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Traditional society is easier to destroy than to modernize. The problem of modernization of traditional societies. Seminar Plan

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Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Siberian State University of Science and Technology named after Academician M.F. Reshetnev"

"The problem of modernization of traditional societies"

Completed: Art. gr. MPD16-01

Solomatin S.P.

Checked by: Associate Professor of the Department of RK

Titov E.V.

Krasnoyarsk 2017

Introduction

Conclusion

traditional modernization industrial

Introduction

The unevenness inherent in the development of human civilization in general determines in our time the existence of profound differences in the development of countries and peoples. If some countries have highly developed productive forces, others are confidently reaching the level of moderately developed countries, then in the third countries the process of formation of modern structures and relations is still underway.

The fundamental events of recent decades, such as globalization, local and international instability, the growth of fundamentalism in the Islamic world, the national renaissance (expressed in an ever-increasing interest in original, national cultures), the threat of an ecological catastrophe created in connection with human activity, make the question of patterns relevant and trends in world social development.

However, a significant part of them can be reduced to manifestations of such a global process as the modernization of traditional societies, affecting all societies and states. Before our eyes, cultures and civilizations, which for centuries have retained more or less unshakable foundations of their way of life, are rapidly changing and acquiring new features and qualities. This process began during European colonization, when the traditional societies of Asia, Africa and Latin America began to transform - either from the outside, through the efforts of the colonialists themselves, or from within, in order to maintain their independence and resist a new and powerful enemy. The impetus for modernization was precisely the challenge from Western civilization, to which traditional societies were forced to give an “answer”. Russian authors, speaking of the huge difference in the levels of development of advanced and developing countries, operate with an expressive image of a “split civilization”. “The result of the twentieth century, which felt the taste of earthly abundance, knew the taste of the “Gilded Age”, the century of scientific and technological breakthrough and the most intensive breakthrough of the productive forces of society,” writes A.I. Nekless, - this result, in general, is still disappointing: on the threshold of the third millennium of the existence of modern civilization, social stratification on the planet Earth is not decreasing, but growing.

Conditions of existence in the poor countries of the Third World: about a billion people there are cut off from productive work. Every third inhabitant of the Earth still does not use electricity, 1.5 billion do not have access to safe sources of drinking water. All this generates social and political tension. The number of emigrants and victims of interethnic conflicts has increased rapidly from 8 million people in the late 1970s. up to 23 million people by the mid-1990s. Another 26 million people are temporary migrants. These facts give grounds to talk about the "organic undemocratic nature of the global universe, its ... class"

Modernization takes place in societies in which, up to the present time, the traditional worldview has been largely preserved, affecting both the features of the economic and political structure, and the nature and direction of the changes caused by modernization.

Modern scientists believe that 2/3 of the world's population to a greater or lesser extent has features of traditional societies in their way of life.

The confrontation between the “modern” and the “traditional” arose as a result of the collapse of the colonial system and the need to adapt the countries that appeared on the political map of the world to the modern world, modern civilization. Between the 17th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Western countries, using their military superiority if necessary, turned areas previously occupied by traditional societies into their colonies. And although today almost all colonies have achieved independence, colonialism has radically changed the social and cultural map of the globe. In some regions (North America, Australia and New Zealand) that were inhabited by relatively few hunter-gatherer tribes, Europeans now make up the majority of the population. In other parts of the world, including most of Asia, Africa and South America, the aliens have remained in the minority. Societies belonging to the first type, such as the United States, eventually became industrialized countries. Societies of the second category are, as a rule, at a much lower level of industrial development, and they are often called third world countries. The world market began to take shape in the era of the great geographical discoveries, but only by the beginning of the 900s. swept the whole world. Almost the entire world was open to economic ties. The European world-economy has assumed a planetary scale, it has become global.

At the end of the XIX century. the system of global capitalism has developed. But in fact, the modernization processes began much earlier, back in colonial times, when European officials, being firmly convinced of the beneficence and usefulness of their activities for the "natives", exterminated their traditions and beliefs, which, in their opinion, were harmful to the progressive development of these peoples. Then it was assumed that modernization, first of all, implies the introduction of new, progressive forms of activity, technologies and ideas, that it is a means of accelerating, simplifying and facilitating the path that these peoples still have to go through.

The destruction of many cultures that followed the forced "modernization" led to the realization of the viciousness of such an approach, the need to create scientifically based theories of modernization. A group of American anthropologists led by M. Herskovitz, during the preparation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, held under the auspices of the UN, proposed to proceed from the fact that in each culture the standards and values ​​are of a special nature, therefore, each person has the right to live according to the understanding of freedom that is accepted in his society. Unfortunately, the universalist point of view, derived from the evolutionary approach, has prevailed, and today this Declaration states that human rights are the same for representatives of all societies, regardless of their traditions. But it's no secret that the human rights written there are postulates formulated specifically by European culture.

It was believed that the transition from a traditional society to a modern one (and it was considered mandatory for all cultures and peoples) was possible only through modernization.

The scientific understanding of modernization has found expression in a number of heterogeneous concepts that seek to explain the process of a natural transition from traditional societies to a modern one, then to the postmodern era. This is how the theory of industrial society (K. Marx, O. Comte, G. Spencer), the concept of formal rationality (M. Weber), the theory of mechanical and organic modernization (E. Durkheim), the formal theory of society (G. Simmel) arose. Differing in their theoretical and methodological attitudes, they are nevertheless united in their neo-evolutionary assessments of modernization, stating that:

Changes in society are unilinear, therefore, less developed countries must follow the path followed by the developed ones:

These changes are irreversible and lead to the inevitable end - modernization;

Change is gradual, cumulative and peaceful;

All stages of this process must inevitably be passed through;

Of particular importance are the internal sources of this movement;

Modernization will improve life in these countries.

It was also recognized that modernization processes should be started and controlled "from above" by the intellectual elite. In fact, this is a deliberate copying of Western society.

All theories considered the modernization mechanism as a spontaneous process. It was assumed that if the interfering barriers were removed, everything would go by itself, it was enough to show the advantages of Western civilization (at least on TV), and everyone would immediately want to live the same way.

But reality disproved these theories. Not all societies, having seen the Western way of life closer, rushed to imitate it. And those who followed this path quickly got acquainted with the underside of this life, faced with increasing poverty, social disorganization, anomie, crime. In addition, decades have shown that not everything in traditional societies is bad, and some of their features coexist perfectly with cutting-edge technologies. This was proved primarily by Japan and South Korea, which cast doubt on the former firm orientation towards the West. The historical experience of these countries made us abandon the theories of unilinear world development as the only true ones and formulate new theories that revived the civilizational approach to the analysis of ethno-cultural processes.

1. Concepts of traditional society

Traditional society is understood as pre-capitalist (pre-industrial) social structures of the agrarian type, which are characterized by high structural stability and a method of socio-cultural regulation based on tradition. In modern historical sociology, the stages of pre-industrial society are considered as a traditional society - poorly differentiated (communal, tribal, existing within the framework of the "Asian mode of production"), differentiated, multi-structural and class (like European feudalism) - mainly for the following conceptual reasons:

according to the similarity of property relations in the first case, the direct producer has access to land only through the genus or community, in the second - through the feudal hierarchy of owners, which is equally opposed to the capitalist principle of indivisible private property);

some general features of the functioning of culture (the huge inertia of once accepted cultural patterns, customs, modes of action, labor skills, the non-individual nature of creativity, the predominance of prescribed patterns of behavior, etc.);

the presence in both cases of a relatively simple and stable division of labor, tending towards class or even caste consolidation.

These features emphasize the difference between all other types of social organization from industrial-market, capitalist societies.

The traditional society is extremely stable. As the well-known demographer and sociologist Anatoly Vishnevsky writes, “everything is interconnected in it and it is very difficult to remove or change any one element”

2. Specific features and characteristics of the development of developing countries

The RS group includes over 120 states. The features (signs) of the countries of the developing world, first of all, include:

Transitional nature of internal socio-economic structures (range, multi-structural nature of the PC economy);

Relatively low overall level of development of productive forces, backwardness of agriculture, industry, and services; and as a consequence,

Dependent position in the system of the world economy.

The division of developing countries is carried out according to such indicators as the level and pace of their economic development, position and specialization in the world economy, the structure of the economy, the availability of fuel and raw materials, the nature of dependence on the main centers of rivalry, etc. Among developing countries, it is customary to single out exporters and non-exporters of oil, as well as states and territories that specialize in the export of finished products.

They can be subdivided as follows: the top echelon consists of “new industrial countries” - NIEs (or “new industrial economies” - NIEs), followed by countries with an average level of economic development and, finally, the least developed (or often the poorest) states of the world.

The pre-industrial stage of production is characterized by the following features:

the primary sphere of the economy (agriculture) predominates;

the vast majority of the able-bodied population is engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry;

economic activity is dominated by manual labor (progress was observed only in the transition from simple to complex tools);

in production, the division of labor is very poorly developed and primitive forms of its organization (subsistence farming) have been preserved for centuries;

in the mass of the population, the most elementary needs predominate, which, together with production, are in stagnant sucking.

Weak infrastructure.

The population is less than 75 million people.

The initial stage of production is still typical, for example, for some African countries (Guiana, Mali, Guinea, Senegal, etc.), where two-thirds of the population is employed in agriculture). Primitive hand tools allow a worker to feed no more than two people.

Countries that are in the process of sluggish retraction into the system of capitalist relations include

Latin American countries

Production in these countries, with the exception of Chile and Mexico, is either poorly modernized (Argentina, Brazil) or not modernized at all, which predetermines the low competitiveness of export goods (for example, Argentinean and Brazilian cars).

Transformations in the economy are often carried out in isolation from the social sphere.

Developing countries in Africa, which are characterized by:

The nature and pace of economic growth are under the influence of a number of constraints, among which, in addition to the negative impact of a wasteful public sector and underdeveloped economic infrastructure, one should mention internal political instability, interstate conflicts, a decrease in the inflow of financial resources from outside, worsening terms of trade, difficulty in accessing international markets .

The strong dependence of the economy of African states on external factors, and above all on trade with foreign countries; its recovery can be directly linked to the adoption and implementation of such measures as the reduction of import customs tariffs, the abolition of taxes on the export of agricultural products, and the reduction of taxes on corporations.

The high level of corporate tax (40% and above) effectively stifles African entrepreneurs, preventing them from accessing foreign markets, and creates a breeding ground for corruption and tax evasion.

Instability of the economy (poorly developed capital markets, no well-designed insurance schemes).

The prospects for the development and implementation of an independent economic policy in African countries are now directly related to their obligations to comply with the recommendations of the IMF and the World Bank on the implementation of a policy of "structural adjustment".

Newly industrialized countries (NIS).

Newly industrialized countries (NIEs) - Asian countries, former colonies or semi-colonies, whose economy in a relatively short period has made a leap from a backward, typical for developing countries, to a highly developed one. The NIS "first wave" include the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan. The NIS of the "second wave" includes Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Intensive economic growth in a number of Southeast Asian countries was based on the following features of economic development:

high level of savings and investments;

export orientation of the economy;

high competitiveness due to relatively low wage rates;

a significant inflow of foreign direct and portfolio investment due to the relative liberalization of capital markets;

favorable institutional factors for the formation of a "market-oriented" economy.

high level and accessibility of education

Development prospects:

Indonesia and the Philippines have rich natural resource potential for industrial development. Although the agricultural sector occupies an important part of the economy, industrialization is gradually increasing the pace of development and the share of the non-manufacturing sector is growing. Tourism is an important sector of the economy, attracting foreign capital to the country.

The natural part of Singapore's recreational resources is not as rich as the Indonesian and Philippine, but the technogenic component is much larger and is at one of the highest levels in Southeast Asia and the world as a whole.

The convenient geographical position of countries at the crossroads of sea and air routes also play a huge role in the development of the economy.

economic growth than many industrialized countries, as well as a significantly higher level of mental development compared with the main group of developing countries.

The NIS countries personify new trends in the development of capitalism in the modern era, demonstrate the opportunities that modernization brings with it, focused on Western civilization, taking into account national traditions and foundations. The new industrial countries, relying on the experience and assistance of the leading capitalist countries, carried out an extremely fast, in just a few decades, passage from underdevelopment to the industrial stage of development and took a certain place in the international division of labor, the world economy, and the deployment of the modern technological revolution.

One of the forms of modernization of the former colonies, along with the capitalist, was the socialist, opening for some countries the path of non-capitalist development or socialist orientation. However, their inability to develop independently, the mistakes of the leadership in choosing an economic strategy and methods for its implementation revealed the failure of this development model. Here it is important to find out both internal and external factors that influenced the refusal of this group of countries from this form of modernization.

3. Changes in the social class structure of traditional societies in the process of economic development

Developing countries, unlike Western states, have not yet overcome the communal type of sociality, which goes back to the tribal system. It is determined by the personal nature of social relations, ties based on kinship, neighborhood, clan, tribe, etc. In a number of developing countries, an extensive and strong civil society has not been formed - a socially organized structure consisting of amateur organizations of voluntary membership.

As is known, civil society institutions play a structure-forming role in social life. In developing countries, the formation of a modern economy and the growth of the state apparatus are significantly ahead of the formation of civil society institutions. The elements of civil society that have arisen on an independent basis do not yet form an integral and unified system. Civil society has not yet separated from state structures. Until now, vertical social ties prevail with weak horizontal ones.

The study of the issue of the problems of transition from traditional to continuously changing modern industrial society requires special attention. The modernization of traditional societies of the modern world differs significantly from that which was carried out during the period of transition from feudalism to capitalism. For developing countries in our time there is no need to repeat the version of the industrial revolution, as well as to carry out social revolutions. Modernization in these countries proceeds in the presence of socio-cultural and economic models presented by developed countries. However, none of the traditional societies can borrow in its pure form one or another model of socio-economic development, tested in Western countries.

Most researchers of globalization note that its "reverse side" is the process of "regionalization" or "fragmentation", i.e. strengthening of the socio-political heterogeneity of the world against the backdrop of increasing Westernization pressure from the West. According to M. Castells, “The era of economic globalization is also the era of policy localization”

The direct content of modernization is several areas of change. In a historical aspect, it is a synonym for Westernization or Americanization, i.e. movement towards the type of systems that have developed in the United States and Western Europe. Structurally, this is the search for new technologies, the movement from agriculture as a way of life to commercial agriculture, the replacement of the muscular strength of animals and humans as the main source of energy with modern machines and mechanisms, the spread of cities and the spatial concentration of labor. In the political sphere - the transition from the authority of the tribal leader to democracy, in the field of education - the elimination of illiteracy and the growth of the value of knowledge, in the religious sphere - liberation from the influence of the church. In the psychological aspect, this is the formation of a modern personality, which is characterized by: independence from traditional authorities, attention to social problems, the ability to gain new experience, faith in science and reason, aspiration for the future, a high level of educational, cultural and professional claims.

4. Modernization concepts

Today, modernization is viewed as a historically limited process that legitimizes the institutions and values ​​of modernity: democracy, the market, education, sound administration, self-discipline, work ethic. At the same time, modern society is defined in them either as a society that replaces the traditional social order, or as a society that grows out of the industrial stage and carries all these features. The information society is a stage of modern society (and not a new type of society), following the phases of industrialization and technologization and characterized by a further deepening of the humanistic foundations of human existence.

Key provisions in the concepts of modernization of traditional societies:

It is no longer the political and intellectual elite that is recognized as the driving force behind the processes of modernization, but the broadest masses; if a charismatic leader appears, they become active.

Modernization in this case does not depend on the decision of the elite, but on the mass desire of citizens to change their lives in accordance with Western standards under the influence of mass media and personal contacts.

Today, the emphasis is not on internal, but on external factors of modernization - the global geopolitical alignment of forces, external economic and financial support, the openness of international markets, the availability of convincing ideological means - doctrines that substantiate modern values.

Instead of a single universal model of modernity, which the United States has long considered, the idea of ​​driving epicenters of modernity and exemplary societies has appeared - not only the West, but also Japan and the "Asian tigers".

It is already clear that there can be no unified process of modernization, its pace, rhythm and consequences in various areas of social life in different countries will be different.

The modern picture of modernization is much less optimistic than the former one - not everything is possible and achievable, not everything depends only on political will; it is recognized that the whole world will never live the way the modern west lives, so modern theories pay a lot of attention to digressions, failures.

Today, modernization is evaluated not only by economic indicators, which for a long time were considered the main ones, but also by values ​​and cultural codes.

It is proposed to actively use local traditions.

Today, the main ideological climate in the West is the rejection of the idea of ​​progress (the main idea of ​​evolutionism), the ideology of postmodernism dominates, in connection with which the very conceptual foundation of the theory of modernization collapsed.

Despite the abundance of modernization concepts, their analysis allows us to conclude that there are a number of common characteristics that accompany the modernization process, in the political (expanding the functions of the state, reforming traditional power structures), economic (industrialization, creating a reproductive economic complex on a national scale, using the achievements of science in practice), social (growth of social mobility, differentiation of social groups, urbanization) and spiritual (secularization and rationalization, increasing individual autonomy, introduction of universal standardized education) aspects of society. However, the impact of modernization on the changes that occur during modernization differs greatly depending on its type. The main ones are: Westernization, that is, assimilation to the West, and original development, which is a search for an alternative path of transformation that combines Western experience with the preservation of the traditional basis of a modernizing society.

Westernization is currently the most common type of modernization, in which changes in traditional societies serve, first of all, the interests of Western civilization. Westernization of traditional societies leads to the fact that they are, in fact, split into two unequal parts. The first includes a small part of the population, one way or another connected with Western centers and who have adopted the values ​​of the Western way of life. The majority of the country's population is thrown back in its development. The exploitation by the West of its periphery, the merciless pumping out of it of the product necessary for the development of traditional societies themselves, leads to their impoverishment and archaization against the background of the relative prosperity of the enclaves of advanced production, oriented, however, to a large extent to the needs of the West itself. The most important elements of political Westernization (democratization, the introduction of a multi-party system, etc.), being inorganic and introduced, in the conditions of traditional societies give rise to completely different effects than in the West. This leads to the politicization of religious and ethnic identities, the surge of ethnic conflicts, the disintegration of traditional values ​​and norms, tribalism and corruption, having a destabilizing effect on the situation in traditional societies. However, the resistance to modern globalization is realized on an international, that is, just a global scale, although sometimes in the form of street riots.

Original development as an alternative type of modernization of traditional societies largely avoids the negative consequences inherent in Westernization. There are several ideological concepts declaring the need for original development: nationalism, socialism and fundamentalism. Despite significant differences, all these currents also have common properties that allow us to conclude that there is an original development as an independent type of modernization.

The main essence of original development lies in the combination of the traditional basis and progress, the preservation of cultural values ​​and the integration of the latest achievements of mankind on their basis in order to respond to the challenges of our time, to preserve their own political, economic independence and cultural identity. The most important characteristics of original development are: the synthesis of traditions and innovations, taking into account the cultural characteristics of the country in the implementation of modernization goals; the strong role of the public sector, which is becoming the main engine of modernization changes and retains a leading position in the country's economy; striving to preserve social harmony and unity of society, limiting tendencies towards social stratification. In the era of globalization, when the aggressive universalism originally inherent in Western civilization claims world domination, this type of modernization is the key to independent political development, the salvation of cultural and civilizational diversity on Earth.

There are several models of original development (East Asian, Islamic, Latin American, Eurasian). Modernization in these countries did not enter into a destructive conflict with the traditional basis, creatively using many of its positive elements - such as collectivism, solidarity, the prevalence of public interests over private ones.

Conclusion

In the context of globalization and numerous challenges of modernity (starting from the threat to state sovereignty from Western civilization and ending with environmental and demographic problems), societies that have embarked on the path of original development do not experience dramatic and destructive clashes between tradition and "modernity", retain true state sovereignty, cultural identity. Public goods in them are distributed more or less evenly, which makes it possible to avoid a split in society and the negative consequences associated with it. In addition, there are mixed types of modernization that combine features of original development and Westernization. A typical example is the republics of Central Asia, in which, which began at the turn of the 1980s-1990s. Westernization ran into the barriers of the mentality of the local population, for the most part rejecting the implementation of this type of modernization. As a result, today one can observe a specific mixture, when powerful original layers are hidden under a thin film of declared Westernization, which have a huge impact on the political development, economy and spiritual values ​​of the inhabitants of Central Asia. Despite the declarative acceptance of democracy and the free market, the ruling elites in Central Asia have developed certain variants of “national ideas” that, to a greater or lesser extent, include precisely traditional values.

Central Asia as a whole, and Kyrgyzstan in particular, today face several possible variants of original development - Islamic, East Asian and Eurasian, focusing on Russia, Kyrgyzstan's neighbors in the region and the post-Soviet space as a whole. The latter option best suits the needs of the region. Eurasian integration will allow development without violating the historical and mental specifics of societies. In this case, Russia and the member countries of the CIS, SCO, CSTO and EurAsEC become the main partners of the Central Asian republics. However, this does not exclude a close relationship with such states as China, Iran and others that have chosen original development as a type of modernization. Referring to the “terrifying data on the deplorable prospects for the Third World” cited by many publications, including at the UN level, they are largely the result of a kind of statistical aberration, an inability or unwillingness to distinguish the relative indicators of the deterioration of living conditions in a number of peripheral regions of the world from compared with rapidly progressing regions from absolute data indicating a gradual improvement in these conditions for the vast majority of the world's population, including the most backward regions.

Without the impact of globalization, the gap between poor and rich countries would be larger for at least two reasons: imports to developed countries and foreign direct investment to countries in the periphery stimulate economic growth in developing countries and therefore mitigate inequality.

Bibliography

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Answer:

Traditional (agrarian);

Industrial;

Post-industrial (informational).

The American political scientist S. Huntington concluded that "traditional society is easier to destroy than to modernize." What is the understanding of modernization in social science? What problems of modernization of traditional societies does the author have in mind? List any two problems.

Answer:

1) Modernization - the transformation of a traditional society from an agrarian to a modern one, characterized by rapid growth, the role of industry, services, modern modes of transport and communications.

2) problems of modernization of traditional societies:

dynamic system

C 6. List any three features that characterize a society as an open dynamic system.

Answer:

relationship between society and nature

the presence of subsystems and other structural units (spheres of society, public institutions),

the relationship of parts and elements of the social structure,

constant change in society.

PROGRESS

7. The English philosopher G. Buckle wrote: “In the old days, the richest countries were those whose nature was the most abundant; now the richest countries are those in which man is most active. How does this statement, uttered about two centuries ago, reflect an understanding of the evolution of human society? Determine the main vector of the development of society. What, in your opinion, are the main values ​​of modern society? Specify any two values.

ANSWER:

- curtailment of the development of new deposits, etc.

2) the main one is defined social development vector, For example:



- the development of engineering, technology, ways of human impact on the environment, ways to meet growing human needs.

3) values ​​of modern society:

The initiative of a person, the free implementation of his requests;

Dynamism of development, the ability of society to quickly master innovations;

Rationalism, science, manufacturability

S 5. Explain what social scientists call "social progress." Make two sentences using this concept in the context of social science knowledge.

Answer:

1) Social progress is the progressive development of society or social progress is the process of social development;

2) directions of social progress: "Public, progress is directed towards the improvement of society";

criteria for social progress: "For a long time, social progress was associated with the development of material technologies";

the contradictory nature of social progress: "Manifestations of social progress are contradictory - the development of some areas and institutions, as a rule, is accompanied by a decline, a crisis in others."

C6. Name any three characteristics of society as a dynamic system.

Answer:

1) integrity;

2) consists of interrelated elements;

3) elements change over time;

4) changes the nature of the relationship between systems;

5) the system as a whole is changing.

C 5. What is the meaning of social scientists in the concept of "social relations"? Drawing on the knowledge of the social science course, make 2 sentences containing information about social relations.

Answer:

Social relations are diverse connections that arise between social groups and within them in the process of practical and spiritual activities of people.

1) Social relations develop in all spheres of people's lives.

2) Not all connections that arise between people are related to social relations.

C 6. The American political scientist S. Huntington concluded that "traditional society is easier to destroy than to modernize." What is the understanding of modernization in social science? What problems of modernization of traditional societies does the author have in mind? List any two problems.

Answer:

1) Modernization - the transformation of a traditional society with an agrarian economy into a modern one, characterized by rapid growth, the leading role of industry, services, modern types

transport and communications.

2) problems of modernization of traditional societies,

- the predominance of statics in a traditional society, the dominance of the attitude towards the reproduction of the old;

- wary attitude to the new, the complexity of its perception and development.

C7. Russian publicist and thinker of the XIX century. V. G. Belinsky wrote:

“A living person carries in his spirit, in his heart, in his blood the life of society: he suffers from its ailments, is tormented by its sufferings, blooms with its health, blisses with its happiness, outside of his own, his personal circumstances.”

Answer:

P explanations links between man and society

1) a person “suffers from the ailments of society”, for example, in Nazi Germany, many Germans supported Hitler and his activities, or silently accepted what was happening, not trying to resist, thereby becoming accomplices of the Nazis;

- a person “is tormented by the sufferings of society”, for example, at the beginning of the 20th century, many representatives of the intelligentsia were aware of the crisis state of society, the failure of the autocracy, were in an agonizing search for a way out, thought about what to do. At the same time, they found different ways out, went into the revolution, into the liberal opposition, the split and throwing of the country were transferred to the minds and souls of individual people;

- a person “blooms with the health of society, blisses with its happiness”, for example, there are times of common joy, celebration, unity of a person with society as a result of some common victories, for example, every Soviet person was involved in the victory over fascism, the first manned flight into space. In this case, the joy of society becomes the joy of the individual.

The historical situation of the end of the 20th century is characterized by a complex ethno-cultural situation. The fundamental problem of the modern era is increasingly becoming the confrontation between traditional and modernized (modern) cultures. It is this confrontation that has an increasing influence on the course of the cultural-historical process. The confrontation between the “modern” and the “traditional” arose as a result of the collapse of the colonial system and the need to adapt the countries that appeared on the political map of the world to the modern world, modern civilization. However, in reality, the processes of modernization began much earlier, back in colonial times, when European officials, firmly convinced of the beneficence and usefulness of their activities for the "natives", exterminated the traditions and beliefs of the latter, which, in their opinion, were harmful to the progressive development of these peoples. . Then it was assumed that modernization primarily implies the introduction of new, progressive forms of activity, technologies and ideas, it is a means of accelerating, simplifying and facilitating the path that these peoples still had to go through.

The destruction of many cultures that followed such forced "modernization" led to the realization of the viciousness of such an approach, to the need to create scientifically based theories of modernization that could be applied in practice. In the middle of the century, many anthropologists made attempts and a balanced analysis of traditional cultures, proceeding from the rejection of the universalist concept of culture. In particular, a group of American anthropologists led by M. Herskovitz, during the preparation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, held under the auspices of the UN, proposed to proceed from the fact that in every culture standards and values ​​have a special character and that therefore every person has the right to live according to that understanding. freedom that is accepted in his society. Unfortunately, the universalist point of view, which followed from the evolutionary approach, prevailed, it was the evolutionist paradigm that formed the basis of the theories of modernization that appeared then, and today this declaration states that human rights are the same for representatives of all societies, regardless of the specifics of their traditions. But it's no secret that the human rights written there are postulates formulated specifically by European culture.

According to the then prevailing point of view, the transition from a traditional society to a modern one (and it was considered mandatory for all cultures and peoples) is possible only through modernization. This term is used today in several senses, so it should be clarified.

Firstly, modernization means the whole complex of progressive changes in society, it is a synonym for the concept of "modernity" - a complex of social, political, economic, cultural and intellectual transformations that have taken place in the West since the 16th century and have reached their climax today. This includes the processes of industrialization, urbanization, rationalization, bureaucratization, democratization, the dominant influence of capitalism, the spread of individualism and motivation for success, the establishment of reason and science.

Secondly, modernization is the process of transforming a traditional, pre-technological society into a society with machine technology, rational and secular relations, and highly differentiated social structures.

Thirdly, modernization refers to the efforts made by backward or underdeveloped countries to catch up with developed countries.

Based on this, modernization in its most general form can be viewed as a complex and controversial socio-cultural process, during which the institutions and structures of modern society are formed.

The scientific understanding of this process has found its expression in a number of modernization concepts, heterogeneous in their composition and content and not representing a single whole. These concepts seek to explain the process of a natural transition from traditional societies to modern ones and further to the era of postmodernity. This is how the theory of industrial society arose (K. Marx, O. Comte, G. Spencer), the concept of formal rationality (M. Weber), the theory of mechanical and organic modernization (E. Durkheim), the formal theory of society (G. Simmel), which, differing in their theoretical and methodological principles, nevertheless they are united in their neo-evolutionary assessments of modernization, stating that:

1) changes in society are unilinear, therefore, less developed countries must go the way after the developed ones;

2) these changes are irreversible and go to the inevitable final - modernization;

3) the changes are gradual, cumulative and peaceful;

4) all stages of this process must inevitably be passed;

5) internal sources of this movement are of great importance;

6) modernization will bring an improvement in the existence of these countries.

In addition, it was recognized that modernization processes should be started and controlled "from above" by the intellectual elite. In fact, this is a deliberate copying of Western society.

Considering the mechanism of modernization, all theories claim that this is a spontaneous process and, if the interfering barriers are removed, everything will go by itself. It was assumed that it was enough to show the advantages of Western civilization (at least on television), and everyone would immediately want to live the same way.

However, reality has refuted these excellent theories. Not all societies, having seen the Western way of life closer, rushed to imitate it. And those who followed this path quickly got acquainted with the underside of this life, faced with increasing poverty, social disorganization, anomie, crime. Recent decades have also shown that not everything in traditional societies is bad, and some of their features are perfectly combined with cutting-edge technologies. This was proved primarily by Japan and South Korea, which cast doubt on the former firm orientation towards the West. The historical experience of these countries made us abandon the theories of unilinearity of world development as the only true ones and formulate new theories of modernization, which revived the civilizational approach to the analysis of ethno-cultural processes.

Among the scientists who have dealt with this problem, it is necessary to mention, first of all, S. Huntington, who named nine main characteristics of modernization, which are found in an explicit or hidden form in all authors of these theories:

1) modernization is a revolutionary process, because it involves the cardinal nature of changes, a radical change in all institutions, systems, structures of society and human life;

2) modernization is a complex process, because it does not come down to any one aspect of social life, but embraces society as a whole;

3) modernization is a systemic process, because changes in one factor or fragment of the system induce and determine changes in other elements of the system, lead to a holistic systemic revolution;

4) modernization is a global process, since, having begun sometime in Europe, it covered all countries of the world that have either become modern or are in the process of change;

5) modernization is a long process, and although the pace of change is quite high, it takes the life of several generations to carry it out;

6) modernization is a stepwise process, and all societies must go through the same stages;

7) modernization is a homogenizing process, since if traditional societies are all different, then modern ones are the same in their main structures and manifestations;

8) modernization is an irreversible process, there may be delays, partial retreats on its way, but once started, it cannot but end in success;

9) modernization is a progressive process, and although peoples may experience many hardships and suffering along this path, in the end everything will pay off, since in a modernized society the cultural and material well-being of a person is immeasurably higher.

The direct content of modernization is several areas of change. In the historical aspect, this is a synonym for Westernization, or Americanization, i.e. movement towards the type of systems that has developed in the United States and Western Europe. Structurally, this is the search for new technologies, the movement from agriculture as a way of life to commercial agriculture, the replacement of the muscular strength of animals and humans as the main source of energy with modern machines and mechanisms, the spread of cities and the spatial concentration of labor. In the political sphere - the transition from the authority of the leader of the tribe to democracy, in the field of education - the elimination of illiteracy and the growth of the value of knowledge, in the religious sphere - liberation from the influence of the church. In the psychological aspect, this is the formation of a modern personality, which includes independence from traditional authorities, attention to social problems, the ability to gain new experience, faith in science and reason, aspiration for the future, a high level of educational, cultural and professional claims.

The one-sidedness and theoretical shortcomings of the modernization concepts were recognized fairly quickly. Their fundamental provisions were criticized.

Opponents of these concepts noted that the concepts of "tradition" and "modernity" are asymmetric and cannot constitute a dichotomy. Modern society is an ideal, and traditional ones are a contradictory reality. There are no traditional societies in general, the differences between them are very great, and therefore there are no and cannot be universal recipes for modernization. It is also wrong to imagine traditional societies as absolutely static and immovable. These societies are also evolving, and violent measures of modernization may come into conflict with this organic development.

It was also not entirely clear what is included in the concept of "modern society". Modern Western countries undoubtedly fell into this category, but what was to be done with Japan and South Korea? The question arose: is it possible to talk about modern non-Western countries and their difference from Western ones?

The thesis that tradition and modernity mutually exclude each other was criticized. In fact, any society is a fusion of traditional and modern elements. And traditions do not necessarily impede modernization, but may in some way contribute to it.

It was also noted that not all results of modernization are good, that it is not necessarily of a systemic nature, that economic modernization can be carried out without political modernization, that modernization processes can be reversed.

In the 1970s, additional objections were raised against modernization theories. Among them, the most important was the reproach of ethnocentrism. Since the United States played the role of a model to strive for, these theories were interpreted as an attempt by the American intellectual elite to comprehend the post-war role of the United States as a world superpower.

A critical assessment of the main theories of modernization ultimately led to the differentiation of the very concept of "modernization". Researchers began to distinguish between primary and secondary modernization.

Primary modernization is usually regarded as a theoretical construct, covering a variety of socio-cultural changes that accompany the period of industrialization and the emergence of capitalism in certain countries of Western Europe and America. It is associated with the destruction of former, primarily hereditary traditions and the traditional way of life, with the proclamation and implementation of equal civil rights, and the establishment of democracy.

The main idea of ​​primary modernization is that the process of industrialization and the development of capitalism presupposes, as its prerequisite and main basis, individual freedom and autonomy of a person, expansion of the scope of his rights. In essence, this idea coincides with the principle of individualism, formulated by the French Enlightenment.

Secondary modernization covers the socio-cultural changes taking place in developing countries (countries of the "third world") in a civilized environment of highly developed countries and in the presence of established patterns of social organization and culture.

In the last decade, when considering the process of modernization, the modernization of the former socialist countries and countries that have freed themselves from dictatorship has been of the greatest interest. In this regard, some researchers propose to introduce the concept "tertiary modernization" denoting by them the transition to modernity of industrially moderately developed countries, which retain many features of the former political and ideological system, which hinder the very process of social transformation.

At the same time, the changes that have accumulated in the countries of developed capitalism require a new theoretical understanding. As a result, theories of a post-industrial, super-industrial, information, "technotronic", "cybernetic" society appeared (O. Toffler, D. Bell, R. Dahrendorf, J. Habermas, E. Gudzens, etc.). The main provisions of these concepts can be formulated as follows.

The post-industrial (or informational) society is replacing the industrial one, in which the industrial (environmental) sphere is predominant. The main distinguishing features of the post-industrial society are the growth of scientific knowledge and the shift of the center of social life from the economy to the sphere of science, primarily to scientific organizations (universities). It is not capital and material resources that are the key factors in it, but information multiplied by the spread of education and the introduction of advanced technologies.

The old class division of society into those who own property and those who do not own it (characteristic of the social structure of an industrial society) is giving way to another type of stratification, where the main indicator is the division of society into those who own information and those who do not. The concepts of “symbolic capital” (P. Bourdieu) and cultural identity arise, in which the class structure is replaced by a status hierarchy determined by value orientations and educational potential.

In place of the former, economic elite, a new, intellectual elite is coming, professionals with a high level of education, competence, knowledge and technologies based on them. Educational qualifications and professionalism, and not origin or financial status, are the main criteria by which access to power and social privileges is now exercised.

The conflict between classes, characteristic of an industrial society, is replaced by a conflict between professionalism and incompetence, between an intellectual minority (elite) and an incompetent majority.

Thus, the modern era is the era of the dominance of science and technology, educational systems and mass media. In this regard, key provisions have also changed in the concepts of modernization of traditional societies:

1) it is no longer the political and intellectual elite that is recognized as the driving force behind the processes of modernization, but the broadest masses, who begin to actively act if a charismatic leader appears, drawing them along;

2) modernization in this case becomes not a decision of the elite, but a mass desire of citizens to change their lives in accordance with Western standards under the influence of mass media and personal contacts;

3) today, not internal, but external factors of modernization are already being emphasized - the global geopolitical alignment of forces, external economic and financial support, the openness of international markets, the availability of convincing ideological means - doctrines that substantiate modern values;

4) instead of a single universal model of modernity, which the United States has long considered, the idea of ​​driving centers of modernity and exemplary societies appeared - not only the West, but also Japan, and the "Asian tigers";

5) it is already clear that there is not and cannot be a unified process of modernization, its pace, rhythm and consequences in various areas of social life in different countries will be different;

6) the modern picture of modernization is much less optimistic than the former one - not everything is possible and achievable, not everything depends on simple political will; it is already recognized that the whole world will never live the way the modern West lives, so modern theories pay a lot of attention to retreats, backtracking, failures;

7) today, modernization is evaluated not only by economic indicators, which for a long time were considered the main ones, but also by values, cultural codes;

8) it is proposed to actively use local traditions;

9) today the main ideological climate in the West is the rejection of the idea of ​​progress - the main idea of ​​evolutionism, the ideology of postmodernism dominates, in connection with which the very conceptual foundation of the theory of modernization collapsed.

Thus, today modernization is seen as a historically limited process that legitimizes the institutions and values ​​of modernity: democracy, the market, education, sound administration, self-discipline, work ethic. At the same time, modern society is defined either as a society that replaces the traditional social order, or as a society that grows out of the industrial stage and carries all its features. The information society is a stage of modern society (and not a new type of society), following the phases of industrialization and technologization, and is characterized by a further deepening of the humanistic foundations of human existence.

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. “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", 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 the actualization of the necessary interpretation of the past at the right time. 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 ongoing 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.