• What are areas of public life?
• What are the areas of public life?
• How are different spheres of society interrelated?

The structure of society has always interested people. Have you thought about it? For many centuries, scientists have tried to create a model, an image with which to reproduce human society for study. It was represented in the form of a pyramid, clockwork, likened to a branched tree.

Spheres of society

Society is rationally arranged. Each of its spheres (parts) performs its functions, satisfies certain needs of people. Remember what needs are.

Spheres of public life - areas of public life in which the most important needs of people are satisfied.

Scientists identify four main areas of public life: economic, political, social and spiritual. Such a division is conditional, but it helps to better navigate the diversity of social phenomena.

The economic sphere includes firms, enterprises, factories, banks, markets, mines, etc. That is, everything that allows society to produce such a quantity of goods and services that will satisfy the vital material needs of people - food, housing, clothing, leisure, etc. .d.

The main task of the economic sphere is the organization of the activities of large groups of people in the production, consumption (purchase and use of the purchased for their own purposes) and distribution of goods and services.

The entire population participates in economic life. Children, pensioners, the disabled, for the most part, are not producers of material goods. But they participate in the exchange - when they buy goods in a store, distribution - when they receive pensions and benefits, and, of course, in the consumption of material goods. You are not yet creating wealth, but you are actively consuming it.

The political sphere includes the state and public authorities and administration. In Russia, these are the President, government, parliament (Federal Assembly), local authorities, army, police, tax and customs services, as well as political parties. The main task of the political sphere is to ensure order in society and its security, resolve social conflicts, adopt new laws and monitor their implementation, protect external borders, collect taxes, etc.

The social sphere includes the daily relationships of citizens, as well as the relationships of large social groups in society: peoples, classes, etc.

The social sphere also includes various institutions for ensuring the life of people. These are shops, passenger transport, public utilities and consumer services (housing management companies and dry cleaners), catering (canteens and restaurants), health care (clinics and hospitals), communications (telephone, post office, telegraph), as well as leisure and entertainment facilities (parks cultures, stadiums).

An important place in the social sphere is occupied by the bodies of social protection and social security. They are designed to provide social assistance to those in need: pensioners, the unemployed, large families, the disabled, low-income people. You learned about how social assistance is provided to families in the 5th grade.

The spiritual realm includes science, education, religion and art. It includes universities and academies, research institutes, schools, museums, theaters, art galleries, cultural monuments, national art treasures, religious associations, etc. It is in this area that the accumulation and transfer of the spiritual wealth of society to the next generations is carried out, and people and entire societies find the answer to the question of the meaning of life and their existence.

What areas of public life are depicted in the photographs? Justify your answer.

The relationship of the four spheres of society

So, we have identified four main areas of modern society. But this does not mean that they exist separately from each other. On the contrary, they are closely related and influence each other. For example, if the country's economy does not fulfill its tasks, does not provide the population with a sufficient amount of goods and services, does not expand the number of jobs, then the standard of living drops sharply, there is not enough money to pay wages and pensions, unemployment appears, and crime grows. Thus, success in one, economic, sphere affects well-being in another, social.

The economy can also have a strong influence on politics, there are many examples of this in history.

Additional reading

The Byzantine Empire and Iran waged long-term wars with each other over which of them would collect duties from merchants who led caravans along the Great Silk Road. As a result, they exhausted their forces in these wars, and the Arabs took advantage of this, who seized most of their possessions from the Byzantine emperors, and conquered Iran entirely.

Explain how this example shows the relationship between the economic and political spheres.

The social sphere is directly connected with political life. Changes in the political sphere, such as a shift in power, the arrival of other politicians to rule the state, can worsen the living conditions of people. But feedback is also possible. The reason for the change of power was often the indignation of the masses of the worsening of their situation. For example, the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist also because the taxes that the emperor established were unbearably high for his subjects and they preferred the power of the barbarian kings to the imperial one.

Summing up

There are four spheres of public life: economic, political, social and spiritual. The spheres of public life satisfy the basic needs of people and are closely interconnected with each other.

Basic terms and concepts

Spheres of society: economic, political, social, spiritual.

Test your knowledge

1. What areas can society be divided into? Give a brief description of each area of ​​society. What is their significance for society?
2. Explain how different areas of society influence each other. Use the diagram on p. 20.
3. What do you think is the most important area of ​​society? Explain your answer.

Workshop

Quiet my home!
Willows, river, nightingales...
My mother is buried here
During my childhood...

Where I swam for fish
Hay is rowed into the hayloft:
Between river bends
People dug a canal.

Tina is now a swamp
Where he loves to swim...
Quiet my home
I didn't forget anything.

New fence in front of the school
The same green space.
Like a happy crow
I'm sitting on the fence again!

My wooden school! ..
The time will come to leave -
The river behind me is foggy
Will run and run...

The most correct approach to the study of society is systems approach, which involves the analysis of social structures, including the study of the elements of society and the relationships between them, as well as the analysis of the processes and changes taking place in society and reflecting the trends of its development.

Structural analysis of the system is logical to begin with the allocation of the largest complex parts, called subsystems. Such subsystems in society are the so-called spheres of social life, which are parts of society, the limits of which are determined by the influence of certain social relations. Traditionally, social scientists distinguish the following main areas of society:

1. Economic sphere- a system of economic relations that arises and is reproduced in the process of material production. The basis of economic relations and the most important factor determining their specificity is the mode of production and distribution of material goods in society.

2. Social sphere- a system of social relations, i.e., relations between groups of people occupying different positions in the social structure of society. The study of the social sphere involves consideration of the horizontal and vertical differentiation of society, the identification of large and small social groups, the study of their structures, the forms of implementation of social control in these groups, the analysis of the system of social ties, as well as social processes occurring at the intra- and intergroup level.
Note that the terms "social sphere" and "social relations" are often used in a broader interpretation, as a system of all relations between people in society, reflecting not the specifics of this local sphere of society, but the integrative function of social science - the unification of subsystems into a single whole.

3. Political (political and legal) sphere - a system of political and legal relations that arise in society and reflect the attitude of the state towards its citizens and their groups, citizens towards the existing state power, as well as relations between political groups (parties) and political mass movements. Thus, the political sphere of society reflects the relationship between people and social groups, the emergence of which is determined by the institution of the state.

4. spiritual realm- a system of relations between people, reflecting the spiritual and moral life of society, represented by such subsystems as culture, science, religion, morality, ideology, art. The significance of the spiritual sphere is determined by its priority function of determining the value-normative system of society, which, in turn, reflects the level of development of social consciousness and its intellectual and moral potential.

It should be noted that an unambiguous division of the spheres of society is possible and necessary within the framework of its theoretical analysis, however, empirical reality is characterized by their close interconnection, interdependence and intersection, which is reflected in terms such as socio-economic relations, spiritual and political, etc. That is why the most important task of social science is to achieve the integrity of scientific understanding and explanation of the laws governing the functioning and development of the social system.

The structure of society interested people at all times. For many centuries, scientists have tried to find a model, an image with which to reproduce human society. It was represented in the form of a pyramid, a clockwork, a branchy tree.

Modern scientists argue that society is a holistic, naturally functioning and developing system. The word "system" is of Greek origin and means a whole made up of parts, a set. So, A system is a set of interconnected elements, each of which performs a specific task.

Society as a social system is a holistic entity, the main element of which are people, their connections, interactions and relationships., which are sustainable and pass from generation to generation.

In this case, society can be compared with a giant organism, and just as a living organism has a heart, arms, legs, brain, nervous system, so in society there are certain mechanisms for influencing the environment - its own control center for diverse processes and means of communication. And just as various life support systems function in a living organism, so in society each of its “organs” performs only its own function. Finally, just as several interconnected levels of its vital activity can be distinguished in an organism, depending on the significance of each of them for the whole organism (nervous system, circulatory and digestive systems, metabolism, etc.), so in society, specific levels can be distinguished ( in the scientific literature more often - "spheres") of his life - economic, social, political and spiritual.

Economic sphere- this is the area of ​​economic activity of society, the area of ​​creation of wealth. Being one of the main subsystems of society, it can also be considered as an independent system. The elements of the economic sphere are material needs, economic benefits (goods) that satisfy these needs, economic resources (sources of production of goods), business entities (individuals or organizations). The economic sphere is firms, enterprises, factories, banks, markets, flows of money and investments, capital turnover, etc. In other words, what allows society to put into production the resources at its disposal (land, labor, capital and management ) and create such a quantity of goods and services that will satisfy the vital needs of people for food, shelter, leisure, etc.

50–60% of the population, who are called the economically active population, are directly involved in the economic life of society: workers, employees, entrepreneurs, bankers, etc. Indirectly, 100% of the people living in a given territory participate in it, since everyone is a consumer of goods and services created directly participants in the economic process. Pensioners have already left production, and children have not entered it yet. They do not create material values, but they consume them.

Political sphere- this is the area of ​​​​realization between people of relations of power and subordination, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmanaging society. The main elements of the political system of society are political organizations and institutions (state, political parties, public organizations, mass media), norms of political behavior and political culture, political ideologies. The main elements of the political system of modern Russian society are the president and the presidential apparatus, the government and parliament (Federal Assembly), their apparatus, local authorities (provincial, regional), the army, the police, the tax and customs services. Together they make up the state.

The political sphere also includes political parties that are not part of the state. The main task of the state is to ensure social order in society, to resolve conflicts between partners, for example, between workers, trade unions and employers, to establish new laws and monitor their strict implementation by all structures, to prevent political upheavals, to protect the external borders and sovereignty of the country, to collect taxes and ensure money of institutions of the social and cultural spheres, etc. The main function of the political sphere is to legitimize the ways of fighting for power and protecting it. The task of parties is to express the diversity of political interests of various, often opposing, groups of the population through channels established by law.

Social sphere- this is the area of ​​the emergence and functioning of the relationship of people with each other. The social sphere is understood in two senses - broad and narrow - and, depending on this, covers different volumes of social space.

The social sphere of society in a broad sense is a set of organizations and institutions responsible for the welfare of the population. In this case, this includes shops, passenger transport, public utilities and consumer services (housing offices and dry cleaners), public catering (canteens and restaurants), healthcare, communications (telephone, post office, telegraph), as well as leisure and entertainment facilities (culture parks, stadiums ). In this sense, the social sphere covers almost all strata and classes - from the rich and middle to the poor.

The social sphere in a narrow sense means only socially unprotected segments of the population and institutions serving them: pensioners, the unemployed, the low-income, those with many children, the disabled, as well as social protection and social security agencies (including social insurance) of both local and federal subordination.

The social system consists of social groups, social ties, social institutions, social norms, values ​​of social culture.

To spiritual realm include morality, religion, science, education, culture. Its constituent parts are schools, museums, theaters, art galleries, mass media, cultural monuments and national artistic treasures, churches.

Society consists of a huge number of elements and subsystems that are in constant interaction.. The connections between subsystems and elements of society can be illustrated by various examples. Thus, the study of the distant past of mankind allowed scientists to conclude that the moral relations of people in primitive conditions were built on collectivist principles, that is, in modern terms, priority was always given to the team, 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. The need to jointly obtain material wealth, the doom to an early death of a person who has broken away from the clan - this is where we should look for the origins of collectivist morality. Also, from the standpoint of the struggle for existence and survival, people did not consider it immoral to get rid of those who could become a burden for the team.

The connection between legal norms and socio-economic relations is well traced. Let's turn to known historical facts. In one of the first codes of laws of Kievan Rus, which is called "Russian Truth", 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 equal to the cost of a herd of 80 oxen or 400 rams. The life of a serf or a serf was valued 16 times cheaper.

Society is in constant motion and development. Thinkers from ancient times have thought about the question in what direction is society developing? Can its movement be likened to cyclical changes in nature?

Development direction, which is characterized by a transition from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect, is called progress. Accordingly, social progress is a transition to a higher level of the material condition of society and the spiritual development of the individual. An important sign of social progress is the tendency towards the liberation of man.

The following criteria for social progress are distinguished:

1) growth of welfare and social security of people;

2) weakening of confrontation between people;

3) the establishment of democracy;

4) the growth of morality and spirituality of society;

5) improvement of human relations;

6) the measure of freedom that society is able to provide to the individual, the degree of individual freedom guaranteed by society.

If an attempt were made to graphically depict the development of society, then one would get not an ascending straight line, but a broken line reflecting ups and downs, accelerated forward movement and giant leaps back. We are talking about the second direction of development - regression.

Regression - downward development, transition from higher to lower. For example, the period of fascism was a period of regression in world history: millions of people died, various peoples were enslaved, many monuments of world culture were destroyed.

But it's not just these twists and turns in history. Society is a complex organism in which various spheres function, many processes take place simultaneously, and various activities of people unfold. All these parts of one social mechanism and all these processes and types of activity are interconnected and at the same time may not coincide in their development. Moreover, individual processes, changes taking place in different areas of society can be multidirectional, i.e. progress in one area may be accompanied by regression in another.

Thus, throughout history, technological progress is clearly traced - from stone tools to the most complex machine tools with program control, from beasts of burden to cars, trains and aircraft. At the same time, technological progress leads to the destruction of nature, to the undermining of the natural conditions for the existence of mankind, which, of course, is a regression.

In addition to directions, there are also forms of development of society.

The most common form of social development is evolution - gradual and smooth changes in social life that occur naturally. The nature of evolution is gradual, continuous, ascending. Evolution is divided into successive stages or phases, none of which can be skipped. For example, the evolution of science and technology.

Under certain conditions, public changes occur in the form of a revolution - these are rapid, qualitative changes, a radical upheaval in the life of society. Revolutionary changes are radical and fundamental. Revolutions can be long-term or short-term, in one or several states, in one sphere. If a revolution affects all levels and spheres of society - the economy, politics, culture, social organization, people's daily lives, then it is called social. Such revolutions cause strong emotions and mass activity of people. An example is the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Social changes also take place in the form of reform - this is a set of measures aimed at transforming, changing certain aspects of public life. For example, economic reform, education reform.

Similar information.

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 that economic, commodity-money relations and professional activity play in our life. 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 freedom. 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, connected primarily with the management of society, the state system, the problems of power, laws and legal norms.

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 a person's creative potential, his inner world, his own ideas about beauty, experiences, moral attitudes, religious beliefs, the opportunity to realize himself in various types of art.

Which of the spheres of society's life seems to be more significant? And which one is less? There is no unequivocal answer to this question, since 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 movements, as well as their own system of views on society.

The economy and the spiritual sphere are interconnected. So, for example, the economic capabilities of society, the level of human mastery of 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. There are an infinite number of similar examples of the relationship between spheres.

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; 4) kinship institutions, ensuring reproduction and inheritance through marriage, family, upbringing; 5) cultural institutions, developing the continuity of religious, scientific and artistic activities 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 various criteria);

In social control over 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, by the natural environment, space. For example, climate change on our planet, the so-called "global warming", has become a serious problem for modern society. 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 of harmful substances into the atmosphere. 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 implies a qualitative transformation of social structures, the destruction 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 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 of 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, the society is called ancient and medieval, although many of its features are preserved in 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 of work, family values, and a way of life are carefully observed.

A person in a traditional society is bound by a complex system of dependence 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 the features of the development of 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. Nevertheless, both are different versions of a 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 the social organization of industrial society is played by the concept of a 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, the growth of social mobility, urbanization - the process of growth and development of cities. Contacts and ties between countries and peoples are expanding. These ties are carried out through telegraph communication and 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 the social sphere, the political system of an industrial society is also changing - parliamentarism, a multi-party system are developing, and the rights and freedoms of citizens are expanding. 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 is 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. In the shortest possible time, at an accelerated pace, using primarily the funds received from the robbery of the village, the mass collectivization of peasant farms, by the end of the 1930s, 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

The 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 technology, electronic communications. The rates of economic development, the speed of transmission of information and financial flows over a distance are multiplying. 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.

Describing 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 for the development of various 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.

Similar information.

The sphere of social life is a certain set of stable relations between social subjects.

The spheres of public life are large, stable, relatively independent subsystems of human activity.

Each area includes:

Certain human activities (eg educational, political, religious);

Social institutions (such as family, school, parties, church);

Established relations between people (i.e. connections that have arisen in the course of people's activities, for example, relations of exchange and distribution in the economic sphere).

Traditionally, there are four main areas of public life:

Social (peoples, nations, classes, gender and age groups, etc.)

Economic (productive forces, production relations)

Political (state, parties, socio-political movements)

Spiritual (religion, morality, science, art, education).

It is important to understand that people are simultaneously in different relationships with each other, connected with someone, isolated from someone when solving their life issues. Therefore, the spheres of the life of society are not geometric spaces where different people live, but the relations of the same people in connection with various aspects of their lives.

Graphically, the spheres of public life are presented in fig. 1.2. The central place of man is symbolic - he is inscribed in all spheres of society.

The social sphere is the relationship that arises in the production of direct human life and man as a social being.

The concept of "social sphere" has different meanings, although they are related. In social philosophy and sociology, it is a sphere of social life that includes various social communities and the connections between them. In economics and political science, the social sphere is often understood as a set of industries, enterprises, organizations whose task is to improve the standard of living of the population; while the social sphere includes health care, social security, public services, etc. The social sphere in the second sense is not an independent sphere of social life, but an area at the intersection of economic and political spheres, associated with the redistribution of state revenues in favor of those in need.

The social sphere includes various social communities and relations between them. A person, occupying a certain position in society, is inscribed in various communities: he can be a man, a worker, a father of a family, a city dweller, etc. Visually, the position of an individual in society can be shown in the form of a questionnaire (Fig. 1.3).

Using this conditional questionnaire as an example, one can briefly describe the social structure of society. Gender, age, marital status determine the demographic structure (with groups such as men, women, youth, pensioners, single, married, etc.). Nationality determines the ethnic structure. The place of residence determines the settlement structure (here there is a division into urban and rural residents, residents of Siberia or Italy, etc.). Profession and education make up professional and educational structures proper (doctors and economists, people with higher and secondary education, students and schoolchildren). Social origin (from workers, from employees, etc.) and social position (employee, peasant, nobleman, etc.) determine the class structure; this also includes castes, estates, classes, etc.

Economic sphere

The economic sphere is a set of relations between people that arise during the creation and movement of material goods.

The economic sphere is the area of ​​production, exchange, distribution, consumption of goods and services. In order to produce something, people, tools, machines, materials, etc. are needed. - productive forces. In the process of production, and then exchange, distribution, consumption, people enter into a variety of relations with each other and with the product - relations of production.

Production relations and productive forces together constitute the economic sphere of society:

Productive forces - people (labor force), tools of labor, objects of labor;

Production relations - production, distribution, consumption, exchange.

Political sphere

The political sphere is one of the most important spheres of public life.

The political sphere is the relationship of people, connected primarily with power, which ensures joint security.

The Greek word politike (from polis - state, city), having appeared in the writings of ancient thinkers, was originally used to denote the art of government. Having retained this meaning as one of the central ones, the modern term "politics" is now used to express social activities, at the center of which are the problems of acquiring, using and retaining power.

The elements of the political sphere can be represented as follows:

Political organizations and institutions - social groups, revolutionary movements, parliamentarism, parties, citizenship, presidency, etc.;

Political norms - political, legal and moral norms, customs and traditions;

Political communications - relations, connections and forms of interaction between participants in the political process, as well as between the political system as a whole and society;

Political culture and ideology - political ideas, ideology, political culture, political psychology.

Needs and interests form certain political goals of social groups. On this target basis, political parties, social movements, powerful state institutions that carry out specific political activities arise. The interaction of large social groups with each other and with the institutions of power constitutes the communicative subsystem of the political sphere. This interaction is regulated by various norms, customs and traditions. Reflection and awareness of these relations form the cultural and ideological subsystem of the political sphere.

Spiritual sphere of society

The spiritual sphere is an area of ​​ideal, non-material formations that include ideas, values ​​of religion, art, morality, etc.

The structure of the spiritual sphere of society in the most general terms is as follows:

Religion is a form of worldview based on belief in supernatural forces;

Morality is a system of moral norms, ideals, assessments, actions;

Art is the artistic development of the world;

Science is a system of knowledge about the patterns of existence and development of the world;

Law is a set of norms supported by the state;

Education is a purposeful process of education and training.

The spiritual sphere is the sphere of relations that arise during the production, transfer and development of spiritual values ​​(knowledge, beliefs, norms of behavior, artistic images, etc.).

If the material life of a person is connected with the satisfaction of specific daily needs (for food, clothing, drink, etc.). then the spiritual sphere of human life is aimed at meeting the needs for the development of consciousness, worldview, and various spiritual qualities.

Spiritual needs, unlike material ones, are not set biologically, but are formed and developed in the process of socialization of the individual.

Of course, a person is able to live without satisfying these needs, but then his life will not differ much from the life of animals. Spiritual needs are satisfied in the process of spiritual activity - cognitive, value, prognostic, etc. Such activity is aimed primarily at changing individual and social consciousness. It manifests itself in art, religion, scientific creativity, education, self-education, upbringing, etc. At the same time, spiritual activity can be both producing and consuming.

Spiritual production is the process of formation and development of consciousness, worldview, spiritual qualities. The product of this production are ideas, theories, artistic images, values, the spiritual world of the individual and spiritual relations between individuals. The main mechanisms of spiritual production are science, art and religion.

Spiritual consumption is the satisfaction of spiritual needs, the consumption of products of science, religion, art, for example, visiting a theater or a museum, obtaining new knowledge. The spiritual sphere of the life of society ensures the production, storage and dissemination of moral, aesthetic, scientific, legal and other values. It covers various forms and levels of social consciousness - moral, scientific, aesthetic, religious, legal.

Social institutions in the spheres of society

Appropriate social institutions are being formed in each of the spheres of society.

A social institution is a group of people, relations between which are built according to certain rules (family, army, etc.), and a set of rules for certain social subjects (for example, the institution of the presidency).

To maintain their own lives, people are forced to produce, distribute, exchange and consume (use) food, clothing, housing, etc. These benefits can be obtained by transforming the environment using a variety of means that also need to be created. Vital goods are created by people in the economic sphere through such social institutions as manufacturing enterprises (agricultural and industrial), trading enterprises (shops, markets), stock exchanges, banks, etc.

In the social sphere, the most important social institution, within which the reproduction of new generations of people is carried out, is the family. The social production of a person as a social being, in addition to the family, is carried out by such institutions as preschool and medical institutions, schools and other educational institutions, sports and other organizations.

For many people, production and the presence of spiritual conditions of existence are no less important, and for some people even more important than material conditions. Spiritual production distinguishes people from other beings in this world. The state and nature of the development of spirituality determine the civilization of mankind. The main institutions in the spiritual sphere are the institutions of education, science, religion, morality, and law. This also includes cultural and educational institutions, creative unions (writers, artists, etc.), the media and other organizations.

At the heart of the political sphere are relations between people that allow them to participate in the management of social processes, to occupy a relatively safe position in the structure of social ties. Political relations are forms of collective life that are prescribed by the laws and other legal acts of the country, charters and instructions regarding independent communities, both outside the country and within it, written and unwritten rules of various social groups. These relations are carried out through the resources of the corresponding political institution.

On a national scale, the main political institution is the state. It consists of many of the following institutions: the president and his administration, government, parliament, court, prosecutor's office and other organizations that ensure the general order in the country. In addition to the state, there are many civil society organizations in which people exercise their political rights, that is, the right to manage social processes. Political institutions that seek to participate in the governance of the entire country are political parties and social movements. In addition to them, there may be organizations at the regional and local levels.

The relationship of spheres of public life

The spheres of public life are closely interconnected. 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 of the 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, at various stages of historical development, the influence of any sphere may increase.

The complex nature of social systems is combined with their dynamism, i.e., mobile, changeable character.