Systematic approach as a way of understanding society. Society as a system

Today, two approaches to understanding society can be distinguished. In the broad sense of the word society- This a set of historically established forms of joint life and activity of people on earth. In the narrow sense of the word society- this is a specific type of social and state system, a specific national theoretical formation. However, these interpretations of the concept under consideration cannot be considered sufficiently complete, since the problem of society occupied the minds of many thinkers, and in the process of development of sociological knowledge, different approaches to its definition.

Thus, E. Durkheim defined society as supra-individual spiritual reality based on collective ideas. From the point of view of M. Weber, society is the interaction of people who are the product of social, i.e., other-oriented actions. K. Marx represents society as a historically developing set of relations between people that develop in the process of their joint actions. Another theorist of sociological thought, T. Parsons, believed that society is a system of relations between people based on norms and values ​​that form culture.

Thus, it is not difficult to see that society is a complex category characterized by a combination of various characteristics. Each of the above definitions reflects certain characteristic features of this phenomenon. Only taking into account all these characteristics allows us to give the most complete and accurate definition of the concept of society. The most complete list characteristic features society was highlighted by an American sociologist E. Shils . He developed the following characteristics characteristic of any society:

1) it is not an organic part of any larger system;

2) marriages are concluded between representatives of a given community;

3) it is replenished by the children of those people who are members of this community;

4) it has its own territory;

5) it has a self-name and its own history;

6) it has its own management system;

7) it exists longer than the average life expectancy of an individual;

8) brings him together general system values, norms, laws, rules.

Taking into account all these features, we can give the following definition of society: it is a historically established and self-reproducing community of people.

The aspects of reproduction are biological, economic and cultural reproduction.

This definition allows us to distinguish the concept of society from the concept of “state” (an institution for managing social processes that arose historically later than society) and “country” (a territorial-political entity formed on the basis of society and the state).

The study of society within the framework of sociology is based on a systems approach. The use of this particular method is also determined by a number of characteristic features of society, which is characterized as: a social system of a higher order; complex system education; holistic system; a self-developing system because the source is within society.

Thus, it is not difficult to see that society is a complex system.

System- this is a certain ordered set of elements that are interconnected and form some kind of integral unity. Undoubtedly, society is a social system, which is characterized as a holistic formation, the elements of which are people, their interactions and relationships, which are sustainable and reproduced in the historical process, passing from generation to generation.

Thus, the following can be identified as the main elements of society as a social system:

2) social connections and interactions;

3) social institutions, social strata;

4) social norms and values.

Like any system, society is characterized by close interaction of its elements. Taking this feature into account, within the framework of a systems approach, society can be defined as a large, ordered set of social processes and phenomena that are more or less connected and interact with each other and form a single social whole. Society as a system is characterized by such features as coordination and subordination of its elements.

Despite all the differences in the approaches to interpreting society on the part of the classics of sociology, what sociologists have in common is that everyone views society as an integral system of elements closely interconnected. This approach to society is called systemic.

O. Comte, for example, considered society a functional system, the structure of which is made up of family, classes, and the state and which is based on the distribution of labor and solidarity. E. Durkheim viewed society as a supra-individual reality based on a system of collective ideas and values. According to M. Weber, society is a system of interactions between people, which is a product of social, i.e. people-oriented actions. T. Parsons defined society as a system of social actions and relationships between people that unite individuals on the basis of common norms and values.

Systems approach – comprehensive study of the object under study as a whole from the perspective system analysis. All interrelations of individual structural parts are taken into account, the role of each of them is identified in general process functioning of the system, and, conversely, identifying the impact of the system as a whole on its individual elements.

The main task of the systems approach is to explain how society is structured, how it functions and develops, and why it collapses.

System- this is a certain ordered set of elements interconnected and forming some kind of integral unity.

Social system – a holistic education, the main element of which is people, their connections, interactions and relationships, social institutions and organizations, social groups and communities, norms and values.

Each of these elements of the social system is interconnected with others, occupies a specific place and plays a certain role in it. These connections, interactions and relationships are sustainable and are reproduced in the historical process, passing from generation to generation.

The study of society requires viewing its elements through the prism of their significance to the whole. It is necessary not only to state the multiplicity of structural elements of society, but to isolate the stable, repeating from the episodic, insignificant, random, i.e. elements that reproduce society as a whole.

The social system, based on structural-functional analysis, can be presented in five aspects:

1) as an interaction of individuals, each of which is a bearer of individual qualities;

2) as social interaction, which results in the formation of social relations and the formation of a social group;

3) as a group interaction, which is based on certain general circumstances (city, village, work collective);

4) as a hierarchy of social positions (statuses) occupied by individuals included in the activities of a given social system, and the social functions (roles) that they perform based on these social positions;

5) as a set of norms and values ​​that determine the nature and content of the activities (behavior) of the elements of a given system.

The first aspect characterizing the social system is associated with the concept of individuality, the second - social group, the third - social community, the fourth - social organization, fifth - a social institution. Thus, the social system acts as the interaction of its main structural elements.

Individuals and groups of individuals into a single functional whole, i.e. they unite into the social system various shapes social connections. A connection is defined as a relationship between objects when a change in one object or element corresponds to a change in other objects that make up this object.

The starting point for the emergence of a social connection is the interaction of individuals or groups of individuals to satisfy certain needs. Interaction is any behavior of an individual or group of individuals that has significance for other individuals and groups or society as a whole. this moment and in the future. The category “interaction” expresses the nature and content of relations between people and social groups as permanent carriers various types activities that differ in social positions (statuses) and roles (functions). The mechanism of social interaction includes: individuals performing certain actions; changes in outside world caused by these actions; the impact of these changes on other individuals and, finally, the reverse reaction of the individuals who were affected.

In society, certain types of interactions inevitably become standardized, which is expressed in the emergence of status-role standards of behavior. Status-role positions are the basic components of stable social interactions and constitute the first level of society. Any society can be represented as a set of status and role positions, and the more there are, the more complex the society. The organization and orderliness of status-role positions is ensured thanks to more complex structural formations - social institutions, communities, organizations - which connect these positions with each other, ensure their reproduction, create guarantees of their stability and constitute the second, institutional level of society.

The third level is societal; it ensures the reproduction of connections that are significant for society as a whole - this is its main difference from the institutional level, which regulates group or specialized types of interactions. The normative and regulatory impact of the societal level is characterized by: versatility, those. universality. The zone of ordering influence of the societal level includes almost all institutional formations and social groups, and, consequently, almost all status-role positions; integrativeness. This level ensures the “retention” of institutional formations in a single complex. It subordinates to its logic not only previously established social institutions and groups, but also each new type of them, does not allow society as an integrity to disintegrate into its constituent structural elements, and restrains centrifugal tendencies

Principles of a systematic approach to society:

1. Society cannot be considered as the sum of individuals, their connections, interactions and relationships. Society is not a summative, but a holistic system. This means that at the level of society, individual actions, connections and relationships form a systemic quality.

System quality – This is a special qualitative state that cannot be considered as a simple sum of elements.

2. Social interactions and relationships are supra-individual, transpersonal in nature, that is, society is some independent substance that is primary in relation to individuals. Each individual, when born, forms a certain structure of connections and relationships and, in the process of socialization, is included in it.

3. A holistic system is characterized by many connections, interactions and relationships. The most characteristic are correlative connections, including coordination and subordination of elements.

Coordination– this is a certain consistency of elements, the special nature of their mutual dependence, which ensures the preservation of the entire system.

Subordination– this is subordination and subordination, indicating a special specific place, the unequal significance of elements in the whole system.

So, as a result, society becomes an integral system with qualities that none of the elements included in it have separately. As a result of its integral qualities, the social system acquires a certain independence in relation to its constituent elements, a relatively independent way of its development.

Each social system has a structure, that is, a certain order, a way of organizing and connecting its parts or elements of the social system into a single whole. The main types of structure of the social system are:

1) ideal, including beliefs, convictions and ideas of people;

2) normative, including values, norms, and social roles;

3) organizational, which determines the way the social positions and statuses of individuals are interconnected, and also determines the nature of the system’s reproduction;

4) random, consisting of elements included in its functioning at the moment.

The most important elements of society as a social system are its economic, political, social, spiritual (ideological), and legal structures, which, due to the interaction of people, are institutionalized into social subsystems. Each of these subsystems occupies a defining place in society and performs clearly defined functions in it. For example, the economic subsystem performs the function of production, exchange and distribution of material goods, the social subsystem performs the function of socialization of individuals, the political subsystem performs the function of social management and control, and the spiritual subsystem performs the function of producing spiritual values. These elements of society form a hierarchical dependence, in which the economic subsystem is decisive, and the political and spiritual are derived from it. These subsystems interact and influence each other.

When considering society as a system, it is necessary to understand what nature of the connections are established between the elements, on what principles their organization takes place. Here the systemic approach is complemented by the deterministic and functionalist ones.

The fundamental difference between the deterministic and functionalist approaches is that determinism consists in recognizing one of the functions of subsystems as the most important, determining all others. Functionalism believes that all functions are equally important, which is the law of stability of society. The derogation or elevation of one of the functions of the subsystems is fraught with negative consequences for society.

Deterministic approach, namely economic determinism most clearly expressed in Marxism. From the point of view of this doctrine, society as an integral system consists of subsystems: economic, social, political and ideological. Each of which can be considered as a system. In the relationship between these subsystems, cause-and-effect relationships play a dominant role. This means that each of these systems does not exist on its own, but is in a cause-and-effect relationship with other systems. All these subsystems represent a hierarchical structure, i.e. are subordinated in the order they are listed. Marxism clearly points out the dependence and conditionality of all systems on the characteristics of the economic system, which is based on material production based on a certain nature of property relations.

K. Marx considered society as a system consisting of two subsystems: the base (economic subsystem) and the superstructure (political subsystem). The main thing is to determine the leading subsystem, changes in which can cause changes in the entire system. For Marx, such a subsystem was the economy, consisting of two blocks: productive forces and production relations. "IN social production In their lives, people enter into certain, necessary relations that do not depend on their will - relations of production that correspond to a certain stage of development of their material productive forces. The totality of these production relations constitutes economic structure society, the real basis on which the legal and political superstructure rises and to which certain forms of social consciousness correspond. The mode of production of material life determines the social, political and spiritual processes of life in general.”

The position of economic determinism has been repeatedly criticized: it was difficult to explain the reasons for the stability of some societies and the collapse of others solely by the influence of production relations. Therefore, along with economic determinism, there are schools and movements that develop political and cultural determinism.

Political determinism in explanation public life gives priority to relations of power and authority. An example of political determinism is the concept of society by E. Shils and R. Aron. The latter points out: “Modern industrial societies, which have many common features... differ primarily in the structures of state power, and the consequence of these structures are certain features of the economic system... In our century, everything happens as if it is politics that determines the possible specific options for an industrial society.”

Despite the contrasting views of K. Marx and R. Aron, they are united by an attempt to explain society by the mutual influence and interdependence of its subsystems. Currently, scientists refrain from making unambiguous assessments of the dominant role of one or another social subsystem, but the approach itself, which allows one to interpret the functioning of a system through the logic of interaction of its subsystem, has been preserved.

Supporters cultural determinism affirm the priority role of culture in society. Cultural determinism, as a rule. It is characterized by an extremely broad interpretation of the concept of culture, which is usually understood as “a set of generally shared symbols and meanings”, including in its content functional social ideas and values, customs and traditions.

Cultural determinism originates from the works of M. Weber on the sociology of religion, in which the development of society was made dependent on the religious values ​​dominant in it. The modern brand of cultural determinism emphasizes the crucial role of communication, the core of which is the exchange of information. In N. Luhmann’s concept, culture is viewed as a system of broadcasting collective experience, relatively autonomous from the individual, a flow of messages conveying social information. Society in this case appears as a stream of self-reproducing information messages. From this point of view, a person appears as a product of cultural production. Thus, a reverse perspective is created: people form the “environment,” “background,” “context” of society, which exists as a system of cultural reproduction through communication.

From point of view functionalism, society unites its structural elements not by establishing cause-and-effect relationships between them, but on the basis of functional dependence. Functional dependence is what gives the system of elements as a whole properties that no single element possesses individually.

Functionalism interprets society as a coherent system acting people, the stable existence and reproduction of which is ensured by the necessary set of functions. The system creates, maintains, preserves and develops only what it needs for normal functioning. Functionalism recognizes everyone social education performing a function useful to society.

Basic principles of the functional approach:

1. Just like supporters of the systems approach, functionalists viewed society as an integral, unified organism consisting of many parts: economic, political, military, religious, etc.

2. But at the same time they emphasized that each part can exist only within the framework of integrity, where it performs specific, strictly defined functions.

3. The functions of parts always mean satisfying some social need. Yet together they are aimed at maintaining the sustainability of society and the reproduction of the human race.

4. Since each of the parts performs only its inherent function, if the activity of this part is disrupted, it is more difficult for other parts to fill the disrupted functions, since the functions of the parts differ significantly from each other.

Subsequently, the ideas of functionalism were developed within the framework of structural functionalism T. Parsons and R. Merton. The essence of this approach is that society, a social community or a social process is considered as an integral structure, the individual elements of which penetrate each other and thus perform a service (functional) role in relation to each other and the system as a whole. Functioning is maintaining balance in relations with the environment.

T. Parsons, having developed the method of structural functionalism, formulated the basic functional requirements, the fulfillment of which ensures the stable existence of society as a self-regulating and self-reproducing system. The main condition for the self-preservation of society is the mandatory fulfillment of four functions:

1. Adaptations. It is provided by the economic subsystem. Society must be able to adapt to the environment and independently influence it, adapt to changing conditions and the increasing material needs of people, be able to rationally organize and distribute internal resources.

2. Goal achievements. It is provided by the political subsystem. It is the ability of the system to maintain its integrity. It must be goal-oriented, capable of setting basic goals and objectives and maintaining the process of achieving them.

3. Integrations. It is provided by legal institutions and customs. It lies in the ability of the system to integrate new formations and subordinate them to its logic.

4. Maintaining the sample, i.e. the ability of a system to reproduce its elements, maintain internal structure and relieve tensions in the system. This function is performed by the subsystem of beliefs, morality, and agents of socialization, including educational and family institutions.

The logic of classical functionalism, which explains the connectedness of all elements of society, is not flawless. It is based on the assumption that people are aware of useful functions and do everything possible to preserve and reproduce them. Within the framework of this approach, it is difficult to explain the cause of the crisis, conflicts, and collapse of the system. The efforts of R. Merton were aimed at solving this problem, and he introduced a number of clarifications to this concept:

1) Just as one phenomenon can have different functions, so the same function can be performed by different phenomena.

2) Merton introduces the concept dysfunction, those. destructive function. He argues that the same elements can be functional in relation to some systems and dysfunctional in relation to others.

3) Merton introduces a distinction between explicit and hidden (latent) functions. Explicit function- this is the effect that is caused intentionally and is recognized as such. Latent function- this is a consequence that it was not the intention of the actor to cause, and he does not know what caused it.

Thus, society is dynamic the system, that is, is in constant motion, development, changes its features, characteristics, states. The change of states is caused both by the influences of the external environment and by the needs of the development of the system itself.

Dynamic systems can be linear and nonlinear. Society nonlinear system. This means that at different times the processes occurring in it under the influence of different reasons are determined and described different laws. They cannot be put into one explanatory scheme, because there will certainly be changes that do not fall under such an explanation. This is why social change always contains a degree of unpredictability.

Society - about open system. This means that it reacts to the slightest influences from the outside, to any accident. The reaction is manifested in the occurrence of fluctuations - unpredictable deviations from the stationary state, and bifurcations - branches of development trajectories. Bifurcations are always unpredictable; the logic of the previous state of the system is not applicable to them, since they themselves represent a violation of this logic. These are, as it were, moments of crisis when the usual threads of cause-and-effect relationships are lost and chaos ensues. It is at bifurcation points that innovations arise and revolutionary changes occur.

According to the modern sociologist N. Luhmann, society is a self-differentiating and self-renewing system. A social system has the ability to distinguish itself from others. She herself reproduces and defines her own boundaries that separate her from the external environment. In addition, according to Luhmann, a social system, unlike natural systems, is built on the basis of meaning, that is, in it its various elements (action, time, event) acquire semantic coordination.

Progress of society

History shows that no society stands still, but is constantly changing . Social change is the transition of social systems, communities, institutions and organizations from one state to another. The process of social development is carried out on the basis of changes. The concept of “social development” specifies the concept of “social change”. Social development– irreversible, directed change in social systems. Development involves a transition from simple to complex, from lower to higher, etc. In turn, the concept of “social development” is clarified by such qualitative characteristics as “social progress” and “social regression”

Social progress- this is a direction of development of human society that is characterized by an irreversible change in humanity, as a result of which a transition is made from lower to higher, from a less perfect state to a more perfect one. If the sum of the positive consequences of large-scale changes in society exceeds the sum of the negative ones, then we speak of progress. Otherwise, regression occurs.

Regression– a type of development characterized by a transition from higher to lower.

Thus, progress is both local and global. Regression is only local.

Usually, social progress does not mean these or those progressive changes in individual social communities, layers and groups or individuals, but the upward development of the entire society as an integrity, the movement towards the perfection of all mankind.

The mechanism of social progress in all systems consists in the emergence of new needs for various fields social life and finding ways to satisfy them. New needs arise as a result of human production activity; they are associated with the search and invention of new means of labor, communication, organization of social life, with the expansion and deepening of the scale scientific knowledge, the complication of the structure of human creative and consumer activity.

Very often, the emergence and satisfaction of social needs is carried out on the basis of an open conflict of interests of various social communities and social groups, as well as the subordination of the interests of some social communities and groups to others. In this case, social violence turns out to be an inevitable accompaniment of social progress. Social progress, as a consistent ascent to more complex forms of social life, is carried out as a result of the resolution of contradictions that unfold in the previous stages and phases of social development.

The source, the root cause of social progress, which determines the desires and actions of millions of people, are their own interests and needs. What are the human needs that determine social development? All needs are divided into two groups: natural and historical. Natural human needs are all social needs, the satisfaction of which is necessary for the preservation and reproduction of human life as a natural biological being. Natural human needs are limited by the biological structure of man. The historical needs of man are all social and spiritual needs, the satisfaction of which is necessary for the reproduction and development of man as a social being. None of the groups of needs can be satisfied outside of society, outside of the development of social material and spiritual production. In contrast to natural needs, human historical needs are generated by the course of social progress, are unlimited in development, due to which social and intellectual progress is unlimited.

However, social progress is not only an objective, but also a relative form of development. Where there are no opportunities for the development of new needs and their satisfaction, the line of social progress stops, periods of decline and stagnation arise. In the past, cases of social regression and the death of previously established cultures and civilization were often observed. Consequently, as practice shows, social progress in world history occurs in a zigzag manner.

The entire experience of the twentieth century refuted the one-factor approach to the development of modern society. The formation of a particular social structure is influenced by many factors: the progress of science and technology, the state of economic relations, the structure of the political system, the type of ideology, the level of spiritual culture, national character, the international environment or the existing world order and the role of the individual.

There are two types of social progress: gradual (reformist) and spasmodic (revolutionary).

Reform- partial improvement in any area of ​​life, a series of gradual transformations that do not affect the foundations of the existing social system.

Revolution- a complex abrupt change in all or most aspects of social life, affecting the foundations of the existing system and representing a transition of society from one qualitative state to another.

The difference between reform and revolution is usually seen in the fact that reform is a change implemented on the basis of existing values ​​in society. Revolution is a radical rejection of existing values ​​in the name of reorientation to others.

One of the tools for the movement of society along the path of social progress based on a combination of reforms and revolution in modern Western sociology is recognized modernization. Translated from English, “modernization” means modernization. The essence of modernization is associated with the spread throughout to the globe social relations and values ​​of capitalism. Modernization- this is a revolutionary transition from pre-industrial to industrial or capitalist society, carried out through comprehensive reforms, it implies a fundamental change in social institutions and people's lifestyles, covering all spheres of society.

Sociologists distinguish two types of modernization: organic and inorganic. Organic modernization is the moment of the country’s own development and is prepared by the entire course of previous development. It occurs as a natural process of progressive development of social life during the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Such modernization begins with a change in public consciousness.

Inorganic modernization occurs as a response to an external challenge from more developed countries. It is a method of “catching up” development undertaken by the ruling circles of a particular country in order to overcome historical backwardness and avoid foreign dependence. Inorganic modernization begins with economics and politics. It is accomplished by borrowing foreign experience, acquiring advanced equipment and technology, inviting specialists, studying abroad, restructuring forms government controlled and norms of cultural life modeled on advanced countries.

In the history of social thought, three models of social change have been proposed: movement along a descending line, from peak to decline; movement in a closed circle - cycles; movement from higher to lower - progress. These three options have always been present in all theories of social change.

The simplest type of social change is linear, when the amount of change occurring is constant at any given time. The linear theory of social progress is based on the progress of the productive forces. The events of the last quarter of the twentieth century have shown that we will have to give up the idea that changes in productive forces and production relations are taken as the key and, in essence, the only source of development. The rise of productive forces does not guarantee progress. Life shows that an unlimited increase in the material means of life, taken as a blessing, turns out to have disastrous consequences for a person. For a long period, the understanding of social progress was associated with industrial development, with high rates of economic growth and the creation of a large machine industry. The conditions and forms of education for economic, political and social life are subordinated to the development of technical and economic parameters and the achievement of industrial technology. But in the last third of the twentieth century, the euphoria of industrial-technical optimism began to wane. Industrial development not only created a threat to social and cultural values, but also undermined its own foundation. In the West they started talking about the crisis of industrialism, the signs of which were the destruction environment and exhaustion natural resources. The discrepancy between the level of scientific, technical and economic development level of satisfaction of human needs. The very concept of social progress has changed. Its main criterion is to bring the social structure into conformity not so much with the requirements of technological development, but, first of all, with the natural nature of man.

Cyclic changes are characterized by a sequential progression of stages. According to this theory, social development does not proceed in a straight line, but rather in a circle. If in a directed process each subsequent phase differs from any other that preceded it in time, then in a cyclic process the state of the changing system at a later time will be the same as it was earlier, i.e. will repeat exactly, but for more high level.

In everyday social life, a lot is organized cyclically: for example, agricultural life - and in general the entire life of agrarian societies - is seasonal, cyclical in nature, since it is determined by natural cycles. Spring is sowing time, summer, autumn is harvest time, winter is pause, lack of work. On next year all repeats. A clear example of the cyclical nature of social change is the change of generations of people. Each generation is born, goes through a period of social maturation, then a period of active activity, followed by a period of old age and the natural completion of the life cycle. Each generation is formed in specific social conditions, therefore it is not similar to previous generations and brings into life, into politics, economics, and culture something of its own, something new that has not yet been seen in social life.

Sociologists different directions record the fact that many social institutions, communities, classes and even entire societies change according to a cyclical pattern - emergence, growth, flourishing, crisis and decline, the emergence of a new phenomenon. Long-term cyclical changes are associated with the rise and fall of historically specific civilizations. This is what Spengler and Toynbee mean when they talk about civilizational cycles.

About the development of cyclical ideas in the biblical book of Ecclesiastes it is said: “What was, that will be; and what has been done will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”

In the records of Herodotus (5th century BC) a scheme is given for applying the cycle to political regimes: monarchy - tyranny - oligarchy - democracy - ochlocracy. In the works of Polybius (200-118 BC), a similar idea is made that all states go through inevitable cycles of growth - zenith - decline.

Social processes can proceed in a spiral, where successive states, although fundamentally similar, are not identical. An upward spiral means repetition of a process at a relatively higher level, a downward spiral means repetition at a relatively lower level.

Typology of society.

Sociologists divide the entire diversity of societies that existed previously and exist now into certain types. Several societies united by similar characteristics or criteria constitute a typology.

Typology of society is a classification of societies based on determining the most important and essential features, typical features that distinguish one society from another.

In sociology, there are many typologies depending on the typologization criterion.

Typology of society according to K. Marx. The basis is the method of production and form of ownership. Humanity is capable of going through five formations - primitive, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist and communist.

If writing is chosen as the main feature, then societies are divided into preliterate and written.

Simple(before state entities) And complex(state entities). The criterion for typology is the features of the social structure of society - the number of levels of management and the degree of social stratification.

Traditional and modern in accordance with the characteristics of the prevailing social relations and interactions in them.

Depending on the forms of economic activity based on the method of obtaining means of subsistence, they distinguish proto-society, agrarian society, industrial and post-industrial societies.

American sociologists G. Lenski and J. Lenski distinguished societies depending on the method of obtaining their means of subsistence:

Society of hunters and gatherers. Its structure is simple, and social life is organized on the basis of family ties, everything is ruled by a leader.

Cattle breeding societies. They also lack any surplus product. The basis of its social structure is family ties. However, their system is more developed and more complex. Cattle breeding is a way of obtaining a livelihood based on the domestication of wild animals.

Agrarian society. At this stage, a surplus product already appears, trade and crafts develop. Agriculture is associated with the emergence of cities, states, intense social stratification, and the exploitation of man by man. The system of kinship ties ceases to be the basis of the social structure of society.

Throughout the history of sociology, attempts have been made to define the original concept of this science - “society”. E. Durkheim viewed society as an organic unity of individuals based on collectivist ideas. According to M. Weber, society is an interaction between people that, firstly, is comprehended in terms of goals and means of achieving them, and secondly, takes into account the impact of the actions taken and the reaction to them. From the point of view of K. Marx, society is a historically developing set of relations that takes shape in the process of joint activity of people.
Many modern scientists interpret society in a similar way. Thus, T. Parsons defines society as a system of relationships between people based on norms and values. T. Bottomore and S. Lipset understand society as a set of people who jointly carry out social life within a number of institutions and organizations. In their opinion, it is social institutions and organizations that ensure the stability of relations between people, their collective activities, conflict regulation, etc.
It is obvious that all the above definitions are united by the approach to society as an integral system of interconnected elements. This approach operates with such categories as system, social system, social relations.
A system is usually understood as an ordered collection of elements that form a certain integrity. The nature of any system is determined by its constituent elements and the nature of the relationship between them. As a result of the integration of elements, the system acquires the quality inherent in it as a whole.
A social system is a holistic formation, the elements of which are people, groups, communities, institutions, and organizations. They are united into systems based on production, economic, political and cultural ties. Within society as a social system, subsystems function - economic, political and cultural.
Stable and ongoing interactions between individuals and social groups are called social relationships.
Any social system is characterized by the following basic properties:
1) the presence of goals - external and internal, strategic and operational, realistic or utopian, etc.;
2) the presence of a border of length and some degree of “transparency” or closedness;
3) adaptation to the environment, ensuring its stability and dynamism;
4) management and self-government based on a certain ratio of unity of command and collectivism.
Most common types social systems can be distinguished on two grounds - internal order and relations with the environment. According to the first basis, systems are divided into soft and hard, and according to the second - into open and closed.
Soft and hard systems differ depending on political structure(totalitarian, authoritarian and democratic), from economic foundations (public or private property dominates), on cultural and ideological grounds (uniformity and like-mindedness in the spiritual sphere or pluralism).
Soviet society belonged to the type of rigid systems. During the period of perestroika, the process of its transformation into a society of the opposite type - soft - began to develop intensively. This process is accompanied by colossal costs - oligarchization and criminalization, insecurity and poverty of a significant part of the population.
The division of systems into open and closed is to a certain extent arbitrary. There are no completely open systems, as well as completely closed ones. Open systems are usually more developed than relatively closed ones.
Soviet society was a closed system. This was manifested in the virtual absence of emigration and immigration, in the limitation of information exchange and trade. Entry and exit from the system were under strict control of the party and state nomenklatura.
The objective process of transforming a closed system into an open one had contradictory consequences for Russia. On the one hand, opportunities have emerged to accelerate its development through integration into the community of civilized states. On the other hand, this process resulted in the plunder of raw materials and cultural values ​​for the country, an outflow of currency, and the import of vulgar films and pornography, which significantly reduced the level of spirituality of the population.
Consequently, the level of development of society in comparison with the environment largely determines the degree of its openness. If this level is higher, then it is beneficial for the system to open up in order to influence the environment and use it for its own purposes. And, conversely, if it is lower in some respects, the openness of the system can have devastating consequences for the country and infringe on its national interests.
In the context of globalization, social systems at different levels are becoming more and more open. Integration processes are eroding national sovereignties. Cross-border movements of people, capital, goods, technologies, cultural patterns and practices are intensifying, regardless of their usefulness or danger for certain states. The global community is gradually transforming into a global society.

What is the essence of a systems approach to the analysis of society?

Society is seen as special kind social system. Society as a system has an important characteristic that reveals the objective form of its existence - integrity, that is, society has properties that cannot be derived from its individual elements. People pass away, generations change, but society reproduces itself. The mechanism of reproduction presupposes the presence in the structure of society of particularly stable relationships, which are characterized by significant independence in relation to the elements and individual links.

An important characteristic of the system is interdependence with the external environment. Based on the nature of the relationship between the system and the environment, systems are divided into closed (when there is no resource exchange with the external environment) and open (when there is a resource exchange with the external environment). Constantly responding to the challenges of the external environment, the system, on the one hand, adapts to its parameters and changes, and on the other, maintains its integrity and quality. Qualitative and quantitative changes in the system in space and time reflect the process of its development. The more stable the environment, the less fast and flexible the system turns out to be.

The social system as a sociological phenomenon is a multidimensional and multidimensional formation with a complex structure, typology and functions. The most complex and general social system is society itself (society as a whole), which reflects all the characteristics of social systems.

The main features of the system include: integrity, the fundamental impossibility of identifying the qualities of the system with the sum of the qualities of the elements that form it, the impossibility of deducing the qualities of the whole from the latter; the dependence of each element, property on its place and functions within the system; structurality - the ability to describe a system through establishing its structure, i.e. complex of connections and relationships of the system; the behavior of the system is determined not so much by the behavior of its individual elements as by the properties of its structure; interdependence of the system and the environment (the system forms and manifests its qualities in the process of interaction with the environment); hierarchy - each component of the system, in turn, can be considered as a system, and the system is studied

in this case, acts as one of the elements of a broader system; - The number of descriptions of each system (construction of many different models, each of which describes only a certain aspect of the system). All these features allow us to analyze society as a social system.

A systematic approach to the analysis of society consists in the implementation of the following methodological provisions. It is necessary to identify truly common aspects, connections and relationships of society, which at all historical stages are necessary and sufficient. The difficulty lies in the fact that some connections may have different completeness of historical implementation, for example: science began to acquire decisive importance only in the second half of the 20th century and has still not yet fully revealed its potential.

The number and essence of common aspects and connections is determined by specific social human interaction with nature. It is necessary, correct, but completely insufficient to say that there is a material-energy-information exchange between society and the environment.

A social person masters reality in three possible ways: sensory-practical, theoretical and value-based. All these methods become meaningful when society acts in pursuit of certain goals.

A necessary point is to take into account and adequately respond to the tense connection between the target aspirations of the system and its existing situation. This follows from the teleological nature of the system, the presence of a goal and the meaning of its functioning.

Social system is a holistic education, the main elements of which are people, their connections, interactions and relationships. These connections, interactions and relationships are sustainable and are reproduced in the historical process, passing from generation to generation.

Social connection- this is a set of facts that determine the joint activities of people in specific communities of a specific time to achieve certain goals. Social connections are established not according to the whims of people, but objectively. The establishment of these connections is dictated by the social conditions in which individuals live and act.

The essence of social connections is manifested in the nature of the actions of the people who make up a given social community. There are connections of interaction, relationships, control, institutional and others. Social connection as a joint activity of people in specific conditions of place and time in order to achieve a specific goal is established for a long period, regardless of social qualities an individual. For example, specific employees change, leaders are re-elected, but the structure remains unchanged, offering certain positions and functions to future employees.

There are personal, social-group, organizational, institutional and societal connections. Objective connections characterize the acting personality, social action, pattern, and control system. Subjective connections include personal norms and values, assessments of social reality. Subjective-objective connections are the most important characteristic of family and religion.

Social interaction is a process in which people act and experience interaction from one to another. The mechanism of social interaction involves individuals interacting with social changes, the impact of changes on individuals, and people's feedback. Interaction leads to the formation of new social relationships.

Social relations are relatively stable and independent connections between individuals and social groups.

The category “society” is one of the key ones for sociological science. Today, two approaches to understanding society can be distinguished. In the broad sense of the word “society” is a set of historically established forms of joint life and activity of people on earth. In the narrow sense of the word “society” is a specific type of social and state system, a specific national theoretical formation. However, these interpretations of the concept under consideration cannot be considered sufficiently complete, since the problem of society occupied the minds of many thinkers, and in the process of development of sociological knowledge, various approaches to its definition were formed.

Thus, E. Durkheim defined society as a supra-individual spiritual reality based on collective ideas. From the point of view of M. Weber, society is the interaction of people who are a product of social, i.e. other-oriented actions. K. Marx imagined society as a historically developing set of relations between people that develop in the process of their joint actions. Another theorist of sociological thought, T. Parsons, believed that society is a system of relations between people based on norms and values ​​that form culture.

Thus, society is a complex category characterized by a combination of various characteristics. Each of the above definitions reflects certain characteristic features of this phenomenon. Only taking into account all these characteristics allows us to give the most complete and accurate definition of the concept of society.

So, society is a system of relations, forms of human life, and a self-reproducing community of people that has historically developed in a certain territory. The aspects of reproduction are biological, economic and cultural reproduction. This definition allows us to distinguish the concept of society from the concept of “state” (an institution for managing social processes that historically arose later than society) and “country” (a territorial-political entity formed on the basis of society and the state).

Society consists of individuals, but cannot be reduced to their sum. This is a systemic formation, representing an integral self-developing social organism. The systematic nature of society is ensured by a special way of interaction and interconnection of its parts - social institutions, social groups and individuals.

The main features of society are:

• 1) the presence of a common territory;
• 2) the presence of a social structure;
• 3) autonomy and self-sufficiency;
• 4) a certain sociocultural unity (common culture). Let's consider each of the listed signs.

Territory is a certain physical space in which connections, relationships and interactions between individuals and social communities form and develop. Territory with its geographical and climatic conditions have a significant impact on public relations, on the ways and forms of people’s life, on customs, traditions, value orientations cultivated in society. It should be noted that territory was not always one of the main features of society. Primitive society often changed the territory of its residence in search of food. But every modern society as if forever “registered” on its historical territory, therefore the loss of its territory is a tragedy for every community.

Social structure is a set of interconnected and interacting social communities, social institutions and relationships between them.

Social community - large or small social group with common social characteristics. For example, workers, students, doctors, upper class, poor, etc. Each social community occupies its own “individual” place in the social structure, has a certain social status and performs its inherent functions in society. For example, the main functions of the working class are the production of industrial products, the functions of students are the acquisition of knowledge in a particular area, the functions of the political elite are the political management of society, etc. Relations between social communities are regulated by social institutions.

Social institutions are historically established stable norms, rules, ways of organizing joint activities in a certain area of ​​society. The most significant from the point of view of the functioning of society are the following institutions: property, state, family, production, education, culture, religion. Each social institution regulates relations between social communities and individuals in a certain sphere of social activity. By interacting with each other, social institutions create a single multifunctional system. Social communities and social institutions support the division of labor, carry out the socialization of the individual, ensure the continuity of values ​​and cultural norms, and contribute to the reproduction of social relations in society.

Social relations are the relationships between social communities and social institutions. The nature of these relationships depends on the position occupied by a particular social community in society and on the functional significance of a particular social institution. For example, in a totalitarian society, the institution of the state occupies a dominant position and imposes its will on everyone, and the ruling elite pursues, first of all, its own personal interests, trampling on the interests of other social communities. Social relations are relatively stable (stability). They are a reflection social status interacting social communities (alignment of class forces), and change as the situation changes ( social statuses) certain social communities in the social structure of society.

The third characteristic of society is autonomy and self-sufficiency. Autonomy means that a society is not part of any larger system, that it has its own territory, own history, own control system. Autonomy is also the ability of a society to create, within the framework of its functional system, relatively strong social ties and relationships that are capable of integrating all social communities included in it. Self-sufficiency is the ability of society to self-regulate, i.e. ensure the functioning of all vital spheres without outside interference. For example, to reproduce the numerical composition of the population, to socialize each new generation, to ensure the continuity of their culture, to satisfy the material and spiritual needs of all members of society.

The autonomy and self-sufficiency of society is not abstract concepts. If a society is unable to satisfy certain vital needs of its members, then it loses its autonomy and cannot avoid unwanted interference from the outside.

The fourth sign of society is sociocultural unity, which includes the commonality of basic social institutions, a common language, the awareness of people belonging to a single society, the unity of basic moral values ​​and patterns of behavior. The sociocultural unity of society has great integrating power. It promotes the socialization of each new generation on the basis of generally accepted values, norms, rules of behavior and social identity.

The study of society within the framework of sociology is based on a systems approach. The use of this particular method is also determined by a number of characteristic features of society, which is characterized as: a social system of a higher order; complex system education; holistic system; a self-developing system because the source is within society.

Thus, society is a complex system. A system is a set of elements ordered in a certain way, interconnected and forming some kind of integral unity.

Undoubtedly, society is a system that is characterized as a holistic formation, the elements of which are people, interactions and relationships that are sustainable and reproduced in the historical process, passing from generation to generation.

The main elements of society as a social system can be identified as follows:

• 1) people;
• 2) social connections and interactions;
• 3) social institutions, social strata;
• 4) social norms and values.

Like any system, society is characterized by close interaction of its elements. Taking this feature into account, within the framework of a systems approach, society can be defined as a large, ordered set of social processes and phenomena that are more or less connected and interact with each other and form a single social whole. Society as a system is characterized by such features as coordination and subordination of its elements. Coordination is the consistency of elements, their mutual functioning. Subordination is subordination and subordination, indicating the place of elements in a holistic system. The social system is independent in relation to its constituent elements and has the ability to self-develop.

Based on a systematic approach to the analysis of society, a functional approach was developed. Functionalism was formulated by G. Spencer and developed in the works of R. Merton and T. Parsons.