Development specifics of Ukrainian sociology under the Russian-Ukrainian war

Abstract

The presentation (and hence the article) is based on the wills of O.O. Yakuba regarding the analysis of the development features of sociological knowledge at all three levels: general sociological theory, middle-level theories, and empirical research data. It is necessary not only to understand the structure of sociological knowledge but also the interrelationship of all components and the need for the interrelationship of theory and methods relevant to it. The article shows that the development features of sociological knowledge in Ukrainian sociology at the beginning 21st century were characterized by a violation of this organic link, disproportions in the structure of sociological knowledge. However, the search for new non-Marxist explanations at the highest level is now successfully underway as an introduction to the development of a new general theory. According to G. Ritzer’s terminology, these conditions can be evaluated as Mp, i.e. “metatheorizing-prelude”, from which Ukrainian sociology should move on to Mo conditions, i.e. the creation of an arch metatheory. At this level, modern Ukraine (a local entity) is pushed to the centre of the global, which requires a rethinking of the traditional sociological canon. At level: 2) of middle-level theories, in Russia’s ongoing large-scale aggression conditions, two theories, such as the sociology of war and the sociology of the nation, gain the most importance. The author has characterized the main features of the modern sociology of war in Ukrainian sociology, described the differences in the duel between two different social systems: democratic and authoritarian, and showed the main characteristics of the modern sociology of war, which will inevitably end with the victory of Ukraine. At level: 3) of empirical research, we currently experience the greatest success: from the beginning of the phase of the acute military confrontation till the middle of June 2022, representatives of the six leading sociological centres of the country have already carried out 35 national sociological studies of different nature; now Ukrainian sociologists actively present their results in publications and at international scientific conferences. Thus, the structure of modern sociological knowledge in Ukraine, for which Prof. O.O. Yakuba argued, remains unfinished. Still, it is possible to record significant scientific developments at the current stage at all three levels. All this makes it possible to have an optimistic view on the further development of sociology in Ukraine and on the fact that it will be able to help both in the ongoing war and in peaceful post-war reconstruction.