Studying history, we see how different aspects of social life change over time, one type of society replaces another.

Social change

Various changes are constantly taking place in society. Some of them are being implemented before our eyes (a new president is being elected, social programs are being introduced to help families or the poor, legislation is being changed).

Social changes are characterized by their direction, they are both positive (positive changes for the better), they are called progress, and negative (negative changes for the worse) - regression.

We advise you to remember!
Social progress - consistent positive changes in society; the process of its ascent from one historical stage to another, the development of society from simple to complex, from less developed forms to more developed ones.
Social regression is the movement of society back to the lower stages of development.

Let's look at a historical example. The Roman Empire developed progressively over hundreds of years. New buildings were erected, architecture, poetry and theater developed, legislation was improved, new territories were conquered. But in the era of the Great Migration of Nations, barbarian nomadic tribes destroyed the Roman Empire. Cattle and poultry grazed on the ruins of ancient palaces, aqueducts no longer supplied fresh water to the cities. Illiteracy reigned where the arts and crafts once flourished. Progress has been replaced by regression.

Ways of social progress

Progress is made in many ways and ways. There are gradual and spasmodic types of social progress. The first is called reformist, the second - revolutionary.

We advise you to remember!
Reform - partial gradual improvement in any area; legislative change.
Revolution - a complete change in all or most aspects of public life, affecting the foundations of the existing social order.

The first revolution in the history of mankind was the so-called Neolithic revolution, which was a qualitative leap, the transition from an appropriating economy (hunting and gathering) to a productive one (agriculture and cattle breeding). The Neolithic revolution began 10 thousand years ago. It was a global revolution - it swept the whole world.

The second global process was the industrial revolution of the XVIII-XIX centuries. It also played an outstanding role in human history, led to the spread of machine production, the replacement of an agrarian society by an industrial one.

Global revolutions affect all spheres of society and many countries, and therefore lead to qualitative changes.

The revolutions taking place in individual countries also lead to reorganization in all spheres of people's lives. A similar thing happened to Russia after the October Revolution of 1917, when the Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies came to power. Authorities have changed, entire social groups have disappeared (for example, the nobility), but new ones have appeared - the Soviet intelligentsia, collective farmers, party workers, etc.

Reforms are partial changes that affect not the entire society, but its individual areas.

Reforms, as a rule, do not affect all countries, but each one individually, since this is an internal affair of the state. Reforms are carried out by the government, they are public, they are planned in advance, wide sections of the population are involved in their discussion, and the progress of the reform is covered by the press.

Interesting Facts
One of the greatest reformers in history was the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (527-565) - He established a commission to create a code of Roman law (in Latin - Corpus juris civilis) in order to replace obsolete laws. It was also necessary to eliminate contradictions in the legislation. When the Code of Justinian was created, all laws not included in it lost their force. Until now, Roman law underlies the civil law of most modern countries (including Russia).

Today, our country is undergoing an education reform that began back in the 1990s and led to the emergence of new textbooks, the USE examination system, and state educational standards.

smart thought
"Progress is a way of being human."
- - Victor Hugo, French writer - -

The impact of technological progress on society

The basis for the development of society is technical progress - the improvement of tools and technology, as it changes production, the quality and productivity of labor, has an impact on man, on the relationship of society with nature.

Technological progress has a long history of formation. About 2 million years ago, the first tools of labor appeared (remember what they were), from which technical progress originates. Approximately 8-10 thousand years ago, our ancestors switched from gathering and hunting to farming and cattle breeding, and about 6 thousand years ago people began to live in cities, specialize in certain types of labor, divided into social classes. In the second half of the 17th century, with the beginning of the industrial revolution, the era of industrial factories opened, and in the 20th century - computers, the Internet, thermonuclear energy, and space exploration. The modern personal computer is superior in performance to the computing centers of the 80-90s of the last century.

What replaced the forge (1), plow (2), pen and inkwell (3)? Can we speak of social progress in these cases?

Perhaps no other society valued innovation as highly as it does today. In the 20th century, unique inventions were made: electricity, radio, television, cars, airplanes, nuclear energy, rocket science, computers, laser technology and robots. Each new invention, in turn, led to the creation of even more advanced generations of technology.

Technological progress also affected the social sphere. Technical devices make life much easier for a person, help people solve everyday problems (cook food, clean an apartment, do laundry, etc.), come to the aid of people with disabilities. The advent of the automobile radically changed the idea of ​​the place of work and residence, made it possible for a person to live many kilometers from his workplace. People have become more mobile, including teenagers who, thanks to the Internet, have begun to communicate with their peers from geographically distant places.

Technological progress has changed the lives of millions of people, but at the same time has created many problems. Active human intervention in nature has led to many negative consequences: many species of plants and animals disappear or are on the verge of extinction, forests are cut down, industrial enterprises pollute water, air and soil. The conveniences of city life are accompanied by air pollution, traffic fatigue, and so on.

Summing up
Social progress is the movement of mankind from lower to higher levels. It has a global character covering the whole world. On the contrary, regression is a temporary retreat from the won positions. Revolutions and reforms are two types of social progress. Revolutions can be global or limited to one or a few countries. Reforms are carried out only in one society and are gradual.

Basic terms and concepts
Social progress, social regression, reforms, revolution, technical progress.

Test your knowledge

1. Give examples of social change. Do changes in social life always lead to positive consequences? Justify your answer.
2. Explain the meaning of the concepts: "social progress", "social regression", "reform", "revolution", "technical progress".
3. Choose keywords that characterize social progress, regression of society, revolutions, reforms.
4. Give examples from history that illustrate the various paths of social progress.
5. How do you think wars affect the development of society? Do they play a progressive or regressive role? Explain your answer.

Workshop

Social Progress- this is the direction of development of human society, which is characterized by its irreversible changes in all aspects of life, as a result of which a transition is made from a lower to a higher, to a more perfect state of society.

The desire of the bulk of people for progress is due to the nature of material production and the laws of social development determined by it.

Criteria of social progress. Determining the basis of social progress makes it possible to solve scientifically the question of the criterion of social progress. Since economic relations form the foundation of any form of social structure (society) and ultimately determine all aspects of social life, it means that the general criterion of progress must be sought primarily in the sphere of material production. The development and change in the modes of production as a unity of productive forces and production relations made it possible to consider the entire history of society as a process of natural history and thereby reveal the laws of social progress.

What is the progress in the development of productive forces? First of all, in the continuous modification and improvement of the technology of means of labor, which ensures a constant and steady increase in its productivity. The improvement of the means of labor and production processes entails the improvement of the main element of the productive forces - the labor force. New means of labor give rise to new production skills and constantly revolutionize the existing social division of labor and lead to an increase in social wealth.

Along with the progress of technology, the improvement of technology and the organization of production, science is developing as the spiritual potentiality of production. This, in turn, increases the human impact on nature. Finally, the growth of labor productivity means an increase in the amount of surplus product. At the same time, the nature of consumption, lifestyle, culture and way of life inevitably change.

This means that we are seeing undoubted progress not only in material production, but also in social relations.

We see the same dialectic in the sphere of spiritual life, which is a reflection of real social relations. Certain social relations give rise to certain forms of culture, art, ideology, which cannot be arbitrarily replaced by others and evaluated according to modern laws.

The progressive development of society is determined not only by the development of the mode of production, but also by the development of man himself.

The mode of production and the social structure conditioned by it constitute the basis and criterion of social progress. This criterion is objective, because it is based on a real natural process of development and change of socio-economic formations. It includes:

a) the level of development of the productive forces of society;

b) the type of production relations that have developed on the basis of the database of productive forces;

c) the social structure that determines the political structure of society;

d) stage and level of development of individual freedom.

None of these signs, taken separately, can be an unconditional criterion of social progress. Only their unity, embodied in a given formation, can be such a criterion. At the same time, it is necessary to keep in mind the fact that there is no complete correspondence in the development of different aspects of social life.

The irreversibility of social progress- regularity of the real historical process.

Another pattern of social progress is the acceleration of its pace.

Social progress is closely related to the so-called global problems. Global problems are understood as a complex of universal human problems of our time, affecting both the world as a whole and its individual regions or states. These include: 1) the prevention of a world thermonuclear war; 2) social development and economic growth in the world; 3) elimination on Earth of flagrant manifestations of social injustice - hunger and poverty, epidemics, illiteracy, racism, etc.; 4) rational and integrated use of nature (environmental problem).

The formation of the above problems as global, which are of a worldwide nature, is associated with the internationalization of production, of all social life.

What is progress? The idea of ​​regression

Progress(from Latin: "moving forward") - the direction of development, which is characterized by a transition from lower to higher.

Regression- movement from higher to lower, degradation processes, return to obsolete forms and structures.

Humanity as a whole has never regressed, but its forward movement could be delayed and even stopped for a while, which is called stagnation.

Characteristics of progress

1. Inconsistency

2. Specific historical character

3. Multidimensionality

4. Nonlinear character

5. Relativity of progress

social progress- a global, world-historical process of the ascent of human societies from primitive states (savagery) to the heights of a civilized state based on the highest scientific, technical, political, legal, moral and ethical achievements.

Areas of progress: economic progress, social (social progress), scientific and technological progress.

Forms of social progress:

1. Reformist (evolutionary), i.e. gradual

2. Revolutionary, i.e. spasmodic

Reforms can be economic, political, social.

There are short-term revolutions (the French Revolution of 1848, the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia, etc.) and long-term ones ("Neolithic Revolution", "Industrial Revolution")

Controversy of progress

What is the opposite of progress?

1) If we depict the progress of mankind graphically, we will get not an ascending straight line, but a broken line, reflecting ups and downs, ebb and flow in the struggle of social forces, accelerated forward movement and giant leaps back.

2) Society is a complex organism in which various “organs” function (enterprises, associations of people, government agencies, etc.), various processes (economic, political, spiritual, etc.) simultaneously occur. These parts of one social organism, these processes, various types of activity are interconnected and, at the same time, may not coincide in their development. Moreover, individual processes, changes taking place in different areas of society can be multidirectional, i.e., progress in one area may be accompanied by regression in another.

Throughout history, the progress of technology has been clearly traced: from stone tools to iron ones, from hand tools to machines, from the use of the muscular strength of man and animals to steam engines, electric generators, nuclear power plants, from transport on beasts of burden to cars, high-speed trains, airplanes, spaceships, from wooden abacus with knuckles to powerful computers.

But the progress of technology, the development of industry, chemicalization and other changes in the field of production have led to the destruction of nature, to irreparable damage to the human environment, to the undermining of the natural foundations of the existence of society. Thus, progress in one area was accompanied by regression in another.

3) The progress of science and technology had ambiguous consequences. Discoveries in the field of nuclear physics made it possible not only to obtain a new source of energy, but also to create a powerful atomic weapon. The use of computer technology not only greatly expanded the possibilities of creative work, but also caused new diseases associated with long, continuous work at the display: visual impairment, mental disorders associated with additional mental stress.

The growth of large cities, the complication of production, the acceleration of the rhythm of life - all this increased the burden on the human body, gave rise to stress and, as a result, pathologies of the nervous system, vascular diseases. Along with the greatest achievements of the human spirit, cultural and spiritual values ​​are being eroded in the world, drug addiction, alcoholism, and crime are spreading.

4) Mankind has to pay a high price for progress. The conveniences of urban life are paid for by the "diseases of urbanization": traffic fatigue, polluted air, street noise and their consequences - stress, respiratory diseases, etc.; ease of movement in the car - congestion of city highways, traffic jams.

The idea of ​​circulation

The cycle of historical theory- various concepts, according to which society as a whole or its individual spheres move in its development in a vicious circle from barbarism to civilization and to a new barbarity.

Progress Criteria

Progress Criteria

1) French Enlighteners (Condorcet): the development of the mind.

2) Utopian socialists (Saint-Simon, Fourier, Owen): society must adopt a form of organization that would lead to the implementation of the moral principle: all people should treat each other as brothers.

3) Schelling (1775 - 1854): gradual approach to the legal system.

4) Hegel (1770 - 1831): as the consciousness of freedom grows, the progressive development of society takes place.

6) Marxism:

The highest and universal objective criterion of social progress is the development of productive forces, including the development of man himself. The direction of the historical process is due to the growth and improvement of the productive forces of society, including the means of labor, the degree to which man masters the forces of nature, the possibility of using them as the basis of human life. The origins of all human activity lie in social production.

According to this criterion, those social relations are recognized as progressive, which correspond to the level of the productive forces and open up the greatest scope for their development, the growth of labor productivity, and the development of man. Man is considered as the main thing in the productive forces, therefore their development is understood from this point of view and as the development of the wealth of human nature.

Just as it is impossible to find a general, universal criterion of progress only in the public consciousness (in the development of reason, morality, consciousness of freedom), so it is impossible to find it in the sphere of material production (technology, economic relations). History has given examples of countries where a high level of material production was combined with the degradation of spiritual culture.

Conclusion: The disadvantage of all attempts to solve this problem was that in all cases only one line (or one side, or one sphere) of social development was considered as a criterion. And reason, and morality, and science, and technology, and the legal order, and the consciousness of freedom - all these indicators are very important, but not universal, not covering the life of a person and society as a whole.

Universal criterion of progress

The criterion of social progress is the measure of freedom that society is able to provide to the individual, the degree of individual freedom guaranteed by society. The free development of a person in a free society also means the disclosure of his truly human qualities - intellectual, creative, moral.

The development of human qualities depends on the living conditions of people. The more fully the various needs of a person in food, clothing, housing, transport services, in the spiritual field are satisfied, the more moral relations between people become, the more accessible for a person are the most diverse types of economic and political, spiritual and material activities. The more favorable the conditions for the development of the physical, intellectual, mental powers of a person, his moral qualities, the wider the scope for the development of individual properties inherent in each individual person. The more humane the conditions of life, the more opportunities for the development of the human in a person: reason, morality, creative forces.

Humanity, the recognition of man as the highest value, is expressed by the word "humanism". From what has been said above, we can draw a conclusion about the universal criterion of social progress: progressive is that which contributes to the rise of humanism.

Integrative indicators of the progressive development of modern society

Integrative indicators of the progressive development of modern society:

1. average life expectancy;

2. child and maternal mortality;

3. level of education;

4. development of various spheres of culture;

5. interest in spiritual values;

6. state of health;

7. feeling of satisfaction with life;

7. degree of observance of human rights;

Social science. Full course of preparation for the Unified State Examination Shemakhanova Irina Albertovna

1.16. The concept of social progress

social development - this is a change in society, which leads to the emergence of new social relations, institutions, norms and values. The characteristic signs of social development are three features: irreversibility, direction and regularity.

irreversibility - this is the constancy of the processes of accumulation of quantitative and qualitative changes.

Orientation These are the lines along which accumulation takes place.

regularity is a necessary process of accumulating change.

An important characteristic of social development is the period of time during which it is carried out. The result of social development is a new quantitative and qualitative state of the social object, a change in its structure and organization.

Views on the direction of social development

1. Plato, Aristotle, J. Vico, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee: movement along certain steps within the framework of a closed cycle (the theory of historical circulation).

2. Religious currents: the predominance of regression in many areas of society.

3. French enlighteners: continuous renewal, improvement of all aspects of society.

4. Modern researchers: positive changes in some spheres of society can be combined with stagnation and regression in others, i.e., the conclusion about the inconsistency of progress. Humanity as a whole has never regressed, but its forward movement could be delayed and even stopped for a while, which is called stagnation (stagnation).

The process of social development is inextricably linked with the term "social progress". social progress - this is the direction of development, characterized by the transition from the lower to the higher, to more perfect forms, expressed in their higher organization, adaptation to the environment, the growth of evolutionary possibilities.

Criteria for determining progressivity: the level of labor productivity and welfare of the population; development of the human mind; improvement of people's morality; progress of science and technology; the development of productive forces, including man himself; degree of individual freedom.

Modern social thought has developed a number of other criteria for social progress: the level of knowledge, the degree of differentiation and integration of society, the nature and level of social solidarity, the liberation of man from the actions of the elemental forces of nature and society, etc. The concept of progress is applicable only to human society. For animate and inanimate nature, one should use the concepts development, or evolution(wildlife), and change(inanimate nature). Mankind is constantly improving and follows the path of social progress. This is the universal law of society. The concept of "development" is broader than the concept of "progress". All progress is connected with development, but not all development is progress. Regression (reverse movement) - the type of development from higher to lower, degradation processes, lowering the level of organization, loss of the ability to perform certain functions.

Main manifestations of inconsistency progress is the alternation of ups and downs in social development, a combination of progress in one area with regression in another. Thus, the development of industrial production, on the one hand, leads to an increase in the amount of goods produced, to the growth of the urban population, but, on the other hand, this leads to environmental problems, to the fact that young people, leaving the village for the city, lose contact with the national culture, etc.

According to its nature, social development is divided into evolutionary and revolutionary. The nature of this or that social development depends on the method of social change. Under evolution understand the gradual smooth partial changes in society, which can cover various spheres of society - economic, political, social, spiritual. Evolutionary changes most often take the form of social reforms, involving the implementation of various measures to transform certain aspects of public life. Reform- this is some degree of improvement in any area of ​​public life, carried out simultaneously, through a series of gradual transformations that do not affect the fundamental foundations, but only change its parts and structural elements.

Types of reforms:

1. by directions: progressive reforms (60-70s of the XIX century Alexander II); regressive (reactionary) (“counter-reforms” of Alexander III).

2. by areas of change: economic, social, political, etc.).

Under social revolution is understood as a radical, qualitative change in all or most aspects of social life, affecting the foundations of the existing social order. Revolutionary changes are spasmodic character and represent the transition of society from one qualitative state to another. A social revolution is always associated with the destruction of some social relations and the establishment of others. Revolutions can be short-term(February Revolution 1917), long-term(neolithic revolution).

The ratio of evolutionary and revolutionary forms of social development depends on the specific historical conditions of the state and era.

Controversy of progress

1) Society is a complex organism in which various “organs” function (enterprises, associations of people, government agencies, etc.), various processes (economic, political, spiritual, etc.) simultaneously occur. Individual processes, changes taking place in different areas of society can be multidirectional: progress in one area may be accompanied by regression in another (for example, the progress of technology, the development of industry, chemicalization and other changes in the field of production have led to the destruction of nature, to irreparable damage to human environment, to undermine the natural foundations of the existence of society.

2) The progress of science and technology had ambiguous consequences: discoveries in the field of nuclear physics made it possible not only to obtain a new source of energy, but also to create a powerful atomic weapon; The use of computer technology not only greatly expanded the possibilities of creative work, but also caused new diseases, visual impairment, mental disorders, etc.

3) Mankind has to pay a high price for progress. The conveniences of urban life are paid for by the "diseases of urbanization": traffic fatigue, polluted air, street noise and their consequences - stress, respiratory diseases, etc.; ease of movement in the car - congestion of city highways, traffic jams. Along with the greatest achievements of the human spirit, cultural and spiritual values ​​are being eroded in the world, drug addiction, alcoholism, and crime are spreading.

Humanistic criteria for progress: average life expectancy of a person, child and maternal mortality, state of health, level of education, development of various spheres of culture, a sense of satisfaction with life, the degree of observance of human rights, attitude towards nature, etc.

In modern social science:

* Emphasis is shifted from the reform-revolution dilemma to reform-innovation. Under innovation is understood as an ordinary, one-time improvement associated with an increase in the adaptive capabilities of a social organism in given conditions.

* Social development is associated with the process of modernization. Modernization- the process of transition from a traditional, agrarian society to modern, industrial societies.