Cross-border Regional Studies in the Context of Meso-systems Theory

Cross-border Regional Studies in the Context of Meso-systems Theory


Simonyan R.Kh.

Dr. Sci. (Sociol.), Chief Researcher of the Institute of International Studies, MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia simonyan.renald@yandex.ru

ID of the Article:


For citation:

Simonyan R.Kh. Cross-border Regional Studies in the Context of Meso-systems Theory. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2019. No 6. P. 64-73




Abstract

The region, which is a part of the country or a group of neighboring countries that make up a certain integrity, is usually considered as a theoretical concept in our literature in the economic, political and administrative aspects, while the basis of the region and the driving force of its development are the people that make up the territorial community, the regional human capital. Today in regional studies there is a shift from the dominant economic approach to a sociological one. This is especially true for holding the intermediate – inter-state, inter-cultural, inter-civilization – the position of border regions, which are entrusted with the implementation of two fundamental functions of the state border: contact – interaction of Russia with neighboring countries and a barrier to maintain stability of borders and integrity of the country, to prevent smuggling, drug trafficking, illegal migration with its threat of international terrorism penetration. It is the residents of the borderland with their consciousness and activities that realize these functions. The article analyzes the social processes taking place in these regions in the framework of cross-border regional studies


Keywords
spatial potential of Russia; social meso-system; cross-cultural communication; economic reductionism; regional consciousness; sociology of everyday life

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Content No 6, 2019