Sociology as a science of social systems. Relationship with culture
Plan
1. Essence and content of sociology.
2. Structure and functions of sociology.
From ancient times people were interested not only riddles natural phenomena(earthquakes, river floods, change of seasons, etc.), but also Problems, associated with its existence among their own kind. Why do people strive to live among other people, why do some enjoy many benefits, while others are deprived of it.
The search for answers to these and other questions forced the thinkers of antiquity turn your gaze on the person and society in which it exists.
The complication of social structure and social relations in society required creation of science investigating these problems and building theories of building a socially just society. Sociology is such a science.
One of the first to attempt to put philosophical judgments on a solid foundation of empirical facts was undertaken at the beginning of the 19th century by the French thinker Auguste Comte. He proposed a positive method by which to connect the abstract theory of society and the empirically obtained data on the behavior of people. O.Kont also gave a name to the new science, which is why he is considered the founder of sociology.
The study of social life is the knowledge of the world in which we live, and therefore of ourselves. Hence the enormous role of man in building the world in which he wants to live and which he seeks to leave to posterity. This is probably what the founder of sociology O. Comte was thinking about, wanting to see it as a positive science, capable of not only foreseeing, but also changing the world for the better. In order to preserve this world for posterity, we must constantly study it and promptly eliminate everything that hinders its progress and prosperity. Sociology has largely assumed this noble role.
We begin the study of the science "Sociology". We come across this concept very often now. The press reports on the results of sociological surveys of the population on various issues. There are sociological services of the president and parliament that study public opinion on various socio-economic problems.
Sociological research is carried out at enterprises, collectives where the state of social tension in the collectives, the degree of satisfaction with work, wages, etc. is determined. But this is not only an external, superficial or applied, empirical level of sociology as a science.
The term "sociology" itself is a derivative of two words: the Latin word gocietas - society and the Greek logos - word, concept, doctrine.
Therefore, etymologically, sociology is the science of society.
In the most general sense, it is the science of the laws of the formation, functioning and development of society in general, social relations and social communities.
In general, sociology can be defined as the scientific study of society and social relations.
The desire to understand, to comprehend society, as well as to express one's attitude towards it, was characteristic of mankind.
The very concept of "sociology" was introduced into scientific circulation by the French philosopher O. Comte in the 30s. XIX Art.
In his understanding, sociology was equivalent to social science, including everything that relates to society.
The main object of study of sociology according to Comte is society. Sociology studies society as a whole as a single integral system, as a special and unified organism. It should also be emphasized that in the period of its formation as an independent science, sociology needed a clearly defined concept of society, since it sought to construct a theory of society that would be based on some natural foundations of the social order. It can even be said that the concept of society was a necessary prerequisite for the separation of sociology into a separate science, which assumed the development of this concept in theoretical thinking and public discussions.
Sociology answers the question of the nature of the social order, but not in the only possible way. Currently, sociology is represented by many alternative ways of thinking, which are considered as "directions" or "paradigms" of sociological knowledge.
The emergence of sociology as a separate science was prepared by the entire previous course of development of socio-political thought.
Sociology arose as a response to the needs of an emerging civil society. The usual order of the feudal-absolutist system with its most severe total regulation of the entire social life was replaced by the process of the formation of a society that affirms the triumph of human rights and freedoms.
It is in the conditions of a self-organizing society that there is a massive need for knowledge of real social phenomena. The qualitative expansion of the boundaries of human freedom, a significant increase in the possibilities of choice, aroused the citizen's interest in knowing the basics of the life of a social group, social processes, etc. On the other hand, free competition in the economy and politics has made the performance of entrepreneurs and politicians directly dependent on how skillfully they use the knowledge of specific social mechanisms in real life.
In the subject area of sociological knowledge, two theoretical models of studying society have been formed - macrosociological and microsociological.
Their relationship is complex and contradictory. But these tendencies are a reality in modern world sociology.
Macrosociology is connected with public world systems and their interaction with various types of culture, with social institutions and public structures, with global processes. In other words, macrosociology is interested in society as an integral social organism, its structure, social institutions, and their functioning.
Macrosociology focuses on processes that help to understand society as a whole. This includes institutions such as family, education, religion. Political system. It studies large-scale social phenomena (nations, states).
Microsociology is interested in the everyday interactions of people. In the center of her attention are individuals with their actions, motives that determine their interactions.
Microsociology addresses social behavior, interpersonal communication, motives for action, socialization and individualization, incentives for group actions. Here "micro" is not only (and not so much) "small", but rather the "internal" aspect of people's actions, their behavior.
Hence, there are two different approaches to the definition of sociology: one in the direction of deploying its subject as a science of the integrity of the social organism, of social organizations and the social system, the other as a science of mass social processes and mass behavior.
Sociology is a theoretical and empirical discipline that studies social systems in their functioning and development. Sociology studies social life as a system of relations.
Consistency makes it possible to detect stable elements in various phenomena - “functional nodes”: social institutions, social groups and organizations, social actions and roles. The principle of consistency is the organizing principle of scientific knowledge. Sociology proceeds from the fact that society itself, regardless of our consciousness, is an organic integrity. This is one civilization. The elements included in it are interconnected, interact, interpenetrate each other.
In addition, sociology studies primarily the mechanism of functioning of systems. It is important to understand how society functions, what binds it together, how society constantly reproduces itself. The peculiarity of sociology is that its theory is based not on speculative speculative constructions, but on a systematic observation of reality, experiments, a concrete analysis of the material obtained through social research.
What is necessary for the scientific study of society?
First of all, facts, measurements, social relations. A social fact is somehow a fixed fragment of social reality. Sociologists distinguish 3 groups of facts: biological (sleep, food, etc.); psychological (emotions, love, hate); sociological facts related to society and social relations.
In foreign sociology, 5 main approaches are used to observe and explain different groups of facts:
1. Demographic.
2. Psychological, explaining behavior with the help of motives and habits.
3. A general student of the behavior of a group.
4. Relational - describes social life through the specificity of relationships.
5. Culturological using the concepts and terms of culture. Explores the rules and norms of behavior of individuals and social groups.
It is important to emphasize that sociology is the science of modern society. The subject of this science is associated not just with society, but with civil society as a modern system, sociology theoretically comprehends the contradictory integrity of the modern world.
Sociology "begins" with society and goes back to the individual. Ultimately, the goal of social cognition is a person in his unique originality. At the same time, in the process of sociological analysis, a cognitive situation of movement from the individual to society arises. Two counter streams are formed, as it were: individual - society, society - individual. Additional explanation is needed here. After all, sociology is the science of society. What is society? It is not easy to answer this question. It is necessary to find a specific unit of measurement with which to try to define society. It must be in the truest sense an "organic element" of the social system. At first glance, this is an individual, a single person who thinks. Acts, strives for something, etc. So, the individual is the fundamental principle that creates the social world? But such an assumption is incorrect, since society is not just a conglomerate of people. These are people who work with things, using norms, rules and laws. The substratum (basis) of society is not just the corporality of a person (without which, however, there is no society), but a certain set of people who own tools, means of labor for their own production. In a single individual, we will not see all this.
One can also recall other attempts to find the desired "unit" of society, in particular, such a "social atom" as a small group. This is a kind of model of society, consisting of several people who are in direct contact, interconnected by relationships, activities, based on relevant traditions, norms, having common orientations in work, leisure, political actions, etc.
To eliminate the specifics of the subject of sociology, it is impossible to do without clarifying what the concept of "social" as such is. There are many interpretations of this category. However, it is not difficult to isolate a stable core in various definitions of "social", namely: compatibility, community, interaction. This category itself, according to scientists, is the result of many definitions, the final point of analysis, and not its starting point.
The concept of "social" is used when the nature of people's relations to each other, the factors and conditions of their life, the position of a person and his role in society are studied.
It is possible to identify the main features and characteristics that characterize the specifics of the social:
1. Social is that common property that is inherent in different groups of individuals.
2. The social expresses the mutual position of individuals and the role they play in various social structures.
3. The social is manifested in the relationship of individuals and groups to each other, to their position in society.
4. The social is the result of the "joint activity of individuals" and the forms of interaction of these individuals.
Social is not just one of the spheres of public life, but
social life as a whole, taken in conjunction with the action of the subjects of historical development.
As academician Osipov G. notes, the social is a set of
social relations of a given society, integrated in the process of joint activities of individuals in the specific conditions of place and time.
sociological science, there are such as "social system", "social community". They contain the decisive quality of self-movement, the development of the social whole, its source.
Social community (group, class, stratum, organization,
collective, family, nation, people, etc.) already explains the stability, stability of social systems, the mechanism for their resolution by the fact of its existence. There are many reasons to consider the category "social community" as one of the basic ones in sociological analysis. This category connects the macro and micro levels of analysis: people's behavior, mass processes, culture, social institutions, property and power relations, management, functions, roles, expectations.
The social community is not society as a whole, but it is
a kind of unit of social measurement, "social gene". The word "community" covers all kinds of formations, the members of which are connected by a common interest and are in direct or indirect interaction. The difference in the interests of social communities contributes to the emergence of alternatives or perspectives of the historical process.
Social communities are living formations of society. They are active and passive, create and destroy, aware and unconscious. Therefore, those sociologists who assert that a person can be understood only through his social community are right in many respects. Consequently, it is necessary to “ascend” from society as an integrity to individuals, to personalities, but located in one or another social community, through it.
The totality of various social communities, groups, their relationship, hierarchy form a "social system".
For a complete understanding of the categories of sociology, it is necessary to consider the concepts of related (characterizing) social processes.
The knowledge of social processes can actually begin with what the life process itself begins with, that is, with an action, with an act of human activity. This is primary both historically and logically. But "social action" is not every act, but an action that has social significance. A real actor is a specific individual, group, social movement, etc. The actor is empirically observable. For sociology, this is of fundamental importance, as well as the fact that the action is expedient. It is a goal, a process and a real result. The totality of actions forms a "social process", the peculiarity of which, among other things, is that a particular actor does not come to the fore. It is more difficult to find the actor here - the process of social action itself is more essential.
So, moving from individual actions to social actions, from them to social processes, we observe a tendency: actions become less diverse step by step; the farther away from the generality, the fewer options for activities that they can choose. Social processes further reduce the variability of actions, general tendencies of the process appear, an integral system of social communities. So sociology is the science of the social interactions that make up a society.
Given that there are many definitions of sociology, we will try to give a generalized definition of it, for example.
"Sociology is the science of society as a social system as a whole, the functioning and development of this system through its constituent elements: personality, social communities, institutions." (Radugin A.)
This definition focuses on the object of science and the subject of science. A certain sphere of the objective world always acts as an object of any science, while the subject of any science is the result of theoretical abstraction, which allows researchers to identify those aspects and patterns of development and functioning of the object under study that are specific to a given science.
Thus, the object of a particular science is a part of objective and subjective reality, which has its own properties that are studied only by this science, and the subject of science is the result of research activities.
Therefore, the subject of science cannot be identical to the object.
An object is an empirical given reality that represents one or another side of the objective world.
The subject of science is the reproduction of empirical reality at an abstract level, by identifying the most significant from a practical point of view, regular connections and relationships.
The subject of research exists only in the head of the researcher, i.e. depends entirely on knowledge itself and is part of it. Defining the subject of research, we abstractly single out one of the sides of the object and try to study it. For example, a building may be of interest to us in terms of sustainability, cost, architecture, and so on.
For a better understanding of the essence of the subject of sociology, one should imagine society not as a simple accumulation of individuals randomly interacting with each other, but as a whole, consisting of certain arranged, ordered, interdependent parts.
In other words, the object is objective, it really exists, the subject is the result of studying the object, an abstraction. If there is a relative “consensus” among specialists regarding the object of sociology, then discussions about the subject of sociology do not stop (which indicates the development, the continuous formation of modern science).
It is easy to see that most of the definitions of sociology are related to the "behavioral" understanding of this discipline. And this is natural, because the explanation of the individual's behavior is one of the main issues dealt with by the social sciences. At the same time, recently sociologists have been striving to find a broader interpretation of the subject of sociology as a science of society as a whole, social structures and their systems. Each definition contributes to the understanding of the nature of science, which plays a key role in modern knowledge and occupies one of the central places in intellectual culture.
Sociology is not just a science, but also a certain way of thinking, a way of studying people, seeing the world, it allows you to analyze society and specific social processes from a variety of angles, using multiple media of connections and relationships between people. Sociology is actively "introduced" into the main spheres of public life - economic, social, political, spiritual. It studies almost all areas of human life - work, study, life, free time, social activities. There is no social group that would not be the subject of sociological study.
There are an infinite number of social systems and connections in society. A significant part of these connections is random and temporary.
The peculiarity of sociology as a science is that social relations are studied at the level of social laws and regularities.
Social laws are a more or less complete reflection of the phenomena inherent in the surrounding world. Social law is an expression of the essential, universal and necessary connection of social phenomena and processes, primarily the connections of people's social activity.
Social laws are formed in various spheres of human activity and, above all, in the sphere of people's material activity. There are general and specific laws in sociology. The general laws of sociology are the subject of study of philosophy. The specific ones are studied by sociology proper.
But it should be noted that the attitude of sociologists to social laws has changed. If earlier it was believed that social laws are a repetitive connection independent of the subject, the nature of which determines the content of social development, now sociologists believe that there are no laws of history. What were previously called laws are in reality only a description of probable tendencies of development. Consequently, for sociological research, the typology of tendencies, rather than laws, acquires priority. The most important thing here is to establish the forms of connections and ways of their manifestation. What do the trends reflect? Say, the invariant coexistence of social phenomena (for example, production and consumption). A trend may reflect a change in the structure of a social object, i.e. its development (for example, the evolution of forms of ownership, their pluralism). The time factor is always significant in it, because the previous state is the determining moment of development. Trends can express the functional dependence of various social objects, their mode of life, relative stability (for example, the interaction of the state and society).
The objectivity of the social tendency of the law is a series of cumulative actions of millions of people. The social law is realized and put into practice not in general, but in a specific form - in the activities of people. And each individual person carries out his activities in the specific conditions of society, in the system of which he occupies a certain production and social position.
In sociology, there are 5 groups of social laws (trends):
1. Laws stating the coexistence of social phenomena. According to such laws, if there is a phenomenon BUT, then there must be a phenomenon B. Thus, the industrialization and urbanization of society determine the reduction of the population employed in agriculture.
2. Laws that set development trends. They cause a change in the structure of the social object, the transition from one order of relationships to another.
3. Laws establishing a connection between social phenomena. The laws are functional. They express the connection between the main elements of a social object, they determine the nature of its functioning.
4. Laws fixing the causal relationship between social phenomena (combination of public and private interests).
5. Laws that affirm the possibility or likelihood of a connection between social phenomena. The divorce rate in different countries fluctuates along with economic cycles.
Any social law or trend manifests itself in practice without
in general, but in a specific form - in the activities of an individual, in the specific conditions of society.
Thus, in the first section of the lecture, we showed the objective conditionality of the emergence of sociology as a science, its content, subject and object of scientific research of sociology.
The structure of sociological knowledge is not only a set of
information about social phenomena and processes, but also a certain orderliness of knowledge about society as a dynamically developing system.
Social knowledge, as well as their structure, depends on the range of objects studied by sociology. In particular, when defining the object of sociological research, one should start with society as a whole, since everything that exists in society is a product of its development and has a social nature.
Another element of the structure of social knowledge is the relationship and development of individual spheres of social life: economic, social, political, spiritual.
An important element in the structure of sociological knowledge is knowledge about the social composition of the population and the social structure of society.
Another element of the structure of sociological knowledge are scientific ideas, views, theories related to political sociology.
An important element of the structure of sociological knowledge is scientific ideas about the activities of social institutions existing in society ....
All scientific ideas, concepts ... are interconnected and form a single structure of social knowledge, which reflects all aspects of social life and communication and interaction.
In the whole sum of sociological views, one should also single out the levels of sociological knowledge:
1) general sociological theories or general theoretical sociology;
2) special sociological theories or private theories;
3) specific sociological research;
1. These theories concern, as a rule, deep or essential
moments of the development of society as a whole historical process.
At this level, theories of social, primarily production activities of people are formed, the role of labor in the development of society is shown (Hegel, Saint-Simon, K. Marx and others. This is an example of a different approach to this problem). At this level, the essence of social relations, their role and mechanism of interaction are revealed. The interaction of economic, social, political and other spheres of society's life is studied and their interrelations are revealed.
2. These theories concern certain areas of public life,
social groups and institutions. Their volume is much narrower and limited to individual subsystems (for example, the economic or social sphere of society).
Concrete and special sociological theories are aimed at
solution of practical problems of today and the near future, they are organically connected with practice.
Among the special branches of knowledge, one can single out: the sociology of labor, social class relations, the sociology of the family, the sociology of political relations, etc. In all these cases, certain spheres of public life are the object of sociological study.
3. The next level of sociological knowledge is represented by
individual sociologists and researchers. They are carried out by various methods ... and are carried out in order to obtain objective data on various aspects of sociological reality.
The main thing is to get objective information about what
What happens in society and how the population reacts to it. Empiricism is then comprehended by general sociological and specific theories.
When considering this topic of the course, it should be noted that sociology performs a variety of cognitive and practical functions.
The functions of sociology are a set of roles that it performs in the organization of society as a system. In modern conditions, when politicians are increasingly turning to sociology and empirical material, there is a danger that sociology will become an instrument of politics. And this complicates the work of a sociologist. He must be a fighter, defending the truth, his independence, issues of professional ethics are becoming increasingly important.
Speaking about the functions of sociology, it must be emphasized that, as a social science, sociology performs two main functions: epistemological and managerial. In turn, these main functions can form derivative subfunctions, which are sometimes defined in the scientific literature as independent ones. In sociological literature, they include the following: theoretical, methodological, descriptive, informational, prognostic, ideological, etc.
The theoretical function of sociology is to replenish and develop the existing sociological knowledge based on the study of social reality and the identification of typical, recurring connections between its individual aspects, in the description of patterns and connections in the system of sociological categories and concepts.
Among the most important functions is methodological. Sociology offers the technology of concrete analysis. Moreover, each type of sociology offers its own "technology". Marxism is like surgery. Understanding sociology seeks means to improve communication, emphasizes slowly changing social reality through reforms, and so on.
Explanation is one of the primary functions of science. It is often recognized as the highest function of scientific research. Explanation is the disclosure of the essence of the object being explained through the knowledge of relations and connections with the essences of other objects.
Explanation organically involves a description of the object under study (descriptive or descriptive function). The descriptive function plays a very significant cognitive role. In the course of the description, empirical information is subjected to preliminary theoretical processing. Description forms a transitional stage between experience and theoretical procedures, especially explanation. Description reduces the data of experience (social practice) to a form in which they become available for various theoretical operations. The description "translates" information about the objects of the external world into the language of science, and the scientific description is carried out in the context of a certain scientific theory.
If the descriptive (descriptive) function of science is connected with the expectation of an answer to the question “What is reality really?”, then the explanatory function of science is the answer to the question: why do the data of the fact of reality exist at all or why do they have such and not other properties?
The predictive function of sociology is to answer the question: what will be the reality in the future or when will certain events occur? The form of realization and the result of this function are, first of all, hypotheses. They can be called prognostic, in contrast to the previously mentioned explanatory hypotheses. The extent to which science is able to fill this function reveals the truth of its explanatory models, the effectiveness of methods, and so on. The prognosis during the transitional period of society is especially important. In this case, sociology is able to: 1) determine what is the range of possibilities, probabilities that open up at a given stage; 2) present alternative scenarios for future processes; 3) calculate the probable losses for each of the options, including side effects, as well as long-term consequences, etc.
Of great importance in the life of society is the use of sociological research for planning the development of various spheres of public life. Social planning is developed in all countries of the world. It covers wide areas of life, individual regions, countries, as well as the planning of the life of cities, villages, individual enterprises and collectives.
The instrumental function of science should answer the question: what decisions need to be made in order to achieve the desired result? What needs to be done to make predictions about future reality come true or not come true. The result of the study will be certain rules of conduct - correct if they are implemented, and incorrect if they turn out to be utopian.
The ideological function is the subject of fundamental controversy as to whether it should be considered a function of science at all. Answering the question of what goals should be striven for or what values should be realized, science enters the sphere of normative axiology (the doctrine of values). The results of research can be used in the interests of any social groups to achieve certain social goals. Sociological knowledge often serves as a means of manipulating people's behavior and forming certain stereotypes. But sociology can also serve to improve relations between people, to form in them feelings of intimacy, which ultimately contributes to the improvement of social relations. In this case one speaks of the humanistic function of sociology. In the modern era, ideological disputes should be resolved with the help of scientific arguments, and not by using irrational elements - not in the formal logical sense of the word, but fully taking into account the actual social interests and the specifics of the structures that implement these interests.
When analyzing science, it is necessary to determine its methods and principles.
A method in sociology is a way of constructing and substantiating sociological knowledge, a set of techniques, procedures and operations for empirical and theoretical knowledge of social reality. The method includes certain rules that ensure the reliability and reliability of knowledge. Methods of social cognition can be divided into universal and concrete-scientific. When studying social processes, the following principles are applied: objectivity, historicism and a systematic approach.
1. The principle of objectivity means the study of all objective laws that determine the processes (positive and negative). Objectivity for evidence and argumentation.
2. The principle of historicism in sociology involves the study of problems, processes in development. Historicism allows us to learn from the past.
3. Systemic method - the study of individual phenomena in close connection with the whole. The system method takes into account that any system is in a certain environment and it is necessary to take into account its connections and relations with the environment. Hence the second requirement of the system method is to take into account that each system acts as a subsystem of another, larger system.
This method involves clarifying the principle of the hierarchy of the elements of the system, the forms of information transfer between them, the ways they influence each other.
The method of sociology is the use of diverse empirical material. When studying public consciousness, public opinion, various social communities ... methods of document analysis, survey, including questioning, observation, etc. are used.
Sociology occupies a special place in the system of the social humanities. This is explained by the fact that, firstly, it is a science about society, its phenomena and processes; secondly, it includes sociological theory or the theory of society, which acts as a theory, methodology of all other social and human sciences; thirdly, all social and human sciences that study various aspects of the life of society always include a social aspect, i.e. those laws and regularities that are studied in one or another sphere of public life are realized through the activity of people; fourthly, the technique and methodology for studying man and human activity, developed by sociology, are necessary and used by all other social and human sciences; Finally, a whole system of research has developed at the intersection of sociology and other sciences, which have received the name in the sociological science of social research (socio-economic, socio-political, socio-demographic, etc.).
The fact that sociology occupies a general and not a particular place among the social and human sciences does not mean that it has become a philosophical science. Its significance for other sciences lies in the fact that it provides a scientifically based theory about society and its structure, an understanding of the laws and patterns of interaction between its various structures, the interaction of subjects of historical action with society. The position of sociology in relation to the special scientific social disciplines is the same as the position of general biology in relation to anatomy, physiology, morphology, etc.
But, however, there is a science in the system of social sciences, with which the connection of sociology is the closest and mutually necessary. This science is history. Both history and sociology have society and its regularities in concrete manifestations as the object and subject of their research. Both this and other sciences reproduce social reality in the unity of the necessary and the accidental. Both historical and social phenomena are numerous, both in their genesis, in the totality of the causes that caused them, and in their influence, which they do not have one cause, therefore, cannot be unambiguously explained. The difference between them is that history reproduces (at the level of descriptive and explanatory function) the social process post factum, futurology prefaktum, and sociology infaktum.
According to modern science of science, any science reaches maturity when it passes into a pragmatic status. It means that a certain scientific achievement over a certain period of time gives the scientific community a model for posing problems and solving them. A paradigm is not only a theory, but also a method of action in science, a model for solving research problems. The development of scientific knowledge is a process of revolutionary change of paradigms: from the beginning there is an accumulation of "anomalies" - factors that contradict the previous paradigm, undermines its authority, stimulates the promotion of new theories leading the struggle among themselves for leadership, which ends with the victory of one of them and it turns into a new paradigm. The concept of a paradigm in social cognition is understood as a system of ideals, norms and stereotypes in the interpretation of social facts.
Sociological knowledge, which originated in the depths of other sciences, has gone through a historical path of development from an unambiguous to a multivariate paradigmatic status. This path was unique. Its originality was influenced by cultural traditions and the uneven development of the social and human sciences in different countries.
Society is a complex social object and its essence cannot be revealed with the help of one theory. Depending on the scientific orientation and ideological values of sociology, when analyzing society, various principles and techniques are used that determine the logic of the acquired knowledge. As we have already said, the totality of the main methodological provisions, principles that form the initial criteria and attitudes for a certain understanding of social phenomena and the corresponding interpretation of imperial factors is called a paradigm. The term "paradigm" was introduced into scientific circulation by the American scientist T. Kuhn in 20 of the XX century. to refer to scientific concepts. If the model of theoretical interpretation is considered as a model, then it becomes the basis of an entire scientific tradition. This model ceases to be a model for the interpretation of social factors from the moment when it is unable to explain new phenomena, then a paradigm shift occurs. For 200 years in social science there has also been a change of paradigms, each of which, in its own way, evaluated the empirical facts that determine the behavior of people. The variety of paradigms of sociology can be conditionally divided into two groups: macrosociological and microsociological. Their differences are due to a different understanding of society:
1. Society is considered as an integral system consisting of internally ordered, interacting social structures (political, economic subsystems, culture, etc.);
2. Or society is considered in the context of the daily interaction of individuals.
1. Consider briefly macrosociological paradigms. Proponents of this approach focus on identifying social structures in society and their interaction. Social phenomena, structures, institutions - are considered as "objective things" that do not depend on the ideas and opinions of members of society. In this regard, macrosociological paradigms can be defined as objectivist. Among macrosociological paradigms, two theories are usually distinguished: the theory of functionalism and the theory of conflict.
G. Spencer (1820-1903), who considered sociology as the only science, is considered the founder of functionalism. In accordance with this methodology, Spencer identified society with a living organism, like the human body. If one organ stops functioning, the body cannot function normally. A functionalist sociologist views society as an organism consisting of interrelated parts: military, economic, religious, etc., each of which performs its own function.
Modern functionalism focuses not only on the ranking of social structures, but also on functions, on ways to achieve social integration, the stability of society as a system. An equally important position of modern functionalism is the thesis of the gradual, evolutionary nature of changes in society, which excludes revolution as a way of transformation. In contrast to this, the conflictological paradigm explains the laws of the development of society in a different way.
The driving force of progress is conflict as a state of hidden or open clash of competing parties. The causes and nature of the confrontation between social communities and groups are explained in different ways in sociology, which led to the existence of various variants of the conflictological paradigm.
The founder of the theory of social conflict was Karl Marx (1818-1883). He considered society as an integrity, consisting of classes whose interests do not coincide. The division depends on the relationship to the means of production. The irreconcilability of their interests gives rise to a class conflict that can be resolved with the help of a social revolution ...
A different conflictological paradigm is created by the German scientist R. Harendorf. In his opinion, any society is riddled with conflicts and they are based on relations of domination and subordination and can be resolved democratically.
2. Microsociological paradigms define society as a set of forms of everyday interaction between individuals, focusing on the specificity of human social behavior. In contrast to macrosociological (objectivist), microsociological paradigms explain sociological phenomena subjectively, as existing solely due to the ideas and opinions of people. This group of paradigms can be called cultural-analytical. The progressive process of development of society and sociological knowledge about it will inevitably give rise to new paradigms in sociology.
So, sociology arose in the 19th century, when objective socio-economic and scientific prerequisites arose for this, and most importantly, the process of transition from an authoritarian, feudal society to a more democratic society with a high level of personal freedoms, the legal basis of the state, and therefore there is an interest in the problems society and the role of the individual in the state. Sociology, using the categories and laws of other sciences, as well as applying its own categories, analyzes the subjects of the state, as well as the social processes taking place in society. Using rich empirical and theoretical material, sociology not only cognizes social reality, but also tries to shape the trends in the social development of mankind.
- Economics: conditions, quality and lifestyle of people, prerequisites for social tension, efficiency of enterprises and institutions, quality of social services, activities of public utilities, marketing research.
- Politics: power and opposition, society and state, electoral research.
- Socio-cultural sphere: interethnic and interfaith relations, family well-being and upbringing, domestic violence, causes and dynamics of divorces, education, career guidance for young people, health care.
- Media sphere: the influence of the media on different groups of the population, the role and influence of modern information sources on public consciousness, the distribution of periodicals.
Structure of sociology
1. about general sociological theories. In various branches of sociology, there are common (cross-cutting) levels of knowledge, including the scientific picture of the world, general theory, methodology, methods, techniques, principles for organizing private, empirical and applied research. The term "general sociology" applies to them.
2 special (private) sociological theories (theories of the middle level):
a) theories of social institutions (sociology of religion, education, family);
b) the theory of social communities (ethnosociology, sociology of the electorate, sociology of youth);
c) the theory of specialized areas of activity (labor, sports, leisure, management);
d) the theory of social processes (the theory of social exchange, interactions, the sociology of social change);
e) the theory of social phenomena (sociology of public opinion, gender sociology).
3. to specific sociological theories – generalizations obtained as a result of the study of individual problems.
Special sociological theories can be divided into various groups:
Along with the indicated levels distinguish macro- and microsociology.
By logical status received knowledge sociology is divided into theoretical and empirical.
Depending on the research objectives distinguish between fundamental and applied sociology.
Sociological categories and laws
A concept is a form of thinking that reflects the objects and phenomena of reality and the essential connections between them. Concepts are a means of knowledge. The most general concepts in a particular science are called scientific categories.
Like any other science, sociology studies scientific facts and finds patterns.
Means of scientific knowledge:
1) categorical apparatus (concepts and categories);
2) scientific facts;
3) ideas, hypotheses, concepts and theories;
4) research methods.
Law - this is a necessary, essential, stable recurring connection between phenomena, processes and states of objects. Due to the existence of laws in the world, the so-called nomological (general, universal) statements.
social law - these are essential, deep, universal and necessary connections of social phenomena and processes.
The laws of society are:
a) ontological, which reflect what is or happens;
b) deontological - religious, legal, moral, aesthetic and other rules and regulations established by people.
sociological law - a logical conclusion obtained on the basis of social facts and axiomatic premises.
sociological facts - this is a description of fragments of reality (phenomena, processes, events, objects) by means of sociology.
By revealing sociological facts in the sphere of public life, sociology finds social patterns- objectively existing, systematically manifesting significant connections of social phenomena and processes. Through the identification and systematization of social patterns, sociologists build sociological theories- systems of sociological generalizations based on verifiable empirical data.
The place of sociology in the system of social sciences is predetermined by its close connection with other social and humanitarian sciences, which include: social philosophy, anthropology, psychology, economics, political science, jurisprudence, history, demography, mathematics, statistics, cybernetics, computer science, etc.
Military sociology is a special sociological theory, object the study of which is the military sphere of society. Thing military sociology - military-social phenomena, processes and relations.
Military sociology consists of:
1) general military sociology;
2) military sociological theories of the middle level;
3) specific military sociological research.
The main problems studied fundamental military sociology - these are the most general problems of war and peace, the relationship between the army and society. Applied sociology makes it possible to develop practical recommendations for improving the effectiveness of management in the military-social sphere in peacetime and wartime. The range of problems of applied military sociological research includes the state of military discipline, issues of effective management of the behavior of military personnel, moral and psychological training of troops during exercises and combat operations, etc.
scientific method(Greek methodos - path, tracking, research) is a set of principles and techniques for developing new scientific knowledge. Methods of sociological research are quantitative and qualitative. quantitative methods provide an increment of sociological knowledge based on techniques, techniques and procedures of mathematics and statistics: scaling, testing, factor analysis, etc. quality methods provide identification, identification of properties and characteristics of social phenomena and processes: biographical method, stylistic analysis of personal documents, study of reference groups.
Methodology- this is the doctrine of the system of the most general principles and methods of organization, development and evaluation of theoretical and empirical sociological knowledge, as well as the organization of sociological research.
The methodology can be divided into four levels:
1) general philosophical methods (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, abstraction and concretization, etc.);
2) general scientific methods (systemic, modeling, typology);
3) methods of theoretical sociology (structural-functional, comparative, method of cross-cultural analysis, correlation-causal method, method of isolating invariance);
4) methods of empirical sociology (observation, survey, analysis of documents, sociological experiment, analysis, generalization of sociological information, etc.).
Sociology as a science arose during the period of bourgeois revolutions. The earlier periods can only be considered as a history of social thought.
The formation of sociology took place in the 40s of the XIX century. after the publication of the work of O. Comte "Course of Positive Philosophy" (1830-1842). In 1826, Comte began to lecture on the course of positive philosophy, and in 1839. With the publication of the 3rd volume of the "Course of Positive Philosophy", the term "sociology" was introduced into scientific circulation. The first departments of sociology opened at US universities in the 1990s, and the world's first department of sociology and department of sociology were opened in 1892 at the University of Chicago. In 1901, sociology was already being taught at 169 universities and colleges in the United States.
Basic classical concepts of theoretical sociology XIX - early XX centuries:
· Positivism (O. Comte).
· Biological evolutionism (G. Spencer).
· Social Darwinism (L. Gumplovich, G. Ratzenhofer).
· Socio-historical determinism (K. Marx, F. Engels).
· Psychologism (L. Ward, W. McDougal, G. Lebon).
· Psychoanalysis (Z. Freud).
· Sociological system V. Pareto.
· Formal sociology (W. Dilthey, G. Simmel, F. Tönnies, L. von Wiese).
· Sociologism (E. Durkheim).
· Understanding sociology (M. Weber).
Among the areas of Western sociology that emerged in the twentieth century, the following stand out:
· Empirical sociology (W. Thomas, F. Znaniecki, R. Park, E. Burges, P. Lazarsfeld).
· Neo-Freudianism (A. Adler, K. Jung, K. Horney, G. Sullivan, E. Fromm).
· Structuralism (K. Levi-Strauss, M. Foucault, R. Barth).
· Structural functionalism (T. Parsons, R. Merton).
· Sociology of the Frankfurt School or "Critical Theory" (M. Horkheimer, T. Adorno, G. Marcuse, J. Habermas).
· Theory of social conflict (C. Mills, L. Koser, R. Dahrendorf).
· Sociometry (J. Moreno, K. Levin).
· Theory of social exchange (J. Homans, P. Blau).
· Symbolic interactionism (C. Cooley, J. Mead).
· Ethnomethodology (G. Garfinkel).
· Phenomenology (A. Schutz).
Sociological postmodernism, represented by the theory of society as a self-referential system (N. Luhmann); the theory of the social field (P. Bourdieu); the theory of social structuring (E. Giddens).
Russian sociological thought was formed at the beginning of the 19th century. as a philosophy of history, but already in the middle of the century social theories appeared, combining elements of socio-philosophical and sociological knowledge.
Consider the most influential currents in Western sociology.
The positivist doctrine of Auguste Comte
As a student of Saint-Simon, Comte created the theory of the origin of sociology, which he outlined in his six-volume work A Course in Positive Philosophy, published in 1830-1842. By analogy with physics, Comte singles out in the science of society (“social physics”) statics (a section on the structure, structure of society) and dynamics (social changes). Each section of sociology in the teachings of Comte had its own purpose. Public institutions (family, religion, state) by their existence contribute to "general agreement", the unification of society. They help to overcome the selfishness of people and the division of labor that divides them, educate the younger generation in an altruistic spirit, and pass on the traditions, experience and moral norms of the older generations. Social dynamics, according to Comte, should study the theory of social progress. In his philosophical positions, Comte was an idealist. For him, the world is first thought, then it exists. Consequently, the development of society also begins with the appearance of ideas of progress in the minds of people. Comte identifies progress with the development of human knowledge, which goes through three stages; each of them corresponds to a certain state of society (the law of three states). “The first stage,” notes Comte, “although at first necessary in every respect, must henceforth be regarded as purely preliminary; the second is in fact only a modification of a destructive nature, having only a temporary purpose - to gradually lead to the third; it is at this last, the only completely normal stage, that the structure of human thought is in the fullest sense final.
|
Stages of knowledge development |
Stages of development of society |
|
1. Theological (from Greek theos - god) Knowledge is mythological, religious in nature and based on faith. "The human spirit ... imagines that phenomena are produced by the action of supernatural factors, the arbitrary intervention of which explains all the apparent phenomena of the world." |
1. The era covering the Ancient world and the Middle Ages It is divided into three periods: - Fetishism. People see gods in external objects, and life is attributed to them. - Polytheism.Life is endowed with "fictitious creatures", the gods. Their intervention explains all phenomena. - Monotheism.Christianity changes the morality, worldview of people. Life is determined by one God |
|
2. Metaphysical Knowledge is divorced from real life, is abstract. "In the metaphysical state, supernatural factors are replaced by abstract forces capable of producing all observable phenomena of their own accord, the explanation of which consists only in finding the corresponding essence." |
2. The era of revolutions Abstract knowledge becomes critical, there is a crisis, the collapse of social ties. This stage lasted approximately from the 14th century until the beginning of the 19th century. and covers the era of the Reformation, the Renaissance, the era of the great geographical discoveries, the formation and development of capitalism. The first and second stages correspond to a military society, a society aimed at war, having a military-authoritarian regime of government. |
|
3. Positive Knowledge is based on experience, experiment and is scientific in nature. In a positive state, "the human spirit recognizes the impossibility of achieving absolute knowledge, strives, correctly combining reasoning and observation, to the knowledge of the actual laws of phenomena, i.e. their unchanging relationships, sequence and similarity." |
3. Industrial and world society The beginning of this stage, i.e., the industrialization of society, which stabilizes all social processes and makes war meaningless (with the help of mass production, much more can be achieved in all spheres of society than by conquests), and was observed by O. Comte in the first half of the 19th century. |
It is positive (positive) science, according to O. Comte, that is the only solid foundation for social transformation, designed to bringmost civilized peoplesthe critical state they are in. This science will help to make the transition to an industrial, peaceful society.
In the work “The Spirit of Positive Philosophy”, O. Comte indicates five meanings of the word “positive”:
1) reala counterweight chimerical;
2) usefula counterweight worthless;
3) reliablea counterweight dubious;
4) exacta counterweight vague;
5) organizinga counterweight destructive.
The development of science and knowledge proceeds from the simple to the complex, from the general to the specific. Each new science has, O. Comte believed, a higher order of the studied phenomena and includesprevious scienceas a necessary part. The hierarchy of sciences (the law of classification of sciences) is as follows:
Mathematics - Astronomy - Physics - Chemistry - Biology - Sociology.
The place of sociology, according to O. Comte, is at the top of this hierarchy, since it studies the most complex phenomena of the interaction of individuals. The law of three states is combined with the law of classification of sciences in the sense that positive thinking, formed in mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry and biology, should also cover the social sphere and lead to the creation of a positive science of society - sociology. Comte considers society as a whole and the history of its development to be the subject of this science. Moreover, the laws of this development are precise and strict, as are the laws of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. These laws, according to O. Comte, can not only show the essence of society and its past, but also predict the future.
Among the areas of positive sociology, the most famous are biological (G. Spencer) and geographical (G. Buckle).
Sociological evolutionism of Herbert Spencer.
Follower of O. Comte English philosopher and sociologist Herbert Spencer(1820-1903), creator biological direction in positive sociology, he based his theory of society on the analogy with an organism that develops according to the laws of evolution.
In his work The Foundations of Sociology (1886), Spencer argues that the evolution of society consists in its differentiation (as in animals and plants - an increase in the number of species). At the same time, evolution pushes individual parts-organs of society towards greater integration, because this is the only way to preserve an integral social organism.
However, there are differences between the animal community and human society. So, the animal individual is “concrete”, that is, it is really single, and the human one is “discrete”, since it has abstract thinking and freedom of action. From this it follows that progress consists in the transition from a state in which the individual is subordinate to the whole to a state in which the social organization serves the individuals who compose it. Moreover, in the first state of society, integration is compulsory, and in the second, it is voluntary.
Another difference between the animal community and human society is that the "regulatory system" of human society rests on "fear of the living and the dead", that is, on respect for such social institutions as the state and the church. Everyday communication is regulated by "ceremonial instructions", that is, traditions, norms that reflect the statuses and roles of people. In the economic system of society, the role of natural selection of the organic world, discovered by Charles Darwin, is played, according to G. Spencer, by competition.
From this originates the direction of sociological positivism, called "social darwinism". Darwinian sociologists have explaineddevelopment of individualistic tendencies in societythe survival of the fittest (the instinct of self-preservation), and the strengthening of social solidarity, morality and morality - a manifestation of the altruistic instinct of procreation.
Henry Buckle
English sociologist Henry Buckle(1821-1862), founded the geographical direction of positivist sociology. He represented the progress of human society as a manifestation of natural forces, and notthe result of providence or free will of man. These factors are: climate, food, soil, landscape. In the south, food is cheaper, the soil is more fertile, the climate is more favorable for life. Hence the large population in the countries of the East, the poverty of its main mass and the enormous wealth of a few rulers. The landscape of temperate latitudes forms a rational, logical type of activity. This explains that "in Europe, the predominant trend was the subordination of nature to man, and outside Europe, the subordination of man to nature."
Positivism gave a powerful impetus to the formation and development of sociology. But he considered society mechanistically, that is, being, despite the internal struggle for existence, in an equilibrium state, which was determined by the balance and strict functioning of the parts within the framework of certain tasks. Despite O. Comte's slogan "Order and Progress", society for the positivists remained essentially unchanged. They failed to explain many social phenomena of the second half XIX century, including such as revolutions, the growth of the labor movement and the class struggle. All this by the 80s. XIX in. led to a crisis of positivism.
anti-positivism(1880-1920) did not seek to explain the world of social phenomena by the biological struggle for existence or the influence of the natural environment. On the contrary, the founders of antipositivism were German philosophers and sociologists.Wilhelm Dilthey(1833-1911), Wilhelm Windelband(1848-1915), Heinrich Rickert(1863-1936) saw their task in distinguishing between nature and human society, which, according to them opinion , lives according to its own laws, different from natural ones. They saw their task not in explaining society from the point of view of the universal laws of the physical world, but in understanding meaning of social phenomena, structures and processes. They chose neo-Kantianism as the philosophical basis for such an understanding. They considered the recognition of the subjectivity of the world and the existence of "things-in-themselves" to be the main achievement of I. Kant's theory of knowledge. Development the teachings of I. Kant, V. Windelbaid and G. Rickert proposed to consider transcendental values as truth, which, although they exist ideally, are important for people, have an impact on their thinking and behavior.
Unlike the positivists, who viewed the world as an objective reality, they shared the laws of nature and the laws by which society exists. Therefore, if the natural sciences, in their opinion, are characterized by generalizing (generalizing) methods of cognition, then the social sciences are characterized by individualizing methods that establish the originality of the unique facts of reality, requiring the correlation of social facts with values as stable ideal representations.
Since the world and the life of people are created by their ideas, the sociologist's task is not to reveal the essence of social facts, but to understand them.
"Understanding Sociology" by Max Weber a
concept "understanding sociology" developed by a German sociologist Max Weber. Understanding as a direct comprehension is opposed by M. Weber to the indirect, inferential knowledge, explanation inherent in the natural sciences. What is important is not objective knowledge, but understanding of social actions. Instead of evaluating social phenomena, M. Weber puts forward the principle of freedom from value judgments. This principle means that the reliability and truth of social phenomena and their significance for social behavior are completely different and sometimes incompatible things. It follows from this that there is no good or bad, positive or negative social action, that any social behavior should be understood from its correlation with those social values that are inherent in a given social group.
"Understanding sociology" actively developed in the first half of the 20th century. in Europe (including Russia) and in the USA. G. Simmel, F. Znanetsky, G. Bloomer, E. Hughes, R. Merton, T. Parsons, P. Struve, N. Kareev and others become its supporters.
Sociological ideas of Karl Marx and his role in the development of sociology
The desire to implement a positivist research program in the field of social knowledge was most clearly manifested in the works K. Marx(1818-1883), author of Capital, The Poverty of Philosophy (1847), The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852), Critique of Political Economy (1859), Civil War in France (1871).Like Saint-Simon and Comte, Marx considered the world as an objective reality and was guided by the comprehension of its laws. At the same time, being a materialist, Marx believed that social development is determined not by knowledge, ideas or spirit, but by material production, i.e. being determines consciousness. In his The fundamental theory of socio-economic formations reveals the relationship of all aspects of social life, from material production to religion, culture and art. The economic basis of society corresponds to certain institutions and relations of the superstructure, including the family, way of life, lifestyle and ways of thinking. The division of society into classes was associated in Marx's theory with the social division of labor and the emergence of private property. The driving force behind social development is the contradictions between labor and capital, which predetermine the antagonism of class interests and the inevitability of class struggle throughout the history of mankind. Giving preference to the macro-level consideration of society, K. Marx attached particular importance to economic relations. Social consciousness was explained through class interests, conditioned by the existing mode of production. Marx's works also touched upon the problem of intra-class differentiation, which influences the alignment of political forces. Marx intended to apply his teachings in practice to overcome the contradictions of capitalist society through the proletarian revolution and the elimination of private property.
Marxists paid great attention to such problems as conflicts, ideology, alienation. They explained the unity of social organization in terms of domination or hegemony. However, at the same time, the conditioning of political behavior by the internal logic of the capitalist system, which, despite internal contradictions, was able to function stably, remained outside their attention.
The sociologism of Émile Durkheim
The work of the socialist reformist Émile Durkgekme (1858-1917) traces the development of the French tradition of rationalism. The ideological and theoretical sources of his work were the works of the Enlightenment (Monteske, Condorcet, Rousseau, Saint-Simon and Comte), the ethics of Kant, the psychology of the peoples of Wundt, as well as some ideas of the historical school of law. From 1887 to 1902, E. Durkheim taught at the University of Bordeaux, where he began to publish the Sociological Yearbook, and from 1902 to 1907 he lectured at the Sorbonne. His main works are "On the division of social labor" (1893), "Rules of sociological method" (1895), "Suicide" and "Elementary forms of religious life" (1912).
Durkheim's concept can be described as a synthesis of several currents:
1. Objectivismin the approach to the methods of studying society. Society exists independently of the researcher and his consciousness, and therefore should be studied by observation, and not by abstract conclusions about the natural, social and their relationships.
2. Naturalism- understanding of society by analogy with the body as a system striving to maintain balance. In continuation of the ideas of O. Comte, in the "Rules of the sociological method" E. Durkheim considers social phenomena as natural.
3. Realism, suggesting that society is an autonomous reality of a special kind. The subject of sociology Durkheim considered social facts - the material and spiritual environment that determines the behavior of people. To consider social facts as things, according to Durkheim, means to recognize that communities of people exist objectively, independently of any individual.
Being a supporter of philosophical realism (as opposed to the nominalism of G. Tarde), Durkheim considered society as a specific autonomous social reality: "... explanations of social life must be sought in the nature of society itself. Indeed, since it infinitely surpasses the individual both in time and in space, it is able to inspire him with modes of action and thoughts, sanctified by its authority. This pressure, which is the hallmark of social facts, is the pressure of everyone on everyone. From the principle thus formulated sociologism followed Durkheim's conviction in class peace and social harmony as the normal state of society. Having defined the “norm” of the state of society, Durkheim also designated its pathology and proposed measures to eliminate it, thanks to which such concepts as “social function” and “anomie” introduced by him were strengthened in sociology.
Durkheim viewed social phenomena as sui generis or self-determining. Rejecting biological and psychological interpretations of the essence of society, he focused on the structural prerequisites of social processes. Under the influence of H. Spencer's creativity, E. Durkheim divides societies into simple and complex, highlighting the criterion of the nature of their integration. If a primitive tribe is united by a common consciousness and solidarity on the basis of similarity, then an industrial society is a complex differentiated system that has a unity of a different type.
Social life comes from two sources - a common consciousness and a social division of labor. The integration of industrial society is functionally conditioned. Durkheim borrowed the very term of functions from the naturalist Claude Bernard, who used it as a key to analyze the internal system of a living organism, striving to maintain balance.
In his theory, Durkheim systematically presented the relationship of social structures, social norms and personality traits. Thus, social norms influence individual behavior through the mechanisms of their internalization. Therefore, external determination is carried out through the value orientations of individuals, and the effectiveness of social regulators is determined not only by their coercion, but also by their desirability. Durkheim identified the individual's involvement with social norms and values with his civility: (since both words are equivalent) civilized.”
In the later works of Durkheim, there is an increase in interest in value issues. Being a follower of Comte's approach to the study of society as an organic whole, consisting of interrelated parts, Durkheim combined in his work "Division of Labor" an evolutionist approach with a structural-functional one.
Durkheim put forward the idea of reforms, progressive for his time, to introduce new forms of social regularity, primarily through the creation of professional groups (corporations). It was them that Durkheim singled out as a potential environment in which the system of samples necessary for social solidarity could arise, to which, first of all, moral significance was attached. At the same time, he believed that morality should not be invented, but drawn from social reality and clarified by the means of science.
Durkheim's work formed the basis of the tradition of the French sociological school that lasted until the Second World War. The most prominent representatives of the Durkheim school were A. Hubert, R. Hertz, Marcel Granet, Celestine Bugle, Georges Davi, Francois Simian, Paul Fauconnet, Maurice Halbwachs, Marcel Moss, L. Levy-Bruhl, and others.
Antipositivist trend in sociology
anti-positivism(1880-1920) did not seek to explain the world of social phenomena by the biological struggle for existence or the influence of the natural environment. On the contrary, the founders of antipositivism were German philosophers and sociologists. Wilhelm Windelband(1848-1915), Heinrich Rickert(1863-1936), Wilhelm Dilthey(1833-1911) saw their task in distinguishing between nature and human society, which, in their opinion, lives according to its own laws, different from natural and physical ones. Not to explain society from the point of view of the universal laws of the physical world, but to understand the meaning of social phenomena, structures and processes - this is what they saw as their task. Antipositivists considered the main thing not to acquire objective knowledge about society, but to understand social facts. They chose neo-Kantianism as the philosophical basis for such an understanding. Neo-Kantians criticized the philosophy of Immanuel Kant "from the right", from the positions subjective idealism. They considered the subjectivity of the world and the existence of "things-in-themselves" to be the main achievement of I. Kant's epistemology, while the main fallacies were the objective nature of the latter. W. Windelbaid and G. Rickert proceeded from transcendental-psychological approach to the teachings of I. Kant, i.e. transcendental values were put in place of objective truth, which, although they exist ideally, are important for people, have an impact on their thinking and behavior. Moreover, the "practical", close to life interpretation of social factors is of greater importance than theoretical schemes.
In other words, antipositivists, unlike positivists who recognized the world as an objective reality, argued that the laws by which nature and society develop are different, that it is impossible to reach the essence of social laws, that the essence underlying social processes and phenomena is, in principle, unknowable.
If the natural sciences are characterized by a generalizing (generalizing) method of cognition, then for the social sciences it is individualizing, meaning the establishment of individual unique facts of reality. These unique, peculiar social facts can be identified by correlation with stable ideal ideas-values.
V. Diltheybelieved that the world, life are created by the ideas of people. And the task of the anti-positivist sociologist is not to try to reveal the essence of social facts, but to understand them.
"Understanding Sociology" by M. Weber.
Max Weber(1864-1920) adhered to the idea of the inapplicability of the methodological principles of the natural sciences to social phenomena. At the same time, he did not recognize such methods of cognition as getting used to and intuition, since he did not consider the results obtained with their help to be generally significant. Noting the need understanding in the social sciences, he did not oppose it to explanation. He tried to solve the problem of the diversity of empirical reality with the help of the category ideal type.
The starting point of Weberian sociology is the concept of social action. Unlike Durkheim, he did not consider society as the subject of social action. Such, in his opinion, can only be an individual. Weber's model of human action contained two main points: firstly, it is meaningful, and secondly, it is directed at another individual (individuals). Unlike G. Le Bon, Weber does not consider social in the strict sense of the word a reactive, purely imitative action performed by an individual as an atom of the mass, the crowd. Unlike psychologists, Weber studied mainly goal-oriented actions, the purpose of which cannot be deduced solely on the basis of an analysis of the mental life of a person.
Purposeful rational action is characterized by orientation in accordance with the goal, means and side effects, as well as rational weighing of means in relation to the goal, and the goal in relation to side effects. In addition to the goal-rational, there are value-rational, affective and traditional actions. In traditional societies, the traditional and affective types of orientation of action predominate, while in industrial societies, goal-oriented and value-rational ones prevail. According to Weber, the rationalization of social action is a trend of the historical process. An industrial society is characterized by one important feature that is not inherent in societies of previous stages of development - formal rationality, taken as an end in itself. At the same time, Weber not only recognized the rarity of pure purposeful rational actions, but also noted that purposeful rationality is only a methodological setting, a means of analyzing reality, and not its characteristic.
Not recognizing the self-sufficiency of social institutions as social units, Weber studies the formation of their significance for individual individuals, the orientation of the activities of individuals towards them. This position of his can be described as nominalistic.
Works by O. Comte, G. Spencer, E. Marx, E. Durkheim , M. Weber set the tone for subsequent research not only in sociology, but also in other social sciences, subsequently spun off from sociology, in particular, ecology, demography, cultural studies and social psychology. Against the backdrop of their current diversity and specialization, research interestsThe classics of sociology look interdisciplinary: in reasoning about "collective ideas", "collective consciousness" they act as cultural anthropologists, in comparing legal systems, social identity based on similarity and specialization - as pure sociologists, and in explaining the conditionality of individual behavior by factors of collective origin - as social psychologists.
The crisis of positivism in the 80s. 19th century gave impetus to the development of not only various areas of anti-positivism. Around the same time, sociological science was influenced by developing psychology. Sociologists, supporters of the psychological approach, sought to explain social events in terms of mental phenomena. This trend of sociology can be divided into the following areas:
- psychological evolutionism (L. Ward, F. Giddins), who considered the development of society as part of cosmic evolution, in contrast to natural evolution, based on technical (purposeful), conscious control of social processes. The social impact of people becomes possible on the basis of the so-called "kind consciousness", "telesis", - a mental feeling of the commonality of the goals of the development of human civilization;
- instinctivism(At McDougal), who was looking for the basis of life in instincts and emotions, which are manifestations of the mental warehouse of the individual;
- mass psychology(G. Lebon, G. Tarde), who sought to explain the behavior of large unorganized groups of people with the help of such group properties as the anonymity of the individual in the crowd, suggestibility, mental infection. Hence uncontrollability, irrationality, a quick change in the mood of the crowd;
- behaviorism(E. Thorndike, D, Watson) explains the behavior of animals and humans, which is a combination of motor and verbal reactions, as a response to stimuli (impacts) of the external environment. The methodological basis of behaviorism was the position of positivism that sociology should be based on experience, experiment. From this, behaviorists conclude that sociology (and psychology) should study behavior, and not the psyche and consciousness. According to behaviorism, each person has a certain number of “behavior patterns” (breathing, eating, etc.). Over these elements in the process of learning, more complex ones are built on. Learning is based on the principle of trial and error, but the resultant effective response is reinforced. Thus, by adjusting incentives, certain reactions of individuals and groups can be obtained. However, the results of the behaviorists were inadequate to the effort expended. The main drawback of this theory was the exclusion from the chain of the human behavioral act of consciousness.
In the 20s. 20th century the positivist tradition is being revived. Neopositivism is based on the achievements of the technical and natural sciences, new developments in philosophy, logic, and the sociology of science.Principles of neopositivismare as follows:
- naturalism, that is, the subordination of social phenomena to natural laws;
- scientism, i.e., the methods of sociology must be precise, rigorous, objective, like the methods of the natural sciences;
- behaviorism, i.e., the motivation of social behavior can only be explored through open behavior;
- verificationism, i.e., the truth of scientific statements must be confirmed on the basis of experience and experiment;
- quantification, that is, all social phenomena must be described and quantified;
- objectivism, that is, sociology must be free from value judgments and ideological schemes. Neo-positivist attitudes are shared by such prominent sociologists as P. Lazarsfeld, G. Zetterberger, G. Blaylock, K. Popper, J. Holton, R. Keith, T. Benton.
Structural functionalism
The structural-functional approach became one of the areas of system theory that appeared in the 1930s. based on the development of the research traditions of E. Durkheim, M. Weber and A. Radcliffe-Brown. The most important features of functionalism in sociology are the following.
1. Consideration of society as a set of interdependent elements, each of which contributes to the integration and adaptation of the whole.
2. For the analysis of society, a model of the system of components taken as a model is developed. The existence, proper functioning and evolution of a system is studied in relation to a set of factors that lead to certain objective observable consequences, regardless of the personal predispositions of individuals.
3. All elements of the social system are assigned certain functions that correspond to the "needs" of the system.
4. Integration of all parts of the system is never perfect, which is why mechanisms of social control are needed.
5. Social contradictions, disagreement and tension are dysfunctional for the system. To maintain balance, the system either rejects them or institutionalizes them.
6. Social change is explained as the adaptation and evolution of society.
7. The integration of society is achieved, first of all, by reaching agreement on common values and principles that give legitimacy to the existing social, economic and political structure.
Thus, in T. Parsons' model of the social system, political socialization means building the demands of society into a personal structure to maintain motivation in the performance of social roles.
Symbolic interactionism
Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) believed that the social principle is produced and developed in a person with the help of simple forms of interpersonal interaction or primary groups with which he naturally interacts. This idea was developed in the works of the American sociologist J.Mida(1863-1931), who investigated communication at the micro level and its impact on the formation of personality structure, the relationship between language, communicative activity and identity formation ( self). The mechanism for the transmission of social norms is explained using the idea of internalization of an organized community (social group) into the personality of an individual in the form of an attitude generalized other, as well as about game and competition as mechanisms of interactive personality development. Individuality and character were presented in his theory exclusively as acquired qualities of the individual. Even selfhood was considered only as a relative quality of the individual. The individual has a self only in relation to the selves of the other members of his social group. And the structure of his self expresses or reflects the general everyday pattern of his social group to which he belongs…”
An important methodological problem of today's theorists has become the rejection of the Eurocentric attitude to assess the development of all countries of the world as linear, irreversible and progressive. This problem comes from fundamental changes in modern humanitarian knowledge, associated with the exhaustion of the heritage of positivism. V. Yadov points out as one of the arguments for such a refusal the transformation of history from a natural historical into a socio-historical process associated with the growth of the ability of social actors to adequately respond and influence social processes. In his opinion, even the unintended consequences of the actions of social actors, due to the fact that they are the products of their efforts, cannot be exhaustively analyzed only as a purely objective natural historical given. From such positions, the development of society cannot be regarded as predetermined.
Among the modern macrosociological approaches to the problem of social change, which seek to avoid the dichotomy "structure - agent", we should note the idea habitus 'a P. Bourdieu, the concept of morphogenesis M. Archer, the theory of structuration by E. Giddens and the theory of social formation by P. Sztompka. In addition to avoiding the reduction of sources of social development to the macro- or micro-level of social processes, these approaches draw dynamic models of society. The description of social dynamics requires a system of categories that creates new problems with the description of the social being of the individual. A characteristic feature of modern models of society has become the diversification of interpretations of subjectivity, the transition to a multidimensional study of the individual "I". Thus, in the postmodern subject, three images of the subject are blurred, which are characteristic of its interpretation in terms of modernity. Firstly, the “life thread” that links together all the events and stages of an individual life path disappears. In the postmodern paradigm, the thread of life can only be discontinuous. Secondly, totality, harmony, reconciling the external and internal contradictions of the individual's life, is excluded. From the standpoint of postmodernism, this idea, if it does not introduce elements of authoritarianism into social science, is at least ideologically biased. Finally, postmodernists do not adhere to the Rousseauist idea of "natural man", leading to the reification (essential reading) of subjectivity as the core of individual being, but strive for "deconstruction of subjectivity" - a description of subjectivity in terms of self-representation and self-reflection.
Stages of development of sociology in Russia :
1. 60s - 90s 19th century
During these years, the original works of the first Russian sociologists (such as N. K. Mikhailovsky and S. N. Yuzhakov and others) appeared on the problems of social activity, personality, social progress, social division of labor, etc. Programmatic and political reflection of this problem also found in the works and activities of their contemporaries N. Ya. Danilevsky, L. I. Mechnikov, P. L. Lavrov, G. V. Plekhanov, P. B. Struve, M. I. Tugan-Baranovsky and others. period was the first attempt to create a systematic course of sociology. In his work "Introduction to the Study of Sociology" N. I. Kareev published the materials of an unofficial training course given to students of St. Petersburg University. Subsequently, this work became the first Russian textbook of sociology, reprinted in 1903 and 1913.
At the end of the 1990s, the ideas of O. Comte penetrated into the works of officers of the Academy of the General Staff - the head of the department, General N. P. Mikhnevich and Baron N. A. Korf, in which the contours of military sociology are outlined. The term “military sociology” itself was first used in the work of N. A. Korf “General introduction to strategy, understood in a broad sense. Studies in the Philosophy of Military Sciences" (1897). Military sociology in Russia was initially considered as a part of military science, the tasks of which were related to satisfying the information needs of military theory and practice, solving strategic, tactical, analytical and intelligence tasks of military departments.
2. Mid 90s 19th century - mid 20s. 20th century
In 1901
M. M. Kovalevsky, E. V. De Roberti, P. F. Lilienfeld organized to the Higher School of Social Sciences in Paris, where the most prominent scientists and public figures of France and Russia of that time - G. Tarde, R. Worms, E. Durkheim, P. N. Milyukov, M. M. Kovalevsky, G. V. Plekhanov, V. A Chernov, V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin), etc. The school lasted only 5 years and was closed by the French authorities at the request of the tsarist government. AT 1908 On the basis of the Medico-Surgical Academy V. M. Bekhterev, a private Psychoneurological Institute was established, in which the first in Russia department of socio-
(M. M. Kovalevsky, E. V. de Roberti, P. A. Sorokin, and K. M. Takhtarev).
AT 1919 in Petrograd, a Sociological Institute was created, which received the status of a research institution.
Despite the opposition of the tsarist authorities and conservative social scientists, who considered sociology a theory that threatened the traditions of autocracy, pre-revolutionary sociology in Russia developed in line with world sociology, acquiring all the signs of an institutionalized science. This process continued in the first years of Soviet power. books of Western experts (including G. Tarda, Z. Freud) were translated into Russian. Russian scientists N. A. Berdyaev, A. A. Bogdanov, S. N. Bulgakov, N. I. Bukharin, G. V. Vernadsky, P. A. Kropotkin, S. G. Strumilin continued their work.
The military and social problems of this period were discussed on the pages of the pre-revolutionary periodicals "Military Collection", "Scout", "Journal of Zealots of Military Knowledge", "Officer's Life", "Military World", "Russian Disabled".
3. 20 –50s 20th century
Sociology has been replaced by Marxist-Leninist philosophy. In 1922, more than one and a half hundred scientists, mostly humanitarians, were forced to leave the territory of the Soviet state. Among them were P. B. Struve, S. L. Frank, I. A. Ilyin, P. A. Sorokin. Such old magazines as "Thought", "Economist", "Beginnings" stop publishing. The journals “Under the banner of Marxism”, “Bulletin of the Communist Academy”, “Communist International”, etc. appeared. In 1920, on the initiative of V.I. Lenin organized the Commission on the History of the Communist Party and the October Revolution (Istpart). In 1921, the Institute of Red Professors was opened in Moscow. The further fate of sociology in the USSR was determined by the discussion about the relationship between the theory of Marxism and sociology. Before the revolution, the question of the delimitation of Marxism from positivism was raised by V. I. Lenin in his work Materialism and Empirio-Criticism (1908) as a materialist response to popular XIX –XX centuries. attempts to update Marxist theory, taking into account the development of positivism. This discussion continued in the 1920s. was associated with the work of N.I. Bukharin "The Theory of Historical Materialism: A Popular Textbook of Marxist Sociology" (1921), which caused a long controversy among sociologists of various trends. In 1929, this discussion was completed at the Institute of Philosophy of the Communist Academy. The Soviet scientific community came to the conclusion that sociology is a pseudoscience invented by the French reactionary Auguste Comte, and even the very word "sociology" should not be used in Marxist literature..
Stalin's Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks contained a paragraph entitled "On Dialectical and Historical Materialism" in which the term "sociology" was not mentioned. After the publication of this book in 1938, not a single work in the social and humanitarian disciplines could be published without agreement with its ideological guidelines. Military social knowledge of that period developed in line with the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of war and the army.
4. 50s - mid-80s. 20th century
After the participation of the Soviet delegation in III At the World Sociological Congress in Amsterdam (1956) in 1958, the Soviet Sociological Association (SSA) was established by decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
In 1961, a scientific sector for research into new forms of work and life appeared at the Institute of Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences (headed by G. V. Osipov). A laboratory for concrete social research has been set up at Leningrad University (headed by V. A. Yadov). Applied sociological laboratories appear in Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk, and Tartu.
In 1965, at the Military-Political Academy. V. I. Lenin as part of the military-scientific society of students began to function circle of specific military sociological studies under the leadership of the candidate of philosophical sciences, captain 1st rank V. M. Puzik (1927–1992). It was the first non-staff subdivision of a sociological profile in the structure of the Armed Forces of the USSR. The most productive period of his work was the 1965-1980s. the subjects of sociological research of the circle included military discipline, political work, political awareness of conscripts, military-patriotic education of youth.
In 1967, a military branch was formed within the structure of the Soviet Sociological Association.
In 1968, the Institute for Concrete Sociological Research of the USSR Academy of Sciences (IKSI) was established in Moscow (director - Academician A. Rumyantsev. In 1974, the journal Sociological Research was founded.
The functions of the center of military sociological work in the USSR were performed by Military-Political Academy named after V. I. Lenin. I. I. Barsukov, Yu. I. Deryugin, L. G. Egorov, V. N. Kovalev, V. M. Puzik, V. F. Samoilenko, N. D. Tabunov , A. A. Timorin, S. A. Tyushkevich.
An important factor in the process of institutionalization of military sociology (initially in the form of "concrete military sociological research") was the training at the Military Political Academy at the turn of the late 1960s and early 1970s. a number of dissertations. In the 1970s-1980s. a number of significant military sociological works appeared: D.A. Volkogonov "Soviet soldier" (1987), V.F. Samoylenko "Multinational military collective: problems of cohesion" (1985), V.M. Puzik “The Subject and Methods of Concrete Military Sociological Research” (1971) and others, as well as the collective works “War and the Army” (1977), “A Man in Modern Warfare” (1981) and others, which were largely of a philosophical nature . One of the first works in which the theoretical provisions were substantiated by the results of applied research was the work of V.N. Kovalev "Socialist military collective: A sociological essay" (1980). Doctoral and master's theses were defended on the following topics: "Scientific and methodological foundations of specific military sociological research." "The Problem of Truth and Its Criteria in Concrete Military Sociological Research". "The Correlation of the Empirical and Theoretical in Specific Military Sociological Research", "The Role of Specific Military Sociological Research in Evaluating the Effectiveness of Ideological and Educational Work in the Armed Forces", etc.
At the XI World Sociological Congress (India, 1986), the reports of Soviet sociologists ("Sociological Aspects of War Prevention", "Aggression and Problems of its Prevention", "Sources and Causes of Armed Conflicts", "Problems of Forecasting the Military-Political Situation", etc.) aroused great interest. .). In the 1980s, actions were taken to further expand the practice and improve the quality of military sociological research, as well as to form military sociological theory. At interuniversity scientific-practical conferences on military sociology, for the first time, a discussion began about the object-subject area of military sociology as a special sociological theory, and not an empirical application to the military problems of historical materialism. In contrast to the traditional identification of the sociological approach with the philosophical one, the subject of military sociology was the consideration of social relations on issues of war and peace in all the variety of military-economic, political, universal, and other aspects. At the same time, the sociological perspective of research was described using the concepts of "military-social relations", "military-social processes", "military-social phenomena", "military-social sphere", "army as a social institution", "social aspects and consequences of wars". ”, “social communities”, etc.
In the 1980s, military sociological research developed dynamically at the Military-Political Academy, where in 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1990. scientific conferences on military sociology were held. Scientists of the military branch of the Soviet Sociological Association began to take part in international sociological congresses, to be elected to the research committees of the military sociological profile of the International Sociological Association (S.A. Tyushkevich, I.S. Danilenko, V.K. Konoplev, etc.), publish sociological literature.
The resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On enhancing the role of Marxist-Leninist sociology in solving the key social problems of Soviet society" marked a new stage in the process of institutionalization of military sociology. On October 1, 1988, the order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR No. 330 “On the socio-psychological service in the Soviet Army and Navy” appeared, in which, in particular, it was noted that military sociology and psychology are called upon to make a significant contribution to the qualitative solution of key problems improvement of command and control of the Armed Forces, activation of the human factor.
In pursuance of these decisions, in 1989 the Center for Research on Social and Psychological Problems was established under the Main Political Directorate of the SA and Navy (CISPP) with an initial staff of 97 people. On December 23, 1991, the Center was transformed into the Center for Military Sociological, Psychological and Legal Research (TsVSPPI) of the Armed Forces. The beginning of the 1990s was the most fruitful period of the center's work. Among his developments were recommendations on the prevention of suicide among military personnel, socio-psychological aspects of strengthening the families of military personnel, the prevention of interethnic conflicts in military teams, the study of public opinion of the military personnel of the unit (ship), the organization of the activities of non-standard groups for studying public opinion, the primary processing of sociological and socio-psychological information on a personal computer. The study guide "Introduction to the Profession" has become a reference book for military sociologists and psychologists.
5. Since the mid-80s. to this day
From 1989–1990 sociology becomes an independent science and academic discipline taught in all Russian universities.
Development of sociology in Belarus
The penetration of sociological thought into Belarus came from two directions: from Russia in the form of translations into Russian of the works of the classics of European sociology and from Western countries in the form of original works in European languages. The main components of Belarusian sociological knowledge proper were laid down in the works of domestic public and political figures of the 19th century,
in particular, in the works of F. Bogushevich, K. Kalinovsky, E. Pashkevich (Aunts) and others.
Until the 20s of the twentieth century. sociology in Belarus was not institutionalized.
Features of the emergence of sociology in Belarus:
1) close relationship with the national liberation movement;
2) the initial absence of scientific centers and higher educational institutions;
3) the lack of special training among the first representatives of Belarusian sociology.
To Belarusian works XIX century, testifying to the formed public demand for the development of sociology in Belarus, include the appeal "To the Belarusian Youth" (1881), the brochure "Letters about Belarus" by Danila Borovik (1882), the proclamation "To the Belarusian intelligentsia" (1883), hectographic 44- page book "Message to fellow Belarusians" by Shiry Belorus (1884), magazine "Gaumont" (1884).
Stages of development of sociology in Belarus (periodization by A. N. Elsukov):
1. Sociological thought of the pre-revolutionary period
The prerequisites for the design of sociology are presented in the teachings of prominent Russian thinkers: K. Turovsky, F. Skorina, S. Budny, N. Gusovsky, L. Sapieha, M. Smotrytsky, V. Ostrozhsky, G. Konissky, S. Polotsky, V. Tylkovsky, K. Narbut, A. Mitskevich, D. Skrynchenko, I. Abdiralovich and others.
2. Sociological thought of the Soviet period (1917-1991):
- transition period (1917–1930);
- the period of Stalinist totalitarianism (1930–1960);
- the period of "Khrushchev's thaw" (1960-1970);
- the period of Brezhnev's stagnation (1970-1980);
- perestroika period (1980–1991).
The Department of Sociology and Primitive Culture was opened at the established Belarusian State University (1921). After the opening of the Institute of Belarusian Culture (1922), later the Academy of Sciences, the scope of sociological research expanded. During this period, studies were carried out on the problems of the development of the Belarusian nation (E. F. Karsky, S. M. Neksharevich), the dynamics of the social structure of society (V. M. Ignatovsky, M. V. Dovnar-Zapolsky), the sociology of the family and religion (S. Y. Wolfson, B. E. Bykhovsky), education and upbringing (S. M. Vasileisky, A. A. Govorovsky, S. M. Rives). Professors V. I. Picheta (the first rector of the Belarusian State University), S. Z. Katsenbogen, V. N. Ivanovsky, S. M. Vasileisky and others actively participated in the teaching of sociological disciplines. state statistics. Many economic, demographic, and historical-political studies have had significant sociological content. Belarusian sociological theories were distinguished by their diversity, often by abstractness, although on the whole they developed in the spirit of positivist methodology. At the same time, in the 1920s concrete sociological research was developing in the USSR. Party leaders noted the importance of conducting specific sociological research to ensure a scientific approach to pursuing politics and organizing the management of society.
In 1965, the Institute of Sociological Research was opened in Minsk on a voluntary basis.
In 1970 Belarusian sociologists took part for the first time in the work of the International Sociological Association in the Bulgarian city of Varna, and in 1976 the Belarusian branch of the Soviet Sociological Association was established.
In 1988, with the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On increasing the role of Marxist sociology in solving the key problems of Soviet society", sociology was separated from philosophy in the nomenclature of scientific specialties.
In 1989, a department of sociology and a department of sociology (A. N. Elsukov) were opened at BSU, and the Republican Center for Sociological Research (RCSR) was created at the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR.
The leading sociologists of this period were E. M. Babosov, A. N. Elsukov, S. D. Laptenok, S. A. Shavel and others.
3. Post-Soviet period of development of sociology
In 1990, the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR was created on the basis of the RCCA.
In 1994, the Belarusian branch of the Soviet Sociological Association was transformed into the Belarusian Sociological Association (BSA), on the basis of which in 2000 the Belarusian public association "Sociological Society" was created.
Since 1997, the journal "Sociology" has been published
These scientific communities were headed at different times by G. P. Davidyuk, E. M. Babosov, A. N. Danilov.
Modern Belarusian sociologists are working on the problems of social transformations and related features of socialization, as well as the national-cultural and political identity of the population of Belarus. In the early 90s of the XX century. labor conflicts, the strike movement, the diversity of forms of ownership, economic crime, employment and unemployment, privatization, and entrepreneurship became new research problems for Belarusian sociology. At the same time, more traditional problems of the sociology of labor, such as remuneration, motivation, participation in production management, have not lost their relevance. Research in the field of sociology of science, which continued from the 70s of the twentieth century, was supplemented by the study of the market of new technologies, the personnel potential of the national economy, the innovation system, monitoring the migration of scientific personnel, etc. - political activity of students. In the field of sociology of culture, the problems of national self-consciousness of Belarusians, the sociodynamics of Belarusian culture, subcultures in Belarus, cultural identity and interethnic relations in the conditions of the formation of sovereignty are reflected. The formation of political sociology takes place in the post-Soviet period in Belarus. Electoral sociological studies have begun, as well as studies of the information space of Belarus, problems of regional politics and local self-government. Considerable attention was paid to the social development of young people, especially their problems, social well-being, and living conditions. The professional activity of such Belarusian sociologists as A. N. Danilov, G. P. Davidyuk, I. Ya. Pisarenko, D. G. Rotman, G. N. Sokolova, O. V. Tereshchenko, A. V. rubanov, O. T. Manaev, N. P. Veremeeva, E. E. Kuchko, V. A. Simkhovich and others. the number of longitudinal studies and weak collaboration with representatives of other social sciences.
Military sociology in the Republic of Belarus
In 1980, a professional-psychological selection group (PPS) of the MVVPOU was formed, on the basis of which all-Union seminars of military sociologists and psychologists were held.
In 1991, in Belarus, for the first time in the CIS, the term "military sociology" appeared in the reference Russian-language sociological literature.
In 1996, the Laboratory of Public Analysis and Sociological Research (LOAiSI) was created in the structure of the Ministry of Defense.
In 2003, the PPO MVVPOU, which in 1995 became part of the educational work department of the VA RB, was transformed into a laboratory for professional psychological selection and support of the educational process (LPPO and SUVP), and in June 2004 - into the Center for Professional Psychological Selection and support of the educational process (TsPPO and SUVP), which in 2010 included 5 officers and 3 employees. It included:
- Department of professional psychological selection (headed by lieutenant colonel T.V. Dyatchik-Lazar);
- Department of Support of the Educational Process (Head - Lieutenant Colonel Yu.G. Gerasimovich).
In 2004, on the basis of LOAiSI, the Center for Psychological and Sociological Research was established, which in 2010 was represented by V.M. Makarov, N.A. Dymar, A.V. Bessmertny, A.G. Zalivako.
The tasks of the Center include:
- Collection of sociological information on topical military social problems, forecasting social phenomena in the Armed Forces, locations of military units and organizations of the Defense Ministry.
- Creation and improvement of a data bank of military-psychological and military-sociological materials in the state of affairs in military command and control bodies, military units and organizations of the Ministry of Defense, military commissariats, military garrisons and structural subdivisions of educational institutions of a military-patriotic orientation.
Shavel SA Social mission of sociology. - Minsk, 2010. - 404 p. - S. 100.
7. Rotman D.G. Self-knowledge tool or optimization tool? // Belarusian thought. - 2013. - No. 6. - S. 76-80.
As an independent science, sociology appeared only inXIX century, its founder is the French sociologist Auguste Comte. The term "sociology" in translation from Latin means "socio" - "society", and "logy" in translation from ancient Greek - teaching, science.
Sociology is the science of society, the laws of its development and functioning as an integral system and its constituent social institutions. Sociology is the science of the laws of the formation, functioning, development of society as a whole, social relations and social communities, the mechanisms of interconnection and interaction between these communities, as well as between communities and the individual (Yadov).
According to O. Kont, sociology should have been positive, should be based on experience, observation. Comte's main idea is to liken the study of society to the study of nature.
Comte's project of sociology implied that society is a special entity, distinct from individuals and the state, and subject to its own natural laws. The practical meaning of sociology is participation in the improvement of society, which, in principle, lends itself to such improvement. Cognitive tools can be found to reveal the laws of development of society.
Getting acquainted with this or that science, we necessarily define the object and subject that it explores. Object of science - what the study is directed at, a certain part of external reality chosen for study (for sociology - society). On the whole, it can be said thatobject of sociology society acts as an integral system.
Subject of science (subject area) - those aspects, connections, relations of the object that are studied by this science. subject of sociology is a specific area of social reality expressed by a system of special sociological concepts.
The search for the subject of sociology throughout the history of its development can be associated with the question "How is society possible?". The variety of answers to this question is presented in the variety of sociological concepts. Max Weber (early 20th century), German sociologist, said that the main task of sociology is to find the meaning of human actions. He became the founder of "understanding sociology". The task is to understand the sociological actions of people.
The main concepts of the subject of sociology are status and role, personality, socialization ...
What is the difference between sociology and other sciences that study society? The specificity of sociology is that it studies society as a whole.
Sociology as an independent science has its own tasks. Sociology, studying social life in various forms and spheres, firstly, solves scientific problems that are associated with formation of knowledge about social reality, development of methods of sociological research. Secondly, sociology studies the problems that are associated with transformation of social reality, analysis of ways and means of purposeful influence on social processes. The role of sociology is especially growing in the context of the transformation of our society, since every decision made, every new step taken by the authorities, affects social interests, changes the position and behavior of many interacting groups. Under these conditions, the governing bodies urgently need complete, accurate and truthful information about the real state of affairs in any sphere of public life, about the needs, interests, behavior of social groups in a given situation, as well as the possible impact of their behavior on social processes. An equally important task of sociology is to provide a reliable "feedback" to the management of society. After all, the adoption of the most correct and necessary decision by the highest authorities is the first step in the transformation of reality. This makes it necessary to constantly monitor the implementation of decisions, the flow of specific processes in society. We must also not forget about such an important task of sociology as the formation of social thinking among people, and the activation of human activity, the social energy of the masses and directing it in the direction that society needs. This task is addressed primarily to sociologists.
2. Structure and functions of sociology. Sociological significance is heterogeneous and has its own rather complex, multi-level structure, primarily due to the difference in resources and levels of study of social phenomena and processes. So, for example, sociology studies these phenomena and processes at the level of society as a whole, and at the level of more or less broad social communities and their interactions, and at the level of the individual, interpersonal interactions. This, in particular, provides an objective basis for subdividing sociological science into several component parts.
Structural components of sociological knowledge:
a)general theoretical sociology as a macrosociological study aimed at clarifying the general patterns of functioning and development of society as a whole; b) midrange sociology as studies of a lesser degree of generality, aimed at studying the patterns and interactions of individual structural parts of the social system, i.e. private, special sociological theories, including branch sociologies (for example, the sociology of social groups, the sociology of the city, the sociology of the countryside, ethnosociology, economic sociology, the sociology of education, the sociology of politics, the sociology of law, the sociology of propaganda, the sociology of the family, the sociology of culture, the sociology of labor, etc. ); in) microsociology, studying social phenomena and processes through the prism of the actions and interactions of people, their behavior. In such a structure of sociological knowledge, the ratio of the general, the particular and the individual finds its expression. Thus, sociology acts, firstly, as a science, that is, as a certain system of knowledge, and secondly, as a certain way of thinking, studying people, seeing the world. Sociological knowledge, which includes system analysis, general scientific methods, quantitative assessments, can be considered as relatively accurate and rigorous. But, since the objects of sociology - social communities - differ in their behavior by significant fluctuations, this knowledge cannot be as rigorous and accurate as in the natural sciences. Despite the fact that it deals with the study of people's subjective opinions, it strives for objectivity, which is determined not only by the research methods used, but also by a number of other factors: the open-minded and independent position of the sociologist, the public nature of his activities, and the critical analysis of the presented materials by colleagues . Sociological knowledge is based on a factual basis, which turns out to be quite unsteady if the obtained social facts cannot be fully reliable and reliable. A social fact is registered by a sociologist either as an ontological one or, being included in sociological knowledge, as an epistemological one. In the latter case, it becomes a fact of sociology, losing its ontological status. Depending on the level of knowledge gained in sociology, the following are also distinguished:
1) theoretical sociology, which gives a deep generalization of the factual material, by constructing a theory that reveals the universal patterns of the functioning of society (the social system and its structures). 2) applied (empirical) sociology- studies the practical aspects of the social life of society on the basis of general sociological theories and factual materials. 3) social engineering- the level of practical implementation of the acquired knowledge in order to model ways to solve specific social problems. In addition, sociology has both intra-sectoral and sectoral divisions (sociology of labor, economic sociology, sociology of leisure, family, education, religion, small groups, youth, gender, settlements, etc.)
Functions of sociology: 1. Cognitive - how the science of sociology gives rise to new knowledge about various spheres of social life, about the trends of social development. 2 . Applied (practical ) function is that sociological science not only cognizes social reality, but also has a managerial potential. The implementation of the theoretical-cognitive function allows sociology to expand and concretize knowledge about the essence of society, its structure, patterns, main directions and trends, ways, forms and mechanisms of its functioning and development. The enrichment of scientific sociological knowledge occurs both on the basis of the internal improvement of theoretical sociology, and as a result of the dynamic development of the very object of knowledge of this science - social activity. And here a special role belongs to empirical sociology and special sociological theories, which give a deep systemic reflection of the essence and laws of the development of society. The applied (practical) function of sociology is that science not only cognizes social reality, but also develops a proposal for managers at all levels in the context of improving social policy, for the rational management of society. 3. Function of social control allows you to remove social tension and crises in society, informing the authorities about the strengthening of social control over processes in society. 4. Ideological function in the fact that the data of sociology (knowledge) are used to develop a certain mentality, value orientations, stereotypes of behavior, images. Sociological knowledge can serve as a means of manipulating the consciousness and behavior of people, or the data obtained by sociologists can be a means of achieving social consensus. 5. predictive (futurological) ) the function of sociology is the ability to make predictions about the trends in the development of social processes in the future. Thus, sociology plays a key role in modern intellectual culture and occupies a central place in the social sciences. The object of sociology is social reality, modern society, objective and subjective, primary and secondary information about it, collected from various sources and using specific methods. Social community is a basic sociological category that should become the main subject of sociological analysis. It connects the macro and micro levels of analysis: people's behavior, mass processes, culture, social institutions, property and power relations, management, functions, roles, expectations. This is "society" in the most accurate sense of this concept. Social action has a social quality. This is a set of socially significant actions by which an individual or group intends to reproduce or change the behavior, views and opinions of other individuals or strata. The totality of actions forms a "social process" that forms the general trends of social evolution (genesis, functioning, change, development). Sociology is the science of modern society as an integral system, the trends of its functioning and changes, the science of the formation and dynamics of social communities, institutions, organizations, interactions between the individual and communities, the science of meaningful social actions of people, processes and mass behavior.
Sociology as a science
1. Subject and object of sociology. Place and role of sociology in the system of social science.
Sociology (from lat. societas- society and gr. logos - knowledge, concept, doctrine) - the science of society or social science. The term was introduced in the middle XIX in. French sociologist O. Comte (1798-1857). O. Comte intended to create a kind of integral science that combines various types of knowledge (history, politics, economics, culture, etc.) into a single system. However, in the course of its development, sociology emerged as an independent science with its own subject, distinct from other sciences.
It is necessary to distinguish between such concepts as the object and subject of sociological science and the object and subject of a specific sociological study. The object of sociological science in a broad sense is the whole society in its integrity and consistency. This is confirmed by the fact that the term "sociology" is translated as the science of society. Many scientists, not without reason, believe that the object of sociology is civil society. At the same time, as an argument, they point out that sociology as a science becomes in demand only in the period of the emergence and development of civil society.
The subject of sociological science in a broad sense is the social sphere (social life) of society.
The object of research is a kind of objective reality that does not depend on the cognizing subject. At the same time, the same object can be studied by different sciences. For example, society is the object of study of such sciences as philosophy, history, political science, economics, sociology, etc. However, each of these sciences has its own subject. So, philosophy as a science is speculative, contemplative in its methods, explores the "eternal" problems of human existence; history - the chronology of the development of society through the prism of certain historical events; economy - various aspects of the economic sphere of society; political science - political institutions and relations. Personality can become an object of study of such sciences as sociology, psychology, anthropology, etc., but each of them has an individual subject in a single object.
Sociology primarily studies the social sphere of people's life: social structure, social institutions and relationships, social qualities of the individual, social behavior, public consciousness, etc. At the same time, the object of study can be both society in its integrity and systemicity, and its individual elements. , for example, large and small social communities, personality, organizations and institutions, processes and phenomena, various spheres of people's life.
What distinguishes sociology from other social sciences? Only sociology studies society as an integral system. If economic, political, legal and other sciences study the patterns of processes within each of the spheres of life, then sociology tries to analyze and establish the corresponding patterns, which makes it possible to present society as a complex dynamic system consisting of a number of subsystems.
Sociology differs from other sciences not only in what it studies, but also in how it studies. Sociology is characterized by the study of society through the prism of human activity, determined by needs, interests, attitudes, value orientations, etc. The sociological approach allows not only to describe phenomena and processes, but also to explain them, to build models of human behavior and the development of society as a whole. An analysis of the dynamics of social processes makes it possible to establish trends in the development of society and develop recommendations for the purposeful management of social processes.
Subject of research sociology can be a certain aspect (facet) of the real object. In other words, the subject is what a specific sociological study is aimed at. If the object, as already mentioned, does not depend on the cognizing subject, then the subject is chosen depending on the goals and objectives of the study. For example, the object of research can be a production organization, and the subject of research can be the social structure of the organization, the motivation of workers, the culture of the organization, etc.
2. Structure of sociological knowledge.
The structure of sociological knowledge is usually divided into three main levels: universal (categorical), medium (conceptual) and empirical, or applied.
1. General, highest level sociological knowledge represent general sociological theories. At this level, the subject areas of sociology are distinguished from other social sciences (philosophy, political science, economics, etc.), general sociological theories necessary for studying and understanding social phenomena are developed, directions of scientific research are determined, and general approaches are developed for interpreting empirical facts. The general sociological level is characterized by a high degree of theoretical generalizations inherent, as a rule, in all social sciences.
2. Middle level sociological knowledge is a kind of link between theoretical sociology and sociological research. It closely interacts with empirical research and theoretical generalization of the data obtained. At this level, social institutions, social phenomena, spheres of people's life are studied, requiring theoretical justification and appropriate analysis.
3. On the empirical or applied level sociological knowledge, the motives of behavior in small groups are studied, the degree of social tension in the work collective is determined, people's opinions on this or that problem are revealed, etc., i.e., studies are carried out that do not require a comprehensive theoretical justification.
Having emerged as a science that primarily studies the social sphere of society, sociology in the course of its development expands the area of scientific research. At the intersection of various scientific disciplines, such structural elements of sociology arise as the sociology of politics, economic sociology, the sociology of culture, family, education, etc. A feature of sociological research in various spheres of life is that in each object (politics, economics, etc.) ) sociology finds its "sociological" subject: human needs, interests, values, behavioral motives, social structure and social relations. Such a substantive approach makes it possible to distinguish between sectoral sociology and other related sciences.
3. Functions, principles, methods, main laws of sociology.
Function(from lat. functio) - execution, purpose, implementation. social function- this is the role that this or that element of the social system performs (social institution, social process, social actions, etc.) in society or social community. For example, the function of the institution of the family is to regulate marriage and family relations in society; the function of applied sociological research is to identify and resolve specific social problems.
The main functions of sociology are:
1) cognitive function - a certain way of knowing a social object in order to transform it;
2) predictive function - development of scientifically based forecasts about the trends (prospects) of the development of society, social community, personality;
3) function of social design and construction - development of a model of a specific organization (social process) with the optimal parameters of its functioning;
4) organizational and technological function - the creation of social technologies that determine the procedure and rules for practical actions to improve social organization (social structure, social relations, etc.);
5) managerial function - use of the results of sociological research for the development and adoption of managerial decisions;
6) instrumental function - improvement of existing and development of new methods for studying social reality;
7) ideological function - the use of sociological research in promoting their ideas and criticizing others. Sociology is an objective and impartial science, but unscrupulous politicians and entrepreneurs, through corrupt "sociologists", can use the results of sociological research to manipulate public consciousness.
In the study of society, sociologists proceed from system of principles the main of which are the principle of integrity, the principle of universality and the principle of specificity.
Principle integrity manifested in the study private social phenomena and processes as elements of a systemic at the core of society.
Principle universality or necessity, for sociologists means the requirement to identify in single facts of social reality objective patterns.
Principle concreteness lies in the fact that social processes and facts are studied in their specific historical manifestation (national, age, regional, temporary).
The problems that interest the sociologist are not necessarily problems for other people. A distinction needs to be made between issues social and sociological. Social problems are focused on solving practical problems, primarily by those who are endowed with power. A sociological problem always has a scientific, theoretical, methodological character and is solved by sociologists.
A specific appearance is given to sociology by its inherent methods of cognition social reality. Sociology borrowed some of these methods from ethnographers, psychologists, and statisticians, and some it developed on its own. But to all these methods sociology has given its own specific character.
The main methods of collecting the necessary social information are: survey (questionnaires and interviews); analysis of documents (qualitative and quantitative); observation (not included and included); experiment (controlled and uncontrolled).
The art of questioning lies in the correct formulation and arrangement of questions. Questions are asked not only by sociologists. The first to think about the scientific formulation of questions was the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. He, talking with the inhabitants of Athens, asked those who wished such questions that baffled them. Today, the survey method is used not only by sociologists, but by journalists, doctors, investigators, and teachers. How then is a sociological survey different?
The first distinguishing feature is amount respondents. When interviewing one person, they get a personal opinion. A sociologist who interviews many people is interested in public opinion. Subjective prejudices, prejudices, intentional distortions, if processed statistically, cancel each other out. As a result, the sociologist gets an average picture of reality.
The second distinguishing feature is reliability and objectivity. It is closely related to the first: by interviewing hundreds of people, a sociologist averages a variety of opinions and as a result receives much more reliable information than, for example, a journalist. It can even be called objective if all scientific and methodological requirements are strictly observed. Although it was obtained on the basis of subjective opinions.
The third distinguishing feature is the purpose of the survey. A journalist or doctor needs to disclose individual characteristics and deviations. A sociologist's survey is aimed at expanding scientific knowledge, obtaining a scientific fact.The survey is usually conducted in the form interview or questioning. The questionnaire survey method is an effective tool for cognizing social reality based on facts. It combines, on the one hand, an elusiveness, which makes it possible to fix typical non-random social phenomena, and, on the other hand, mathematical precision and expressiveness of results, the possibility of their comparison and statistical processing.
Questionnaire poll allows you to largely preserve the anonymity, independence of the respondent, limit the possibility of direct influence of the researcher. At the same time, the results of mass polls not only record public opinion, but are also able to influence it to a large extent, being published in newspapers, magazines or announced on radio and television.
This circumstance necessitates compliance with certain and rather strict rules for conducting mass sociological surveys and, especially, the procedure for their publication, which we will discuss later.
At document analysis written sources, sound and video recordings, information recorded on various computer media, etc. can act as documents.
Observation is carried out in accordance with a certain procedure, from the formation of a hypothesis to the actual observation of an object of interest to the researcher (for example, the process of forming micro-teams in a student group, becoming an informal leader, etc.). If a sociologist studies the behavior of strikers, a group of teenagers, or a team of workers from outside, then he non-included observation.
Recently, the so-called included surveillance. By implementing it, the researcher-sociologist directly (and, as a rule, incognito) takes root in the environment he is studying.
Application experiment in sociology is extremely limited. The methodology and methodology of the experiment came to sociology from psychology. When the goal of the study is set (for example, to study the effect of the new wages on workers) and the program is prepared, two groups are created - experimental and control. In the experimental work in a new way, and in the control in the old way. What is it for? The new system of remuneration may not affect the increase in labor productivity. The control group serves as the standard of comparison. A comparison of the two groups reveals the difference and makes it possible to judge whether the expected changes have occurred or not.
Functions of sociological knowledge
The idea was born in France in the middle of the 18th century. She (Fr.) endured 3 revolutions in a short time - these are prerequisites for studying society and changing it. The development of natural science also influenced: if people have learned to understand the laws of nature, then it is possible to study the laws of the development of society.
Comte's project of sociology implied that society is a special entity, distinct from individuals and the state, and subject to its own natural laws. The practical meaning of sociology is participation in the improvement of society, which, in principle, lends itself to such improvement. Cognitive tools can be found to reveal the laws of development of society.
The project of sociology was the result of combining 4 fundamental ideas developed over centuries:
idea of society
idea of natural law
idea of progress
idea of a method (cognitive tool)
Term function in sociology means:
the appointment of an element of the system in relation to it as an integrity
dependence, in which changes in one part of the system are dependent on changes in another part of it, or on changes in the system as a whole.
Functions of sociology:
Theoretical-cognitive. It implies that sociology is a field of scientific knowledge, i.e. is different from ordinary knowledge, theological ideas, ideology and represents knowledge specialized, objective, demonstrative. This knowledge is associated with the use of special language and special methods of establishing facts and is transmitted through education.
Practically transformative (including organizational and managerial, prognostic, adaptive). It implies the use of sociological knowledge in various areas of social. practices, incl. in the mutual adaptation of the individual and the social. environment.
Worldview. It means that the social knowledge, as well as social and humanitarian knowledge in general, contributes to the evaluative activity of a person, i.e. development of his orientation in society, his attitude towards himself and towards others.
General characteristics of the subject area of sociology.
Object of science - what the study is directed at, a certain part of external reality chosen for study (for sociology - society).
The specificity of sociology is that it studies society as a whole.
Subject of science (subject area) - those aspects, connections, relations of the object that are studied by this science.
The search for the subject of sociology throughout the history of its development can be associated with the question "How is society possible?". The variety of answers to this question is presented in the variety of sociological concepts.
Max Weber (early 20th century), German sociologist, said that the main task of sociology is to find the meaning of human actions. He became the founder of "understanding sociology". The task is to understand the sociological actions of people.
Sociology - area of scientific knowledge associated with the study of social. interaction and its results (social relations and institutions, social communities and individuals, as well as society itself, as an integrity).
Specificity of sociological explanation.
It is associated with a certain approach to explaining human (social) actions and their results. The explanation of the sociological type can be reduced to explaining the behavior of people, differences in cultural affiliation and different positions in the social structure.
Cultural affiliation associated with learned goals, norms of behavior, language, identification.
Identification - identification of a person with a certain community.
The location of those operating in the social structure is associated with formal and informal standards of resources available to a person (for example, a director and a secretary). So, from the point of view of sociology, people act in this way because they belong to a certain culture and because I have certain resources for this. Sociological explanations link the actions of individuals to the development of society as a whole.
System of sociological knowledge.
System - a set of elements ordered in a certain way, interconnected and forming a certain integrity.
The main features of social systems:
qualitative certainty
isolation relative to the environment of existence
heterogeneity (heterogeneity of composition), i.e. the presence of a certain set of constituent parts as a whole.
the presence of integral properties in which the dependence of parts and the whole is manifested.
System of sociological knowledge as elements includes :
social facts, i.e. substantiated knowledge obtained as a result of the description of certain fragments of reality. The establishment of social facts are such elements of sociological knowledge as:
general and special sociological theories(for example, the theory of stratification, the theory of cultural relativism, etc.) The task of these theories is to resolve the issue of the possibilities and limits of knowledge of society in certain aspects. These theories develop within certain theoretical and methodological directions: macro or micro sociology, functionalism or symbolic interactionism...
branch sociological theories eg economic sociology, sociology of the family, sociology of the city. Their task is to give a description of individual spheres of the life of society, to substantiate the programs of specific sociological research, and to provide an interpretation of empirical data.
data collection and analysis methods serve to create an empirical base and primary generalization of empirical data (mass survey, observation, analysis of documents, experiment). The choice of research method depends on the specification of the object and the objectives of the study, for example, the mood of voters can be studied using a survey of voters, a survey of experts, or an in-depth interview with a typical voter. According to the method, the method of data analysis is selected.
Two heads and six legs; four walk, and two lie still
Self-esteem - what is it: concept, structure, types and levels
Cassandra's Path, or Pasta Adventures War on Earth and Underground