Typology of society

Modern societies differ in many ways, but they also have the same parameters according to which they can be typologized.

One of the main directions in the typology of society is the choice of political relations, forms state power as grounds for distinguishing different types of society. For example, in Plato and Aristotle, societies differ in type government system: monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy. In modern versions of this approach, there is a distinction between totalitarian ones (the state determines all the main directions of social life); democratic (the population can influence government structures) and authoritarian (combining elements of totalitarianism and democracy) societies.

The typology of society is based on Marxism’s distinction between societies according to the type of production relations in various socio-economic formations: primitive communal society (primitively appropriating mode of production); societies with the Asian mode of production (presence special type collective ownership of land); slave societies (ownership of people and use of slave labor); feudal (exploitation of peasants attached to the land); communist or socialist societies (equal treatment of all towards ownership of the means of production through the elimination of private property relations).

Traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies

The most stable typology in modern sociology is considered to be one based on the distinction of traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.

Traditional society (also called simple and agrarian) is a society with an agricultural structure, sedentary structures and a method of sociocultural regulation based on traditions ( traditional society). The behavior of individuals in it is strictly controlled, regulated by customs and norms of traditional behavior, established social institutions, among which the most important will be the family and community. Attempts at any social transformations and innovations are rejected. It is characterized by low rates of development and production. Important for this type of society is established social solidarity, which was established by Durkheim while studying the society of the Australian aborigines.

Traditional society is characterized by the natural division and specialization of labor (mainly by gender and age), personalization interpersonal communication(directly individuals, and not officials or persons of status), informal regulation of interactions (norms of unwritten laws of religion and morality), connection of members by kinship relations (family type of organization of the community), primitive system of community management (hereditary authority, rule of elders).

Modern societies are distinguished by the following features: the role-based nature of interaction (people’s expectations and behavior are determined by social status and social functions individuals); developing deep division of labor (on a professional qualification basis related to education and work experience); a formal system for regulating relations (based on written law: laws, regulations, contracts, etc.); complex system social management(by distinguishing the institute of management, special governing bodies: political, economic, territorial and self-government); secularization of religion (its separation from the system of government); highlighting a variety of social institutions (self-reproducing systems of special relations that allow for social control, inequality, protection of their members, distribution of goods, production, communication).

These include industrial and post-industrial societies.

Industrial society is a type of organization of social life that combines the freedom and interests of the individual with general principles governing them joint activities. It is characterized by flexibility of social structures, social mobility, and a developed system of communications.

In the 1960s concepts of a post-industrial (information) society appear (D. Bell, A. Touraine, J. Habermas), caused by dramatic changes in the economy and culture of the most developed countries. The leading role in society is recognized as the role of knowledge and information, computer and automatic devices. An individual who has received the necessary education and has access to latest information, gets an advantageous chance of moving up the social hierarchy. The main goal of a person in society becomes creative work.

Negative side post-industrial society there is a danger of strengthening social control from the state, the ruling elite through access to information and electronic means mass media and communication over people and society as a whole.

The lifeworld of human society is increasingly subject to the logic of efficiency and instrumentalism. Culture, including traditional values, is being destroyed under the influence of administrative control, which tends to standardize and unify social relations and social behavior. Society is increasingly subject to the logic of economic life and bureaucratic thinking.

Distinctive features of post-industrial society:

• - transition from the production of goods to a service economy;
• - the rise and dominance of highly educated vocational specialists;
• - the main role of theoretical knowledge as a source of discoveries and political decisions in society;
• - control over technology and the ability to assess the consequences of scientific and technical innovations;
• - decision-making based on the creation of intellectual technology, as well as using the so-called information technology.

The latter is brought to life by the needs of the information society that has begun to take shape. The emergence of such a phenomenon is by no means accidental. The basis of social dynamics in the information society is not traditional material resources, which are also largely exhausted, but information (intellectual) ones: knowledge, scientific, organizational factors, intellectual abilities people, their initiative, creativity.

The concept of post-industrialism today has been developed in detail, has a lot of supporters and an ever-increasing number of opponents. Two main directions for assessing the future development of human society have emerged in the world: eco-pessimism and techno-optimism. Ecopessimism predicts a total global catastrophe in 2030 due to increasing pollution environment; destruction of the Earth's biosphere. Techno-optimism paints a more rosy picture, suggesting that scientific and technological progress will cope with all the difficulties in the development of society.

Modern societies differ in many ways, but they also have the same parameters according to which they can be typologized.

One of the main directions in the typology is choice of political relations, forms of government as grounds for distinguishing different types of society. For example, U and I societies differ in type of government: monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy. Modern versions of this approach highlight totalitarian(the state determines all the main directions of social life); democratic(the population can influence government structures) and authoritarian(combining elements of totalitarianism and democracy) societies.

The basis typology of society it's supposed to Marxism difference between societies type of industrial relations in various socio-economic formations: primitive communal society (primitively appropriating mode of production); societies with the Asian mode of production (the presence of a special type of collective ownership of land); slave societies (ownership of people and use of slave labor); feudal (exploitation of peasants attached to the land); communist or socialist societies (equal treatment of all towards ownership of the means of production through the elimination of private property relations).

Traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies

Most stable in modern sociology is considered a typology based on the selection traditional, industrial and post-industrial society

Traditional society(it is also called simple and agrarian) is a society with an agricultural structure, sedentary structures and a method of sociocultural regulation based on traditions (traditional society). The behavior of individuals in it is strictly controlled, regulated by customs and norms of traditional behavior, established social institutions, among which the most important will be the family. Attempts at any social transformations and innovations are rejected. For him characterized by low rates of development, production. Important for this type of society is an established social solidarity, which Durkheim established while studying the society of the Australian aborigines.

Traditional society characterized by the natural division and specialization of labor (mainly by gender and age), personalization of interpersonal communication (directly of individuals, and not officials or persons of status), informal regulation of interactions (norms of unwritten laws of religion and morality), connection of members by kinship relations (family type of community organization) , a primitive system of community management (hereditary power, rule of elders).

Modern societies differ in the following features: the role-based nature of interaction (people's expectations and behavior are determined by the social status and social functions of individuals); developing deep division of labor (on a professional qualification basis related to education and work experience); a formal system for regulating relations (based on written law: laws, regulations, contracts, etc.); a complex system of social management (separation of the institute of management, special government bodies: political, economic, territorial and self-government); secularization of religion (its separation from the system of government); highlighting a variety of social institutions (self-reproducing systems of special relations that allow for social control, inequality, protection of their members, distribution of goods, production, communication).

These include industrial and post-industrial societies.

Industrial society- this is a type of organization of social life that combines the freedom and interests of the individual with general principles governing their joint activities. It is characterized by flexibility of social structures, social mobility, and a developed system of communications.

In the 1960s concepts appear post-industrial (informational) societies (D. Bell, A. Touraine, J. Habermas), caused by drastic changes in the economy and culture of the most developed countries. The leading role in society is recognized as the role of knowledge and information, computer and automatic devices. An individual who has received the necessary education and has access to the latest information has an advantageous chance of moving up the social hierarchy. The main goal of a person in society becomes creative work.

The negative side of post-industrial society is the danger of strengthening on the part of the state, the ruling elite through access to information and electronic media and communication over people and society as a whole.

Lifeworld human society is becoming stronger is subject to the logic of efficiency and instrumentalism. Culture, including traditional values, is being destroyed under the influence administrative control gravitating towards standardization and unification of social relations and social behavior. Society is increasingly subject to the logic of economic life and bureaucratic thinking.

Distinctive features of post-industrial society:

• transition from the production of goods to an economy of services;
• the rise and dominance of highly educated technical vocational specialists;
• the main role of theoretical knowledge as a source of discoveries and political decisions in society;
• control over technology and the ability to assess the consequences of scientific and technical innovations;
• decision-making based on the creation of intellectual technology, as well as using the so-called information technology.

The latter is brought to life by the needs of the beginning to form information society. The emergence of such a phenomenon is by no means accidental. The basis of social dynamics in the information society is not traditional material resources, which are also largely exhausted, but information (intellectual) ones: knowledge, scientific, organizational factors, intellectual abilities of people, their initiative, creativity.

The concept of post-industrialism today has been developed in detail, has a lot of supporters and an ever-increasing number of opponents. The world has formed two main directions assessments of the future development of human society: eco-pessimism and techno-optimism. Ecopessimism predicts total global catastrophe due to increasing environmental pollution; destruction of the Earth's biosphere. Techno-optimism draws a rosier picture, assuming that scientific and technological progress will cope with all the difficulties on the path to the development of society.

Basic typologies of society

In the history of social thought, several typologies of society have been proposed.

Typologies of society during the formation of sociological science

Founder of sociology, French scientist O. Comte proposed a three-member stage typology, which included:

• stage of military dominance;
• stage of feudal rule;
• stage of industrial civilization.

The basis of the typology G. Spencer the principle of evolutionary development of societies from simple to complex is established, i.e. from an elementary society to an increasingly differentiated one. Spencer envisioned the development of societies as component a single evolutionary process for all nature. The lowest pole of the evolution of society is formed by the so-called military societies, characterized by high homogeneity, the subordinate position of the individual and the dominance of coercion as a factor of integration. From this phase, through a series of intermediate ones, society develops to the highest pole - industrial society, in which democracy, the voluntary nature of integration, spiritual pluralism and diversity dominate.

Typologies of society in the classical period of development of sociology

These typologies differ from those described above. Sociologists of this period saw their task as explaining it based not on the general order of nature and the laws of its development, but on nature itself and its internal laws. So, E. Durkheim sought to find the “original cell” of the social as such and for this purpose looked for the “simplest”, most elementary society, the most simple form organization of “collective consciousness”. Therefore, his typology of societies is built from simple to complex, and is based on the principle of complicating the form of social solidarity, i.e. consciousness by individuals of their unity. IN simple societies mechanical solidarity operates because the individuals composing them are very similar in consciousness and life situation - like particles of a mechanical whole. In complex societies there is complex system division of labor, differentiated functions of individuals, therefore the individuals themselves differ from each other in their way of life and consciousness. They are united by functional connections, and their solidarity is “organic”, functional. Both types of solidarity are represented in any society, but in archaic societies mechanical solidarity predominates, and in modern societies organic solidarity predominates.

German classic of sociology M. Weber viewed the social as a system of domination and subordination. His approach was based on the idea of ​​society as the result of a struggle for power and to maintain dominance. Societies are classified according to the type of dominance that prevails in them. The charismatic type of dominance arises on the basis of the personal special power - charisma - of the ruler. Priests or leaders usually possess charisma, and such dominance is non-rational and does not require a special system of management. Modern society, according to Weber, there is a legal type of domination based on law, characterized by the presence of a bureaucratic management system and the operation of the principle of rationality.

Typology of the French sociologist Zh. Gurvich features a complex multi-level system. He identifies four types of archaic societies that had a primary global structure:

• tribal (Australia, American Indians);
• tribal, which included heterogeneous and weakly hierarchized groups united around the endowed magical power leader (Polynesia, Melanesia);
• tribal with a military organization, consisting of family groups and clans (North America);
• tribal tribes united into monarchical states (“black” Africa).

• charismatic societies (Egypt, Ancient China, Persia, Japan);
• patriarchal societies (Homeric Greeks, Jews of the era Old Testament, Romans, Slavs, Franks);
• city-states (Greek city-states, Roman cities, Italian cities of the Renaissance);
• feudal hierarchical societies (European Middle Ages);
• societies that gave rise to enlightened absolutism and capitalism (Europe only).

In the modern world, Gurvich identifies: technical-bureaucratic society; a liberal democratic society built on the principles of collectivist statism; society of pluralistic collectivism, etc.

Typologies of society in modern sociology

The postclassical stage of development of sociology is characterized by typologies based on the principle of technical and technological development of societies. Nowadays, the most popular typology is one that distinguishes between traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.

Traditional societies characterized by high development of agricultural labor. The main sector of production is the procurement of raw materials, which is carried out within peasant families; members of society strive to satisfy mainly domestic needs. The basis of the economy is the family farm, which is able to satisfy, if not all of its needs, then a significant part of them. Technical development is extremely weak. The main method in decision making is the “trial and error” method. Social relations are extremely poorly developed, as is social differentiation. Such societies are tradition-oriented, therefore, oriented towards the past.

Industrial society - a society characterized by high development of industry and at a fast pace economic growth. Economic development is carried out mainly due to an extensive, consumer attitude towards nature: in order to satisfy its current needs, such a society strives for the most complete development of the resources at its disposal natural resources. The main sector of production is the processing and processing of materials, carried out by teams of workers in factories and factories. Such a society and its members strive for maximum adaptation to the present moment and satisfaction of social needs. The main method of decision-making is empirical research.

Another very important feature of industrial society is the so-called “modernization optimism”, i.e. absolute confidence that any problem, including social, can be solved based on scientific knowledge and technology.

Post-industrial society- this is a society that is emerging at the moment and has a number of significant differences from industrial society. If an industrial society is characterized by a desire for maximum industrial development, then in a post-industrial society a much more noticeable (and ideally primary) role is played by knowledge, technology and information. In addition, the service sector is developing rapidly, overtaking industry.

In post-industrial society there is no faith in the omnipotence of science. This is partly due to the fact that humanity is faced with negative consequences own activities. For this reason, “environmental values” come to the fore, and this means not only careful attitude to nature, but also an attentive attitude to balance and harmony necessary for the adequate development of society.

The basis of post-industrial society is information, which in turn gave rise to another type of society - informational. According to supporters of the theory of the information society, a completely new society is emerging, characterized by processes that are opposite to those that took place in the previous phases of the development of societies even in the 20th century. For example, instead of centralization there is regionalization, instead of hierarchization and bureaucratization - democratization, instead of concentration - disaggregation, instead of standardization - individualization. All these processes are driven by information technology.

People offering services either provide information or use it. For example, teachers transfer knowledge to students, repairmen use their knowledge to maintain equipment, lawyers, doctors, bankers, pilots, designers sell their specialized knowledge of laws, anatomy, finance, aerodynamics and color schemes to clients. They do not produce anything, unlike factory workers in an industrial society. Instead, they transfer or use knowledge to provide services for which others are willing to pay.

Researchers are already using the term " virtual society" for description modern type a society formed and developing under the influence of information technologies, especially Internet technologies. The virtual, or possible, world has become a new reality due to the computer boom that has swept society. Virtualization (replacement of reality with a se simulation/image) of society, researchers note, is total, since all the elements that make up society are virtualized, significantly changing their appearance, their status and role.

Post-industrial society is also defined as a society " post-economic", "post-labor", i.e. a society in which the economic subsystem loses its decisive significance, and labor ceases to be the basis of all social relations. In a post-industrial society, a person loses his economic essence and is no longer considered as an “economic man”; he focuses on new, “postmaterialist” values. The emphasis is shifting to social and humanitarian problems, and the priority issues are the quality and safety of life, the self-realization of the individual in various social spheres, and therefore new criteria for welfare and social well-being are being formed.

According to the concept of post-economic society, developed by the Russian scientist V.L. Inozemtsev, in a post-economic society, in contrast to an economic one, focused on material enrichment, main goal For most people it becomes the development of their own personality.

The theory of post-economic society is associated with a new periodization of human history, in which three large-scale eras can be distinguished - pre-economic, economic and post-economic. This periodization is based on two criteria: type human activity and the nature of the relationship between the interests of the individual and society. The post-economic type of society is defined as a type of social structure where economic activity man’s life is becoming more intense and complex, but is no longer determined by his material interests, and is not set by traditionally understood economic feasibility. Economic basis Such a society is formed by the destruction of private property and a return to personal property, to the state of non-alienation of the worker from the tools of production. Fast- economic society a new type of social confrontation is inherent - the confrontation between the information-intellectual elite and all people who are not included in it, engaged in the sphere of mass production and, due to this, pushed out to the periphery of society. However, each member of such a society has the opportunity to enter the elite himself, since membership in the elite is determined by abilities and knowledge.

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Typology of societies

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Typology of societies: Traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies

In the modern world there are various types societies that differ from each other in many respects, both obvious (language of communication, culture, geographical location, size, etc.) and hidden (degree of social integration, level of stability, etc.). Scientific classification involves identifying the most significant, typical features that distinguish some features from others and unite societies of the same group.
Typology(from Greek tupoc - imprint, form, sample and logoc - word, teaching) - method scientific knowledge, which is based on the division of systems of objects and their grouping using a generalized, idealized model or type.
In the mid-19th century, K. Marx proposed a typology of societies, which was based on the method of production of material goods and production relations - primarily property relations. He divided all societies into 5 main types (according to the type of socio-economic formations): primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist and communist (the initial phase is socialist society).
Another typology divides all societies into simple and complex. The criterion is the number of levels of management and the degree of social differentiation (stratification).
A simple society is a society in which the constituent parts are homogeneous, there are no rich and poor, no leaders and subordinates, the structure and functions here are poorly differentiated and can be easily interchanged. These are the primitive tribes that still survive in some places.
A complex society is a society with highly differentiated structures and functions that are interconnected and interdependent on each other, which necessitates their coordination.
K. Popper distinguishes two types of societies: closed and open. The differences between them are based on a number of factors, and, above all, the relationship of social control and individual freedom.
For closed society characterized by a static social structure, limited mobility, immunity to innovation, traditionalism, dogmatic authoritarian ideology, collectivism. K. Popper included Sparta, Prussia, and Tsarist Russia, Nazi Germany, Stalin-era Soviet Union.
An open society is characterized by a dynamic social structure, high mobility, the ability to innovate, criticism, individualism and a democratic pluralistic ideology. K. Popper considered ancient Athens and modern Western democracies to be examples of open societies.
Modern sociology uses all typologies, combining them into some synthetic model. Its creator is considered to be the prominent American sociologist Daniel Bell (b. 1919). He subdivided world history three stages: pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial. When one stage replaces another, technology, mode of production, form of ownership, social institutions, political regime, culture, lifestyle, population, and social structure of society change.
Traditional (pre-industrial) society- a society with an agrarian structure, with a predominance of subsistence farming, class hierarchy, sedentary structures and a method of sociocultural regulation based on tradition. It is characterized by manual labor and extremely low rates of development of production, which can satisfy people's needs only at a minimum level. It is extremely inertial, therefore it is not very susceptible to innovation. The behavior of individuals in such a society is regulated by customs, norms, and social institutions. Customs, norms, institutions, sanctified by traditions, are considered unshakable, not allowing even the thought of changing them. Carrying out their integrative function, culture and social institutions suppress any manifestation of individual freedom, which is a necessary condition for the gradual renewal of society.
Industrial society- The term industrial society was introduced by A. Saint-Simon, emphasizing its new technical basis.
In modern terms, this is a complex society, with an industry-based way of managing, with flexible, dynamic and modifying structures, a way of socio-cultural regulation based on a combination of individual freedom and the interests of society. These societies are characterized by a developed division of labor, the development of mass communications, urbanization, etc.
Post-industrial society- (sometimes called information) - a society developed on an information basis: extraction (in traditional societies) and processing (in industrial societies) of natural products are replaced by the acquisition and processing of information, as well as preferential development (instead of agriculture in traditional societies and industry in industrial) service sectors. As a result, the employment structure and the ratio of various professional and qualification groups are also changing. According to forecasts, already at the beginning of the 21st century in advanced countries, half of the workforce will be employed in the field of information, a quarter in the field of material production and a quarter in the production of services, including information.
The change in the technological basis also affects the organization of the entire system of social connections and relationships. If in an industrial society the mass class was made up of workers, then in a post-industrial society it was employees and managers. At the same time, the importance of class differentiation weakens; instead of a status (“granular”) social structure, a functional (“ready-made”) one is formed. Instead of leadership, coordination becomes the principle of management, and representative democracy is replaced by direct democracy and self-government. As a result, instead of a hierarchy of structures, a new type of network organization is created, focused on rapid change depending on the situation.

15. Russian religious philosophy of the 20th century. Philosophy of Russian cosmism.

16. Neo-Kantianism and neo-Hegelianism. Phenomenology e. Husserl. Pragmatism.

17. Historical forms of positivism. Analytical philosophy.

18. Irrationalism as a direction of philosophy of the 19th-21st centuries.

19. Modern Western religious philosophy.

20. Modern Western religious philosophy.

21. Hermeneutics, structuralism, postmodernism as the latest philosophical movements.

22. Scientific, philosophical and religious pictures of the world.

24. The concept of material and ideal. Reflection as a universal property of matter. Brain and consciousness.

25. Modern natural science about matter, its structure and attributes. Space and time as philosophical categories.

26. Movement, its main forms. Development, its main characteristics.

27. Dialectics, its laws and principles.

27. Dialectics, its laws and principles.

28. Categories of dialectics.

29. Determinism and indeterminism. Dynamic and statistical patterns.

30. The problem of consciousness in philosophy. Consciousness and cognition. Self-awareness and personality. Creative activity of consciousness.

31. The structure of consciousness in philosophy. Reality, thinking, logic and language.

32. General logical methods of cognition. Methods of scientific theoretical research.

33. Epistemological problems in philosophy. The problem of truth.

34. Rational and irrational in cognitive activity. Faith and knowledge. Understanding and explanation.

35. Cognition, creativity, practice. Sensory and logical cognition.

36. Scientific and extra-scientific knowledge. Scientific criteria. The structure of scientific knowledge.

37. Patterns of development of science. The growth of scientific knowledge. Scientific revolutions and changes in types of rationality.

38. Science and its role in the life of society. Philosophy and methodology of science in the structure of philosophical knowledge.

39. Science and technology. Technology: its specificity and patterns of development. Philosophy of technology.

40. Methods of scientific knowledge, their types and levels. Methods of empirical research.

41. Forms of scientific knowledge. Ethics of science.

41. Man and nature. The natural environment, its role in the development of society.

43. Philosophical anthropology. The problem of anthroposociogenesis. Biological and social in society.

44. The meaning of human existence. Ideas about the perfect person in different cultures.

45. Social philosophy and its functions. Man, society, culture. Culture and civilization. Specifics of social cognition.

46. ​​Society and its structure. Basic criteria and forms of social differentiation.

47. The main spheres of society (economic, social, political). Civil society and the state.

49. A person in a system of social connections. Man, individual, personality.

50. Man and the historical process; personality and masses; freedom and historical necessity.

51. Free will. Fatalism and voluntarism. Freedom and responsibility.

52. Ethics as a doctrine of morality. Moral values. Morality, justice, law. Violence and non-violence.

53. Aesthetics as a branch of philosophy. Aesthetic values ​​and their role in human life. Religious values ​​and freedom of conscience. Philosophy of religion.

54. Global problems of our time. The future of humanity. Interaction of civilizations and future scenarios.

55. Philosophy of history. The main stages of its development. Problems of progress, the direction of historical development and the “meaning of history.”

56. Traditional society and the problem of modernization. Industrial and post-industrial society. Information society.

57. Spiritual life of society. Social consciousness and its structure.

2. Structure of social consciousness

56. Traditional society and the problem of modernization. Industrial and post-industrial society. Information society.

A traditional society is usually understood as one where the main regulators of life and behavior are traditions and customs that remain stable and unchanged throughout the life of one generation of people. Traditional culture offers people within it a certain set of values, socially approved models of behavior and explanatory myths that organize the world around them. It fills the human world with meaning and represents a “tamed”, “civilized” part of the world.

The communicative space of a traditional society is reproduced by direct participants in events, but it is significantly wider, since it includes and is determined by the previous experience of adaptation of a team or community to the landscape, environment, and, more broadly, to surrounding circumstances. The communicative space of traditional society is total, since it completely subordinates human life and within its framework a person has a relatively small repertoire of possibilities. It is held together with the help of historical memory. In the preliterate period, the role of historical memory is decisive. Myths, tales, legends, fairy tales are transmitted exclusively from memory, directly from person to person, from mouth to mouth. A person is personally involved in the process of transmitting cultural values. It is historical memory that preserves the social experience of a collective or group and reproduces it in time and space. It performs the function of protecting a person from external influences.

The explanatory models offered by major religions are effective enough to still keep tens and even hundreds of millions of people around the world in their communication space. Religious communications can interact. If this symbiosis is long-standing, then the degree of penetration of a particular religion into traditional culture can be very significant. Although some traditional cultures are more tolerant and allow, for example, Japanese traditional culture, their adherents to visit temples of different religions, they are usually still clearly confined to a specific religion. Confessional communications may even displace earlier ones, but more often a symbiosis occurs: they penetrate each other and are significantly intertwined. The major religions incorporate many of the earlier beliefs, including mythological stories and their heroes. That is, in reality, one becomes a part of the other. It is the confession that sets the main theme of religious communication flows - salvation, achieving union with God, etc. Thus, faith-based communications play an important therapeutic role in helping people better cope with difficulties and adversities.

In addition, confessional communications have a significant, sometimes decisive, influence on the worldview of a person who is or has been under their influence. The language of religious communication is the language of social power, standing above a person, determining the characteristics of the worldview and requiring him to submit to the canons. Thus, the features of Orthodoxy, according to I.G. Yakovenko, left a serious imprint on the mentality of adherents of this trend in the form of a cultural code of traditional Russian culture. The cultural code, in his opinion, contains eight elements: an orientation towards syncresis or the ideal of syncresis, a special cognitive construct “should”/“existence”, an eschatological complex, a Manichaean intention, a world-denying or gnostic attitude, a “split of cultural consciousness”, sacred status power, extensive dominant. “All these moments do not exist in isolation, are not side by side, but are presented as a single whole. They support each other, intertwine, complement each other and therefore are so stable.

Over time, communications lost their sacred character. With the change in the social structure of society, communications appeared that were not aimed at preserving the clan or the primary group. These communications were aimed at integrating many primary groups into a single whole. This is how communications with external sources appeared and strengthened. They needed a unifying idea - heroes, common gods, a state. More precisely, the new centers of power needed communications that would unite them into a single whole. These could be confessional communications that bound people together with symbols of faith. And there could also be power communications, where the main method of consolidation was, in one form or another, coercion.

Big city how a phenomenon appears in modern times. This is due to the intensification of people’s lives and activities. A big city is a container of people who come to it from different places, of different origins, who do not always want to live in it. The rhythm of life is gradually accelerating, the degree of individualization of people is increasing. Communications are changing. They become mediated. The direct transmission of historical memory is interrupted. Intermediaries and communication professionals emerged: teachers, religious leaders, journalists, etc. based on different versions of events that happened. These versions can be either the result of independent reflection or the result of an order from certain interest groups.

Modern researchers distinguish several types of memory: mimetic (related to activity), historical, social or cultural. It is memory that is the element that consolidates and creates continuity in the transmission of ethnosocial experience from older to younger generations. Of course, memory does not retain all events that happened to representatives of a particular ethnic group during the period of its existence; it is selective. She preserves the most important, key ones, but preserves them in a transformed, mythologized form. " Social group, established as a community of memory, protects its past from two main points of view: originality and durability. By creating her own image, she emphasizes differences with the outside world and, on the contrary, downplays internal differences. In addition, she develops “a consciousness of her identity carried through time”, therefore “the facts stored in memory are usually selected and arranged so as to emphasize correspondence, similarity, continuity”

If traditional communications contributed to the achievement of the necessary unity of the group and supported the balance of “I” – “We” identity necessary for its survival, then modern communications, being indirect, have, in many ways, a different goal. This is the updating of broadcast material and the formation of public opinion. Currently, traditional culture is being destroyed due to the displacement of traditional communications and their replacement with professionally built communications, the imposition of certain interpretations of events of the past and present with the help of modern media and mass communication systems.

When throwing a portion of new pseudo-current information into the space of mass communication, which is already oversaturated in terms of information, many effects are achieved at once. The main one is the following: mass man without making an effort, without resorting to action, he gets tired quickly enough, receiving a concentrated portion of impressions and, as a result of this, as a rule, he does not have the desire to change anything in his life and in his environment. He, with skillful presentation of the material, has confidence in what he sees on the screen and in the broadcast authorities. But there is no need to necessarily see someone’s conspiracy here - there is no less an order coming from consumers, and the organization of modern media and the situation in a significant part of cases is such that it is profitable to carry out such operations. Ratings, and therefore the income of the owners of the relevant media and mass media, also depend on this. Viewers are already accustomed to consuming information, looking for the most sensational and entertaining. With its excess, with the illusion of complicity in the process of its joint consumption, the average mass person has practically no time for reflection. A person drawn into such consumption is forced to constantly be in a kind of information kaleidoscope. As a result, he has less time for really necessary actions and, in a significant part of cases, especially in relation to young people, the skills to carry them out are lost

By influencing memory in this way, power structures can ensure that the necessary interpretation of the past is updated at the right moment. This allows her to extinguish negative energy, dissatisfaction of the population with the current state of affairs in the direction of her internal or external opponents, who in this case become enemies. This mechanism turns out to be very convenient for the authorities, since it allows them to deflect a blow from themselves at the right moment, to divert attention in an unfavorable situation for themselves. The mobilization of the population carried out in this way makes it possible for the authorities to correct public opinion in the direction you want, to defame enemies and create favorable conditions for conducting further activities. Without such a policy, maintaining power becomes problematic.

In a modernization situation, risks increase significantly, both social and technological. According to I. Yakovenko, “in a modernizing society, the nature of the city “takes its toll.” The dynamic dominant generated by the city contributes to the erosion of the cosmos of the proper." A person, getting used to innovations, "does not notice the subtle transformation of his own consciousness, mastering cultural meanings, positions and attitudes along with new skills. Along with the collapse of traditional culture, the degree of individualization gradually increases, i.e. separation of “I” from the collective “We”. Communication and economic practices that have been established, seemingly forever, are changing.

Intergenerational exchange is being curtailed. Old people cease to have authority. Society is changing noticeably. The main channels for the transfer of knowledge and traditions are the media and mass media, libraries, and universities. “Traditions are turned primarily to those generational forces that seek to preserve existing orders and the stability of their community, society as a whole, and to resist destructive external influences. However, here too, maintaining continuity is of great importance - in symbolism, historical memory, in myths and legends, texts and images dating back to the distant or recent past."

Thus, even rapidly occurring modernization processes still retain, in one form or another, elements of the familiar traditional culture. Without this, the structures and people leading change are unlikely to have the necessary legitimacy to remain in power. Experience shows that modernization processes will be more successful the more proponents of change manage to achieve a balance between old and new, between elements of traditional culture and innovation.

Industrial and post-industrial society

Industrial society is a type of economically developed society in which the predominant industry national economy is industry.

Industrial society is characterized by the development of the division of labor, mass production of goods, mechanization and automation of production, the development of mass communications, the service sector, high mobility and urbanization, and the increasing role of the state in regulating the socio-economic sphere.

1. Establishment of the industrial technological structure as dominant in all social spheres (from economic to cultural)

2. Change in the proportions of employment by industry: a significant reduction in the share of people employed in agriculture (up to 3-5%) and an increase in the share of people employed in industry (up to 50-60%) and the service sector (up to 40-45%)

3. Intensive urbanization

4. The emergence of a nation-state organized on the basis common language and culture

5. Educational (cultural) revolution. The transition to universal literacy and the formation of national education systems

6. Political revolution leading to the establishment of political rights and freedoms (eg all suffrage)

7. Growth in the level of consumption ("consumption revolution", the formation of a "welfare state")

8. Changing the structure of working and free time (formation of a “consumer society”)

9. Changes in the demographic type of development (low birth rate, mortality rate, increase in life expectancy, aging of the population, i.e. increase in the proportion of older age groups).

Post-industrial society is a society in which the service sector has priority development and prevails over the volume of industrial production and agricultural production. In the social structure of post-industrial society, the number of people employed in the service sector is increasing and new elites are being formed: technocrats, scientists.

This concept was first proposed by D. Bell in 1962. It recorded its entry in the late 50s and early 60s. developed Western countries, which have exhausted the potential of industrial production, into a qualitatively new stage of development.

It is characterized by a decrease in the share and importance of industrial production due to the growth of the services and information sectors. The production of services is becoming the main area of ​​economic activity. Thus, in the United States, about 90% of the employed population now works in the information and services sector. Based on these changes, there is a rethinking of all the basic characteristics of industrial society, a fundamental change in theoretical guidelines.

Thus, post-industrial society is defined as a “post-economic”, “post-labor” society, i.e. a society in which the economic subsystem loses its decisive significance, and labor ceases to be the basis of all social relations. Man in a post-industrial society is no longer considered as an “economic man” par excellence.

The first “phenomenon” of such a person is considered to be the youth rebellion of the late 60s, which meant the end of the Protestant work ethic as the moral basis of Western industrial civilization. Economic growth ceases to act as the main, much less the only guideline, goal of social development. The emphasis is shifting to social and humanitarian problems. The priority issues are the quality and safety of life, and the self-realization of the individual. New criteria for welfare and social well-being are being formed.

Post-industrial society is also defined as a “post-class” society, which reflects the collapse of stable social structures and identities characteristic of industrial society. If previously the status of an individual in society was determined by his place in the economic structure, i.e. class affiliation, to which all other social characteristics were subordinated, now the status characteristics of an individual are determined by many factors, among which education and level of culture play an increasing role (what P. Bourdieu called “cultural capital”).

On this basis, D. Bell and a number of other Western sociologists put forward the idea of ​​a new “service” class. Its essence is that in a post-industrial society it is not the economic and political elite, but the intellectuals and professionals who make up new class, belongs to the power. In reality, there was no fundamental change in the distribution of economic and political power. Claims about the “death of class” also seem clearly exaggerated and premature.

However, significant changes in the structure of society, associated primarily with the change in the role of knowledge and its carriers in society, are undoubtedly occurring (see information society). Thus, we can agree with D. Bell’s statement that “the changes that are captured by the term post-industrial society may mean the historical metamorphosis of Western society.”

INFORMATION SOCIETY - a concept that actually replaced at the end of the 20th century. interesting radio-controlled helicopter at a low price order the term "post-industrial society". For the first time the phrase "I.O." was used by the American economist F. Mashlup ("Production and Dissemination of Knowledge in the United States", 1962). Mashlup was one of the first to study the information sector of the economy using the example of the United States. In modern philosophy and other social sciences, the concept of “I.O.” is rapidly developing as a concept for a new social order, significantly different in its characteristics from the previous one. Initially, the concept of “post-capitalist” - “post-industrial society” (Dahrendorf, 1958) is postulated, within which the production and dissemination of knowledge begins to dominate in the economic sectors, and, accordingly, a new industry appears - the information economy. The rapid development of the latter determines its control over the sphere of business and government (Galbraith, 1967). The organizational basis of this control is highlighted (Baldwin, 1953; White, 1956), when applied to the social structure, meaning the emergence of a new class, the so-called meritocracy (Young, 1958; Gouldner, 1979). Information production and communication become a centralized process (McLuhan's “global village” theory, 1964). Ultimately, the main resource of the new post-industrial order is information (Bell, 1973). One of the most interesting and developed philosophical concepts of I.O. belongs to the famous Japanese scientist E. Masuda, who seeks to comprehend the future evolution of society. The basic principles of the composition of the future society, presented in his book “The Information Society as a Post-Industrial Society” (1983), are as follows: “the basis of the new society will be computer technology, with its fundamental function to replace or enhance human mental work; the information revolution will quickly turn into a new productive force and will make possible the mass production of cognitive, systematized information, technology and knowledge; the “frontier of the known” will become a potential market, the possibility of solving problems and the development of cooperation will increase; intellectual production will become the leading sector of the economy, the products of which will be accumulated, and the accumulated information will become spread through synergistic production and shared use"; in the new information society the main subject social activity there will be a “free community”, and the political system will be “participatory democracy”; The main goal in the new society will be the realization of the “value of time.” Masuda offers a new utopia of the 21st century, holistic and attractive in its humanity, which he himself called “Computopia”, which contains the following parameters: (1) the pursuit and implementation of the values ​​of time; (2) freedom of decision and equality of opportunity; (3) the flourishing of various free communities; (4) synergetic relationship in society; (5) functional associations free from super-managing power. The new society will potentially have the opportunity to achieve an ideal form of social relations, since it will function on the basis of synergetic rationality, which will replace the principle of free competition of industrial society. From the point of view of understanding the processes that actually take place in modern post-industrial society, the works of J. Beninger, T. Stoner, and J. Nisbet also seem significant. Scientists suggest that the most likely result of the development of society in the near future is the integration of the existing system with the latest means of mass communication. The development of a new information order does not mean the immediate disappearance of industrial society. Moreover, there is a possibility of establishing total control over banks of information, its production and distribution. Information, having become the main product of production, accordingly, becomes a powerful power resource, the concentration of which in one source can potentially lead to the emergence of a new version of a totalitarian state. . This possibility is not excluded even by those Western futurologists (E. Masuda, O. Toffler) who optimistically assess future transformations of the social order.

Sociology distinguishes several types of society: traditional, industrial and post-industrial. The difference between the formations is colossal. Moreover, each type of device has unique characteristics and features.

The difference lies in the attitude towards the person, the methods of organization economic activity. The transition from traditional to industrial and post-industrial (information) society is extremely difficult.

Traditional

The presented type of social system was formed first. In this case, the basis for regulating relationships between people is tradition. Agrarian or traditional society differs from industrial and post-industrial society primarily by low mobility in the social sphere. In this way of life, there is a clear distribution of roles, and the transition from one class to another is practically impossible. An example is the caste system in India. The structure of this society is characterized by stability and a low level of development. The future role of a person is based primarily on his origin. There are no social elevators in principle; in some ways they are even undesirable. The transition of individuals from one layer to another in the hierarchy can provoke the process of destruction of the entire habitual way of life.

In an agrarian society, individualism is not encouraged. All human actions are aimed at maintaining the life of the community. Freedom of choice in this case can lead to a change in formation or cause the destruction of the entire structure. Economic relations between people are strictly regulated. Under normal market relations, citizens increase, that is, processes that are undesirable for the entire traditional society are initiated.

Basis of the economy

The economy of this type of formation is agricultural. That is, the basis of wealth is the land. The more plots an individual owns, the higher his social status. The tools of production are archaic and practically not developed. This also applies to other areas of life. In the early stages of the formation of traditional society, exchange in kind. Money as a universal commodity and a measure of the value of other items is absent in principle.

There is no industrial production as such. With development, the handicraft production of necessary tools and other household products arises. This process is long, since most citizens living in a traditional society prefer to produce everything themselves. Subsistence farming predominates.

Demographics and life

In an agrarian system, most people live in local communities. At the same time, changing the place of activity occurs extremely slowly and painfully. It is also important to take into account that in a new place of residence problems often arise with the allocation of land. Own land with the opportunity to grow various crops is the basis of life in a traditional society. Food is also obtained through livestock breeding, gathering and hunting.

In a traditional society, the birth rate is high. This is caused primarily by the need for the survival of the community itself. There is no medicine, so simple diseases and injuries often become fatal. Average duration life is insignificant.

Life is organized taking into account the principles. It is also not subject to any changes. At the same time, the life of all members of society depends on religion. All canons and principles in the community are regulated by faith. Changes and attempts to escape from the usual existence are suppressed by religious dogmas.

Change of formation

The transition from a traditional society to an industrial and post-industrial one is only possible with a sharp development of technology. This became possible in the 17th and 18th centuries. Much of the development of progress occurred due to the plague epidemic that swept through Europe. A sharp decline in population provoked the development of technology and the emergence of mechanized production tools.

Industrial formation

Sociologists associate the transition from a traditional type of society to an industrial and post-industrial one with a change in the economic component of people's way of life. The growth of production capacity led to urbanization, that is, the outflow of part of the population from the village to the city. Large settlements, in which the mobility of citizens increased significantly.

The structure of the formation is flexible and dynamic. Machine production is actively developing, and labor is becoming more automated. The use of new (at that time) technologies is typical not only for industry, but also for agriculture. The total share of employment in the agricultural sector does not exceed 10%.

The main factor of development in an industrial society becomes entrepreneurial activity. Therefore, the position of an individual is determined by his skills, desire for development and education. Origin also remains important, but its influence is gradually decreasing.

Form of government

Gradually, with the growth of production and the increase in capital in an industrial society, a conflict is brewing between the generation of entrepreneurs and representatives of the old aristocracy. In many countries, this process culminated in a change in the very structure of the state. Typical examples include French Revolution or occurrence constitutional monarchy in England. After these changes, the archaic aristocracy lost its former opportunities to influence the life of the state (although in general their opinion continued to be listened to).

Economics of an industrial society

The basis of the economy of such a formation is the extensive exploitation of natural resources and labor. According to Marx, in a capitalist industrial society the main roles are assigned directly to those who own the tools of labor. Resources are often produced to the detriment of the environment, and the state of the environment deteriorates.

At the same time, production is growing at an accelerated pace. The quality of the staff comes to the fore. Manual labor also remains, but to minimize costs, industrialists and entrepreneurs are beginning to invest money in the development of technology.

A characteristic feature of the industrial formation is the merging of banking and industrial capital. In an agrarian society, especially in its initial stages of development, usury was persecuted. With the development of progress, loan interest became the basis for economic development.

Post-industrial

Post-industrial society began to take shape in the middle of the last century. The locomotive of development was the countries of Western Europe, the USA and Japan. The peculiarities of the formation are to increase the share of information technology in the gross domestic product. The transformations also affected industry and agriculture. Productivity has increased and manual labor has decreased.

The driving force for further development was the formation of a consumer society. An increase in the share of quality services and goods has led to the development of technology and increased investment in science.

The concept of a post-industrial society was formed by a teacher at Harvard University. After his works, some sociologists also came up with the concept of an information society, although in many ways these concepts are synonymous.

Opinions

There are two opinions in the theory of the emergence of post-industrial society. From a classical point of view, the transition was made possible thanks to:

1. Automation of production.
2. Needs for a high educational level of personnel.
3. Increasing demand for quality services.
4. Increasing incomes of the majority of the population of developed countries.

Marxists have put forward their own theory on this matter. According to it, the transition to a post-industrial (information) society from industrial and traditional became possible thanks to the global division of labor. There has been a concentration of industries in different regions of the planet, as a result of which the qualifications of service personnel have increased.

Deindustrialization

The information society has given rise to another socio-economic process: deindustrialization. IN developed countries the share of workers involved in industry is declining. At the same time, the influence of direct production on the state’s economy also decreases. According to statistics, from 1970 to 2015, the share of industry in the United States and Western Europe in the gross domestic product decreased from 40 to 28%. Part of the production was transferred to other regions of the planet. This process gave rise to a sharp increase in development in countries and accelerated the pace of transition from agrarian (traditional) and industrial types of society to post-industrial.

Risks

An intensive path of development and the formation of an economy based on scientific knowledge carries various risks. The migration process has increased sharply. At the same time, some countries lagging behind in development are beginning to experience a shortage of qualified personnel who are moving to regions with an information-based economy. The effect provokes the development of crisis phenomena that are more characteristic of the industrial social formation.

Experts are also concerned about skewed demographics. Three stages of development of society (traditional, industrial and post-industrial) have different relationships to family and fertility. For the agrarian formation large family- the basis of survival. Approximately the same opinion exists in industrial society. The transition to a new formation was marked by a sharp decline in the birth rate and an aging population. Therefore, countries with an information economy actively attract qualified, educated youth from other regions of the planet, thereby widening the development gap.

Experts are also concerned about the decline in the growth rate of post-industrial society. Traditional (agricultural) and industrial still have room to develop, increase production and change the format of the economy. Information formation is the crown of the evolutionary process. New technologies are constantly being developed, but breakthrough solutions (for example, the transition to nuclear energy, space exploration) appear less and less often. Therefore, sociologists predict an increase in crisis phenomena.

Coexistence

Now a paradoxical situation has arisen: industrial, post-industrial and traditional societies coexist quite peacefully in different regions of the planet. The agricultural formation with the corresponding way of life is more typical for some countries in Africa and Asia. Industrial with gradual evolutionary processes to informational observed in Eastern Europe and CIS.

Industrial, post-industrial and traditional societies are different primarily in their attitude towards the human person. In the first two cases, development is based on individualism, while in the second, collective principles predominate. Any display of willfulness or attempt to stand out is condemned.

Social elevators

Social elevators characterize the mobility of segments of the population within society. In traditional, industrial and post-industrial formations they are expressed differentially. For an agrarian society, only the displacement of an entire segment of the population is possible, for example, through a riot or revolution. In other cases, mobility is possible for one individual. The final position depends on the knowledge, acquired skills and activity of the person.

In fact, the differences between traditional, industrial and post-industrial types of society are enormous. Sociologists and philosophers study their formation and stages of development.