Sociologist on the book, the education, and the cultural resistance to the war

The socio-political analytical magazine Ukrainian Week (Ukrainskyi Tyzhden), a modern online media outlet, published an extensive interview with Liudmyla Skokova, Doctor of Sociological Sciences and Acting Head of the Department of Sociology of Culture and Mass Communication at the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

For our overly politicized times, the title of the interview is somewhat unexpected, yet profound: “During the War, Reading Becomes a Symbolic Act of Resistance.”

With her very first question, journalist Nataliia Lebid gave the conversation a cultural focus: “To what extent are sociologists immersed in studying society’s cultural leisure? What place in your research is given to monitoring how often respondents visit theaters, cinemas, exhibitions, and so on?”

L. Skokova began by analyzing the sociocultural factors behind people’s leisure activity, among which she included a person’s individual resources, their so-called cultural capital, that is, their level of education, developed tastes, and readiness to engage with literature, art, and so on. Financial and infrastructural factors also matter, that is, whether there is a cinema, museum, or library where the person lives.

She divided the population into several groups, or styles of cultural consumption. The first is a low level of engagement in all of these activities; this is how up to 54–66% of those surveyed respond. Next comes a medium level of consumption, demonstrated by 14–24% of respondents. At the top tier of cultural consumption are 20–25%. Medium and high levels are more typical of young and middle-aged people, as well as of those who are better educated, more affluent, and living in large cities.

The war has, to some extent, put such research on pause. Yet it is precisely in wartime that interest in culture as a producer and transmitter of meanings and values becomes more visible, because society is trying to make sense of what is happening, including changes in self-perception and cultural identity. That is why various state institutions and civil society organizations are increasingly commissioning commercial sociological centers to conduct research on these topics.

The researcher added that since the early 1990s the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has been conducting the “Ukrainian Society” monitoring survey, in which respondents are surveyed using the same methodology and which includes, among other things, a block of questions related to culture: “In other words, we have accumulated a very interesting empirical base that allows us to track the dynamics of cultural processes.”

Comparing the pre-war and current periods, Ms. Liudmyla noted that among the reasons preventing more active participation in cultural life, the consequences of hostilities now come to the fore: air raid alerts, shelling, curfews, and so on. Regional differences, namely proximity to the combat zone, also prove highly significant. Or people answer that this is no time for culture because people are dying, and that cultural leisure is unaffordable for many, since they primarily donate money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

When studying reading practices, the sociologist noted, one has to acknowledge that since the 1990s there has been a downward trend in reading. Here are two figures from two points in time.

• 1994: 38% of respondents say they read literature regularly.
• 2016: only 17% of those surveyed report regular, weekly reading.

This share of active readers has held steady since then. Moreover, reading culture continues to live on in new forms—social, spectacular, and material—such as book blogging, reviews of new literary releases, book clubs, active book recommendations, and stimulating demand through attractive, artistic book design. Newspapers and magazines have practically disappeared, and new cultural practices have emerged that occupy people’s free time. These include a wide variety of social networks and messengers that have shaped a new digital network culture—a new type of media that becomes more popular every year. They are displacing the leisure of the “analog” era: even television, which 10 years ago was watched by 70–75% of respondents, is now watched by about 25%, mostly older people.

The journalist asked whether book consumption and the philosophy of reading had changed. The sociologist referred to a study showing how many printed, electronic, or audio books citizens had bought over the past three months (bearing in mind that roughly 60% of respondents do not read books): 24% of respondents bought 1–4 books, and 18% bought 5–12 or more. This is a fairly high level. By comparison, in the Institute of Sociology’s 2016 survey, only 16% said they had spent money on books.

People are also reflecting on the meanings and values they invest in what they are reading now. In addition to aesthetic pleasure, another aspect has become more pronounced: distraction—distraction from the terrible burden of war; the search for inner balance, a way out of stress, negative emotions, and fears. These are the expectations of reading that respondents pointed to.

We observe that during the war the mind’s defense mechanisms have been activated, along with a sense of threat to identity, so we see a clear movement toward interest specifically in Ukrainian authors and Ukrainian-language products. In this sense, reading also becomes a symbolic act of resistance, a sign that life, including cultural life, goes on and develops even in wartime.

In a survey commissioned by the Ukrainian Book Institute, sociologists asked: “In which language is it more comfortable for you to read a book?” Here one should take into account so-called social conformism, whereby both speaking Ukrainian and consuming Ukrainian-language products are becoming a new social norm. Changes are happening, but not in a linear way. According to a 2024 youth survey by Info Sapiens, respondents pointed to the following changes over the past two years: consuming Ukrainian content, such as buying books and watching films (52%), and communicating in the state language (47%). At the same time, Russian-language pop culture products made in the aggressor state still find an audience in Ukraine, as shown, for example, by online viewing and listening ratings.

As for reading: in 2024, when sociologists asked in which language it was more comfortable to read a book, 53% of respondents chose Ukrainian, 8% chose Russian, and 39% said they were equally comfortable reading in Ukrainian and Russian. This reflects established habits, which are not easy to change even with a strong desire. At the same time, when sociologists asked what exactly respondents were reading, Ukrainian classics came first (40%), contemporary Ukrainian authors and world classics shared second place (34%), and contemporary foreign authors came third (32%). In other words, the Ukrainian and Ukrainian-language segment is still in the lead.

The sociologist also cited data on citizens’ participation in public life and on helping others, in particular the Armed Forces of Ukraine and internally displaced persons, as well as on the evolution of society’s attitude toward books, education, and self-education. She said: “In 2026, at the Institute of Sociology, we asked our respondents: ‘What are the most important steps you have taken to adapt to life during the full-scale war?’

• “We made sure we had a place to shelter,” answered 46% of respondents;
• “found a job or additional income” — 29%;
• “obtained another education or upgraded our qualifications” — also 29%.

Sociologists emphasize that a trend has taken hold: acquiring knowledge is not limited to childhood or youth, or to a particular mode of learning. Adults and older people are learning too. The idea of lifelong learning is spreading to universities as well: they, too, seek to attract students regardless of age. Thus, a genuine transformation is taking place in this area.

The interview showed that the scholars of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine, like all Ukrainian sociologists, keep their finger on the pulse of all social processes, including cultural and educational ones, as forms of symbolic resistance and of preserving Ukrainians’ national and cultural identity during the war.

Full article: https://tyzhden.ua/liudmyla-skokova-pid-chas-vijny-chytannia-staie-symvolichnym-aktom-sprotyvu