Sociologist in the Context of Armed Conflict in Donbass

Sociologist in the Context of Armed Conflict in Donbass


Yakovenko А.V.

Dr. Sci. (Sociol.), Prof., Head of the Department of Sociology and Social Technologies, Lugansk State University named after Vladimir Dahl, Lugansk, Ukraine 6daoav@rambler.ru

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For citation:

Yakovenko А.V. Sociologist in the Context of Armed Conflict in Donbass. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2019. No 7. P. 143-151




Abstract

Preservation, and in some cases expansion, of armed conflict zones in the world in general and in the post-Soviet territory in particular, confirms relevance of a thorough analysis of the possibilities to conduct qualified sociological research in military confrontation areas. The article provides a summary of a number of the most typical difficulties arising in the preparation of a sample set, establishing a constructive frank dialogue with the respondents. The situation in Donbas, so author, has precedence, both in terms of its vast territory of the conflict, and in the number of people living in the social atmosphere of the war. Special attention is paid to the problem of an unbiased assessment of what is happening. There are pressures on the correctness of academic analysis and research findings, ideologically rich environment, as well as the feasibility of legal responsibility for the use of taboo terms in scholarly texts. Author argues for importance of specialized training of sociologists to work in extreme conditions. It is proposed to intensify initiatives to specify legal base, primarily in terms of international law to ensure the status of sociologists’ activities in zones of military conflicts, as well as areas of man-made and natural disasters. Sociological research should be considered one of the procedures to normalize social relations and establish civilized dialogue.


Keywords
sociological research; extreme sociology; social atmosphere; security; ideology; theorizing

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Content No 7, 2019