ISSN 0972-9445
Emerging Trends in Development Research
Vol. 33, No. 1 & 2, 2026, 3-10
Social Sciences in Contexts of Contemporary Geopolitical Challenges
Andrei Orekhov
Professor of Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Moscow, Russia),
E-mail: orekhovandrey@yandex.ru
Abstract
The world of social sciences is similar to the world of peoples and reflects similar geopolitical problems that are in global movement among nations. For instance, there is a problem of “ideological booking” for social scientists. “Ideological booking” is deriving from state or lobbing some other political forces requirement to social sciences and social scientists to construct and approve some ideology which justify the actions of state (or some other political forces), - in spite of principles of scientific ethics and disinterestedness. “Scientific ideology” is impossible; this concept is an oxymoron, a meaningless combination of words. Social scientists must reject some “ideological booking” and oppose the ideological pressure with help of “cognitive resistance” and “scientific compulsion”.
“Cognitive resistance” is a specific type of counteraction to something or somebody based on the use of advantage in knowledge, intellect, and rationality. “Scientific compulsion” is the highest type of “cognitive resistance” when social scientists, using their advantage in knowledge, intellect, and scientific rationality, not only resist to external political and ideological pressure, but also, consolidating themselves as a specific social group, force ruling subjects to take decisions advantageous both for social sciences and sciences as a whole.
Contemporary geopolitical challenges in most cases divide the world of social sciences into the “northern” social sciences and the “southern” social sciences. For instance, southern social theory is opposed to northern social theory in sociology and other social sciences (e.g. in social and political philosophy). This opposition was researched, for instance, by R.Connel. Another geopolitical context can be considered through the problems of social ontology. For instance, we have introduced the notion of “ontological fact” which embraces geopolitical contexts. An ontological fact is empirical knowledge about processes and interactions occurring in society, which is epistemologically, ideologically, and geopolitically selected, filtered, and interpreted by a particular ontological program (or by a particular social ontologist) which serves as an “empirical base” of evidence for any social ontological concept. Therefore, different geopolitical vectors and trends saturate all aspects of the social sciences. Social scientists should not accept geopolitical challenges passively, but they should react actively to them. The above-mentioned “cognitive resistance” is a basic principle for this reaction.
Keywords: Geopolitical Challenges, Social Sciences, ontology, ideological booking
References
Matthew R. The Matthew Effect in Science, II: Cumulative Advantage and the Symbolism of Intellectual Property //ISIS, 1988, vol.79, p. 609.