Department of Economic Sociology | NASU Institute of Sociology

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Department of Economic Sociology

Phone:: +380 (44) 255-75-16
Office:: 302, 307, 308

The Department of Economic Sociology was set up as part of the Institute of Sociology in 1990.

Scientific staff of the department:

Smakota Viktoriya Vitaliivna – Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Head of Department of Economic Sociology
Arseienko Anatoliy Grigorovich – Candidate of Historical Sciences, Lead Researcher
Burov Igor Volodymyrovych – Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Deputy Director of NASU Institute of Sociology on General Affairs, Senior Researcher
Etenko Maksym Pavlovych – Head of Department of PhD and Doctoral Studies
Ivanenko Olena Oleksandrivna – Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Senior Researcher
Maistruk Natalia Olegivna – PhD in Sociology. Associate Professor. Research Fellow at the Department of Economic Sociology, Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Science of Ukraine
Mukhaeva Alla Petrivna – Junior Research Fellow
Nikolaenko Volodimir Leonidovych – Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Senior Researcher
Sokolovskyy Ivan Viktorovych – Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Master of Finance, Junior Researcher
Tolstykh Nataliya Viktorivna – Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Senior Researcher
Parkhomenko Svitlana Ivanivna – Junior Research Fellow

Primary scientific interests and research topics:

All department’s scientists are actively engaged in research, which has resulted in the publication of significant numbers of books, articles and reports in different fields of economic sociology. Studies have been conducted on social and economic issues in modern Ukrainian society, social aspects of the national economic transformation and other areas in the field. The Department has fulfilled several research projects during recent years, including: entrepreneurial activity and social mechanisms of privatization in Ukraine; socio-economic behavior in different segments of the population; quality of life and the economic culture of Ukraine population; globalization and Ukraine's entrance into the global socio-economic space; the impacts and consequences of the world financial and economic crisis; the social potential for innovative development of the economy of Ukraine.

Research programs:

Digitalization of the economic life of Ukrainian society: state, social consequences and prospects (II quarter 2023 – I quarter 2026)

Head – Candidate of Social Sciences Smakota V. V.

Social structures of non-standard employment in modern Ukrainian society (II quarter 2020 – I quarter 2023)

Head – Doctor of Social Sciences Petrushina T. O. / Candidate of Social Sciences Smakota V. V.

Results:

According to the results of the analysis of the situation of the modern labor market, it was revealed that non-standard work in various types and forms acquires a dominant place in the structure of world and Ukrainian employment; at the same time, the destruction of traditional, standard forms has taken place; they transform into non-standard varieties and forms of labor activity. The main catalyst for these processes was the rapid development of information and communication technologies and digital platforms

Non-standard employment opens up new opportunities for participation in economic, labor and social life. The level of education of the Ukrainian population makes it possible for Ukrainian IT specialists to develop employment on digital platforms and compete internationally. Digital technologies themselves expand opportunities for employment, education and self-development, which made it possible to maintain or change the work of a significant part of the Ukrainian population during the COVID-19 pandemic and large-scale war. Workers engaged in professions in this field are mostly satisfied with their work, since it allows them to have employment and livelihood in extreme conditions.

However, non-standard employment acquires features of vulnerability due to a decrease in the social protection of employees: it is often characterized by a high degree of uncertainty due to the short-time contracts and the lack of social guarantees. The risks of job loss, forced unemployment, retraining and rights protection at the workplace in case of non-standard employment fall directly to the employees themselves

Social changes in Ukrainian society in the context of economic globalization (II quarter 2017 – I quarter 2020)

Head – Doctor of Social Sciences Petrushina T. A.

Results:

According to the results of the economic development of recent years, it is obvious that Ukraine has not been able to integrate into the international production system. Lagging behind most developed countries in terms of labor productivity is due to the focus on the raw material model of economic development (the country's competitiveness in the foreign market is based mostly on the production of raw materials and processed products, which are characterized by low capital productivity and do not require a high level of skills from the workforce), which causes a drop in GDP and large-scale deindustrialization (and as a result – the transformation of the country into a raw material appendage of the world economy). In general, this state of affairs excludes economic development and, with it, human development.

The adverse effects of globalization have exceeded positive expectations, affecting both the economic and social spheres of society. The significant spread of the phenomenon of the "working poor", the cumulative deterioration of job security and the intensification of labor migration processes directly affected the qualification potential of the population, strengthening negative assessments of the sphere of work. Thus, it is difficult for every second respondent to find a job according to qualification, and difficulties in finding employment prevail even in looking for any job. Due to the lack of jobs at the place of residence and decent wages, internal and international labor migration is spreading, which is becoming a common phenomenon in the economic life of Ukrainian society: among those who work, one in five has a job in another locality of Ukraine. An increase in the number of migrant workers reduces to a certain extent the tension in the domestic labor market, improves the financial condition of Ukrainian households receiving money transfers from relatives working abroad, promotes the growth of people's economic culture through their involvement in the economic life of more developed countries, and stimulates the development of international cooperation. Despite these and other positive consequences, the spread of international labor migration as an objective manifestation of EG, negatives prevail in our society in the comparative context of the "pros" and "cons" of Ukrainian migrant workers, both in short and long-term dimensions. The domestic economy and business are experiencing a shortage of highly qualified workers and specialists in a number of specialties. The quality of available labor resources is declining, the social potential of economic development is weakening, and the growth of migration sentiment, especially among young people, poses a serious threat to the viability of the country.

The status, problems and prospects of the working class in the system of socio-economic relations of Ukrainian society (II quarter 2014 – I quarter 2017)

Head – Candidate of Social Sciences Arseenko A. G.

Results:

The influence of neoliberal globalization on the evolution of labor relations in the modern world, including Ukraine, is revealed. The myth of the "disappearance" of the working class has been refuted, the destructive nature of economic reforms, which led to the deindustrialization and primitivization of the economy, the deprivation of working people (in particular, the deterioration of the socio-economic situation of workers and the growth of inequality) has been established. The changes in the sphere of labor activity in Ukraine due to the alienation and exploitation of labor, the displacement of the country to the sidelines of global development are revealed. The world experience of collective bargaining regulation of labor is summarized, recommendations to trade unions of Ukraine in this context are developed. The article analyzes the state of class consciousness and the prospects of the Ukrainian working class in mobilizing efforts to defend the interests and democratic rights of workers.

The role of science in the modernization of Ukrainian society (II quarter 2014 – IV quarter 2016)

Head – Doctor of Social Sciences Petrushina T. A.

Results:

Monitoring of public opinion has revealed that against the background of the actual disinterest of the Ukrainian state and business in scientific research, there is a public demand in the country for the development of domestic science. The trust of Ukrainian citizens in domestic scientists remains the highest among the main social institutions. The survey of experts allowed us to obtain competent assessments of the general state of science in modern Ukraine and substantial proposals on the essence, principles, directions and conditions for effective reform of the scientific sphere. The vast majority of experts predict further deterioration in the development of Ukrainian science. Noting the key role of science in the modernization of society, experts stressed that science is capable of fulfilling it only in conditions of normal financing and a radical change in attitude on the part of the current government.

Social potential of innovative development of the economy of Ukraine (II quarter 2011 – I quarter 2014)

Head – Doctor of Social Sciences Petrushina T. A.

Results:

The structural components of the social potential of the innovative development of the economy are highlighted – socio-political, socio-economic, institutional, socio-cultural, scientific and educational subpotentials; their level and importance in the innovative development of the domestic economy are assessed. The main social barriers that exclude the innovative development of the economy in Ukraine are fixed: the system of family-clan oligarchic capitalism, the socio-political system, socio-economic differentiation of the population, corruption, monopolization and shadowing of the economy, low standard of living of the population.

The quality of life of the population of Ukraine in the conditions of differentiation of the socio-economic space (II quarter 2008 – I quarter 2011)