V International Research Conference "Interaction. Integration. Inclusion: from Reflection to Action"

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 the ideologies of professionalism and management in the social sphere. Evidence–based approach is a key concept in the development of social policy programs and reforms of the structure of helping professions in different countries of the world. The enthusiasm for the benefits and prospects of evidence-based social policy and social work is related, among other things, to the need of the state and the third sector for replicated technologies and transparent and comparable indicators. Evidence-based approach has become a philosophy that defines not only the field of administration, but also the epistemic foundations of expert knowledge, as well as the field of values and rationality of practitioners.

How can the efforts of professionals and experts, government, business, and NGOs be combined to create inclusive professional environments for the production of analytics and evaluative research in the field of social policy? It is planned that the discussion will cover epistemic crowdsourcing, impact investments, co-design, collaboration technologies in the field of research evaluation involving various organizational and professional environments. An important aspect is overcoming stereotypes and barriers to inclusive expert interaction through the formation of a space for common communicative action and a reflective "life world" of specialists in the field of social policy. There is an opportunity to present cases of research and analytics formed in ecosystems of professional and expert cooperation between various stakeholders. The participants will formulate the principles of "ecosystem thinking" in the professional field of analytics and evaluative research, with an emphasis on methodological reflection.

The activities of any organization are related to documents, rules, and regulations. At the same time, many actions within organizations are carried out without and in addition to the rules. During the work of the section, it is proposed to discuss the extent to which inclusive practices can be implemented within the framework of established rules, given that organizations often need to be flexible in situations beyond the standard. All commercial and non-profit organizations face dilemmas of combining strict adherence to regulations and a creative approach to solving emerging problems, but more often it occurs in healthcare, education, and cultural institutions. It is budget institutions that are experiencing a shortage of resources, lack of funding and  qualified specialists. At the same time, any organization is subject to comprehensive monitoring of compliance with the principles of inclusion and the use of various tools for monitoring and evaluating effectiveness. But control often comes down to checking documents, rather than a real assessment of the effectiveness of inclusive processes. The organizers of the section invite researchers to reflect on ways to combine actions according to the rules and circumvent these rules during the implementation of inclusion in organizations of various types.

The section offers to discuss both the achieved and new frontiers in the direction of social integration of the elderly. In addition, it is important to reflect on the multidirectional processes that generate contradictions between the ideals of active involvement of older citizens in society and the uneven distribution of resources in the field of social integration of older people. Also, one of the important focuses of the section will be the discussion of education as a possible resource for the reintegration of people of silver age into both the economy and society as a whole.

The section will be dedicated to the memory of the famous Russian scientist, sociologist, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Valentina Iarskaya-Smirnova (1935-2023), who would have turned 90 this year. Continuing the traditions of the Valentina Iarskaya-Smirnova academic school, it is planned to discuss mainstream topics related to the study of various aspects of social temporality, the variability of which depends on alternative scenarios of a transforming society. Special attention is expected to be paid to the spatial and temporal dimensions of social practices, solidarity and social mobility, and the mobilization of resources that help overcome crises.

The section is supposed to discuss various aspects of inequality in modern Russian society, the peculiarities of its manifestation in different spheres and the distribution of its "burden" to different social groups. The discussion focuses on the prosperous and vulnerable groups in the coordinates of various axes of inequality, the causes of this vulnerability, as well as the subjective features of the perception of inequality by the population in the broad context of social justice and the consequences of this.

Despite the ongoing economic growth in many countries of the world, socio-economic inequality remains an urgent problem in society and may worsen during the social upheavals of recent years, such as the pandemic, economic and geopolitical crises. These shocks can be reflected both in people's individual behavior and intergroup relations, as well as in people's attitudes towards formal institutions. Economic crises and social inequality lead to a decrease in psychological and social well-being, prosocial behavior and general trust, and exacerbation of intergroup conflicts. Concern about the negative consequences of social inequality continues to dominate the research, socio-political agenda and society as a whole. The purpose of the section is to discuss the psychological aspects of the perception of social inequality, behavioral models of coping with stress in a situation of global crises, as well as the consequences of inequality in the areas of preference formation, decision-making, collective activity and public relations. The section will include presentations on the psychological aspects of socio-economic interaction at the individual, group and systemic levels, as well as socio-economic inequality, occupational and social discrimination.

Since the emergence of the neoliberal onslaught in South Asia, which started mainly in the 1990s, there has been a steadily rising economic growth story in South Asia, mainly spearheaded by India. As an emerging neoliberal economy concentrates wealth and resources in the hands of a rising middle class and upper classes, there has been a growing disparity, inequality, and dispossession in the society, which creates a deep social exclusion and divide across the society. This transformation gets affected by the making of an emerging New World Order post-2020, where we see emerging national conflicts that slowly engulf a large part of the world, shaped by warring groups, coups, movements, and regime changes. South Asian countries, which are already known for their social inequalities, are deeply affected by these transitional crises. This session brings together studies from South Asia that discuss cases of rising conservative politics, social conflicts, movements, threats of war, and regime changes that we have witnessed in this region in the past decade that have disintegrated and reconfigured a large portion of the society, economy, and polity.

The section focuses on the reintegration and social rehabilitation aspects of the experience of participants in local conflicts. It is proposed to reconstruct and discuss the repertoire of interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and solving the problems of transit, re-socialization and reintegration, as well as the problems of trauma and damage. Such approaches are based on the initial point of view on the social construction of social problems, in which the experience of reality (participation in combat) is based on a certain jointly constructed or agreed understanding of individual and collective military identity and social responsibility. To understand the social dimension of military experience, it is necessary to take into account the dynamic process of changing socio-political contexts and the stable construction of military identity, the moral structures of the acquired military fraternity and communicative norms in commemorative military communities. Attention is also being drawn to rehabilitation services and social technologies that can help veterans undergo adaptive changes and achieve a life perspective transformation.

This section is devoted to the study of youth in modern societies. We propose to focus on discussing the life worlds of young people and their daily interactions both within one generation and between generations. Special attention will also be paid to the integration of young people into modern Russian society in a rapidly changing world characterized by geopolitical instability, growing digitalization, economic precariousness and the transformation of cultural norms. Within the framework of the section, it is planned to discuss in more detail the opportunities and challenges for preserving/gaining the resilience of young people, as well as the manifestations of their agency in interaction with adults. Presentations based on the results of empirical research both in Russia and abroad, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, are welcome to participate in the section.

Global research shows that the family as an institution is in the process of transformation: solo families are becoming more stable and widespread, new values of having many children are emerging, new forms of guest marriage are being formed, etc. At the same time, intergenerational differences are becoming more noticeable and contradictory. At the same time, a discourse of traditional family values is being formed, designed to slow down the modernization processes in the institution of the family and child-parent relations. How to maintain trust, mutual understanding, acceptance, and dignity of each family member? How do new family practices create challenges or help solve them? How do new practices of parenthood (motherhood/fatherhood) create new family norms and relationships with children? How does the status of children in the family change? How are digital practices changing the institution of the family and child-parent relations?

The phenomenon of silence is considered in a wide field of different disciplines: from linguistics to jurisprudence. Being a cultural and social phenomenon, silence itself creates "its own" culture. The culture of silence sets boundaries within which different facts of reality can be discussed. What goes beyond these boundaries, becoming unnamed, is like a curtain closing, disappearing from view. This is the fate of many challenges that arise in the context of education and adaptation of students with special educational needs. The participants of the section, Russian and foreign experts and researchers, moving from understanding the phenomenon of silence in a multidisciplinary context, will then turn to its various interpretations in the field of education, and finally focus on the educational needs of vulnerable categories of students (children with disabilities, from families with migration status, low SES), and try to they become a little more visible, thereby giving hope for the possibility of a solution.

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 round table is dedicated to the complex links between inclusion and subjective well-being in modern school education. Given the initial goal of overcoming discrimination and ensuring equality, does inclusion contribute to improving the education system for children with special educational needs (SEN), or may it create risks for various groups involved in educational relations? Does caring for children involve creating an inclusive educational environment, or can it create barriers and promote alienation? Based on empirical data, the features of the subjective well-being of students with and without disabilities in an inclusive environment will be shown, the risks and opportunities for subjective well-being in the interaction between groups of children with different needs will be analyzed. The impact of inclusivity on educators and parents, who often remain out of sight, will also be considered. During the discussion, researchers and practitioners will talk about the possibilities of harmonizing the goals of inclusion, ensuring subjective well-being and creating a truly friendly environment, as well as alternative ways to improve the subjective well-being of students with disabilities.

The round table will discuss the unique challenges and opportunities for the development of inclusive education in the Arctic and Far East regions. The participants will consider the specifics of the organization of the educational process in the Far North and remote territories, including issues of accessibility of infrastructure, training, and adaptation of methods for children with special educational needs. Special attention will be paid to the analysis of key issues: the availability of resources, cultural and linguistic barriers, climatic features, as well as the search for effective solutions for integrating inclusive practices into local educational systems. The discussion focuses on the prospects for interagency cooperation, the role of digital technologies and community–based approaches in the development of inclusive education in these territories, as well as the issue of representation of various categories of children with SEN. The round table will become a platform for the exchange of experience between experts, researchers, educators and representatives of NGOs in order to outline ways of sustainable development of an inclusive environment in the Arctic and the Far East.

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 section includes two overlapping research fields, the complex consideration of which can presumably have significant heuristic potential. The first problem field focuses on the theoretical question of the forms that the sacred lakes outside the religious domain, their structure, mechanics, and their dependence on borrowings from other fields. The second one focuses on the empirical study of projections of various representations of the sacred in the social and political sphere. It is proposed to focus on the moral prohibitions (taboos) that exist in modern Russia.

Currently, many experts have noted various aspects of the reception of therapeutic culture in Russia. Therapeutic culture is a process of spreading a psychologized worldview in almost all spheres of society, when various problems are solved through psychological understanding and correction of individual and collective actions. The concept of therapeutic culture therefore includes not only professional help, but also popular psychology, self-help, and various practices of psychological reflection and coping with difficulties that exist in different communities and digital environments. The purpose of this section will be to analyze the different manifestations of this culture in public and private spheres in order to assess the potential, inclusive and integrative, and the "dark" sides, stigmatizing and desocializing, of the process of psychologization through the study of communication, discourses and principles of emotion management underlying the dissemination of therapeutic culture. We invite specialists who study both public spheres, mainly professional, and private contexts, especially family ones, where the impact of therapeutic culture is especially noticeable.

Network analysis methods, which make it possible to visualize and analyze complex systems of interactions, can be effectively used to study various aspects of integration in the field of science and education. The section will feature reports revealing how structural and dynamic patterns of connections affect integration processes in the academic and educational environment. The section will combine quantitative and qualitative approaches, from big data analysis of co—authorship to ethnographic research of academic communities.

The section proposes to discuss the current state of diversity and inclusion policies for representatives of socially vulnerable groups (migrants, people with disabilities, women, older people, etc.) in business companies and government organizations. Experts, researchers and employers will share their views on approaches to studying this phenomenon, as well as examples of the implementation of relevant inclusive policies, successful and not so successful.

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.

For this section the researcher of various disciplines and multiple approaches are invited.  In recent years, there have been a large number of global events that have significantly affected the lives of people all over the world. During our section we are going to discuss how these events affected people’s current ideas about their future, including different countries and different generations. What social sentiments are prevailing today in a given society? How do young (or not so young) people see their future? Does migration affect their images of the future? To what extent may strategies change in such important areas for the future as obtaining an education or developing a business? These questions will be at the center of the discussions. The section focuses on both comparative studies (in space and time) as well as on any other descriptions of the current situation that reflect people's attitudes to it. We hope that comparisons and interpretations of how differently life trajectories can change today will emerge from the context of the common section discussion.