pre-industrial society.
Society typology
Modern societies differ in many ways, but they also have the same parameters by which they can be typified.
One of the main directions in the typology of society is the choice of political relations, forms state power as grounds for singling out various types society. For example, in Plato and Aristotle, societies differ in the type of state structure: monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy. AT modern versions this approach marks the allocation of totalitarian (the state determines all the main directions of social life); democratic (the population can influence state structures) and authoritarian (combining elements of totalitarianism and democracy) societies.
Marxism based the typology of society on the distinction between societies according to the type of production relations in various socio-economic formations: primitive communal society (primitively appropriating the mode of production); societies with an Asian mode of production (the presence of a special type of collective ownership of land); slave-owning societies (ownership of people and the use of slave labor); feudal (exploitation of peasants attached to the land); communist or socialist societies (equal attitude of all to ownership of the means of production through the elimination of private property relations).
Traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies
The most stable in modern sociology is the typology based on the allocation of traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.
A traditional society (it is also called simple and agrarian) is a society with an agrarian way of life, sedentary structures and a method of sociocultural regulation based on traditions (traditional society). The behavior of individuals in it is strictly controlled, regulated by the customs and norms of traditional behavior, established social institutions, among which the family and community will be the most important. Attempts of any social transformations, innovations are rejected. It is characterized by low rates of development and production. Important for this type of society is a well-established social solidarity, which was established by Durkheim, studying the society of the Australian Aborigines.
A traditional society is characterized by a natural division and specialization of labor (mainly by gender and age), personalization of interpersonal communication (directly by individuals, and not by officials or status persons), informal regulation of interactions (by the norms of the unwritten laws of religion and morality), connectedness of members by kinship relations (family type of organization). community), a primitive system of community management (hereditary power, the rule of elders).
Modern societies are distinguished by the following features: the role-based nature of interaction (expectations and behavior of people are determined by the social status and social functions of individuals); the developing deep division of labor (on a professional and qualification basis related to education and work experience); a formal system of regulation of relations (based on written law: laws, regulations, contracts, etc.); a complex system of social management (singling out the institution of management, special governing bodies: political, economic, territorial and self-government); secularization of religion (separation of it from the system of government); the allocation of many social institutions (self-reproducing systems of special relations that allow for social control, inequality, protection of its members, distribution of benefits, production, communication).
These include industrial and post-industrial societies.
An industrial society is a type of organization of social life that combines the freedom and interests of the individual with general principles that govern them joint activities. It is characterized by the flexibility of social structures, social mobility, and a developed system of communications.
In the 1960s the concepts of a post-industrial (information) society appear (D. Bell, A. Touraine, J. Habermas), caused by drastic changes in the economy and culture of the most developed countries. The role of knowledge and information, computer and automatic devices. An individual who has received the necessary education, who has access to the latest information, gets an advantageous chance of moving up the ladder of the social hierarchy. Creative work becomes the main goal of a person in society.
The negative side of the post-industrial society is the 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 life world of human society is increasingly subject to the logic of efficiency and instrumentalism. Culture, including traditional values, is 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 a post-industrial society:
- - the transition from the production of goods to the economy of services;
- - the rise and dominance of highly educated vocational specialists;
- - the main role 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 technological innovations;
- - decision-making based on the creation of intellectual technology, as well as using the so-called information technology.
The latter was brought to life by the needs of the information society that began to take shape. The emergence of such a phenomenon is by no means accidental. basis social dynamics in information society are not traditional material resources, which are also largely exhausted, but informational (intellectual): knowledge, scientific, organizational factors, intellectual abilities of people, their initiative, creativity.
The concept of post-industrialism has been developed in detail today, it has a lot of supporters and an ever-increasing number of opponents. In the world, two main directions for assessing the future development of human society have been formed: eco-pessimism and techno-optimism. Ecopessimism predicts total global catastrophe in 2030 due to rising pollution environment; destruction of the Earth's biosphere. Techno-optimism paints a more rosy picture, assuming that scientific and technological progress will cope with all the difficulties in the development of society.
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 that 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 instilled from childhood and moral guidelines. 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- 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 is also necessary to highlight the 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.
Modern societies differ in many ways, but they also have the same parameters by which they can be typified.
One of the main trends in 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. In modern versions of this approach, there is a distinction totalitarian(the state determines all the main directions of social life); democratic(population can influence government structures) and authoritarian(combining elements of totalitarianism and democracy) societies.
The basis typology of society supposed Marxism difference between societies type of industrial relations in various socio-economic formations: primitive communal society (primitive appropriating mode of production); societies with an Asian mode of production (the presence of a special type of collective ownership of land); slave-owning societies (ownership of people and the use of slave labor); feudal (exploitation of peasants attached to the land); communist or socialist societies (equal attitude of all to ownership of the means of production through the elimination of private property relations).
Traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies
The most stable in modern sociology is considered a typology based on the allocation traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.
traditional society(it is also called simple and agrarian) is a society with an agrarian way of life, sedentary structures and a method of sociocultural regulation based on traditions (traditional society). The behavior of individuals in it is strictly controlled, regulated by the customs and norms of traditional behavior, established social institutions, among which the family will be the most important. Attempts of any social transformations, innovations are rejected. For him characterized by low rates of development, production. Important for this type of society is the well-established social solidarity that Durkheim established while studying the society of Australian aborigines.
traditional society characterized by a natural division and specialization of labor (mainly by gender and age), personalization of interpersonal communication (directly individuals, not officials or status persons), informal regulation of interactions (norms of unwritten laws of religion and morality), connectedness of members by kinship relations (family type of community organization) , a primitive system of community management (hereditary power, the rule of elders).
Modern societies differ in the following traits: the role-based nature of interaction (expectations and behavior of people are determined by the social status and social functions of individuals); the developing deep division of labor (on a professional and qualification basis related to education and work experience); a formal system of regulation of relations (based on written law: laws, regulations, contracts, etc.); a complex system of social management (singling out the institution of management, special governing bodies: political, economic, territorial and self-government); secularization of religion (separation of it from the system of government); the allocation of many social institutions (self-reproducing systems of special relations that allow for social control, inequality, protection of its members, distribution of benefits, production, communication).
These include industrial and post-industrial societies.
industrial society- this is a type of organization of social life, which combines the freedom and interests of the individual with the general principles governing their joint activities. It is characterized by the 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, Y. Habermas), caused by drastic changes in the economy and culture of the most developed countries. The role of knowledge and information, computer and automatic devices is recognized as leading in society.. An individual who has received the necessary education, who has access to the latest information, gets an advantageous chance of moving up the ladder of the social hierarchy. Creative work becomes the main goal of a person in society.
The negative side of the 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.
life world human society is getting stronger obeys the logic of efficiency and instrumentalism. Culture, including traditional values, is destroyed under the influence of administrative control gravitating towards standardization and unification of social relations, social behavior. Society is increasingly subject to the logic of economic life and bureaucratic thinking.
Distinctive features of a post-industrial society:- the transition from the production of goods to a service economy;
- the rise and dominance of highly educated vocational professionals;
- 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 technological innovations;
- decision-making based on the creation of intelligent technology, as well as using the so-called information technology.
The latter was brought to life by the needs of the one that began 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): knowledge, scientific, organizational factors, intellectual abilities of people, their initiative, creativity.
The concept of post-industrialism has been developed in detail today, it 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. eco-pessimism predicts in 2030 a total global catastrophe due to increasing environmental pollution; destruction of the Earth's biosphere. Techno-optimism draws a more rosy picture, assuming that scientific and technological progress will cope with all the difficulties in the development of society.
Basic typologies of society
Several typologies of society have been proposed in the history of social thought.
Typologies of society during the formation of sociological science
French scientist, founder of sociology O. Comte proposed a three-part stadial typology, which included:
- stage of military domination;
- stage of feudal rule;
- stage of industrial civilization.
The basis of the typology G. Spencer the principle of the evolutionary development of societies from simple to complex, i.e. from an elementary society to an increasingly differentiated one. Spencer presented the development of societies as an integral part of an evolutionary process that is unified 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 an integration factor. From this phase, through a series of intermediate phases, society develops to the highest pole - an industrial society dominated by democracy, the voluntary nature of integration, spiritual pluralism and diversity.
Typologies of society in the classical period of development of sociology
These typologies differ from those described above. The sociologists of that period saw their task in explaining it, starting not from the general order of nature and the laws of its development, but from itself and its internal laws. So, E. Durkheim strove to find the "original cell" of the social as such, and for this purpose sought 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 it is based on the principle of complicating the form of social solidarity, i.e. awareness by individuals of their unity. Mechanical solidarity operates in simple societies, because the individuals that make up them are very similar in consciousness and life situation - like particles of a mechanical whole. In complex societies there is a complex system of division of labor, differentiated functions of individuals, therefore the individuals themselves are separated from each other in terms of their way of life and consciousness. They are united functional connections, and their solidarity is "organic", functional. Both types of solidarity are present in any society, but mechanical solidarity dominates in archaic societies, while organic solidarity dominates in modern ones.
German classic of sociology M. Weber viewed the social as a system of domination and subordination. His approach was based on the concept of society as the result of a struggle for power and to maintain dominance. Societies are classified according to the type of domination that has developed in them. The charismatic type of domination arises on the basis of a personal special power - charisma - of the ruler. Charisma is usually held by priests or leaders, and such dominance is irrational and does not require a special system of government. Modern society, according to Weber, is characterized by 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 a French sociologist J. Gurvich differs by 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 magic power leader (Polynesia, Melanesia);
- tribal with a military organization, consisting of family groups and clans (North America);
- tribal tribes united in 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 policies, 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 distinguishes: a technical-bureaucratic society; a liberal-democratic society built on the principles of collectivist etatism; a society of pluralistic collectivism, etc.
Typologies of the Society of Contemporary Sociology
The postclassical stage in the development of sociology is characterized by typologies based on the principle of the technical and technological development of societies. Nowadays, the most popular typology is one that distinguishes traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.
Traditional societies characterized by a high development of agricultural labor. The main sector of production is the procurement of raw materials, which is carried out within the framework of peasant families; members of society seek to meet mainly domestic needs. The basis of the economy is the family economy, capable of satisfying, if not all of their needs, then a significant part of them. Technical development is extremely weak. In decision making, the main method is the trial and error method. Social relations are extremely poorly developed, as is social differentiation. Such societies are traditionally oriented and therefore directed towards the past.
industrial society - a society characterized by high industrial development and rapid economic growth. Economic development is carried out mainly due to an extensive, consumer attitude to nature: in order to meet its actual 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 plants. Such a society and its members strive for maximum adaptation to the present moment and satisfaction of social needs. The main decision-making method is empirical research.
Another very important feature of an industrial society is the so-called "modernizing 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 an industrial society. If an industrial society is characterized by a desire for the maximum development of industry, then in a post-industrial society, knowledge, technology and information play a much more noticeable (and ideally paramount) role. In addition, the service sector is developing at a rapid pace, overtaking industry.
AT post-industrial society no faith in the omnipotence of science. This is partly due to the fact that humanity has faced the negative consequences of its own activities. For this reason, “environmental values” come to the fore, and this means not only a careful attitude to nature, but also an attentive attitude to the balance and harmony necessary for the adequate development of society.
The basis of a post-industrial society is information, which in turn gave rise to another type of society - informational. According to the proponents of the information society theory, 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.
Service providers either provide information or use it. For example, teachers transfer knowledge to students, repairmen use their knowledge to service equipment, lawyers, doctors, bankers, pilots, designers sell to clients their specialized knowledge of laws, anatomy, finance, aerodynamics and color schemes. They do not produce anything, unlike factory workers in an industrial society. Instead, they transfer or use knowledge to provide services that others are willing to pay for.
Researchers are already using the term virtual society" to describe the modern type of society that has developed and is developing under the influence of information technologies, especially Internet technologies. The virtual, or possible, world has become a new reality as a result of the computer boom that has swept society. Virtualization (replacement of reality with a simulation/image) of society, the 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 defining 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 person”; it focuses on new, “post-materialistic” values. The emphasis is shifting to social, humanitarian problems, and the priority issues are the quality and safety of life, self-realization of the individual in various social spheres, in connection with which new criteria for well-being and social well-being are being formed.
According to the concept of a post-economic society developed by the Russian scientist V.L. Inozemtsev, in a post-economic society, in contrast to an economic society oriented towards 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 the history of mankind, in which three large-scale eras can be distinguished - pre-economic, economic and post-economic. This periodization is based on two criteria - the 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 a person's economic activity is becoming more intense and complex, but is no longer determined by his material interests, is not set by the traditionally understood economic feasibility. The economic basis of such a society is formed by the destruction of private property and a return to personal property, to a state of non-alienation of the worker from the instruments of production. The post-economic society is characterized by a new type of social confrontation - the confrontation between the information and intellectual elite and all people who are not included in it, who are employed in the sphere of mass production and, because of this, are forced out to the periphery of society. However, each member of such a society has the opportunity to enter the elite himself, since belonging to the elite is determined by abilities and knowledge.
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 behaviors and explanatory myths that organize the world around them. It fills the human world with meaning and represents the “tamed”, “civilized” part of the world.
The communicative space of a traditional society is reproduced by the direct participants in the events, but it is much wider, since it includes and is determined by the previous experience of adapting the collective or community to the landscape, environment, and, more broadly, to the surrounding circumstances. The communicative space of a traditional society is total, since it completely subjugates a person's life and within its framework a person has a relatively small repertoire of possibilities. It is fastened with the help of historical memory. In the pre-literate 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 broadcasting 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 the main religions turn out to be effective enough to keep tens and even hundreds of millions of people all over the world in their communicative space. Religious communications can interact. If this symbiosis is long-standing, then the degree of penetration of one or another religion into traditional culture can be quite significant. Although some traditional cultures are more tolerant and allow, for example, the Japanese traditional culture, to visit temples of different religions for their adherents, they are usually still clearly closed to a particular religion. Confessional communications can even supplant earlier ones, but more often a symbiosis occurs: they penetrate each other and are significantly intertwined. Major religions incorporate many of the earlier beliefs, including mythological subjects and their heroes. That is, in reality, one becomes part of the other. It is the confession that sets the main theme for religious communicative flows - salvation, the achievement of merging with God, etc. Thus, confessional communications play an important therapeutic role, helping people to more easily endure difficulties and hardships.
In addition, confessional communications have a significant, sometimes decisive, impact on the picture of the world of a person who is or was under their influence. The language of religious communication is the language of social power that stands above a person, determines the features of the worldview and requires him to obey the canons. So, the features of Orthodoxy, according to I.G. Yakovenko, left a serious imprint on the mentality of the adherents of this direction in the form of a cultural code of traditional domestic culture. The cultural code, in his opinion, contains eight elements: orientation towards syncresis or the ideal of syncresis, a special cognitive construct "due"/"existent", eschatological complex, Manichaean intention, world-reflecting or gnostic attitude, "split of cultural consciousness", sacral status power, extensive dominant. “All these moments do not exist in isolation, are not side by side, but are presented in a single whole. They support each other, intertwine, complement each other and that is why they 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 that have external sources appeared and became stronger. They needed a unifying idea - heroes, common gods, states. More precisely, the new centers of power needed unifying communications. It could be confessional communications that held people together with symbols of faith. And there could be power communications, where the main method of consolidation was, in one form or another, coercion.
The big city as a phenomenon appears in modern times. This is due to the intensification of life and activities of people. A big city is a receptacle for people who came 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, communication professionals that have appeared: teachers, cultists, journalists, etc. based on different versions of what happened. These versions can be both the result of independent reflection, and the result of the order of certain interest groups.
Modern researchers distinguish several types of memory: mimetic (associated with activity), historical, social or cultural. It is memory that is the element that holds together and creates continuity in the transfer of ethno-social experience from older to younger generations. Of course, memory does not preserve all the events that happened to representatives of this or that ethnic group during the period of its existence, it is selective. It preserves the most important, key of them, but keeps them in a transformed, mythologized form. " social group, which is established as a community of remembrance, protects its past from two main points of view: originality and longevity. 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", so "the facts stored in memory are usually selected and arranged in such a way as to emphasize correspondence, similarity, continuity"
If traditional communications contributed to the achievement of the necessary cohesion of the group and maintained the balance of “I” - “We” identity necessary for its survival, then modern communications, being mediated, have, in many respects, a different goal. This is the actualization of the 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 past and present events with the help of modern media and mass media.
When throwing a portion of new pseudo-actual 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: a mass person, without making efforts, without resorting to actions, gets tired quickly enough, receiving a concentrated portion of impressions, and as a result of this, as a rule, there is no desire to change anything in his life and in his environment. He, with the 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 see here necessarily someone's conspiracy - there is no less 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 depend on this, and hence the income of the owners of the relevant media and mass media. Viewers are already accustomed to consume information, looking for the most sensational and entertaining. With its excess, with the illusion of participation in the process of its joint consumption, the average mass person practically does not have 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 achieve actualization in right moment necessary interpretation of the past. This allows it to extinguish negative energy, dissatisfaction of the population with the current state of affairs in the direction of its internal or external opponents, who in this case already become enemies. This mechanism turns out to be very convenient for the authorities, as it allows them to deflect a blow from themselves at the right moment, divert attention in a situation that is unfavorable for themselves. The mobilization of the population carried out in this way makes it possible for the authorities to straighten public opinion in the direction they need, to defame enemies and create favorable conditions for conducting further activities. Without such a policy, holding power becomes problematic.
In a situation of modernization, risks, both social and technological, increase significantly. 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 blurring of the cosmos of due. A person, getting used to innovations, “does not notice the subtle transformation of his own consciousness, which, along with new skills, masters cultural meanings, attitudes and attitudes. Along with the disintegration of traditional culture, the degree of individualization gradually increases, i.e. separation of "I" from the collective "We". The established, seemingly forever communicative and economic practices are changing.
Intergenerational exchange is curtailed. Old people cease to enjoy authority. Society is changing drastically. The main channels for the transfer of knowledge and traditions are the media and media, libraries, and universities. “Traditions are mainly used by those generational forces that seek to preserve the existing order and stability of their community, society as a whole, 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 elements of the usual traditional culture in one form or another. Without this, the structures and people at the forefront of change are unlikely to have the necessary legitimacy to stay in power. Experience shows that modernization processes will be the more successful, the more the advocates of change manage to achieve a balance between the old and the new, between elements of traditional culture and innovation.
Industrial and post-industrial society
An industrial society is a type of economically developed society in which industry is the predominant sector of the national economy.
An 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 media, the service sector, high mobility and urbanization, and the growing role of the state in regulating the socio-economic sphere.
1. Approval of the industrial technological order 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. Emergence of the nation-state, organized on the basis of 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 (ex. all suffrage)
7. Growth in the level of consumption ("revolution of consumption", formation of the "welfare state")
8. Changing the structure of working and free time (the formation of a "consumer society")
9. Change in the demographic type of development (low birth rate, mortality, increase in life expectancy, aging of the population, i.e. an increase in the proportion of older age groups).
Post-industrial society - a society in which the service sector has a priority development and prevails over the volume of industrial production and agricultural production. AT social structure post-industrial society, the number of people employed in the service sector increases and new elites are formed: technocrats, scientists.
This concept was first proposed by D. Bell in 1962. It recorded the entry in the late 50s and early 60s. developed Western countries that have exhausted the potential of industrial production, in a qualitatively new stage development.
It is characterized by a decrease in the share and importance of industrial production due to the growth of the service and information sectors. The production of services becomes the main area of economic activity. Thus, in the United States, about 90% of the employed population now works in the field of information and services. Based on these changes, there is a rethinking of all the basic characteristics of an industrial society, a fundamental change in theoretical guidelines.
Thus, a post-industrial society is defined as a "post economic", "post labor" society, i.e. a society in which the economic subsystem loses its defining significance, and labor ceases to be the basis of all social relations. A person in a post-industrial society is no longer considered as an "economic person" par excellence.
The first "phenomenon" of such a person is considered 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, self-realization of the individual. New criteria for well-being and social well-being are being formed.
A post-industrial society is also defined as a "post-class" society, which reflects the disintegration of the stable social structures and identities characteristic of an industrial society. If before the status of an individual in society was determined by his place in the economic structure, i.e. class belonging to which all other social characteristics were subordinated, now the status characteristic of an individual is determined by many factors, among which an increasing role is played by education, the level of culture (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 lies in the fact that in a post-industrial society, 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 the class" also seem clearly exaggerated and premature.
However, significant changes in the structure of society, associated primarily with a change in the role of knowledge and its carriers in society, are undoubtedly taking place (see information society). Thus, we can agree with D. Bell's statement that "the changes that are fixed 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). Mashloop was one of the first to study the information sector of the economy on the example of the United States. In modern philosophy and other social sciences, the concept of "I.O." is rapidly developing as a concept of a new social order, significantly different in its characteristics from the previous one. Initially, the concept of "post-capitalist" - "post-industrial society" is postulated (Dahrendorf, 1958), within which the production and dissemination of knowledge begins to dominate in the sectors of the economy, and, accordingly, a new industry appears - the information economy. The rapid development of the latter determines its control over the sphere of business and the state (Galbraith, 1967). The organizational bases of this control are highlighted (Baldwin, 1953; White, 1956), which, when applied to the social structure, signifies the emergence of a new class, the so-called meritocracy (Young, 1958; Gouldner, 1979). The production of information and communication become a centralized process (the "global village" theory of McLuen, 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 main 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 labor; 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 potential market will be the "frontier of the known", the possibility of solving problems and developing cooperation will increase; the leading branch of the economy will be intellectual production, the products of which will be accumulated, and the accumulated information will become spread through synergistic production and share use"; in the new information society, the "free community" will become the main subject of social activity, and the "participatory democracy" will be the political system; the main goal in the new society will be the realization of the "value of time". Masuda offers a new, integral and humane utopia of the 21st century, which he himself called "Computopia", which includes the following parameters: (1) the pursuit and realization of the values of the time; (2) freedom of decision and equality of opportunity; (3) the rise of various free communities; (4) synergetic relationship in society; (5) functional associations free from overriding authority. The new society will potentially have the ability 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 an 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, J. Nisbet are also 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 mass media. 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 the 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 ruled out even by those Western futurists (E. Masuda, O. Toffler), who are optimistic about the future transformations of the social order.
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; simple technologies are used, and therefore the division of labor is simple. 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 to machine production, 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 after the industrial society a new stage of human history begins, 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 world, such as the USA, countries Western Europe, Japan dramatically increases the value of knowledge and information. 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 primarily about highly qualified services, such as the development and general availability 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 its place is being taken by a new ruling elite that has high level education and knowledge;
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: university entered industrial enterprise, the main institution of the industrial age. 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.
