Society in a broad sense - a form of association of people with common interests, values ​​and goals. human societies characterized by a model of relations (social relations) between people, which can be described as a set of such relations between its subjects. In the social sciences, society as a whole often exhibits stratification.

(social stratification- this is the division of society into special layers (strata) by combining various social positions with approximately the same social status, reflecting the prevailing idea of ​​​​social inequality in it, built horizontally (social hierarchy), along its axis along one or more stratification criteria (indicators of social status). The division of society into strata is carried out on the basis of the inequality of social distances between them - the main property of stratification. Social strata line up vertically and in strict sequence according to indicators of wealth, power, education, leisure, and consumption.

In social stratification, a certain social distance is established between people (social positions) and a hierarchy of social strata is formed. Thus, unequal access of members of society to certain socially significant scarce resources is fixed by establishing social filters on the borders separating social strata. For example, the allocation of social strata can be carried out according to the levels of income, education, power, consumption, the nature of work, spending free time. The social strata distinguished in society are evaluated in it according to the criterion of social prestige, which expresses the social attractiveness of certain positions.)

Society types

AT modern social science There are several types of societies.

The type of society is a set of stable features that characterize society at a specific time and among specific peoples. Typology allows you to trace how society has changed, what stages it has gone through. The typology of society is determined on the basis of certain features or criteria.

In accordance with a sign of the presence or absence of writing distinguish between pre-literate and written societies.

By criterion development of the social structure and the degree of differentiation of society distinguish between simple societies, in which there are no leaders and subordinates, poor and rich, where society is homogeneous, and complex, in which there is stratification according to property status, attitude to power, etc.

By degree social mobility allocate open societies, where social groups are not closed and there is a high social mobility of the population, and closed, where these signs are absent.

By socio-economic criteria There are two approaches to the typology of societies: formational and civilizational.

The formational approach appeared in the 19th century, its authors are K. Marx and F. Engels. The basis of the formational approach is the concept of "socio-economic formation".

A socio-economic formation is a stage in the development of society with its inherent mode of production of material goods. There are five socio-economic formations:

1. primitive;
2. slaveholding;
3. feudal;
4. capitalist;
5. communist (1st stage - socialism).

The transition from stage to stage is carried out through social revolution. The undoubted advantages of this approach is that the history of mankind appears as an objective, natural, progressive process, the driving forces and main stages of this process are clearly traced. But, at the same time, the formational approach also has a number of disadvantages. First of all, a decisive role in the historical process is given to economic factors which belittles the spiritual aspects of historical development. In addition, the formational approach is unilinear in nature, since not all countries have gone through all five formations (including a number of Eastern countries and Russia). Also, a certain social utopianism is inherent in the formational approach - the idea of ​​the inevitability of the era of communism remained unrealized.

The founders of the civilizational approach are scientists of the XIX - XX centuries. N. Danilevsky, A. Toynbee and O. Spengler. In their view, civilization is a closed world of a separate culture, existing for a certain historical period, approx. 1200 years (ancient Egyptian civilization, Chinese civilization, Romano-Germanic civilization, Russian civilization, etc.).

In modern social science, the following interpretation dominates: civilization is a stage in the development of society with its inherent level of material and spiritual culture. American sociologist D. Bell singled out three types of civilizations:

1. pre-industrial civilization (traditional, agrarian society) - existed until the 19th century. economic sphere This society is characterized by:
   • significant dependence on natural and climatic factors;
   • the dominance of the traditional type of economic processes based on agriculture and cattle breeding;
   • the dependence of the distribution of material goods on the position of the individual in the social hierarchy.
   In the political sphere, this society is characterized by the predominance of despotic, authoritarian power, which is inherited. Power belongs to one (absolute monarchy) or few (aristocratic republic). social sphere this civilization is characterized by collectivism, isolation of social groups, low dynamics, complete dependence of the individual on the whim of the ruler. In the spiritual sphere, pre-industrial civilization is characterized by the dominance of traditional culture:
   • fixing the established social and political order through myths, legends, religion;
   • predominance of oral information over written;
   • overwhelming illiteracy of the population (social "lower classes").
2. industrial civilization (industrial, industrial society) arose about 200 years ago, in the 19th century, during the period of the industrial revolution. In the economic sphere, it is characterized by independence from nature, the predominance of industrial production, powerful industrial technologies, the dominance of private property and market relations. In the political sphere democracy, legality, civil society and the rule of law are being formed. Power is not considered by a person as a given, evidence is required from the leader, justification of leadership. The problem of the legitimacy of power and control is posed. In the social sphere, an industrial society demonstrates greater mobility, openness social structures, their simplification. The position of the individual does not depend on proximity to the leader, but on his own merits. In the spiritual sphere, this society reproduces a modernized (modern) type of consciousness. A person is aware of himself as a person and is able to resist the team, to express dissent. Personality, law, freedom, equality, justice become the ideals of a man of a new era. Achieved universal literacy of the population. Human industrial society more and more aware of the unity of the world, recognizes the idea of ​​progress.
3. post-industrial civilization (information society) - the transition to this type of civilization began in the 1980s - xx. It is believed that this process affected only the most developed industrial countries(USA and Japan).

In the economy of this society there is a total distribution information technologies, telecommunications, computer technology; creation and operation of an extensive network of various data banks; turning information into critical factors economic development. There is an increase in the role of individual intellectual labor. The political sphere of the information society is characterized by the free movement of information in society and the emergence new form democracy - "consensus democracy". In the social sphere, the achieved information integrity serves as a certain basis for social integrity. This civilization is characterized by the rapid introduction of innovations and a significant speed of changes taking place in society. In the spiritual sphere, informatization processes require a new level of understanding of being, the world order, the role of reason, ethics, and aesthetics. Great importance is attached to the creative activity of man, a dialogue of various ideas and doctrines is unfolding. All existing typologies of societies allow scientists to understand the stages of the historical development of society, explore the problems of its present and look into the future. The study of the future society is engaged in a special science - futurology.

1. The emergence of a creative class - entrepreneurs (capitalists) and hired workers.

2. Growth and development of special and general education, science, culture, quality of life, infrastructure.

3. Transition to machine production.

4. Movement of population to cities - urbanization.

5. Uneven economic growth and development - stable growth alternates with recessions and crises.

6. Socio-historical progress.

7. Operation natural resources often to the detriment of the environment.

8. The basis of the economy is competitive markets and private property. The right to own the means of production is seen as natural and inalienable.

9. Labor mobility of the population is high, the possibilities of social movements are practically unlimited.

10. Entrepreneurship, diligence, honesty and decency, education, health, ability and willingness to innovate are recognized as the most important values ​​in an industrial society.

"Founded in the middle of the 20th century. The scientific and technological revolution gave humanity the atomic bomb, the computer, the spaceship and the ability to destroy itself and all life on Earth. A fundamentally new situation social consequences reflected in the fact that the theory of industrial society was supplemented by the theory of post-industrial society (R. Aron and others). Another name is the information society.

post-industrial society

The post-industrial (information) society is the next stage in the development of the economy and society, replacing the industrial society. Unlike the industrial society, whose symbols were the factory chimney and the steam engine, the computer becomes the symbol of the post-industrial society.

Mass production of goods is replaced by demassified products, produced quickly, on order, according to the interests and needs of certain groups or buyers, and even individuals. New types of industrial production are emerging: the radio-electronic industry, petrochemistry, semiconductors, biotechnology, space stations; a water economy focused on breeding and fattening fish, followed by factory “harvesting”. The role of knowledge increases sharply, as a result of which the “cognitariat” comes to replace the proletariat of industrial society, i.e. workers who are able to work efficiently with a deep knowledge of increasingly complex and diverse information. There is a widespread use of computer and communication tools, which are not only the personification new economy, but also a universal productive force. In a post-industrial society, scientific knowledge becomes not only the most important resource for new, high technology and the related new economy, but also all other areas human activity including the emergence of new power opportunities.

POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY- a term widely used in sociology and political science to refer to the highest stage in the evolution of modern Western society. The concepts of post-industrialism, despite their outward novelty, have much in common with the ideas of the founders of the theories industrial society and de-ideologization , and above all with conceptual constructions R.Arona and W. Rostow . The founder of the concept of post-industrial society is D.Bell , who advanced in his famous 1973 book The Coming Post-Industrial Society the thesis that modern Western society is entering a new phase own development that goes beyond industrialism - the dominance of the industrial sector in the economy and the corresponding social and political structure of society. Bell accepted the division of historical development into two main stages, characteristic of theories of industrialism - 1) pre-industrial, characterized by the predominance of the agricultural sector in the economy, traditional social relations and political institutions and structures, and 2) industrial, distinctive feature which becomes the dominance of the industrial sector and the modernization of the social and political institutions of society. According to Bell, con. 20th century coincides with the third stage - the stage of post-industrialism, which is distinguished by the promotion of the service sector and the production of knowledge. As a result, the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial society was determined by changes in the economy and the promotion of science to the role of one of the leading productive forces of society.

Describing the economic system of a post-industrial society, supporters of the theories of post-industrialism, as a rule, identify a number of features inherent in it. characteristic features. Among them are the decisive importance of the widespread use of information technologies, the transformation of knowledge production into an independent branch of the economy, and the university into the main place of this production, the spread of flexible forms of small-scale production industrial products, which is replacing the unified mass production, etc. In the social structure of society, these changes are correlated with the disappearance, blurring of the boundaries of social classes, thanks to universal access to the main resource of a post-industrial society - knowledge - through developed system education and the emergence of representatives of a professionally trained highly mobile elite in key positions in society. Property as a criterion of social stratification of society is losing its former importance, giving way to the level of education, accumulated knowledge. In the political sphere, post-industrialism is distinguished by the final assertion of a pluralistic democracy while improving work efficiency state institutions and structures. At the same time, supporters of the theories of pluralism focus on the first part of this statement, believing that the saturation of society with information is quite within the framework of the concept of a “competent citizen”, capable of active political participation and providing such participation with a sufficient degree of rationality and efficiency of the entire management system. Adherents of elitist views, on the contrary, focus on the training of highly qualified managers, a well-trained "ruling elite" capable of coping with the global challenges of the new era (see below). Meritocracy , New class concept etc.). Unlike an industrial society torn apart by class contradictions and social conflicts , the stage of post-industrialism, according to the supporters of the concept, is distinguished by the presence of only one main conflict - between knowledge and incompetence, efficiency and inefficiency.

Literature:

1. Bell D. The Coming Post-Industrial Society, vols. 1–2. M., 1998;
2. Block E. Postindustrial Possibilities: A Critique of Economic Discourse. Berk., 1990;
3. Brzezinski Z. America in Technetronic Age. Boston, 1967;
4. Touraine A. La société postindustrielle. P., 1969.

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 appeared and became stronger. external sources. 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. “A social group, established as a community of remembrance, guards 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", therefore "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 the actualization of the necessary interpretation of the past at the right time. This allows it to extinguish negative energy, dissatisfaction 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 the 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

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

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 a 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. In the social structure of the post-industrial society, the number of people employed in the service sector increases and new elites are formed: technocrats, scientist.

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

It is characterized by a decrease in the share and importance of industrial production due to the growth of the 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 riot 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 the new class, have 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). Information production 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 main subject of social activity will be the "free community", and the political system will be "democracy of participation"; 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 means mass communication. The development of a new information order does not mean the immediate disappearance of industrial society. Moreover, there is a possibility of establishing total control over 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.

typology society post-industrial

This stage is also called traditional or agrarian. Prey species dominate here. economic activity- farming, 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. In our time, most of the countries of Africa are still at this stage of development, Latin America and Southeast Asia. In a 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 scientific and technological revolution there was a transformation of science 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: is any degree of improvement in any area 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-- transformations 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 social system(these reforms are directly related to people); -- political reforms -- changes in the political sphere of public life (changes in the constitution, electoral system, expansion civil rights etc.). The degree of reformist transformation can be very significant, up to changes social order or type economic system: Reforms of Peter I "reforms in Russia in the early 90s. 20th century AT 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 the 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, i.e., 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".