IV International Research Conference "Interaction. Integration. Inclusion: labyrinths of meanings and horizons of opportunities"

The section is dedicated to the memory of Professor Pavel Romanov (22.05.1964 — 9.06.2014) — an outstanding Russian sociologist who made an important contribution to the development of the scientific program of critical analysis of social policy and social management, ethnography of professions and organizations of the social state, co-founder and first editor-in-chief of the Journal of Social Policy Studies.

Pavel Romanov's research has focused on the problematisation of social phenomena of professions and organisations, management and labour relations in Russian enterprises, various aspects of social inequality and social policy, the development of ethnographic methodology and film studies. His early works gave impetus to many of these scientific directions in 1990-2010. They are now flourishing, but at that time they were just emerging. Those were the times of open communication in the field of sociology, rapid growth of new directions and emergence of bright names, intensive international exchange of knowledge in the spaces of such prominent organisations and intellectual communities. Pavel Romanov's active research and teaching were characterised by a focus on high academic standards and sensitivity to current social issues in the period of socio-economic reforms in Russia. He was particularly interested in ideas for transforming the social sphere emanating from state institutions, professional groups and civil society. These ideologies were embodied in the discourses and practices of evidence-based social services and gradually formalised the new institutional environment of the welfare state in post-Soviet Russia.

The work of the section will be devoted to discussing the problems of evidence in social policy and social care through the prism of the methodology of critical analysis of ideologies of professionalism and management in the social sector. Evidence is a key concept in the development of social policy programmes and the reform of the helping professions around the world. Enthusiasm for the benefits and promise of evidence-based social policy and social work is linked to the needs of government and the third sector for replicable technologies and transparent and comparable indicators for evaluation and decision-making. Evidence has become a philosophy that defines not only the sphere of administration, but also the epistemic foundations of expert knowledge and the sphere of value ideals and rationality of practitioners.

How the new philosophy of evidence-based social policy relates to the everyday professional work of social care professionals, what contradictions, limitations and potential for re-professionalisation of practitioners exist, what conditions promote and hinder the technologisation of social care and support models - we invite researchers to reflect on these and other questions.

The section is held as part of the Competition of Articles in Memory of Pavel Romanov, organized by the Journal of Social Policy Studies.

How the new philosophy of evidence-based social policy relates to everyday professional life.

Possible topics for discussion include, but are not limited to, the following:  

• Criteria of evidence in the official discourse of the welfare state in the post-Soviet space;
• Welfare state professions: Culture, actors and values of evidence-based practice;
• Evaluating the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of social services as an aspect of evidence-based social policy;
• Discourses and institutional contexts of verification of social service models;
• Controversies and prospects for evidence-based social policy and practice;
• The role of professional knowledge and phronesis in the production of professional expertise in the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based social policy;
• The potential and limitations of social anthropology and ethnography of the professions in exploring the role of professional communities in producing the evidence base for social policy and social work;
• Algorithmisation of evidence-based social policy and challenges to professionalism;
• Dynamics of status, knowledge and autonomy in the context of social welfare governance reforms and continuing algorithmisation.

The working language is Russian.

The section is dedicated to the memory of the outstanding Soviet and Russian scientist, Professor Valentina Iarskaia-Smirnova (18.08.1935-12.11.2023).

Valentina Iarskaia-Smirnova's research is devoted to methodological problems of temporalism, inversion and non-linearity of time, interpretation of contemporary problems in chronotopes of urban everyday life, challenges and resources of social policy, cohesion and social work. The results of her scientific activities have served as the conceptual basis of the scientific and pedagogical school, the leitmotif of major projects and publications.

The work of the section will focus on the temporal turn in social science with regard to the consideration of the time of care, the analysis of different forms of social care and its institutionalisation, social work practices and characteristics of social service provision in the context of insiders' ideas about the past, present and future of socially oriented activities. Special attention will be given to the discussion of ways to overcome social inequality, exclusion and social vulnerability, strategies for an inclusive culture, consideration of existing forms of citizenship and support for the most disadvantaged groups, analysis of resources and values of social care.

The organisers of the section invite researchers to participate in the discussion of social care, cultural time, social activity and education in the field of socio-economic activity in the optics of temporality.

Topics for discussion may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Space and time of social care: approaches and meanings;
• New solidarities, forms of support and citizenship: actors, institutions and values in the perspective of mobility and vulnerability;
• Social service, third mission, socionomy: backgrounds and perspectives of social education;
• Inclusive culture in social care organisations and professions.

The working language is Russian.

This section examines the characteristics and factors that lead to the choice of self-preservation and risky behavioural strategies and tactics among representatives of groups with different economic and cultural backgrounds. The approach to the topic is as broad as possible. Materials on social, population health, demographic, genetic, ethnological aspects of the problem, biohacking, healthy lifestyles, various sports and other activities, including those with increased risk of injury, are welcome.

The working language is Russian.

At the session, it is proposed to discuss the issues of the objective well-being of Russians, its manifestations in various spheres of everyday life, as well as its reflection in the public consciousness. The discussion focuses on the ratio of objective and subjective well–being, their specifics and dynamics in recent years, as well as the factors associated with social well-being in modern Russian society.

The working language is Russian.

This section proposes to discuss the current state of inclusion of representatives of socially vulnerable groups (migrants, people with disabilities, women, older people, etc.) in business companies and government organisations. Participants in the scientific and practical discussion will share their views on approaches to studying this phenomenon as well as examples of the implementation of current inclusive employer policies, both successful and less successful.

The working language is Russian.

The title of our section contains a fragment of the updated definition of a museum adopted by the International Council of Museums in 2022.

It is planned to discuss the role of Russian museums in stimulating the interaction of different cultures and groups, as well as in the formation of cultural citizenship, where citizenship is understood as a consequence of having the right to defend one's otherness through inclusion mechanisms, and the museum becomes a platform for the interpenetration of values between the macro and individual levels.

The current socio-cultural and political challenges urgently raise the question of the need to study the reconfiguration of the role of museums from the point of view of what can be called "cultural space". The focus is not only on the museum's relationship with direct individual or group visitors, but also with the local context of a specific territory, with various agents and actors: federal and regional authorities, businesses and companies, local communities, public organisations, NGOs.

The working language is Russian.

A discussion is planned on how modern youth cope with crises, adapt to new conditions and lose/gain/maintain stability and agency. It is proposed to use a generational lens to understand the specificities of different generations of young people's perceptions of the past, present and future, and the nature of their interactions with adults. It is also proposed to discuss how young people today make vital choices under conditions of high uncertainty, how they find ways to participate in social life and social change, how they develop their subjectivity in social relations, and how they are integrated into modern society.

The working language is Russian.

Established forms of professionalism and hierarchies of professions and occupations are being challenged by new technologies (the Internet revolution, algorithmisation of work, AI) and socio-cultural practices (cancel culture, etc.). This creates additional emotional stress for professionals and moral tensions for professional communities.

The emotional turn in the study of professional communities is associated with the emergence of a large number of studies of emotional experiences in professional fields, individual professions, work and work contexts. The study of employees' emotions and feelings has become a natural part of the study of employee behaviour, work relationships, professional ethics and culture. In addition, much research has focused on ideologies and strategies for managing emotions at work in order to fulfil professional responsibilities and achieve effectiveness.

The section focuses on discussing the theoretical foundations and empirical findings of research on the social mechanisms of emotion management in the workplace. It is proposed to highlight interdisciplinary approaches to the study of emotion management at the individual and organisational levels.

Participants are invited to present papers on the study of emotion management in different professions and occupations, methods of studying it, and the relationship of emotion management to inequality and the exchange of emotions in professional contexts, communities and organisations, including understanding the social consequences of automation, robotics and digitalisation of work. Reports on helping professions related to social services, medicine and mental health are particularly welcome.

The working language is Russian.

Doctor-patient communication, the emotional labour of medical staff, the agency and redistribution of power relations between doctors, nurses and patients, the (de)medicalisation and professionalisation of quasi-medical activities, and the practice of care, nursing and treatment in the context of managerialism and consumerism will be central topics of discussion. Researchers in the fields of medicine, professions, emotions, as well as representatives of the medical community, government, trade unions and public organisations are invited to participate in the discussion.

The working language is Russian.

This section contains two overlapping areas of research, the full consideration of which can presumably have significant heuristic potential for all participants in the intellectual process. If the first problem area focuses on a rather theoretical question about the forms that the sacred takes outside the religious sphere, its structure, mechanics, and its dependence on borrowings from other spheres, then the second focuses on a fully empirical study of the normative value systems that exist in the minds of Russians and the resulting worldviews, that is, it focuses on the study of the projections of various ideas about the sacred into the social sphere.

The working language is Russian.

In this session, the presenters are going to reflect on how citizens, migrants, the poor, and refugees interact, integrate, and strive for inclusion and cohabitation within the state-enabled space in various BRICS+ countries, an ever-growing collective. Civil society plays an important and constructive role in connecting and liaisoning the various groups, raising their voices, demanding new rights and facilities, and claiming equal stakes and inclusive space in mainstream society through the pathway of discussion and negotiation. Conversely, various social movements, protests, and mobilizations of the excluded also play an important role in facilitating interaction, integration, and inclusion, mainly through the pathway of conflict that is also reconstructive. The papers in this session would discuss both of these trajectories of socio-political transformations.

The working language is English.

The diversity of transition trajectories, which undoubtedly affected social policies, contributed to the emergence and further growth of heterogeneity between and within states, which throughout Soviet history showed similarities in political, economic, social and cultural parameters. The analysis of the socio-cultural consequences of changes in political and economic regimes, which is the focus of the section's work, is of both fundamental and applied (managerial, prognostic) interest. Among the key aspects to be considered are intergenerational cultural transmission, cross-national similarities and differences in cultural and social policies, transformation of values and inclusive attitudes of citizens of post-socialist countries.

The working language is Russian.

Employment and occupation of people with disabilities is a key element of their social integration, affecting their level of social well-being and quality of life. Despite the positive dynamics in society's attitude towards disability, the field of employment and occupation of people with disabilities remains quite complex and requires new systemic solutions. The aim of this section of the conference is to discuss the latest research findings on the problem of employment of people with disabilities and to present and discuss effective social practices for solving this problem.

The working language is Russian.

The section is expected to discuss reports presenting the results of both academic and practical reflection on the mechanisms and potential for creating a friendly educational environment and developing inclusiveness in the Russian school. Special attention will be paid to the analysis of barriers and drivers of the formation and spread of a friendly educational environment, as well as the role of social macro- and micro-contexts in the processes of innovative development of the Russian educational space as a whole.

The working language is Russian.

At the section it is planned to discuss reports on how different social markers and stereotypes that fix social inequality (in terms of gender, physicality and its limitations, class, income, place, etc.) influence the choice of trajectories of schoolchildren's professional development, as space school and extracurricular additional education create (un)equal conditions for the identification, acceptance and realisation of schoolchildren's talents, and how different. The section proposes to discuss both successful cases, where the efforts of educational organisers lead to the reduction of inequality among students and the choice of a career path based on their abilities, and cases that reveal problems. And cases that show how it is possible to identify and measure different forms of inequality in the choice of individual educational pathways.

The working language is Russian.

The section is dedicated to the impact of modern technological development processes on social inclusion. On the one hand, digital and artificial intelligence are used as a means to increase the inclusiveness of the social environment. On the other hand, information technologies are creating a new - virtual - segment of social space for which the problems of inclusion and integration are relevant.

The working language is Russian.

The section proposes to consider, through the prism of sociology and related disciplines, hybrid forms of social inequalities and related processes that emerge against the backdrop of the increasing digitalisation of modern life. Resistance to new technologies, the digital diet, criticism of smart city services are just some examples of how, both at the level of society and its groups, and at the micro level of social actors, the introduction of various technologies and the formation of "digitalised" trends (consumer, media, etc.) can mask processes of downward mobility, social deprivation, etc.

The working language is Russian.

In the format of a round table, researchers and representatives of the education authorities of Russia, India, Brazil and China will share their experience in implementing and analyzing national strategies and policies for the development of inclusive education, focusing on universal and nationally specific problems and tasks in the field of educational inclusion for the participating countries.

The working language is English.