SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO DEFINING THE CONCEPT OF INTELLECTUAL POTENTIAL AS A SOCIO-GEOGRAPHICAL CATEGORY

Abstract

This article examines the features of the definition of the concept of “intellectual potential” as a socio- geographic category. Scientific works in the field of economics, sociology, pedagogy, sociology and psychology are analyzed in order to comprehensively understand this concept as an important identifier of the economic and social development of individual territorial communities or regions, oblasts in conditions of decentralization and war. The place of intellectual potential in maintaining economic and social security as components of national security in modern conditions is determined.In today’s conditions of rapid transformations of the information society and intellectualization of regional development, the relevance of researching intellectual potential as an important factor in socio-geographic processes is growing. Despite the growing number of publications on this topic, the concept of intellectual potential still does not have a well-established interpretation in domestic geographical science.The purpose of the article is to systematize scientific approaches to determining the essence of intellectual potential and justify the feasibility of considering it as a separate socio-geographic category.The study used such methods as comparative and analytical analysis of scientific sources, systematization of the terminological apparatus, logical and theoretical generalization, as well as elements of systemic and structural-functional approaches.As a result of the study, the main scientific paradigms of the interpretation of intellectual potential were identified – economic, sociological, educational and geographical; they were compared and the specifics of the spatial dimension of this concept were emphasized. The author’s definition of intellectual potential as a spatially organized complex of human resources with a high level of education, knowledge activity and ability to innovative development was proposed.The scientific novelty lies in clarifying the content of the category “intellectual potential” in the context of spatial differentiation and regional development. The practical significance lies in the possibility of applying the research results to assess the intellectual resources of territories, planning educational and innovation policies at the regional level.