Key Theories of Ethnosociology in Highlighting the Ethnogenesis of the Ukrainian People

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the key scientific paradigms of the ethnogenesis of the Ukrainian people in the context of the development of ethnosociological theories. The article analyzes the problem of the multi-vector nature of scientific approaches to the formation of ethnicity and inter-ethnic interaction. The author has made an attempt to correlate the methodological possibilities of cultural and structural approaches of ethnosociological research in relation to the formation of social prerequisites for the emergence of the Ukrainian political nation. 

The key concepts of ethnogenesis were also described, taking into account possible methodological and ideological variations that determine the social nature of social interaction during the decision-making process of choosing ethnicity. In addition, the article highlights two main conceptual positions of scientists explaining the concepts of «ethnogenesis» and «ethnos»: «primordialism» and «constructivism». «Primordialism» presupposes the real existence of ethnic groups, and also proceeds from the common consanguineous origin of all members of the ethnic group. The concept of «constructivism» (instrumentalism) insists that an ethnos can be constructed, and this is done, as a rule, by the elite. The most modern and at the same time debatable ethno-institutional constructivist approach was also described, in which ethnogenesis is seen as the process of formation of ethnic groups through social ethno-institutions. This becomes particularly relevant in the conditions of active information warfare by the aggressor country against Ukrainian statehood and the historical heritage of the Ukrainian people.