Ph.D. of University of Manchester (Great Britain), Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Chief Research Fellow, Editor-in-Chief of 'Sociologu: Theory, Methods, Marketing' journal, Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Theory and methodology of social research, sociological theory, civic activism and civil society, authoritarianism and problems of democratization.
Biography
Graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Taras Shevchenko State University of Kyiv (1984). Completed postgraduate studies at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1984–1987). Defended his Candidate’s thesis "Social Philosophy of American Neoconservatism: A Critical Analysis" at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1987). Completed a Ph.D. course at the Department of Sociology of the University of Manchester (1994–1997), where he defended his dissertation "The Social Construction of Identity and School Policy in Ukraine" (1997). Held a Fulbright Research Scholarship at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., USA (2004). Defended his Doctoral dissertation "Civil Society: Discourses and Practices" at the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (2016). He has been working at the Institute since 1994. Editor-in-Chief of the journal "Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing".
Projects
The national resilience of Ukraine during the Russian-Ukrainian war: social configurations
2025 – 2026 · Researcher
Stress states of Ukraine's population in the context of the war: prevalence, risk groups and ways of compensation
2023 – 2024 · Researcher
Theoretical synthesis in modern sociology: foundations, problems, and prospects
2023 – 2025 · Researcher
Social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of social transformation in Ukraine: a sociological approach
2020 – 2021 · Principal investigator
Sociological conceptualisations of society in making sense of modernisation processes
2012 – 2013 · Principal investigator
Ukrainian sociology: recent history since the 1960s and dilemmas of development
2009 – 2011 · Principal investigator
Contemporary sociological theory against the background of globalisation challenges
2006 – 2008 · Principal investigator
Sociological knowledge and power: a dialogue between theory and political practice
Ukrainian Civil Society in Wartime: Transforming for Resistance and Strengthening Resilience (Ukrainian Civil Society in Wartime: Transforming for Resistance and Strengthening Resilience) — Stepanenko, V. & Stewart, S. · Veira-Ramos, A., Ivashchenko-Stadnik, K., Liubyva, T. (eds) Ukrainian Society During Wartime · Palgrave Macmillan · Cham · 2026 · 10.1007/978-3-031-97841-8_6
‘Who, if not us?’: civic activism and defence in wartime Ukraine (‘Who, if not us?’: civic activism and defence in wartime Ukraine) — Stepanenko, V., & Stewart, S. · Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research · 38(1) · 152–168 · 2025 · 10.1080/13511610.2025.2467214 · full text
The social organization of war: Ukrainian and Russian societies mobilized for war — Hayoz, N., & Stepanenko, V. · Soziale Systeme · 28(2) · 341–371 · 2024 · 10.1515/sosys-2023-0013
Pandemiia COVID-19 v Ukraini: sotsialni naslidky (Пандемія COVID-19 в Україні: соціальні наслідки, “The COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine: social consequences”) — za nauk. red. V.P. Stepanenka · TOV NVP «Interservis» · Kyiv · 2021 · full text
Hromadianske suspilstvo i derzhava pislia vyboriv 2019 r. (Громадянське суспільство і держава після виборів 2019 р., “Civil society and the state after the 2019 elections”) — Stepanenko Viktor Petrovich · Ukrainske suspilstvo. Monitorynh sotsialnykh zmin · 6 (20) · 25-34 · Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine · Kyiv · 2019 · full text
Ukrainian churches and civil society in the Euromaidan and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict: A sociological analysis — Stepanenko, V. · E. A. Clark & D. Vovk (Eds.), Religion during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict · 107–127 · Routledge · 2019 · 10.4324/9780429288463-7
Hromadianske suspilstvo: dyskursy i praktyky (Громадянське суспільство: дискурси і практики, “Civil society: discourses and practices”) — Stepanenko Viktor Petrovich · Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine · Kyiv · 2015 · full text
Ukraine after the Euromaidan: Challenges and Hopes — ed. by V. Stepanenko and Y. Pylynskyi · Peter Lang · Bern · 2015 · full text
Reinventing the agora? Public space as political arena — Stepanenko, V. · C. W. Kihato, M. Massoumi, B. Ruble, A. M. Garland, & M. Sanchez (Eds.), Urban diversity: Space, culture, and inclusive pluralism in cities worldwide · 51–77 · Johns Hopkins University Press · 2010
Civil society in post-Soviet Ukraine: Civic ethos in the framework of corrupted sociality? — Stepanenko, V. · East European Politics and Societies · 20(4) · 571–598 · 2006 · 10.1177/0888325406293280
Suspilna transformatsiia: kontseptualizatsiia, tendentsii, ukrainskyi dosvid (Суспільна трансформація: концептуалізація, тенденції, український досвід, “Social transformation: conceptualisation, trends, the Ukrainian experience”) — Za red. V.V. Tanchera, V.P. Stepanenka · Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine · Kyiv · 2004 · full text
The Construction of Identity and School Policy in Ukraine — Stepanenko, V. · Nova Science Publishers, Inc. · 1999
Sotsiolohichna dumka Ukrainy: navchalnyi posibnyk (Соціологічна думка України: навчальний посібник, “Sociological thought in Ukraine: a study guide”) — Burlachuk Viktor Fokich, Stepanenko Viktor Petrovich · Zapovit · Kyiv · 1996
