The process of individualization is a component of the general process of formation of modern societies. The other components are: the formation of capitalism, of industrialism, the process of democratization, urbanization, the formation of modern political and state order. The result of the process of individualization is formation of modern individual. The function and importance of the process is obviously underestimated in sociological theory as compared to the attention given to the processes of formation of capitalism or industrialism. This has become clear as the latest sociology has characterized the contemporary society as “individualized society”.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the social-historic process of individualization. Its aim is to bring to light the basic mechanisms through which this process was realized. These basic mechanisms are social differentiation, rationalization and civilization. The analysis of the mechanisms of individualization is based on classical and some contemporary sociological theories. The analysis of social differentiation takes the starting point in the analysis of methodological principles of theory of society and theory of social development of E. Durkheim and G. Simmel. The authors strive to point to the fundamentals of the historic process of social differentiation and its main stages.

Rationalization is the main mechanism of the process of individualization. The sociological theories of M. Weber, M. Horkheimer and J. Habermas form the basis of its analysis in the article. This analysis also points to the fundamentals of the process of individualization and to its main stages. 7 The article shows the interconnections of the mechanisms of differentiation, rationalization and civilization in the social-historic process of individualization.

The article also strives to show the significance of the principles of individual liberty and equality as fundamental to the modern ideology.

One of the major trends of the modern world is a process of individualization. Despite the fact that the term “individualization” has existed since the XVII century, it is often confused, mixing with the concept of “individualism”, “individuation” and “individuality”. But individualization is not a political or moral worldview, it is not a process of identity formation, and it is the natural multi-level complex social process associated with defined design conditions of life of the individual and the conditions of its existence.

The purpose of this paper is to, based on the works of U. Beck and Z. Bauman, to define the process of individualization, to consider the process of occurrence and development of individualization in the modern society. To reveal features of this process at the present stage of development of society, where the process of individualization acquires new features.

According to sociologists, the process of individualization affects all aspects of society and has two levels of its manifestation. The first level the author calls structural or objective level, because it is independent on the actions of individuals and the inertia phenomenon associated with the spreading of social space, social differentiation, division of labor, with the processes of globalization and modernization.

The second level is the sphere of individual action. At this level the meaning of individualization is the expansion of individual rights and opportunities and the liberation of the individual from traditional social forms and relationships that defined his model of behavior in the modern society. Due to the change in “life situations”, there is an increase of opportunities of the individual for independent decision-making, self-selection and successful action. The change in “life situations” (under U. Beck) due to detraditionalization life spheres and emergence of new “spaces of freedom”, which create new challenges for society and for the individual in particular. Social classes and layers, small family, market, secures employment are not mandatory forms of life and labor, ensuring the stability and development of society. They cease to be fundamental values and public landmarks in modern society, the “second or late modernity”.

The development of wireless technologies and digital infrastructure has radically changed the relationships of individuals with their habitat and with each other. Instead of boundaries and separation, researchers increasingly describe the modern world, using concepts of network, connectivity and flow. The article presents theoretical positions within the framework of the sociological analysis of cyberspace as a special type of space emerging as a result of the development of information and communication technologies. The specifics of different approaches to the definition of cyberspace in the context of the description of the time-space distantiation as one of the key characteristic of modern society in which network structures have a decisive influence are considered. The paper concludes that, despite the large number of studies devoted to the issues of cyberspace, the interpretation of this concept is highly ambiguous. The technological basis for the design of cyberspace, as well as the understanding that any space is socially constructed, allows us to consider cyberspace in the perspective of studying its physical, social and informational aspects. This new type of space, characteristic of the networked societies of the 21st century, has a number of features that point to its virtuality, network nature of functioning, multidimensionality, nonlinearity, variability, the ability to be a public and private space and the basis for constructing a networked identity.

The article studies the intellectual origins of a discursive approach in political science. Attention is drawn not to the process of discoursive approach formation (which was formed in the 1960s–1970s under the influence of the “linguistic turn”), but to the many themes of thought that developed and had a decisive influence on the solution of the problem of language non-neutrality in the perception and reproduction of political relations. In many respects, the reliance on different traditions predetermined the inconsistency of the notion of discourse. We are interested not so much in direct referrals (this would lead to the compilation of a very voluminous list that allow little to understand), but rather specific intellectual borrowings in the form of identifying a problem field, marking out, distinguishing and denoting the research space. What does it mean to study language as a non-neutral dimension of comprehension and re-actualization of political processes? Analytical philosophy would draw attention to the logical structures of the language, German linguistic philosophy – to the “world view”, provided by the basic structure of everyday language. Formalists would make a research in text narratives, while structuralism insists on basic structures and provides “langue/parole” model. Semiotics is a general science about symbols, which provides specific meta-language, whereas “phenomenological tradition” is based on the idea that a language plays constitutive role in the process of the intersubjective interactions and creation of social relations.

Language is a basic manifestation of human being and his/her place in society. The form of language existence and trajectory of its development are influenced (among other things) by the nature of socio-political relations among its native speakers. The article discusses social and linguistic features of the English language functioning on the territory of two major centers of English – USA and Great Britain (compared). It shows that perception of the speech Norm and the degree of deviation from it differ in these countries. This fact is the result of cultural and historical events which underlie the formation of socio-political attitudes and influence the language. The difference is not only in linguistic characteristics of the language Norm/Standard in these countries but also in the character of its social markedness.

In Britain language hierarchy is based on class division of British society where Standard English is characteristic of High class. In USA it is based on national or racial prejudice and is the result of long-standing discriminating language policy which is aimed at strengthening the role of Standard English as the language of Caucasian majority.

Political, historical and cultural factors along with autonomy of language development in these countries underlie language ideologies and socio-political attitudes that divide people on the basis of race (USA) or class (Great Britain). Covert prestige of language standard gave rise to resistance of Standard English to the influence from the outside.

The article analyses the relationship between socio-political changes and transformation of urban space, which is a revision of the cultural and historical memory. City at every moment of its existence, considered as a set of “places of memory”, each of which performs its role in a symbolic ensemble. Urban development is in very close connection with the transformations of political regimes. Any socio-political changes reflected in the creation of new “places of memory” in urban space and the destruction of the old. Especially clearly this relationship becomes obvious when considering the history and present of cities that perform Metropolitan functions. Capital traditionally has a maximum symbolic value. For example, the development of Moscow in the Soviet period demonstrates how architectural solutions and urban space as a whole became means of expression of the new socialist ideology. The Soviet government sought to establish its values and priorities in all ways, one of which was the new face of Communist Moscow. The dismantling of the Soviet regime became the next stage in the development of urban space. The article concludes that the collapse of the socialism radically changed the face of cities in Eastern Europe.

Features of studying of manipulative impact on the Russian youth of various subjects of public activity during the imperial period of the Russian history are considered. Studying of purposeful impact on youth of various, not unambiguous subjects of public activity using its as subject to manipulations and also approbations on its political, social and psychological technologies and experiments is the relevant and perspective direction of modern sociological researches. Systematization of knowledge of this perspective and also accounting of the available experiment on studying of this sort of the negative phenomena acquired during the previous periods of national history – the imperial and Soviet periods, has to contribute to development of effective mechanisms of counteraction to manipulative and destructive impact on process of socialization, education and social development of modern Russian youth.

The author pays attention to little-known works, official documents and unfairly the forgotten classics of the Russian socio-political thought, opinion of the official government persons and publicists mentioning this perspective in the researches. Interest in this perspective, investigating features of process of socialization, crisis of institutes of socialization, participation of youth in policy, growth of crimes of extremist and terrorist orientation, mood of youth, student’s revolts and performances were generally shown by both official officials, and scientists, experts and publicists, first of all, of the conservative and guarding direction of the Russian socio-political thought.

I.K. Palen, K.P. Pobedonostsev, A.I. Georgiyevsky, A.S. Izgoyev, M.N. Katkov, F.P. Elenev, N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, L.A. Tikhomirov, B.N. Chicherin, etc are highlited as persons who have brought a significant contribution to the development of this perspective. The Russian youth is often acted in ideas of these statesmen and thinkers as the victim of propaganda and as object of manipulative influence from outside both external, and internal anti-system, radical liberal and revolutionary forces.

Developments of the recent decades have radically changed the conditions of life of all social strata and groups of the Russian society. Under these conditions, the sustainable development of the society and the economy is largely dependent on the course of alternation of human generations – the process leading to the emergence of new actors in the socio-cultural environment, those who optimally perceive the modern values and painlessly become their bearers, transforming the world in accordance with them and playing the role of mediators in the formation of a new series of value determinants.

The authors refer to the experience of a youth cohort study. They summarize the information on the scientific schools existing in this area of scientific thought in the Western countries as well as the findings of Soviet and Russian research projects.

The study focuses on the research experience of the Vologda Research Center of RAS. Based on this experience, the article defines the circle of problems of the youth cohort in the field of health, employment after graduating from colleges / universities, social and political activity.

The research findings are based on the data of a cycle of empirical studies carried out since 1997.

The authors assume that young people are the social group whose characteristics directly determine the future development of the country, and that due to the unsettled social stereotypes, it is the group of people, whose quality features can adjusted according to the desired type of social behavior.

The study puts forth the hypothesis, according to which the growth of investment in youth policy, systematic work on the formation of the necessary qualities of youth, bringing up its civil and political participation, involvement in productive activities would significantly improve the quality of its human potential and enhance the economic and social returns to the society.

The article focuses on the following features in the youth environment: 1) heredity of techniques that are often tied to the realization of mercantile (consumer) interests and ignoring civic activity; 2) discrepancy of life and educational trajectories with professional choice; 3) positive dynamics of the quality of labor potential of young people with a stable decrease in the quality of their intellectual potential; 3) the instrumentalization of relations to a number of important spheres of life (health, education, labor).

The authors also discuss some of the potential opportunities to expand the methodological apparatus of the regional studies of youth.

The proposed article highlights the secular and religious conflict in the context of modern Western society in the concept of Jürgen Habermas and Danièle Hervieu-Léger. An assessment is given of the problem of the integration of Muslim communities in the French society of the late 20th century, and examples are given. Particular attention is paid to the crisis of secular regulation of religion in modern society.

The German sociologist and philosopher Jürgen Habermas notes the complex intertwining of the secular and religious in the events and reactions of September 11, 2001. If the religious motivations of the actions and beliefs of terrorists that have made a lethal weapon civilian airliners with passengers, sending them to the symbol of the international global business system – the twin towers of the World Trade Center, leaves no doubt. All the more surprising was the reaction to this extraordinary event, which contained a significant religious component in the official events and reactions of the civil society.

In this context, the opinion of the French sociologist Danièle Hervieu-Léger is close, which analyzes the problem of the regulation of religious organizations by secular French society and sees the reason for its dysfunction in the disparity between the model of “religious organization” adopted by the secular state. Islam is the first religion in France 1990–2000, which does not fit in with the traditional for French domestic politics, and the problems of interaction of believers in a secular society (administration, school, etc.) are only growing.

In the fifteen years that have elapsed since the time when Jürgen Habermas delivered his speech, the situation, on the one hand, has changed and worsened, on the other, fully confirms the conclusions made by the philosopher. In light of the problem of “invasion” of refugees, the predicted, but occurred with the complete unpreparedness of the French authorities and law enforcement agencies to react to it promptly, the terrorist act of “Black Friday November 13, 2015” – once again demonstrated the clash of religious and secular discourses. The European symbolism of the “bad name” of Friday the thirteenth, which does not have direct symbolism in the Muslim and Jewish world, used by the developers of the terrorist act, was designed to fuel panic in the European thinking ordinary citizen – a potential victim of the terrorist attack.

The material is provided useful for comparative studies of the religious situation in Russia and Western Europe.

The article poses the problem of information consumption of believers in the Internet. The global world network, being a huge storehouse of information, contains a large amount of content that is offensive and unacceptable for a religious person. It cannot be said that it is collected in one or several places, on the contrary, this information is scattered chaotically in the most diverse parts of the Internet. Important question is raised before the believer: how to avoid negative content, which, in addition, may contain a threat of religious identity? Or, perhaps, it should not be avoided, but with producers and carriers of negative information, one should enter into a dialogue? Following problem clearly emerges, closely related to the first: how to construct a constructive dialogue between believers and representatives of other worldview systems, providing polemics, not squabbling? The article analyzes the reasons for the rootedness and wide spread of aggressive anti-religious discourse on the Internet. The hierarchical structure of anti-religious discourse is considered. The main strategies of informational behavior of believers in cyberspace, related to the possibility of collision with negative and offensive content are given. The peculiarities of the dialogue between believers and atheists connected with the organization of modern secular society are explored. The correlation of the concepts “believers-atheists” and “religious-secular” is given.

We define the civil service as a political and administrative institution established to meet the needs in the professional performance of political decisions and providing the daily contact between the society and the political power. The definition of civil service in the Russian legislation is not fit the features of public institution, that is why the institutionalization of the civil service in post-Soviet Russia face difficulties.

We see ways to overcome this contradiction, which include the improvement of legislation and implementation to the strategic documents the goals, objectives and performance criteria of civil service institution-building. This goals and objectives should orientate the civil servants to ensure economic growth and improving the quality of citizen’s life.

The architecture of the civil service institution was offered, including the legal, institutional and human components. We identified the institutional characteristics and location of this institution in the environment of society.

The algorithm of civil service institutional change was clarified, which includes elements such as institutional selection, the definition of institutional norms and institutional effects.

The requirements for the assessment of institutional effectiveness were formulated. We proved the necessity to describe the driving forces of civil service development not only by external influences, but also its internal environment.

The comparison of this set of statistics with indicators of internal development of the civil service allows concluding about the correlation between the civil service performance on different stages of its institutional transformation and attainment the priorities of the economy and society.