EDN: https://elibrary.ru/bnszzp
DOI: 10.21064/WinRS.2026.3.1
This article presents a description and analysis of gender-specific characteristics (similarities and differences between men and women) in assessments of the potential of the established civilizational complex, including the socioeconomic condition, culture, and development prospects of a local territory within the Russian region. The novelty of this research lies in its microsociological analysis of men’s and women’s perceptions of the characteristics of the civilizational potential of the Russian region, as well as in the differentiation of gender-based assessments regarding resources and development prospects in various spheres of public life, civic engagement, and local communities as reflections of its civilizational complex. The empirical basis of this research consists of the results of a questionnaire survey conducted in 2024 in municipalities of the Republic of Karelia (N = 601) and the Novgorod Region (N = 600). The civilizational structure of the studied regions in the Northwest of the Russian Federation, as viewed through the lens of men’s and women’s perceptions, is characterized by the simultaneous presence of gender structuring alongside gender neutrality/egalitarianism, which exhibit varying degrees of stability, manifestations, and modes of coexistence within settlements. The state of the socio-structural profile of the civilizational complex in these local territories is based on the reproduction of socio-gender differentiation of labor by occupation, as well as on the disparity in men’s and women’s incomes and levels of financial well-being (as measured objectively and assessed subjectively). The institutional aspects (economic and social infrastructure, labor market) of the civilizational development profiles of these regions receive largely similar assessments among men and women, a phenomenon primarily driven by shared living conditions and common challenges that lack a rigid social-gender bias in contemporary Russian society. However, the research also revealed the existence of gender-specific challenges regarding access to quality medical care and public transportation—challenges that embody the intersection of economic inequality between the sexes and the sociocultural principles governing the functioning of institutions.
This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation under grant No. 23-18-01067-P, available from https://rscf.ru/project/23-18-01067-П.