Inclusive modernization and contradictions of changes in value systems of Eastern European countries in the 1990s and 2000s

Abstract

The paper aims to acquaint Ukrainian sociologists with the research findings regarding modernisation processes and changes in value systems, which were happening in post-socialist countries of Eastern Europe during profound societal transformations of the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s. The analysis demonstrates that modernisation is a permanent, relative, non-linear and antinomic process. Antinomies of modernity are linked to the emancipation process and the corresponding change in value orientations in society. Emancipation, which is unfolding against a backdrop of improving the quality of life, is accompanied by the rise of personal responsibility for choices being made, as well as by threats to individual freedom. This brings into sharp focus the inclusiveness of modernisation. On the other hand, unfavourable socio-economic environment along with declining sense of existential security may lead to de-modernisation, which is coupled with shrinking tolerance and dwindling willingness to accept others, receding trust in democratic institutions, disruptions to rational communication in society, weaker support for emancipative values and adherence to materialistic ones. The estimate of effects related to a certain historical period and generational turnover through intra- and inter-cohort components of social change, which was made using statistical modelling, has shown that socialisation is a key factor explaining continuity of the modernisation trend — since there are cohort differences in value orientations formed during a gradual improvement of the quality of life in the preceding period. In 13 post-socialist countries, there is a tendency for emancipative values to spread due to socialisation; however, in a few of them a statistically significant inter-cohort component is combined with adverse contextual factors. Thus, even though European integration has proved to be quite an effective strategy for modernisation in most post-socialist Eastern European countries, it is not an irreversible process. Such a perspective helps to better understand the contradictory nature of transformations taking place in Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukrainian society.