Information on the thesis

The sociological conceptualization of the border and cross border
interactions in the context of modern relations of Ukraine with neighboring
countries with attention to the socio – cultural dimension is carried out in the work.
A relevant conceptual and categorical apparatus with the author’s definition of the
main series-forming (border) and derivatives (cross border interaction, cross
border mobility, cross border cooperation) concepts is proposed. Border and cross
border interactions are interpreted as non-additive systems of various complexities
that serve intensive processes of social differentiation and integration according to
“old” (racial, ethnic, economic, gender) and “new” (citizenship, obedience,
political views) social differences, and therefore, it is only a reflection of the
established social order of a country, its internal / regional “rules of the game”. It
is argued that cross border interactions, which are localized at the interstate border
and border, have institutional, socio-economic and socio-cultural dimensions.
From an institutional perspective, it is a border crossing as the final stage in the
functioning of a multi-level institutional model of mobility control that operates
within the country and at / in / out of it for both its citizens and foreigners /
stateless persons. The institutional mechanism of crossing the state border serves
the social differentiation of persons who can leave / enter the space of state power.
In the socio-cultural dimension, the border defines and redefines social
hierarchies, identities and loyalties, establishes barriers and social distances, but
also new social groups, practices and marginal (marginal) identities are formed in
the border area. From the socio-economic point of view, the border and border –
the space of implementation of practices of production, consumption and
exchange, use of goods and the implementation of various needs, the place of
actualization of social well-being of border residents;
The possibilities and practices of using the theoretical provisions of three
methodological turns of modernity have been improved: spatial turn in the part of
modern vision of space, J. Urry’s mobility turn for analysis of borders and cross
border interactions (first chapter) and partly historical turn used in the second
chapter of the dissertation. Slovak relations in their historical longevity. The
combined concept of “spatial mobility” has been introduced into scientific
circulation, which is a reflection and manifestation of the constant differentiating
and / or integrating influence of modern interstate borders. Two prevailing trends
in the interpretation of spatial mobility related to borders and cross border
interactions have been identified: the first is the understanding of spatial mobility,
which in the modern world is both a resource and an indicator of social inequality.
At the same time, the opposite tendency to “erosion” or even complete leveling of
the barrier function of borders in connection with the transformation of the nature
of the latest transboundary processes was identified.
The author’s program of sociological research of cross border interactions
with attention to institutional, socio-economic and sociocultural aspects of these
phenomena in the unity of its methodological and methodological parts is offered,
which can be used in empirical study of borders and cross border interactions in
different parts of Ukraine’s borders. The correspondence of the system of
empirical indicators to the author’s conceptualization of the border and the frontier
as a three – dimensional space of cross border interactions was confirmed using
confirmatory factor analysis.
The study further developed the tradition of sociological study of the
phenomena of physical space as having integrating and differentiating social
functions, in border studies in particular. The paper highlights the disciplinary
features of the study of border issues, border and cross border interactions and
clarifies the features of their sociological interpretation. It is emphasized that the
peculiarities of the sociological approach are the observance of two cognitive
principles: 1) the principle of genetic-functional analysis of the object; 2) the
principle of unity of theoretical and methodological and empirical levels of
research. The combination of these two approaches in the study of the system is
the content of genetic-functional (structural) analysis. Its main advantage is that it
allows you to explain the structure through history, and the history of the object
through its structure.
The dissertation deepens the direction of sociological research of cross
border interactions as an essential element of social reality, which becomes system
– forming in the conditions of globalization. It is argued that the global discourse
of promoting cross border mobility is accepted by nation-states primarily in
relation to the movement of goods, capital and selected categories of people, but is
in fact limited to the securitization of borders for unwanted / dangerous
movements. Institutional practices for regulating cross border mobility are
improving technologically, which entails challenges in the field of bioethics and
security, expands the possibilities of control of state institutions and prioritizes
security and medical aspects of cross border mobility. In particular, it is a
question of introduction of bioidentification of the person.
The obtained results and methods of dissertation research can be used to
develop and improve state and public projects and programs aimed at optimizing
the social management of cross border cooperation; in planning and conducting
sociological monitoring of cross border interactions on the western and southern
borders of Ukraine. The obtained results can also be used for the development
and teaching in higher education institutions of the disciplines “Sociology of
Politics”, “Sociology of International Relations”, “Sociology of Migration”,
“Sociology of Globalization” and others.
Key words: border, cross border interactions, cross border social phenomena,
cross border mobility and immobility, cross border cooperation, border crossings.