Establishment
Abstract
The main feature of the development of the modern Ukrainian sociological thought is its independence from the former Soviet Union and strong ideological pressure. There were many scientists, who worked in repressive conditions in Ukraine, and those, who were forced to remain in exile. However, free from ideological pressure development, Ukrainian sociological thoughts developed abroad had significant results. Modern sociological science has absorbed the thoughts, ideas, theoretical generalization of many Ukrainian scholars of the 20th century, which could be called the founders of Ukrainian sociology. Their socio-philosophical exploration, anthropological, cultural, and historical research paved the way to sociological thought in Ukraine and occupied a prominent place in the European scientific and cultural movement.
Keywords: Ukraine, social theories, Marx, Conflict theory, Liberal ideas, Functionalism
The split of the war in Donbass could lead to huge consequences for Ukraine, Russia, as the parts of the conflict, and to the whole world as well. Without firm actions from the Europe and America, it could grow into the regional war. The world's media created an image of this war as a struggle of the Ukrainian authorities for the integrity of the country against the pro-Russian separatists. It is superficial and far from its real meaning, as there was an explanation of the first World War in the assassination of the Austrian Prince, or the success of the National Socialist Party in elections to the German Parliament before the second World War.
The Ukrainian crisis has a complex nature. It has mixed many of the semantic fields of conflict, the most important of which are not visible in the reports of fighting, or in comments of politicians.
According to Kimberly Moffitt, “Social conflict theory is a macro-oriented paradigm in sociology that views society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and social change” (Moffitt, n.d). On the basis of the conflict theory, there is inequality in a society. The theory was introduced by Karl Marx, who structured the society into the classes. According to the theory, such factors as race, sex, class, and age are the subject of a social inequality. Let's see how the theory is changing in the conditions of the Ukrainian crisis. According to Marx, social conflict is “a struggle between different social groups over scarce resources in a state” (Moffitt, n.d). It could be generated from the way in which society produces material goods.
Ukraine, having been a Soviet Socialist Republic, has a young developing economy. It still has many problems. Despite 25 years of independence, there are many Soviet laws and methods in use, because it is difficult to change completely the society in such a short period. During the current crisis, there is no social struggle between Easter and Western Ukraine. Both sides of the Dnipro River are unique in the questions of Ukrainian integrity, sovereignty and independence. In Ukraine, people speak freely both languages: Russian and Ukrainian, as the first of them for a long time used to be the first language in use. However, despite all restrictions and repressive methods of the USSR, Ukrainians preserved their culture, identity, language and history.
Any social conflict does not occur instantly. Emotional stress, irritation and anger normally are accumulating over time, breaks out the situation and sometimes the cause of the collision is not clear. In the current crisis, the conflict seems to emerge instantly. Imagine, one day people in Crimea or Donetsk decided to stand up and proclaimed a revolution. Is it possible? Of course, there were other reasons. The conflict of a social struggle and invented restrictions for Russian-speaking population were artificially imposed by Russia. It was the Soviet Union to see enemies in all democratic countries. Nowadays, it is Russia to continue its path.
Despite its artificial nature, the conflict takes place in Ukraine. Effects of social conflict are very contradictory. Conflicts, on the one hand, destroy the social structure, lead to significant unnecessary overhead, and, on the other hand, are a mechanism that helps to find solution of many problems. Eventually, it serves as the way to achieve social justice. Duality in human assessment of the impact of the conflict theory has led to a conclusion, that the situation in Ukraine could be both useful and harmful for the development of the country. Society and its integral parts could be developed in a result of current evolutionary changes, and therefore some scientists predict that social conflict can be negative, as it has a destructive character. But there is a group of scholars, who support the dialectical method. They recognize the constructive, useful content, supposing that in every conflict there are both destructive and integrative moments.
Looking at the last events in the Ukrainian history, it is worthy to speak about a Structural-Functional theory. Society in the structural functionalism is a social phenomenon, the establishment or a social institute regarded from the point of view of its contribution to the development of the country. In my opinion, Ukrainian Maidan that took place in November – March 2014 is the greatest example of the society’s self-determination and enormous will to overcome the pathogenic political system. The Ukrainian society showed that it has concrete goals. According to Oleg Bochkovskiy, the main prerequisite of the development of people in the nation is link between different social structures and natural prerequisites that determine the normal development on the territory and the land. According to his theory, the territory and the people are masters of their destiny. It was the main concept during the Revolution on Maidan. Looking through those events, it is clear that Ukrainian nation was formed and ready to accept its independence.
The Maidan captures the essence of the situation in Ukraine. First of all, it is an unexpected turn of events, which few expected. All went to a successful final negotiations and the signing of the Treaty of Association. The atmosphere in society, given support for this idea and the power, and the opposition, was in favor of signing, and it was a great surprise for many people, concerned in the path of European integration. In this sense, the protest in Kiev for the first time brought together over the past 9 years, tens of thousands people in Independence Square, and nearby areas, just shows the frustration the decision taken by the authority.
Liberal sociology does not accept the usual nature of a society. In the Ukrainian political thought liberal idea has always been subordinated to social and national ideas. The liberal direction in the Ukrainian public opinion actually outlined Mykhailo Drahomanov. While under the influence of the Decembrists and members of English liberalism, he championed the concept of society based on the idea of combining harmonically developed personalities (Markovits, n.d). The path to this ideal is federalism with maximum decentralization and self-government of communities and regions. This issue is central to the current crisis in Ukraine. It is known that despite the causes of the current events there are militiamen (Russian or regional), who are fighting for the independence of the Donetsk region. First, they raised the question of federalization and vast autonomy in the borders of Ukraine. But the liberal model in Ukraine never gained finished form. A special place in the ideas of Ukrainian Liberals took the issue of morality and the ratio of goals and means of struggle. In particular, the Drahomanov contributed significantly to the popularization of the ethical foundations of political activity.
In modern conditions, liberalism in Ukraine becomes fashionable ideological and politico-economic concept. But the problem of the modern Ukrainian liberalism is morally and politically outmoded concepts of classical liberalism. For Ukraine, as well as for a number of countries of post-Communist world, it is difficult to implement Western ideas into a post-Sociological society (Kioupkiolis, 2012). Today, in the conditions of crisis, implantation of the liberal ideas to the political and economic life of modern Ukraine is supported by government agencies. Therefore, the immediate future of liberal ideas in Ukraine will likely be largely linked to national tradition and chimeras of modern Ukrainian political life.
Sociological thought in Ukraine during its entire history was generalized to universal and national aspects. The first was to use leading sociological theories, research methods, and ideas of Western European and American scholars. The second was in close conjunction with Liberation movement, socio-political life, the creative legacy of famous representatives of the Ukrainian society.
References
Kimberly Moffitt. Social Conflict Theory in Sociology: Definition, Lesson & Quiz. http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/social-conflict-theory-in-sociology-definition-lesson-quiz.html#lesson
Kioupkiolis, A. (2012). Freedom after the critique of foundations Marx, liberalism, Castoriadis, and agonistic autonomy. Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
Markovits, A. (n.d.). Nationbuilding and the Politics of Nationalism: Essays on Austrian Galicia.
