The issue of borders and cross-border processes in socio-humanitarian sciences

The essence of social knowledge of borders and cross-border processes in the socio-humanitarian sciences in general and in sociology in particular has been analyzed in the article. The three stages of formation of knowledge about these phenomena and processes have been distinguished on this basis. Particular attention has been paid to the characteristics of the third stage, when interdisciplinary researches become dominant in social cognition due to the leading role of sociology. The special role of the sociology in the cognitive process, its possibilities in conducting theoretic, methodological and empirical studies has been determined. The necessity of constituting a separate direction - «sociology of borders and cross-border processes» as a medium-level sociological theory has been emphasized. Cross-border processes exist since there are boundaries. They may be limited by one or another part of states’ territories, but also they may cover all their depth. The purpose of boundaries’ establishing is to protect the state’s resource potential (human and natural). The purpose of their violation is to capture this potential. The large-scale violation of the border is the war of one country, which is accompanied by various human losses. The conducted analysis shows that the boundaries are a historical product that appeared at that stage of society’s development, when it became necessary to regulate the spatial existence of private property institutions and the existence of the state. Together with changes in these institutions’ development needs, the relevant cross-border processes are taking place in the space. That’s why, there are no unchanged borders. The exceptional significance of the sociological version of the system methodology being the methodological platform for interdisciplinary studies of cross-boundary processes and phenomena has been grounded.