This article is devoted to the analysis of the impact of digital technologies on the contours of modern society. The author emphasizes that “digitalization”, as an element of a new social reality, has become the subject of numerous discussions and disputes, the key vectors of which are: 1) differentiation of digitalization from similar but not identical processes; 2) scope and breadth of digitalization of various spheres of economic and social life; 3) advantages and disadvantages of digitalization of social reality; 4) directions, social consequences and the future of digitalization. At the same time, each of the selected vectors entails a number of questions that require scientifically based answers.

In particular, within the framework of the first discussion, such questions are: how does digitalization differ from automation, informatization or computerization? What indicators indicate the success of the digitalization process? The second discussion raises the following questions: Which areas of social life are covered by digitalization? What exactly does this manifest itself in? The third discussion raises questions about the undoubted advantages and obvious disadvantages of digitalization, and the fourth discussion focuses on the problem of the social consequences of accelerated digitalization. The search for scientifically based answers to these questions is the main subject of this article.

The author concludes that digital transformation gradually covers all spheres of life of both society and each individual, and over time it will become more and more obvious. However, today it is most noticeably manifested in the field of social communication, which is rapidly being embraced, even “enslaved” by electronic and digital technologies.

The danger of accelerated and unconditional digitalization lies in the fetishization of the role and place of digital technology and science in modern social development, which inevitably leads to the strengthening of technocratic determinism and scientism associated with the absolutization of natural sciences as the only scientific knowledge. However, the leveling of the value of the humanities leads to the leveling of the actual analyzing, reflexive activity of a person, to a decrease in the importance of a person in many, and first of all, social processes, which are supposed to be better handled by “artificial intelligence technologies” or cyborgs. But then digitalization, as in its time – liberalization, and then globalization – can become another manipulatively controlled political project or a totalitarian dogma, on the basis of which an active process of establishing a new world order will be launched.

The article discusses the priorities and socio – economic risks of the digital transformation of public administration. The main approaches to the problem of the use of advanced digital technologies in the activities of state and municipal government bodies aimed at the formation of a modern system digital environment are investigated. The main directions of the digital transition in public administration are considered, which include the digitalization of communications between public authorities, the active introduction of digital technologies into the practice of providing state and municipal services to business structures and households, stimulating the introduction of effective digital solutions as one of the important conditions for social dynamics.

The article identifies the factors and social risks affecting the digital transformation of public administration in the Russian Federation. Among them are the high level of digital inequality, deep social differentiation of regional development, the costly nature of digitalization, risks to the labor market and traditional forms and conditions of employment, problems of adaptation of citizens to the active use of digital technologies in the public administration system, as well as the unconditional provision of citizens' rights and information security in the digital environment. The importance of the course of the Russian state to dynamize the digital transformation of the state and society in the conditions of unprecedented aggravation of international relations in the modern world and tough economic and political sanctions imposed against our country was confirmed.

The article deals with the features of sociological analysis of religion in Russia during the imperial period of its history. The national sociological tradition of studying religion as a socio-cultural phenomenon and a social institution, which was developed during this period, had its own unique and peculiar appearance and was just begun to revive again in post-Soviet Russia, contrasts with the tradition that took place in the West. In this context, the appeal to unfortunately undeservedly forgotten works of classics of Russian religious and socio-political though is very promising area of modern sociological research.

When studying this problem, the author emphasizes the study of the works of representatives of three ideological areas of Russian religious and socio-political thought: conservatism, liberalism and socialism, as well as the peculiarities of the historical development of Russian society and the state and those events that had a signifi cant impact on the formation and development of scientifi c understanding of religion in Russia. Among such features the author, in particular, refers to the formation of an “antisystem” (systemic integrity of people who take a dim view of their homeland, hate their own nation, its values and culture, history, traditional religious, political and social systems) among the Russian intelligentsia, bureaucracy and part of the elite of Russian society, under a certain infl uence of Westernism, as a consequence of the spiritual schism of the 18th century, which occurred in the educated strata and elite of Russian society. When studying the features of understanding religious issues by representatives of Russian conservatism, the author of the article analyzes the views of N.Ya. Danilevsky, K.N. Leontiev, F.M. Dostoevsky, M.N. Katkov, K.P. Pobedonostsev, L.A. Tikhomirov. He notes the fact that judgment of this perspective was carried out by these authors from “Slavophile”, traditionalist (pochvennichesky and guarding) positions, in the context of judgment of features and an originality of a way of development of Russia as the center of east Christian (orthodox) culture and also empires successors of orthodox Byzantium — defenders Pravoslaviya, Orthodox church and belief, the orthodox people, values and the culture of Christianity “keeping” the world from approach of the evil and arrival of the power of Antichrist.

During the global fi nancial crisis in 2008, the collapse of the ideology of Marxism can be traced in the scientific discourse — all the remaining socialist foundations and bases collapsed, and new formats were mixed and transformed into a chaotic order and new political foundations. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. The main social contradiction in China has transformed into a contradiction between the growing desire of people for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. Changes in the main contradictions in Chinese society have determined that the scientific discourse should consider people’s desire for a better life as the goal of social struggle, constantly strengthen people’s sense of happiness and security and constantly contribute to the overall prosperity of the nation. The main purpose of the article is to crystallize the “new round” of the development of Marxism in China, which began with the arrival of Xi Jinping to rule the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China. The author reveal the prerequisites for the origin of Marxism in the world (from the level of an idea to a real embodiment), give a historical overview of the formation of Marxism in China (the main stages are identified and each of them is characterized), and also argue for the emergence of a “new round” of development in modern China based on a comparison of new bases of ideology and fundamental Marxist theories.

Despite the collapse of the socialist system, it cannot be assumed that the external alternative to capitalization and socialization has historically exhausted itself. The experience of modern China, which opens up space for the development of capitalist forms in those parts of the economic space where they show their advantages and have not technically exhausted themselves, is much more consistent with Marx’s natural-historical approaches: not to jump over regular stages (falling, as a rule, into the abyss), but to create opportunities for development and the historical exhaustion of natural forms.

Nowadays, the study of management in a company from a sociological point of view is becoming increasingly relevant. The enterprise begins to be perceived not just as an object of economic activity, but as a social system, the ongoing processes in which must be regulated and controlled based on the characteristics of the social environment. In the article, the author makes an attempt to consider the current state of research on social mechanisms of enterprise management in China, and also determines the prospects for further development. The author reveals the factors influencing the social environment of Chinese enterprises, which allows us to draw a conclusion about the features social management mechanisms formation in them. The research methodology is based on the use of scientific literature analysis methods, content analysis, generalization. The conclusions of the study are based on the author's own experience and knowledge of the companies with Chinese specifics social environment, as well as the results of a theoretical analysis. Based on the results of the study, the author concludes that at present, management in an enterprise from the point sociological science view has not been studied enough, there are no studies of the enterprise management social mechanisms, which indicates the need for a deeper study of this problem. The social management mechanisms in Chinese companies are particularly influenced by the features of traditional Chinese culture and the dominant philosophical concepts of Confucianism, Taoism and Mohism. One of the main tasks is the Chinese companies’ social management mechanisms development and integration the ideas of "human-oriented" thinking and the "dating society" into the management process and the management model "with Chinese characteristics" creation.

Children’s health and its protection is a matter of special concern to every society and state. Today’s children are the future of the country, the basis of its socio-economic potential. It is in childhood that the foundations of health and self-preserving behavior are formed.

Th e formation of a child’s health largely depends on the conditions that the family can provide, on the health practices that parents and the immediate social environment adhere to. Th e correct interpretation of the health of children by parents is of a great practical importance, as it makes it possible to correct it, prevent the consequences of diseases and timely seek for medical help.

Based on the analysis of the literature and the latest statistical data, the article attempts to analyze the health of children in modern Russia, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Th e main focus is shift ed to the area of p arents’ assessment of children’s health. It is concluded that parents overestimate the potential of children’s health and underestimate behavioral health risk factors, which leads to insuffi  cient attention to preventive measures to preserve it. At the same time, the author does not ignore the issue of the diffi  culty of maintaining a healthy lifestyle in diffi  cult economic conditions, under which a high proportion of families with children live in Russia, especially families with many children.

Th e empirical basis of the work is the study of the Department of Family Sociology and Demography of the Faculty of Sociology of Lomonosov Moscow State University “Interregional studies of life values  and non-transitivity of family-child orientations of women, men and married couples based on a cross-cutting analysis of comparable data” (SeDOZH, N=2479 people). In order to conduct a comparative analysis, the author obtained additional data on the topic of work, including studies by Russian and foreign authors on the problem as well as research centers in Russia.

In a study based on biographical interviews with elderly people from rural areas (n = 30, Leningrad region) the roles and scenarios of using online communities of diseases are considered. Focusing on how the accumulation of knowledge about the treatment of diseases occurs in online communities, the work explores the communication and interactions of older people in online communities.

Modern healthcare and the system of medical care are increasingly based on neoliberal principles. One of the ways to integrate neoliberal methods of treating diseases is to create online disease communities where patients can get the necessary help from doctors and communicate with other patients, exchange experiences and receive advice on prescribing necessary medications. However, such communities are not accessible to everyone, and, consequently, there are diffi  culties with access to such a format for obtaining knowledge on the treatment of diseases in elderly patients, as well as in those patients who do not have access to the Internet. For elderly people with chronic diseases, such communities can serve as communities for communication, that is, those communities where communication is possible, which is oft en lacking for elderly people living in peripheral settlements. On the other hand, the importance of such communities is determined by the fact that it is oft en diffi  cult for an elderly person in peripheral settlements due to remoteness to get the necessary advice or recommendation from a doctor, and communication in online communities and medical forums contributes to obtaining such advice, which is important in the treatment of the disease.

In addition, participation in online health communities is useful for adapting to everyday life with a chronic disease and is defi ned as promoting the ability of patients to integrate into everyday life and society. On the other hand, in this study we focus on studying how the creation of knowledge about the treatment of diseases occurs within the framework of the participation of older people in online communities. Social communication, supported by online communities, facilitates the exchange of knowledge between elderly people with chronic diseases. Th is study contributes to the study of the possibilities and limitations of online communities in the context of living with chronic diseases of elderly people in rural areas.

The article is devoted to a critical study of the complex of mechanisms for the formation of a visual culture of publicity in order to develop an understanding of the ongoing cognitive changes. Modern visual culture is considered as the main tool for the formation of social reality, the creation of a space-time continuum, i.e. an environment that includes objects of cultural space, which include public persons. The latter are at the same time markers of this environment, conductors of its mentality, reflect its ideology, being its pure forms. From the standpoint of today, the functional roles of participants in the visual culture of publicity are analyzed. The mechanisms of publicity are metaphorically considered as image management settings at the stage of television implementation. Their sociological justifications are proposed as tools for including material about public figures in the communication process. The author’s definition of the subject of research is given.

The author in this article raises the topical issue of loneliness. The focus on this phenomenon is linked to the instability and uncertainty of the current sociocultural situation in a rapidly globalizing world. The changes that are taking place in the political, social, cultural and economic spheres of a State, as well as in the world as a whole, have an impact on the structure of interpersonal communication and identity.

The author points out that in the 20th century the phenomenon of loneliness is seen through the lens of "extreme situation", in both atheistic and religious existentialism. And in religious existentialism, the loneliness of man in the "extreme situation" is a prerequisite for understanding God as a transcensency, whereas in atheistic terms, the attempt to realize leads to the conclusion of the absurdity of human existence and entails the isolation of man, feeling alone. The article shows that today’s realities make it imperative for the individual to mobilize all resources in order to develop adaptive capacities corresponding to a constantly evolving world. But not everyone is capable of accepting previously unfamiliar living conditions. There are many who feel the pain of losing the ties that were important to them, who feel the agony of not being able to acquire new ones, even though they are urgently needed. The text defines a single person as a subject of communication who experiences difficulties in social interaction. The author also shows that loneliness affects an individual in the following way: it can both distort a person’s perception of social action and have a positive effect on the individual, contributing to serious spiritual development.

The author concludes that loneliness, being a key point of dissatisfaction with oneself and oneself (the position in society), can be an impulse for the need to analyse internal experiences, to understand life’s problems and eventually to understand its place in the world.

The article presents an overview of studies on the sociological dimension of the phenomenon of religiosity in modern society. At the moment, as experts in the field of the sociology of religion note, methodological disputes regarding the measurement of the level and degree of religiosity of the population continue quite actively. Among the approaches to studying the religiosity of the population, there are both multidimensional and one-dimensional conceptual models. Within the multidimensional approach, religiosity is represented by a set of characteristics that describe this category. At the same time, researchers who use a multidimensional approach as part of their theoretical constructions have not yet reached a consensus on exactly what indicators can be used to describe the concept of "religiosity". In most cases, the authors measure religiosity based on such characteristics as faith, rituals and practices, as well as knowledge within a particular religious doctrine. Applied domestic research is based on indicators of both religious consciousness and religious behavior in the process of determining the level and degree of religiosity of both the population as a whole and social groups in particular. Also, the phenomenon of religiosity is studied from the standpoint of subjective indicators of respondents' self-identification, their personal interpretation of their religious consciousness, and from the point of view of the level of respondents' religious activity. The issue of religious self-identification in mass surveys is still debatable and requires more careful empirical substantiation in further research.

The paper harmoniously considers the theoretical and methodological problems of the sociology of marketing and applied aspects of the implementation of marketing strategies at various stages of the development of society and specific organizations. In accordance with scientific principles and in a logical sequence, the structure of the textbook has been formed, which allows you to deeply master the material presented from different positions and levels of knowledge of the issues under consideration. The sociology of marketing is considered comprehensively based on the author’s approaches and methods, which allows us to re-evaluate the importance of studying this issue in the context of the digitalization of society and the introduction of artificial intelligence in all areas of human activity. The textbook provides a deep enough sociological understanding of the marketing mix. The textbook acquires particular relevance in post-pandemic conditions, when the issues of supply and demand, technologies for meeting the needs of both individual categories of people and society as a whole have significantly transformed. The structure of the textbook is coherent, logical in nature, allowing you to consistently study the subject area with a gradual deepening of knowledge and consolidation of the skills of a sociological understanding of the basics of marketing. The paper presents a completely correct scientifi c reference apparatus. The textbook makes a worthy contribution to the sociology of management and economic sociology.

The article presents the author's views on the new collective monograph “The COVID-19 pandemic: challenges, consequences, counteraction” (Moscow: “Aspect Press”, 2021), which claims to provide almost comprehensive coverage and generalization of foreign and domestic theoretical and practical thought, information devoted to the study of the emergence and further development of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in the world. A comparative analysis of sociological studies (for example: Great Britain, Italy, Russia, USA) devoted to measuring the social opinion of the population regarding the consequences of COVID-19 is extremely valuable. In general, the collective monograph published will tell the reader on its pages about the genesis of the development of world pandemics that have left their bright mark, about the prevailing socio-political and economic aspects during COVID-19, about existing measures of state assistance to the population and much more. Within the framework of this review, the content of all five chapters of the collective monograph was briefly highlighted, in addition, the author of the article selectively highlighted and supplemented the most controversial and even overlooked by the authors of the work significant aspects. In conclusion, it is concluded that this scientific academic work is aimed at a wide range of readers.