Interaction of spheres of public life. a) from the system of state institutions

In modern society, the following are necessary and vital: a) human reproduction; b) creation, storage, distribution and consumption of material assets; c) determination of rights and freedoms, social position of the individual and other social subjects in society; d) reproduction of the spiritual values of society, consciousness and worldview of people, satisfaction of their spiritual needs; e) implementation of policy and power-legal relations.

In accordance with these needs of society, four main spheres (subsystems) of the life of society are distinguished: material and production (economic); social; political and spiritual. The concept of "sphere of life of society" expresses a kind of social organization that has a special purpose, content, patterns and associations of a circle of people, ways and means of functioning, certain limits of distribution. The spheres of society's life are interpreted as basic and non-basic, large and small. Their presence and number are determined by the specific historical conditions of the development of society, other circumstances.

The study of the spheres of public life, the analysis of their elements shows that this problem is of great theoretical and practical importance. The understanding of the sphere of social life is based on a certain side, part or area of social life, relatively independent and structured. The categorical status of the sphere of social life is of a deeper nature. It consists not only in the selection and analysis of a particular sphere, but also in the establishment and disclosure of its connections with other aspects (spheres) of public life, as well as between elements of content.

The spheres (subsystems) of the life of society are the areas of human activity necessary for the normal functioning of society (industrial, scientific, political, family, pedagogical, religious, military, etc.), where material and spiritual benefits are created, as well as satisfaction the needs of the subjects. Knowledge of the spheres of the life of society, the laws of their functioning and development, allows us to see the place and role of a person in them, his living and working conditions, the correlation of the interests of the individual and society, their mutual duties and responsibilities, as well as the immediate and more distant prospects for the development of both society and society. individual personality.

The maturity of the development of the main spheres of society's life is ultimately an indicator of the state of the whole society and its capabilities for the further development of production, culture, politics, military affairs, etc. All spheres of the life of Russian society are somehow connected in their functioning with the life of the Armed Forces. Knowledge and consideration of the specifics of their functioning contribute to the understanding of this relationship, determine the direction of influence on the consciousness of servicemen.

Society is a dynamic system, various subsystems (spheres) and elements of which are updated and are in changing relationships and interactions. A person takes part in different areas of the life of society, since by a certain side of his activity he enters into any of the types of the structure of society. The production of material goods determines the social, political, spiritual and other processes of life, which, in turn, are relatively independent areas and affect material life. The structure of society (economic base and superstructure, ethnic communities, classes, social strata and groups, individuals) serves as the basis for highlighting its spheres of life. Consider the main areas.

Under material and production(economic) sphere the vital activity of such a society is understood, in which material values (benefits) are reproduced, stored, distributed and consumed, the material needs of people are satisfied. The material-production sphere is not identical in everything with material life as the primary level of society's life. It relates to the spiritual life as a secondary level. In material life, together with the material-production sphere, the sphere of reproduction of the person himself is included as a process of implementing the laws of population, as well as other types of practice. Material life as the primary level of existence of society is social being.

Material production is decisive, but not the only factor in social development. It gives rise to the need for the functioning of other spheres, which also become factors of historical development. The essence of this process lies in the fact that material production takes the form of other social relations, and these "non-economic" relations in the process of development acquire new features and laws. They are more and more "moving away" from material and economic relations, but at the same time they retain their transformed essence. In the most concentrated form, the essence of basic relations is preserved by politics, and in the smallest form, spiritual relations. Thus, each of the spheres of society's life acquires relative independence, exerting its influence on the material and production sphere, as well as on each other.

The material and production sphere is the leading cause, condition and prerequisite of the historical process because people must have material means in order to live. It is a manifestation of necessity and, at the same time, freedom in society, becoming a kind of vector for other areas of public life. Other spheres of the life of society, rising above it, constitute the unity of superstructural activities and social relations.

The main criteria of this sphere are: the development of the tools of labor activity; mechanization and automation of production processes; availability of new technologies; implementation of professional training of subjects in material production; material standard of living of people.

To comprehend the processes taking place in this sphere of society's life, will allow consideration of its structure, that is, the totality of the elements of the sphere and the connections between them. The material and production life of society includes:

- material and production individual labor activity;

– vital activity of industrial subjects;

- Agriculture;

- the life of people in the field of transport, communications and services;

– activities of entities in the field of raw materials and energy resources;

- the financial life of society;

– scientific and technological progress in this area;

- the functioning of the economic consciousness of people;

- the system of economic relations between people;

- a system of norms of material and production life;

The material and production sphere of society's life performs the following functions: the reproduction of material wealth, economic and organizational, the function of integration and differentiation of economic life, managerial, communicative, educational and economic, prognostic, regulatory, and others. The indicators of this sphere are the leading estimates of the overall development of the state and determining its place among other countries.

Directly related to material and production social sphere, the content of which is the life activity of people as members of social communities and subjects of relations, characterizing their position in society from the standpoint of social equality or inequality, justice or injustice, rights and freedoms.

Any society consists of many people who are not just a number of separate individuals. In this set, certain social groups are formed, which differ from one another and are in different proportions between themselves and the whole society. In this regard, human society is a complex set of different groups, their connections and interactions, i.e. it is socially structured.

The social sphere of society's life is associated with the position (status) in society and the development of certain social communities, their interaction, and role in society. This area reflects, for example, the state and characteristics of the existence of ethnic communities, groups (strata) of the population by age, gender, social security, regions, etc., interaction with each other and with society as a whole. It also reveals the laws of social relations, their classification and role in society.

The social sphere, like no other, actualizes the needs and interests of citizens and social communities, the nature and completeness of their satisfaction. It most clearly manifests the quality of the realization of human rights and freedoms, his duties and responsibilities to himself and society.

In the social sphere, reproduction of the population is carried out. The family as the initial cell of society not only ensures the preservation and growth of the population, but also largely determines the socialization of the individual, his education and upbringing. The criterion for the development of the social sphere of society is primarily a measure of harmonious improvement and self-expression of the individual. Other criteria are: lifestyle, the state of medical and other types of social security, education and upbringing, population growth, etc. The core of social relations is the relationship of equality and inequality according to the position of individuals in society. With a lack of, for example, housing, food, clothing or medicines, the social sphere does not play such major roles as maintaining people's health, ensuring the necessary life expectancy, restoring the physical strength spent by a person on work, compensating for the costs of the psycho-emotional and nervous system, etc. .

The normally functioning sphere of social relations “continues” material and economic relations to the greatest extent, as it implements the results of labor activity: the cycle of distribution relations is completed, the cycle of social consumption relations continues, and the cycle of individual consumption relations is fully realized. The social sphere itself does not create material wealth. They are created in the field of production. But the social sphere, organizing the conditions and the process of consumption, supports a person in a state of vital activity, restores him as a living productive social and personal force.

A certain position of people in society, the basis of which is the type of their labor activity (worker, entrepreneur, collective farmer, farmer, engineer, soldier, poet, artist), is fixed by specific legal acts (the Constitution, laws, decrees, resolutions, orders of state power). When social relations are formed on the basis of the coincidence of people's interests, they take on the character cooperation. If the interests of people, social groups do not coincide or they are opposite, then social relations become relations. fight. And then the most important issue of relations becomes the modernization of power management, the reorganization of the social system, the change in the position of various classes, nations, social groups in society. Social relations in this aspect are modified in political relations.

Political and legal sphere of society associated with the activities of subjects to reorganize power relations on the basis of law. This is a subsystem of social relations, the content of which is the exercise of power in society by a specially created institution (state) using legal norms and guarantees, the realization of the interests of citizens in relation to power. The political life of society and the activities of its institutions today are inseparable from the law and legal norms established by the state.

This sphere arose on the basis of the awareness of various social communities of their political interests and needs related to the conquest of power, the use of power functions, lawmaking and the implementation of laws. The specificity of the political sphere is also manifested in the fact that the needs of social communities and groups, being meaningful, are expressed in political goals, ideas and programs and determine the purposefulness of the struggle of social forces for fundamental interests. It includes a system of political institutions: the state, political parties, other public organizations, unions and movements, as well as law as an institution of society. The totality of the institutions of the political life of society forms its political organization. The political sphere of the life of society also includes the political and legal consciousness of the subjects, political and legal relations, political and legal culture and political activities for the exercise of power in the country.

The main criteria of the political and legal sphere of society are: consistency of state policy with the interests of the country's citizens and the rule of law; availability and observance of political and legal freedoms; democracy; the rule of law in the political life of the country, etc.

The structure of the political and legal sphere of society consists of:

– subjects of political and legal relations;

- a set of political and legal institutions of the state;

- the functioning of the political and legal consciousness of the subjects;

- political and legal activities.

The main functions of the political sphere of society include: imperious, regulatory and legal, ideological, ensuring the security of society, the individual and the state, communicative, property and distribution, organizational and managerial, controlling and coercive, law-making, etc.

According to the presence of a political regime, the nature and method of interaction between power, personality and society, political systems can be divided into totalitarian, authoritarian and democratic.

The main regulator of social relations, along with others, is law, understood as a system of generally binding norms (rules) established and sanctioned by the state, enforced voluntarily or forcibly. Law as a social phenomenon is characterized by the following features: a) universally binding - the rules of law regulate the behavior of all members of society, they are binding on everyone to whom they are addressed, regardless of the attitude of certain persons towards them; b) formal certainty - the rules of law are established by the state in special acts, accurately and in detail reflect the requirements for the behavior, communication and activities of all subjects of society; c) enforcement of the rule of law is carried out voluntarily on the part of the subjects and forcibly - on the part of the state (if necessary); d) the rules of law are designed for an unlimited number of cases and facts.

In society, law performs very extensive and diverse functions. First, it consolidates the foundations of the existing system; secondly, it contributes to the development of positive social relations; thirdly, it introduces a certain order into society and the activities of the state, creates the prerequisites for their purposeful and expedient functioning; fourthly, it acts as a criterion for the lawful and unlawful behavior of people and social communities, is the basis for the application of state coercion measures to violators of law and order; Fifthly, law plays an educational role, developing in people a sense of justice, legality, goodness, and humanity.

Spiritual sphere of society is closely connected with the reproduction of individual and social consciousness, with the satisfaction of the spiritual needs of subjects and the development of the spiritual world of man. This is a subsystem, the content of which is the production, storage and distribution of society's values (science, education, upbringing, art, morality) to regulate the activities of institutions and subjects of spiritual life.

The main criteria for the spiritual sphere of society's life are: the development of individual consciousness; the ability of a person to realize himself, his relationship with nature and society; humanistic orientation of public outlook; state of spiritual values; the degree of their consistency with the needs and interests of the individual and other subjects of society; state of education, upbringing, science, art; practical implementation of freedom of conscience of citizens.

As subsystems of the spiritual sphere of society in philosophical literature distinguish: reproduction of individual and social consciousness, personal and social outlook; scientific life; artistic and aesthetic life; educational process; spiritual and moral life; functioning of religion, freethinking and atheism; information life of society. They ensure the formation and development of personality, the preservation and transmission of spiritual values. A kind of integral indicator of the development of the spiritual sphere of society and other spheres is spiritual culture.

Each of the subsystems of the spiritual sphere of society's life covers certain fragments of the functioning of individual and social consciousness, personal and social worldview. But these subsystems are not limited to functioning consciousness. They also represent the active and productive side of spiritual life, i.e. the very activity of subjects in the production, distribution, circulation and consumption of spiritual values. For example, science is not just the sum of special knowledge, it is a collection of scientific institutions, the most complex process of spiritual production.

Thus, science, ideology and social psychology, education and upbringing, art, religion, morality have become in society specialized types of spiritual activity. All of them fit into the general system of the division of labor, acting as its varieties. This circumstance distinguishes the subsystems of the spiritual sphere of life from the components of social consciousness. In the process of historical development, all areas of the spiritual sphere interact with each other, enrich each other.

Main spiritual life functions societies are: the reproduction of individual and social consciousness; creation, storage, distribution and consumption of spiritual values; worldview; methodological; regulatory; communicative; scientific and educational; artistic and aesthetic; educational and educational, etc.

The spheres of the life of society, acting as integral formations, are in close interconnection, influence each other, intertwine, complement each other, characterizing the unity of the entire social organism. Connections, existing between the spheres, diverse. The most characteristic are subordinate ones. The specificity of these connections lies in the fact that the spheres of life in society play a different role. For example, it is known that the basis of all types of social activities of people is the economic sphere. It, in turn, is the main determinant of other spheres: social, political, spiritual. For example, the social sphere determines the political and spiritual, and the political determines the spiritual.

The first mediating link, where the economic interests of social forces correlate with other interests of these, as well as other social communities, is the social sphere of society.

The emergence and development of the social structure of society is determined by many factors, and primarily economic. Under the influence of economic activity, the interests of subjects, their working and living conditions, health, and leisure are formed and changed. The concrete historical system of production relations forms the basis of the economic position of classes, national, professional and other types of social groups. The specific material organization of society determines the nature of the development of social communities, the processes of their interaction.

The specific social potential of a certain type of society is also a condition for solving the fundamental problems facing it. But in the social sphere of society, as a rule, only prerequisites for the transformation of social communities and individuals into subjects of conscious activity. These prerequisites create the basis for the transition from the social to the political existence of social groups, where their activities are associated with power and legal relations. Therefore, the economic and social spheres led to the emergence of the political and legal sphere of society.

Main the determinant of the political and legal sphere of society is political power. Its essence lies in the implementation of the will of citizens directly or through certain institutions (the state, etc.) regarding the management of society on the basis of the powers granted by law, the solution of important tasks of social development, ensuring the integrity and independence of society (country). The nature of the policy of specific social subjects is determined by their economic and social position. In a class society, politics primarily reflects alignment of class interests. Through it, the social needs of various categories of citizens are realized.

As noted by G.V. Plekhanov, the oppressed classes strive "for political domination in order to help themselves by changing existing social relations and adapting the social system to the conditions of their own development and well-being." That is why the political and legal sphere of society is determined by its class structure, class relations, and then the demands of the political struggle. Consequently, the political and legal sphere of society's life differs from other spheres in the greater activity of subjects in power relations. It comprehends, forms and implements the fundamental interests and goals of peoples, ethnic communities, classes and social groups, their relations of cooperation or struggle. The political and legal sphere is also the relationship of states, coalitions of states.

In addition, politics, reflecting economic and social needs from the standpoint of the power interests of specific subjects, develops the initial provisions of spiritual production, the nature of the distribution and consumption of spiritual values. Political forces influence the formation of ideological views and the nature of the functioning of social psychology, relations in society and its individual institutions, including the armed forces.

In conditions of general dependence on the economy, the development of the spheres of society is carried out according to its own laws. Each of them has the opposite effect: spiritual - on the political, legal, social and economic; political and legal - social, spiritual and economic; social - economic, political, legal, spiritual. The state of the spiritual sphere of society provides information to the political and legal sphere, sets forth immediate tasks for it, determines those political values that need to be developed in the specific conditions of the development of society. On the basis of ideas developed in the spiritual sphere of society, the efforts of people are aimed at the fulfillment of certain tasks and programs. And the political and legal sphere affects the nature of social programs, relations, the quality of the implementation of social needs and interests of nations and social groups, the extent to which the principles of social justice, equality and humanity are implemented in society.

Thus, the social sphere of society, acting as an active force, also affects all aspects of society. Depending on belonging to a particular social group, people form different attitudes towards property, forms of distribution of material wealth, rights and freedoms, lifestyle and standard of living. The state of life of the whole society, its stability and stability in historical development depends on the harmony of the relationships between classes, ethnic communities and social groups.

Society structure

Any structure is a set of elements united by the forms of their interaction. In relation to society, these are people + forms of their relations. These relationships can be represented in three dimensions:

Like levels.

as social groups.

Integral in terms of norms and values (like culture, but in a narrower sense).

Levels: In terms of levels, society is presented as a set of roles, positions and functions that people occupy, being included in the collective activity of all mankind. This is the position of the individual in the composition of the level, turned, as it were, outward:

The leading level is social. It is mutual in the composition of humanity. Inclusion in different social groups.

material level- a part of nature, practically included in culture or an object included in the subject. This is a material and energy system, the existence of people, which consists of: tools - objects of nature combined by man, with the help of which he acts on the rest of nature

What influences.

What is affected.

Economic level= 1 + 2, i.e. a historically specific way of connecting people with the material conditions of their existence.

Political level- the economic level, turned into the sphere of the subject and presented as a relation of ownership, fixed through the relation of power. The political level can be represented as a sphere of government, at this level the struggle for power takes place.

Spiritual Level or the sphere of public knowledge, several sublevels are also distinguished here:

Socio-psychological sublevel, i.e. sphere of mass feelings and moods.

The journalistic sublevel of public consciousness, where the primary comprehension of sociocultural reality is made.

The theoretical sphere where the most rational and consistent connection of socio-cultural reality is made. This sphere is made up of science, art, religion, etc.

Spiritual superstructure of society = 4 + 5.

Social communities- these are groups in which people are united by the presence of common socially significant features. If the levels are turned outward, then the principle of generalization is directed inward, i.e. it is a way of internal interaction of people. Social communities are extremely diverse, because there are countless principles that introduce the same people into different social groups. For example: classes, nations, professional groups, family, pensioners, territorial entity (population), political entities (electorate), small groups (interest groups).

ethnic groups(nation). Unique social groups that arise and develop historically. But they are fixed genetically, i.e. biologically.

Nation- a complex social organism, which is a unity of socio-economic and ethnic features. This is a stable historical community of people that has developed on the basis of the common economic life of people, combined with a common territory, language, culture, consciousness and psychological makeup.

ethnic population- one of the characteristics of a person, along with the time of his existence in culture, the ratio to a particular social group, etc.

The primary principle of the formation of an ethnos is opposition according to the principle "we - they". In the future, as culture develops in an ethnic group, 3 groups of features are determined that define its specificity:

National character (ethnic psychology).

national identity.

The national character is a set of ideal ideas and real behaviors determined by the common psychological makeup of the people.

The national character is not inherited genetically, but is formed socio-historically, for example: the Germans, who today are considered neat and punctual people, back in the 19th century. regarded as a nation of romantics and poets. The national character of modern Germans is the result of the industrial revolution, the same difference in the character of West and East Germans that has arisen over the course of 50 years.

Self-consciousness of the ethnos- a way to distinguish it from others. Self-consciousness manifests itself only when the ethnos has passed a certain path of historical development. At the level of historical zero, this has no self-name and coincides with the concept of people, Chukchi - people. It is important that the ethnic group calls itself, for example: a Russian in Turkey calls himself a Cossack, and in Finland - Vienna. For the productive existence of an ethnic group, contact with other ethnic groups is necessary, i.e. exchange of collective experience, culture. It is thanks to contacts that the ethnos goes through the historical path of development - a tribe, a primitive communal system. The diversity of the ethnos is a condition for the productive and further existence of mankind.

Classes- a social community that stands out according to the economic principle. Classes come to the first leading place in the existence of society only in the theory of capitalism, when the economic property principle becomes the leading one. National and professional groups dominate.

classes large groups of people are called, differing in their place in a historically determined system of social production, in their attitude to the means of production, in their role in the social organization of labor, and, consequently, in the methods of obtaining and the size of the share of social wealth that they dispose of. Classes are such groups of people, of which one can appropriate the labor of another, due to the difference in their place in a certain way of social economy.

The class theory is expressed in two versions:

In the Marxist version the main class-forming principle is the economic relations of people in the form of the relationship of people to the means of production, which is fixed as a form of ownership.

Classes are called large groups of people who differ in their place, historically specific economic system, in their attitude to forms of ownership and, in their role in the division of labor system and in the size of obtaining social wealth (V.I. Lenin).

According to the Marxist version, classes are united in opposition, antagonistic in subclasses - slaves, slave owners, serfs, feudal lords, hired workers - capitalists.

In the bourgeois-liberal version The main exemplary class principle is the economic factor, but not in the form of property relations, but in the form of the level of monetary income.

There are 3 main classes 0.25 - 1% of the population:

Higher - 20% (in developed Western countries).

Medium - 60 - 70% (millionaires and the political elite of managers, civil servants, middle and petty bourgeoisie who can live off their labor)

The lowest - 20 - 30% (those whose income does not allow them to rise above the subsistence level). In Russia, the ratio is reversed, some sociologists argue that the middle class is no more than 10%.

Culture. Culture is an integrable characteristic of society in terms of structure. In this aspect, new components are revealed in the existence of society.

Extra-scientific generally accepted ideas of the concept of "society" and "culture" coincide: this is what radically distinguishes man from nature. Society is not nature, a concept that characterizes a radical difference in human life activity of natural processes. In this case, society as culture is understood as all the changes that occur in nature under the influence of man.

However, there is a difference between the concepts of society and culture:

Society is the social interaction of people, which is presented as a reality of the current day, i.e. culture in the present. Culture proper is the collective experience of mankind in the past, present and future. Therefore, these 2 aspects are studied in different sciences: society is studied by sociology, and culture by philosophy.

From the point of view of philosophy, human culture is represented by two major components:

Tool culture, i.e. technique of tools of labor, ways of human influence on nature. This is the so-called material, technical culture or the second artificial nature.

Communicative culture is the ways in which people influence each other, represented by different forms of communication. Here they distinguish: natural speech (language), images of art, science, management, law and morality.

If the tool culture is directed, as it were, outside, from the world of people to the world of nature, then the communal culture is directed inward into the sphere of interhuman interaction.

Culture is a specific human way of being in the world. Animals do not create culture and are not expounded in it, because, as it were, they carry tools of labor on themselves in the form of innate adaptations (teeth, claws, wool, etc.), external, artificially combined objects of nature, thus turned into tools of labor. Therefore, people are able to carry out their vital activity only together with other people, collectively. However, collections of animals in humans are added to learning i.e. a process of communication in which human individuals learn collectively developed ways of marking tools. Therefore, the instrumentality of a person reaches a new qualitative control in comparison with animals: animals can use artificial tools, but not ways to transfer this drink to others.

Therefore, the universal component in culture is the leading one. Culture, i.e. people live in reproduction - i.e. transfer of collective experience. In the course of history, 3 forms of such transmission have been developed:

The oldest form - from the viewer to the average according to the formula "Do as I do."

The transfer of experience is not direct, but with the help of the principles of prescriptions and prohibitions (traditions), according to the formula "Do this."

In the form of ideals, laws and values, according to the formula "This is the truth, goodness, truth."

It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of culture and civilization. Most modern researchers agree that civilization is the technological material basis of culture, on which spiritual culture is built according to its own laws.

The sphere of social life is a certain set of stable relations between social subjects.

The spheres of public life are large, stable, relatively independent subsystems of human activity.

Each area includes:

Certain human activities (eg educational, political, religious);

Social institutions (such as family, school, parties, church);

Established relations between people (i.e. connections that have arisen in the course of people's activities, for example, relations of exchange and distribution in the economic sphere).

Traditionally, there are four main areas of public life:

Social (peoples, nations, classes, gender and age groups, etc.)

Economic (productive forces, production relations)

Political (state, parties, socio-political movements)

Spiritual (religion, morality, science, art, education).

It is important to understand that people are simultaneously in different relationships with each other, connected with someone, isolated from someone when solving their life issues. Therefore, the spheres of the life of society are not geometric spaces where different people live, but the relations of the same people in connection with various aspects of their lives.

Graphically, the spheres of public life are presented in fig. 1.2. The central place of man is symbolic - he is inscribed in all spheres of society.

The social sphere is the relationship that arises in the production of direct human life and man as a social being.

The concept of "social sphere" has different meanings, although they are related. In social philosophy and sociology, it is a sphere of social life that includes various social communities and the connections between them. In economics and political science, the social sphere is often understood as a set of industries, enterprises, organizations whose task is to improve the standard of living of the population; while the social sphere includes health care, social security, public services, etc. The social sphere in the second sense is not an independent sphere of social life, but an area at the intersection of the economic and political spheres, associated with the redistribution of state revenues in favor of those in need.

The social sphere includes various social communities and relations between them. A person, occupying a certain position in society, is inscribed in various communities: he can be a man, a worker, a father of a family, a city dweller, etc. Visually, the position of an individual in society can be shown in the form of a questionnaire (Fig. 1.3).

Using this conditional questionnaire as an example, one can briefly describe the social structure of society. Gender, age, marital status determine the demographic structure (with groups such as men, women, youth, pensioners, single, married, etc.). Nationality determines the ethnic structure. The place of residence determines the settlement structure (here there is a division into urban and rural residents, residents of Siberia or Italy, etc.). Profession and education constitute the actual professional and educational structures (doctors and economists, people with higher and secondary education, students and schoolchildren). Social origin (from workers, from employees, etc.) and social position (employee, peasant, nobleman, etc.) determine the class structure; this also includes castes, estates, classes, etc.

Economic sphere

The economic sphere is a set of relations between people that arise during the creation and movement of material goods.

The economic sphere is the area of production, exchange, distribution, consumption of goods and services. In order to produce something, people, tools, machines, materials, etc. are needed. - productive forces. In the process of production, and then exchange, distribution, consumption, people enter into a variety of relations with each other and with the product - relations of production.

Production relations and productive forces together constitute the economic sphere of society:

Productive forces - people (labor force), tools of labor, objects of labor;

Production relations - production, distribution, consumption, exchange.

Political sphere

The political sphere is one of the most important spheres of public life.

The political sphere is the relationship of people, connected primarily with power, which ensures joint security.

The Greek word politike (from polis - state, city), having appeared in the writings of ancient thinkers, was originally used to refer to the art of government. Having retained this meaning as one of the central ones, the modern term "politics" is now used to express social activities, at the center of which are the problems of acquiring, using and retaining power.

The elements of the political sphere can be represented as follows:

Political organizations and institutions - social groups, revolutionary movements, parliamentarism, parties, citizenship, presidency, etc.;

Political norms - political, legal and moral norms, customs and traditions;

Political communications - relations, connections and forms of interaction between participants in the political process, as well as between the political system as a whole and society;

Political culture and ideology - political ideas, ideology, political culture, political psychology.

Needs and interests form certain political goals of social groups. On this target basis, political parties, social movements, powerful state institutions that carry out specific political activities arise. The interaction of large social groups with each other and with the institutions of power constitutes the communicative subsystem of the political sphere. This interaction is regulated by various norms, customs and traditions. Reflection and awareness of these relations form the cultural and ideological subsystem of the political sphere.

Spiritual sphere of society

The spiritual sphere is an area of ideal, non-material formations that include ideas, values of religion, art, morality, etc.

The structure of the spiritual sphere of society in the most general terms is as follows:

Religion is a form of worldview based on belief in supernatural forces;

Morality is a system of moral norms, ideals, assessments, actions;

Art is the artistic development of the world;

Science is a system of knowledge about the patterns of existence and development of the world;

Law is a set of norms supported by the state;

Education is a purposeful process of education and training.

The spiritual sphere is the sphere of relations that arise during the production, transfer and development of spiritual values (knowledge, beliefs, norms of behavior, artistic images, etc.).

If the material life of a person is connected with the satisfaction of specific daily needs (for food, clothing, drink, etc.). then the spiritual sphere of human life is aimed at meeting the needs for the development of consciousness, worldview, and various spiritual qualities.

Spiritual needs, unlike material ones, are not set biologically, but are formed and developed in the process of socialization of the individual.

Of course, a person is able to live without satisfying these needs, but then his life will not differ much from the life of animals. Spiritual needs are satisfied in the process of spiritual activity - cognitive, value, prognostic, etc. Such activity is aimed primarily at changing individual and social consciousness. It manifests itself in art, religion, scientific creativity, education, self-education, upbringing, etc. At the same time, spiritual activity can be both producing and consuming.

Spiritual production is the process of formation and development of consciousness, worldview, spiritual qualities. The product of this production are ideas, theories, artistic images, values, the spiritual world of the individual and spiritual relations between individuals. The main mechanisms of spiritual production are science, art and religion.

Spiritual consumption is the satisfaction of spiritual needs, the consumption of products of science, religion, art, for example, visiting a theater or a museum, obtaining new knowledge. The spiritual sphere of the life of society ensures the production, storage and dissemination of moral, aesthetic, scientific, legal and other values. It covers various forms and levels of social consciousness - moral, scientific, aesthetic, religious, legal.

Social institutions in the spheres of society

Appropriate social institutions are being formed in each of the spheres of society.

A social institution is a group of people, relations between which are built according to certain rules (family, army, etc.), and a set of rules for certain social subjects (for example, the institution of the presidency).

To maintain their own lives, people are forced to produce, distribute, exchange and consume (use) food, clothing, housing, etc. These benefits can be obtained by transforming the environment using a variety of means that also need to be created. Vital goods are created by people in the economic sphere through such social institutions as manufacturing enterprises (agricultural and industrial), trading enterprises (shops, markets), stock exchanges, banks, etc.

In the social sphere, the most important social institution, within which the reproduction of new generations of people is carried out, is the family. The social production of a person as a social being, in addition to the family, is carried out by such institutions as preschool and medical institutions, schools and other educational institutions, sports and other organizations.

For many people, production and the presence of spiritual conditions of existence are no less important, and for some people even more important than material conditions. Spiritual production distinguishes people from other beings in this world. The state and nature of the development of spirituality determine the civilization of mankind. The main institutions in the spiritual sphere are the institutions of education, science, religion, morality, and law. This also includes cultural and educational institutions, creative unions (writers, artists, etc.), the media and other organizations.

At the heart of the political sphere are relations between people that allow them to participate in the management of social processes, to occupy a relatively safe position in the structure of social ties. Political relations are forms of collective life that are prescribed by the laws and other legal acts of the country, charters and instructions regarding independent communities, both outside the country and within it, written and unwritten rules of various social groups. These relations are carried out through the resources of the corresponding political institution.

On a national scale, the main political institution is the state. It consists of many of the following institutions: the president and his administration, government, parliament, court, prosecutor's office and other organizations that ensure the general order in the country. In addition to the state, there are many civil society organizations in which people exercise their political rights, that is, the right to manage social processes. Political institutions that seek to participate in the governance of the entire country are political parties and social movements. In addition to them, there may be organizations at the regional and local levels.

The relationship of spheres of public life

The spheres of public life are closely interconnected. In the history of the social sciences, there have been attempts to single out any sphere of life as determining in relation to others. So, in the Middle Ages, the idea of the special significance of religiosity as part of the spiritual sphere of society dominated. In modern times and the Age of Enlightenment, the role of morality and scientific knowledge was emphasized. A number of concepts assign the leading role to the state and law. Marxism affirms the decisive role of economic relations.

Within the framework of real social phenomena, elements of all spheres are combined. For example, the nature of economic relations can influence the structure of the social structure. A place in the social hierarchy forms certain political views, opens up appropriate access to education and other spiritual values. The economic relations themselves are determined by the legal system of the country, which is very often formed on the basis of the spiritual culture of the people, their traditions in the field of religion and morality. Thus, at various stages of historical development, the influence of any sphere may increase.

The complex nature of social systems is combined with their dynamism, i.e., mobile, changeable character.

The structure of society interested people at all times. For many centuries, scientists have tried to find a model, an image with which to reproduce human society. It was represented in the form of a pyramid, a clockwork, a branchy tree.

Modern scientists argue that society is a holistic, naturally functioning and developing system. The word "system" is of Greek origin and means a whole made up of parts, a set. So, A system is a set of interconnected elements, each of which performs a specific task.

Society as a social system is a holistic entity, the main element of which are people, their connections, interactions and relationships., which are sustainable and pass from generation to generation.

In this case, society can be compared with a giant organism, and just as a living organism has a heart, arms, legs, brain, nervous system, so in society there are certain mechanisms for influencing the environment - its own control center for diverse processes and means of communication. And just as various life support systems function in a living organism, so in society each of its “organs” performs only its own function. Finally, just as several interconnected levels of its vital activity can be distinguished in an organism, depending on the significance of each of them for the whole organism (nervous system, circulatory and digestive systems, metabolism, etc.), so in society, specific levels can be distinguished ( in the scientific literature more often - "spheres") of his life - economic, social, political and spiritual.

Economic sphere- this is the area of economic activity of society, the area of creation of wealth. Being one of the main subsystems of society, it can also be considered as an independent system. The elements of the economic sphere are material needs, economic benefits (goods) that satisfy these needs, economic resources (sources of production of goods), business entities (individuals or organizations). The economic sphere is firms, enterprises, factories, banks, markets, flows of money and investments, capital turnover, etc. In other words, what allows society to put into production the resources at its disposal (land, labor, capital and management ) and create such a quantity of goods and services that will satisfy the vital needs of people for food, shelter, leisure, etc.

50–60% of the population, who are called the economically active population, are directly involved in the economic life of society: workers, employees, entrepreneurs, bankers, etc. Indirectly, 100% of the people living in a given territory participate in it, since everyone is a consumer of goods and services created directly participants in the economic process. Pensioners have already left production, and children have not entered it yet. They do not create material values, but they consume them.

Political sphere- this is the area of realization between people of relations of power and subordination, the area of \u200b\u200bmanaging society. The main elements of the political system of society are political organizations and institutions (state, political parties, public organizations, mass media), norms of political behavior and political culture, political ideologies. The main elements of the political system of modern Russian society are the president and the presidential apparatus, the government and parliament (Federal Assembly), their apparatus, local authorities (provincial, regional), the army, police, tax and customs services. Together they make up the state.

The political sphere also includes political parties that are not part of the state. The main task of the state is to ensure social order in society, to resolve conflicts between partners, for example, between workers, trade unions and employers, to establish new laws and monitor their strict implementation by all structures, to prevent political upheavals, to protect the external borders and sovereignty of the country, to collect taxes and ensure money institutions of the social and cultural spheres, etc. The main function of the political sphere is to legitimize the ways of fighting for power and protecting it. The task of parties is to express the diversity of political interests of various, often opposing, groups of the population through channels established by law.

Social sphere- this is the area of the emergence and functioning of the relationship of people with each other. The social sphere is understood in two senses - broad and narrow - and, depending on this, covers different volumes of social space.

The social sphere of society in a broad sense is a set of organizations and institutions responsible for the welfare of the population. In this case, this includes shops, passenger transport, public utilities and consumer services (housing offices and dry cleaners), catering (canteens and restaurants), health care, communications (telephone, post office, telegraph), as well as leisure and entertainment facilities (culture parks, stadiums ). In this sense, the social sphere covers almost all strata and classes - from the rich and middle to the poor.

The social sphere in a narrow sense means only socially unprotected segments of the population and institutions serving them: pensioners, the unemployed, the low-income, those with many children, the disabled, as well as social protection and social security agencies (including social insurance) of both local and federal subordination.

The social system consists of social groups, social ties, social institutions, social norms, values of social culture.

To spiritual realm include morality, religion, science, education, culture. Its constituent parts are schools, museums, theaters, art galleries, mass media, cultural monuments and national artistic treasures, churches.

Society consists of a huge number of elements and subsystems that are in constant interaction.. The connections between subsystems and elements of society can be illustrated by various examples. Thus, the study of the distant past of mankind allowed scientists to conclude that the moral relations of people in primitive conditions were built on collectivist principles, that is, in modern terms, priority was always given to the team, and not to the individual.

It is also known that the moral norms that existed among many tribes in those archaic times allowed the killing of weak members of the clan - sick children, the elderly, and even cannibalism. Have the real material conditions of their existence influenced these ideas and views of people about the limits of the morally permissible? The answer is clear. The need to jointly obtain material wealth, the doom to an early death of a person who has broken away from the clan - this is where we should look for the origins of collectivist morality. Also, from the standpoint of the struggle for existence and survival, people did not consider it immoral to get rid of those who could become a burden for the team.

The connection between legal norms and socio-economic relations is well traced. Let's turn to known historical facts. In one of the first codes of laws of Kievan Rus, which is called "Russian Truth", various punishments for murder are provided. At the same time, the measure of punishment was determined primarily by the place of a person in the system of hierarchical relations, his belonging to one or another social stratum or group. So, the fine for killing a tiun (steward) was huge: it was equal to the cost of a herd of 80 oxen or 400 rams. The life of a serf or a serf was valued 16 times cheaper.

Society is in constant motion and development. Thinkers from ancient times have thought about the question in what direction is society developing? Can its movement be likened to cyclical changes in nature?

Development direction, which is characterized by a transition from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect, is called progress. Accordingly, social progress is a transition to a higher level of the material condition of society and the spiritual development of the individual. An important sign of social progress is the tendency towards the liberation of man.

The following criteria for social progress are distinguished:

1) growth of welfare and social security of people;

2) weakening of confrontation between people;

3) the establishment of democracy;

4) the growth of morality and spirituality of society;

5) improvement of human relations;

6) the measure of freedom that society is able to provide to the individual, the degree of individual freedom guaranteed by society.

If an attempt were made to graphically depict the development of society, then one would get not an ascending straight line, but a broken line reflecting ups and downs, accelerated forward movement and giant leaps back. We are talking about the second direction of development - regression.

Regression - downward development, transition from higher to lower. For example, the period of fascism was a period of regression in world history: millions of people died, various peoples were enslaved, many monuments of world culture were destroyed.

But it's not just these twists and turns in history. Society is a complex organism in which various spheres function, many processes take place simultaneously, and various activities of people unfold. All these parts of one social mechanism and all these processes and types of activity are interconnected and at the same time may not coincide in their development. Moreover, individual processes, changes taking place in different areas of society can be multidirectional, i.e. progress in one area may be accompanied by regression in another.

Thus, throughout history, technological progress is clearly traced - from stone tools to the most complex machine tools with program control, from beasts of burden to cars, trains and aircraft. At the same time, technological progress leads to the destruction of nature, to the undermining of the natural conditions for the existence of mankind, which, of course, is a regression.

In addition to directions, there are also forms of development of society.

The most common form of social development is evolution - gradual and smooth changes in social life that occur naturally. The nature of evolution is gradual, continuous, ascending. Evolution is divided into successive stages or phases, none of which can be skipped. For example, the evolution of science and technology.

Under certain conditions, public changes occur in the form of a revolution - these are rapid, qualitative changes, a radical upheaval in the life of society. Revolutionary changes are radical and fundamental. Revolutions can be long-term or short-term, in one or several states, in one sphere. If a revolution affects all levels and spheres of society - the economy, politics, culture, social organization, people's daily lives, then it is called social. Such revolutions cause strong emotions and mass activity of people. An example is the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Social changes also take place in the form of reform - this is a set of measures aimed at transforming, changing certain aspects of public life. For example, economic reform, education reform.

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Social scientists note that an unambiguous division of the spheres of society is possible only within the framework of its theoretical analysis, but in real life their close interconnection, interdependence and mutual intersection are characteristic (which is reflected in the names, for example, socio-economic relations). That is why the most important task of social science is to achieve the integrity of scientific understanding and explanation of the laws of functioning and development of the social system as a whole.

Consider examples.

Spheres of society	Relationship Example
Economic and political	1. Carrying out reforms to reduce taxes helps to facilitate the activities of entrepreneurs. 2. In the context of the economic crisis, the President of the country called early parliamentary elections. 3. The parliamentary elections were won by the party that advocated the reduction of the tax burden. 4. As a result of tax reforms, the pace of industrial development has increased. 5. Growth of state appropriations for the production of new types of weapons.
Social and political	Representatives of the so-called "middle strata" - qualified specialists, workers in the information sphere (programmers, engineers), representatives of small and medium-sized businesses participate in the formation of leading political parties and movements.
Economic and social	A high grain harvest, increased competition led to a decrease in prices for this product. Following this, prices for meat and other products fell. This allowed large social groups of low-income citizens - pensioners, large families with one breadwinner - to significantly replenish their consumer basket.
Economic, political, spiritual	The political party has developed and substantiated a program to overcome the decline in production.
Economic and spiritual	1. The economic capabilities of society, the level of human mastery of natural resources allows the development of science, and vice versa, fundamental scientific discoveries contribute to the transformation of the productive forces of society. 2. Financing activities by the patronmuseum.
Economic, political, social, spiritual	In the course of the market reforms being carried out in the country, a variety of forms of ownership has been legalized. This contributes to the emergence of new social groups - the entrepreneurial class, small and medium-sized businesses, farming, and specialists in private practice. In the field of culture, the emergence of private mass media, film companies, and Internet providers contributes to the development of pluralism in the spiritual sphere, the creation of essentially spiritual products, multidirectional information.

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Within the framework of real social phenomena, elements of all spheres are combined.
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For example, the nature of economic relations can influence the structure of the social structure. A place in the social hierarchy forms certain political views, opens up appropriate access to education and other spiritual values. The economic relations themselves are determined by the legal system of the country, which is very often formed on the basis of the spiritual culture of the people, ᴇᴦο traditions in the field of religion and morality. Thus, at various stages of historical development, the influence of any sphere may increase.

49. Society and history. The main concepts of the historical process are culturological, civilizational and formational.

The life of human society is a historical process. This process covers the entire development of mankind, from the first steps of ape-like ancestors to the complex zigzags of the 20th century. Naturally, the question arises: according to what laws does development occur? The materialistic approach to history includes the recognition of the unity of the historical process in ᴇᴦο diversity. The unity of history is laid in life itself, in the way of its material support with the help of labor activity and the material means of labor used by it. Labor is the eternal condition of human life. The material basis of the historical process is the basis of ᴇᴦο unity. If different cultures and civilizations develop as independent and internally closed formations, then in such civilizations the general historical laws do not work. The unity of the historical process is manifested in the establishment of links between economic, cultural, scientific, and political countries. In this interconnected world, socially significant events immediately become the property of all, the interests and destinies of peoples are closely intertwined, and nationalities are consolidating. The diversity of history lies in the fact that it develops in time and space. In time, these are various stages of historical development - formations and eras. In space, this is the presence of a real diversity of social life, the main source of which is the uneven historical development. In understanding the development of society, there are different approaches: formational, civilizational, cultural. The formational method was developed by Marxists, it forms the basis of the materialistic understanding of society. Marxists introduced such a thing as a formation. Formation - a certain type of society, an integral social system that develops and functions on the basis of the dominant mode of production according to general or specific laws. General laws - laws that apply to all formations (the law on the decisive role of social being in relation to social consciousness, the law on the decisive role of the mode of production in social development). Specific laws - laws that operate in one or more formations (the law of proportional development of the national economy). The main criterion that determines the development and change of formations is the dominant forms of ownership replacing each other˸ 1) tribal, 2) ancient, 3) feudal, 4) bourgeois, 5) the future communist form of universal property. First of all, K. Marx singled out such concepts as basis and superstructure. The basis is a set of production and economic relations. The superstructure is a collection of ideas and ideological relations. Its main element is the state. Following the mode of production, the social-class structure of the development of society also changes. The development of society is carried out along an ascending line from lower to higher formations, from the primitive communal system to the slave-owning, feudal, capitalist, communist society. Change of formation is carried out with the help of revolutions. The main categories of the formational approach are the mode of production, class, society. But these categories do not reflect the entire spectrum of the development of society, and the formational approach is supplemented by two others: civilizational and cultural. civilizational approach. Proponents of the civilizational approach do not place linear progress on the basis of development, but the local emergence of various civilizations. A supporter of this approach is Arnold Toynbee, who believes that every civilization goes through the stages of emergence, growth, breakdown and decomposition in its development, after which it dies. To date, only five major civilizations have survived - Chinese, Indian, Islamic, Russian and Western. The civilizational approach also explains a lot in human history. Contemporary examples˸ Bosnian conflict. There are fewer differences in language among Serbs and Croats than in Russian and Ukrainian. And Bosnian Muslims are Serbs by nationality. There are still disputes about the place of Russia whether we belong to the Orthodox culture or we are a special civilization. There is a gradation into two civilizations: West and East. According to Chaadaev, we are the first Asian civilization that collided with the West and began to transform. Slavophiles believe that we are a unique culture that combines the virtues of both the West and the East.