Network approach in godparenthood studies: opportunities and limitation
This article is aimed at the review of socio-historical and anthropological studies of godparenthood or spiritual kinship, carried out using the methodology of network analysis. It describes the possibilities of this approach for analyzing the social structure of communities, as well as the limitations associated with the specifics of obtaining and analyzing data. The network analysis reflects the paradoxical phenomenon of godparenting, with the help of which researchers problematize the institutional concepts of dyadic and structural relations, strong and weak ties, closing (bonding) and open (bridging) social capital, well-established in the social sciences. According to the presented research results, we can talk about the numerous network effects of this institution: strengthening the solidarity of the local community, differentiation and reproduction of social statuses, linking different social classes and trading regions. Since such studies have not been conducted on Russian data, the ideas presented in it can contribute to the formulation of research hypotheses for testing on data from Orthodox parishes and communities.
Pavlyutkin, I. V., Zueva, A. V. (2024), “Network approach in godparenthood studies: opportunities and limitations”, Research Result. Sociology and Management, 10 (1), 121-132. DOI: 10.18413/2408-9338-2024-10-1-0-9
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The proyect was supported by Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox University and the Active Tradition Foundation in 2021-2023.