Social changes and development of society. Society development

Society is a dynamic system, which is characterized by such characteristics as change and development.

Social change- this is the transition of society and its components structural elements from one state to another.

History shows that no society stands still: it either progresses or regresses. If the sum of the positive consequences of large-scale changes in society exceeds the sum of the negative ones, then we speak of social progress. Otherwise, social regression takes place. Social progress - global process characterizing the movement of human society throughout history. Social regression is a local process, covering individual societies and short periods of time. Depending on the intensity of changes in the qualitative state of an object, processes are divided into evolutionary and revolutionary.

Social development (progress) is irreversible changes in society associated with a qualitatively new, higher state of its structure and functions. In other words, this is the progressive movement of society from lower forms to a more perfect state. Social development in modern society called modernization. It implies a fundamental change social institutions and the way of life of people, covering all spheres of society. There are two types of modernization: organic (“primary”) and inorganic (“secondary”).

Organic modernization is a moment of a country’s own development and is prepared by the entire course of previous evolution. An example of organic modernization is the transition of England, France, and the USA from feudalism to capitalism as a result of the second industrial revolution half of the XVIII century - first half of the 19th century century. This type of modernization begins not with the economy, but with culture and a change in public consciousness. Capitalism arose as a natural consequence of changes in the way of life, traditions, worldviews and orientations of people.

Inorganic modernization is a response to an external challenge from more developed countries. The main goal taken by the government is to overcome historical backwardness and avoid foreign dependence of the country. This model of social change, which is implemented, as a rule, in backward countries, is called “catch-up development.” Inorganic modernization is accomplished through the purchase of foreign equipment and patents, borrowing foreign technology (often by economic espionage), invitations to specialists, training abroad, investments. Corresponding changes are taking place in the social and political spheres: the management system is changing dramatically, new power structures are being introduced, the country’s constitution is being restructured to suit foreign analogues. Inorganic modernization begins not with culture, but with economics and politics. In other words, organic modernization comes “from below”, and inorganic modernization “from above”. Examples: Russia (Peter’s reforms of the 18th century, Stalin’s industrialization of the 30s of the 20th century), Japan (second half of the 19th and 20th centuries).

There is a lot going on in the world around us. changes. Some of them occur constantly and can be recorded at any time. To do this, you need to select a certain period of time and monitor which features of the object disappear and which appear. Changes may concern the position of the object in space, its configuration, temperature, volume, etc., i.e. those properties that do not remain constant. Summarizing all the changes, we can highlight character traits, distinguishing this object from others. Thus, the category “change” is understood as the process of movement and interaction of objects and phenomena, the transition from one state to another, the emergence of new properties, functions and relationships in them.

A special type of change is development. If change characterizes any phenomenon of reality and is universal, then development is associated with the renewal of an object, its transformation into something new. Moreover, development is not a reversible process. For example, the change “water - steam - water” is not considered development, just as it is not considered quantitative changes or the destruction of an object and the cessation of its existence.

Development always involves qualitative changes occurring over relatively large time intervals. Examples include the evolution of life on Earth, the historical development of mankind, scientific and technological progress, etc.

Society development is a process of progressive changes that occur in every this moment at every point in human society . In sociology, to characterize the movement of society, the concepts “ social development" and "social change". The first of them characterizes a certain type of social change, aimed towards improvement, complexity and perfection. But there are many other changes. For example, emergence, formation, growth, decline, disappearance, transition period. These changes carry neither positive nor negative meaning. The concept of “social change” covers a wide range of social changes, regardless of their direction.

Thus, the concept "social change" denotes various changes that occur over a period of time in social communities, groups, institutions, organizations, in their relationships with each other, as well as with individuals. Such changes can occur at the level of interpersonal relationships (for example, changes in the structure and functions of the family), at the level of organizations and institutions (education, science are constantly subject to changes both in terms of their content and in terms of their organization), at the level of small and large social groups.

There are four type of social change :

1) structural changes relating to the structures of various
social entities (for example, family, any other community, society as a whole);

2) changes affecting social processes(relations of solidarity, tension, conflict, equality and subordination, etc.);

3) functional social changes relating to the functions of various social systems (in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993, changes occurred in the functions of the legislative and executive powers);

4) motivational social changes (in Lately
For significant masses of the population, the motives of personal monetary earnings and profit come to the fore, which influences their behavior, thinking, and consciousness).

All these changes are closely interconnected. Changes in one type inevitably lead to changes in other types.

Researches development dialectics . This concept arose in Ancient Greece, where the ability to polemicize, argue, convince, proving one’s rightness was highly valued. Dialectics was understood as the art of argument, dialogue, discussion, during which participants put forward alternative points of view. In the process of dispute, one-sidedness is overcome, and a correct understanding of the phenomena under discussion is developed. Wide famous expression“in dispute, truth is born” is quite applicable to the discussions of ancient philosophers.

Ancient dialectics imagined the world as constantly moving, changeable, and all phenomena as interconnected. But at the same time, they did not distinguish the category of development as the emergence of something new. IN ancient Greek philosophy The concept of the great cycle prevailed, according to which everything in the world is subject to cyclical return changes and, like the change of seasons, everything eventually returns “to normal.”

The concept of development as a process of qualitative change appeared in medieval Christian philosophy. Augustine the Blessed compared history with human life passing through the stages of childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age. The beginning of history was compared with the birth of a person, and its end (the Last Judgment) with death. This concept overcame the idea of ​​cyclical changes and introduced the concept of progressive movement and the uniqueness of events.

During the era of bourgeois revolutions, the idea arose historical development , put forward by the famous French educators Voltaire and Rousseau. It was developed by Kant, who raised the question of the development of morality and social development of man.

Hegel developed a holistic concept of development. He found various changes in nature, but he saw true development in the history of society and, above all, in its spiritual culture. Hegel identified the main principles of dialectics : universal connection of phenomena, unity of opposites, development through negation.

Dialectical opposites are inextricably linked and unthinkable without each other. Thus, content is impossible without form, a part is impossible without the whole, an effect is impossible without a cause, etc. In some cases, opposites come closer and even transform into each other, for example, illness and health, material and spiritual, quantity and quality. Thus, the law of unity and struggle of opposites establishes that the source of development is internal contradictions.

Special attention dialectics focuses on the relationship between quantitative and qualitative changes. Any object has a quality that distinguishes it from other objects, and quantitative characteristics of its volume, weight, etc. Quantitative changes may accumulate gradually and not affect the quality of the item. But at a certain stage the change quantitative characteristics leads to a change in quality. Thus, an increase in pressure in a steam boiler can lead to an explosion, the constant implementation of unpopular reforms among the people causes discontent, the accumulation of knowledge in any field of science leads to new discoveries, etc.

The development of society occurs progressively, passing through certain stages. Each subsequent stage, as it were, negates the previous one. As development progresses, a new quality appears, a new negation occurs, which in science is called denial of denial. However, denial cannot be considered the destruction of the old. Along with more complex phenomena, there are always simpler ones. On the other hand, the new, highly developed, emerging from the old, preserves everything valuable that was in it.

Hegel's concept is based on reality, generalizes a huge historical material. However, Hegel put the spiritual processes of social life in first place, believing that the history of peoples is the embodiment of the development of ideas.

Using Hegel's concept, Marx created materialist dialectics, which is based on the idea of ​​development not from the spiritual, but from the material. Marx considered the basis of development to be the improvement of the tools of labor (productive forces), entailing a change in social relations. Development was considered by Marx, and then by Lenin, as a single natural process, the course of which is not linear, but in a spiral. At a new turn, the passed steps are repeated, but at a higher quality level. Movement forward occurs spasmodically, sometimes catastrophically. Transition from quantity to quality, internal contradictions, collision various forces and trends provide impetus for development.

However, the process of development cannot be understood as a strict movement from lower to higher. Different peoples on Earth differ in their development from each other. Some peoples developed faster, some more slowly. In the development of some, gradual changes prevailed, while in the development of others they were of a spasmodic nature. Depending on this, they distinguish evolutionary And revolutionary development.

Evolution- these are gradual, slow quantitative changes that over time lead to a transition to a qualitatively different state. The evolution of life on Earth is the most shining example such changes. In the development of society, evolutionary changes manifested themselves in the improvement of tools and the emergence of new, more complex forms of interaction between people in different spheres of their lives.

Revolution- these are extremely radical changes that involve a radical breakdown of pre-existing relationships, are of a universal nature and rely, in some cases, on violence. The revolution is of a spasmodic nature.

Depending on the duration of the revolution there are short-term And long-term. The first include social revolutions - fundamental qualitative changes in all social life, affecting the foundations of the social system. They were like that bourgeois revolutions in England (XVII century) and France (XVIII century), socialist revolution in Russia (1917). Long-term revolutions have global significance and affect the development process different nations. The first such revolution was neolithic revolution . It lasted several thousand years and led to the transition of humanity from an appropriating economy to a producing one, i.e. from hunting and gathering to pastoralism and agriculture. The most important process which took place in many countries of the world in the 18th and 19th centuries, became industrial revolution , as a result of which there was a transition from manual labor to machine labor, mechanization of production was carried out, which made it possible to significantly increase the volume of output with lower labor costs.

In characterizing the development process in relation to the economy, extensive and intensive development paths are often distinguished. Extensive way associated with an increase in production by attracting new sources of raw materials, labor resources, increased exploitation of labor, and expansion of acreage in agriculture. Intensive way associated with the use of new production methods based on scientific and technological progress. The extensive path of development is not endless. At a certain stage, the limit of its capabilities comes, and development comes to a dead end. The intensive path of development, on the contrary, involves the search for something new that is actively used in practice; society moves forward at a faster pace.

The development of society is a complex process that continues continuously throughout the history of humankind. It began with the separation of man from the animal world and is unlikely to end in the foreseeable future. The process of development of society can only be interrupted with the death of humanity. If the person himself does not create the conditions for self-destruction in the form nuclear war or environmental disaster, the limits of human development can only be associated with the end of existence solar system. But it is likely that by that time science will reach a new qualitative level and people will be able to move into outer space. The possibility of populating other planets, star systems, and galaxies can remove the question of the limit to the development of society.

Questions and tasks

1. What is meant by the category “change”? What types of changes can you name?

2. How does development differ from other types of change?

3. What types of social changes do you know?

4. What is dialectics? When and where did it originate?

5. How have ideas about the development of the history of philosophy changed?

6. What are the laws of dialectics? Give examples to support them.

7. How do evolution and revolution differ? How did these processes manifest themselves in the lives of individual peoples and of all humanity?

8. Give examples of extensive and intensive development paths. Why can't they exist one without the other?

9. Read the statement by N.A. Berdyaev:

“History cannot make sense if it never ends, if there is no end; the meaning of history is the movement towards the end, towards completion, towards the outcome. Religious consciousness sees history as a tragedy that has a beginning and will have an end. In a historical tragedy there are a number of acts, and in them the final catastrophe is brewing, an all-resolving catastrophe...”

What does he see as the meaning of history? How are his ideas related to the problem of social development?

10. Conduct a discussion on the topic “Is there a limit to the development of mankind?”

Social objects and processes that make up society as a social system are constantly changing: they are improving or, conversely, degrading, giving rise to complex contradictions that stimulate the development of society as a whole and its relatively independent parts.

Social change- this is the transition of society and its constituent structural elements from one state to another.

Individual, private changes in society gradually, due to the accumulation of differences and their subsequent integration, turn into global changes. They are reflected:

In the accumulation and transfer of experience of previous generations;

In the methods of producing goods and services necessary to support the lives of members of society;

In the social class structure of society;

In the nature of relationships between individuals and social groups.

Social changes are based on contradictions associated with the divergence of interests and goals of individuals and different social groups. If contradictions are not eliminated in a timely manner, social conflicts arise that lead to the destabilization of society as a whole. The resolution of contradictions occurs through certain changes in the structure and functions of social communities.

Difficulties often arise in the relationship between the individual and society, associated with the inability of people brought up in different social relations to adapt to living conditions.

The problem of social choice is clearly manifested in the crisis of social roles, i.e. stereotypes of behavior that correspond to the expectations of society in relation to the bearers of certain social functions.

Social development- irreversible changes in society associated with a qualitatively new, higher state of its structure and functions. In other words, this is the progressive movement of society from lower forms to a more perfect state.

There are two ways of development of society: evolutionary and revolutionary.

Social revolution unlike reform, this is a sharp change social system, a spasmodic transition to new social relations. It is accompanied by an open clash between forces in power, but losing their privileged position, and social groups that are not satisfied with their secondary place in society.

In contrast to destructive social revolutions, an evolutionary (reformist) path of development of society is possible. It assumes:

Gradual implementation of changes under the control of the authorities;

Gradual improvement of the social system towards increasing sustainability and operational efficiency;

The desire to resolve pressing issues democratically (through referendums or through public discussions);

Legislative ban on calls for the violent overthrow of the existing system.

Reformist path of development society is a gentle and most expedient way to eliminate social contradictions, aimed at creation rather than destruction.

3.3 Social activities and social interaction

Social activities- regularly repeated intervention of individuals or groups of people (subjects of activity) in social processes (objects of activity) in order to change and subordinate them to their interests. This is a form of active interaction between a person and social environment, consciously aimed at transforming the external conditions of its existence, as well as changing the views, worldview, and value orientations of the people around it.

Subjects of social activity are performers of specific actions. Among them may be: individuals; social groups; social organizations and social institutions.

Objects of social activity in this context are nothing more than social processes at all structural levels of the functioning of society.

Social activity consists of specific social actions (actions, actions, steps), organized (intentionally) or spontaneously (spontaneously) carried out by people with the desire to cause certain social consequences (results). In other words, social actions can be carried out by individuals or groups of people intentionally, purposefully or, conversely, spontaneously, under the influence of random circumstances.

Action must be distinguished from behavior. Behavior is a set of actions performed by an individual. When determining, say, the behavior of a schoolchild, the teacher gives a generalized assessment of the actions (actions) he has performed. In other words, actions characterize the behavior of an individual.

Social interaction, or interaction, involves the regular influence of individuals on each other, as a result of which new social connections are renewed and created within communities or between its elements. Social interaction involves at least two subjects, called interactants. Their interactive actions must certainly be directed towards each other.

Variety of forms social interaction is largely determined by the variety of social connections between the subjects of interaction.

Social connections- this is the interdependence of individuals on each other, formed in the process of joint activity. Social connections can manifest themselves as social contacts (a short-term, shallow connection) or as social relationships (a complex system of social interaction, when the behavior of some causes the activities of others).

Social relations- these are stable, indirect forms of social interaction that develop within the framework of the activities of social communities and social institutions.

Social relations differ in their composition and nature of connections:

Between individuals, for example, love, enmity, exchange of goods or services, joint labor activity;

Between groups (classes, ethnic groups, social institutions and other communities) regarding the same or opposing interests, often related to the distribution of the results of social labor. Social relationships differ from simple interaction in that they are perceived by individuals as long-term, repeated, and, therefore, stable.

In society, the term most often used is social development. It denotes any improvements that bring positive results. However, there are also social changes that have a generally neutral effect. They do not contain evaluation component. That is, social development is certain processes that have a positive result. The changes are quite neutral. They simply occur as a result of some historical processes.

Social change can be divided into several levels. Let's look at them all. Short-term changes occur in a short time frame. For example, this could be an organizational restructuring of government bodies. Long-term changes require a large amount of time to implement. For example, this could be a restructuring of people's morals, norms or traditions.

Partial social changes are also highlighted. Their distinctive feature is that they affect only certain segments of reality. For example, this could be a restructuring of industry or systems higher education. There are also changes affecting most

The changes under consideration affect, first of all, various groups and communities, certain processes, and organizations. Social change can occur at the level of interpersonal relationships. For example, the functions and structure of the family are changing. Restructuring can also occur at the level of various institutions and organizations. For example, social change can affect education and science. Restructuring is taking place both at the level of small and large groups. In particular, the structure of the working class is changing, new ones are emerging. Perestroika can occur at the global level. For example, this includes environmental threats and migration processes.

Social change can be divided into four categories. They are determined based on which particular area is being restructured. Let's look at all four categories.

There are structural social changes. For example, they may concern the family institution. Interpersonal relationships can change towards monogamy or polygamy, having many children or having few children. Perestroika can also affect professional groups, the nation, the structure of power and management, and society as a whole. This includes changes affecting science, the education system, and religion.

Perestroika can also occur in any way, that is, relating to the relationships between different societies, individuals, institutions and structures. For example, in the field of equality, solidarity, subordination, tolerance and so on.

Functional changes affect functions various organizations, systems and institutions. This way, new functions can emerge or existing ones can be improved. Let's look at a simple example. In connection with the new Constitution of the Russian Federation, the functions of the legislative and executive powers have changed significantly.

Perestroika also affects the spiritual spheres. In particular, the structure of motivation for collective and individual activities may change. Perestroika affects the values, norms, goals, and ideals of people. For example, during the transition to a market economy, the motivational structure of society changed significantly. The signal for activity is personal monetary earnings, enrichment, and climbing the career ladder. Such changes influence the thoughts, values, worldviews and norms of large social groups.

Before considering the mechanism of change in social relations, it is necessary to briefly touch upon the question of the structure of social relations - cells public relations. Minimally, it consists of two subjects, potential or real interaction between them, as well as an object to which their interests are directed (Fig. 8). If we reveal the content of the interaction between subjects, then it will be reduced to the statuses (positions) of the subjects relative to each other and/or the actions of one of them or both, aimed at satisfying interest. Action (behavior) is divided into elements of an objective (external, physical) and subjective (internal, psychological) nature.

Rice. 8.

Let's take, for example, labor relations in a market economy. The subjects are an employee and an entrepreneur. The interaction between them is the rights and obligations of each regarding the labor process, remuneration, social guarantees, etc. The object of interest is labor and its equivalent (wages). All these elements are very significant for the two named individuals, and also higher value they acquire on a social scale, when we are not talking about two subjects, but about an “army of hired workers” and an “army of entrepreneurs.”

Here it is time to turn to Marx’s Capital, but we will limit ourselves to the more modest task of analyzing the mechanisms of the emerging conflict.

In what part of this structure can its deformation begin? For what reason? These questions cannot be answered definitively. In essence, a change in the relationship between two subjects can begin with any element: goals, motives of behavior, external actions, interests, as well as with incidental circumstances (such as, for example, the environment of interaction between subjects, the actions of third forces). It is all the more difficult to determine in theoretical reasoning the initial moment of deformation of social relations as a mass, social phenomenon, especially considering that in different areas of life these changes may have different reasons.

Thus, labor relations may be disrupted due to the failure of one of the subjects to fulfill their duties. A common cause of labor conflicts in our time are factors external to production: rising prices, poor housing conditions, national tension, etc. All of them can cause changes in requirements for employers, leading to strikes and other actions. Instead of the harmonious labor relations of past years, although they hid deep social ill-being, we are now dealing with direct conflicts in production, fraught with further collapse of the economy.

And yet the following can be said about the mechanism of deformation of social relations in general. Firstly, social relations are more stable than social values, and in order to change them, much more compelling objective reasons. This explains the relative stability of social (class, national, group, etc.) connections in society compared, for example, with social preferences, moods, fashion, etc.

Secondly, changes in social relations, as we will see later, most often follow changes in other elements public life. Strikes, interethnic conflicts, and armed clashes do not begin, but complete the process of social tension in a city, region, or region. And the very intensity of changes in social relations reflects the nature and depth of deformations in the elements discussed above: value orientations, institutions, norms. One can apparently say that public relations are deformed the more, the more seriously distorted value orientations in certain segments of the population are, the less effective social norms and institutions operating in the sphere of human relationships.

Analysis of changes in social relations in last years has been produced by sociologists more than once. The most obvious changes are in interethnic relations. It is known that during periods of crisis, some interethnic processes take on a social connotation. This is precisely what began to characterize the state of affairs in a number of regions of the country. The “parade of sovereignties” led to the opposition of local and central leadership, people of different nationalities and religions, to the incitement of national hatred and conflicts. Needless to say, the thesis about the “friendship of the peoples of the USSR” turned out to be untenable; the principles of internationalism were replaced by obvious manifestations of nationalism and great-power chauvinism.

At the same time, socio-psychological studies have shown that many negative processes and manifestations in the sphere interethnic relations quite superficial. Following the election results in The Supreme Council RSFSR in February 1990 and people's deputies of the USSR in 1989, supporters of the “national-patriarchal bloc” received an average of 2-4% of the votes. “Sovereign” types of mass consciousness, according to experts, influence approximately 20% of the Russian population. According to the same data, about 14% of respondents expressed a positive attitude towards the Memory society. When it comes to everyday, everyday connections and relationships between people at the interpersonal level, nationalistic manifestations recede into the background, and traditional feelings of neighborhood, fraternity, friendship, acquaintance, and camaraderie take over. This suggests that internationalism, as a feature of the psychology of the bulk of the population, has not been lost, but only clogged and deformed.

If we return to the list of types of social relations given in the previous paragraph, then in general we can say that during deformations there is a transition from relations of cooperation to conflicts, confrontation, and struggle. Ultimately, a rupture of social relations and their atomization are planned. And the collapse of social ties is already sure sign deep crisis in society.

• See: Deepening social disintegration in 1990... P. 33 et seq.