Society as an integral dynamic system of social science. Main types (types) of social activities

Consequently, man is a universal element of all social systems, since he is necessarily included in each of them.

Like any system, society is an ordered entity. This means that the components of the system are not in chaotic disorder, but, on the contrary, occupy a certain position within the system and are connected in a certain way with other components. Hence. the system has an integrative quality that is inherent in it as a single whole. None of the system components. considered separately, does not possess this quality. It, this quality, is the result of the integration and interconnection of all components of the system. Just like individual human organs (heart, stomach, liver, etc.) do not possess human properties. Likewise, the economy, health care system, state and other elements of society do not have the qualities that are inherent in society as a whole. And only thanks to the diverse connections that exist between the components of the social system, it turns into a single whole. that is, into society (how, thanks to the interaction of various human organs, a single human organism exists).

The connections between subsystems and elements of society can be illustrated with various examples. The study of the distant past of mankind allowed scientists to conclude that. that the moral relations of people in primitive conditions were built on collectivist principles, i.e. That is, in modern language, priority has always been given to the collective rather than to the individual. It is also known that the moral norms that existed among many tribes in those archaic times allowed the killing of weak members of the clan - sick children, old people - and even cannibalism. Have these ideas and views of people about the limits of what is morally permissible been influenced by the real material conditions of their existence? The answer is clear: undoubtedly, they did. The need to collectively obtain material wealth, the doom of a person cut off from his clan to quick death, laid the foundations of collectivist morality. Guided by the same methods of struggle for existence and survival, people did not consider it immoral to free themselves from those who could become a burden to the collective.

Integral, i.e., common, inherent in the entire system, qualities of any system are not a simple sum of the qualities of its components, but represent a new quality that arose as a result of the interconnection and interaction of its components. In its most general form, this is the quality of society as a social system - the ability to create all the necessary conditions for its existence, to produce everything necessary for the collective life of people. In philosophy, self-sufficiency is considered as the main difference between society and its constituent parts. Just as human organs cannot exist outside the whole organism, so none of the subsystems of society can exist outside the whole - society as a system.

Another feature of society as a system is that this system is self-governing.
The managerial function is performed by the political subsystem, which gives consistency to all components that form the social integrity.

Any system, be it technical (a unit with an automatic control system), or biological (animal), or social (society), is located in a certain environment with which it interacts. The environment of the social system of any country is both nature and the world community. Changes in the state of the natural environment, events in the world community, in the international arena are a kind of “signals” to which society must respond. It usually seeks to either adapt to changes occurring in the environment or adapt the environment to its needs. In other words, the system reacts to “signals” in one way or another. At the same time, it implements its main functions: adaptation; goal achievement, i.e. the ability to maintain its integrity, ensuring the implementation of its tasks, influencing the surrounding natural and social environment; maintaining circulation - the ability to maintain one’s internal structure; integration - the ability to integrate, that is, to include new parts, new social formations (phenomena, processes, etc.) into a single whole.

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

The most important component of society as a system are social institutions.

The word “institute” comes from the Latin instituto meaning “establishment”. In Russian it is often used to refer to higher educational institutions. In addition, as you know from the basic school course, in the field of law the word “institution” means a set of legal norms that regulate one social relationship or several relationships related to each other (for example, the institution of marriage).

In sociology, social institutions are historically established stable forms of organizing joint activities, regulated by norms, traditions, customs and aimed at meeting the fundamental needs of society.

We will consider this definition, which it is advisable to return to after reading the entire educational material on this issue, based on the concept of “activity” (see - 1). In the history of society, sustainable types of activities have developed aimed at satisfying the most important needs of life. Sociologists identify five such social needs:

the need for reproduction;
need for security and social order;
need for subsistence;
need for knowledge, socialization
the younger generation, personnel training;
- the need to solve spiritual problems of the meaning of life.

In accordance with the above-mentioned needs, types of activities have developed in society, which, in turn, required the necessary organization, streamlining, the creation of certain institutions and other structures, and the development of rules to ensure the achievement of the expected result. These conditions for the successful implementation of the main types of activities were met by historically established social institutions:

institution of family and marriage;
- political institutions, especially the state;
- economic institutions, primarily production;
- institutes of education, science and culture;
- Institute of Religion.

Each of these institutions brings together large masses of people to satisfy a particular need and achieve a specific goal of a personal, group or social nature.

The emergence of social institutions led to the consolidation of specific types of interaction, making them permanent and mandatory for all members of a given society.

So, a social institution is, first of all, a set of persons engaged in a certain type of activity and ensuring, in the process of this activity, the satisfaction of a certain need that is significant for society (for example, all employees of the education system).

Further, the institution is secured by a system of legal and moral norms, traditions and customs that regulate the corresponding types of behavior. (Remember, for example, what social norms regulate the behavior of people in the family).

Another characteristic feature of a social institution is the presence of institutions equipped with certain material resources necessary for any type of activity. (Think about what social institutions the school, factory, and police belong to. Give your own examples of institutions and organizations that relate to each of the most important social institutions.)

Any of these institutions is integrated into the socio-political, legal, value structure of society, which makes it possible to legitimize the activities of this institution and exercise control over it.

A social institution stabilizes social relations and brings consistency into the actions of members of society. A social institution is characterized by a clear delineation of the functions of each of the subjects of interaction, consistency of their actions, and a high level of regulation and control. (Think about how these features of a social institution manifest themselves in the education system, particularly in school.)

Let us consider the main features of a social institution using the example of such an important institution of society as the family. First of all, every family is a small group of people based on intimacy and emotional attachment, connected by marriage (spouses) and consanguinity (parents and children). The need to create a family is one of the fundamental, i.e. fundamental, human needs. At the same time, the family performs important functions in society: the birth and upbringing of children, economic support for minors and the disabled, and much more. Each family member occupies a special position in it, which presupposes appropriate behavior: parents (or one of them) provide a livelihood, manage household chores, and raise children. The children, in turn, study and help around the house. This behavior is regulated not only by family rules, but also by social norms: morality and law. Thus, public morality condemns the lack of care of older family members for younger ones. The law establishes the responsibilities and obligations of spouses towards each other, towards children, and adult children towards elderly parents. The creation of a family and the main milestones of family life are accompanied by established traditions and rituals in society. For example, in many countries, marriage rituals include the exchange of wedding rings between spouses.

The presence of social institutions makes people's behavior more predictable and society as a whole more stable.

In addition to the main social institutions, there are also non-main ones. So, if the main political institution is the state, then the non-main ones are the institution of the judiciary or, as in our country, the institution of presidential representatives in the regions, etc.

The presence of social institutions reliably ensures regular, self-renewing satisfaction of vital needs. A social institution makes connections between people not random or chaotic, but constant, reliable, and sustainable. Institutional interaction is a well-established order of social life in the main spheres of people's lives. The more social needs are satisfied by social institutions, the more developed the society is.

As new needs and conditions arise in the course of the historical process, new types of activities and corresponding connections appear. Society is interested in giving them order and a normative character, that is, in their institutionalization.

In Russia, as a result of reforms at the end of the twentieth century. For example, such a type of activity as entrepreneurship appeared. The streamlining of this activity led to the emergence of various types of firms, required the publication of laws regulating business activities, and contributed to the formation of corresponding traditions.

In the political life of our country, the institutions of parliamentarism, a multi-party system, and the institution of the presidency arose. The principles and rules of their functioning are enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and relevant laws.

In the same way, the institutionalization of other types of activities that have arisen in recent decades has occurred.

It happens that the development of society requires the modernization of the activities of social institutions that historically developed in previous periods. Thus, in the changed conditions, it became necessary to solve the problems of introducing the younger generation to the culture in a new way. Hence the steps taken to modernize the institution of education, as a result of which the institutionalization of the Unified State Exam and new content of educational programs may occur.

So we can go back to the definition given at the beginning of this part of the paragraph. Think about what characterizes social institutions as highly organized systems. Why is their structure stable? What is the significance of deep integration of their elements? What is the diversity, flexibility, and dynamism of their functions?

PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS

1 Society is a highly complex system, and in order to live in harmony with it, it is necessary to adapt (adapt) to it. Otherwise, you cannot avoid conflicts and failures in your life and activities. A condition for adaptation to modern society is knowledge about it, which is provided by a social studies course.

2 It is possible to understand society only if its quality is identified as an integral system. To do this, it is necessary to consider various sections of the structure of society (the main spheres of human activity; a set of social institutions, social groups), systematizing, integrating connections between them, features of the management process in a self-governing social system.

3 In real life you will have to interact with various social institutions. To make this interaction successful, you need to know the goals and nature of the activity that has taken shape in the social institution you are interested in. Studying the legal norms governing this type of activity will help you with this.

4 in subsequent sections of the course, characterizing individual spheres of human activity, it is useful to revisit the content of this paragraph in order, based on it, to consider each sphere as part of an integral system. This will help to understand the role and place of each sphere, each social institution in the development of society.

Document

From the work of the modern American sociologist E. Shils “Society and societies: a macrosociological approach.”

What is included in societies? As has already been said, the most differentiated of them consist not only of families and kinship groups, but also of associations, unions, firms and farms, schools and universities, armies, churches and sects, parties and numerous other corporate bodies or organizations which, in in turn, have boundaries defining the circle of members over which the appropriate corporate authorities - parents, managers, chairmen, etc., etc. - exercise a certain measure of control. This also includes systems formally and informally organized on a territorial basis - communities, villages, districts, cities, districts - and they all also have some features of society. Further, it includes unorganized collections of people within society - social classes or strata, occupations and professions, religions, linguistic groups - who have a culture inherent more to those who have a certain status or occupy a certain position than to everyone else.

So, we are convinced that society is not just a collection of united people, primordial and cultural groups interacting and exchanging services with each other. All these groups form a society by virtue of their existence under a common authority, which exercises its control over the territory delineated by borders, maintains and inculcates a more or less common culture. It is these factors that transform a collection of relatively specialized initial corporate and cultural groups into a society.

Questions and tasks for the document

1. What components, according to E. Shils, are included in society? Indicate which areas of society each of them belongs to.
2. Select from the listed components those that are social institutions.
3. Based on the text, prove that the author views society as a social system.

SELF-TEST QUESTIONS

1. What does the concept of “system” mean?
2. How do social (public) systems differ from natural ones?
3. What is the main quality of society as an integral system?
4. What are the connections and relationships of society as a system with the environment?
5. What is a social institution?
6. Characterize the main social institutions.
7. What are the main features of a social institution?
8. What is the significance of institutionalization?

TASKS

1. Using a systems approach, analyze Russian society at the beginning of the twentieth century.
2. Describe all the main features of a social institution using the example of an educational institution. Use the material and recommendations for the practical conclusions of this paragraph.
3. The collective work of Russian sociologists states: “...society exists and functions in diverse forms... The really important question comes down to ensuring that society itself is not lost behind the special forms, or the forests behind the trees.” How does this statement relate to the understanding of society as a system? Give reasons for your answer.

ABOUT SOCIETY AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON, ITS ESSENCE, SIGNS AND STRUCTURE

As noted above, the object and subject of the study of sociology as a science is society and the diverse processes of cooperation, mutual assistance and competition occurring in it among people united in large and small social groups and communities - national, religious, professional, etc.

A brief presentation of this topic must begin with what human society is; what are its distinctive features; which group of people can be called a society and which cannot; what are its subsystems; what is the essence of the social system.

Despite all the apparent simplicity of the concept of “society,” it is clearly impossible to answer the question posed. It would be a mistake to consider society as a simple collection of people, individuals with their certain initial qualities that manifest themselves only in society, or as an abstract, faceless entity that does not take into account the uniqueness of individuals and their connections.

In everyday life, this word is used quite often, widely and with many meanings: from a small group of people to all of humanity (anatomical society, surgical society, Belarusian Society of Consumers, Society of Alcoholics Anonymous, International Society of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Society of Earthlings, etc.).

Society is a rather abstract and multifaceted concept. It is studied by various sciences - history, philosophy, cultural studies, political science, sociology, etc., each of which explores only its inherent aspects and processes occurring in society. Its simplest interpretation is a human community, which is formed by the people living in it.

Sociology provides several approaches to defining society.

1. The famous Russian-American sociologist P. Sorokin, for example, believed: in order for society to exist, at least two people with a certain connection of interaction (family) are needed. Such a case would be the simplest kind of society or social phenomenon.

Society is not any mechanical collection of people, but an association of them within which there is a more or less constant, stable and fairly close mutual influence and interaction of these people. “Whatever social group we take - whether it be a family, a class, a party, a religious sect or a state,” he wrote

P. Sorokin, “they all represent the interaction of two or one with many or many people with many.” The entire endless sea of human communication consists of interaction processes: one-way and two-way, temporary and long-term, organized and unorganized, solidary and antagonistic, conscious and unconscious, sensory-emotional and volitional.

The entire complex world of people's social life breaks down into outlined processes of interaction. A group of interacting people represents a kind of collective whole or collective unity. The close causal interdependence of their behavior gives grounds to consider the interacting persons as a collective whole, as one being made up of many people. Just as oxygen and hydrogen, interacting with one another, form water, which is sharply different from the simple sum of isolated oxygen and hydrogen, so the totality of interacting people is sharply different from their simple sum.

2. Society is a collection of people united by specific interests, goals, needs or mutual connections and activities. But this definition of society cannot be complete, since in one society there may be people with different and sometimes opposing interests and needs.

3. Society is an association of people with the following criteria:

- the commonality of the territory of their residence, which usually coincides with state borders and serves as the space within which the relationships and interactions of individuals of a given society take shape and develop (Belarusian society, Chinese society

and etc.);

– its integrity and stability, the so-called “collective unity” (according to P. Sorokin);

– a certain level of cultural development, which is expressed in the development of a system of norms and values that underlie social ties;

– self-reproduction (although it can increase its numbers as a result of migration processes) and self-sufficiency, guaranteed by a certain level of economic development (including through imports).

Thus, society is a complex, holistic, self-developing system of social interactions between people

And their communities - family, professional, religious, ethnonational, territorial, etc.

Society as a complex, dynamic system has certain characteristics, structure, and stages of historical development.

1. Sociality, which expresses the social essence of people’s lives, the specifics of their relationships and interactions (in contrast to group forms of interaction in the animal world). A person as a personality can only be formed among his own kind as a result of his socialization.

2. Ability to maintain and reproduce high intensity socio-psychological interactions between people, inherent only in human society.

3. An important feature of society is the territory and its natural and climatic conditions, where various social interactions take place. If we take for comparison the method of production of material goods, lifestyle, culture and traditions of different peoples (for example, prices Central African tribes, small ethnic groups of the Far North or residents of the middle zone), then the enormous importance of territorial and climatic features for the development of a particular society and its civilization will become clear.

4. Awareness by people of changes and processes occurring in society as a result of their activities (as opposed to natural processes independent of the will and consciousness of people). Everything that happens in society is carried out only by people, their organized groups. They create special bodies for self-regulation of society - social institutions.

5. Society has a complex social structure, consisting of different social strata, groups and communities. They differ from each other in many respects: level of income and education, attitude

To power and property, belonging to different religions, political parties, organizations, etc. They are in complex and varied relationships of interconnection and constant development.

However, all the above-mentioned features of society interact with each other, ensuring the integrity and sustainability of its development as a single and complex system.

Society is divided into structural components, or subsystems:

1. Economic subsystem.

2. Political subsystem.

3. Sociocultural subsystem.

4. Social subsystem.

Let's take a closer look at these structural components:

1. The economic subsystem of society (often called the economic system) includes production, distribution, exchange of goods and services, interaction of people in the labor market, economic

stimulation of various types of activities, banking, credit

And other similar organizations and institutions (studied by students

V economic theory course).

2. The political subsystem (or system) represents the entire set socio-political interactions between individuals and groups, political structure of society, regime of power, activities of government bodies, political parties

And socio-political organizations, the presence of political rights

And freedoms of citizens, as well as values, norms and rules governing the political behavior of individuals and social groups. Students become familiar with this system in a political science course.

3. The sociocultural subsystem (or system) includes education, science, philosophy, art, morality, religion, organizations

And cultural institutions, the media, etc. It is studied in such educational courses as cultural studies, philosophy, aesthetics, religious studies, and ethics.

4. The social subsystem is a form of human life that is realized in the development and functioning of social institutions, organizations, social communities, groups and individuals and unites all other structural components of society. It is the subject of sociological research.

The interaction of the main subsystems of society can be represented

V diagram form (Fig. 3).

Society as an integral system

Rice. 3. Structure of society

The social subsystem of society, in turn, includes the following structural components: social structure, social institutions, social relationships, social connections and actions, social norms and values, etc.

There are other approaches to determining the structure of society as a social system. Thus, the American sociologist E. Shils proposed the study of society as a certain macrostructure, the main elements

the elements of which are social communities, social organizations and culture.

According to these components, society must be viewed in three aspects:

1) as the relationship of many individuals. As a result of the interconnection of many individuals, social communities are formed. They are the main side of society as a social system. Social communities are actually existing collections of individuals that form a certain integrity and have independence in social actions. They arise in the process of historical development of society and are characterized by a variety of types and forms.

The most significant are social-class, socio-ethnic, socio-territorial, socio-demographic, etc. (more details in individual topics of the manual).

The forms of interaction between people in social communities are different: individual - individual; individual – social group; individual - society. They are formed in the process of labor and practical activity of people and represent the behavior of an individual or a social group that is significant for the development of the social community as a whole. Such social interaction of subjects determines social connections between individuals, between individuals and the outside world. The totality of social connections is the basis of all social relations in society: political, economic, spiritual. In turn, they serve as the foundation for the functioning of the political, economic, spiritual and social spheres (subsystems) of society.

At the same time, all spheres of society’s life, any social community cannot function successfully, much less develop, without streamlining and regulating relations between people in the process of their practical activities and behavior. For this purpose, society has developed a unique system of such regulation and organization of social life, its “tools” are social institutions. They represent a certain set of institutions - the state, law, production, education, etc. In conditions of stable development of society, social institutions serve as mechanisms for coordinating the common interests of various population groups and individuals;

2) the second most important aspect of society as a social system is social organization. It means a number of ways to regulate the actions of individuals and social groups to achieve certain goals of social development. In other words, social organization is a mechanism for integrating the actions of individuals and social communities within the framework of a particular social system. Its elements are

These are social roles, social statuses of individuals, social norms and social (public) values (in a separate topic).

The joint activities of individuals, the distribution of social statuses and social roles are impossible without a specific governing body within the framework of a social organization. For these purposes, organizational and power structures are formed in the form of an administration, as well as a management level in the form of managers and specialist managers. A formal structure of social organization emerges with different social statuses, with an administrative division of labor on the principle of “managers - subordinates”;

3) the third component of society as a social system is culture. In sociology, culture is understood as a system of social norms and values enshrined in the practical activities of people,

A also this activity itself. The main link of social

And cultural systems are values. Their task is to serve to maintain the pattern of functioning of the social system. Norms in sociology are primarily a social phenomenon. They mainly perform the function of integration, regulate a huge number of processes, and promote the implementation of normative value obligations. In civilized, developed societies, the basis of social norms is the legal system.

IN The focus of sociology is the question of the social role of culture in society - to what extent certain social values contribute to the humanization of social relations and the formation of a comprehensively developed personality.

ABOUT THE MAIN STAGES OF THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY, ITS TYPES AND CONCEPTS

As noted above, society is a constantly evolving, dynamic system. In the course of such development, it goes through a number of historical stages and types, characterized by special distinctive features. Sociologists have identified several main types of society.

1. Marxist concept of social development, proposed in the middle of the 19th century. Marx and Engels, proceeds from the dominant role of the method of production of material goods in determining the type of society. According to this, Marx justified the existence of five modes of production

And corresponding five socio-economic formations that successively replace one another as a result of the class struggle

And social revolution. These are primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, bourgeois and communist formations. Although it is known that a number of societies did not go through certain stages in their development.

2. Western sociologists of the second half of the 19th – mid-20th centuries. (O. Comte, G. Spencer, E. Durkheim, A. Toynbee and others) believed that there are only two types of societies in the world:

a) traditional (so-called military democracy) is an agrarian society

With primitive production, a sedentary hierarchical social structure, the power of landowners, a collection of armed warriors; undeveloped science and technology, insignificant savings;

b) industrial society, which is emerging gradually, replaces the traditional one as a result of great geographical, scientific and technical discoveries. A slow growth of technical progress begins, an increase in agricultural productivity, the emergence of a layer of merchants and traders, and the formation of centralized states. The first bourgeois revolutions in Europe lead to the emergence of new social strata, as well as to the emergence of the ideology of liberalism and nationalism, and the democratization of society. The historical framework of this type of society is from the Neolithic era to the industrial revolution, carried out in different countries and regions at different times.

An industrial society is characterized by:

– urbanization, increasing the share of the urban population to 60–80 %;

– accelerated growth of industry and decline in agriculture;

– introduction of science and technology achievements into production processes and increasing labor productivity;

– the emergence of new industries as a result of scientific and technological progress;

– increasing the share of capital accumulation in GDP and investing them in production development(15–20% of GDP);

– change in the structure of employment of the population (increase in the share of workers engaged in mental labor due to the reduction of unskilled, manual labor);

– growth in consumption.

3. From the second half of the 20th century. In Western sociology, the concepts of a three-stage typology of society appeared. R. Aron, Z. Brzezinski, D. Bell, J. Galbraith, O. Toffler and others proceeded from the fact that humanity in its historical development goes through three main stages and types of societies (civilizations):

a) pre-industrial (agrarian-craft) society, the main wealth of which is land. It is dominated by a simple division of labor, manufacturing production. The main goal of such a society is power, a rigid authoritarian system. Its main institutions are the army, church

cow, agriculture. The dominant social strata are the nobility, the clergy, warriors, slave owners, and later feudal lords;

b) an industrial society, the main wealth of which is capital, money. It is characterized by large-scale machine production, scientific and technological progress, a developed system of division of labor, mass production of goods for the market, the development of the media, etc. The ruling layer is industrialists and businessmen.

c) post-industrial (information) society is replacing the industrial one. Its main value is knowledge, science that produces information. The main social stratum is scientists. Post-industrial society is characterized by the emergence of new means of production: information and electronic systems with billions of operations per second, computer equipment, new technologies (genetic engineering, cloning, etc.); the use of microprocessors in industry, services, trade and exchange; a sharp reduction in the share of the rural population and an increase in employment in the service sector, etc. The correlation of various types of society is presented in table. 1.

			Table 1
Differences between traditional, industrial
	and post-industrial types of society

Signs		Type of society
Signs	Traditional	Industrial	Post-industrial
	(agricultural)	Industrial	Post-industrial
	(agricultural)
	Natural	Commodity farming	Development of the sphere
management	farming		services, consumption
Predominant	Agrarian	Industrial	Production
economics	production	production	information
	Manual labor	Mechanization and auto	Computerization
way of working		matization of production	production
		management	and management
The main social	Church, army	Industrial	Education,
nal institutions		corporations	universities
	Priests,	Businessmen,	Scientists, managers -
social strata	feudal lords, nobility	entrepreneurs	consultants
The method of political	Military democracy	Democracy	Civil
skogo management	tiya, despotic		society,
	control		self management
Main factor	Physical power	Capital, money
management	divine power
Basic	Between the highest	Between labor	Between knowledge
contradictions	and lower	and capital	and ignorance,
	estates		incompetence

Alvin Toffler and other Western sociologists argue that developed countries since the 70s and 80s. XX century are experiencing a new technological

a revolution leading to the continuous renewal of social relations and the creation of super-industrial civilizations.

The theory of industrial and post-industrial society combines five trends in social development: technicalization, informatization, increasing complexity of society, social differentiation and social integration. They will be discussed below in separate chapters of this publication.

However, we must keep in mind that all of the above applies to developed countries. All others, including Belarus, are at the industrial stage (or in a pre-industrial society).

Despite the attractiveness of many ideas of a post-industrial society, the problem of its formation in all regions of the world remains open due to the exhaustibility of many biosphere resources, the presence of social conflicts, etc.

In Western sociology and cultural studies, the theory of the cyclical development of society, the authors of which are O. Spengler, A. Toynbee and others, also stands out. It proceeds from the fact that the evolution of society is considered not as a linear movement towards its more perfect state, but as a kind of closed cycle of rise , prosperity and decline, repeating again as it ends (the cyclical concept of the development of society can be considered by analogy with the life of an individual - birth, development, prosperity, old age and death).

Of particular interest to our students is the “theory of a healthy society” created by the German-American psychologist, physician and sociologist Erich Fromm (1900–1980). Having emigrated from Germany to the USA in 1933, he worked for many years as a practicing psychoanalyst, later began scientific work, and in 1951 became a university professor.

Criticizing capitalism as a sick, irrational society, Fromm developed the concept of creating a harmonious, healthy society using social therapy methods.

Basic provisions of the theory of a healthy society.

1. Developing a holistic concept of personality, Fromm found out the mechanisms of interaction between psychological and social factors

V the process of its formation.

2. He deduces the health of society from the health of its members. Fromm's concept of a healthy society differs from the understanding of Durkheim, who admitted the possibility of anomie in society (i.e., denial by its members of basic social values and norms leading to social

al disintegration and subsequent deviant behavior). But Durkheim attributed this only to the individual, and not to society as a whole. And if we assume that deviant behavior may be characteristic

majority of members of society and lead to the dominance of destructive behavior, then we get a sick society. The stages of the “disease” are as follows: anomia → social disintegration → deviation → destruction

→ collapse of the system.

IN as a counterbalance to Durkheim, Fromm calls such a society healthy,

V in which people would develop their minds to such a degree of objectivity that allows them to see themselves, other people and nature in their true reality, distinguish good from evil, and make their own choices. This would mean a society whose members have developed the ability to love their children, family, other people, themselves, nature, to feel unity with it, and at the same time - to maintain a sense of individuality, integrity and to surpass nature in creativity, and not in destruction .

Fromm believed that so far only a minority had managed to achieve his intended goal. The goal is to convert the majority of society

V healthy people. Fromm sees the ideal of a healthy society in the transformation of all spheres of public life:

– in the economic field there must be self-government of all employees of the enterprise;

– incomes should be equalized to such an extent as to ensure a decent life for various social strata;

– in the political sphere, decentralization of power is necessary with the creation of thousands of small groups with interpersonal contacts;

– changes must simultaneously cover all other areas, since changes in only one have a destructive effect on changes

generally;

– a person should not be a means used by others or himself, but feel like a subject of his own powers and capabilities.

The theory of social change in society by T. Parsons is also quite interesting. He proceeds from the fact that various systems of society are subject to evolution: the organism, the individual, the social system and the cultural system as stages of increasing complexity. Indeed, the only profound changes are those that occur in the cultural system. Economic and political revolutions that do not affect the level of culture in society do not fundamentally change society itself. There are a lot of examples of this.

Summarizing the above, it should be noted that all scientific, technical and technological radical changes entail revolutions in other spheres of social life, but they are not accompanied by social revolutions, as Marx, Engels, and Lenin argued. Class interests, naturally, exist, and contradictions too, but hired workers force property owners to make concessions, raise wages, increase income, and therefore

and raise living standards and well-being. All this leads to a reduction in social tension, smoothing out class contradictions and denying the inevitability of social revolutions.

Society as a social, dynamically developing system has always been, is and will be the most complex object of study that attracts the attention of sociologists. In terms of complexity, it can only be compared with the human personality, the individual. Society and the individual are inextricably linked and are mutually determined through one another. This is the methodological key to the study of other social systems.

SELF-CONTROL SURVEYS

1. What does human society mean?

2. What are the main approaches to defining the concept of “society”?

3. Name the main features of society.

4. Give a description of the leading subsystems of society.

5. Outline the structural components of a society's social system.

6. What theories of social development can you name?

7. Describe the essence of the “theory of a healthy society” by E. Fromm.

Literature

1. American sociological thought. M., 1994.

2. Babosov, E. General sociology / E. Babosov. Minsk, 2004.

3. Gorelov, A. Sociology / A. Gorelov. M., 2006.

4. Luhmann, N. The concept of society / N. Luhmann // Problems of theoretical sociology. St. Petersburg, 1994.

5. Parsons, T. System of modern societies / T. Parsons. M., 1998.

6. Popper, K. Open Society and Its Enemies / K. Popper. M., 1992. T. 1, 2.

7. Sorokin, P. Man, civilization, society / P. Sorokin. M., 1992.

Man is a rational being. He chooses housing, food and where to put his energy. However, it is pointless to have freedom of choice if no one appreciates your choice.

We need society. Nature has endowed us with an invariable trait - a thirst for communication. Thanks to this feature, we think not only about ourselves. Within a family or an entire planet, a person makes decisions for the sake of common progress. Thanks to the thirst for communication, we push the world forward.

As soon as our ancestors descended from the palm tree, they were faced with the increasing hostility of nature. The little primate could not defeat the mammoth. Natural skin is not enough to keep you warm in winter. Sleeping outdoors is three times more dangerous.

The nascent consciousness understood - we can only survive together. The forefathers created a primitive language to understand each other. They gathered in communities. Communities were divided into castes. The strong and fearless went hunting. The offspring were raised to be gentle and understanding. They built shacks that were smart and practical. Even then, a person was engaged in what he was predisposed to.

But nature provided only rough raw materials. You cannot build a city from stones alone. It is difficult to kill an animal with stones. Ancestors learned to process materials in order to work more efficiently and live longer.

Broadly defined society- the part of nature that has tamed nature, using will and consciousness to survive.

In a group, we can not get carried away with superficial knowledge. Each of us has our own inclinations. A professional plumber, even for a million-dollar salary, will not be happy to grow bonsai - his brain is technically sharpened. The union allows us to do what we love and leave the rest to others.

We now understand the narrow definition society - a conscious gathering of individuals to work towards a common goal.

Society as a dynamic system

We are cogs in the social mechanism. Goals are not determined by anyone alone. They come as general needs. Society, through the strength of its individual members, solves an endless stream of problems. Finding solutions forces society to improve and creates new and complex problems. Humanity builds itself, which characterizes society as a dynamic system capable of self-development.

Society has a complex dynamic structure. Like any system, it consists of subsystems. Subsystems in the group are divided into spheres of influence. Sociologists note four subsystems of society:

Spiritual- responsible for culture.
Political- regulates relations by laws.
Social- caste division: nation, class, social stratum.
Economic- production and distribution of goods.

Subsystems are systems in relation to their individual members. They only work when all the elements are in place. Both subsystems and individual parts are inextricably linked. Without production and regulation, spiritual life loses its meaning. Without a person, life is not nice to another.

The social system is constantly moving. It is driven by subsystems. Subsystems move due to elements. The elements are divided into:

Material - factories, homes, resources.
Ideal - values, ideals, beliefs, traditions.

Material values characterize subsystems more, while ideal values characterize a human trait. Man is the only indivisible element in the social system. A person has a will, aspirations and beliefs.

The system works thanks to communication - social relations. Social relations are the main link between people and subsystems.

People play roles. In the family we play an exemplary father. At work, we are expected to obey unquestioningly. Among friends, we are the life of the party. We don't choose roles. They are dictated to us by society.

Each person has more than one personality, but several at once. Each person behaves differently in different situations. You can't scold your boss the same way you scold a child, right?

Animals have a fixed social role: if the leader “said” that you will sleep from below and eat last, this will happen all your life. And even in another pack, an individual will never be able to take on the role of leader.

Man is universal. Every day we wear dozens of masks. Thanks to this, we easily adapt to different situations. You are the main one, what you understand. You will never demand submission from a competent leader. Great survival mechanism!

Scientists divide social relationships:

between individuals;
within the group;
between groups;
local (indoors);
ethnic (within race or nation);
within the organization;
institutional (within the boundaries of a social institution);
inside the country;
international.

We communicate not only with whomever we want, but also when necessary. For example, we don’t want to communicate with a colleague, but he sits in the same office with us. And we must work. That's why there are relationships:

informal- with friends and loved ones whom we ourselves chose;
formalized- with whom we must contact if necessary.

You can communicate with like-minded people and with enemies. there are:

cooperative- cooperative relationships;
competitive- confrontation.

Results

Society - complex dynamic system. People launched it only once, and now it determines every stage of our lives.

flexibility- regulates all areas of life, even if they have not yet appeared;
mobility- continuously changes as needed;
difficult well-oiled mechanism from subsystems and elements;
independence- society itself creates the conditions for existence;
relationship all elements;
adequate reaction for changes.

Thanks to the dynamic social mechanism, man is the most resilient creature on the planet. For only a person changes the world around him.

Video

From the video you will learn what society is, its concept and the relationship between man and society.

Didn't get an answer to your question? Suggest a topic to the authors.

For a long time, people, living in a group, thought about the features and patterns of life together, sought to organize it, and ensure its stability.

The ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle compared society to a living organism.

Man is a social being and cannot live in isolation.

Society- this is the totality of relationships between people, the rationally organized life and activities of their large groups.

System(Greek) - a whole made up of parts, a connection, a set of elements that are in relationships and connections with each other, which form a certain unity.

COMPONENTS OF THE COMPANY:

A people is a historical form of community of people associated with the conditions for the production of material and spiritual goods, language, culture and origin.

A nation is a historical form of organizing the life of any one people (or several close ones). This is a group of people formed on the basis of a common territory, economics. connections, language, culture.

The state is a form of organization of the life of a people or a nation based on law and law. Manages the population of a certain territory.

Nature is the totality of natural conditions for the existence of human society (they are closely interconnected).

Man is a living being that has the maximum impact on nature.

Society is a set of relationships between people that develop in the course of their life.

Society is a multifaceted concept (philatelists, nature conservation, etc.); society as opposed to nature;

There are different subsystems operating in society. Subsystems close in direction are usually called spheres of human life.

Social relations are a set of various connections, contacts, dependencies that arise between people (relations of property, power and subordination, relations of rights and freedoms)

SPHERES OF SOCIETY LIFE

The economic sphere is a set of social relations that arise in the process of production of material values and exist in relation to this production.

The political and legal sphere is a set of social relations that characterize the relationship of the government (state) to citizens, as well as the relationship of citizens to the government (state).

The social sphere is a set of social relations that organize interaction between various social groups.

The spiritual, moral, cultural sphere is a set of social relations that arise in the spiritual life of humanity and function as its basis.

There is a close relationship between all spheres of human life.

Social relations are a set of various connections, contacts, dependencies that arise between people (relations of property, power and subordination, relations of rights and freedoms).

Society is a complex system that unites people. They are in close unity and interconnection.

The institution of family is the primary social institution associated with human reproduction as a biologist. Vida and his upbringing and socialization as a member of society. Parents-children, love and mutual assistance.

Society is a complex dynamic self-developing system, which consists of subsystems (spheres of social life).

Characteristic features (signs) of society as a dynamic system:

dynamism (the ability to change over time both society and its individual elements).

a complex of interacting elements (subsystems, social institutions).

self-sufficiency (the ability of a system to independently create and recreate the conditions necessary for its own existence, to produce everything necessary for people’s lives).

integration (interconnection of all system components).

self-governance (response to changes in the natural environment and the global community).

Topic: Society as a complex dynamic system

Goal: to bring cadets to the conclusion that society is a highly complex system and in order to live in harmony with it it is necessary to adapt to it. The conditions for adaptation to modern society is knowledge about it.

Educational:

Reveal the features of the social system.

Explain to cadets such concepts as: society, social system, social institutions

Describe the main social institutions

Educational:

1. Develop skills and abilities in working with text

Instill the skills to critically evaluate and analyze social science information

Educational:

To develop curiosity and interest in this course using the example of the topic: Society as a complex dynamic system

Features of the social system

Social institutions

During the classes

Features of the social system

Is there a connection between various events and phenomena in the life of society?

What gives stability and predictability to the development of society?

In the previous lesson, we examined the definitions of the concept “society”; the idea of the interconnection of people and the interaction of various spheres of public life was emphasized. In philosophical literature, society is defined as a “dynamic system.” The new concept of “system” may seem complicated, but it makes sense to understand it, since there are many objects in the world that are covered by this concept. Our Universe, the culture of an individual people, and the activities of man himself are systems. The word “system” is of Greek origin and means “a whole made up of parts”, “a totality”. Thus, each system includes interacting parts: subsystems and elements. The connections and relationships between its parts become of primary importance. Dynamic systems allow various changes, development, the emergence of new parts and the death of old parts and connections between them.

What does the concept of system mean?

What are the characteristic features of society as a system?

How does this system differ from natural systems?

A number of such differences have been identified in the social sciences.

Firstly, society as a system is complex, since it includes many levels, subsystems, and elements. Thus, we can talk about human society on a global scale, about society within one country, about various social groups in which each person is included (nation, class, family, etc.).

What subsystems does society consist of?

The macrostructure of society as a system consists of foursubsystems, which are the main spheres of human activity - material and production, social, political, spiritual. Each of these spheres known to you has its own complex structure and is itself a complex system. Thus, the political sphere acts as a system that includes a large number of components - the state, parties, etc. But the state, for example, is also a system with many components.

Thus, any of the existing spheres of society, being a subsystem in relation to society, at the same time itself acts as a rather complex system. Therefore, we can talk about a hierarchy of systems consisting of a number of different levels.

In other words, society is a complex system of systems, a kind ofsupersystem.

Name a characteristic feature of society

Secondly, characteristic feature society as a system is the presence in its composition of elements of different quality, both material (various technical devices, institutions, etc.) and ideal (values, ideas, traditions, etc.). For example, the economic sphere includes enterprises, vehicles, raw materials, manufactured goods and, at the same time, economic knowledge, rules, values, patterns of economic behavior and much more.

Name the main elements of society

Third, main element society as a system is a person who has the ability to set goals and choose means of carrying out his activities. This makes social systems more changeable and mobile than natural ones.

Based on historical knowledge, prove that social life is in constant change (written)

Social life is inconstant change. The pace and extent of these changes may vary; There are periods in the history of mankind when the established order of life did not change in its fundamentals for centuries, but over time the pace of change began to increase.

From your history course, you know that in societies that existed in different eras, certain qualitative changes occurred, while the natural systems of those periods did not undergo significant changes. This fact indicates that society is a dynamic system that has a property that in science is expressed by the concepts of “change”, “development”, “progress”, “regression”, “evolution”, “revolution”, etc.

Hence, Human - this is a universal element of all social systems, since it is certainly included in each of them.

Give examples proving that society is an ordered entity

Like any system, society is an ordered entity. This means that the components of the system are not in chaotic disorder, but, on the contrary, occupy a certain position within the system and are connected in a certain way with other components. Therefore, the system hasintegrative quality that is inherent in it as a whole. None of the system components, considered separately, possesses this quality. It, this quality, is the result of the integration and interconnection of all components of the system. Just as individual human organs (heart, stomach, liver, etc.) do not have the properties of a person, the economy, health care system, state and other elements of society do not have the qualities that are inherent in society as a whole. And only thanks to the diverse connections that exist between the components of the social system, it turns into a single whole, that is, into society (just as a single human body exists thanks to the interaction of various human organs).

The connections between subsystems and elements of society can be illustrated with various examples. The study of the distant past of mankind allowed scientists to conclude that the moral relations of people in primitive conditions were built on collectivist principles, that is, in modern language, priority was always given to the collective rather than to the individual. It is also known that the moral norms that existed among many tribes in those archaic times allowed the killing of weak members of the clan - sick children, old people - and even cannibalism. Have these ideas and views of people about the limits of what is morally permissible been influenced by the real material conditions of their existence? The answer is clear: undoubtedly, they did. The need to collectively obtain material wealth, the doom of a person separated from his clan to quick death, laid the foundations of collectivist morality. Guided by the same methods of struggle for existence and survival, people did not consider it immoral to free themselves from those who could become a burden to the collective.

Another example could be the connection between legal norms and socio-economic relations. Let us turn to known historical facts. One of the first sets of laws of Kievan Rus, called Russkaya Pravda, provided for various punishments for murder. In this case, the measure of punishment was determined primarily by a person’s place in the system of hierarchical relations, his belonging to one or another social stratum or group. Thus, the fine for killing a tiun (steward) was enormous: it was 80 hryvnia and equal to the cost of 80 oxen or 400 rams. The life of a serf or serf was valued at 5 hryvnia, i.e. 16 times cheaper. Integral, i.e., general, inherent in the entire system, qualities of any system are not a simple sum of the qualities of its components, but representnew quality, resulting from the interconnection and interaction of its constituent components. In its most general form, this is the quality of society as a social system -ability to create all the necessary conditions for its existence, to produce everything necessary for the collective life of people. In philosophyself-sufficiency considered asmain difference society from its constituent parts. Just as human organs cannot exist outside the whole organism, so none of the subsystems of society can exist outside the whole - society as a system.

How do you understand the managerial function of society?

Another feature of society as a system is that this system is one of theself-governing. The managerial function is performed by the political subsystem, which gives consistency to all components that form the social integrity.

Any system, be it technical (a unit with an automatic control system), or biological (animal), or social (society), is located in a certain environment with which it interacts.Wednesday The social system of any country is both nature and the world community. Changes in the state of the natural environment, events in the world community, in the international arena are a kind of “signals” to which society must respond. It usually seeks to either adapt to changes occurring in the environment or adapt the environment to its needs. In other words, the system reacts to “signals” in one way or another. At the same time, it implements its mainfunctions: adaptation; goal achievement, that is, the ability to maintain its integrity, ensuring the implementation of its tasks, influencing the surrounding natural and social environment;sample maintenance - the ability to maintain one’s internal structure;integration - the ability to integrate, that is, to include new parts, new social formations (phenomena, processes, etc.) into a single whole.

Social institutions

The most important component of society as a system are social institutions.

What are social institutions

The word "institute" translated from Latininstitute means "establishment". In Russian it is often used to refer to higher educational institutions. In addition, as you know from the basic school course, in the field of morality the word “institution” means a set of legal norms governing one social relationship or several relationships related to each other (for example, the institution of marriage).

List the characteristics of social institutions based on the definition

In the history of society, sustainable types of activities have developed aimed at satisfying the most important needs of life.

List public needs

Sociologists identify five suchpublic needs:

the need for reproduction;

need for security and social order;

need for subsistence;

the need for knowledge acquisition, socialization of the younger generation, personnel training;

the need to solve spiritual problems of the meaning of life.

What social institutions correspond to these needs?

What social institutions do you know?

These conditions for the successful implementation of the main types of activities were met by historically established social institutions:

institution of family and marriage;

political institutions, especially the state;

economic institutions, primarily production;

institutes of education, science and culture;

Institute of Religion.

Each of these institutionsunites large masses of people to satisfy a particular need and achieve a specific goal of a personal, group or social nature.

The emergence of social institutions led toconsolidation specific types of interaction, making them permanent and mandatory for all members of a given society.

So, a social institution is, first of all,a set of persons engaged in a certain type of activity and ensuring, in the process of this activity, the satisfaction of a certain need that is significant for society (for example, all employees of the education system).

How are social institutions regulated?

Further, the institute is fixedsystem of legal and moral norms, traditions and customs, regulating appropriate types of behavior. (Remember, for example, what social norms regulate the behavior of people in the family).

Name the characteristic feature of social institutions

Another characteristic feature of a social institution ispresence of institutions, equipped with certain material resources necessary for any type of activity. (Think about what social institutions the school, factory, and police belong to. Give your own examples of institutions and organizations that relate to each of the most important social institutions.)

Name the signs of a social institution

Let us consider the main features of a social institution using the example of such an important institution of society as the family. First of all, every family is a small group of people, based on intimacy and emotional attachment, related by marriage (spouses) and blood relationships (parents and children). The need to create a family is one of the fundamental, i.e. fundamental, human needs. At the same time, the family performs important functions in society: the birth and upbringing of children, economic support for minors and the disabled, and much more. Each family member occupies a special position in it, which presupposes appropriate behavior: parents (or one of them) provide a livelihood, manage household chores, and raise children. The children, in turn, study and help around the house. Such behavior is regulated not only by family rules, but also by social norms: morality and law. Thus, public morality condemns the lack of care of older family members for younger ones. The law establishes the responsibilities and obligations of spouses towards each other, towards children, and adult children towards elderly parents. The creation of a family and the main milestones of family life are accompanied by established traditions and rituals in society. For example, in many countries, marriage rituals include the exchange of wedding rings between spouses. The presence of social institutions makes people's behavior more predictable and society as a whole more stable.

What social institutions can be considered the main

What social institutions can be classified as non-main

As new needs and conditions arise in the course of the historical process, new types of activities and corresponding connections appear. Society is interested in giving them orderliness and a normative character, i.e.institutionalization.

What is institutionalization

How does it go

In Russia, as a result of reforms at the end of the 20th century. For example, such a type of activity as entrepreneurship appeared. The streamlining of this activity led to the emergence of various types of firms, required the publication of laws regulating business activities, and contributed to the formation of corresponding traditions.

In the same way, the institutionalization of other activities that emerged in recent decades took place.

It happens that the development of society requires the modernization of the activities of social institutions that historically developed in previous periods. Thus, in the changed conditions, it became necessary to solve the problems of introducing the younger generation to the culture in a new way. Hence the steps taken to modernize the institution of education, which may result in the institutionalization of the Unified State Exam and new content of educational programs.

So we can go back to the definition given at the beginning of this part of the paragraph. Think about what characterizes social institutions as highly organized systems.

Why is their structure stable?

What is the significance of deep integration of their elements?

What is the diversity, flexibility, and dynamism of their functions?

Summarizing

Society is a highly complex system, and in order to live in harmony with it, it is necessary to adapt (adapt) to it. Otherwise, you cannot avoid conflicts and failures in your life and activities. A condition for adaptation to modern society is knowledge about it, which is provided by a social studies course.

It is possible to understand society only if its quality is identified as an integral system. To do this, it is necessary to consider various sections of the structure of society (the main spheres of human activity, a set of social institutions, social groups), systematizing, integrating connections between them, and features of the management process in a self-governing social system.

In real life, you will have to interact with various social institutions. To make this interaction successful, you need to know the goals and nature of the activity that has taken shape in the social institution that interests you. Studying the legal norms governing this type of activity will help you with this.

In subsequent sections of the course, characterizing individual areas of human activity, it is useful to revisit the content of this paragraph in order, based on it, to consider each area as part of an integral system. This will help to understand the role and place of each sphere, each social institution in the development of society.

Consolidation

What does the term “system” mean?

How do social (public) systems differ from natural ones?

What is the main quality of society as an integral system?

What are the connections and relationships of society as a system with the environment?

What is a social institution?

Describe the main social institutions.

What are the main features of a social institution?

What is the significance of institutionalization?

Homework organization

Using a systematic approach, analyze Russian society at the beginning of the 20th century.

Describe all the main features of a social institution using the example of an educational institution. Use the material and recommendations from the practical conclusions of this paragraph.

The collective work of Russian sociologists says: “...society exists and functions in diverse forms... The really important question comes down to ensuring that society itself is not lost behind the special forms, or the forests behind the trees.” How does this statement relate to the understanding of society as a system? Give reasons for your answer.