The prolonged Russian-Ukrainian war continues against a backdrop of complex global dynamics, intensifying questions of security, undermining the sustainability of democratic institutions, and foregrounding the role of civic participation both during and after the conflict. The Ukrainian experience has demonstrated exceptional social mobilization and civic solidarity as a key resource of national resilience. At the same time, the war has exposed vulnerabilities in institutional resilience — particularly in terms of organizational capacity and the effectiveness of state institutions — has substantially reconfigured the power relations between the state and civil society in favor of the former, and has called into question the capacity of democratic and legal institutions to recover and develop within a postwar peace perspective. Under conditions of war, the energy of civic participation has been largely redirected toward the military dimension, while democratic and legal institutions undergo deformation without adequate public oversight. This creates significant risks for the postwar future — ranging from the erosion of legal mechanisms to the entrenchment of already existing authoritarian tendencies. Yet it is precisely effective legal and democratic institutions that constitute the enabling institutional framework for the development of responsible civic participation.

How can institutional resilience and capacity — particularly of legal and democratic institutions — be reconciled with active civic participation and the construction of a sustainable architecture of peace? Can heightened societal mobilization not only sustain resistance but also lay the foundations for inclusive postwar development? How is the "architecture of peace" already being shaped — from local reconciliation practices to national and international institutional arrangements?

The conference offers a sociological space for reflecting on these and related questions and challenges, and for discussing possible scenarios of postwar development in Ukraine as an open, multi-level, and deeply contested process. It problematizes the tensions between security and freedom, centralization and participation, reconstruction and transformation. Particular attention will be given to social inequalities, trauma, and the diverse experiences of war that may complicate pathways toward sustainable peace. Participants are invited to engage in the discussion and analysis of various scenarios and models of postwar development as an open and multi-layered social and institutional process.

The International Academic Conference Problems of the Development of Sociological Theory invites scholars from various countries to explore these phenomena, drawing on both the Ukrainian experience and its global resonance.

The aim of the conference is to present research approaches and findings concerning the evolution of sociological theory and methodology in response to the contemporary social and institutional challenges of war and the prospects for achieving peace, with particular attention to Ukraine. Participants are invited to present theoretical contributions and empirically grounded research drawing on evidence from Ukraine and other cases of societal transformation and conflict.

The conference will examine the themes of institutional resilience, civic participation, and peacebuilding in their diverse dimensions and dynamics, linking them to the broader international context. It will explore how global responses to the war are reshaping theories of peace, institutional capacity, and societal recovery, fostering a dialogue that transcends national boundaries and enriches academic discourse.