What serves as a manifestation of social progress option 15. Social progress: concept, forms, examples

The idea of ​​progressive development entered science as a secularized (secular) version of the Christian belief in providence. The image of the future in the biblical stories was an irreversible, predetermined and sacred process of development of people guided by the divine will. However, the origins of this idea are discovered much earlier. Next, let's look at what progress is, what its purpose and meaning are.

First mentions

Before we talk about what progress is, we should give a brief historical description of the emergence and spread of this idea. In particular, in the ancient Greek philosophical tradition there are discussions about improving the existing socio-political structure, which developed from the primitive community and family to the ancient polis, i.e., the city-state (Aristotle “Politics”, Plato “Laws”). A little later, during the Middle Ages, Bacon tried to apply the concept and concept of progress in the ideological field. In his opinion, knowledge accumulated over time is increasingly enriched and improved. Thus, each next generation is able to see further and better than its predecessors.

What is progress?

This word has Latin roots and translated means “success”, “moving forward”. Progress is a direction of development of a progressive nature. This process is characterized by the transition to the higher from the lower, from the less to the more perfect. The progress of society is a global, world-historical phenomenon. This process involves the ascent of human associations from savagery, primitive states to the heights of civilization. This transition is based on political, legal, moral, ethical, scientific and technical achievements.

Main components

The above describes what progress is and when they first started talking about this concept. Next, we will analyze its components. During the improvement, the following aspects develop:

• Material. In this case, we are talking about the most complete satisfaction of the benefits of all people and the elimination of any technical restrictions for this.
• Social component. Here we are talking about the process of bringing society closer to justice and freedom.
• Scientific. This component reflects the process of continuous, deepening and expanding knowledge of the surrounding world, its development in both the micro and macro spheres; liberation of knowledge from the boundaries of economic feasibility.

New time

During this period, they began to see progress in natural science. G. Spencer expressed his point of view on the process. In his opinion, progress - both in nature and in society - was subject to a general evolutionary process of increasing complexity of internal functioning and organization. Over time, forms of progress began to be visible in literature and general history. Art did not go unnoticed either. In different civilizations there was a diversity of social orders, which, in turn, determined different types of progress. A so-called “staircase” was formed. At its apex were the most developed and civilized societies of the West. Next, at various stages, stood other cultures. The distribution depended on the level of development. There was a "Westernization" of the concept. As a result, such types of progress as “American-centrism” and “Eurocentrism” appeared.

Modern times

During this period, the decisive role was assigned to man. Weber emphasized the tendency to rationalize the universal in the management of diversity. Durkheim cited other examples of progress. He spoke of the trend of social integration through "organic solidarity." It was based on the complementary and mutually beneficial contribution of all participants in society.

Classic concept

The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is called the “triumph of the idea of ​​development.” At that time, the general belief that scientific and technological progress could guarantee continuous improvement of life was accompanied by a spirit of romantic optimism. In general, there was a classical concept in society. It represented an optimistic idea of ​​the gradual liberation of humanity from fear and ignorance on the way to increasingly refined and higher levels of civilization. The classical concept was based on the concept of linear irreversible time. Here progress was a positively characterized difference between the present and the future or the past and the present.

Goals and objectives

It was assumed that the described movement would continue continuously not only in the present, but also in the future, despite occasional deviations. There was a fairly widespread belief among the masses that progress could be maintained at all stages, in every basic structure of society. As a result, everyone would achieve complete prosperity.

Main criteria

The most common among them were:

• Religious improvement (J. Buset, Augustine).
• Increase in scientific knowledge (O. Comte, J. A. Condorcet).
• Equality and justice (K. Marx, T. More).
• Expansion of individual freedom in combination with the development of morality (E. Durkheim, I. Kant).
• Urbanization, industrialization, improvement of technology (K. A. Saint-Simon).
• Dominion over natural forces (G. Spencer).

The inconsistency of progress

The first doubts about the correctness of the concept began to be expressed after the First World War. The inconsistency of progress consisted in the emergence of ideas about negative side effects in the development of society. F. Tennis was one of the very first to criticize. He believed that social development from traditional to modern, industrial, not only did not improve, but, on the contrary, worsened people’s living conditions. The primary, direct, personal social connections of traditional human interaction have been replaced by indirect, impersonal, secondary, exclusively instrumental contacts inherent in the modern world. This, according to Tennis, was the main problem of progress.

Increased criticism

After World War II, it became obvious to many that development in one area entails negative consequences in another. Industrialization, urbanization, scientific and technological progress were accompanied by environmental pollution. Which, in turn, provoked a new theory to emerge. The belief that humanity needs continuous economic progress has given way to the alternative idea of ​​"limits to growth."

Forecast

Researchers have calculated that as consumption levels in different countries approach Western standards, the planet could explode from environmental overload. The concept of the “golden billion”, according to which only 1 billion people from wealthy states can be guaranteed a secure existence on Earth, has completely undermined the main postulate on which the classical idea of ​​progress was based - focusing on a better future for all living without exception. Conviction in the superiority of the direction of development followed by Western civilization, which dominated for a long period of time, gave way to disappointment.

Utopian vision

This thinking reflected highly idealized ideas about the best society. This utopian thinking, presumably, was also dealt a powerful blow. The last attempt to implement this type of vision of the world was the world socialist system. At the same time, humanity at this stage does not have in stock projects “capable of mobilizing collective, universal actions, capturing people’s imagination,” which could orient society towards a bright future (this role was very effectively played by the ideas of socialism). Instead, today there are either simple extrapolations of existing trends, or catastrophic prophecies.

Reflections on the future

The development of ideas about upcoming events is currently going in two directions. In the first case, a reigning pessimism is determined, in which gloomy images of decline, destruction and degeneration are visible. Due to disappointment in scientific and technical rationalism, mysticism and irrationalism began to spread. Reason and logic in one area or another are increasingly opposed to emotions, intuition, and subconscious perception. According to radical postmodern theories, reliable criteria by which myth was distinguished from reality, ugly from beautiful, virtue from vice, have disappeared in modern culture. All this indicates that the era of “highest freedom” from morality, traditions, progress, in the end, has begun. In the second direction, there is an active search for new concepts of development that can give people positive guidelines for the coming periods and rid humanity of unfounded illusions. Postmodernist ideas mainly rejected the theory of development in the traditional version with finalism, fatalism and determinism. Most of them preferred other examples of progress - other probabilistic approaches to the development of society and culture. Some theorists (Buckley, Archer, Etzioni, Wallerstein, Nisbet) in their concepts interpret the idea as a possible chance of improvement, which can occur with a certain degree of probability, or may go unnoticed.

The principle of constructivism

Of all the variety of approaches, it was this concept that served as the theoretical foundation for postmodernism. The task is to find the driving forces of progress in the everyday normal life of people. According to K. Lash, the solution to the riddle is ensured by the confidence that improvements can occur solely through human efforts. Otherwise, the problem is simply unsolvable.

Alternative Concepts

All of them, which arose within the framework of activity theory, are very abstract. Alternative concepts appeal to the “man as a whole” without showing much interest in cultural and civilizational differences. In this case, in fact, a new type of social utopia is visible. It represents a cybernetic simulation of social cultures of ideal order, viewed through the prism of human activity. These concepts return positive guidelines, a certain belief in probable progressive development. Moreover, they name (albeit at a highly theoretical level) the sources and conditions of growth. Meanwhile, alternative concepts do not answer the main question: why humanity, “free from” and “free for,” in some cases chooses progress and strives for a “new, active society,” but often the guideline for it is decadence and destruction, which , in turn, leads to stagnation and regression. Based on this, it can hardly be argued that society needs progress. This is explained by the fact that it cannot be proven whether humanity will want to realize its creative ability in the future. There are no answers to these questions in cybernetics and systems theory. However, they were analyzed in detail by religion and culture. In this regard, sociocultural ethicocentrism can today act as an alternative to constructivist modernism in the theory of progress.

Finally

Modern Russian philosophers are increasingly returning to the “Silver Age”. Turning to this heritage, they try again to hear the originality of the rhythms of the national culture, to translate them into a scientific, strict language. According to Panarin, the biomorphic structure of cognition shows a person the image of the cosmos as a living, organic integrity. Its space awakens in people motivation of a higher order, incompatible with irresponsible consumer egoism. Today it is clearly clear that modern social science requires a serious revision of existing basic principles, priorities and values. It can suggest new directions to a person if he, in turn, finds in himself enough strength to take advantage of them.

The topic is closely related to the problems of social change social progress.

One of the first scientific concepts social development as consistent advancement of societies through ascending levels of progress, which is determined increase in knowledge, belongs to A. Saint-Simon.

His ideas were developed by the founder O. Comte. Comte's law of intellectual evolution of mankind directly points to the direction and criterion of social progress - the degree of advancement to the highest in his concept, the scientific (positive) stage of development. G. Spencer, sharing the idea of ​​​​the nonlinear nature of evolution, assumed measure social progress by the achieved degree of complexity of societies. Social evolution is similar to biological evolution and gradually leads to the fact that the world is getting better. In the theory of K. Marx, the issue of social progress was resolved almost unambiguously. Achieving the highest stage of human development - the construction of a classless communist society, where the free labor of free people will reign - is inevitable, although distant in time.

If O. Comte, G. Spencer and E. Durkheim designed concept of progress as a two-way process of differentiation and integration regardless of its beneficial consequences, then L. Ward, N. Mikhailovsky and others believed that progress is about increasing human happiness or reducing human suffering. In one of his first works P. Sorokin indicated that both of these currents are insufficient and they need to be synthesized. Otherwise, the theory of progress risks giving a formula of stagnation instead of a formula for progress.

Most supporters social evolutionism convinced of availability of intellectual and technical progress, however regarding moral progress, opinions differ. Those who believe that moral progress exists belong to the school of evolutionary ethics . They proceed from the fact that the very presence of morality as the basis for interaction and mutual assistance between people is already the most important factor in the survival of society. Moral evolution does not cancel struggle for existence, but humanizes her, forcing her to find ever softer ways to fight.

For a long time, the prevailing idea among evolutionists was that evolution is unidirectional for all societies, when each of them goes through successively identical stages of development on the path to progress. In the 20th century this view was found untenable on the basis of anthropological research. It turned out that not only non-Western, but also many European countries developed not according to one, but according to different scenarios, which included a different number and sequence of stages.

On a new basis, the evolutionary approach has been revived in recent years: evolution is not unidirectional, but can go in many directions. According to the theory of evolutionary change by the structural functionalist T. Parsons, societies tend to become increasingly differentiated in their structures and functions, with new structures expected to be more functionally adapted than previous ones.

The position of supporters of cyclical development is significantly different. and periodic economic crises have raised doubts about the overall progressive development of mankind. Thus, the German scientist Oswald Spengler in his book “The Decline of Europe” (1918) substantiated the periodization of the development and decline of cultures by analogy with the stages of the human life cycle, including decline and death. In his opinion, each of the eight cultures he studied existed for about 1000 years. Therefore, if we assume that Western European culture originated about 900 years ago, then its end is already near.

The English historian Arnold Toynbee also believed that the development of civilizations occurs along one path, improving and moving towards decline in similar stages. Arising as a response to any challenge from natural or human factors, civilization flourishes as long as its elite is able to counter this challenge. Otherwise, there is a split and disintegration of civilization and, due to the increase in internal conflicts, a movement towards decline.

Cyclic theories should also include the sociocultural dynamics of P. Sorokin, which contains a very pessimistic assessment of the prospects for the development of modern Western society.

Another example of cyclical theories is the concept of “world-economy” by I. Wallerstein, according to which Third world countries will not be able to repeat the path, passed by states - leaders modern economy; capitalist world-economy, which originated more than 500 years ago, in 1967-1973. entered into the inevitable the final phase of the life cycle - crisis phase.

Social progress and forecasting in philosophy

Modern is carried out within the framework of scientific and technological progress, which in turn acts as a party social progress.

Issues of social progress were paid attention to by D. Vico, I.G. Herder, A. Turgot, J. Condorsse, O. Comte, K. Marx, F. Engels and others.

Social progress- this is an objective trend of the upward development of humanity, expressed in the improvement of the forms of human life, needs, abilities to satisfy them, in the development of science, technology, technology, the media, medicine, etc.

The question of the criteria for social progress is debatable. Some researchers in as a criterion of social progress call the level of development of the method of production, others in this capacity highlight the level of development of the productive forces of society, others reduce it to labor productivity. It seems that we can accept as the most representative point of view, according to which the level of development of productive forces, expressed in labor productivity, can be accepted as a criterion of social progress.

In the philosophical explanation of the social process two points of view have been fighting for a long time - evolutionary And revolutionary.

Some philosophers preferred evolutionary development of society, while others saw great attraction in revolutionary changes in social life. Obviously, we should be thoughtful about the ways and means of social progress. The course of the latter does not exclude a combination of revolutionary and evolutionary transformations of social life. When carrying out progressive changes and reforms, one should be guided by the fact that their implementation does not result in a decline in the economy, a decrease in the level of development of productive forces and a reduction, but, on the contrary, an increase in the economic wealth of society based on an increase in the level of development of productive forces and labor productivity.

Anticipating the future in various forms has always played an important role in the life of society. The importance of foresight especially increased during turning points in history, during periods of acute social conflicts. This is especially characteristic of the modern era, when it becomes obvious that both the distant and immediate future of humanity will be radically different from its present and recent past.

Foresight- this is knowledge about the future, i.e. about what does not yet exist in reality, but what is potentially contained in the present in the form of objective and subjective prerequisites for the expected course of development. Scientific foresight and social forecasting must contain an answer not only to the question of what can happen in the future, but also answers to questions such as when this should be expected, what forms the future will take and what is the measure of probability of this forecast.

• extrapolation;
• modeling;
• expertise.

The most reliable method of social forecasting is expertise. Any social forecast combines scientific and ideological purposes. There are four types of forecasts: search; normative; analytical; forecast-warning. Anticipating the future is an interdisciplinary study, and it is fruitful only in the process of integrating humanities, natural sciences and technical knowledge.

Progress - This is an upward development associated with the improvement of the content and forms of organization of people’s social life, the growth of their material and spiritual well-being. Progress is most often conceptualized as forward movement towards a specific goal. If there is progress, then in society noun: a directed movement towards the realization of a goal, innovations accumulate, continuity is achieved, and sustainability in the development of society is maintained. If there is a return to obsolete forms and structures, stagnation, and even the collapse and degeneration of any significant functions, then we can definitely say that what has happened. regression.

Social progress - this is a transition from less perfect forms of organization of human activity to more perfect ones, this is the progressive development of the entire world history.

Types of social progress:

1) antagonistic: the progress of one part of society occurs largely due to the exploitation, oppression and suppression of another part of it, advancement in some areas - due to losses in others;

2) non-antagonistic, characteristic of a socialist society, where progress will be carried out for the benefit of the whole society, through the efforts of all social groups, without the exploitation of man by man.

2) Revolution - this is a complete or comprehensive change in all or most aspects of social life, affecting the foundations of the existing social system

Reform - this is a transformation, reorganization, change in any aspect of social life that does not destroy the foundations of the existing social structure, leaving power in the hands of the former ruling class. Understood in this sense, the path of gradual transformation of existing relations is contrasted with revolutionary explosions that sweep away the old order to the ground.

Marxism: the evolutionary process is too painful for the people + if reforms are always carried out “from above” by forces that already have power and do not want to part with it, then the result of the reforms is always lower than expected: the transformations are half-hearted and inconsistent.

For determining level of progressiveness of one society or another are used three criteria: A society in which these indicators are quite high is characterized as progressive.

1. Labor productivity level- a criterion reflecting the state of the economic sphere of society. Although today it is necessary to take into account the fundamental changes that are taking place in this area

2. Level of personal freedom- has long been considered to reflect the progressiveness of socio-political changes in society.

3. Level of morality in society- an integral criterion that brings together all the diversity of approaches to the problem of progress, reflecting the tendency to harmonize social changes.

Of course, we must not forget that in real life the process of development itself is contradictory, and the path of its direction is correspondingly contradictory. In the real life of each society, there may be a breakthrough (progress) in some areas of society and a lag or even regression in others.

The search for a general criterion of social progress in philosophy led thinkers to the conclusion that such a meter should express the inextricable connection in the development of all spheres and processes of people’s social life. The following general criteria for social progress were put forward: the realization of freedom, the state of people's health, the development of morality, the achievement of happiness, etc. All these are undoubtedly important criteria for social progress, but with the help of these indicators it is still difficult to assess the achievements and losses of the modern movement of history.

Currently, environmental comfort of human life is put forward as the most important criterion for social progress. As for the general universal criterion of social progress, the decisive role here belongs to the productive forces.

Specific features of social progress:

1. Global, the global character of modern civilization, its unity and integrity. The world is connected into a single whole: a) the all-encompassing nature of scientific and technological progress; b) processes of internationalization of world economic relations in production and exchange; c) the new worldwide role of media and communication; d) global problems of humanity (the danger of war, environmental disaster and the need to prevent them).

2. Multipolarity, segmentation.

Humanity realizes itself in various types of societies, ethnic communities, cultural spaces, religious beliefs, spiritual traditions - all these are poles, segments of world civilization. The integrity of the world does not contradict its multipolarity. There are values ​​that we consider universal: morality; a way of life worthy of the humane essence of man; kindness; spiritual beauty, etc. But there are values ​​that belong to certain societies or social communities: classes, individuals, etc.

3. Inconsistency. Contradictions are built on top of each other: between man and nature, the state and the individual, strong and weak countries. The contradictions of the progress of the modern world give rise to global problems of humanity, that is, those problems that affect the vital interests of all peoples of the planet and pose a threat to its survival, and therefore require an urgent solution, and through the efforts of the peoples of all countries. Among the most serious global problems are the problems of preventing global carnage, environmental disaster, developing and improving education and healthcare, providing the world's population with natural resources, eliminating hunger and poverty, etc.

The concept of progress is applicable only to human society. As for living and inanimate nature, in this case the concepts of development or evolution (living nature) and change (inanimate nature) should be used.

Any development is a movement forward or backward. Likewise, society can develop either progressively or regressively, and sometimes both of these processes are characteristic of society, only in different spheres of life. What is progress and regression?

Progress

Progress- from from lat. progressus - movement forward, This is a direction in the development of society, which is characterized by movement from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect, this is a progressive movement forward, to the better.

Social progress- this is a world-historical process, which is characterized by the ascent of humanity from primitiveness (savagery) to civilization, which is based on scientific, technical, political, legal, moral and ethical achievements.

Types of progress in society

Progress criteria

Question about progress criteria(that is signs, reasons, allowing one to judge phenomena as progressive) has always caused ambiguous answers in different historical eras. I will give some points of view regarding the criteria for progress.

Modern criteria for progress are not so clear. There are many of them, together they testify to the progressive development of society.

Criteria for social progress of modern scientists:

• Development of production, the economy as a whole, increase in human freedom in relation to nature, living standards of people, growth of people's well-being, quality of life.
• Level of democratization of society.
• The level of freedom enshrined in law, the opportunities provided for the comprehensive development and self-realization of the individual, the reasonable use of freedom.
• Moral improvement of society.
• The development of enlightenment, science, education, the increase in human needs for scientific, philosophical, aesthetic knowledge of the world.
• Life expectancy of people.
• Increasing human happiness and goodness.

However, progress is not only a positive thing. Unfortunately, humanity both creates and destroys. Skillful, conscious use of the achievements of the human mind is also one of the criteria for the progress of society.

The contradictions of social progress

Summarizing, I would like to note that humanity has a characteristic desire to move forward, opening up new and new opportunities. However, it is necessary to remember, and scientists first of all, what will be the consequences of such a progressive movement whether it will turn into a disaster for people. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the negative consequences of progress to a minimum.

Regression

The opposite path of social development to progress is regression(from Latin regressus, that is, movement in the opposite direction, return back) - movement from more perfect to less perfect, from higher forms of development to lower ones, movement back, changes for the worse.

Signs of regression in society

• Deterioration in people's quality of life
• Decline in the economy, crisis phenomena
• Increase in human mortality, decrease in average standard of living
• Deteriorating demographic situation, declining birth rate
• An increase in the incidence of people, epidemics, a large percentage of the population having

Chronic diseases.

• The decline in morality, education, and culture of society as a whole.
• Resolving issues using forceful, declarative methods and techniques.
• Reducing the level of freedom in society, its violent suppression.
• Weakening of the country as a whole and its international position.

Solving problems associated with the regressive processes of society is one of the tasks of the government and the country’s leadership. In a democratic state that follows the path of civil society, which is Russia, public organizations and the opinion of the people are of great importance. Problems need to be solved, and solved together - by the authorities and the people.

Material prepared by: Melnikova Vera Aleksandrovna

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 of the emergence of new needs in various spheres of social life and the search for opportunities 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 scope of scientific knowledge, and 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. Unlike 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 of social relations and the values ​​of capitalism throughout the globe. 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 of government and norms of cultural life on the model of 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, people started talking about a crisis of industrialism, the signs of which were the destruction of the environment and the depletion of natural resources. The discrepancy between the level of scientific, technical and economic development and the level of satisfaction of human needs is becoming increasingly obvious. 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 be repeated exactly, but at a higher 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. The next year everything repeats itself. 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 of 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.