The existence of people in society is characterized by various forms of life and communication. Everything that has been created in society is the result of the cumulative joint activity of many generations of people. Actually, society itself is a product of the interaction of people, it exists only where and when people are connected with each other by common interests.

AT philosophical science Many definitions of the term "society" are offered. In a narrow sense society can be understood as a certain group of people united for communication and joint performance of any activity, as well as a specific stage in historical development any people or country.

In a broad sense society - it is a part of the material world isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, which consists of individuals with will and consciousness, and includes ways of interaction of people and forms of their association.

In philosophical science, society is characterized as a dynamic self-developing system, that is, such a system that is capable of seriously changing, at the same time retaining its essence and qualitative certainty. The system is understood as a complex of interacting elements. In turn, an element is some further indecomposable component of the system that is directly involved in its creation.

To analyze complex systems, like the one that society represents, scientists have developed the concept of "subsystem". Subsystems are called "intermediate" complexes, more complex than the elements, but less complex than the system itself.

1) economic, the elements of which are material production and relations that arise between people in the process of production of material goods, their exchange and distribution;

2) social, consisting of such structural formations as classes, social strata, nations, taken in their relationship and interaction with each other;

3) political, including politics, the state, law, their correlation and functioning;

4) spiritual, embracing various forms and levels of social consciousness, which, being embodied in real process life of society, form what is commonly called spiritual culture.

Each of these spheres, being an element of the system called "society", in turn, turns out to be a system in relation to the elements that make it up. All four spheres of social life are not only interconnected, but also mutually condition each other. The division of society into spheres is somewhat arbitrary, but it helps to isolate and study certain areas in a real way. whole society, diverse and complex social life.

Sociologists offer several classifications of society. Societies are:

a) pre-written and written;

b) simple and complex (the criterion in this typology is the number of levels of management of a society, as well as the degree of its differentiation: in simple societies there are no leaders and subordinates, rich and poor, and in complex societies there are several levels of management and several social strata of the population, arranged from top to bottom in descending order of income);

c) society primitive hunters and gatherers, traditional (agrarian) society, industrial society and post-industrial society;

d) primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society and communist society.

in the western scientific literature in the 1960s the division of all societies into traditional and industrial became widespread (at the same time, capitalism and socialism were considered as two varieties of industrial society).

A great contribution to the formation of this concept was made by the German sociologist F. Tennis, the French sociologist R. Aron, American economist W. Rostow.

The traditional (agrarian) society represented the pre-industrial stage of civilizational development. All societies of antiquity and the Middle Ages were traditional. Their economy was dominated by agriculture. subsistence farming and primitive crafts. Extensive technology and hand tools predominated, initially providing economic progress. In his production activities, man sought to adapt to the environment as much as possible, obeyed the rhythms of nature. Property relations were characterized by the dominance of communal, corporate, conditional, state forms of ownership. Private property was neither sacred nor inviolable. The distribution of material wealth, the product produced depended on the position of a person in the social hierarchy. The social structure of a traditional society is corporate by class, stable and immovable. There was virtually no social mobility: a person was born and died, remaining in the same social group. The main social units were the community and the family. Human behavior in society was regulated by corporate norms and principles, customs, beliefs, unwritten laws. Providentialism dominated the public consciousness: social reality, human life were perceived as the implementation of divine providence.

The spiritual world of a person of a traditional society, his system of value orientations, way of thinking are special and noticeably different from modern ones. Individuality, independence were not encouraged: the social group dictated the norms of behavior to the individual. One can even speak of a “group man” who did not analyze his position in the world, and indeed rarely analyzed the phenomena of the surrounding reality. Rather, he moralizes, evaluates life situations from the standpoint of his social group. The number of educated people was extremely limited (“literacy for the few”) oral information prevailed over written information. The political sphere of traditional society is dominated by the church and the army. The person is completely alienated from politics. Power seems to him of greater value than law and law. In general, this society is extremely conservative, stable, immune to innovations and impulses from outside, being a "self-sustaining self-regulating immutability." Changes in it occur spontaneously, slowly, without the conscious intervention of people. spiritual realm human being priority over economics.

Traditional societies have survived to this day mainly in the countries of the so-called "third world" (Asia, Africa) (therefore, the concept of "non-Western civilizations", which also claims to be well-known sociological generalizations, is often synonymous with "traditional society"). From a Eurocentric point of view, traditional societies are backward, primitive, closed, unfree social organisms, to which Western sociology opposes industrial and post-industrial civilizations.

As a result of modernization, understood as a complex, contradictory, complex process of transition from a traditional society to an industrial one, countries Western Europe the foundations of a new civilization were laid. They call her industrial, technogenic, scientific and technical or economic. The economic base of an industrial society is industry based on machine technology. The volume of fixed capital increases, long-term average costs per unit of output decrease. In agriculture, labor productivity rises sharply, natural isolation is destroyed. An extensive economy is replaced by an intensive one, and simple reproduction is replaced by an expanded one. All these processes occur through the implementation of the principles and structures of a market economy, based on scientific and technological progress. A person is freed from direct dependence on nature, partially subordinates it to himself. Stable economic growth is accompanied by an increase in real per capita income. If the pre-industrial period is filled with the fear of hunger and disease, then the industrial society is characterized by an increase in the well-being of the population. In the social sphere of an industrial society, traditional structures and social barriers are also collapsing. Social mobility is significant. As a result of development Agriculture and industry, the proportion of the peasantry in the population is sharply reduced, urbanization is taking place. New classes appear - the industrial proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the middle strata are strengthened. The aristocracy is in decline.

In the spiritual sphere, there is a significant transformation of the value system. The man of the new society is autonomous within the social group, guided by his personal interests. Individualism, rationalism (a person analyzes the world around him and makes decisions on this basis) and utilitarianism (a person acts not in the name of some global goals, but for a certain benefit) are new personal coordinate systems. There is a secularization of consciousness (liberation from direct dependence from religion). A person in an industrial society strives for self-development, self-improvement. Global changes are also taking place in the political sphere. The role of the state is growing sharply, and a democratic regime is gradually taking shape. Law and law dominate in society, and a person is involved in power relations as an active subject.

A number of sociologists somewhat refine the above scheme. From their point of view, the main content of the modernization process is in changing the model (stereotype) of behavior, in the transition from irrational (characteristic of a traditional society) to rational (characteristic of an industrial society) behavior. The economic aspects of rational behavior include the development commodity-money relations, which determines the role of money as a general equivalent of values, the displacement of barter transactions, the wide scope of market transactions, etc. The most important social consequence modernization is considered to be a change in the principle of distribution of roles. Previously, society imposed sanctions on social choice, limiting the opportunity to occupy certain social positions a person depending on his belonging to a certain group (origin, birth, nationality). After modernization, a rational principle of distribution of roles is approved, in which the main and only criterion for taking a particular position is the candidate's preparedness to perform these functions.

Thus, industrial civilization opposes traditional society in all directions. The majority of modern industrialized countries (including Russia) are classified as industrial societies.

But modernization gave rise to many new contradictions, which eventually turned into global problems (environmental, energy and other crises). By resolving them, progressively developing, some modern societies are approaching the stage of a post-industrial society, the theoretical parameters of which were developed in the 1970s. American sociologists D. Bell, E. Toffler and others. This society is characterized by the promotion of the service sector, individualization of production and consumption, an increase in the share of small-scale production with the loss of dominant positions by mass production, the leading role of science, knowledge and information in society. In the social structure of post-industrial society, there is an erasure of class differences, and the convergence of incomes various groups population leads to the elimination of social polarization and the growth of the proportion of the middle class. New Civilization can be characterized as anthropogenic, in the center of it is a person, his individuality. Sometimes it is also called information, which reflects the ever-increasing dependence Everyday life society from information. The transition to a post-industrial society for most countries of the modern world is a very distant prospect.

In the course of his activity, a person enters into various relationships with other people. Such diverse forms of interaction between people, as well as connections that arise between different social groups (or within them), are usually called social relations.

All social relations can be conditionally divided into two large groups- material relations and spiritual (or ideal) relations. Their fundamental difference from each other lies in the fact that material relations arise and develop directly in the course of a person’s practical activity, outside the consciousness of a person and independently of him, and spiritual relations are formed, having previously “passed through the consciousness” of people, determined by their spiritual values. In turn, material relations are divided into production, environmental and office relations; spiritual on moral, political, legal, artistic, philosophical and religious social relations.

A special type of social relations are interpersonal relations. Under interpersonal relationships understand the relationships between individuals. At In this case, individuals, as a rule, belong to different social strata, have different cultural and educational level, but they are united by common needs and interests that lie in the sphere of leisure or everyday life. Renowned sociologist Pitirim Sorokin singled out the following types interpersonal interaction:

a) between two individuals (husband and wife, teacher and student, two comrades);

b) between three individuals (father, mother, child);

c) between four, five or more people (the singer and his listeners);

d) between many and many people (members of an unorganized crowd).

Interpersonal relations arise and are realized in society and are public relations even if they are purely individual communication. They act as a personified form of social relations.

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Therefore, man is universal element all social systems, since he is necessarily included in each of them.

Like any system, society is an ordered integrity. This means that the components of the system are not in a chaotic disorder, but, on the contrary, occupy a certain position within the system and are connected in a certain way with other components. Consequently. the system has an integrative quality that is inherent in it as a whole. None of the components of the system. considered in isolation, does not possess this quality. It, this quality, is the result of the integration and interconnection of all components of the system. Just as individual organs of a person (heart, stomach, liver, etc.) do not have the properties of a person. likewise, the economy, the health care system, the state and other elements of society do not have the qualities that are inherent in society as a whole. And only thanks to the diverse connections that exist between the components of the social system, it turns into a single whole. i.e., into society (as, thanks to the interaction of various human organs, there is single organism person).

You can illustrate the connections between subsystems and elements of society various examples. The study of the distant past of mankind allowed scientists to conclude that. that the moral relations of people in primitive conditions were built on collectivist principles, i. e., saying modern language, priority was always given to the collective, and not to the individual. It is also known that the moral norms that existed among many tribes in those archaic times allowed the killing of weak members of the clan - sick children, the elderly - and even cannibalism. Have the real material conditions of their existence influenced these ideas and views of people about the limits of the morally permissible? The answer is clear: no doubt they did. The need to jointly obtain material wealth, the doom to an early death of a person who has broken away from the race, and laid the foundations of collectivist morality. Guided by the same methods of struggle for existence and survival, people did not consider it immoral to get rid of those who could become a burden for the team.

Another example may be the relationship between legal norms and socio-economic relations. Let's turn to known historical facts. In one of the first codes of laws of Kievan Rus, which is called Russkaya Pravda, various punishments for murder are provided. At the same time, the measure of punishment was determined primarily by the place of a person in the system of hierarchical relations, his belonging to one or another social stratum or group. So, the fine for killing a tiun (steward) was huge: it was 80 hryvnias and equaled the cost of 80 oxen or 400 rams. The life of a smerd or a serf was estimated at 5 hryvnias, i.e. 16 times cheaper.

Integral, i.e., general, inherent in the whole system, qualities of any system are not a simple sum of the qualities of its components, but represent a new quality that has arisen as a result of the interconnection, interaction of its components. In the very general view this is the quality of society as a social system - the ability to create everything the necessary conditions for its existence, to produce everything necessary for collective life of people. In philosophy, self-sufficiency is seen as the main difference between society and its constituent parts. Just as human organs cannot exist outside the whole organism, so none of the subsystems of society can exist outside the whole - society as a system.

Another feature of society as a system is that this system is self-governing.
The administrative function is performed by the political subsystem, which gives consistency to all components that form social integrity.

Any system, whether technical (a unit with an automatic control system), or biological (animal), or social (society), is in a certain environment with which it interacts. The environment of the social system of any country is both nature and global community. Changes in state natural environment, events in the world community, in the international arena are a kind of "signals" to which society must respond. Usually it seeks to either adapt to changes in the environment, or to adapt the environment to its needs. In other words, the system responds to "signals" in one way or another. At the same time, it implements its main functions: adaptation; goal achievement, i.e. the ability to maintain its integrity, ensuring the implementation of its tasks, influencing the natural environment and social environment; maintain obra.scha - the ability to maintain their internal structure; integration - the ability to integrate, i.e. include new parts, new public education(phenomena, processes, etc.) into a single whole.

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

The most important component of society as a system are social institutions.

The word "institute" in Latin instituto means "establishment". In Russian, it is often used to refer to higher educational institutions. In addition, as you know from the basic school course, in the field of law the word "institute" means a set of legal norms that regulate one social relationship or several relationships, bound friend with a friend (for example, the institution of marriage).

In sociology, social institutions are called historically established stable forms of organizing joint activities, regulated by norms, traditions, customs and aimed at satisfying fundamental needs society.

This is a definition to which it is advisable to return after reading to the end of the educational material on this issue, we will consider, based on the concept of "activity" (see - 1). In the history of society, sustainable activities aimed at satisfying the most important vital needs have developed. Sociologists identify five such social needs:

the need for the reproduction of the genus;
the need for security and social order;
need for means of subsistence;
the need for knowledge, socialization
the younger generation, personnel training;
- the need to solve the spiritual problems of the meaning of life.

According to the named needs, the types of activities in society developed, which, in turn, required necessary organization streamlining, creating certain institutions and other structures, developing rules that ensure the achievement of the expected result. These conditions for the successful implementation of the main activities were met by historically established social institutions:

institution of family and marriage;
- political institutions, especially the state;
- economic institutions, primarily production;
- institutes of education, science and culture;
- the institution of religion.

Each of these institutions brings together large masses of people to meet a particular need and achieve a specific goal of a personal, group or public nature.

The emergence of social institutions led to the consolidation of specific types of interaction, made them permanent and mandatory for all members of a given society.

So, a social institution is, first of all, a set of persons employed a certain kind activities and ensuring in the process of this activity the satisfaction of a certain significant need for society (for example, all employees of the education system).

Further, the institution is fixed by a system of legal and moral norms, traditions and customs that regulate the corresponding types of behavior. (Remember, for example, what social norms regulate the behavior of people in the family).

Another characteristic feature of a social institution is the presence of institutions equipped with certain material resources necessary for any kind of activity. (Think about which social institutions school, factory, police belong to. Give your examples of institutions and organizations related to each of the most important social institutions.)

Any of these institutions is integrated into the socio-political, legal, value structure of society, which makes it possible to legitimize the activities of this institution and exercise control over it.

A social institution stabilizes social relations, brings coherence into the actions of members of society. A social institution is characterized by a clear delineation of the functions of each of the subjects of interaction, the consistency of their actions, high level regulation and control. (Think about how these features of a social institution show up in the education system, particularly in schools.)

Consider the main features of a social institution on the example of such an important institution of society as the family. First of all, every family is based on intimacy and emotional attachment small group of people bound by ties marriage (wife) and consanguinity (parents and children). The need to create a family is one of the fundamental, i.e. fundamental, human needs. At the same time, the family performs in society important features: the birth and upbringing of children, economic support for minors and the disabled, and much more. Each family member occupies his own special position in it, which implies appropriate behavior: parents (or one of them) provide a livelihood, run household chores, and raise children. Children, in turn, study, help around the house. Such behavior is regulated not only by intra-family rules, but also social norms: morality and law. So, public morality condemns the lack of care of older family members about the younger ones. The law establishes the responsibility and obligations of spouses in relation to each other, to children, adult children to elderly parents. The creation of a family, the main milestones of family life, are accompanied by traditions and rituals established in society. For example, in many countries, the marriage ritual includes the exchange of wedding rings between spouses.

The presence of social institutions makes people's behavior more predictable and society as a whole more stable.

In addition to the main social institutions, there are non-principal ones. So, if the main political institution is the state, then non-principal - the institution judiciary or, as in our country, the institution of presidential representatives in the regions, etc.

The presence of social institutions reliably ensures regular, self-renewed satisfaction of vital important needs. The social institution makes connections between people not random and not chaotic, but permanent, reliable, stable. Institutional interaction is a well-established order social life in the main areas of human life. The more social needs are met by social institutions, the more developed the society.

Since new needs and conditions arise in the course of the historical process, new types of activity and corresponding connections appear. Society is interested in giving them an orderly, normative character, that is, in their institutionalization.

In Russia, as a result of the reforms of the late twentieth century. appeared, for example, such a type of activity as entrepreneurship. The streamlining of this activity led to the emergence of various types of firms, required the issuance of laws regulating entrepreneurial activity contributed to the formation of relevant traditions.

AT political life institutions of parliamentarism, a multi-party system, and the institution of presidency arose in our country. The principles and rules of their functioning are enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and relevant laws.

In the same way, the institutionalization of other emerging recent decades activities.

It happens that the development of society requires the modernization of the activities of social institutions that have historically developed in previous periods. Thus, in the changed conditions, it became necessary to solve the problems of introducing the younger generation to the culture in a new way. Hence the steps taken to modernize the institution of education, which may result in the institutionalization of the Unified State Examination, the new content of educational programs.

So, we can return to the definition given at the beginning of this part of the paragraph. Think about what characterizes social institutions as highly organized systems. Why is their structure stable? What is the importance of deep integration of their elements? What is the diversity, flexibility, dynamism of their functions?

PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS

1 Society is a highly complex system, and in order to live in harmony with it, it is necessary to adapt (adapt) to it. Otherwise, you cannot avoid conflicts, failures in your life and work. The condition for adaptation to modern society is knowledge about it, which gives the course of social science.

2 It is possible to understand society only if its qualities are identified as complete system. To do this, it is necessary to consider various sections of the structure of society (the main areas of human activity; a set of social institutions, social groups), systematizing, integrating the links between them, the features of the management process in a self-governing social system.

3 V real life you will have to interact with various social institutions. To make this interaction successful, it is necessary to know the goals and nature of the activity that has taken shape in the social institution of interest to you. This will help you to study the legal norms governing this type of activity.

4 in the subsequent sections of the course, characterizing individual areas of human activity, it is useful to re-refer to the content this paragraph in order, relying on it, to consider each sphere as part of an integral system. This will help to understand the role and place of each sphere, each social institution in the development of society.

Document

From the work of the contemporary American sociologist E. Shils "Society and Societies: A Macrosociological Approach".

What is included in societies? As has been said, the most differentiated of these consist not only of families and kinship groups, but also of associations, unions, firms and farms, schools and universities, armies, churches and sects, parties and numerous other corporate bodies or organizations which, in in turn, have boundaries that define the circle of members over which the appropriate corporate authorities - parents, managers, chairmen, etc., etc. - exercise a certain measure of control. It also includes systems formally and informally organized on a territorial basis - communities, villages, districts, cities, districts - all of which also have some features of society. Further, it includes unorganized aggregates of people within society - social classes or strata, occupations and professions, religions, language groups - which have a culture that is more inherent in those who have a certain status or occupy a certain position than in everyone else.

So, we are convinced that society is not just a collection of united people, primordial and cultural collectives, interacting and exchanging services with each other. All these collectives form a society by virtue of their existence under a common authority, which exercises its control over the territory marked by boundaries, maintains and enforces more or less common culture. It is these factors that make a set of relatively specialized original corporate and cultural collectives into a society.

Questions and tasks for the document

1. What components, according to E. Shils, are included in society? Indicate to which spheres of life of society each of them belongs.
2. Select from the listed components those that are social institutions.
3. Based on the text, prove that the author considers society as a social system.

SELF-CHECK QUESTIONS

1. What does the term "system" mean?
2. How do social (public) systems differ from natural ones?
3. What is the main quality of society as an integral system?
4. What are the connections and relations of society as a system with the environment?
5. What is a social institution?
6. Oxapacterize the main social institutions.
7. What are the main features of a social institution?
8. What is the meaning of institutionalization?

TASKS

1. When changing systems approach, analyze Russian society beginning of the twentieth century.
2. Describe all the main features of a social institution using the example of the institution of education. Use the material and recommendations of the practical conclusions of this paragraph.
3. The collective work of Russian sociologists says: “... society exists and functions in various forms... Indeed important question comes down to not losing society itself behind special forms, forests behind trees. How is this statement related to the understanding of society as a system? Justify your answer.

ABOUT SOCIETY AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON, ITS ESSENCE, FEATURES AND STRUCTURE

As noted above, the object and subject of study of sociology as a science is society and the diverse processes of cooperation, mutual assistance and rivalry of people united in large and small social groups and communities - national, religious, professional, etc.

A summary of this topic should begin with what constitutes a human society; what are its distinguishing features; what group of people can be called a society, and what - not; what are its subsystems; what is the essence of the social system.

With all the external simplicity of the concept of "society", it is unambiguously impossible to answer the question posed. It would be wrong to consider society as a simple collection of people, individuals with some of their original qualities that manifest themselves only in society, or as an abstract, faceless integrity that does not take into account the uniqueness of individuals and their connections.

In everyday life, this word is used quite often, widely and ambiguously: from a small group of people to the whole of humanity (Anatomical Society, Surgical Society, Belarusian Society of Consumers, Alcoholics Anonymous Society, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, Society of Earthlings, etc.).

Society is a rather abstract and multifaceted concept. It is studied by various sciences - history, philosophy, cultural studies, political science, sociology, etc., each of which explores only its inherent aspects and processes occurring in society. Its simplest interpretation is the human community, which is formed by the people living in it.

Sociology provides several approaches to the definition of society.

1. The well-known Russian-American sociologist P. Sorokin, for example, believed: in order for a society to exist, at least two people with a certain relationship of interaction (family) are needed. Such a case would be the simplest kind of society or social phenomenon.

Society is not any mechanical collection of people, but such an association within which there is a more or less constant, stable and fairly close mutual influence and interaction of these people. “Whatever social group we take - whether it be a family, a class, a party, a religious sect or a state,” wrote

P. Sorokin, - they all represent the interaction of two or one with many or many people with many. The whole endless sea of ​​human communication consists of interaction processes: one-way and two-way, temporary and long-term, organized and unorganized, solidary and antagonistic, conscious and unconscious, sensory-emotional and volitional.

The whole complex world of people's social life is divided into outlined processes of interaction. A group of interacting people represents a kind of collective whole or collective unity. The close causal interdependence of their behavior gives grounds to consider interacting persons as a collective whole, as one being made up of many people. Just as oxygen and hydrogen, interacting with each other, form water, which is sharply different from the simple sum of isolated oxygen and hydrogen, so the totality of interacting people is sharply different from their simple sum.

2. Society is a collection of people united by specific interests, goals, needs or mutual ties and activities. But even this definition of society cannot be complete, since in one society there can be people with different and sometimes opposite interests and needs.

3. A society is an association of people with the following criteria:

- the commonality of the territory of their residence, usually coinciding with state borders and serving as the space within which relationships and interactions of individuals of a given society are formed and developed (Belarusian society, Chinese society

and etc.);

– its integrity and stability, the so-called "collective unity" (according to P. Sorokin);

– a certain level of cultural development, which finds its expression in the development of a system of norms and values ​​that underlie social ties;

– self-reproduction (although it can increase its numbers as a result of migration processes) and self-sufficiency guaranteed by a certain level of economic development (including through imports).

Thus, society is a complex, holistic, self-developing system of social interactions between people.

and their communities - family, professional, religious, ethno-national, territorial, etc.

Society as a complex, dynamic system has certain features, structure, stages of historical development.

1. Sociality, which expresses the social essence of people's lives, the specifics of their relationships and interactions (as opposed to group forms of interaction in the animal world). A person as a person can be formed only among his own kind as a result of his socialization.

2. Ability to maintain and reproduce high intensity socio-psychic interactions between people, inherent only in human society.

3. An important feature of society is the territory and its natural and climatic conditions, where various social interactions take place. If we take for comparison the method of production of material goods, lifestyle, culture and traditions different peoples(for example, price- African tribes, small ethnic groups of the Far North or inhabitants of the middle zone), then it will become clear the great importance of territorial and climatic features for the development of a particular society, its civilization.

4. People's awareness of the changes and processes taking place in society as a result of their activities (as opposed to natural processes independent of the will and consciousness of people). Everything that happens in society is carried out only by people, their organized groups. They create special bodies for the implementation of self-regulation of society - social institutions.

5. Society has a complex social structure, consisting of different social strata, groups and communities. They differ from each other in many ways: the level of income and education, the ratio

to power and property, belonging to different religions, political parties, organizations, etc. They are in a complex and diverse relationship of interconnection and constant development.

Nevertheless, all of the above features of society interact with each other, ensuring the integrity and sustainability of its development as a single and complex system.

Society is divided into structural components, or subsystems:

1. Economic subsystem.

2. political subsystem.

3. Sociocultural subsystem.

4. social subsystem.

Consider these structural components in more detail:

1. The economic subsystem of society (often called the economic system) includes the production, distribution, exchange of goods and services, the interaction of people in the labor market, economic

stimulation of various types of activities, banking, credit

and other similar organizations and institutions (studied by students

in course in economics).

2. The political subsystem (or system) is the totality socio-political interactions between individuals and groups, political structure society, regime of power, activities of bodies government controlled, political parties

and socio-political organizations, political rights

and freedoms of citizens, as well as the values, norms and rules governing the political behavior of individuals and social groups. Students get acquainted with this system in the course of political science.

3. Sociocultural subsystem (or system) includes education, science, philosophy, art, morality, religion, organizations

and cultural institutions, facilities mass media etc. It is studied in such training courses as cultural studies, philosophy, aesthetics, religious studies, ethics.

4. The social subsystem is a form of people's life activity, which is realized in the development and functioning of social institutions, organizations, social communities, groups and individuals and unites all other structural components of society. It is the subject of sociological research.

The interaction of the main subsystems of society can be represented

in in the form of a diagram (Fig. 3).

Society as an integral system

Rice. 3. The structure of society

The social subsystem of society, in turn, includes the following structural components: social structure, social institutions, social relations, social ties and actions, social norms and values, etc.

There are other approaches to determining the structure of society as a social system. Thus, the American sociologist E. Shils proposed the study of society as a certain macrostructure, the main elements

the cops of which are social communities, social organizations and culture.

In accordance with these components, society must be considered in three aspects:

1) as a relationship of many individuals. As a result of the interconnection of many individuals, social communities are formed. It is they who are main party society as a social system. Social communities are real-life aggregates of individuals that form a certain integrity and have independence in social action. They arise in the process of the historical development of society and are characterized by a variety of types and forms.

The most significant are social-class, socio-ethnic, socio-territorial, socio-demographic, etc. (for more details, see selected topics benefits).

Forms of interaction between people in social communities are different: individual - individual; individual - social group; individual - society. They are formed in the process of labor, practical activities of people and represent the behavior of an individual or a social group, significant for the development of the social community as a whole. Such social interaction subjects determines the social ties between individuals, between individuals and outside world. The totality of social ties is the basis of all social relations in society: political, economic, spiritual. In turn, they serve as the foundation for the functioning of the political, economic, spiritual and social spheres (subsystems) of the life of society.

At the same time, all spheres of society's life, any social community cannot function successfully, and even more so develop without streamlining, regulating relations between people in the process of their practical activities and behavior. To do this, society has developed a peculiar system of such regulation and organization of public life, its "tools" - social institutions. They represent a certain set of institutions - the state, law, production, education, etc. In the conditions of stable development of society, social institutions play the role of mechanisms for coordinating the common interests of various groups of the population and individuals;

2) the second most important aspect of society as a social system is social organization. It means a number of ways to regulate the actions of individuals and social groups to achieve certain goals of social development. In other words, social organization is a mechanism for integrating the actions of individuals and social communities within a particular social system. Its element is

They are social roles, social statuses of individuals, social norms and social (public) values ​​(in a separate topic).

The joint activity of individuals, the distribution of social statuses and social roles are impossible without a certain governing body within the social organization. For these purposes, organizational and power structures are formed in the form of administration, as well as a managerial link in the form of managers and specialist leaders. A formal structure of social organization emerges with various social status, with the administrative division of labor on the principle of "leaders - subordinates";

3) the third component of society as a social system is culture. In sociology, culture is understood as a system of social norms and values ​​fixed in the practical activities of people,

a as well as this activity. chief link social

and cultural systems are values. Their task is to serve to maintain the pattern of functioning of the social system. Norms in sociology are predominantly a social phenomenon. They perform mainly the function of integration, regulate great amount processes, contribute to the implementation of normative value obligations. In civilized, developed societies, the basis of social norms is the legal system.

AT Sociology focuses on the issue of social role culture in society - to what extent certain social values ​​contribute to the humanization of social relations, the formation of a comprehensively developed personality.

MAIN STAGES OF THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIETY, ITS TYPES AND CONCEPTS

As noted above, society is a constantly evolving, dynamic system. In the course of this development, it goes through a series of historical stages and types, characterized by special distinctive features. Sociologists have identified several basic types of society.

1. The Marxist concept of the development of society, proposed in the middle of the XIX century. Marx and Engels, proceeds from the dominant role of the mode of production of material goods in determining the type of society. According to this, Marx substantiated the existence of five modes of production

and their corresponding five socio-economic formations successively replacing one another as a result of the class struggle

and social revolution. These are primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, bourgeois and communist formations. Although it is known that a number of societies have not gone through certain stages in their development.

2. Western sociologists II half of XIX- the middle of the XX century. (O. Comte, G. Spencer, E. Durkheim, A. Toynbee and others) believed that there are only two types of societies in the world:

a) traditional (so-called military democracy) is an agrarian society

With primitive production, a sedentary hierarchical social structure, the power of landowners, an assembly of armed warriors; undeveloped science and technology, insignificant savings;

b) an industrial society, which takes shape gradually, replaces the traditional one as a result of great geographical and scientific and technical discoveries. A slow growth of technical progress begins, an increase in the productivity of agricultural labor, the emergence of a layer of merchants, merchants, and the formation of centralized states. First bourgeois revolutions in Europe lead to the emergence of new social strata, as well as to the emergence of the ideology of liberalism and nationalism, the democratization of society. The historical framework of this type of society - from the Neolithic era to the industrial revolution, carried out in different countries and regions at different times.

Industrial society is characterized by:

– urbanization, an increase in the proportion of the urban population to 60–80 %;

– the accelerated growth of industry and the reduction of agriculture;

– introduction of achievements of science and technology in production processes and increasing labor productivity;

– the emergence of new industries as a result of scientific and technological progress;

– increasing the share of capital accumulation in GDP and investing them in the development of production(15–20% of GDP);

– change in the structure of employment of the population (increase in the share of workers engaged in mental labor due to the reduction of unskilled, physical);

– growth in consumption.

3. Since the second half of the XX century. in Western sociology, the concepts of a three-stage typology of society appeared. R. Aron, Z. Brzezinski, D. Bell, J. Galbraith, O. Toffler and others proceeded from the fact that humanity in its historical development goes through three main stages and types of societies (civilizations):

a) pre-industrial (agricultural-handicraft) society, the main wealth of which is land. It is dominated by a simple division of labor, manufacturing production. The main goal of such a society is power, a rigid authoritarian system. Its main institutions are the army, the church

cow, agriculture. The dominant social strata - the nobility, the clergy, warriors, slave owners, later - the feudal lords;

b) an industrial society, the main wealth of which is capital, money. It is characterized by large-scale machine production, scientific and technological progress, a developed system of division of labor, mass production of goods for the market, the development of the media, etc. The dominant layer is industrialists and businessmen.

c) post-industrial (information) society is replacing the industrial one. Main value his is knowledge, a science producing information. The main social stratum is scientists. Post-industrial society is characterized by the emergence of new means of production: information and electronic systems with billions of operations per second, computer technology, new technologies (genetic engineering, cloning, etc.); the use of microprocessors in industry, services, trade and exchange; a sharp decline in the share rural population and an increase in employment in the service sector, etc. Correlation various types society is presented in table. one.

			Table 1
Differences between traditional, industrial
	and post-industrial types of society
signs		Type of society
	Traditional	Industrial	post-industrial
	(agrarian)
	natural	commodity economy	Development of the sphere
management	economy		services, consumption
Dominant	Agricultural	Industrial	Production
economic sphere	production	production	information
	Manual labor	Mechanization and auto-	Computerization
way of working		matizationproduction	production
		management	and management
The main social	Church, army	Industrial	Education,
institutions		corporations	universities
	priests,	businessmen,	Scientists, managers
social strata	feudal lords	entrepreneurs	consultants
The method of political	Military Democracy	Democracy	civil
management	tia, despotic		society,
	control		self management
The main factor	physical power,	capital, money
management	divine power
Main	between higher	between labor	between knowledge
contradictions	and lower	and capital	and ignorance
	estates		incompetence

Alvin Toffler and other Western sociologists argue that developed countries from the 70s and 80s. 20th century experiencing a new technological

a revolution leading to the continuous renewal of social relations and the creation of super-industrial civilizations.

The theory of industrial and post-industrial society combines five trends in social development: technization, informatization, societal complexity, social differentiation and social integration. They will be discussed below in separate chapters of this publication.

However, it must be borne in mind that all of the above applies to developed countries. All the rest, including Belarus, are at the industrial stage (or in a pre-industrial society).

Despite the attractiveness of many ideas of a post-industrial society, the problem of its formation in all regions of the world remains open due to the exhaustibility of many biosphere resources, the presence of social conflicts, etc.

In Western sociology and cultural studies, the theory of the cyclical development of society is also distinguished, the authors of which are O. Spengler, A. Toynbee and others. It proceeds from the fact that the evolution of society is not seen as rectilinear motion to its more perfect state, but as a kind of closed cycle of rise, prosperity and decline, repeating again as it is completed (the cyclical concept of the development of society can be considered by analogy with life individual person- birth, development, flourishing, old age and death).

Of particular interest to our students is the "healthy society theory" created by the German-American psychologist, physician and sociologist Erich Fromm (1900–1980). Having emigrated from Germany to the USA in 1933, he worked as a practicing psychoanalyst for many years, later he took up scientific activity, and since 1951 he became a university professor.

Criticizing capitalism as a sick, irrational society, Fromm developed the concept of creating a harmonious healthy society with the help of social therapy methods.

The main provisions of the theory of a healthy society.

1. Developing a holistic concept of personality, Fromm found out the mechanisms of interaction of psychological and social factors

in the process of its formation.

2. He derives the health of society from the health of its members. Fromm's concept of a healthy society differs from Durkheim's understanding, who allowed for the possibility of anomie in society (i.e., the denial by its members of the main social values and norms leading to social

al disintegration and subsequent deviant behavior). But Durkheim applied this only to the individual, not to society as a whole. And if we assume that deviant behavior may be characteristic

most members of society and lead to domination destructive behavior, then we get a sick society. The stages of the "disease" are as follows: anomie → social disintegration → deviation → destruction

→ the collapse of the system.

AT In contrast to Durkheim, Fromm calls a healthy society

in in which people would develop their reason to such a degree of objectivity that allows them to see themselves, other people and nature in their true reality, to distinguish good from evil, to make their own choice. This would mean a society whose members have developed the ability to love their children, family, other people, themselves, nature, to feel unity with it, and at the same time - to maintain a sense of individuality, integrity and transcend nature in creativity, and not in destruction. .

According to Fromm, the goal he had set has been achieved by a minority so far. The challenge is to make the majority of society

in healthy people. Fromm sees the ideal of a healthy society in the transformation of all spheres of public life:

– in the economic field, there should be self-government of all those working in the enterprise;

– incomes should be equalized to such an extent as to ensure a decent life for various social strata;

– in the political sphere, it is necessary to decentralize power with the creation of thousands of small groups with interpersonal contacts;

– changes must simultaneously cover all other areas, since changes in only one have a destructive effect on changes

generally;

– a person should not be a means used by others or by himself, but feel himself the subject of his own strengths and capabilities.

Interesting enough theory social change Society of T. Parsons. He proceeds from the fact that various systems of society are subject to evolution: the organism, personality, social system and cultural system as steps of a growing degree of complexity. Really, profound changes are only those that occur in cultural system. Economic and political upheavals that do not affect the level of culture in society do not fundamentally change society itself. There are many examples of this.

Summing up the foregoing, it should be noted that all scientific, technical and technological radical changes entail revolutions in other spheres of public life, but they are not accompanied by social revolutions, according to Marx, Engels, Lenin. Class interests, of course, exist, contradictions too, but hired workers force property owners to make concessions, raise wages, increase incomes, which means

and raise living standards and well-being. All this leads to a reduction in social tension, smoothing out class contradictions and denying the inevitability of social revolutions.

Society as a social, dynamically developing system has always been, is and will be the most complex object of study that attracts the attention of sociologists. In terms of complexity, it can only be compared with the human personality, the individual. The society and the individual are inextricably linked and mutually determined one through the other. This is the methodological key to the study of other social systems.

IN SELF-CHECKING SURVEYS

1. What does human society mean?

2. What are the main approaches in defining the concept of "society"?

3. Name the main features of society.

4. Describe the leading subsystems of society.

5. Outline the structural components of the social system of society.

6. What theories of social development can you name?

7. Describe the essence of E. Fromm's "theory of a healthy society".

Literature

1. American sociological thought. M., 1994.

2. Babosov, E. General sociology / E. Babosov. Minsk, 2004.

3. Gorelov, A. Sociology / A. Gorelov. M., 2006.

4. Luman, N. The concept of society / N. Luman // Problems of theoretical sociology. SPb., 1994.

5. Parsons, T. The system of modern societies / T. Parsons. M., 1998.

6. Popper, K. Open society and its enemies / K. Popper. M., 1992. T. 1, 2.

7. Sorokin, P. Man, civilization, society / P. Sorokin. M., 1992.

In the definition of the concept of "society" in the scientific literature, there is a variety of approaches, which emphasizes abstract character this category, and, defining it in each specific case, it is necessary to proceed from the context in which this concept is used.

1) Natural (the influence of geographical and climatic conditions on the development of society).

2) Social (the causes and starting points of social development are determined by society itself).

The totality of these factors predetermines social development.

There are various ways of development of society:

Evolutionary (gradual accumulation of changes and their naturally conditioned nature);

Revolutionary (characterized by relatively rapid changes subjectively directed on the basis of knowledge and action).

VARIETY OF WAYS AND FORMS OF PUBLIC DEVELOPMENT

Social progress created in the XVIII-XIX centuries. works of J. Condorcet, G. Hegel, K. Marx and other philosophers was understood as a natural movement along a single for all mankind main road. On the contrary, in the concept of local civilizations, progress is seen as going in different civilizations in different ways.

If you mentally take a look at the course of world history, then you will notice a lot in common in the development of different countries and peoples. Primitive society has everywhere been replaced by a society controlled by the state. Feudal fragmentation was replaced by centralized monarchies. Bourgeois revolutions took place in many countries. Colonial empires collapsed and dozens of independent states arose in their place. You yourself could continue listing similar events and processes that took place in various countries on different continents. This similarity reveals the unity of the historical process, a certain identity of successive orders, the common destinies of various countries and peoples.

However, specific development individual countries and peoples are diverse. There are no peoples, countries, states with the same history. The diversity of concrete historical processes is caused by the difference in natural conditions, the specifics of the economy, the uniqueness of spiritual culture, the peculiarities of the way of life, and many other factors. Does this mean that each country is predetermined by its own development option and it is the only possible one? historical experience indicates that under certain conditions various options for solving urgent problems are possible, it is possible to choose methods, forms, ways of further development, that is, a historical alternative. Alternatives often offered by certain groups of society, various political forces.

Remember that when preparing Peasant reform held in Russia in 1861, various social forces proposed different forms of implementing changes in the life of the country. Some defended revolutionary path, others are reformist. But among the latter there was no unity. Several reform options have been proposed.

And in 1917-1918. a new alternative arose before Russia: either a democratic republic, one of the symbols of which was a popularly elected constituent Assembly, or a republic of Soviets led by the Bolsheviks.

In each case, a choice has been made. Such a choice is made by statesmen, ruling elites, populace depending on the balance of power and influence of each of the subjects of history.

Any country, any nation, at certain moments in history, faces a fateful choice, and its history is carried out in the process of implementing this choice.

The variety of ways and forms of social development is not limitless. It is included in the framework of certain trends in historical development.

Thus, for example, we have seen that the elimination of obsolete serfdom was possible both in the form of a revolution and in the form of reforms carried out by the state. And the urgent need to accelerate economic growth in different countries carried out either by attracting new and new natural resources, i.e., extensively, or by introducing new technology and technology, advanced training of workers, based on the growth of labor productivity, that is, in an intensive way. In different countries or in the same country, different options for implementing the same type of changes can be used.

Thus, the historical process in which the general trends- the unity of diverse social development, creates the possibility of choice, on which depends the originality of the ways and forms of the further movement of a given country. This speaks of the historical responsibility of those who make this choice.

"Society as a dynamic system".

Option 1.

BUT. 1. Highlighting the main elements of society, their relationship and interaction, scientists characterize society as

1)system

2) part of nature

3) material world

4) civilization

2. Society in the understanding of scientists is:

2) ways of interaction and forms of bringing people together

3) part of wildlife, subject to its laws

4) the material world as a whole

3. Are the following judgments about society correct?

A. Society is a system consisting of interrelated and interacting elements.

B. Society is a dynamic system in which new elements and connections between them constantly arise and old elements die off.

1) only A is true

2) only B is true

3) both statements are correct

4) both judgments are wrong

4. Unlike nature, society

1) is a system 3) acts as a creator of culture

2) is in development 4) develops according to its own laws

5. The emergence of private ownership of the means of production has led to increased stratification of society. The connection of what aspects of the life of society was manifested in this phenomenon?

1)production, distribution, consumption and spiritual sphere

2)economics and politics

3) economics and social relations

4) economy and culture

6. Which of the following refers to the global problems of our time?

1) the formation of a socially oriented economy

2) the revival of cultural and moral values

3) the gap in the level of development between the regions of the planet

4) development of international cooperation

7. Are the following judgments about society correct?

A. Among the subsystems and elements of society are social institutions.

B. Not all elements of social life are subject to change.

1) only A is true

2) only B is true

3) both statements are correct

4) both judgments are wrong

8. Which of the above features characterizes an industrial society?

1) the leading role of agriculture 3) weak level division of labor

2) the predominance of industry 4) the decisive importance of the service sector in the economy

9. Which of the features is inherent in a traditional society?

1) intensive development of infrastructure 3) the predominance of the patriarchal type of family

2) computerization of industry 4) the secular nature of culture

10. The transition to a post-industrial society is characterized by

1) the formation of a market economy 3) the development of funds mass communication

2) restriction of social mobility 4) organization of factory production

11. A characteristic feature of Western civilization is:

1) low social mobility

2) long-term preservation of traditional legal norms

3) active introduction of new technologies

4) weakness and underdevelopment of democratic values

12. Are the following judgments about the process of globalization correct?

A. All global processes are the result of increased international contacts.

B. The development of mass communication makes the modern world whole.

1) only A is true 2) only B is true 3) both judgments are true 4) both judgments are wrong

13. Country A. with a population of 25 million people is located in the Northern Hemisphere. What additional information will make it possible to judge whether A. belongs to post-industrial societies?

1) The country has a multi-confessional composition of the population.

2) The country has an extensive network of rail transport.

3) Society is managed by means of computer networks.

4) Traditional family values ​​are promoted in the media.

14. A characteristic feature of evolution as a form of social development is:

1) the revolutionary nature of change 3) violent methods

2) spasmodic 4) gradual

Q. 1 Read the text below with a number of words missing.

Western civilization is called ____(1). The production that has developed in the European region _____ (2) required the utmost exertion of the physical and intellectual forces of society, the constant improvement of labor tools and methods of influencing nature. As a result, it has formed new system values: active creative, ______ (3) human activity comes to the fore.

Unconditional value has acquired _______ (4) knowledge that expands the intellectual powers of a person, his inventive possibilities. Western civilization has put forward _____(5) individuals and ______(6) property as the most important values. The main regulator of social relations are _____(7).

Choose from the proposed list of words to be inserted in place of spaces.

a) private

b) collective

c) legal norms

d) industrial

e) adaptable

g) scientific

h) transforming

i) freedom

j) religious

2. Find in the list the features of society as a dynamic system and circle the numbers under which they are indicated.

1) isolation from nature

2) lack of interconnection of subsystems and public institutions

3) the ability for self-organization and self-development

4) isolation from the material world

5) constant change

6) the possibility of degradation of individual elements

C1. What is the meaning of social scientists in the concept of "civilization"? Attracting Knowledge social science course, make up two sentences containing information about civilization.

C2. Use three examples to describe the advantages of the formational approach.

C3. Read the text and do the tasks for it.

Gaining more and more strength, civilization often showed a clear tendency to impose ideas with the help of missionary activities or direct violence coming from religious, in particular Christian, traditions ... So civilization steadily spread across the planet, using all possible ways and means for this - migration, colonization, conquest, trade, industrial development, financial control and cultural influence. Little by little, all countries and peoples began to live according to its laws or created them according to the model established by it ...

The development of civilization, however, was accompanied by the flowering of bright hopes and illusions that could not come true ... At the heart of her philosophy and her actions was always elitism. And the Earth, no matter how generous it may be, is still not able to accommodate an ever-growing population and satisfy its more and more new needs, desires and whims. That is why a new, deeper split has now emerged - between super-developed and underdeveloped countries. But even this rebellion of the world proletariat, which seeks to join the wealth of its more prosperous brethren, takes place within the framework of the same dominant civilization ... It is unlikely that it will be able to withstand this new test, especially now, when its own organism is torn apart by numerous ailments. NTR, on the other hand, is becoming more and more obstinate, and it is becoming more and more difficult to pacify it. Having endowed us with unprecedented strength and instilled a taste for a level of life that we did not even think about, NTR sometimes does not give us the wisdom to keep our abilities and demands under control. And it is time for our generation, finally, to understand that now it depends only on us ... the fate of not individual countries and regions, but of all mankind as a whole.

A. Peccei

1) What global problems of modern society does the author highlight? List two or three issues.

2) What does the author mean when he says: “Having endowed us with unprecedented strength and instilled a taste for a level of life that we did not even think about, the scientific and technological revolution does not sometimes give us the wisdom to keep our abilities and demands under control”? Make two guesses.

3) Illustrate with examples (at least three) the author's statement: "The development of civilization ... was accompanied by the flowering of bright hopes and illusions that could not be realized."

4) Is it possible, in your opinion, to overcome the contrast between rich and poor countries in the foreseeable future. Justify the answer.

C4 * Society is a set of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other ”(Seneca)