No 2 (2026)

The article analyzes the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the professional activities of Russian-speaking freelancers engaged in creative and intellectual fields. Based on data from online surveys conducted in 2024 and 2025 on the platform Freelance.ru, the research reveals the dynamics of AI usage, the primary tasks assigned to neural networks, and the advantages and limitations of their application. In particular, it was shown that over the past year, the proportion of people using AI to solve professional problems has grown significantly, and assessments of its capabilities have become more positive. Particular attention is paid to the key skills necessary for effective collaboration with AI, such as formulating prompts, assessing the quality of results, and minimizing potential errors. The study considers both the positive aspects of using neural networks and the challenges it presents, including quality instability and ethical issues associated with technology use. In conclusion, the perspectives on the transformation of professional employment and the influence of AI on the labor market structure are discussed.

We problematize the foundations of a special type of social order - the interaction order - as conceptualized by sociologist Erving Goffman. The interaction order that unfolds in a social situation of physical co-presence may have different foundations: it may be self-sustaining, autonomous and separate from other orders, grounded in the cognitive resources of the participants in the interaction, or provided by the "behavioral setting" in which the interaction takes place. Despite importance and relevance of all three components, we propose to draw on Bruno Latour's arguments to conceptualize the behavioral setting as a material setting that coordinates and guides the "situational" in interaction and argue that it is the behavioral setting that grounds the interaction order. We propose to place this theoretical discussion in the context of homelessness research that focuses on interactions with people without homes in public spaces. Through these studies, which problematize the boundary between the private and the public, it becomes possible to trace the key role of behavioral settings, which are, in Goffman's terms, not "merely situated," but include the situation itself in their framework, guiding and coordinating the order of the "situational" in interaction. The proposed interpretation of the foundation of the interaction order, as localized within a behavioral setting, shifts the theoretical focus of interaction studies toward materiality. At the empirical level, it enables a critical evaluation of those homelessness assistance initiatives that fail to take into account the significance of the behavioral environments within which interactions with homeless individuals take place.

The author continues the structural analysis of the concept “social capital” in this article, with previous results presented in his earlier published works. The study focuses on the genesis of one of the most important components of social capital – “social participation.” In the paper, a definition of this concept is provided that distinguishes it from other forms of public interaction. The author proposes to assess the significance of factors influencing the formation of predisposition towards social participation. Sociodemographic and sociopsychological conditions are grouped according to stages of dynamics in personal growth and expansion of individual’s spheres of interaction: micro-level, meso-level, and macro-level. An evaluation is conducted regarding the interrelation between sociological characteristics at different levels and the fact of interested involvement or non-involvement by respondents in various organizations, movements, communities, and charitable entities. Based on comparisons using Pearson’s T-test for means, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) At the micro level, social participation is more prevalent among young respondents under 30 years old, women, as well as those whose mother had higher than average education and held a relatively high occupational position when the respondent finished school; (2) At the meso level, inclination toward social participation is characteristic of individuals who have above-average secondary special education, associate their life with chosen profession, enjoy sufficient material security, reside in urban-type settlements or cities, and describe their relationships with colleagues overall as good; (3) At the macro level, there is a strong correlation between social activity and an increased level of interpersonal trust (generalized trust). A positive attitude towards market reforms and economic innovations was also revealed among respondents who demonstrated a readiness for social participation.

The article summarizes the data on bureaucratic instruments in education. Those instruments include: concentration of privileges by bureaucrats; imitation of activity and usefulness; reliance on formal-legal regulation with the rejection of scientific management; evasion of responsibility with the depersonalization of management; pressure on lower levels to bring their personnel to obedience; blocking of state-public management; pressure on research that can illuminate alternatives to bureaucracy; introduction of the habitual perception of bureaucratologies; strategy of anticipatory initiative. They are used by bureaucrats for their dominance in education, contrary to public needs and interests of education. In sociological study the instruments can serve as empirical markers of bureaucrats and bureaucratic educational policy. Such a generalization is a necessary part of the developing concept of bureaucratologies as a priority to study education in contemporary Russia and an important theoretical guideline for sociological research of bureaucracy.

The article examines the forms of creativity available to young people in two cities of the North Caucasus – Nalchik and Pyatigorsk – against the background of a persistent tension between territorial branding for tourism and the preservation of local authenticity. The theoretical framework draws upon debates on the “creative city” (S. Sassen, S. Zukin, R. Florida), the concept of bounded agency (K. Evans), and youth DIY practices (A. McRobbie). The empirical base consists of 83 in–depth interviews with students and young workers in creative industries, as well as a survey of 638 university students conducted in 2024. A comparative analysis highlights fundamental differences in the perception and practices of youth creativity: in Nalchik, creative activities develop predominantly in a DIY logic, relying on horizontal networks and compensating for the lack of institutional support, whereas in Pyatigorsk, creativity is embedded in institutional and entrepreneurial channels, with the university and municipal structures acting a s key mediators. Qualitative evidence further reveals that in the North Caucasus context, additional restrictions are imposed by ethno–cultural and religious norms, which enhance the role of young people as carriers of bounded agency and as mediators between global cultural trends and local identities. The study demonstrates that the differences between the two cities are defined not by the volume of creative potential, but by the mechanisms of its legitimation and support, which shape the sustainability of youth creative practices. More broadly, the cases of Nalchik and Pyatigorsk highlight the importance of examining creative industries in multi–ethnic regions of Russia, where youth play a crucial role in balancing authenticity and innovation, as well as in mediating between global and local cultural dynamics.