Society is a complex natural-historical structure, the elements of which are people. Their connections and relationships are determined by a certain social status, the functions and roles they perform, the norms and values ​​generally accepted in this system, as well as their individual qualities. Society is usually divided into three types: traditional, industrial and post-industrial. Each of them has its own distinctive features and functions.

This article will consider a traditional society (definition, characteristics, foundations, examples, etc.).

What it is?

To a modern man of the industrial age, new to history and social sciences, it may not be clear what a "traditional society" is. The definition of this concept will be discussed below.

Operates on the basis of traditional values. Often it is perceived as tribal, primitive and backward feudal. It is a society with an agrarian structure, with sedentary structures and with methods of social and cultural regulation based on traditions. It is believed that most of its history, mankind was at this stage.

The traditional society, the definition of which is considered in this article, is a collection of groups of people who are at different stages of development and do not have a mature industrial complex. The determining factor in the development of such social units is Agriculture.

Characteristics of a traditional society

Traditional society is characterized by the following features:

1. Low production rates that meet the needs of people at a minimum level.
2. Large energy intensity.
3. Non-acceptance of innovations.
4. Strict regulation and control of people's behavior, social structures, institutions, customs.
5. As a rule, in a traditional society, any manifestation of individual freedom is prohibited.
6. Social formations consecrated by traditions are considered unshakable - even the thought of their possible changes is perceived as criminal.

The traditional society is considered agrarian, as it is based on agriculture. Its functioning depends on growing crops with a plow and draft animals. Thus, the same plot of land could be cultivated several times, resulting in permanent settlements.

The traditional society is also characterized by the predominant use of manual labor, the extensive absence of market forms of trade (the predominance of exchange and redistribution). This led to the enrichment of individuals or classes.

Forms of ownership in such structures, as a rule, are collective. Any manifestations of individualism are not perceived and denied by society, and are also considered dangerous, as they violate established order and traditional balance. There are no impetuses to the development of science and culture, so extensive technologies are used in all areas.

Political structure

The political sphere in such a society is characterized by authoritarian power, which is inherited. This is explained by the fact that only in this way can traditions be maintained for a long time. The system of government in such a society was quite primitive (the hereditary power was in the hands of the elders). The people had virtually no influence on politics.

Often there is an idea about the divine origin of the person in whose hands the power was. In this regard, politics is in fact completely subordinated to religion and is carried out only according to sacred prescriptions. The combination of secular and spiritual power made possible the ever greater subordination of people to the state. This, in turn, strengthened the stability of the traditional type of society.

social relations

In the sphere of social relations, the following features of a traditional society can be distinguished:

1. Patriarchal device.
2. The main purpose of the functioning of such a society is to maintain human life and avoid its extinction as a species.
3. Low level
4. Traditional society is characterized by division into estates. Each of them played a different social role.

5. Evaluation of the individual in terms of the place that people occupy in the hierarchical structure.
6. A person does not feel like an individual, he considers only his belonging to a certain group or community.

spiritual realm

In the spiritual sphere, traditional society is characterized by deep religiosity and moral attitudes instilled from childhood. Certain rituals and dogmas were an integral part of human life. Writing in traditional society as such did not exist. That is why all legends and traditions were transmitted orally.

Relationship with nature and the environment

The influence of traditional society on nature was primitive and insignificant. This was due to low-waste production, represented by cattle breeding and agriculture. Also, in some societies, there were certain religious rules that condemned the pollution of nature.

In relation to the outside world, it was closed. The traditional society by all means protected itself from intrusions from the outside and any external influence. As a result, man perceived life as static and unchanging. Qualitative changes in such societies took place very slowly, and revolutionary changes were perceived extremely painfully.

Traditional and industrial society: differences

Industrial society arose in the 18th century, as a result primarily in England and France.

Some of its distinguishing features should be highlighted.
1. Creation of a large machine production.
2. Standardization of parts and assemblies of different mechanisms. This made mass production possible.
3. Another important distinguishing feature is urbanization (the growth of cities and the resettlement of a significant part of the population on their territory).
4. Division of labor and its specialization.

Traditional and industrial society have significant differences. The first is characterized by a natural division of labor. Traditional values ​​and patriarchal structure prevail here, there is no mass production.

It should also be highlighted post-industrial society. The traditional, in contrast, aims to extract natural resources, and not to collect information and store it.

Examples of Traditional Society: China

Vivid examples of a traditional type of society can be found in the East in the Middle Ages and modern times. Among them, India, China, Japan, the Ottoman Empire should be singled out.

China has had a strong state power since ancient times. By the nature of evolution, this society is cyclical. China is characterized by a constant alternation of several eras (development, crisis, social explosion). It should also be noted the unity of the spiritual and religious authorities in this country. According to tradition, the emperor received the so-called "Mandate of Heaven" - divine permission to rule.

Japan

The development of Japan in the Middle Ages and in also allows us to say that there was a traditional society, the definition of which is considered in this article. The entire population of the Land of the Rising Sun was divided into 4 estates. The first is the samurai, daimyo and shogun (personified the highest secular power). They occupied a privileged position and had the right to bear arms. The second estate - the peasants who owned the land as a hereditary holding. The third is artisans and the fourth is merchants. It should be noted that trading in Japan was considered an unworthy business. It is also worth highlighting the strict regulation of each of the estates.

Unlike other traditional Eastern countries, in Japan there was no unity of the supreme secular and spiritual power. The first was personified by the shogun. Most of the land and great power were in his hands. Japan also had an emperor (tenno). He was the personification of spiritual power.

India

Vivid examples of a traditional type of society can be found in India throughout the history of the country. The Mughal Empire, located on the Hindustan Peninsula, was based on a military fief and caste system. The supreme ruler - the padishah - was the main owner of all the land in the state. Indian society was strictly divided into castes, whose life was strictly regulated by laws and sacred regulations.

Today, an industrial society is a concept familiar in all developed and even many developing countries of the world. The process of transition to mechanical production, the decline in the profitability of agriculture, the growth of cities and a clear division of labor - all these are the main features of the process that is changing the socio-economic structure of the state.

What is an industrial society?

Except production characteristics, this society is distinguished by a high standard of living, the formation of civil rights and freedoms, the emergence of service activities, accessible information and humane economic relations. Previous traditional socio-economic models were distinguished by a relatively low average standard of living for the population.

The industrial society is considered modern, both technical and social components are developing very quickly in it, affecting the improvement of the quality of life in general.

Main differences

The main difference between a traditional agrarian society and a modern one is the growth of industry, the need for a modernized, accelerated and efficient production and division of labor.

The main reasons for the division of labor and in-line production can be considered both economic - the financial benefits of mechanization, and social - population growth and increased demand for goods.

Industrial society is characterized not only by the growth of industrial production, but also by the systematization and flow of agricultural activities. In addition, in any country and in any society, the process of industrial reconstruction is accompanied by the development of science, technology, media and civic responsibility.

Changing the structure of society

Today, many developing countries are characterized by a particularly accelerated process transition from a traditional society to an industrial one. The process of globalization and free information space play a significant role in changing socio-economic structures. New technologies and scientific achievements allow to improve production processes, which makes a number of industries particularly efficient.

The processes of globalization and international cooperation and regulation also affect the change in social charters. An industrial society is characterized by a completely different worldview, when the expansion of rights and freedoms is perceived not as a concession, but as something due. In combination, such changes allow the state to become a part of the world market both from an economic point of view and from a socio-political one.

The main features and signs of an industrial society

The main characteristics can be divided into three groups: production, economic and social.

The main production features and signs of an industrial society are as follows:

• mechanization of production;
• reorganization of labor;
• division of labor;
• productivity increase.

Among the economic characteristics it is necessary to highlight:

• growing influence of private production;
• the emergence of a market for competitive products;
• expansion of sales markets.

The main economic feature of an industrial society is uneven economic development. Crisis, inflation, decline in production - all these are frequent phenomena in the economy of an industrial state. The Industrial Revolution is by no means a guarantee of stability.

The main feature of an industrial society in terms of its social development- change in values ​​and worldview, which is affected by:

• development and accessibility of education;
• improving the quality of life;
• popularization of culture and art;
• urbanization;
• expansion of human rights and freedoms.

It should be noted that the industrial society is also characterized by reckless exploitation of natural resources, including irreplaceable ones, and almost complete disregard for the environment.

Historical background

In addition to economic benefits and population growth, the industrial development of society was due to a number of other reasons. In traditional states, most people were able to secure their livelihood, and nothing more. Only a few could afford comfort, education and pleasure. The agrarian society was forced to move to an agrarian-industrial one. This transition allowed for an increase in production. However, the agrarian-industrial society was characterized by the inhumane attitude of the owners towards the workers and the low level of mechanization of production.

Pre-industrial socio-economic models rested on various forms of the slave system, which indicated the absence of universal freedoms and the low average standard of living of the population.

Industrial Revolution

The transition to an industrial society began during the Industrial Revolution. It was this period, the 18th-19th centuries, that was responsible for the transition from manual to mechanized labor. The beginning and middle of the 19th century became the apogee of industrialization in a number of leading world powers.

During the industrial revolution, the main features of the modern state took shape, such as the growth of production, urbanization, economic growth and the capitalist model. community development.

Usually, the industrial revolution is associated with the growth of machine production and intensive technological development, but it was during this period that the main socio-political changes took place that influenced the formation of a new society.

Industrialization

There are three main sectors in the composition of both the world and the state economy:

• Primary - resource extraction and agriculture.
• Secondary - processing resources and creating food.
• Tertiary - the service sector.

Traditional social structures were based on the superiority of the primary sector. Subsequently, during the transition period, the secondary sector began to catch up with the primary sector, and the service sector began to grow. Industrialization is the expansion of the secondary sector of the economy.

This process took place in world history in two stages: a technical revolution, including the creation of mechanized factories and the abandonment of manufactory, and the modernization of devices - the invention of the conveyor, electrical appliances and engines.

Urbanization

In the modern sense, urbanization is an increase in the population of large cities due to migration from rural areas. However, the transition to an industrial society was characterized by a broader interpretation of the concept.

Cities became not only places of work and migration of the population, but also cultural and economic centers. It was the cities that became the boundary of the true division of labor - territorial.

Future of industrial society

Today at developed countries there is a transition from a modern industrial society to a post-industrial one. There is a change in the values ​​and criteria of human capital.

The engine of the post-industrial society and its economy should be the knowledge industry. Therefore, scientific discoveries and technological developments of the new generation play an important role in many states. Professionals with a high level of education, good learning ability, and creative thinking. The dominant sector of the traditional economy will be the tertiary sector, that is, the service sector.

AT modern world There are various forms of societies that differ significantly from each other in many ways. In the same way, in the history of mankind it can be seen that there were different types societies.

Society typology

We examined society as if from the inside: its structural elements. But if we approach the analysis of society as an integral organism, but one of many, we will see that in the modern world there are Various types societies that differ sharply from one another in many respects. A retrospective look shows that society has also gone through various stages in its development.

It is known that any living, naturally developing organism, during the time from its birth to the end of its existence, goes through a number of stages, which, in essence, are the same for all organisms belonging to a given species, regardless of the specific conditions of their life. Probably, this statement is also true to a certain extent for social communities considered as a whole.

A typology of society is a definition of what

a) what stages humanity goes through in its historical development;

b) what forms of modern society exist.

What criteria can be used to determine historical types, as well as various forms of modern society? Different sociologists approached this problem in different ways.

So, English sociologist E. Giddens subdivides societies into the main way of earning a livelihood and identifies the following types of societies.

· Societies of hunters and gatherers consist of a small number of people who support their existence by hunting, fishing and collecting edible plants. Inequality in these societies is weakly expressed; differences in social status are determined by age and gender (the time of existence is from 50,000 BC to the present, although they are now on the verge of extinction).

・Based on agricultural societies- small rural communities; there are no cities. The main livelihood is agriculture, sometimes supplemented by hunting and gathering. These societies are more unequal than hunter-gatherer communities; These societies are headed by leaders. (The time of existence is from 12,000 BC to the present. Today, most of them are part of larger political entities and are gradually losing their specific character).

· Societies of pastoralists are based on breeding domestic animals to meet material needs. The sizes of such societies vary from a few hundred to thousands of people. These societies are usually characterized by pronounced inequality. They are ruled by leaders or commanders. The same period of time as that of agricultural societies. Today pastoral societies are also part of larger states; and their traditional way of life is being destroyed

· Traditional States, or Civilizations. In these societies, the basis of the economic system is still agriculture, but there are cities in which trade and production are concentrated. Among the traditional states there are very large ones, with a population of many millions, although usually their sizes are small in comparison with large industrial countries. Traditional states have a special government apparatus headed by a king or emperor. There is considerable inequality between the various classes (the time of existence is from about 6000 BC to the nineteenth century). To today traditional states have completely disappeared from the face of the earth. Although hunter-gatherer tribes, as well as pastoral and agricultural communities, continue to exist to this day, they can only be found in isolated areas. The reason for the destruction of societies that determined the entire human history two centuries ago was industrialization - the emergence of machine production based on the use of inanimate energy sources (such as steam and electricity). Industrial societies are in many ways fundamentally different from any of the previous types of social organization, and their development has led to consequences that affected far beyond their European homeland.

· Industrial (industrial) societies based on industrial production, with a significant role given to free enterprise. Only a small part of the population is employed in agriculture, the vast majority of people live in cities. There is significant class inequality, although less pronounced than in traditional states. These societies constitute special political formations, or nation-states (the time of existence is from the eighteenth century to the present).

industrial society - modern society. Until now, in relation to modern societies, they are divided into first, second and third world countries.

Ø Term first world designate the industrial countries of Europe, Australia, Asia, as well as the United States and Japan. Virtually all First World countries have adopted a multi-party parliamentary system of government.

Ø Countries second world they called the industrial societies that were part of the socialist camp (today such countries include societies with economies in transition, i.e. developing from a centralized state to a market system).

Ø Countries third world, in which the majority of the world's population lives, almost all were previously colonies. These are societies in which the majority of the population is employed in agriculture, lives in rural areas and uses mainly traditional methods production. However, some agricultural products are sold on the world market. The level of industrialization of the third world countries is low, the majority of the population is very poor. In some third world countries there is a system of free enterprise, in others - central planning.

Two approaches to the typology of society are best known: formational and civilizational.

A socio-economic formation is a historically defined type of society based on a certain mode of production.

Mode of production- this is one of the central concepts in Marxist sociology, characterizing a certain level of development of the entire complex of social relations. The mode of production is set of production relations and productive forces. In order to obtain means of subsistence (to produce them), people must unite, cooperate, join for joint activities into certain relationships, which are called production. Productive forces - this is a connection of people with a set of material resources that are in work: raw materials, tools, equipment, tools, buildings and structures. This the totality of material elements forms the means of production. Home integral part productive forces are, of course, themselves people (personal element) with their knowledge, skills and abilities.

Productive forces are the most flexible, mobile, continuously developing part of this unity. Industrial relations are more inert, are inactive, slow in their change, but it is they who form the shell, the nutrient medium in which the productive forces develop. The inseparable unity of the productive forces and production relations is called the mode of production., since it indicates in what way the personal element of the productive forces is connected with the material, thereby forming a specific method of obtaining material wealth inherent in a given level of development of society.

On the foundation basis (production relations) grows up superstructure. It is, in essence, the totality of all other relations "remaining minus production", and containing many different institutions, such as the state, family, religion or different kinds ideologies in society. The main specificity of the Marxist position comes from the assertion that the nature of the superstructure is determined by the nature of the basis.

A historically defined stage in the development of a given society, which is characterized by a specific mode of production and its corresponding superstructure, is called socio-economic formation.

Change in production methods(and the transition from one socio-economic formation to another) is called antagonism between obsolete relations of production and productive forces, which becomes crowded in these old frames, and they break.

Based on the formational approach, the entire human history is divided into five socio-economic formations:

primitive communal,

slaveholding,

the feudal

the capitalist,

· communist (including socialist society as its initial, first phase).

Primitive communal system (or primitive societies). Here the production method is characterized by:

1) an extremely low level of development of productive forces, all labor is necessary; everything that is produced is consumed without a trace, without forming any surplus, and therefore without giving the opportunity either to make accumulations or to carry out exchange transactions;

2) elementary production relations are based on public (more precisely, communal) ownership of the means of production; there can be no people who could afford to be professionally engaged in administration, science, religious rites, etc.;

3) it makes no sense to force captives to work: they will use everything they produce without a trace.

Slavery:

1) the level of development of productive forces makes it possible to profitably turn captives into slaves;

2) the appearance of a surplus product creates the material prerequisites for the emergence of the state and for professional religious activities, science and art (for a certain part of the population);

3) slavery as a social institution is defined as a form of property that gives one person the right to own another person.

Feudalism. The most developed feudal societies are characterized by the following features:

1) relations of the lord-vassal type;

2) monarchical form of government;

3) land ownership based on the granting of feudal estates (fiefs) in exchange for service, primarily military;

4) the existence of private armies;

5) certain rights of landlords in relation to serfs;

6) the main object of ownership in the feudal socio-economic formation is land.

Capitalism. This type of economic organization is distinguished by the following features:

1) the presence of private property;

2) making a profit is the main motive for economic activity;

3) market economy;

4) appropriation of profit by the owners of capital;

5) providing the labor process with workers who act as free agents of production.

Communism. Being more a doctrine than a practice, this concept refers to such societies in which missing:

1) private property;

2) social classes and the state;

3) forced ("enslaving man") division of labor;

4) commodity-money relations.

K. Marx argued that communist societies would gradually form after the revolutionary overthrow of capitalist societies.

The criterion of progress, according to Marx, is:

- the level of development of productive forces and the consistent increase in the share of surplus labor in the total volume of labor;

- a consistent increase in the degree of freedom of a working person in the transition from one formation to another.

The formational approach that Marx relied on in his analysis of society has historically been justified.

The needs of a more adequate understanding of modern society are met by an approach based on the analysis of civilizational revolutions. Civilization approach more versatile than formational. The development of civilizations is a more powerful, significant, long-term process than the change of formations. In modern sociology, on the question of the types of society, it is not so much the Marxian concept of a consistent change in socio-economic formations that dominates, but "triadic" scheme - types of agrarian, industrial and post-industrial civilization. Unlike the formational typology of society, which is based on economic structures, certain production relations, the concept of "civilization" fixes attention not only on the economic and technological side, but on the totality of all forms of society's life - material and economic, political, cultural, moral, religious , aesthetic. In the civilizational scheme, at the forefront is Not only the most fundamental structure of socio-historical activity - technology, but to a greater extent - a set of cultural patterns, value orientations, goals, motives, ideals.

The concept of "civilization" is important in the classification of types of society. Stand out in history civilizational revolutions:

— agricultural(it took place 6-8 thousand years ago and carried out the transition of mankind from consumer to productive activity;

— industrial(XVII century);

— scientific and technical (mid-twentieth century);

— informational(modern).

Hence, in sociology, stable is division of societies into:

- pre-industrial (agrarian) or traditional(in the modern sense, backward, basically agricultural, primitive, conservative, closed, unfree societies);

- industrial, technogenic(i.e., having a developed industrial basis, dynamic, flexible, free and open in the organization of social life);

- post-industrial(i.e., the societies of the most developed countries, the production basis of which is the use of the achievements of the scientific and technological and scientific and technological revolutions and in which, due to the sharp increase in the role and importance of the latest science and information, significant structural social changes have taken place).

Under traditional civilization understand pre-capitalist (pre-industrial) social structures of the agrarian type, in whose culture traditions are the main way of social regulation. Traditional civilization covers not only the periods of antiquity and the Middle Ages, this type of social organization has survived to our times. Many countries of the so-called "Third World" have the features of a traditional society. His characteristic signs are:

- agrarian orientation of the economy and the extensive type of its development;

- a high level of dependence on the climatic, geographical conditions of life;

— conservatism in social relations and lifestyle; focus not on development, but on the restoration and preservation of the established order and existing structures of social life;

— negative attitude to any innovations (innovations);

— extensive and cyclic type of development;

- the priority of traditions, established norms, customs, authority;

- a high level of dependence of a person on social group and hard social control;

- a sharp limitation of individual freedom.

idea industrial society developed in the 50-60s by such well-known sociologists in the United States and Western Europe as R. Dahrendorf, R. Aron, W. Rostow, D. Bell and others. The theories of industrial society are being combined today with technocratic concepts as well as with convergence theory.

The first concept of an industrial society was put forward by a French scientist Jean Fourastier in The Great Hope of the 20th Century (1949). The term "traditional society" was borrowed by him from the German sociologist M. Weber, the term "industrial society" - from A. Saint-Simon. In the history of mankind, Fourastier singled out two main stages:

The period of traditional society (from the Neolithic to 1750-1800);

· the period of industrial society (from 1750-1800 to the present).

J. Fourastier pays the main attention to the industrial society, which, in his opinion, is fundamentally different from the traditional one.

An industrial society, unlike a traditional one, is a dynamically developing, progressive society. The source of its development is technological progress. And this progress is changing not only production, but the whole society as a whole. It provides not only a significant general increase in the standard of living, but also the equalization of the incomes of all sections of society. As a result, the poor classes disappear from industrial society. Technological progress is everything social problems which makes social revolution unnecessary. This work by J. Fourastier breathes optimism.

In general, the idea of ​​an industrial society long time was not widely adopted. She became famous only after the appearance of the works of another French thinker - Raymond Aron, to which its authorship is often attributed. R. Aron, like J. Fourastier, singled out two main stage types of human society: traditional (agrarian) and industrial (rational). The first of them is characterized by the dominance of agriculture and animal husbandry, subsistence farming, the existence of estates, an authoritarian mode of government, the second - the dominance of industrial production, the market, the equality of citizens before the law and democracy.

The transition from a traditional society to an industrial one was a huge advance in every way. Industrial (technogenic) civilization formed on the ruins of medieval society. Its basis was the development of mass machine production.

Historically, the emergence of an industrial society was associated with such processes:

the creation of nation-states rallying around common language and culture;

- commercialization of production and the disappearance of the subsistence economy;

- the dominance of machine production and the reorganization of production in the factory;

- a drop in the proportion of the working class employed in agricultural production;

- urbanization of society;

- the growth of mass literacy;

- granting voting rights to the population and the institutionalization of politics around mass parties.

Traditional society (pre-industrial) is the longest of the three stages, with a history of thousands of years. Most of the history of mankind has been spent in a traditional society. This is a society with an agrarian way of life, little dynamic social structures and a method of socio-cultural regulation based on tradition. In a traditional society, the main producer is not man, but nature. Subsistence farming predominates - the absolute majority of the population (over 90%) is employed in agriculture; apply simple technologies and hence the division of labor is uncomplicated. This society is characterized by inertia, low perception of innovations. If we use Marxist terminology, traditional society is a primitive communal, slave-owning, feudal society.

industrial society

An industrial society is characterized by machine production, a national economic system, and a free market. This type of society arose relatively recently - starting from the 18th century, as a result of the industrial revolution, which first swept England and Holland, and then the rest of the world. In Ukraine, the industrial revolution began around the middle of the 19th century. The essence of the industrial revolution is the transition from manual method production to machine, from manufactory to factory. New sources of energy are being mastered: if earlier mankind used mainly the energy of muscles, less often water and wind, then with the beginning of the industrial revolution they begin to use steam energy, and later diesel engines, internal combustion engines, and electricity. In an industrial society, the task that was the main thing for a traditional society - to feed people and provide them with the things necessary for life - has receded into the background. Now only 5-10% of people employed in agriculture produce enough food for the whole society.

Industrialization leads to increased growth of cities, the national liberal-democratic state is strengthened, industry, education, and the service sector are developing. New specialized social statuses appear ("worker", "engineer", "railroad worker", etc.), class partitions disappear - no longer noble origin or family ties are the basis for determining a person in the social hierarchy, but her personal actions. In a traditional society, a nobleman, having become poor, remained a nobleman, and a rich merchant was still the face of the "ignoble". In an industrial society, everyone wins his status by personal merits - a capitalist, went bankrupt, is no longer a capitalist, and yesterday's shoe shiner can become the owner of a large company and occupy a high position in society. Social mobility is growing, there is an equalization of human capabilities, due to the universal accessibility of education.

In an industrial society, the complexity of the system social connections leads to the formalization of human relations, which in most cases become depersonalized. A modern city dweller in a week communicates with large quantity people than his distant rural ancestor in his entire life. Therefore, people communicate through their role and status “masks”: not as a specific individual with a specific individual, each of which is endowed with certain individual human qualities, but as a Teacher and a student, or a Policeman and a Pedestrian, or a Director and an Employee (“I am speaking to you as a specialist .. "," It's not customary with us ... "," the professor said ... "").

post-industrial society

Post-industrial society (the term was proposed by Daniell. Bell in 1962.). At one time, D. Bell headed the "Commission of the Year 2000", created by the decision of the US Congress. The task of this commission was to work out forecasts of the socio-economic development of the United States in the third millennium. Based on the research conducted by the commission, Daniel Bell, together with other authors, wrote the book "America in 2000". In this book, in particular, it was necessary that behind the industrial society comes new stage human history, which will be based on the achievements of scientific and technological progress. Daniel Bell called this stage "post-industrial".

In the second half of the XX century. in the most developed countries of the world, such as the United States, Western Europe, Japan, the importance of knowledge and information is growing sharply. The dynamics of updating information has become so high that already in the 70s. 20th century Sociologists have concluded (as time has shown - correct) that in the XXI century. illiterate can be considered not those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, forget the unnecessary, and learn again.

Due to the growing weight of knowledge and information, science is turning into a direct productive force of society - the progressive countries receive an increasing part of their income not from the sale of industrial products, but from the trade in new technologies and science-intensive and information products (for example: cinema, television programs, computer programs and etc.). In a post-industrial society, the entire spiritual superstructure is integrated into the production system and - thereby - the dualism of the material and the ideal is overcome. If the industrial society was economically centric, then the post-industrial society is characterized by cultural centricity: the role of the "human factor" and the entire system of socio-humanitarian knowledge directed at it is growing. This, of course, does not mean that the post-industrial society denies the basic components of the industrial society (highly developed industry, labor discipline, highly qualified personnel). As Daniel Bell noted, "the post-industrial society does not replace the industrial one, just as the industrial society does not eliminate the agricultural sector of the economy." But a person in a post-industrial society already ceases to be an "economic man". New, "post-materialistic" values ​​become dominant for her (Table 4.1).

The first “entry into the public arena” of a person for whom “post-materialistic values” are a priority is considered (G. Marcuse, S. Ayerman) a youth riot in the late 60s of the XX century, which declared the death of the Protestant work ethic as a moral one. foundations of Western industrial civilization.

Table 4.1. Comparison of industrial and post-industrial society

Scientists fruitfully worked on the development of the concept of a post-industrial society: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Alvin Toffler, Aron, Kennep Boulding, Walt Rostow and others. True, some of them used their own terms to name a new type of society that is replacing the industrial one. Kenneth Boulding calls it "post-civilization". Zbigniew Brzezinski prefers the term "technotronic society", thereby emphasizing the crucial importance of electronics and communications in the new society. Alvin Toffler calls it "super-industrial society", referring to it as a complex mobile society based on highly advanced technology and post-materialistic value system.

Alvin Toffler in 1970 He wrote: "The inhabitants of the Earth are divided not only along racial, ideological or religious lines, but also, in a certain sense, and in time. Studying the modern population of the planet, we find an insignificant group of people who still live by hunting and fishing. Others, they are the majority "rely on agriculture. They live much as their ancestors lived hundreds of years ago. These two groups together make up about 70% of the world's population. They are the people of the past.

Over 25% of the population the globe live in industrialized countries. They live modern life. They are a product of the first half of the 20th century. shaped by mechanization and mass education, brought up on memories of the agro-industrial past of their country. They are modern people.

The remaining 2-3% of the world's population cannot be called either people of the past or modern people. Because in the main centers of technological and cultural change, in New York, London, Tokyo, millions of people can be said to live in the future. These pioneers, without realizing it, live the way others will live tomorrow. They are the scouts of humanity, the first citizens of a super-industrial society."

We can add to Toffler in only one thing: today, almost 40 years later, more than 40% of humanity lives in a society that he called superindustrial.

The transition from industrial to post-industrial society is determined by the following factors:

change in the economic sphere: the transition from an economy focused on commodity production to an economy focused on the service and information sector. Moreover, we are talking first of all about highly qualified services, such as the development and general accessibility of banking services, the development of mass media and the general availability of information, health care, education, social care, and only secondarily - services provided to individual clients. In the mid 90s. 20th century in the production sector and in the service sector and the provision of information services, respectively, the following were employed: in the USA - 25% and 70% of the working population; in Germany - 40% and 55%; in Japan - 36% and 60%); what is more - even in the manufacturing sector in countries with a post-industrial economy, representatives of intellectual labor, production organizers, technical intelligentsia and administrative personnel account for about 60% of all employees;

a change in the social structure of society (professional division replaces class division). For example, Daniel Bell believes that the capitalist class is disappearing in a post-industrial society, and a new ruling elite, which has a high level of education and knowledge, takes its place;

the central place of theoretical knowledge in determining the main vectors of the development of society. The main conflict, then, in this society lies not between labor and capital, but between knowledge and incompetence. The importance of higher educational institutions A: The university has entered an industrial enterprise, the main institution of the industrial era. Under the new conditions, higher education has at least two main tasks: to create theories, knowledge that become the main factor in social change, and also to educate advisers and experts;

creation of new intellectual technologies (among others, for example, genetic engineering, cloning, new agricultural technologies, etc.).

Control questions and tasks

1. Define the term "society" and describe its main features.

2. Why is society considered a self-reproducing system?

3. How does the system-mechanical approach to understanding society differ from the system-organic one?

4. Describe the essence of the synthetic approach to understanding society.

5. What is the difference between the traditional community and modern society (terms of F. Tjonnies)?

6. Describe the main theories of the origin of society.

7. What is "anomie"? Describe the main features of this state of society.

8. How does R. Merton's anomie theory differ from E. Durkheim's anomie theory?

9. Explain the difference between the concepts of "social progress" and "social evolution".

10. What is the difference between social reform and revolution? Do you know the types of social revolutions?

11. Name the criteria of the typology of societies known to you.

12. Describe the Marxist concept of the typology of societies.

13. Compare traditional and industrial societies.

14. Describe the post-industrial society.

15. Compare post-industrial and industrial societies.

typology society post-industrial

This stage is also called traditional or agrarian. It is dominated by extractive economic activities - agriculture, fishing, mining. The vast majority of the population (about 90%) is employed in agriculture. The main task of the agrarian society was the production of food, just to feed the population. This is the longest of the three stages and has a history of thousands of years. Nowadays, most of the countries of Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia. AT pre-industrial society the main producer is not man, but nature. This stage is also characterized by rigidly authoritarian power and land ownership as the basis of the economy.

industrial society

In an industrial society, all forces are directed to industrial production in order to produce the goods necessary for society. The industrial revolution has borne fruit - now the main task of the agrarian and industrial society, which is simply to feed the population and provide them with basic livelihoods, has gone by the wayside. Only 5-10% of the population employed in agriculture produced enough food to feed the entire society.

post-industrial society

The transition to a new type of society - post-industrial - takes place in the last third of the 20th century. Society is already provided with food and goods, and various services are coming to the fore, mainly related to the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge. And as a result of the scientific and technological revolution, science turned into a direct productive force, which became the main factor in the development of society and its self-preservation.

Along with this, a person has more free time, and, consequently, opportunities for creativity, self-realization. At this time, technical developments are becoming more science-intensive, theoretical knowledge is of the greatest importance. The dissemination of this knowledge is ensured by a super-developed network of communications.

Social development can be reformist or revolutionary. Reform (from fr. reforme, lat. reformare - to transform). Revolution (from lat. revolutio - turn, coup). Social development: - this is any degree of improvement in any area of ​​public life, carried out simultaneously, through a series of gradual transformations that do not affect the fundamental foundations (systems, phenomena, structures); - this is a radical, qualitative change in all or most aspects of social life, affecting the foundations of the existing social system.

Types: 1) Progressive (for example, the reforms of the 60-70s of the XIX century in Russia - the Great reforms of Alexander II); 2) Regressive (reactionary) (for example, the reforms of the second half of the 80s - early 90s of the XIX century in Russia - "Counter-reforms" of Alexander III); 3) Short-term (for example, the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia); 4) Long-term (for example, the Neolithic revolution - 3 thousand years; the industrial revolution of the XVIII-XIX centuries). Reforms can take place in all spheres of public life: - economic reforms - transformation of the economic mechanism: forms, methods, levers and organization of the country's economic management (privatization, bankruptcy law, antimonopoly laws, etc.); -- social reforms- transformations, changes, reorganization of any aspects of public life that do not destroy the foundations of the social system (these reforms are directly related to people); -- political reforms-- changes in political sphere public life (changes in the constitution, the electoral system, the expansion of civil rights, etc.). The degree of reformist transformations can be very significant, up to changes in the social system or the type of economic system: the reforms of Peter I, the reforms in Russia in the early 90s. 20th century In modern conditions, two ways of social development - reform and revolution - are opposed to the practice of permanent reform in a self-regulating society. It should be recognized that both reform and revolution “cure” an already neglected disease, while constant and possibly early prevention is necessary. Therefore, in modern social science, the emphasis is shifted from the "reform - revolution" dilemma to "reform - innovation".

Under innovation (from the English. innovation - innovation, innovation, innovation) is understood as an ordinary, one-time improvement associated with an increase in the adaptive capabilities of the social organism in these conditions. In modern sociology, social development is associated with the process of modernization. Modernization (from French moderniser - modern) is the process of transition from a traditional, agrarian society to modern, industrial societies.

Classical theories of modernization described the so-called "primary" modernization, which historically coincided with the development of Western capitalism. Later theories of modernization characterize it through the concepts of "secondary" or "catch-up" modernization. It is carried out in the conditions of the existence of a “model”, for example, in the form of a Western European liberal model, often such modernization is understood as westernization, that is, the process of direct borrowing or planting.

In essence, this modernization is a worldwide process of displacement of local, local types of cultures and social organization by "universal" (Western) forms of modernity.

There are several classifications (typologies) of society:

• 1) pre-written and written;
• 2) simple and complex (the criterion in this typology is the number of levels of management of a society, as well as the degree of its differentiation: in simple societies there are no leaders and subordinates, rich and poor, in complex societies there are several levels of management and several social strata of the population located from top to bottom as income decreases);
• 3) primitive society, slave-owning society, feudal society, capitalist society, communist society (a formational sign acts as a criterion in this typology);
• 4) developed, developing, backward (the criterion in this typology is the level of development);
• 5) compare the following types of society (traditional (pre-industrial) - a, industrial - b, post-industrial (information) - c) along the following lines of comparison: - the main factor of production - a) land; b) capital; c) knowledge; - the main product of production - a) food; b) industrial products; c) services; - character traits production - a) manual labor; b) wide application of mechanisms, technologies; c) automation of production, computerization of society; - the nature of labor - a) individual labor; b) preferential standard activity; c) a sharp increase in creativity in labor; - employment of the population - a) agriculture - about 75%; b) agriculture - about 10%, industry - 85%; c) agriculture - up to 3%, industry - about 33%, services - about 66%; - the main type of export - a) raw materials; b) products of production; c) services; - social structure - a) estates, classes, the inclusion of everyone in the team, the isolation of social structures, low social mobility; b) class division, simplification of the social structure, mobility and openness of social structures; c) the preservation of social differentiation, the growth of the middle class, professional differentiation depending on the level of knowledge and qualifications; - life expectancy - a) 40-50 years; b) over 70 years; c) over 70 years old; - human impact on nature - a) local, uncontrolled; b) global, uncontrolled; c) global, controlled; - interaction with other countries - a) insignificant; b) close relationship; c) openness of society; - political life- a) the predominance of monarchical forms of government; no political freedoms; power is above the law, it does not need justification; a combination of self-governing communities and traditional empires; b) the proclamation of political freedoms, equality before the law, democratic reforms; power is not perceived as a given, it is required to justify the right to leadership; c) political pluralism, strong civil society; the emergence of a new form of democracy, "consensus democracy"; - spiritual life - a) traditional religious values ​​dominate; homogeneous character of culture; oral transmission of information prevails; a small number of educated people; fight against illiteracy; b) new values ​​of progress, personal success, faith in science are affirmed; mass culture emerges and occupies a leading position; training of specialists; c) the special role of science and education; development of individualized consciousness; continuous education. Formational and civilizational approaches to the study of society The most common approaches in Russian historical and philosophical science to the analysis of social development are formational and civilizational.

The first of them belongs to the Marxist school of social science, the founders of which were the German economists, sociologists and philosophers K. Marx (1818-1883) and F. Engels (1820-1895). The key concept of this school of social science is the category of "socio-economic formation".