Obŝestvennye nauki i sovremennostʹ

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda, and the principles of sustainable development have emerged as pivotal components of managerial discourse and practice among Russian corporations. Historically, major Russian enterprises have strategically leveraged global CSR and ESG frameworks to enhance their international market positioning, attract foreign investment, and reconfigure environmental, social, and labor relations in alignment with globally recognized sustainability standards. Concurrently, institutional actors – key centers of expertise in CSR and ESG – faced profound challenges in navigating this transformed landscape. The evolution of CSR in the Russian context under the dual pressures of sanctions and deglobalization are examined, analyzing the adaptive trajectories of leading institutional actors, such as specialized committees within the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (CCI), and the Russian Managers Association (RMA). The study provides a critical review of international scholarship on CSR and ESG agendas, foregrounding theoretical and empirical critiques of their universalist claims and hegemonic implications. The Russian case is studied on the basis of original research to interrogate how CSR and ESG frameworks are being reconfigured amid geopolitical and economic ruptures. Introducing a novel analytical perspective, the article applies a decolonial critique to examine CSR and ESG awareness in Russia, emphasizing the role of institutional actors in shaping expert knowledge and discursive practices in this domain. Furthermore, the CSR discourse has been co-opted by public administration systems, which increasingly channel corporate social investments – framed as compliance with CSR and ESG imperatives – toward state-prioritized social and infrastructural programs. This article contributes to debates on the geopoliticization of CSR and ESG, offering insights into how non-Western contexts negotiate global sustainability paradigms under conditions of economic decoupling. It underscores the contested nature of CSR as both a tool of corporate legitimacy and a site of ideological struggle, particularly in states navigating post-globalization realities. By foregrounding the agency of institutional actors and the adaptive resilience of CSR frameworks, the study advances understanding of how localized discourses of responsibility emerge in response to systemic disruptions.

The Orange Revolution and Euromaidan became the most important events in the history of modern Ukraine, having a key impact on the vector of its development. Earlier, attempts were made in the foreign academic literature to compare both phenomena, but most of the researchers’ conclusions, due to their political bias, do not stand up to serious criticism. Comparative analysis of the Orange Revolution and Euromaidan is presented, based on fundamental scientific methods, primarily the principle of historicism and system approach. Using a wide range of sources, stages of both coups are analyzed, the role of the main actors and specifics of regime change operations in 2004–2005 and 2013–2014. Separately, it is considered why, against the relatively peaceful Orange revolution during the Euromaidan period, outbreaks of violence arose that led to numerous human casualties. The significant number of identified similarities allow to conclude that both color revolutions have the same nature, and the differences between them indicate the flexibility and effectiveness of geopolitical engineering technologies, implemented in Ukraine at the beginning of the XXI century.

The article is devoted to the efforts implemented by the Democratic administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to strengthen NATO and the ties within the organization. The strategic documents adopted by Washington and its practical steps taken for these purposes are analyzed. The efforts of the American leadership under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to implement the declared course towards NATO consolidation are considered in several main aspects, i.e.: the rapprochement and divergences between the allied countries and the development of the alliance’s new global posturing; their joint military and political measures to counter Russia after the start of its special military operation; the pursuit of further NATO expansion by admitting Finland and Sweden; and the influence of the U.S. election campaign on Washington’s policy towards NATO. The line of the Democratic administration to strengthen ties with the allies is analyzed in juxtaposition to the actions and statements of the Republican leader Donald Trump, both during the election campaign and after his victory in the elections. The piece examines changes in NATO strategy defined by its confrontation with Russia and the efforts of the alliance’s members to ensure the organization’s sustainability regardless of political and financial developments due to the political transition in Washington.

The participation of the Brazilian Armed Forces in the socio-political process of the country is analyzed. The current state is monitored, the evolution of the main parameters of this state institution is shown: the number of military personnel on active duty, military spending and its share in the GDP structure, as well as the perception of the army in Brazilian society and the level of trust in it. It is proven that the significant role of the military in the country’s politics is due to constitutional grounds. Article No. 142 of the Basic Law of Brazil serves as a criterion for identifying the main forms of participation of the army in modern military-civil relations. Regularly conducted during the first quarter of the XXI century, force operations to ensure order and legality mediate the role of the military in ensuring home security. It is noted that the peak of the militarization of Brazilian politics, which occurred during the right-wing governments in the period from 2018 to 2022, when the political influence of the military increased, there was an expansion of their representation in administrative positions in the government of J. Bolsonaro, including ministerial posts of a civilian profile. It is concluded that, despite attempts to limit the political influence of the military during the third mandate of President Lula da Silva, the latent role of the armed forces as a significant political actor will continue in the medium term.

The digital detox from social networks among student youth is studied. Based on 30 semi-structured interviews with students of humanities specialties aged 18–24 years, open and axial coding was conducted in accordance with the logic of “grounded theory”. The conditions conducive to digital detox, motives for direct digital detox from social networks, motives that hinder digital detox, consequences of digital detox from social networks for the informants’ lives, and their future plans regarding detox are determined. Among the conditions conducive to detox, a positive attitude towards digital technologies in the informants’ families, an active non-virtual life filled with hobbies are highlighted. Digital detox occurs during periods requiring maximum concentration, for example, during a university exam period, when out-of-town students return to their families; refusal of social networks is also possible due to a reassessment of life values and a desire for a more conscious life. The motives for digital detox include: digital burnout, digital consumption, online privacy, and nonconformism. The study showed that respondents do not completely delete their accounts from all social networks, since social networks provide convenient access to information and the ability to communicate with people with whom communication occurs only in the online space. The consequences of digital detox are associated with an improvement in various aspects of quality of life: relationships with the immediate environment, increased time for self-development and leisure, and normalization of the emotional state.

The article considers the main approaches to understanding the concept of cooptation, their evolution, and the possibility of application to the analysis of Russian politics. The study aims to identify the distinctive features of political cooptation in Russian politics. It has been established that the concept is associated with economic and sociological approaches, the main features of political cooptation have been identified: its perception through the prism of interaction between elites, the negative and unequal subtext of interaction, its use to reduce the costs of power, and as a tool for analyzing political regimes. Cooptation in Russian politics has a number of specific features. These are its institutional nature, emphasis on systemic opposition, and great attention to regional political processes.