DOI: 10.7256/2454-0617.2019.1.29799

Abstract: This study examines the "Indigados movement" and the "Five Star movement", which emerged in the South European region as a response to the austerity policies implemented by the government following the 2008 economic crisis which affected the prosperity of the European Union member states. The author explores the issue of youth unemployment as one of the major factors that lead to mass demonstrations which rolled across Spain and Italy. The study draws attention to the causes of the mortgage crisis in Spain, which later became the catalyst for the confrontation between the citizenship and the state. The article cites the political discourse of the protest leaders of Spain and Italy. The author draws attention to the active usage of the information space by the members of said movements, which hints a global nature of this phenomenon. The author concludes that contemporary realities impose new rules of political struggle. European youth is being involved into political processes of the EU by new, progressive means. Simultaneously, the main goal of mass public demonstrations - the desire of citizens to be heard - is noted. Drawing spotlight to the hot issue of youth employment remains a relevant aspect of the said movement's political rhetoric.

Keywords: Austerity policy, Media Space, Youth unemployment, Five Star Movement, Podemos, Indignados, Protest movement, European Union, Spain, Italy

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0617.2020.4.34302

Abstract: The object of this research is the political system of the Republic of Belarus viewed in the context of sociopolitical conflict instigated by the results of presidential election of 2020. The Eurasian Economic Union faced a number of severe internal problems: besides the protests in Belarus, the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan led to resignation of the incumbent president, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has escalated. Therefore, special attention is given to examination of the factors of sustainability of the political system their significance for Eurasian integration and Russia-Belarus bilateral relations. The authors assesses the consequences of the manifestations of crisis, and analyzes the mechanisms of resilience of the political system to the internal challenges. The history of establishment of the modern structure of political system of Belarus is analyzed. The formal institutional and factual functional relations are revealed. The author’s special contribution lies in the assessment of factors of sustainability of the political system of Belarus. Understanding of sustainability of political systems of regional nations is the cornerstone in risk assessment caused by integration and forecasting of the development of international relations in the region. The political system of Belarus, which has been formed throughout 26 years of presidency of A. G. Lukashenko, is currently (and so far successfully) being stress tested. The built vertical of executive power allowed to “amortize” the colossal level of tension emerged in the society after the announcement of voting results. It is determined that the consequences of crisis in Belarus are overall positive for Russia and EAEU. However, the risks of further destabilization of the political system and regime change pose a serious threat for the development of integration project.

Keywords: color revolutions, social riots, Structure of political power, Political institutes, Political conflicts, Presidential election, Belarus, Eurasian economic union, Eurasian integration, Poplitical systems

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0617.2018.4.22171

Abstract: The subject of this article is social conflict, the ways of its development and possible consequences. Defining social conflict as the apex of a contradictions' development in relations between people, groups, etc., it is possible to reveal its negative and possible beneficial effects. The democratic regime determines the specific ways of organizing social relations dominant in such states. The set of rights and civil liberties are inherent in democratic states, and in fact, makes it possible to expand the range of conflict situations and increase of rivalry. Therefore, the standing challenge is to achieve the level of the conflict control management which allows to maximize probability of beneficial outcomes.The chief research method of this study is content analysis. Also, the author employed method of induction in his process of thought. The constant presence of social conflicts is an indisputable fact of social life. With the development of democratic mechanisms and the emergence of an increasing number of civil institutions, the involvement of society in political processes is increasing in proportion to the growing conflict in such societies. Therefore, it becomes possible to trace a certain correlation between the said factors. In this regard, the most pressing issue is to narrow down a suitable format for the regulation of social conflicts, which allows a democratic state to reap the greatest benefits from those events. The search for this type of successful conflict control management format within the democratized state constitutes the scientific novelty of this theoretical work.

Keywords: conflict management, e-democracy, democratic institutes, communication, civil activity, social development, information, democracy, social crisis, social change

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0617.2021.4.36896

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the analysis of protest activity of the Russian youth in the context of the institutionalization of the global digital politics. The contradictions existing in the Russian political system are viewed in the form of conflict, which determines the specificity of the reproduction of protest activity of the representatives of youth cohort. The ambiguities in implementation of state policy manifest as the trigger for the formation of protest activity, including mobilization of social activity of youth in constructive / destructive behavioral practices. Research methodology is comprised of the concept of social action in interpretation of M. Weber, T. Parsons, J. Habermas, as well as the theory of social changes developed by P. Sztompka, which allows relying on the thesis of the mutual interaction of structures in relation to the actors in terms of analysis of youth protest. Interpretation is given to the results of discourse analysis of political media texts on the Internet that was conducted by the authors. The scientific novelty consists in determination of the existing expert opinions on the conditions necessary for minimizing protest activity of the youth, as well as most widespread technologies used for their implementation. Of particular importance are the results of the original empirical study that allow interpreting the two positions, which reflect the opinion within the professional environment on the role of youth in protest movement of the Russian Federation, forming the so-called “ideological foundation” for further reasoning on the state and social activity related to protesting youth.

Keywords: digital environment, media discourse, opposition to protest, internal political conflict, Russian youth, protest activity, political protest, government policy, public policy, public discussion