifying ways for their improvement. The empirical basis of the article is the sociological study conducted in 2023-2024 using semi-structured interviews with representatives of academic community (N = 40) and university management (N = 25) in the Ural Federal District. The authors focus on the shortcomings of the formalized approach to assessing the resources of the academic staff, which is mainly used in programs for the university development and is based on quantitative metrics and limited information base (reports, statistical data, HR department certificates). The comparative analysis of the opinions of the academic and administrative staff showed a critical discrepancy between their ideas not only about the qualities and resources of the SPS but also about the efficiency of approaches used to assess them. The practical significance of the study lies in the explanation of the need for the integrated qualitativequantitative approach to assess resources of the academic staff based on the principle of “necessary and sufficient”. This approach allows to reveal all critical points in the academic staff state and development and to ensure the speed and validity of decisions in the university HR management.

The study of social-economic and other aspects of the life of single-parent families and of the influence of family structure on the success of children socialization remains relevant. The article aims at the analysis of the scientific discourse on single-parent families and social practices of single motherhood and fatherhood based on the Russian PhD theses defended from 2003 to 2023. The authors also used their PhD research data for a ten-year period (since 2012). The source of data was the Dissertation Fund of the Russian State Library (RSL). A total of 12 PhD theses in sociology, with the object and/or issues directly related to singleparent families, were identified and analyzed. Theses were classified according to the following parameters: specialty code (according to the Higher Attestation Commission List), year, city and organization of defense, methods and directions of research. The authors note that the issues under study turned out to be quite peripheral for sociology, since the number of defenses has decreased after 2013, and no doctoral theses have been defended for twenty years. Most theses were prepared in the specialty “Social structure, social institutions and processes” and defended in universities (not scientific organizations). As a rule, theses are based on traditional sociological methods to collect and analyze data and rarely use the capabilities of digital platforms and technologies. Most theses emphasize social risks and vulnerabilities of singleparent families. The authors believe that special longitudinal studies are needed to study the life chances, social mobility and economic success of children from families of different structural types and to analyze the lives of single mothers and fathers. Moreover, Russian theses do not sufficiently study the issues of mental and physical health of single mothers and fathers, parentchild relationships and economic status of single-parent families.

The article considers motivation of users of the “informal” sperm donation services and the new social phenomenon of ‘co-parenting’ which is defined in the sociological context as a new model of parenting - when a child is raised by two parents who are not in a traditional marriage. This new social phenomenon is associated with the spread of assisted reproductive technologies, in particular gamete donation, which allows infertile couples and single people to realize their reproductive rights. At the same time, ‘third’ parents (donors) can be involved in both giving birth and raising a child. Co-parenting creates new social relations and transforms traditional institutions of family and parenthood, raising questions about the legal status, rights and responsibilities of all participants, and about the impact of such a parenting model on socialization. In the contemporary society, the problem of infertility can be solved with new reproductive technologies: in addition to the traditional search for donors (through reproductive clinics), an alternative method has recently become widespread - the search for a donor of gametes (reproductive cells) on specialized websites. “Informal” gamete donation reflects deep social-cultural shifts in relation to reproductive technologies, which generates changes in parenting models, ethical norms, social attitudes and values. The authors conducted an empirical study, the object of which was the database of one such website (N=2960). This study allowed to present a social-demographic profile of the user of specialized Internet resources for finding a partner for joint childbirth in Russia, and the main motives of male donors and female recipients were identified. The results indicate the need for the improved access to formal donor programs and programs involving third parties in the parenting project, for the development of ethical standards regulating practices of “informal” sperm donation, and for further research to identify social, ethical and psychological consequences of “informal” sperm donation and effective strategies to eliminate negative consequences of this practice.

The search for an optimal model of local self-government that best reflects the interests of local communities has always been a pressing issue for the Russian Federation, since local government is closest to the population and is expected to solve most everyday problems. This issue is considered in the article based on the monitoring sociological studies conducted in the Krasnoyarsk Region as a micro-model of the Russian Federation according to many statistical indicators and sociological data. The results of the surveys allowed the author to make the following conclusions. First, the transition since 2010 to the indirect elections of heads of local government (“city-manager” and “council-commission” models) has not led to an influx of effective managers into power - heads of local government remain insufficiently effective and unpopular but win indirect elections provided the preliminary approval of their candidacies by the regional government. Second, the turnover among the heads of local governments has increased significantly: in half of the territories of the Krasnoyarsk Region, the heads elected in 2015 did not work until the end of the period under consideration from six months to three years; therefore, 2, 3 or even 4 managers held the position of the administration head. Such early resignations were initiated mainly by the law enforcement agencies (every fifth head of local authorities was convicted under a criminal article) and regional authorities. Third, municipal leaders have lost popularity, so the municipal elections turnout has significantly dropped. Fourth, over a ten-year period, the acuteness of social problems that worry citizens has not been eliminated or at least reduced. Fifth, the population’s self-assessments of financial situation and social well-being have deteriorated. All this indicates the risks of losing legitimacy by local authorities in the large Siberian region.

The article is a review of the book Social Identification of New Religious Movements in the Republic of Belarus (Minsk, 2024. 664 p.) by V.A. Martinovich. This book presents a littlestudied aspect of culture - diverse new religious movements (NRM), peculiarities of their attitudes to society and public reactions to their activities. Based on the examples from the history of sociology of religion, the author argues that there is a gap between the typology of religious movements and the analysis of the diverse confessional space, including the empirical testing of its methods: identification of religious organizations with some types of religious movements is often replaced by the study of religiosity in its various dimensions and influences. Martinovich created a specialized archive with more than 600,000 units and developed an information-analytical mechanism for the data description, systematization and analysis - register of religious organizations, which allowed to identify information sources, differentiate them by the developed indicators, taking into account all representatives of the confessional space, and introduce the systematized data about NRM into scientific circulation. Thus, the quantitative indicators of actors in the confessional space and the degree of relevance of the content of NRM became an object of social construction. The study of the social identification of religious organizations shows considerable heuristic potential, making a substantial contribution to the conceptual apparatus of public discourse regarding NRM - their development and transformation, stigmatization, and moral and ethical problems associated with their activities.

The article presents an overview of the development of the Russian sociology of education over the decade since the previous review (2013). The article maintains conceptual continuity with previous reviews in understanding the subject field, theoretical constructs and tasks of sociology of education, is based on the analysis of different sources and describes the state, a qualitatively new situation, the most significant achievements and key tasks of this scientific branch. Sociology of education in Russia remains at the initial stage of institutionalization due to being developed mainly by enthusiasts from different regions and still lacking mechanisms for self-organization and coordination; moreover, its position in university programs, publications and educational policy has worsened. These negative trends are determined by the unstable systemic position and bureaucratic management of research, publications and education; therefore, such negative trends can be overcome under the current turn towards the priority of national interests. The new situation in the Russian sociology of education is expressed in the development of its methodology and basic concepts, and in publication of educational and methodological works which form the basis of professional training and scientific activity. The authors see the key achievements of sociology of education in its theoretical integration and turn to assessing the social efficiency of education, preventing systemic bureaupathologies and introducing scientifically based approaches to the development of education. Urgent risks for the Russian sociology of education are determined by the initial stage of its institutionalization and systemic weaknesses (lack of proper coordination of research on the national scale, disorganization of the scientific community, underestimation of theoretical integration under the increasing thematic differentiation and hyper-passion for empirical research beyond basic concepts, a certain arbitrariness in the editorial policy of some scientific journals). The article concludes with current tasks for the theory and organization of the Russian sociology of education.

Public perception of artificial intelligence may not coincide with its actual capabilities, but it plays the key role in how algorithms are developed, implemented, used and regulated. Mass media are not bystanders to this perception but shape public opinion: they influence attitudes towards technologies by setting the agenda and framing news. Given the fact that the issues of artificial intelligence have become increasingly requested in search engines and discussed on news resources in 2023-2024, we need to focus on the dominants of technological discourse and control over the transformation of society under the influence of new technological forms/orders. The sociological study conducted by the authors aimed at identifying representations and strategies for constructing the image of artificial intelligence in the Russian media under the active implementation and routinization of algorithmic technologies. The study was based on the discourse analysis as developed by sociology of knowledge - to understand how social actors form and use discursive strategies to realize their own interests. The article presents the results of the analysis, showing how the media represent artificial intelligence, which actors participate in the discussion and what meta-frames for the technology the media use. Thus, the authors mention that the news discourse at the time of the study was not sensitive to the potential risks of algorithms: possible negative consequences were considered less often than advantages, and the list of threats was usually incomplete and rather hyperbolic. The authors focus on the tendency to perceive artificial intelligence systems as superior to human capabilities, which can lead to the anthropomorphization of technical progress, and, therefore, to new ethical and social challenges.

The 21st century has created new societies, states and communities that defend their uniqueness and difference. This phenomenon is not new, its age is comparable and may be equal to the age of humanity. The greatest instrumental opportunities for studying the phenomenon of identity are provided by the theory of values, in particular of the Baden school of neo-Kantianism. The transfer of basic values from one generation to another is extremely important for preserving social identity which is manifested in the feeling of a value connection with the past and other generations not only by history and culture, but also by ethics and teleology. Values are transferred through language, everyday practices and space organization. The values of space, along with ethnic, religious and linguistic ones, predetermine social identity; interrelation and mutual influence of values act as the identification basis of society. Using examples from France, Germany and Russia, the authors show the mutual influence of values, space and language, and the attempts to change social space and values through targeted linguistic policy, describing the impact of spatial structures on social identity and the effect of reverse influence under changes in social space due to the transformation of the field formed by the structured positions of actors. Thus, the article presents differences in the value bases of the space perception in the French, German and Russian sociological and geopolitical schools. The authors pay special attention to the axiological features of Eurasianism as focused on the traditional values of Russia’s peoples and on partnerships with those countries of the Eurasian space that reject globalism and radical liberalism in favor of multipolarity and national traditions.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a complex socially significant disease associated with risks mainly for representatives of groups practicing deviant behavior and requiring special attention from the state and society. The article presents a comprehensive description of representatives of the high-risk group for the HIV infection, including their health status, behavioral characteristics, types, combinations and perceptions of risks, which would allow for a more optimal organization of the work of social and medical services with this group. The article is based on the results of the empirical study conducted in 2022: 3,792 clients of the charitable foundation “Support for Social Initiatives and Public Health” were questioned within the HIV preventive work with representatives of high-risk groups. A significant part of clients are people under 22 years of age (25 %). Their main risks were divided into condition risks and behavioral risks. Condition risks are as follows: current and past illness (29 % were diagnosed with an infection or several ones, including the HIV), unemployment (21 %), difficult financial situation (9 %); and for foreign citizens also lack of citizenship (24 %) and not speaking Russian (5 %). Behavioral risks (actions leading to loss of health or inaction in health protection) are as follows: 15 % of clients use drugs (including with shared equipment for injecting), the majority (76 %) consciously agree to unprotected sex and have multiple sexual partners (the average number is 21 per year). In general, representatives of high-risk groups tend to underestimate their risks, and awareness is not a decisive positive factor, i.e., it does not necessarily change behavior to less risky. Moreover, long-term risk practices together with knowledge of risks and protective measures can negatively affect perceptions of risks; thus, clients with experience of risk behavior consider risks as less dangerous or deny risks in principle, which is an additional risk for both the person and one’s partners.

The relevance of the issue under consideration is determined by at least two circumstances: first, leading representatives of cinematic sociology point to a sharp reduction in the number of empirical studies of films due to the “lack of proper informational and sociological support for the Russian cinema” [3. P. 74; 22. P. 152]; second, the narrative turn continues, “emphasizing the textual nature of all social practices” [24. P. 48] and the temporal characteristics of films. The authors, having conducted surveys of Tyumen moviegoers, which were ordered by the cinema owners in the spring of 2024 (N = 2502), use narrative analysis to explain moviegoers’ practices based on the rhetorical-functionalist theory of narrativity [19] and other relevant scientific approaches. Three groups of respondents were questionned: two target samples structured by gender, age, income and place of residence (582 people in cinemas using personal interviews; 438 people from the cinemas’ customer base using telephone interviews), and 1462 residents of Tyumen, and this sample was stratified by gender and age taking into account the characteristics of the cinemas’ target audience. The comparative historical method of narrative analysis was also used - the collected data were compared with materials on similar issues obtained by E. Altenloh 110 years ago [11; 12]. The article presents some empirical data with the results of analysis which included both formal procedures and those based on systematization of specialized literature and media discourses. The authors make the following conclusions: first, films that refer to famous plots, favorite characters and current narratives become especially popular with the mass audience; second, new interpretations of old stories have become key factors in the development of the contemporary film industry which largely sacrifices the semantic content for new aesthetic technologies.

The special military operation (SMO) has actualized ethical and ideological aspects of war, which led to the corresponding social consequences. One of them is related to the educational-ideological component and manifests itself in the fact that children and schoolchildren began to write letters, send crafts and drawings to soldiers. In turn, these messages gave rise to a response movement in the form of personal and collective letters from soldiers to schoolchildren and “walls of support” made of children’s letters and drawings in dugouts. Thus, there is a kind of correspondence which reflects not only the ideas of civilians on the SMO events but also the soldiers’ “life world” and actualized values - manifested and realized during the SMO and then recorded in its ethical and ideological discourses. The article presents an attempt of an exploratory analysis of ego-documents - letters from soldiers to children - as reflecting ideas about war. The conducted analysis is metatheoretical due to combining discourse analysis (a common refrain), narrative analysis (letters) and biographical analysis (SMO as a kind of a temporary extended epiphany which makes a person rethink one’s life in the context of collective ideals). The main categories of analysis were as follows: attitudes towards enemy; attitudes towards killing; attitudes towards death; moral imperatives for justifying military actions; space of war. The results of the analysis of these categories represent the “ethics of war” typical for today’s Russian soldiers. The conducted study is interdisciplinary due to the theoretical combination of the ideas and approaches of military sociology, theory of values and ethics. In particular, the author mentions features of the so-called “new hybrid” wars, transformations of ethics in the contemporary society, and differences between the ideological and the ethical in collected narratives. The author comes to the conclusion that in terms of values and ethics Russian soldiers are in a certain sense located in the past due to an extremely revived historical memory (feats of grandfathers and great-grandfathers and the connection with them are especially significant), and this is primarily a memory of the Soviet past: the SMO is not only identified with the events of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 but also borrows its rhetoric, reproducing its ideological and ethical narratives.

Despite the claims of the contemporary society to progressive scientific rationality, it is difficult not to notice in our everyday life increasingly more manifestations of the “magic” in quite standardized forms, typical for the “consumer society”. The absence of an established sociological tradition for conceptualizing the magic and of the systematized empirical data for the study of its current forms explains the need for the reconstruction of the general logic of the revival of the magical/esoteric as a sociocultural phenomenon. The authors identify four conditional periods of the “magical renaissance”, which allowed the esoteric movement to acquire its features of a countercultural movement, criticizing the social order and providing space for experimental construction of identity and non-conformist self-expression (this is not a stereotypical secret community, closed to the uninitiated and hidden from the public, but rather open, internally differentiated systems of diverse structures and holistic ideas about the world order, which combine intuitive and spiritual beliefs with religious and scientific elements). In the Russian history, there are relatively synchronous waves of popularity of esoteric practices (with the exception of the second stage of the magical renaissance), so the authors identify common features of esoteric movements: a high level of commercialization, relative institutionalization, the predominance of people with higher education among members and followers, countercultural orientation, visual aestheticization, the private nature of practices, etc. Thus, the form, content and symbolic load of magical rituals of current esoteric movements can be considered in a structural-functional context - through collective problems, requests and needs reflected in ritualized actions (esoteric practices) which only look like manifestations of the archaic magical thinking.

The article is a review of the book by A.S. Breslavsky Suburbanization and the Future of Russian Cities: An Introduction (Moscow: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives; 2024. 170 p.). The author briefly presents an overview and interesting examples of regional forms and various ways of suburbanization, since the book is an introduction to this subject field. The author focuses not on details (figures and illustrations) but on the systematization of knowledge and data - the book includes an extensive reference list, allowing all interested readers to continue studies of suburbanization.

The article is a review of the book by V.V. Zverev Essays on the Intellectual Heritage of Ya.V. Abramov (Moscow: RUDN University Press, 2024. 157 p.). Although, as the author argues, an extensive and fundamental book on the life and work of Yakov Vasilyevich Abramov (1858-1906), a remarkable Russian publicist and ideologist of the moderate populist movement, has not yet been written, the monograph under review is a valuable, historically and sociologically sound and thorough work about the creator of the so-called “Abramovshchina”, or, according to the more traditional scientific-publicist discourse, the “theory of those small deeds” that “make up the lives of millions” (P. 28).

The article is a review of the book by three Czech museum experts - M.J. Půček, M. Plaček and F. Ochrana Museum Management: Opportunities and Threats for Successful Museums (Springer International Publishing; 2021. 176 p.). The authors consider museums as the most important institutions for preserving and transmitting information about the past, emphasizing their important social role confirmed by the huge number of museums (according to UNESCO data for 2020 - 95 thousand) and their visitors (annually from 10 thousand in the smallest museums to 10 million in the largest and most famous ones). The book will be useful and interesting for the sociologist, since it shows that the museum functions are not limited to aesthetic experience or educational impact. Museums provide essential information about the development of society and its subsystems in the form of “collections of the past”, i.e. museums help us to consider current problems and phenomena retrospectively - through exhibitions creatively organized, systematically selected and “adapted” to different perceptions. To perform such diverse functions, the museum should be perceived as a special organization that requires clear strategic management, especially of opportunities and risks, and the authors outline those management paths that can make a museum popular and successful.

The article presents an attempt to review the collective monograph Typological Analysis in Sociology as a Diagnostic Procedure (G.G. Tatarova, N.S. Babich, G.P. Bessokirnaya, A.V. Kuchenkova; ed. by G.G. Tatarova, A.V. Kuchenkova. Moscow: FCTAS RAS, 2023, 358 p.), which summarizes many years of searches and findings of G.G. Tatarova with her students and colleagues in the subject field of typological analysis as a sociological method, meta-methodology, diagnostic procedure and a special direction in the development of sociological methodology. The book reconstructs the general logic of the evolution of the typological method, once again confirming the interdisciplinary status of the sociological discipline as successfully borrowing and adapting philosophical conceptualizations, psychological approaches and tools of mathematical formalization to its own tasks. The authors provide examples to demonstrate the possibilities of typological analysis as a diagnostic procedure and a tool for working with “big data”, clarifying both the heuristic possibilities of its methodological solutions and inevitable “methodological traps”.

Infographics are used to display information in a visual form with a graphic component, and have become widespread due to the convergence of the media space, which has transformed the processes of collecting, processing, broadcasting, and, most importantly, presenting information. The purpose of the article is to consider infographics as a media format for self-presentation of an organisation, as a tool for managing its image. The conducted analysis allows us to show a classification of the infographics according to the following criteria: display method, data type, purpose, presentation format, presence of interactivity, and time perspective. The functionality of the infographics is quite wide: these are functions, such as cognitive, analytical, factual, instructive, argumentative, ascertaining, attractive, expressive, aesthetic, identification, decorative, etc. However, some functions are still not sufficiently disclosed. The article examines the function of presenting the infographics in the media space and, based on a rapid survey, shows its importance in terms of informing the audience about the content of the organisation’s activities, revealing the viral potential of the infographics and its impact on the positive perception of the audience. This all points to the possibility of using the infographics as a media format for self-presentation of an organisation in various target communities, as an effective tool for managing image perception.

In the article, based on the study conducted by the sociological laboratory of the Moscow State Linguistic University (hereinafter referred to as MSLU), the essence and level of digital culture of a university teacher are determined, problematic areas of digitalisation of the educational process are identified, which require urgent measures to improve the current situation in the higher education system of the Russian Federation. The study has proved that the digital culture of the university teacher is their digital social competence formed in the course of professional activity as well as the driving force that determines the attitude towards the digitalisation of the educational process. The development level of the digital culture of a teacher at a linguistic university is below average. The majority of respondents have digital skills and use basic digital technologies in the learning process. The level of proficiency among teachers of the MSLU is comparable to the level of development of these skills among teachers at other Russian universities. At the same time, in terms of the level of competence in developing online courses and using their materials as additional educational material, teachers of the MSLU lag behind the all-Russian indicators. The main problematic areas of the digitalisation of the educational process are: low degree of equipment of audiences with modern technical means; low quality and availability of Internet communications on the territory of educational buildings; insufficient opportunities to improve the level of the digital culture of teaching staff in the field of modern digital technologies, etc.

The evolution and wide use of modern technologies, tools and methods of communication are an integral part of the modern information society. In particular, current communication and information technologies provide an opportunity to create and extract a digital footprint for an individual or a certain group. In relation to the public authorities’ activities, the digital footprint can be used to analyse the reaction of society to their actions more effectively. By researching the digital footprint of social media actors in a particular region, it is possible to determine how the population treats various decisions and measures taken by the authorities. Due to digital participation, citizens have the opportunity and a tool to facilitate the management process at the stages of decision-making. The digital participation generates a digital footprint, the analysis of which provides feedback on the actions of the authorities. The purpose of the article is to propose a communicative and information model for the inclusion of the digital participation in the evaluation of social processes, consisting of mechanisms and interfaces for obtaining information alongside with mechanisms and interfaces for receiving feedback for evaluating the activities of public authorities in the region. The efficiency of the model has been practically proved by the example of a socially significant event in the Oryol region. Using the example of regional management centres, the expediency of introducing the model for evaluating the activities of public authorities in the region through receiving feedback is shown. This will increase the involvement of citizens in the regulation of social processes in the region and improve the quality of management.

The article is devoted to the analysis of interactive advertising as a relatively new factor influencing the consumer behaviour of Moscow youth. The empirical basis of the work are statistical and sociological research data, including the authors’ own research conducted using the methods of mass survey and indepth interview. As the study has showed, the Moscow youth are quite familiar with the interactive advertising, most often encountering it on mobile devices and in gaming applications. The article analyses several types of the interactive advertising, differing in the degree of their impact on the consumer behaviour of young people. The authors come to the conclusion that the most effective in this regard are playable and video advertising placed in mobile device applications. As advantages of the interactive advertising, in comparison with the traditional format, the authors highlight its innovation and playful nature. At the same time, many young Muscovites express a negative attitude towards the interactive advertising, mainly because of its intrusiveness. Moreover, young men demonstrate greater loyalty to this format of advertising influence in comparison with young ladies. The authors come to the conclusion that, despite the noted shortcomings, the interactive advertising has great potential for development in modern society.

The article presents the results of a practical study of the features of fake reviews that are described by marketers and other experts. Due to the abundance of fake reviews on marketplaces, consumer trust falls not only in the seller or platform, but in the genre itself. The paper presents the results of automatic classification of reviews from Russian marketplaces into potentially fake and honest ones using modelling of features that experts call labels of a fake review (presence of template words, exclamation marks, emoji, positive sentiment), and machine learning algorithms. To solve the problem, a corpus of 6 288 texts from the Russian marketplaces Wildberries and Megamarket has been collected. The target variable (predicted class) is the ratio of likes and dislikes given to the review by other buyers. The best result is demonstrated by the support vector machine algorithm in binary classification into reviews with a low and high ratings (without neutral ones). The classification model confirms that the formal features identified by experts as indicating fake reviews indeed have predictive potential. The quality of the model is reduced by the imbalance in classes and insufficient number of reviews with buyer reactions in our corpus, which leaves room for further work.

Today, high-performance employees who are capable of rapid learning, have developed adaptability skills to environmental changes and specific competencies, the so-called “talents”, are of particular value to organisations. Such employees represent a strategic asset of the company and can help in the implementation of various business strategies. The talented employee management system allows to identify, develop, and retain such specialists, which in turn helps to reduce staff turnover and improve the efficiency of the team. The introduction of talented employee management is especially important in the context of digital transformation of the economy as it allows to use all the advantages of digital technologies to achieve corporate goals Also, talent management is not an easy task, and its implementation may require significant efforts and resources. Despite the fact that this process is associated with certain difficulties, such as search and selection of talented specialists in highly competitive conditions, its advantages significantly outweigh the possible risks. It is important to understand that talent management requires constant monitoring and adaptation to changing conditions. This paper describes the features of the talent management system and the advantages of its implementation for an organisation in the context of digital transformation of society.

Modern society is experiencing a digital transformation of various spheres associated with the development of artificial intelligence and big data. The introduction of large language models (hereinafter referred to as LLM) into scientific research opens new opportunities, but also raises a number of questions, which makes it relevant to study the peculiarities of their application for qualitative data analysis in sociology. The purpose of this article is to explore how LLM can influence the methodology and practice of sociological research, and to identify the advantages and disadvantages of their application. The authors rely on the use of the Calude-3 LLM to qualitatively analyse empirical data from a sociological study of students’ perception of ­entrepreneurship. The possibilities of LLM in the analysis of qualitative data are revealed: analysis of sentiment, construction of logical conclusions, classification, clustering, and formation of typologies. The advantages of using LLM are shown: increased data processing speed, saving time and resources. The application of LLM becomes a tool to optimise the research process in sociology, allowing to deepen the analysis of qualitative data, but it also has a number of limitations: social and political bias, difficulties with hallucinations. It is necessary to increase the transparency of models, improve their interpretability and explainability and reduce their social and political bias as well as ethical and legal regulation of the use of LLM models.

Online shopping has grown exponentially in the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as RF, Russia) in recent years. This growth has significantly accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, data shows that there are inter-regional disparities in the use of online shopping. This includes intergenerational and rural-urban disparities. This study investigates the factors responsible for inter-regional differences in the development of online shopping in Russia. The author has identified 5 main factors that can influence the development: internet infrastructure (measured by regional expenses for the introduction of digital technologies and the number of connected mobile subscribers), economic wealth (measured by gross regional product), standard of living (measured by the population income), rate of poverty, and the region’s population. The research uses data of the Federal State Statistics Service and Association of Internet Trade Companies to analyse 85 regions in the RF. A multi-level regression analysis has enabled examination of the 5 factors and the contextual influence of 8 federal districts of Russia in level 2. The results show that internet infrastructure, economic wealth, population size, and the 8 federal districts has influenced the development of online shopping in the RF, but standard of living is not statistically significant. The author recommends that policymakers pay attention to these underlying factors.

The article presents the results of the empirical research of consumer behaviour features in the sphere of fast food catering in the Moscow market. The research method is a questionnaire survey with the use of digital technologies. The article reveals the loyalty of consumers to the visited fast food establishments; their motivation to visit new such places is determined; the awareness of consumers about the opening of new fast food establishments is studied; their preferences regarding the use of meal delivery services of these places and staying at them are revealed. The conclusions are formulated that direct visit to fast food restaurants remains a popular social practice among a significant part of consumers; digital meal delivery services of these places is actively used by consumers; visiting fast food establishments and ordering meal delivery there are typical for representatives of low-, middle-, and high-income audience segments; the communication activity of new fast food restaurants being opened is insufficient; the audience’s expectations from visiting these places and ordering food from them are not limited to the satisfaction of basic needs. The results of the research can be useful for the development of marketing strategies and advertising campaigns in the sphere of fast food catering as well as for the adjustment of business strategies of the restaurants.

Abstract Child labor is defined as the exploitation of children in any form of labor that destructively affects the child's mental, social, and physical health and creates hurdles to obtaining a regular education. This study was conducted to investigate the main socio-economic factors contributing to child labor and barriers to education and analyze the practical implications of child labor laws in Pakistan. The study area in this study is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, Pakistan. The primary data were collected through an online questionnaire survey from teachers, school administrators, government officials responsible for enforcing child labor laws and educational policies, and representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), while personal observations and interviews were used for the collection of data from child laborers, parents or guardians of child laborers. A total of 80 teachers or education experts, 70 children and their guardians, 30 policymakers, and 20 social workers were participants in the data collection process. The outcomes of this study concluded that about 78% of participants lacked awareness of these laws, while 71% perceived them as ineffective. The socioeconomic factors contributing to child labor are quantitatively assessed, with poverty identified as the primary factor (65%). The statistical analysis indicates that the socioeconomic factors have a significant contribution to the implementation of child education laws in Pakistan (a p-value lower than the level of significance (0.05). Discrimination based on gender or social status, high cost of education, and insufficient qualified teachers are significant barriers to providing quality education for children in Pakistan. This study recommends promoting inclusive education and strengthening social welfare programs to support their efficacy in combating child labor and ensuring access to quality education for all children in Pakistan.

Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019, focusing on its origins, objectives, and far-reaching consequences, particularly concerning its alignment with the constitutional principles of secularism and equality. The CAA facilitates the acquisition of Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, explicitly excluding Muslims. This has sparked national and international debate over its potential to undermine the secular fabric of the Indian Constitution, particularly concerning Article 14, which guarantees equality before the law. Through a legal and constitutional lens, the paper critically examines the broader implications of the CAA on religious minorities, its intersection with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and concerns about statelessness. Drawing on scholarly critiques, it explores the Act’s impact on India’s inclusive identity, the potential marginalization of minority communities, and the socio-political challenges posed by its implementation. The paper advocates for re-evaluating citizenship laws to align with India’s democratic principles, ensuring social cohesion and protection of human rights.

Abstract Purpose The primary aim of this study was to investigate the role of attachment styles as intermediaries in the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and parenting styles among Iranian women. Methods Data for this study was collected between September and December 2020. The participants consisted of 102 women who had been referred to Social Emergency Centers in Isfahan due to their experiences with domestic violence. Participants filled out the Haj-Yahia Violence Questionnaire, Baumrind Parenting Styles Questionnaire (BPSQ), and the Attachment Styles Questionnaire (AAQ). To examine the hypothesized relationships, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used. Results Economic IPV victimization was negatively related to secure attachment (β = − 0.309, p = 0.019) and positively related with authoritative parenting (β = 0.422, p = 0.019) and avoidant attachment style (β = 0.563, p = 0.000). There was a significant, positive relationship between sexual IPV victimization with secure and avoidant attachment styles (β = 0.351, p = 0.011; β = 0.407, p = 0.000). Authoritative parenting style was related to avoidant attachment (β = − 0.524, p = 0.015) and secure attachment (β = 0.371, p = 0.000). Conclusions Iranian IPV victims with secure attachment style were more likely to utilize authoritative parenting and those who have avoidant attachment were less likely to use authoritative parenting. Attachment styles may influence the relationship between IPV and parenting styles in Iranian women who have experienced IPV.

The changeable, unknown, complex, and multivalent world embraced by innovations makes new demands on auditors’ professional competencies, which are inseparable from the mastery of technologies. Innovative auditing technologies of regional finance and real economy auditing have been analyzed to substantiate the value of auditors’ digital maturity in the diversity of such technologies. Quantitative methods based on statistical studies confirmed the growth of audit, control, expert analytical activities, and the need to implement innovative technologies for greater coverage of the control data set. Innovative technologies used in audit practice have been presented. The definition of digital maturity in an auditor has been given, which substantiates the need for continuous training in modern technologies such as digital inspector of state and municipal financial audit, conducting and accounting of general audit results, and processing of huge arrays of reporting data, analytical dashboards, and tools for checking counterparties using the analysis of their debts and risks. Digital maturity has been proposed to be assessed by considering digital culture, professional knowledge, skills and competencies of tool ownership, and process thinking in quality data collection implementation during the udit. The planning, execution, and automation of audit control activities with innovative technologies create the basis for prompt effective management of the entire process, company resources, and regional finances. Visualization of the reporting verification results provides for their visibility for users in order to immediately make management decisions aimed at sustainable financial development.

The issues and prospects of sustainable development of the Republic of Bashkortostan with a focus on innovation aspects have been considered in order to develop recommendations to ensure the long-term progress of the region. The research methodology is based on the analysis and comparison of economic, social, and environmental factors of sustainable development, assessment of the role of innovation in each sphere, study of successes and experience of other constituent entities of the Russian Federation and foreign countries, as well as on the proposals for creating regional centers for assessing and monitoring sustainable development that in their activities will be focused on comprehensive research in regional socio-economic systems, considering the innovation component. The main spheres and components of ensuring sustainable development of the region have been defined and presented. The main study results are: identification of key aspects of sustainable development of the Republic of Bashkortostan; identification of issues and prospects in developing the economy and social and environmental spheres; analysis of the role of innovation in ensuring sustainable development; recommendations development for creating regional centers for assessing and monitoring sustainable development. Sustainable development of the territory is one of the main strategic objectives of the constituent entity. In order to achieve it, it is necessary to continue the work, as well as to increase attention to innovations, education and management systems. The centers creation can contribute to the system analysis and assessment of sustainable development processes, as well as the development of recommendations and strategies to improve the economic, social, and environmental condition of the territory.

The article analyzes two ideologies that are the most important for the modern Transhumanism and managerialism as two ideologies most significant for the modern Western world have been analyzed. The study of these issues was carried out in the context of identifying the relationship between the Western elites’ support for Ukraine and the transformation processes that are taking place in the European Union and North America. The purpose of the study is to determine what social changes in the West lead to forming barriers to the peaceful resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The work applied general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, as well as the comparative method of scientific cognition. Document analysis was used as an applied method of collecting empirical information (the study of information portals, state authorities’ and non-governmental organizations’ websites). As the study result, the following conclusions have been made. The transhumanism ideology in the countries of the European Union and North America is focused on creating a “society of the chosen”. The transhumanism and managerialism application leads to a significant increase in society manageability by accelerating traditional social ties disintegration. Western society transformation increases its vulnerability due to incomplete change of social values and internal resistance to transhumanism and managerialism. The special military operation on the territory of Ukraine is used to strengthen integration processes in the West.

Within the framework of the Industry 4.0 concept, transition from a linear economy model to a circular economy model aimed at energy saving, regenerative green production, circulation, and consumption is becoming increasingly relevant. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the low-carbon development model consistency with the goals and objectives of circular economy (hereinafter referred to as CE) for subsequent development of a green growth strategy. Objectives of the study: to use the criteria and methods of CE to develop a toolkit for transition to low-carbon economy and to formulate its development strategy. The study used general scientific methods, in particular, analysis, synthesis, and periodization. In the course of the study the criteria for green economy growth have been identified, and in accordance with them the stages of CE have been established such as conceptual, institutional, and regulatory. The author’s variant of the combined regulatory system based on a combination of administrative and economic measures has been proposed. Matrices of problem situations by individual types of activity have been formed. As the study result, the authors outlined the circular economy stages, substantiated the possibility of low-carbon transformation within the framework of CE, relying on carbon emissions management, low-carbon technologies and a system of financing “green” projects implementation. The tools to stimulate “green” growth have been defined: a tax on greenhouse gas emissions, emissions trading system, subsidizing alternative energy, environmental projects, energy-saving technologies development and their implementation into the production process. The novelty of the study lies in a scheme development for building a low-carbon economic development strategy aimed at achieving the goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the level of both the region and industrial enterprises.

The issues of process approach implementation in enterprise financial flows management system have been highlighted. The stages of financial flows management within the framework of business processes model have been defined. The advantages of the balanced scorecard have been revealed. The approach to financial flows management based on business process models and their optimization methods has been proposed. The approach to enterprise process management is based on the Deming-Shewhart cycle. The strategic map has been considered as tools for process management and metrics control. The composition of balanced scorecard has been proposed, reflecting the dependence of profit, accounts receivable, and equity turnover rate on the key indicators of cost, fragmentation. and time of fulfilling tasks of the AS-IS and TO-BE business process models. The cause-and-effect relationships between the business processes tasks and a company’s financial performance have been considered. The paper presents the results of the analysis and visualization of the dynamics of change in indicators depending on business process model transformation. In order to reduce risks and increase the efficiency of implementing process optimization results, a number of simulation experiments have been conducted for a company actively developing online sales channels. Practical recommendations have been developed and changes in the key business process management system justified. The system effect from simulation modeling results implementation has been obtained.

The specifics and prospects of development of the Russian civil aircraft industry under sanctions pressure from Western countries have been considered. The study analyzes secondary data from open sources. The main provisions and conclusions of the work are as follows. The United States of America and its European satellites have imposed comprehensive sanctions against Russian air carriers, including a ban on aircraft deliveries. Lessors who owned foreign airplanes made demands for their return, and foreign registrars suspended airworthiness certificates for domestic airplanes. Western sanctions against Russian airlines have caused significant damage to Russia, but have also become a serious stimulus for the domestic aviation industry development. Significant time and investment will be required to resolve the problems encountered. Russia has the necessary potential to restore the aviation industry and ensure safe passenger and cargo transportation in the required volume. The country is currently working systematically to revitalize the industry, implementing advanced developments and establishing serial production of a wide range of civil aircraft. The success of the domestic aviation industry development depends mainly on the state’s efforts, as it has the access to almost all production and design capacities. In addition, effective measures are needed to influence the air transportation industry in order to balance the supply and demand for aircraft.

The paper analyzes psychological mechanisms of group influence on individual behavior, including conformity, social suggestion, authority pressure, and imitation, which have a decisive influence on individual behavior formation in social groups. Special attention has been paid to these mechanisms’ transformation under the influence of digital media and new communication technologies in the context of globalization. Digital platforms influence on the political activity of young people has been studied, which emphasizes the increasing role of online communications in shaping group behavior. Group norms and expectations, often imposed through digital platforms, actively shape social identity and individuals’ behavior, increasing their susceptibility to group pressure and conformity. Leadership styles have also been found to significantly influence group dynamics by altering group members’ behavioral responses. Cross-cultural studies show the importance of contextualization, as responses to social pressure vary across cultures. There is a need for further research on the long-term effects of social influence and the development of methods to minimize its negative effects on individual behavior. The study results contribute to a deeper understanding of the social influence mechanisms in the context of globalization, noting the importance of an interdisciplinary approach.

The article presents a comprehensive study results aimed at identifying peculiarities of the restaurant market and consumer behavior in the Moscow restaurant business segment. Within the framework of the research three stages have been realized. At the first stage the Moscow restaurant market macroenvironment has been analyzed to identify external factors of influence on modern restaurant business. The external factors of positive and negative impact on the restaurant industry development have been structured and described. At the second stage to identify the main trends of the Moscow restaurant market the method of content analysis of the Moscow restaurant business establishments sites with high rating indicators based on the Yandex neural network data was used. The main trends of the Moscow restaurant market are: restaurants’ focus on preparing healthy food and vegetarian cuisine; use of farm products and local ingredients in prepared dishes; technological innovations implementation that simplify consumer experience; focus on the principles of sustainable development and environmental friendliness in the business model; restaurant formats variety. At the third stage of the study, a survey has been conducted among visitors to Moscow restaurants and cafes to identify consumer behavior. The identified consumer practices in the restaurant market indicate, on the one hand, active involvement of the audience in visiting Moscow restaurants, cafes, and bars, and on the other hand, the use of restaurant meal delivery services via restaurant websites or mobile applications. The dominant influence of rational factors in consumers’ choice of a restaurant to visit and changes in the consumer motivation structure when visiting restaurants and cafes have been revealed.

The educational services sphere of Stavropol Krai occupies a significant place in the Russian economic sector development, as its main task is to meet the needs of the region, which is currently receiving special attention from the state, in qualified personnel. It is the end result of the functioning of the sphere that is a reliable foundation for human resources formation in this constituent entity. The role of education and human resources in the development of the regional economy of Stavropol Krai has been considered. The influence of the educational system on qualified specialists training necessary for sustainable development of the regional economy has been analyzed. The main trends and challenges related to education development in the region have been studied, and practical recommendations for optimizing educational programs and improving the quality of training offered. Particular attention has been paid to the issues of training highly qualified personnel and creating favorable conditions for their retention in the region. The influence of the human factor on educational services development in the region by means of SWOT-analysis has been considered. The purpose of the study is to develop institutional tools for the human factor development in the educational services sphere. The objective of the study is the identification of forms and issues of human factor development in the sphere. The research methodology is represented by institutional analysis and statistical method, SWOTanalysis is also applied. The results obtained can be used for forming and implementing a strategy for improving the education system in order to increase the region’s competitiveness.

The article shows the necessity of institutional regulation of the process of involving unused agricultural land into the economic turnover of the agrarian sphere of a region. It presents quantitative and qualitative characteristics of previously withdrawn agricultural lands, their territorial distribution by soil and climatic microzones and administrative districts of a region, unused period duration, residual fertility level (in terms of humus content), and land plots degradation degree. A calculation-analytical complex such as an algorithm representing a four-stage mechanism of analysis, preparation and decision-making on the choice of the land plots restoration method and their further use option has been developed and proposed for use. It is recommended to use three options for land plots restoration: direct return to economic turnover in case of a short period of non-use; carrying out cultural and technical measures with subsequent implementation into the turnover; transfer to another category of use in case of a high degree of degradation and low fertility level. The developed algorithm of unused agricultural land involvement is aimed at preserving the land potential of a region, strengthening the rational land use system. The presented stages provide not only theoretical and methodological, but also practical significance. Application scope is scientific organizations, agroindustrial complex management bodies at the municipal and regional levels, and agricultural producers.

The article studies theoretical aspects of the intangible assets system in the process of enterprises strategic management. In particular, it highlights the points of view of Russian and foreign scientists regarding the definition of the intangible assets concept. The author’s definition of intangible assets as a set of a company’s resources and assets, which do not have a physical form, are used in the process of creating goods (services) for a long period of time (more than a year), are involved in the creation of values that provide a company a competitive advantage in the market and meet the requirements of identifiability (an object separation from other resources), the presence of future profits from their use, and direct or indirect control by a company. The basic criteria of intangible assets are identifiability, control over them, and the presence of future profits from their use. Despite the variety of available approaches in foreign literature to the intangible assets classification, in our opinion, the classification, which includes human, customer, and structural assets (capital), is fundamental. The article concludes that foreign authors shift their research focus from organizational (structural) intangible assets, such as corporate culture, organizational structure, and brand, to consumer and attitudinal (customer) ones, such as the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty and relationships value. The methodological approaches analysis to intangible assets assessment, the issues of their creation, modeling, and use by companies is a direction for further research.