Socio-Cultural Context as a Determinant of the Actualization of the “Us vs. Them” Opposition

Abstract

This article presents the results of a comprehensive study of the socio-cultural context as a key factor determin-ing the forms and intensity of the actualization of the fundamental “Us vs. Them” opposition. Amid the intensifi-cation of globalization processes, the transformation of migration flows, and the total digitalization of the com-municative space, the socio-cultural context ceases to be a static background, turning into a powerful dynamic determinant of the logic governing the formation of collective identities and the orientation of cultural dynamics. The central focus of the study is the development and theoretical substantiation of an integral analytical model that reveals the systemic connections between specific context parameters-such as the level of social hetero-geneity, the dominant type of social solidarity, the degree of economic stability, and the nature of media dis-course – and the prevailing criteria of socio-cultural differentiation. These criteria can range from rigid ethnic and confessional markers to flexible behavioral and value-based characteristics. Particular attention is paid to the conflict-generating potential of this opposition, which becomes maximally actualized in situations of cultural appropriation, giving rise to a cognitive conflict of interpretations and an axiological clash of value systems.