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Social Sciences
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Political, Economic and Social Crises, and National Solidarity in the...
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Political, Economic and Social Crises, and National Solidarity in the Early 2020s

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "Contemporary Politics and Society".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 8892

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Klára Vlachová

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic
Interests: groups; identities; national identity; political attitudes and behaviour

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the early 2020s, many countries have experienced political, economic and social crises. Some of them have been a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, while others have been a result of sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, among various other reasons. As concerns politics, societies have witnessed the fragility of democracy, and struggled with the violation of democratic principles including the restriction of formal equality, personal freedom and freedom of expression and media. In the realm of economics, societies have coped with disrupted international trade relationships, administrative restrictions in domestic markets, changes in labor conditions, loss of jobs in restricted sectors and labor force shortages in booming sectors, huge state spending and redistribution, inflation and slow economic growth. All this has disproportionally affected vulnerable households and individuals with a low income, low-skilled, part-time, temporary and self-employed workers, women, youth, pensioners and immigrants. Social relationships have changed too. Physical face-to-face interactions have been reduced and replaced by online interactions, which has affected relationships between family members, friends and workmates. Online platforms have, however, contributed to spreading misinformation, defamation and feelings of loneliness.

This Special Issue aims at bringing together research that investigates the latest political, economic and social changes. Researchers from different disciplines (e.g., sociology, political science, economics) are invited to contribute empirically and theoretically on (but not limited to) the following themes:

  • Evaluations and understanding of democracy;
  • Satisfaction with democratic institutions;
  • Freedom, equality and identity;
  • Satisfaction with the economy, income and work;
  • Migration, inflow of refugees and social solidarity;
  • Social contacts and social trust.

Dr. Klára Vlachová
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1144 KiB  
Article
Rally and Rage: The Gap between Specific and Pandemic-Specific Support for Governments in Europe
by Klára Vlachová
Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(3), 146; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13030146 - 05 Mar 2024
Viewed by 863
Abstract
In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the public generally expressed high pandemic-specific support for their governments. Analysis based on ESS Round 10 COVID-19 module data from 20 countries shows, however, that there was a gap between pandemic-specific and specific support for governments in [...] Read more.
In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the public generally expressed high pandemic-specific support for their governments. Analysis based on ESS Round 10 COVID-19 module data from 20 countries shows, however, that there was a gap between pandemic-specific and specific support for governments in European states. A positive gap in favor of pandemic-specific support for governments was found among 52.7% of the respondents, while a negative trend was observed among 24.0% of the respondents. Younger people, those self-employed or working for family businesses, students, those with better subjective health, and people who tested positive for or thought they had suffered from COVID-19 expressed less satisfaction with the government’s handling of COVID-19 in their country compared to general satisfaction with national government performance. Political opinions affected the support gap too; people who were satisfied with the way democracy works, were less trusting of their government’s ability to control the spread of the pathogen, preferred their own decisions over compliance with government restrictions, and perceived that their government failed to manage the health–economy trade-off restrained their pandemic-specific support for the government as well. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political, Economic and Social Crises, and National Solidarity in the Early 2020s)
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23 pages, 1414 KiB  
Article
The Role of Subjective Well-Being in Cuban Civil Protest against the Government: A Moderated Mediation Model
by Arístides Vara-Horna, Zaida Asencios-Gonzalez, Dennis López-Odar, Marivel Aguirre-Morales and Ingrid Cirilo-Acero
Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(1), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13010041 - 09 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1419
Abstract
This empirical study sought to understand the drivers behind civil protest participation in authoritarian contexts, explicitly focusing on Cuba. The data were sourced from 658 respondents via online surveys facilitated by CubaData, an independent social research agency specializing in Cuban studies, employing a [...] Read more.
This empirical study sought to understand the drivers behind civil protest participation in authoritarian contexts, explicitly focusing on Cuba. The data were sourced from 658 respondents via online surveys facilitated by CubaData, an independent social research agency specializing in Cuban studies, employing a secure panel system that guarantees the confidentiality and anonymity of participants. Our research primarily investigated the role of satisfaction with government policies in terms of the intention to participate in civil protests, introducing subjective well-being as a moderating variable. Utilizing the Process module of SMART-PLS 4 to emulate Process Model 58 for moderated mediation analysis, we accounted for measurement errors to ensure robust findings. Further controls were incorporated for age and political self-efficacy. The results revealed that subjective well-being significantly moderates the link between satisfaction with government policies and actual participation in civil protests. These findings suggest that the happiness level can change resistance dynamics within authoritarian settings. This research has implications for academic understandings of political behavior in autocratic regimes and practical applications in policy making and activism in Cuba. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political, Economic and Social Crises, and National Solidarity in the Early 2020s)
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16 pages, 653 KiB  
Article
Work–Life Conflict and Job Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Gender and Household Income in Western Europe
by Vladimir Mentus and Jovana Zafirović
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(12), 678; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120678 - 08 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1602
Abstract
Although many potential moderators of the work–life conflict and job satisfaction relationship are well-studied, previous research has often overlooked the potential influence of different income groups on this dynamic. Our aim in this paper is to test this moderation effect within the context [...] Read more.
Although many potential moderators of the work–life conflict and job satisfaction relationship are well-studied, previous research has often overlooked the potential influence of different income groups on this dynamic. Our aim in this paper is to test this moderation effect within the context of Western Europe. Additionally, we carry out the analysis for men and women separately, as this dynamic may be strongly influenced by gender. Using data from the tenth round of the European Social Survey for twelve countries (Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland), we found a significant positive moderating effect of household income on the relationship between work–life conflict and job satisfaction for women, while for men the moderation effect is not significant. Our results thus suggest that for women, higher household income may serve as a buffer, alleviating the detrimental impact of individual work–life conflict on job satisfaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political, Economic and Social Crises, and National Solidarity in the Early 2020s)
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13 pages, 424 KiB  
Article
Life Satisfaction of Immigrants and Length of Stay in the New Country
by Mare Ainsaar
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(12), 655; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120655 - 25 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1659
Abstract
A large amount of research is dedicated to the measurement of immigration trends and integration processes, but comparative studies of the components of immigrants’ well-being are rare. This paper investigates the link between the length of stay and the subjective well-being (SWB) of [...] Read more.
A large amount of research is dedicated to the measurement of immigration trends and integration processes, but comparative studies of the components of immigrants’ well-being are rare. This paper investigates the link between the length of stay and the subjective well-being (SWB) of immigrants. A step-by-step regression method is used to understand interactions between different individual- and macro-level factors in the life satisfaction of immigrants. The results of the European Social Survey (ESS) show that the effect of length of stay on SWB is mitigated by numerous individual- and country-level variables. After all background variables are considered, newly arrived immigrants and those who have been in the new country for more than 20 years had a similar life satisfaction to that of the local-born population. Immigrants with 10 to 20 years’ experience in the country seem to have lower life satisfaction than the local-born population. The SWB of different immigrant groups is shaped by cultural background, economic coping, number of social contacts, perception of discrimination, and democracy. These factors influence the life satisfaction of migrants with different lengths of stay differently. The most vulnerable immigrant groups in Europe are those from Africa region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political, Economic and Social Crises, and National Solidarity in the Early 2020s)
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18 pages, 6411 KiB  
Article
Reconsidering the Empirical Measurement of Trust towards Unknown Others
by Ákos Bodor, Zoltán Grünhut, Dávid Erát and Márk Hegedüs
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(10), 583; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12100583 - 23 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1694
Abstract
Trust towards unknown others is a fundamental issue in trust research. Actually, it can be said that this problematization is a generative source for the whole scientific framing of trust, regardless of its specific perspective, whether it is a psychological, situational, institutional or [...] Read more.
Trust towards unknown others is a fundamental issue in trust research. Actually, it can be said that this problematization is a generative source for the whole scientific framing of trust, regardless of its specific perspective, whether it is a psychological, situational, institutional or structural-cultural interpretation. This means that the notion of ‘generalized trust’ is definitely a core concept and a reference point for all research agendas in the field of trust studies. However, this status of the notion is heavily criticized both from a theoretical and empirical point of view. The current paper tries to contribute to these academic discourses by proposing an extended reading of the concept of trust towards unknown others. By doing this, the paper suggests that the focus cannot be only on the aspect of how one perceives others’ trustworthiness, which is measured by the so-called ‘standard trust variable’; it should also be considered how the given agent relates herself/himself to other people’s otherness. Therefore, the argument simply claims that trusting people in general means being open to others’ otherness. If this link cannot be explored, then trust in unknown others is constrained and limited. Using data obtained from the last two rounds of the European Social Survey, the paper presents a 31-country-based comparative statistical analysis realized on both macro- and micro-levels in order to find out whether the above-described theoretical linkage is verifiable or not. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political, Economic and Social Crises, and National Solidarity in the Early 2020s)
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17 pages, 543 KiB  
Article
Workers’ Satisfaction during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Central and Eastern Europe
by Kamila Fialová
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(9), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090505 - 08 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1097
Abstract
This article analyses the determinants of worker satisfaction in Central and Eastern European countries, focusing on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, the latest European Social Survey data were utilised in a multilevel framework, covering 5681 workers from eight countries. [...] Read more.
This article analyses the determinants of worker satisfaction in Central and Eastern European countries, focusing on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, the latest European Social Survey data were utilised in a multilevel framework, covering 5681 workers from eight countries. The results suggest that both the general stringency of policies aimed at containing the spread of the COVID-19 contagion and the resulting disruptions to individuals’ working lives significantly affected the well-being of workers. Workers’ satisfaction with their jobs was negatively affected mainly through decreases in work income, but the impact on their overall life satisfaction was more complex. While income reductions and workplace relocation negatively impacted life satisfaction, the opportunity and possible necessity to stay home more positively affected the life satisfaction of workers. Nevertheless, the overall stringency of governmental policies related to COVID-19 significantly reduced workers’ life satisfaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political, Economic and Social Crises, and National Solidarity in the Early 2020s)
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