Obŝestvennye nauki i sovremennostʹ

The result of the digital revolution in a period of global shocks and crisis of trust is a new format of the information and communication space, which has a huge potential to merge with the real world into a symbiotic network. The digital environment is recognized as the primary basis of the metaverse, the defining characteristics of which are omnipresence, dynamism, neutrality, undistorted digital personality and its correspondence to the real user, virtual gravity in time and space. However, to this day, the metaverse is an ephemeral theoretical idea, focused on changing the socio-economic formation. In the new paradigm of social development, approaches to the disclosure of its essence in relation to the trusted information and communication environment of interaction are highlighted. These approaches determine the nature and constructiveness of future changes in the economic space. The prerequisites for the emergence of the idea of mixed reality (merging the gaming industry with the cryptocurrency market and turning into a fundamentally media environment with creative optional support) are investigated. The conclusion is made about the formation of the national metaverse beginning with the digital transformation of monetary circulation. Its priority is due to the ability to permanently transform the socio-economic reality of all formats in a single bundle. The Bass model has been adapted to determine the dynamics of society’s involvement in the digital economic space. The model made it possible to establish the features of the penetration of the digital ruble as an essential element of the metaverse.

The problem of the collective subject (CS) is studied in the context of new areas of scientific research: the theory of large evolutionary transitions (MET – major evolutionary transitions) and digital philosophy and sociology. Digital philosophy and sociology explore the fundamental impact of digitalization on society and cognition. MET is a theory that originates in the biological problem of the transition from unicellular microorganisms to multicellular «superorganisms» which are a whole at a new level. Later, the idea of the MET was extrapolated to society as a system consisting of organisms, and invaded the field of sociology and philosophy. The most important means of uniting organisms into such groups as a tribe, a people, a nation, is language. The emergence of new ways of communication (writing and printing) has played a fundamental role in the development of society as a CS. At the end of the 20th century, new means of communication were developed – digital information systems. Unlike writing, these systems have their own activity and lead to fundamental changes in society precisely as a CS, as a subject of cognition, social management and development. The possibility of using MET theory to deepen the understanding of CS of cognition (scientific communities) is considered, as well as CS of management, and the impact of digital systems on deeping cognitive processes in social CS.

Based on migration statistics and documents from the Gulf Research Center, the World Bank, the UN, and the World Labor Organization, the approach to regulating illegal labor migration in the Gulf countries is studied. Systemic, institutional, and comparative methods, as well as political science analysis, are used. It is shown that the Persian Gulf region is the largest migrant labor market in history and the epicenter of South–South migration. All six rich oil states of the Persian Gulf have common features as migration rentiers, which create a special – illiberal – model of regulating illegal immigration. It is distinguished by a comprehensive segmented alienation of migrants. States maintain a regime of exclusive citizenship, practically not providing migrants with the opportunity to naturalize. It is concluded that the governments of the Persian Gulf countries have abandoned the classical integration strategy in relation to migrants. Modern realities convince of the relevance of the illiberal approach to migration management in other regions of the world.

The revival of the republican political tradition is taking place against the background of the academic dispute between liberals and communitarians. Сommon values of modern republicans, namely, deliberativeness of the political process and civic virtues based on the idea of the common good are defined. Views on democracy of three authors of republican orientation – M. Sandel, K. Sunstein and F. Pettit are analyzed. It is shown that the existence of different directions within the republican tradition (one focuses on the development of common ethical ideas, and the other – on mixed government) has as its consequence the heterogeneity of republicans’ ideas on democracy. It is proposed to distinguish two ideal types of republican views on democracy – narrowly communitarian and essentially liberal, and to consider as criteria for typology (1) views on the highest social ideal and human rights, (2) the purpose of democratic discourses, (3) the role and significance of agreement with political decisions, (4) the role and significance of political participation and civic virtues. It is concluded that to date a unified republican theory of democracy has not yet been formed.

The problem of media literacy development, which is relevant for modern media studies, is considered in the context of the evolution of Western socio-humanitarian, including philosophical, thought of the last century. It is shown that the problem of the relationship between man and the world of information throughout this time has been of interest to authors who wrote not only about the media and their role in modern society, but also about the fundamental principles of human existence in a situation of crisis of individual and social identity. It is concluded that the relationship between man and society with the world of information and the media can be described by two models of media behavior. The first model assumes a low level of subjectivity of information recipients and, accordingly, their dependence on the policy pursued by the media. The second model describes a community with a high level of media literacy and therefore less susceptible to manipulative technologies of the media. It is noted that raising the level of knowledge about the media to the status of a section of philosophy, media philosophy, nevertheless leaves unchanged the main purpose of this new science, that is supporting and developing media literacy.

The “Zeitenwende” (times-turn) declared by chancellor Olaf Scholz in February 2022 presents a major shift in the German defence policy in recent decades. Berlin is now pursuing an ambitious aim of becoming a military leader in Europe after years of neglecting and defunding its army. The change in Germany’s military doctrine based on its newly published National Security Strategy and Defence Policy Guidelines are analyzed along with the current restructuring of the Bundeswehr and the procurement activities under the 100 bln euro special fund. The research shows that, although large, the provided investment is unlikely to eliminate deep-rooted deficits of the German army, especially when it comes to lacking equipment, infrastructure, munitions and personnel. While Germany’s new core concept of “integrated security” implies militarization of its foreign and security policies, the continuity of the “Zeitenwende” is far from being guaranteed in the years to come. The author underscores that mounting economic problems, institutional limits and Germany’s special strategic culture of restraint can massively hinder the military build-up. Another point is that a strong anti-Russian stance embedded in its new defence posture makes Berlin less flexible in terms of strategic autonomy. Reviving its Cold War role model of a “frontline state” Germany makes it even more difficult to find some common ground on a future security architecture in Europe. Some of its steps like equipping its nuclear-capable air component with F-35As, deploying and developing midrange missiles or consolidating a multinational ground-based air defence (European Sky Shield Initiative) could further destabilize European security.