Society is a certain set of elements interconnected and interacting with each other. The spheres of public life are interpenetrating and interconnected.
Economic difficulties (economic sphere) give rise to social instability and discontent of various social forces (social sphere) and lead to an aggravation political struggle and instability (political sphere). All this is usually accompanied by apathy, confusion of the spirit, but also by spiritual searches, intensive scientific research.
The boundaries between all four spheres of society are easy to move, transparent. Each sphere is present one way or another in all the others, but at the same time it does not dissolve, does not lose its leading function. The question of the relationship between the main spheres of public life and the allocation of one priority is debatable. There are supporters of the defining role of the economic sphere. They proceed from the fact that material production, which is the core of economic relations, satisfies the most urgent, primary human needs, without which any other activity is impossible. There is a selection as a priority spiritual sphere of society. Proponents of this approach give the following argument: a person's thoughts, ideas, ideas are ahead of his practical actions. Major social changes are always preceded by changes in people's minds, a transition to other spiritual values. The most compromise of these approaches is the approach, the adherents of which argue that each of the four spheres of public life can become decisive in different periods. historical development.
conclusions
Spheres of life of society as parts unified system are inextricably linked, changes in one usually lead to changes in the other.
Despite the fact that, unlike Marxism, the civilizational approach recognizes the equality of all subsystems of society, it is possible to imagine their vertical structure depending on their own role in public life. Thus, the economic sphere plays the role of obtaining means of subsistence, being the foundation of society. The political sphere performs the function of management and is the top of society.
The social and spiritual spheres are of a cross-cutting universal nature, penetrating the entire society and uniting its economic and political components.
Each subsystem closely interacts with the other subsystems of the social system, and this is precisely the interaction, and not the unilateral influence of one subsystem on others. The interaction of subsystems is largely included in the subject legal regulation and its main principles are governed by constitutional law. Only the interconnection of all subsystems of society ensures its normal existence.
PLAN:
1) The concept of society.
2) What is a system? Society and nature as elements of the system.
3) Society as a system. Subsystems and elements of society.
4) Public relations.
5) Interaction of the main spheres of public life.
1) The concept of society.
The term "society" is ambiguous. The following meanings of this word are usually indicated:
* society as a group of people united for modern activities
for the realization of their common goals and interests (a society of book lovers, a society of beer lovers, a society of sobriety, etc.). In this sense, the word "society" is synonymous with the words "organization", "union", "association". * society as a certain stage in the development of mankind or a country (primitive society, feudal society, French society of the Restoration era, Soviet society of the NEP period, etc.). Here the word "society" is often used together with the words "stage", " stage", "period". * society as a characteristic of the qualitative state of a particular stage in the development of mankind or a country ("consumer society", "information society", "traditional society", etc.). In this case, the word "society "is necessarily preceded by its qualitative characteristics.
* society as an extremely broad concept for designating that part of the material world that has become isolated from nature and interacts with it in a certain way. In this sense, society is the totality of all forms of association and ways of interacting people both with each other and with the natural world around them. This last definition is considered the philosophical definition of the concept of society.
Before proceeding to characterize the interaction between society and nature, it is necessary to pay attention to the similarities that exist between the various concepts of "society". This similarity can be seen if you look closely at the word itself: "society" - from the words "general", "community " (Latin societas also comes from socius, which means common, joint).
2) What is a system? Society and nature as elements of the system.
If we take into account the origin of the word "society", it becomes necessary for its detailed description introduce the concept of "system" and consider society from the point of view of a systematic approach.
System (from the Greek "systema") - a set or combination of parts and elements that are interconnected and interact in a certain way with each other.
They talk about the solar system, the river system, the nervous system. A system is any set of phenomena that are interconnected and interact with each other. In this sense, the system is the unity, the constituent parts of which are society and nature.
The interaction of society and nature shows their inseparable connection with each other.
Society cannot exist outside of nature and without interaction with it, because:
* it arose as a result of the development of the natural world, standing out on
a certain stage from it (this happened in a long and complex process of becoming a person),
* it takes from surrounding nature means and resources necessary for its development (agriculture is impossible without the existence of fertile soils, modern industry cannot exist without a number of natural materials, the life of modern society is unthinkable without the use of various natural sources of raw materials),
* the pace and characteristics of its development are largely determined by the specifics of the natural environment, climatic and geographical conditions. (Northern peoples (Eskimos, Evenks, Chukchi) - in their places of residence there are harsh climatic conditions, so they are engaged in reindeer herding and hunting.)
(Ancient civilizations of the East (ancient Egypt, civilization ancient China) arise in river valleys, the climate is arid, irrigation irrigation systems are needed. Huge labor costs and therefore always a strong despotic beginning.)
At the same time, society has a huge impact on nature because: * it develops various means of adaptation, adaptation to the surrounding natural elements (a person has learned to use fire, build houses, sew clothes, created artificial materials necessary for the life of society),
* in the process of labor, society modifies natural landscapes, uses certain natural resources in the interests of further social development (the consequences of this impact can be both destructive and beneficial).
Crimea used to have a more arid climate. They were mainly engaged in fishing, after the annexation of Crimea to Russia (1783), they brought exotic
trees, the climate has changed (the climate has become milder).
There was very little fertile land in Holland, the land was constantly flooded. The Dutch created a network of dams, drainage canals, due to these structures they significantly increased the area of land suitable for both construction and land use.
An artificial Rybinsk reservoir was created, villages, villages and floodplain meadows were flooded. Now there is a bad environment and everything that is under water is rotting - a negative impact on nature.
Does society become freer, more independent of nature as it develops? Until recently, the answer could only be positive - a person was considered as a being capable of subjugating, subjugating nature (according to the principle: "We cannot wait for mercy from nature, it is our task to take them from nature"). Today, it is obvious that society cannot be independent of nature. In some ways, in the modern world we are more dependent on nature than ever. This refers to the fact that society today is facing an environmental catastrophe created by a predatory, consumerist attitude towards nature. Depletion of natural resources, their pollution sets before the human society the task of survival, the preservation of the human race. In this regard, it should be mentioned that the UN in 1992 adopted the concept sustainable development, obligatory for all states and proceeding from the need to ensure such a development of society that would make it possible to preserve natural world and ensure the survival of mankind.
3) Society as a system. Subsystems and elements of society.
Society itself can be considered as a certain system of interacting subsystems and elements.
The main subsystems of society are the spheres of public life. Usually they talk about the existence of four most important social (public) spheres:
economic- | political- |social- |spiritual-
covers relatively | covers relatively | covers relatively | covers from-
scheniya, arising - | niya associated with | scheniya associated with | wearing,
in the process | interaction | interaction | associated with
production, races | states, parties | classes, social | development of
definition, exchange | political org- | layers and groups |
and consumption ma- |izations about | | consciousness, science
material goods | power and management | | | culture,
| Niya | | arts
These subsystems (spheres), in turn, can be represented by a set of their constituent elements:
* economic - production institutions (factories, factories), transport institutions, stock and commodity exchanges, banks, etc.,
* political - the state, parties, trade unions, youth, women's and other organizations, etc.,
* social - classes, strata, social groups and strata, nations, etc.,
* spiritual - church, educational institutions, scientific institutions, etc.
4) Public relations.
To characterize society as a system, it is not enough to single out its subsystems and elements. It is important to show that they are interconnected and can be represented as links between social groups, nations, individuals that arise in the process of economic, political, social, spiritual life society. The term is used to refer to these links. "public relations" .
Kinds public relations:
material: | spiritual:
about the reason - | political,
stva, distribution | legal,
exchange and consumer-|moral,
material | ideological
benefits | and etc.
5) Interaction of the main spheres of public life.
Society, therefore, is a certain set of elements interconnected and interacting with each other. The spheres of public life are mutually permeable and interconnected.
Economic difficulties and even more so crises (economic sphere) give rise to social instability and dissatisfaction with various social forces (social sphere) and lead to an aggravation of political struggle and instability (political sphere). All this is usually accompanied by apathy, confusion of the spirit, but also - spiritual searches, intensive scientific
research, the efforts of cultural figures aimed at understanding
the origins of the crisis and ways out of it. This is one of the examples illustrating the interaction of the main spheres of public life.
A military coup (political sphere) as a result of the economic crisis, a sharp decline in living standards (economic sphere), disagreement in society (social sphere) and all this affects the spiritual life of society. (Pinochet (1973) (military junta) came to power in Chile as a result of the military-fascist coup, he established a regime of the most severe terror, the economy improved, disagreement in society, the creative intelligentsia went underground.
Basic concepts: society, system, public relations, spheres of public life
Questions and tasks:
1) Define the concepts listed above. Analyze them.
2) Give examples of the beneficial and negative impact of society on nature.
The spheres of public life are closely interconnected (Fig. 4.1).
Rice. 4.1.
In the history of the social sciences, there have been attempts to single out any sphere of life as determining in relation to others. So, in the Middle Ages, the idea of the special significance of religiosity as part of the spiritual sphere of society dominated. In modern times and the Age of Enlightenment, the role of morality and scientific knowledge was emphasized. A number of concepts assign the leading role to the state and law. Marxism affirms the decisive role of economic relations.
Within the framework of real social phenomena, elements of all spheres are combined. For example, the nature of economic relations can influence the structure social structure. A place in the social hierarchy forms certain political views, opens up appropriate access to education and other spiritual values. The economic relations themselves are determined by the legal system of the country, which is very often formed on the basis of the spiritual culture of the people, their traditions in the field of religion and morality. Thus, on various stages historical development, the influence of any sphere may increase.
Complex nature social systems combined with their dynamism, i.e. mobile, changeable character.
Society is a system of ordered integrity. This is a guarantee of its constant functionality, all components of the system occupy a certain place within it and are connected with other components of society. And it is important to note that individually, not a single element possesses such a quality of integrity. Society is a peculiar result of interaction and integration of absolutely all components of this complex system.
The state, the country's economy, the social strata of society cannot have such a quality as society in itself. And multi-level links between the economic, political, spiritual and social spheres of life form such a complex and dynamic phenomenon as society.
It is easy to trace the relationship, for example, socio-economic relations and legal norms on the example of laws Kievan Rus. The code of laws indicated the penalties for murder, and each measure determined the place of a person that he occupies in society - by belonging to a particular social group.
All four spheres of social life are not only interconnected, but also mutually condition each other. Changes in one of them, as a rule, entail changes in others. For example, the relationship between the economic and political spheres is demonstrated by the resignation of the government due to the aggravation of the economic crisis.
Consequently, each sphere of public life is a complex formation, which is in organic unity with other spheres. Due to their interconnection and interdependence, society appears as an integral system and is progressively developing.
Society is a dynamic system of human interaction. This is one of the definitions. The key word in it is system, that is, a complex mechanism that consists of spheres of social life. There are four such areas in science:
- Political.
- Economic.
- Social.
- Spiritual.
All of them are not isolated from each other, but, on the contrary, are interconnected. We will analyze examples of interaction in more detail in this article.
Political sphere
Spheres are areas in which the basic needs of society are satisfied.
Political includes bodies state power and administration, as well as various political institutions. It is directly related to the apparatuses of coercion and suppression that legitimately use force with the approval of the entire society. satisfies the needs for security, protection, law enforcement.
It includes:
- The president.
- Government.
- Local authorities.
- Strong structure.
- Political parties and associations.
- Local self-government bodies.
Economic sphere
The economic sphere is designed to satisfy the material needs of society. If only adult citizens take part in political life, then absolutely everyone, including old people and children, takes part in this life. All people are consumers from an economic point of view, which means they are direct participants in market relations.
Key concepts in the economic sphere:
- Production.
- Exchange.
- Consumption.
Firms, plants, factories, mines, banks, etc., take part in production.
Interaction of the political and economic spheres
Let us give examples of the interaction of the spheres of society with each other. The State Duma The Russian Federation adopts laws that all citizens must comply with. Some adopted normative-legal acts may influence the change in the sectors of the economy. For example, the licensing of certain types of activities leads to a rise in the cost of certain products due to the additional costs associated with innovation.
Specific examples of interaction between the spheres of society can be illustrated in the light of recent events. Against the Russian Federation imposed international economic sanctions. In response, the authorities of our country introduced counter-sanctions. As a result, some European food products and medicines do not enter the Russian market. This led to the following consequences:
- Rising prices for products.
- The absence on the shelves of many goods, analogues of which are not produced in Russia.
- Development of some sectors of the economy: animal husbandry, horticulture, etc.
But it is a mistake to believe that only power influences business, sometimes the opposite is true. Reverse examples of interaction between the spheres of society, when economists dictate terms to politicians, can be cited in the practice of lobbying for laws. A recent example is the so-called Rotenberg law in Russia, according to which millionaires who fall under Western sanctions will be paid compensation from the state budget.
Social sphere
The social sphere satisfies the needs of society in education, medicine, service, leisure and entertainment. It includes everyday communication of citizens and large groups of people.
Political and social sphere
Politics can affect the social life of a country. The following examples of interaction between the spheres of society can be given. The local authorities of the city banned the opening of any entertainment establishments: clubs, night bars and cafes in one of the criminal districts on the outskirts of the city. As a result, the crime rate in it has fallen, but residents have to travel longer to places of recreation and entertainment.
The following example: in a crisis, a district municipality is experiencing In order to reduce costs, it decides to close one of the schools. As a result, there is a reduction in teaching staff, children are transported to another locality every day, and money is saved on the maintenance of facilities, since, according to the law, all the costs of their maintenance are borne by the local authorities.
Social and economic spheres
The economic development of the country has a strong impact on social life. Here are just some examples of interaction between the spheres of society. The financial crisis reduced the real incomes of the population. Citizens began to spend less on entertainment and leisure, limiting trips to paid parks, sports clubs, stadiums, cafes. The loss of customers led to the ruin of many companies.
There is also a relationship between politics, economics and social development countries. Let us give examples of the interaction of the spheres of society with each other. Instability in the Middle East and the depreciation of the ruble by half, combined with active development, led many to cancel their traditional trips to Egypt and Turkey and began to rest in Russia.
This example can be broken down into its components:
- Political - instability in the Middle East, the measures of the authorities to increase domestic tourism.
- Economic - the devaluation of the ruble led to a significant increase in prices for tours to Turkey and Egypt, while maintaining domestic prices.
- Social - tourism belongs to this area.
spiritual realm
Many mistakenly assume that the spiritual realm is related to religion. This misconception comes from the course of history, where, under the relevant topics, church reforms certain periods. In fact, although religion belongs to the spiritual realm, it is not its only component.
In addition to it, these include:
- The science.
- Education.
- Culture.
As for education, the most attentive readers will ask a fair question that we previously attributed it to the social field when we analyzed examples of the interaction of the spheres of society with each other. But education refers to the spiritual as a process, and not as the interaction of people. For example, attending school, communicating with peers, teachers - all this belongs to the social area. The acquisition of knowledge, socialization (education), self-realization and self-improvement is a process of spiritual life, which is designed to satisfy the needs for knowledge, improvement.
Spiritual and political spheres
Sometimes politics is influenced by religion. Let us give examples of the interaction of spheres with each other. Today Iran is a religious state: all domestic politics laws are adopted solely in the interests of Shiite Muslims.
Let's bring historical example interaction of spheres of society. After the October Revolution of 1917, many churches were blown up, and religion was recognized as "opium for the people", that is, a harmful drug that must be disposed of. Many priests were killed, temples were destroyed, warehouses, shops, mills, etc. were formed in their place. This also affected social life: there was a spiritual decline in the population, people stopped honoring traditions, did not register marriages in churches, as a result of which unions began to break up . In fact, this led to the destruction of the institution of family and marriage. The witness of the wedding was not God, but a man, which, we agree, is a huge difference for a believer. This continued until the Great Patriotic War until Stalin officially restored the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church on legal grounds.
Spiritual and economic spheres
Economic development also affects the spiritual life of the country. What examples of interaction between the spheres of society prove this? Psychologists note that during the period of economic crises, a depressed state of the population is observed. Many people lose their jobs, their savings, their businesses go bankrupt - all this leads to psychological problems. But in Russia, the practice of private psychologists is not developed, as, for example, in the United States. Therefore, religious sects arise that draw "lost souls" into their networks, from which it is sometimes very difficult to escape.
Another example - South Korea. The lack of minerals and other resources has influenced the fact that this country began to develop science and tourism. This gave its results - today this country is a leader in the field of electronics and is among the ten most developed countries in the world. Politics, economics and social development clashed here at once.
Spiritual and social spheres
The line between spiritual and social life is very thin, but we will try to explain it through examples of the interaction of spheres of social life. School attendance by students, admission to institutes - all these are the relationship of two spheres, as people communicate (social) and perform various rituals (spiritual).
Examples of interaction between the spheres of society from history
Let's remember a little history. It also contains examples of the interaction of various spheres of society. Take Stolypin's reforms at the beginning of the 20th century. In Russia, the community was abolished, Peasant banks were created, which issued loans to migrants, they made preferential travel at the expense of the state, and created a small infrastructure in Siberia. As a result, thousands of peasants from the land-poor South and the Volga region rushed to the East, where the cherished hectares of free land awaited them. All these measures allowed:
- weaken peasant landlessness in the central provinces;
- to develop the empty lands of Siberia;
- feed people with bread and replenish the state budget with taxes in the future.
This serves as a vivid example of the interaction of politics, economics and the social life of the country.
Another situation is the dispossession of peasants, as a result of which many hardworking rational owners were left without a livelihood, and parasites from the Kombeds took their place. As a result, many died of starvation, and rural farming was destroyed. This example shows the impact of rash political decisions on the economy and social life.
Interaction of spheres of society: examples from the media
Channel One announced the decision by the Russian authorities to bomb terrorists banned in Russia " Islamic State» . The Federal Channel also reported that the authorities intend to resume negotiations on the Turkish gas pipeline to Europe.
All information from a source that refers to It illustrates examples of the interaction of different spheres of society. In the first case, political and social, since the decision of the leadership of our country will lead to consequences in the Middle East. History c shows the relationship between politics and economics. The agreement between the countries will develop the gas industry and replenish the budgets of both countries.
Conclusion
Examples of interaction between spheres of society prove that we live in a complex system. A change in one subsystem necessarily affects others. All areas are interconnected, but none of the four is the main, dominant, on which all the others depend.
Law acts as a superstructure. It is not included in any of the four, but it does not stand out in the fifth. The right is the binding tool above them.
Public life includes all phenomena caused by the interaction of society as a whole and individuals located in a certain limited area. Social scientists note the close interconnection and interdependence of all major social spheres, reflecting certain aspects of human existence and activity.
Economic sphere social life includes material production and relations that arise between people in the process of production of material goods, their exchange and distribution. It is difficult to overestimate the role played in our life by economic, commodity-money relations and professional activity. Today they have even come to the fore too actively, and material values sometimes completely crowd out spiritual ones. Many now say that a person must first be fed, ensured his material well-being, the maintenance of his physical strength, and only then - spiritual benefits and political freedoms. There is even a saying: "Better to be full than free." This, however, is debatable. For example, a non-free person, spiritually undeveloped, will continue to worry until the end of his days only about physical survival and satisfaction of his physiological needs.
political sphere, also called political and legal, primarily related to the management of society, state structure, problems of power, laws and regulations.
In the political sphere, one way or another, one encounters established rules of conduct. Today, some people become disillusioned with politics and politicians. This is because people do not see positive changes in their lives. Many young people are also not very interested in politics, preferring meetings in friendly companies and passion for music. However, it is impossible to completely isolate ourselves from this sphere of public life: if we do not want to participate in the life of the state, then we will have to obey someone else's will and someone else's decisions. One thinker said: "If you don't get into politics, then politics will get into you."
Social sphere includes the relationship of various groups of people (classes, social strata, nations), considers the position of a person in society, the basic values and ideals established in a particular group. A person cannot exist without other people, therefore it is the social sphere that is the part of life that accompanies him from the moment of birth until the last minutes.
spiritual realm covers various manifestations of human creativity, its inner world, own ideas about beauty, experiences, moral attitudes, religious beliefs, the opportunity to realize oneself in various forms of art.
Which of the spheres of society's life seems to be more significant? And which one is less? There is no single answer to this question, because social phenomena are complex and in each of them it is possible to trace the interconnection and mutual influence of spheres.
For example, one can trace the close relationship between economics and politics. Reforms are being carried out in the country, taxes for entrepreneurs have been reduced. This political measure contributes to the growth of production, facilitating the activities of businessmen. And vice versa, if the government increases the tax burden on enterprises, it will not be profitable for them to develop, and many entrepreneurs will try to withdraw their capital from industry.
Equally important is the relationship between the social sphere and politics. The leading role in the social sphere of modern society is played by representatives of the so-called "middle strata" - qualified specialists, information workers (programmers, engineers), representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. And these same people will form the leading political parties and movement, as well as their system of views on society.
The economy and the spiritual sphere are interconnected. So, for example, the economic possibilities of society, the level of mastery of a person natural resources allows the development of science, and vice versa, fundamental scientific discoveries contribute to the transformation of the productive forces of society. There are many examples of the relationship between all four public spheres. For example, in the course of the market reforms being carried out in the country, a variety of forms of ownership has been legalized. This contributes to the emergence of new social groups - the business class, small and medium-sized businesses, farming, and specialists in private practice. In the field of culture, the emergence of private media, film companies, Internet providers contributes to the development of pluralism in the spiritual sphere, the creation of essentially spiritual products, multidirectional information. Similar examples the interrelationships between the spheres can be given an infinite number.
Social institutions
One of the elements that make up society as a system are various social institutions.
The word "institution" here should not be taken as a specific institution. This is a broad concept that includes everything that is created by people to realize their needs, desires, aspirations. In order to better organize their lives and activities, society forms certain structures, norms that allow satisfying certain needs.
Social institutions- these are relatively stable types and forms of social practice, through which social life is organized, the stability of ties and relations within society is ensured.
Scientists identify several groups of institutions in each society: 1) economic institutions, which serve for the production and distribution of goods and services; 2) political institutions, regulating public life, related to the exercise of power and access to them; 3) institutions of stratification, determining the distribution of social positions and public resources; four) kinship institutions, ensuring reproduction and inheritance through marriage, family, upbringing; 5) cultural institutions, developing the continuity of religious, scientific and artistic activity in society.
For example, the society's need for reproduction, development, preservation and multiplication is fulfilled by such institutions as the family and the school. The social institution that performs the functions of security and protection is the army.
The institutions of society are also morality, law, religion. The starting point for the formation of a social institution is society's awareness of its needs.
The emergence of a social institution is due to: the need of society;
availability of means to meet this need;
the availability of the necessary material, financial, labor, organizational resources; the possibility of its integration into the socio-economic, ideological, value structures of society, which makes it possible to legitimize the professional and legal basis of its activities.
The famous American scientist R. Merton defined the main functions of social institutions. Explicit functions are written down in charters, formally fixed, officially accepted by people. They are formalized and largely controlled by society. For example, we can ask government agencies: “Where do our taxes go?”
Hidden functions - those that are actually carried out and formally may not be fixed. If hidden and explicit functions diverge, a certain double standard is formed when one is declared and another is done. In this case, scientists talk about the instability of the development of society.
The process of social development is accompanied institutionalization, that is, the formation of new attitudes and needs, leading to the creation of new institutions. The American sociologist of the 20th century, G. Lansky, identified a number of needs that lead to the formation of institutions. These are the needs:
In communication (language, education, communication, transport);
In the production of products and services;
In the distribution of goods;
In the safety of citizens, the protection of their lives and well-being;
In maintaining the system of inequality (placement of social groups according to positions, statuses depending on different criteria);
AT social control behind the behavior of members of society (religion, morality, law).
Modern society is characterized by the growth and complexity of the system of institutions. The same social need can give rise to the existence of several institutions, while certain institutions (for example, the family) can simultaneously realize several needs: in reproduction, in communication, in security, in the production of services, in socialization, etc.
Multivariance of social development. Typology of societies
The life of each individual and society as a whole is constantly changing. Not a single day and hour we live is like the previous ones. When do we say that there has been a change? Then, when it is clear to us that one state is not equal to another, and something new has appeared that was not there before. How are changes taking place and where are they directed?
At each individual moment of time, a person and his associations are influenced by many factors, sometimes mismatched and multidirectional. Therefore, it is difficult to speak of any clear, precise arrow-shaped line of development characteristic of society. The processes of change are complex, uneven, and sometimes it is difficult to grasp their logic. The paths of social change are varied and tortuous.
Often we come across such a concept as "social development". Let's think about how change will generally differ from development? Which of these concepts is broader, and which is more specific (it can be entered into another, considered as a special case of the other)? Obviously, not all change is development. But only that which involves complication, improvement and is associated with the manifestation of social progress.
What drives the development of society? What can be hidden behind each new stage? We should look for answers to these questions, first of all, in the very system of complex social relations, in internal contradictions, conflicts of different interests.
Development impulses can come both from the society itself, its internal contradictions, and from outside. I
External impulses can be generated, in particular, natural environment, space. For example, a serious problem for modern society has become climate change on our planet, the so-called " global warming". The answer to this "challenge" was the adoption by a number of countries of the world of the Kyoto Protocol, which prescribes to reduce emissions into the atmosphere harmful substances. In 2004, Russia also ratified this protocol, making commitments to protect the environment.
If changes in society occur gradually, then the new accumulates in the system quite slowly and sometimes imperceptibly to the observer. And the old, the previous, is the basis on which the new is grown, organically combining the traces of the previous one. We do not feel conflict and negation by the new of the old. And only after some time we exclaim with surprise: “How has everything changed around!?. Such gradual progressive changes we call evolution. The evolutionary path of development does not imply a sharp breakdown, destruction of previous social relations.
The external manifestation of evolution, the main way of its implementation is reform. Under reform we understand the power action aimed at changing certain areas, aspects of public life in order to give society greater stability, stability. The evolutionary path of development is not the only one. Not all societies could solve urgent problems through organic gradual transformations. In conditions of an acute crisis affecting all spheres of society, when the accumulated contradictions literally blow up the established order, revolution. Any revolution taking place in society presupposes a qualitative transformation public structures, demolition of the old order and rapid innovation. The revolution releases significant social energy, which is not always possible to control the forces that initiated the revolutionary change. The ideologists and practitioners of the revolution seem to be letting the "genie out of the bottle." Subsequently, they try to drive this "genie" back, but this, as a rule, does not work. The revolutionary element begins to develop according to its own laws, often baffling its creators.
That is why spontaneous, chaotic principles often prevail in the course of a social revolution. Sometimes revolutions bury those people who stood at their origins. Or else the results and consequences of the revolutionary explosion are so fundamentally different from the original tasks that the creators of the revolution cannot but admit their defeat. Revolutions give rise to a new quality, and it is important to be able to transfer further development processes in an evolutionary direction in time. Russia experienced two revolutions in the 20th century. Particularly severe shocks befell our country in 1917-1920.
As history shows, many revolutions were replaced by reaction, a rollback to the past. We can talk about different types of revolutions in the development of society: social, technical, scientific, cultural.
The significance of revolutions is assessed differently by thinkers. So, for example, the German philosopher K. Marx, the founder of scientific communism, considered revolutions to be "the locomotives of history." At the same time, many emphasized the destructive, destructive effect of revolutions on society. In particular, the Russian philosopher N. A. Berdyaev (1874-1948) wrote the following about the revolution: “All revolutions ended in reactions. This is inevitable. This is the law. And the more violent and furious the revolutions were, the stronger were the reactions. There is a kind of magic circle in the alternation of revolutions and reactions.
Comparing the ways of transforming society, the famous modern Russian historian P.V. Volobuev wrote: “The evolutionary form, firstly, made it possible to ensure the continuity of social development and, thanks to this, to preserve all the accumulated wealth. Secondly, evolution, contrary to our primitive ideas, was also accompanied by major qualitative changes in society, not only in productive forces and technology, but also in spiritual culture, in the way of life of people. Thirdly, in order to solve the new social tasks that arose in the course of evolution, it adopted such a method of social transformation as reforms, which turned out to be simply incomparable in their “costs” with the gigantic price of many revolutions. Ultimately, as historical experience has shown, evolution is able to ensure and maintain social progress, giving it, moreover, a civilized form.
Typology of societies
Singling out different types of societies, thinkers are based, on the one hand, on the chronological principle, noting the changes that occur over time in the organization of social life. On the other hand, certain signs of societies coexisting with each other at the same time are grouped. This allows you to create a kind of horizontal slice of civilizations. So, speaking about the traditional society as the basis for the formation of modern civilization, one cannot fail to note the preservation of many of its features and signs in our days.
The most well-established in modern social science is the approach based on the allocation three types of societies: traditional (pre-industrial), industrial, post-industrial (sometimes called technological or informational). This approach is based to a greater extent on a vertical, chronological cut, i.e., it assumes the replacement of one society by another in the course of historical development. With the theory of K. Marx, this approach has in common that it is based primarily on the distinction of technical and technological features.
What are the characteristics and characteristics of each of these societies? Let's go to the description traditional society- the foundations of the formation of the modern world. Traditional first of all, they call ancient and medieval society, although many of its features are preserved in more later times. For example, the countries of the East, Asia, Africa retain signs of traditional civilization today.
So, what are the main features and characteristics of a traditional type of society?
In the very understanding of traditional society, it is necessary to note the focus on reproducing in an unchanged form the ways of human activity, interactions, forms of communication, organization of life, and culture samples. That is, in this society, relations that have developed between people, methods labor activity, family values, lifestyle.
A person in a traditional society is bound complex system depending on the community, the state. His behavior is strictly regulated by the norms adopted in the family, estate, society as a whole.
traditional society distinguishes the predominance of agriculture in the structure of the economy, the majority of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, works on the land, lives by its fruits. Land is considered the main wealth, and the basis for the reproduction of society is what is produced on it. Mainly hand tools (plow, plow) are used, the renewal of equipment and production technology is rather slow.
The main element of the structure of traditional societies is the agricultural community: the collective that manages the land. The personality in such a team is weakly singled out, its interests are not clearly identified. The community, on the one hand, will limit a person, on the other hand, provide him with protection and stability. The most severe punishment in such a society was often considered expulsion from the community, "deprivation of shelter and water." Society has a hierarchical structure, more often divided into estates according to the political and legal principle.
A feature of a traditional society is its closeness to innovation, the extremely slow nature of change. And these changes themselves are not considered as a value. More important - stability, stability, following the commandments of the ancestors. Any innovation is seen as a threat to the existing world order, and the attitude towards it is extremely wary. "The traditions of all the dead generations weigh like a nightmare over the minds of the living."
The Czech educator J. Korchak noticed the dogmatic way of life inherent in traditional society: “Prudence up to complete passivity, to the point of ignoring all rights and rules that have not become traditional, not consecrated by authorities, not rooted in repetition day after day ... Everything can become a dogma - and the earth, and the church, and the fatherland, and virtue, and sin; can become science, social and political activity, wealth, any opposition ... "
A traditional society will diligently protect its behavioral norms, the standards of its culture from outside influences from other societies and cultures. An example of such "closedness" is the centuries-old development of China and Japan, which were characterized by a closed, self-sufficient existence and any contacts with strangers were practically excluded by the authorities. A significant role in the history of traditional societies is played by the state and religion. Undoubtedly, as trade, economic, military, political, cultural and other contacts develop between different countries and peoples, such “closeness” will be violated, often in a very painful way for these countries. Traditional societies under the influence of the development of technology, technology, means of communication will enter a period of modernization.
Of course, this is a generalized picture of a traditional society. More precisely, one can speak of a traditional society as a kind of cumulative phenomenon that includes features of development different peoples at a certain stage. There are many different traditional societies (Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Western European, Russian, etc.) that bear the imprint of their culture.
We are well aware that the society of ancient Greece and the Old Babylonian kingdom differ significantly in the dominant forms of ownership, the degree of influence of communal structures and the state. If in Greece, Rome, private property and the beginnings of civil rights and freedoms develop, then in societies of the Eastern type, traditions of despotic rule, the suppression of man by the agricultural community, and the collective nature of labor are strong. However, both of these various options traditional society.
The long-term preservation of the agricultural community, the predominance of agriculture in the structure of the economy, the peasantry in the composition of the population, the joint labor and collective land use of communal peasants, and autocratic power allow us to characterize Russian society over many centuries of its development as traditional. Transition to a new type of society - industrial- will be carried out quite late - only in the second half of the XIX century.
It cannot be said that traditional society is a past stage, that everything connected with traditional structures, norms, and consciousness has remained in the distant past. Moreover, considering this, we make it difficult for ourselves to understand many problems and phenomena of the modern world. And in our
For days, a number of societies retain the features of traditionalism, primarily in culture, social consciousness, the political system, and everyday life.
The transition from a traditional society, devoid of dynamism, to an industrial type of society reflects such a concept as modernization.
industrial society is born as a result of the industrial revolution, leading to the development of large-scale industry, new modes of transport and communications, a decrease in the role of agriculture in the structure of the economy and the resettlement of people in cities.
The Modern Philosophical Dictionary, published in 1998 in London, contains the following definition of an industrial society:
An industrial society is characterized by the orientation of people towards ever-increasing volumes of production, consumption, knowledge, etc. The ideas of growth and progress are the "core" of the industrial myth, or ideology. An essential role in social organization industrial society is played by the concept of the machine. The consequence of the implementation of ideas about the machine is the extensive development of production, as well as the "mechanization" of social relations, the relationship of man with nature ... The boundaries of the development of an industrial society are revealed as the limits of extensively oriented production are discovered.
Earlier than others, the industrial revolution swept the countries of Western Europe. The UK was the first country to implement it. By the middle of the 19th century, the vast majority of its population was employed "in industry. Industrial society is characterized by rapid dynamic changes, growth social mobility, urbanization - the process of growth and development of cities. Contacts and ties between countries and peoples are expanding. These communications are carried out by telegraph and telephone. The structure of society is also changing: it is based not on estates, but on social groups that differ in their place in the economic system - classes. Along with changes in the economy and social sphere is changing and politic system industrial society - developing parliamentarism, multi-party system, expanding the rights and freedoms of citizens. Many researchers believe that the formation of a civil society that is aware of its interests and acts as a full partner of the state is also associated with the formation of an industrial society. To a certain extent, it is precisely such a society that has received the name capitalist. The early stages of its development were analyzed in the 19th century by the English scientists J. Mill, A. Smith, and the German philosopher K. Marx.
At the same time, in the era of the industrial revolution, there is an increase in unevenness in the development of various regions of the world, which leads to colonial wars, seizures, and the enslavement of weak countries by strong ones.
Russian society quite late, only by the 40s of the 19th century, it enters the period of the industrial revolution, and the formation of the foundations of an industrial society in Russia is noted only by the beginning of the 20th century. Many historians believe that at the beginning of the 20th century our country was agrarian-industrial. Russia could not complete industrialization in the pre-revolutionary period. Although the reforms carried out on the initiative of S. Yu. Witte and P. A. Stolypin were aimed precisely at this.
By the end of industrialization, that is, to the creation of a powerful industry that would make the main contribution to the country's national wealth, the authorities returned already in the Soviet period of history.
We know the concept of "Stalin's industrialization", which took place in the 1930s and 1940s. AT as soon as possible By the end of the 1930s, at an accelerated pace, using primarily the funds received from the robbery of the village, the mass collectivization of peasant farms, our country created the foundations of heavy and military industry, mechanical engineering and ceased to depend on the supply of equipment from abroad. But did this mean the end of the process of industrialization? Historians argue. Some researchers believe that even in the late 1930s, the main share of national wealth was still formed in the agricultural sector, that is, agriculture produced more product than industry.
Therefore, experts believe that industrialization in the Soviet Union was completed only after the Great Patriotic War, by the middle - second half of the 1950s. By this time
industry has taken a leading position in the production of gross domestic product. Also, most of the country's population was employed in the industrial sector.
The second half of the 20th century was marked by the rapid development of fundamental science, engineering and technology. Science is turning into a direct powerful economic force.
The rapid changes that have engulfed a number of spheres of the life of modern society have made it possible to talk about the entry of the world into post-industrial era. In the 1960s, this term was first proposed by the American sociologist D. Bell. He also formulated the main features of a post-industrial society: creation of a vast sphere of the service economy, an increase in the layer of qualified scientific and technical specialists, the central role of scientific knowledge as a source of innovation, ensuring technological growth, creating a new generation of intelligent technology. Following Bell, the theory of post-industrial society was developed by American scientists J. Galbraith and O. Toffler.
basis post-industrial society was the restructuring of the economy, carried out in Western countries at the turn of the 1960s - 1970s. Instead of heavy industry, the leading positions in the economy were taken by science-intensive industries, the “knowledge industry”. The symbol of this era, its basis is the microprocessor revolution, the mass distribution of personal computers, information technologies, electronic means connections. The rates of economic development, the speed of transmission over a distance of information and financial flows. With the entry of the world into the post-industrial, information age, there is a decrease in the employment of people in industry, transport, industrial sectors, and vice versa, the number of people employed in the service sector, in the information sector is increasing. It is no coincidence that a number of scientists call the post-industrial society informational or technological.
Characterizing modern society, the American researcher P. Drucker notes: “Today, knowledge is already being applied to the sphere of knowledge itself, and this can be called a revolution in the field of management. Knowledge is rapidly becoming the determining factor of production, relegating both capital and labor to the background.”
Scientists who study the development of culture, spiritual life, in relation to the post-industrial world, introduce another name - era of postmodernism.(Under the era of modernism, scientists understand the industrial society. - Note. auth.) If the concept of post-industriality mainly emphasizes differences in the sphere of economy, production, communication methods, then postmodernism primarily covers the sphere of consciousness, culture, patterns of behavior.
The new perception of the world, according to scientists, is based on three main features.
First, at the end of faith in the possibilities of the human mind, a skeptical questioning of everything that European culture traditionally considers rational. Secondly, on the collapse of the idea of unity and universality of the world. The postmodern understanding of the world is based on multiplicity, pluralism, the absence of common models and canons of development different cultures. Thirdly: the era of postmodernism sees the individual differently, "the individual as responsible for shaping the world retires, he is outdated, he is recognized as connected with the prejudices of rationalism and is discarded." The sphere of communication between people, communications, collective agreements comes to the fore.
As the main features of a postmodern society, scientists call increasing pluralism, multivariance and diversity of forms of social development, changes in the system of values, motives and incentives of people.
The approach we have chosen in a generalized form represents the main milestones in the development of mankind, focusing primarily on the history of the countries of Western Europe. Thus, it significantly narrows the possibility of studying the specific features, features of the development of individual countries. He draws attention primarily to universal processes, and much remains outside the field of view of scientists. In addition, willy-nilly, we take for granted the point of view that there are countries that have pulled ahead, there are those that are successfully catching up with them, and those that are hopelessly behind, not having time to jump into the last carriage of the modernization machine rushing forward. The ideologists of the theory of modernization are convinced that it is the values and models of development of Western society that are universal and are a guideline for development and a model for everyone to follow.
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