Max Weber. Social action

Concept and classification of human actions- the subject of study, primarily psychology and sociology. Action is an element of activity. It, in turn, consists of movements. However, inaction is also action. For example, if you have not reacted in any way to someone's action, this is also a kind of reaction, and a reaction is a response. It would seem, with such a simple definition, the classification of actions should not be something complicated, but it is not. For social science, as a science of man and society, both psychological and sociological classification of actions are important. But they just practically do not intersect.

Psychological classification of actions.

This classification is simpler. Any human activity consists of actions that are of four types:

1. Instinctive actions. They are genetically inherent and practically have nothing to do with conscious activity, for example, grasping and sucking impulses in a newborn. However, they can influence conscious actions, for example, the instinct for self-preservation or the instinct for reproduction can trigger a chain of conscious actions.
2. Reflex actions. They also have nothing to do with conscious activity and are more interesting for biology. Everyone knows that sneezing is a response to irritation of the nasal cavity, not consciously controlled by a person; but this has no value for social science.
3. Impulsive actions. They are of two types - unconscious and partially conscious. Example: being frightened of something (non-standard stimulus), a person may react with an exclamation, an exclamation in the form of an interjection, or obscenely describe (and sometimes in great detail) the reason for his fear. The second option is a partially conscious response; I will not give examples because of censorship, but you already mentally drew them for yourself.
4. Volitional actions. These actions are fully conscious, the basic actions studied by the sciences of society. Examples of the sea: from "brush your teeth" to "take the old woman across the road." An interesting fact is that volitional actions can turn into impulsive ones. For example, you listened to your boss shouting at you for a long time, restrained yourself (volitional action), and then broke down and said whatever you think of him (impulsive).

Sociological classification of actions.

In the sociological classification of actions, the key concept is social action. Social action- This is an action of a person or a group of people, which focuses on another person (or a group of people). Simply put, this action has something to do with the action of other people. The decision to go to a rally with a group is a social action that has a connection with their decision to organize a rally.

Of greatest interest for social science are the classifications of the actions of the German sociologist Max Weber and the German sociologist-philosopher Jurgen Habermas.

Weber classification.

Max Weber was the first to develop a classification of social action. As a basis, he took the degree of awareness of human behavior and identified four types of social actions:

1. Rational action. This action is based on a predetermined and thought out goal. Key moment- expectation, expectation of some specific behavior of people or objects to which this action is directed. That is, asking a question on an Internet forum is a deliberate action.
2. Value-based rational action. Action based on belief in some value - moral, religious, aesthetic, etc. At the same time, the moment of waiting is not key here or is absent at all. You don't expect anything special other than thanks from the old lady who was helped to cross the road, right?
3. Affective action (emotional action). The same as impulsive action with a partially conscious character in psychology. For more details see above.
4. Traditional action. The same as unconscious impulsive action in psychology, sometimes also - instinctive action.

In the concept of social action, Weber designated two types of motivation:

• subjective motivation(personal motivation of a specific person or group);
• behavior orientation(waiting for the reaction of another person or group).

Habermas classification.

Jurgen Habermas studied Weber's classification, rethought it and identified his four types of social action.

1. Strategic action. Personal or selfish actions with subjective motivation. Selfish, in this case, does not mean negative in relation to others, since these actions may not be relevant to other members of society. For example, wanting to make yourself coffee in the morning to put your thoughts in order does not make you selfish.
2. Normative action. Action based on a system of rules and values ​​in force in a particular community. In essence, it is the same as the value-rational action of Max Weber.
3. Dramatic action. The main goal of this action is self-expression, disclosure of one's individuality, self-presentation, that is, simply speaking, it is the creation of one's own image or authority. When a girl opens a wardrobe in the morning and begins to choose a dress, picking up a handbag and shoes for it, this is a dramatic action. This type of action is directed at other members of society and has a moment of expectation.
4. Communicative action. This is a joint action of two or more subjects aimed at achieving a common goal. Communicative actions include both ordinary communication and the work of an entire enterprise. The main instrument of this action is language and speech.

Social action is a system of actions aimed at changing the actions, actions, opinions or views of another person or social group.

Weber's theory of social action

According to M. Weber, the science of sociology deals with social actions. She interprets and understands these actions through explanations.

It turns out that social actions are the subject of study, and interpretation, understanding is the method by which phenomena are causally explained.

Thus, understanding is a means of explanation.

The concept of meaning explains the sociological concept of action, i.e. sociology must study the rational behavior of the individual. At the same time, the individual realizes the meaning and purpose of his actions without emotions and passions.

1. Goal-rational behavior, in which the choice of the goal is free and conscious, for example, business meeting, purchase of goods. This behavior will be free, because there is no coercion from the crowd.
2. At the heart of value-rational behavior lies a conscious orientation, belief in moral or religious ideals that are higher than calculations, considerations of profit, momentary impulses. Business success fades into the background here and a person may not be interested in the opinion of others. A person compares his actions with higher values, such as salvation of the soul or a sense of duty.
3. The behavior is traditional, which cannot be called conscious, because it is based on a dull reaction to stimuli and proceeds according to the accepted pattern. Irritants can be various prohibitions, taboos, norms and rules, customs and traditions passed from one generation to another, for example, the hospitality that all peoples have. As a result, there is no need to invent anything, because the individual behaves this way and not otherwise, by force of habit, automatically.
4. Reactive or as it is also called affective behavior that comes from the inside and a person can act unconsciously. This short-term emotional state is not guided by the behavior of other people, as well as by a conscious choice of goals.

Affective forms of behavior include confusion before any event, enthusiasm, irritation, depression. These four types, as M. Weber himself notes, can be considered the most characteristic, but far from exhaustive all the variety of types of human behavior.

Value-rational behavior according to M. Weber

According to M. Weber, value-rational behavior is an ideal type of social action. The reason is that the basis of this type lie such acts performed by people, which are based on the conviction of their self-sufficient value.

The goal here is the action itself. Value-based rational action is subject to certain requirements. It is the duty of the individual to follow these requirements. Actions in accordance with these requirements mean value-rational actions even if rational calculation has a high probability of adverse consequences of the action itself for the individual personally.

Example 1

For example, the captain is the last to leave a sinking ship, despite the fact that his life is in danger.

These actions have a conscious focus, and if they are correlated with ideas about duty, dignity, then it will be a certain rationality, meaningfulness.

The intentionality of such behavior speaks of a large degree of its rationality and distinguishes it from affective behavior. The "value rationality" of an action absolutizes the value that the individual is oriented towards, because it carries something irrational in itself.

M. Weber believes that only the person who acts in accordance with his convictions can act purely value-wise. In this case, he will fulfill what the law requires of him, religious prescription, the importance of something.

The purpose of the action and the action itself in the value-rational case coincide, and the side effects are not taken into account.

Remark 1

Thus, it turns out that goal-rational action and value-rational action differ from each other as truth and truth. Truth is what actually is, regardless of the beliefs, beliefs of a particular society. Truth means comparing what you see with what is generally accepted in a given society.

Types of social action by M. Weber

1. The correct type, where ends and means are strictly rational, because they are objectively adequate to each other.
2. In the second type, the means to achieve the goal, as it seems to the subject, will be adequate, although they may not be so.
3. Approximate action with no definite end or means.
4. Action determined by specific circumstances, without a precise purpose.
5. An action that has a number of incomprehensible elements, therefore, it is only partially understandable.
6. An action that is inexplicable from the point of view of a rational position, caused by unknown psychological or physical factors.

This classification orders all types of social action according to the degree of decrease in their rationality and comprehensibility.

Not all types of action are social in the accepted sense, including external type... If an external action is directed at the behavior of material objects, then it cannot be social.

It becomes social only when it is focused on the behavior of others, for example, a prayer read alone will not be social in nature.

Not all types of human relationships are social in nature. Social action will not be identical to the same behavior of people, for example, in the rain. People open umbrellas not because they are guided by the actions of others, but in order to protect themselves from the rain.

It will not be identical with the one influenced by the behavior of others. The behavior of the crowd has a huge impact on a person and is defined as behavior caused by mass.

M. Weber set himself the task of showing how such social facts - relations, order, connections - should be defined as special forms of social action, but the aspiration was not actually realized.

Remark 2

The most important thought of M. Weber was that social action leads to a social fact. The determinant of action M. Weber considers only the goal, and does not pay due attention to the circumstances that make this action possible. He does not indicate among which alternatives the choice is made and does not have judgments about what goals of action the actor has in a given situation. Nor does it speak about what options for action the subject has when moving towards the goal and what type of selection he makes.

In order to enter into social relationships with each other, individuals must first of all act. It is from specific actions and deeds specific people the history of society is taking shape.

Empirically, it seems that any human behavior is ϶ᴛᴏ and there is an action: a person acts when he does something. In reality, it is not, and many behaviors will not be actions. For example, when we run away from danger in panic, without making out the roads, we do not act. Here we are talking simply about behavior under the influence of passion.

Action- ϶ᴛᴏ active behavior of people based on rational goal-setting and aimed at changing objects in order to preserve or change their state.

Since action is purposeful and rational, it differs from non-purposeful behavior in that a person clearly understands what and why he is doing. Affective reactions, panic, and aggressive crowd behavior cannot be called actions. In the mind of a person who acts clearly, the goal and the means of achieving it are highlighted. Of course, in practice, it is far from always that a person immediately clearly and unmistakably determines the goal and correctly chooses the means of achieving it. Many actions are complex in nature and consist of elements with varying degrees of rationality.
For example, many familiar labor operations are so familiar to us due to repeated repetition that we can perform them almost mechanically. Who hasn't seen women knitting while talking or watching TV? Even at the level of making responsible decisions, much is done out of habit, by analogy. Note that each person possesses skills that he has not thought about for a long time, although during the period of learning he was well aware of their expediency and meaning.

Not every action will be social. M. Weber defines social action as follows: "Social action ... is correlated in its meaning with the behavior of other subjects and is focused on it." In other words, action becomes social when, in its goal-setting, it affects other people or is conditioned by their existence and behavior. When m, it does not matter whether a given specific action brings benefit or harm to other people, whether others know that we have performed this or that action, whether the action is successful or not (a failed, failed action can also be social) In the concept of M. Weber sociology acts as a study of actions focused on the behavior of others. For example, seeing the muzzle of a gun aimed at himself and the aggressive expression on the face of the aiming person, any person understands the meaning of his actions and the impending danger due to the fact that mentally, as it were, puts himself in his place. We use analogy with ourselves to understand goals and motives.

Subject of social action denoted by the term "social actor". In the paradigm of functionalism, social actors are understood as individuals performing social roles. In A. Touraine's theory of actionism, actors are social groups that direct the course of events in society in accordance with their interests. It is worth noting that they influence social reality, developing a strategy for their actions. Strategy is about choosing goals and means of achieving them. Social strategies can be individualized or come from community organizations or movements. The sphere of application of the strategy is any sphere of social life.

In reality, the actions of a social actor are never completely the result of manipulation of external social

by his conscious will, not a product of the current situation, nor an absolutely free choice. Social action is the result of a complex interplay of social and individual factors. A social actor always acts within the framework of a specific situation with a limited set of possibilities and therefore cannot be absolutely jovial. But since his actions in its structure will be a project, i.e. planning means in relation to a goal that has not yet been realized, then they have a probabilistic, idle character. The actor can abandon the goal or reorient to another, albeit within the framework of the ϲʙᴏ situation.

The structure of social action necessarily contains the following elements:

• actor;
• the need of the actor, acting as a direct motive for the action;
• action strategy (perceived goal and means of achieving it);
• an individual or a social group on which the action is oriented;
• end result (success or failure)

T. Parsons called the totality of elements of social action its system of coordinates.

The Understanding Sociology of Max Weber

For creativity Max Weber(1864-1920), a German economist, historian and outstanding sociologist, characterized primarily by deep penetration into the subject of research, the search for initial, basic elements, with the help of which one could come to an understanding of the laws social development.

Weber uses the concept of "ideal type" as a means of generalizing the diversity of empirical reality. The “ideal type” is not simply extracted from empirical reality, but is constructed as a theoretical model, and only then is it correlated with empirical reality. For example, the concepts of "economic exchange", "capitalism", "craft" and others are exclusively ideal-typical constructions used as a means of depicting historical formations.

Unlike history, where specific events localized in space and time are explained causally (causal genetic types), the task of sociology is to establish general rules development of events without regard to the spatio-temporal definition of these events. As a result, we get pure (general) ideal types.

Sociology, according to Weber, must be "understanding" - since the actions of the individual, the "subject" of social relations, will be meaningful. And meaningful (supposed) actions, relationships contribute to understanding (foreseeing) their consequences.

Types of social action according to M. Weber

It is important to note that one of the central points of Weber's theory is the allocation of an elementary particle of an individual's behavior in society - social action, which will be the cause and effect of a system of complex relationships between people. “Social action”, according to Weber, is an ideal type, where “action” is the action of a person who associates subjective meaning (rationality) with him, and “social” is an action that, according to the meaning assumed by its subject, is correlated with the action of other persons and focuses on them. The scientist identifies four types of social action:

• goal-rational- using certain expected behavior of other people to achieve goals;
• value-rational - understanding of behavior, action as actually value-significant, based on the norms of morality, religion;
• affective - especially emotional, sensual;
• traditional- based on the strength of the habit, the accepted norm. Strictly speaking, affective and traditional actions will not be social.

Society itself, according to Weber's doctrine, is a collection of acting individuals, each of whom strives to achieve their own goals.
It is worth noting that meaningful behavior, as a result of which individual goals are achieved, leads to the fact that a person acts as a social being, in association with others, thus ensuring significant progress in interaction with the environment.

Scheme 1. Types of social action according to M. Weber

Weber deliberately ranked the four types of social action he described in ascending order of rationality. Material published on http: // site
This order, on the one hand, serves as a kind of methodological device for explaining the different nature of the subjective motivation of an individual or a group, without which it is generally impossible to speak of an action oriented towards others; he calls motivation “expectation,” without which action cannot be regarded as social. On the other hand, and in Om Weber was convinced that the rationalization of social action is at the same time a tendency in the historical process. And although this process does not proceed without difficulties, various kinds of obstacles and deviations, the European history of the last centuries. the involvement of other, non-European civilizations on the path of industrialization is evidenced, according to Weber. that rationalization is a world-historical process. "It is important to note that one of the essential components of the 'rationalization' of action will be the replacement of internal adherence to habitual morals and customs by systematic adaptation to considerations of interest."

Rationalization, also according to Weber, is a form of development, or social progress, which is carried out within the framework of a certain picture of the world, which are different in history.

Weber identifies three most general types, three ways of relating to the world, which contain the attitudes or vectors (directions) of people's life, their social action.

The first of them is associated with Confucianism and Taoist religious and philosophical views that have spread in China; the second - with Hindu and Buddhist, widespread in India; the third - with the Jewish and Christian, which arose in the Middle East and spread to Europe and America. Weber defines the first type as adaptation to the world, the second as escape from the world, and the third as mastering the world. These different types of attitude and way of life set the direction for subsequent rationalization, that is, different ways of moving along the path of social progress.

A very important aspect in Weber's work is the study of basic relations in social associations. First of all, it concerns the analysis of power relations, as well as the nature and structure of organizations, where these relations will emerge most vividly.

From the application of the concept of "social action" to political sphere Weber deduces three pure types of legitimate (recognized) domination:

• legal, - in which both the ruled and the rulers obey not some person, but the law;
• traditional- due primarily to habits and morals this society;
• charismatic- based on the extraordinary abilities of the leader's personality.

Sociology, according to Weber, should be based on scientific judgments, maximally free from all kinds of personal predilections of the scientist, from political, economic, ideological influences.

Weber defines action(regardless of whether it manifests itself outside, for example, in the form of aggression, or is hidden inside the subjective world of the individual, like patience) as such behavior with which his subject associates a subjectively assumed meaning. "" Social "action becomes only if, according to the supposed actor or actors, the meaning is related to the action others people and focuses on him. "

Social action focused on the expected behavior of other people. So it can be motivated a desire to take revenge on someone for past grievances, to protect themselves from present or even future dangers.

Sociological workshop

Some actions, M. Weber believed, do not fall under the category of social. For example, it started raining, and all passers-by opened their umbrellas. There is no orientation towards other people, and motivation is determined by the climate, but not by the reaction and behavior of other people.

Give other examples of this kind.

Sociology is the study of actions that focus on the behavior of others. So, for example, we realize what a gun aimed at us and the aggressive expression on the face of the person holding it mean, since we ourselves have been in similar situations, or at least put ourselves in such conditions. We will find out meaning act as if by analogy with oneself. The meaning of the aimed gun can mean the intention of the individual to do something (shoot us), or do nothing. In the first case motive is present, in the second - it is not. But in any case, the motive has a subjective meaning. Observing the chain of real actions of people, we must construct a plausible explanation based on internal motives. We attribute motives to the knowledge that in similar situations most people do the same, for they are guided by similar motives. Thanks to this, the sociologist can only apply statistical methods.

reference... Weber gives the example of the famous 1277 flood in Ireland, which gained historical significance due to the fact that it caused widespread population migration. In addition, the flood resulted in huge human casualties, disruption of the usual way of life, and much more, which should attract the attention of sociologists. However, the subject of their study should not be the flood itself, but the behavior of people whose social actions are in one way or another focused on this event.

As another example, Weber considers E. Mayer's attempt to reconstruct the influence of the marathon battle on the fate of Western civilization and the development of Greece, Mayer gives an interpretation of the meaning of those events that should have happened according to the predictions of the Greek oracles in connection with the invasion of the Persians. However, the predictions themselves can be directly verified, Weber believes, only by studying the real behavior of the Persians in those cases when they were victorious (in Jerusalem, Egypt and Mata Asia). But such verification cannot satisfy the strict taste of a scientist. Mayer did not do the main thing - he did not put forward a plausible hypothesis offering a rational explanation of events, and did not explain the way of its verification. Often a historical interpretation only seems plausible. In each specific case, it is necessary to indicate the initial hypothesis and the method of its verification.

Motive for Weber, it is a complex of subjective meanings that appear to the actor or observer as an adequate basis for behavior. If we interpret this or that chain of actions in accordance only with our common sense, then such an interpretation should be considered subjectively acceptable (sufficient) or correct. But if the interpretation is based on inductive generalizations, i.e. is intersubjective, then it should be considered causally adequate. It shows the probability that a given event will actually occur under the same conditions and in the same order. Here, statistical methods are applicable that measure the degree of correlation of events or the robustness of the relationship of recurring events.

The structure of social action includes two components: the subjective motivation of an individual or group, outside of which, in principle, one cannot speak of any action (1), and an orientation towards others, which Weber calls expectation, or attitude, and without which action is not social (2).

Weber identifies four types of social action (Figure 11.4):

• 1) goal-rational behavior, when an individual is guided primarily by the behavior of other people, and these orientations, or expectations (anticipations), he uses as means, or tools, in his strategy of action;
• 2) value-rational is determined by our belief in religious, moral and other values, ideals, regardless of whether such behavior leads to success or not;
• 3) affective, i.e. emotional;
• 4) traditional.

There is no impassable border between them, they have common elements, which allows them to be positioned on a single scale in order of decreasing degree of the sign of rationality.

Rice. 11.4.

The four types of social action represent a kind of scale, or continuum, on the upper level of which is located the goal-rational action, which is of maximum interest for sociology, on the lower - affective, in which sociologists, according to Weber, show almost no interest. Here, goal-oriented rational action acts as a kind of standard against which other types of people's actions can be compared, revealing in them the degree of sociological expression. The closer the action is to the goal-rational, the lower the coefficient of psychological refraction.

Such a scale is built on the principle of comparing any action with a goal-rational one. As rationality diminishes, actions become less and less comprehensible, goals clear, and means definite. A value-based rational action, in comparison with a goal-oriented rational one, has no goal, result, or orientation towards success, but there is a motive, meaning, means, orientation towards others. Affective and traditional action has no goal, result, desire for success, motive, meaning and orientation towards others. In other words, the last two types of action are devoid of signs of social action. Because of this, Weber believed that only purposeful and value-based rational action are social actions. On the contrary, traditional and affective actions do not apply to them. All types of actions are ranked from bottom to top in the degree of increasing rationality.

Weber believes that studying individual behavior not the same as investigating falling meteorites or precipitation. To find out why, for example, there are strikes and people oppose the government (and Weber faced such a situation in one of his first studies in industry), you need project yourself into a situation strikes and explore values, goals, expectations people who prompted them to such an action. It is impossible to know the process of freezing water or falling meteorites from the inside.

Social action, Weber admits, is a rather narrow segment of reality, like an extreme case of human actions, or, more precisely, an ideal type, an ideal case. But the sociologist must proceed from such a rare type as a certain scale, with the help of which he measures the whole variety of real actions and selects only those that are subject to the methods of sociology.

In total, Weber identifies six levels of behavior similar to rational - from completely rational (a person is aware of his goals) to completely incomprehensible, which only a psychoanalyst can figure out (Fig. 11.5).

Rice. 11.5.

The most understandable in its semantic structure Weber considers goal-oriented rational action, where the goal corresponds to the means of achieving it. Such an action presupposes a free and conscious choice of goals, for example, promotion but service, purchase of goods, or a business meeting. This behavior is necessarily free. When we "cut a corner", walk straight across the lawn to the bus stop, violating the rules of decency, we are doing exactly that. Using cheat sheets, paying a bribe to a teacher to get a grade in a diploma or in entrance exams - from the same row.

Goal-rational behavior is an economic action, where there is a motive, an orientation towards another, freedom in choosing means, a goal, a willingness to act, take risks and take responsibility. Reasonable risk, which manifests itself both in business and in politics, is a mandatory feature of goal-oriented rational action. In economics, the individual calculates all the consequences, benefits and disadvantages of his actions, consciously and freely chooses the appropriate means to achieve the goal. The economy is impossible without purposeful and rational actions.

Goal-rational action characterizes consumer and money-grubbing behavior, the spread in the minds of people of mercantile, purely monetary priorities and goals.

An entrepreneur and a manager strive for goal-oriented rational action, but they understand it differently: for the former, it consists in obtaining maximum profit, for the latter, in the precise performance of official duties. Two different models of goal-oriented rational action reflect the fundamental difference between two spheres of economic activity - economic and labor behavior.

When a soldier shields his commander with his chest from the bullets, this is not a goal-oriented rational behavior, since such an action does not bring him any benefit, but value-rational, since he believes in some ideals that induce him to go for it. When a knight sacrifices his life for the sake of a lady, he makes a non-rational action. He is governed by a certain code of honor, or the etiquette of a worthy person.

Sociological workshop

The punk prayer service "Mother of God, Drive Putin away" by the notorious group Pussy Riot at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow in 2012 angered all Russians, not just believers whose feelings were offended.

Find a description of this story on the Internet and analyze it from the perspective of the teachings of M. Weber.

If value-rational action is widespread in society as a mass event, then in public consciousness feelings of duty, patriotism, virtue or religious devotion must prevail. During the Hajj period Muslims all over the world rush to the most ancient shrine of believers; perform a daily five-fold prayer, turning towards the temple. An Orthodox pilgrimage to the Holy Land or to the Seraphim-Deveevsky Monastery is another method of value-rational action. On the one hand, such an action characterizes moments of spiritual uplift, associated, for example, with the defense of the homeland from foreign invaders, liberation movements, and religious wars. On the other hand, it resembles a traditional act, as in the case of a hajj or pilgrimage, or an affective act, as in the case of a heroic act.

Values ​​and spiritual crisis. What do the "new Russians" do when they have money? They see the meaning of life in replacing a good car with a better one, a rich summer residence for an even more luxurious villa, a gorgeous woman for an even more irresistible one. Demonstrative squandering does not have any purposeful rational basis. Having got out of rags to riches, they strive to amaze the imagination of their neighbors, to arouse envy in them.

Although in this case, as well as in knightly behavior, we observe value-oriented behavior, the higher values ​​are supplanted here by the lower ones. This is a sign of a spiritual crisis.

Thus, the domination of value-rational action in society in itself does not guarantee the absence of deep spiritual crisis. The whole point is which values ​​are the highest or the lowest. Only those who, regardless of the foreseen consequences, act in accordance with their convictions and do what duty, dignity, beauty, honor, or religious principles require of him, act in a value-rational manner.

An example of value-based rational actions in high value of this word are spiritual practices and ethical teachings, which are an integral part of all world religions. Curbing base passions for the sake of high values, devotion to ideals, to their parents (sons of piety), to their overlords (knights and samurai), to their homeland (patriotism), to their God (monasticism, asceticism). Harakiri is an example of a value-based rational act in its extreme form.

In the 1920s and 1930s. mass heroism was the most important characteristic of the social behavior of large groups of people. The communists deliberately used the emotional impulse of people in situations where routine actions could not ensure quick success, in particular when erecting giant construction projects in a short time. Inspiration is undoubtedly an affective action. But, being adopted by large masses of people, inspiration takes on a social connotation and turns into a subject of sociology research. At the same time, inspiration was achieved for the sake of certain moral values, for example, building a bright future, establishing equality and justice on earth. In this case, the affective action acquires the traits of a value-rational or completely passes into this category, remaining but the content of the emotional action.

Value-based rational behavior, guided by high, but formally or generally misunderstood ideals, can lose its positive function and turn into a negative affective action. This is Islamic fundamentalism that ultimately led to widespread terrorism. According to the just remark of experts in Islam, its spiritual leaders, the fundamentalists have perverted the high values ​​of Islam and in their actions are guided not by the code of honor (protecting the ideals of Islam from reproach by the infidels), but by purely rational goals - the all-round destruction of dissidents and disbelievers, the creation of a world caliphate and destruction of your enemy, Christianity.

Vandalism - an outrage against cultural monuments and collective shrines - is fundamentally an immoral command. But most often it is a deliberate, goal-oriented action designed to outrage, trample on sacred things, respected and appreciated by the people. By denying some values, they affirm others. At the same time, vandalism is committed in an extremely affective form.

Traditional actions - these are actions performed automatically by force of habit. Every day we brush our teeth, dress, perform many other usual actions, the meaning of which we don’t even think about. Only if there is a difficulty and we cannot determine, for example, what color shirt to wear this time, automatism breaks down, and we think. Traditional action is carried out on the basis of deeply assimilated social patterns of behavior, norms that have turned into habitual action.

Easter egg dyeing is a Christian custom that has grown into a tradition, and many people, even non-believers, still continue to paint eggs for Easter. Many people bake pancakes for Shrovetide. This custom has remained in our society since paganism, but many people continue to follow the tradition, although they do not always experience hunger. Traditionally, when blowing out birthday candles, people make a wish.

Compliance with the knightly charter is an example of etiquette, and therefore traditional, behavior. It formed a special psychology and norms of behavior in people.

Seeing off relatives or guests is a traditional social action. It has deep historical roots - at the time of the Scythians, when there were many hostile tribes, our ancestors escorted guests (merchants) to a safe place. Since then, it has become a tradition in us as their descendants.

The most incomprehensible, in this case, is affective action, where neither the ends nor the means are clear. Someone said an insulting word to you, you turned around and gave a slap in the face. Your actions are guided by emotions, but not rational considerations, not consciously chosen means to achieve the goal. Affective action has no purpose; it occurs in an outburst of feelings, when emotions overcome the mind. Affective behavior presupposes such a behavioral act that occurs in individuals under the influence of a momentary mood, an explosion of emotions, or other stimuli that do not have, in the strict sense, social origin.

The typology of affective action includes such types as revolutionary neurosis, mob lynching, panic, medieval persecution of witches, persecution of enemies of the people in the 1930s, mass psychosis, various phobias and fears, mass hysteria, stress, unmotivated murder, fights, alcoholism, addictive behavior, etc.

To understand goal-oriented rational action, according to Weber, there is no need to resort to psychology. But only psychology can cognize an affective action. The sociologist is out of place here. Fatigue, habits, memory, euphoria, individual reactions, stress, likes and dislikes are devoid of any meaning. They are impulsive. The sociologist, according to Weber, uses them simply as data, i.e. something that influences social action, but is not part of it. Of course, the sociologist must take into account the influence of such factors as race, the effect of aging of the body, biologically inherited structure of the body, and the need for nutrition. But they can only be used if we have statistically proven their influence on the corresponding behavior of people.

Sociology as social action science deals not with a concretely experienced value, but with a hypothetically typical or mean value. If, for example, a sociologist, with repeated observation, found a statistically recurring connection between two actions, then this in itself still means little. Such a connection will be significant from a sociological point of view if proven probability this connection, i.e. if the scientist has substantiated that the action And with highly likely to entail an action V and there is more between them than just a random (statistical) relationship. And this can be done only knowing the motives of people's behavior, this knowledge will tell us that the connection between the two events is internally conditioned, follows from the logic of motives and the meaning that people put into their actions.

Therefore, the sociological explanation is not only subjectively significant, but also factually probabilistic. This combination gives rise to a causal explanation in sociology. True, the individual is not always aware of the meaning of his actions. This happens when he acts under the influence of traditions, collective norms and customs, or his behavior is affective, i.e. determined by emotions. In addition, the individual may not be aware of his own goals, although they exist, but they are not aware of them. Weber does not consider such actions rational (meaningful and purposeful), and therefore, social. He takes such actions outside the sphere of sociology proper, they should be studied by psychology, psychoanalysis, ethnography or other "sciences of the spirit."

Sociological workshop

Which of the four types of social action do the following situations relate to: divorce due to "ns got together," giving a bribe, denying one's guilt for violating traffic rules, speaking at a scientific conference, passing an exam, queuing at a store?

Max Weber's concept of social action has gained widespread acceptance abroad. The initial positions formulated by the German scientist were developed in the works of J. Mead, F. Znanetsky, E. Schils and many others. By generalizing the Weberian concept American sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) The theory of social action became the foundation of modern behavioral science. Parsons went further than Weber in his analysis of elementary social action by including the actor, situation, and conditions.

Social action today

In this sense, it is understandable that many researchers have recently turned to the works of M. Weber, who proposed a classification of types of social action, including goal-rational, post-rational, traditional and affective types of social action. D. V. Olshansky, for example, made an attempt to differentiate the types of social behavior in accordance with the Weberian classification based on the distribution of respondents' answers to the question: "What do you think is the most worthy behavior in today's crisis situation?" D. Olshansky attributed the desire to find one's place in the market economy to the value-rational type of behavior, the goal-oriented type corresponds to the answer option "trust in the policy of reforms requires active personal actions of everyone," the affective type presupposes an active protest against the reforms being carried out, and the desire to devote more time to the family corresponds to the traditional mud of behavior.

• Weber M. Basic sociological concepts / per. with him. M. I. Levina // Its the same. Selected works. M .: Progress, 1990.S. 602-603.
• Cm.: Weber M. Economy and Society: An outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley: University California Press, 1978. Vol. 1.P. 11.
• We note right away that not all sociologists agree with Weber. For example, the revolutionary syndrome, based on affective behavior, served as the subject of research for many thinkers, including P. Sorokin.
• Cm.: Ionia L.G. Weber Max // Sociology: encyclopedia / comp. A. A. Gritsanov, V. L. Abushenko, G. M. Evelkin, G. N. Sokolova, O. V. Tereshchenko. Minsk: Knizhny Dom, 2003.S. 159.
• Cm.: D. V. Olshansky Social adaptation: who won? Macromechanism of reforms // Economic reforms in Russia: social dimension. M., 1995. S. 75–83.

One of the central points of Weber's theory is the allocation of an elementary particle of an individual's behavior in society - social action, which is the cause and effect of a system of complex relationships between people. “Social action”, according to Weber, is an ideal type, where “action” is the action of a person who associates subjective meaning (rationality) with him, and “social” is an action that, according to the meaning assumed by its subject, is related to the action of other persons and is oriented on them. The scientist identifies four types of social action:

§ goal-rational- using certain expected behavior of other people to achieve goals;

§ value-rational - understanding of behavior, action as actually value-significant, based on the norms of morality, religion;

§ affective - especially emotional, sensual;

§ traditional- based on the strength of the habit, the accepted norm. In the strict sense, affective and traditional actions are not social.

Society itself, according to Weber's doctrine, is a collection of acting individuals, each of whom strives to achieve their own goals. Meaningful behavior, as a result of which individual goals are achieved, leads to the fact that a person acts as a social being, in association with others, thus ensuring significant progress in interaction with the environment.

Scheme 1. Types of social action according to M. Weber

Weber deliberately ranked the four types of social action he described in ascending order of rationality. This order, on the one hand, serves as a kind of methodological device for explaining the different nature of the subjective motivation of an individual or a group, without which it is generally impossible to speak of action oriented towards others; he calls motivation “expectation,” without which action cannot be regarded as social. On the other hand, and in this Weber was convinced, the rationalization of social action is at the same time a tendency in the historical process. And although this process does not proceed without difficulties, various kinds of obstacles and deviations, European history of the last centuries. the involvement of other, non-European civilizations on the path of industrialization is evidenced, according to Weber. that rationalization is a world-historical process. "One of the essential components of the 'rationalization' of action is the replacement of internal adherence to habitual morals and customs by systematic adaptation to considerations of interest."

Rationalization, also according to Weber, is a form of development, or social progress, which is carried out within the framework of a certain picture of the world, which are different in history.

Weber identifies three most general types, three ways of relating to the world, which contain the corresponding attitudes or vectors (directions) of people's life, their social action.

The first of them is associated with Confucianism and Taoist religious and philosophical views that have spread in China; the second - with Hindu and Buddhist, widespread in India; the third - with the Jewish and Christian, which arose in the Middle East and spread to Europe and America. Weber defines the first type as adaptation to the world, the second as escape from the world, and the third as mastering the world. These different types of attitude and way of life set the direction for subsequent rationalization, that is, different ways of moving along the path of social progress.

A very important aspect in Weber's work is the study of basic relations in social associations. First of all, this concerns the analysis of power relations, as well as the nature and structure of organizations, where these relations are most pronounced.

From the application of the concept of "social action" to the political sphere, Weber deduces three pure types of legitimate (recognized) domination:

§ legal, - in which both the ruled and the rulers obey not some personality, but the law;

§ traditional- due primarily to the habits and mores of a given society;

§ charismatic- based on the extraordinary abilities of the leader's personality.

Sociology, according to Weber, should be based on scientific judgments, as free as possible from all kinds of personal predilections of the scientist, from political, economic, ideological influences.

10. K. Marx, F. Engels. Materialistic understanding of history.

Karl Marx (1818–1883) criticized Feuerbach's anthropological materialism for its abstract approach to understanding man. In "Theses on Feuerbach" he stressed that "the essence of man is not an abstract inherent in a separate individual. In its reality, it is the totality of all social relations. " Of course, the idea that “a person is shaped by circumstances” is not new; Marx's detailed analysis of these circumstances turned out to be new. Of the whole variety of social relations, Marx singles out material, production relations, that is, those relations that develop between people in the process of producing material goods, as the main ones that define them. Marx comes to the conclusion that it is labor, material production that constitute the basis of human existence, the history of people.

This is how the most important, central idea of ​​Marxist philosophy is born - materialistic understanding of history... In a concise form, the essence of the materialist understanding of history is set forth by Marx in his work "To the criticism political economy"(1859):" The totality of production relations constitutes the economic structure of society, the real basis on which the legal and political superstructure rises and to which certain forms of social consciousness correspond. The mode of production of material life determines the social, political and spiritual processes of life in general. It is not the consciousness of people that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being determines their consciousness. "

Based on the materialist understanding of history, Marx establishes a certain recurrence in the history of various countries, in the organization of their social life. He identifies several main historical forms of organization of society (or formations). Differences between formations are based on differences in the type of organization. material production... As a result, the history of mankind is presented in the form of development from the primitive system, through the slaveholding and feudal system to the capitalist one, and from it, with necessity, to the communist social formation.

Here Marx arrives at the second most important idea of ​​his philosophy - the understanding of history as a natural, natural-historical process. He comes to the conclusion that there are not only objective laws of the development of nature, but also of society. Based on this conclusion, Marx and his associate F. Engels in the "Manifesto of the Communist Party" proclaimed the inevitability of the fall of capitalism and the transition to a communist society.

As a young man, Marx became interested in the ideas of communism. They expressed the dream of a humane and just social order. In the proletariat, Marx saw a special class, whose vocation is the destruction of the exploiting society, with its inherent alienation of man. Marx believed that the basis of all human alienation is economic alienation, or alienated labor (that is, forced labor). Neither the starting material nor the products of such labor belong to the worker - they are alien to him. Prospects for human development - in the destruction of alienated labor, and hence private property. Marx came to the conclusion that only after the abolition of private property, labor should turn into a means of human self-development, become a need for him. A comprehensively developed man living in harmony with nature - these are some of the features of the communist ideal drawn by Marx.

It is easy to see that Marxism, like all classical philosophy, was inherent in the belief in the power of the human mind, capable of creating a perfect society. The idea of ​​social progress is filled here with a new meaning: each of the formations is considered as a stage of historical progress, the apex of which is communism.

The fate of Marxist philosophy turned out to be unique: the arguments of its supporters are comparable in strength to those of its opponents. As for the idea of ​​a materialist understanding of history, according to Karl Popper, one of the most implacable critics of Marx, it contains common sense and retains its significance today. "Marx taught us," Popper notes, "that the development of ideas cannot be fully understood unless we take into account the conditions of their origin and the economic situation of their creators." At the same time, Popper believes that Marx's economic determinism (that is, his insistence on economic prerequisites as the last foundation of social development) is erroneous. “Experience shows,” he writes, “that under certain circumstances the influence of ideas can outweigh the influence of economic factors. And it is impossible to correctly understand the nature of economic development without taking into account the development of scientific, religious and other ideas. "

But the materialist understanding of history by no means denies the role of ideas in the life of society. It only requires going further: where do the ideas themselves come from?

11. Features of the formation and development of Russian sociology. The main schools and directions: L. Mechnikov, N. Mikhailovsky, P. Lavrov, N. Ya. Danilevsky.

In Russia, sociology began to gain its position in the 60s. XIX century, when the scientific community and the reading public were able to get acquainted with the translations of books and articles by O. Comte. Experiencing the influence of various currents of Western sociology, Russian sociologists create their own original concepts, reflecting the uniqueness of Russian society. In the development of sociological thought in pre-revolutionary Russia, 5 stages can be distinguished:

Since the early 1860s. before 1890;

Since the 1890s. before the beginning of the XX century:

Since the beginning of the XX century. before 1917;

Revival 1950-60s;

1980-1990s

1 The first stage in the development of sociology (1860s - 1890) is associated primarily with the work of the prominent ideologists of populism P.L. Lavrov and N.K. Mikhailovsky. The direction they developed was called the "ethical-subjective school". These thinkers believed that an objective study of social phenomena should be combined with their subjective assessment based on the principles of ethics and social justice.

In his opinion, the leading force, "the main organ of progress is the personality, characterized by a critical consciousness to change frozen social forms." According to Lavrov, the historical process has direction and is measured by the degree of development of social solidarity.

He identifies three types of solidarity:

Habit-based;

Based on the similarity of affects and interests;

Conscious solidarity based on the unity of the beliefs of people.

From this he concludes that only those groups and peoples can be recognized as historical, in the midst of which conscious solidarity has appeared.

N.K. Mikhailovsky held similar views. According to Mikhailovsky, the main task of sociology as a science should be not so much the search and discovery of objective laws, but rather to reveal the human, humanistic content social progress and correlate it with the needs of the human person.

He calls a subjective method such a way of satisfying a cognitive need, when the observer sociologist puts himself in the position of the observed. According to him, the individual and society mutually complement each other, since any suppression of the individual harms society, and the suppression of the public is harmful to the individual.

Thus, as the leading force of social progress, Lavrov and Mikhailovsky viewed the "critically thinking person" who, in their opinion, acted as the creator of history and at the same time as the bearer of the moral ideal. They saw the essence of progress in the growth of social solidarity and consciousness of the individual.

Along with subjective sociology, positivism played a significant role in the sociological thought of Russia at that time. The positivist approach was most fully developed in the scientific work of M.M. Kovalevsky - a famous historian, ethnographer and sociologist. He was one of the first to apply the comparative historical method in sociology, with the help of which he studied the genesis of peoples different countries and eras. Kovalevsky called the analysis of social phenomena based on their origin "genetic sociology", and from this point of view he considered, in particular, the origin of the family, property, and the state.

Based on the attitudes of "sociological pluralism", he developed a theory of social progress, which is sometimes called the core of his sociology. Kovalevsky saw the main content of social progress in "expanding the sphere of human solidarity."

In the mainstream of positivism, the "naturalistic" school developed, within the framework of which several trends and directions of sociological thought arose. These include the concept of geographical determinism, developed by the great geographer and sociologist L.I. Mechnikov. He explained the unevenness of social development by the influence of geographical conditions, mainly water resources and communication routes. At the same time, the decisive role in the development of society was assigned to the influence of the hydrological factor (rivers, seas, oceans). The theory of L.I. Mechnikova contained valuable ideas explaining the mechanisms of interaction between nature and society.

Most prominent representatives psychological direction in Russian sociology were E.V. De Roberti and N.I. Kareev.

E.V. De Roberti, understands sociology as a theoretical generalizing science, the main task of which is “to discover the laws governing the emergence, formation and gradual development of the highest supra-organic or spiritual form of world energy.

According to De Roberti, there are four groups of social facts that ultimately determine the behavior of individuals in society and the specifics of their psychological interaction: knowledge, religious belief, aesthetic feelings and practical, technical actions of people.

A great contribution to substantiating the role of mental factors in the development of society was made by N.I. Kareev. He considered the spiritual interaction of people as a determining factor in social life to be the subject of the study of sociology. Kareev noted that in the activities and behavior of people, and therefore in their entire social life, the intellectual, emotional and volitional sides of their spiritual life play a large role. In his opinion, the mental life of a person follows from his "mental nature" and is determined by it. Like De Roberti, Kareev gave great importance"Collective psychology" underlying the development of spiritual culture.

Simultaneously with the so-called academic sociology in Russia, ideological and political sociology was developed greatly.

Religious social philosophy (Christian humanism) is associated with the names of such Russian thinkers as A. Khomyakov, K. Leontiev, Vl. Soloviev, N. Berdyaev and others. The emergence of this trend was caused primarily by the increase in late XIX- the beginning of the XX century. crisis phenomena in all spheres of public life, as well as an increase in the activity of the masses and the confusion of the intelligentsia.

Vladimir Soloviev and Nikolai Berdyaev were deeply aware that a true sociology can only be that which, in its essence, is the ideology of the national spirit. They believed that sociology should develop such important integral concepts that unite society as “ national idea"," Social ideal "," fundamental interest "and other concepts related to the category of the so-called value orientation, both on a global and national scale.

The sociology of Marxism in Russia was represented by two main theories: orthodox Marxism (G.V. Plekhanov and V.I. Lenin) and the so-called "legal Marxism" (PB Struve, M. Tugan-Baranovsky and others).

Legal Marxism is a theoretical and ideological direction of social thought, which recognized the truth of the economic doctrine of K. Marx about the nature and historical inevitability of capitalism. The most prominent representatives of this trend were P.B. Struve and M. Tugan-Baranovsky.

According to P. Struve, Russia's economic prosperity in the future will become possible on the basis of the capitalist path of development. A prerequisite he considered this a successful social reforms and the creation of opportunities for the free development of individuals. Struve assigned an important role to the activities of the bourgeois state - the "organization of order" capable of establishing the economic and political life of society and preventing social conflicts.

M. Tugan-Baranovsky, as well as P.B. Struve, preferred civilized capitalism to socialism. As a prominent economist and sociologist, he expressed ideas:

Partial and cooperative entrepreneurship;

Connections of large and small production;

Public self-government in public organizations, communities;

Distribution according to work: "from each according to his ability, to each ability according to her work."

Tugan-Baranovsky attached great importance to free agricultural cooperation, through which peasants can come to large and efficient production.

The main meaning of the Marxist theory lies in revealing the laws and essence of the transition from private to public property.

Anarchism (from the Greek. Anarchia - anarchy, anarchy) is a socio-political trend that denies the need for state and other power and preaches unlimited freedom of the individual. non-recognition of generally recognized laws and order. The most prominent representatives of anarchism in Russia were the Russian revolutionaries M.A. Bakunin and P.A. Kropotkin.

Anarchism of the 19th century was subdivided into two streams:

1 anarchism-individualism, of which Bakunin was a representative,

2 anarchism-collectivism. Kropotkin represented the second trend, developing it into anarchism-communism.

The essence of anarchism, as Bakunin believed, can be expressed in the words: "leave things to their natural flow." Hence one of the central ideas of anarchism - the idea of ​​individual freedom as its natural state, which should not be violated by any state institutions. The state, according to Bakunin, is always the power of the minority, a force opposed to the people.

Like Bakunin, Kropotkin strongly opposed "state socialism", believing that the working people themselves were able to "develop a system based on their personal and collective freedom." This free "anarchic communism", in his opinion, should be a society of equal people, based on self-government and consisting of many unions organized for all kinds of production: agricultural, industrial, intellectual, artistic, etc.

A prominent representative of the historical school (trend) of Russian sociology was N. Ya. Danilevsky (1822-1885). In his most famous work "Europe and Russia", he identified and analyzed the main "cultural and historical types", or civilizations. According to his theory, every society, every nation in its development goes through cyclical stages - birth, youth, decrepitude and death. Civilizational approach for Danilevsky it served as a methodological basis for the search for a special historical path for Russia, justification of its originality and the possibility for it not to repeat the stages of development of Western countries.

Danilevsky's ideas had a strong influence on P.A. Sorokin, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy. Their echoes are heard in the ideas of L.H. Gumilyov and many other authors.

2 At the second stage (1890s - early XX century), the process of institutionalization of Russian sociology begins, which penetrates the academic environment and increasingly finds support in scientific and public circles.

During this period, new directions in sociology arose, the most influential of which was the sociological school of law. Representatives of this school are well-known legal scholars and sociologists N.Zh. Korkunov, S.A. Muromtsev, P.I. Novgorodtsev and others - sharply criticized positivism and strove to provide a normative, moral and legal basis for public life. The merit of these researchers was that they succeed in deeply developing a number of methodological problems of sociological knowledge.

By the end of the second stage, Russian sociology entered the international arena. At the same time, there have been shifts in the process of institutionalization of Russian sociology. Thanks to the efforts of M.M. Kovalevsky in 1908, the first in Russia department of sociology was opened at the private Psychoneurological Institute in St. Petersburg.

3 The third stage (beginning of the 20th century - 1917) in the development of Russian sociology is characterized by an orientation towards neo-positivism, the most famous representatives of which were K.M. Takhtarev and P.A. Sorokin.

Among Russian sociologists K.M. Takhtarev was one of the first to draw attention to the need to apply empirical methods in sociology - observation, experiment and socio-statistical measurement, since without mathematics sociology cannot become an accurate and objective science.

Scientific and organizational activities of P.A. Sorokin contributed to the acceleration of the process of institutionalization of sociological science. With his active participation, the country's first sociological society is being created, and a degree in sociology is being established. In 1920, the country's first sociological faculty was opened at Petrograd University, headed by P.A. Sorokin.

Pitirim Sorokin is a prominent scientist and public figure, who made a huge contribution to the development of domestic and world sociology. P. Sorokin distinguishes between theoretical and practical sociology. Theoretical sociology, in his opinion, only observes, analyzes and builds conceptual models, while practical sociology should be an applied discipline.

The sections of sociological knowledge, according to P. Sorokin, are:

Social analytics studying structure (structure) social phenomenon and its main forms;

Social mechanics (or social physiology), which describes the processes of interaction of social aggregates (people, groups, social institutions);

Social genetics, which studies the development of social life, its individual aspects and institutions.

P. Sorokin considered interaction to be the primary unit of sociological analysis. Developing the idea of ​​understanding society as a special social space that does not coincide with territorial, physical, etc., P. Sorokin created two interrelated concepts: social stratification (social stratification) and social revolution.

According to the first theory, the whole society is divided into different strata - strata, which differ among themselves in terms of income level, types of activity, political views, cultural orientations, etc. Sorokin referred to the main forms of social stratification as economic, political, and professional. The internal dynamics of stratification systems is expressed in the processes of social mobility - the movement of people along the positions of social space.

P. Sorokin was opposed to all social upheavals, including revolutions, and advocated a normal, evolutionary path of development. He believed that problems arising in society should be solved on the basis of sound management.

Taking general philosophical ideas about the dual nature of man as a criterion for classification, in which the concepts of "material" and "ideal", "sublime" and "earthly" coexist, P. Sorokin identified three types of cultural supersystems: sensual, ideational and idealistic (or integral).

Thus, sociology in pre-revolutionary Russia developed as a part of global sociological thought. Experiencing the influence of various currents of Western sociology, she was at the same time able to put forward many of her own theories and concepts that reflected the originality of the development of Russian society.

4 Fourth stage. The revival of Russian sociology began only in the late 1950s and early 1960s. in connection with the liberalization of the political regime. In the 1960s. sociology is restoring its social status. In 1962, the Soviet Sociological Association was created, in 1968 - the Institute of Concrete Social Research of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (now the Institute of Sociology). Faculties and departments are being opened at the country's universities. Since 1974, a specialized journal "Sociological Research" has been published.

During this period, large-scale sociological studies were carried out to study the impact of scientific and technological progress on the social and professional structure of workers, their attitude to work. The so-called "social planning", drawing up a plan for social and economic development, has become widespread. industrial enterprises, collective and state farms and even some cities. In the course of these studies, a wealth of factual material has been accumulated, methods of sociological research have been worked out, skills in conducting sociological research have been acquired.

So in post-war time there was a partial institutionalization of sociology in the USSR, but it did not become widespread in society, and the development of this science continued to be restrained by party bodies.

5 Fifth stage. The modern stage of the rapid development of Russian sociology began in the mid-1980s. At the stage of the stage, sociology leaves the tutelage of the CPSU and historical materialism, becomes an independent science and academic discipline, taught in most Russian universities since 1989/1990.

The subsequent intensive development of sociology is associated with fundamental changes that have taken place in the life of the country since the mid-1980s. In 1987, the All-Union Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) was created, as well as a number of independent sociological services. Polls of the population on a variety of issues, practical use sociological information have become quite common. Sociology found its rebirth, began to be taught in higher and secondary specialized educational institutions of the country as a general education discipline.

In 1988, a resolution was adopted by the Central Committee of the CPSU, which for the first time recognized the need for higher sociological education in the country. June 6, 1989 can be considered the birthday of the sociological faculty of Moscow State University, which turned out to be the first sociological faculty of the USSR after a long break. Its organizer and head of the department of sociology, professor V. Dobrenkov, became the dean of the faculty.

Sociological faculties of universities are successfully functioning in many large cities. V last years dozens of textbooks and teaching aids have been published on general and sectoral sociological disciplines.

The development of sociological science in Russia in the second half of the 20th century is due to a number of features:

The slow formation of the social prerequisites of capitalism and the institutions of civil society. The bipolar structure of Russian society ("bottom-top"), with the practical absence of a middle class, stimulated a high degree of violence, a special punitive role of the state in the integration of society. Collective (communal) forms social community conditioned the underdevelopment of individual consciousness, the priority of public interest over personal;

The integrating principle was Orthodoxy;

Significant influence of ideology. In the public consciousness of Russian society, extremes prevailed - conservatism and radicalism. The first was associated with Slavophilism, with the search for a special path for the development of Russia. Radicalism insisted on revolutionary methods of transforming society (from the Decembrists to Bolshevism).

Conclusion

Thus, the development of sociology as a science in our country has passed a difficult path. At each stage of historical transformations, sociology opened the way for new directions that determined its movement forward.

Among the problems that are leading for sociology on the present stage development are: the social position of a person in society and the group, social structure, participation in management, " human relations», Public opinion, socio-cultural and interethnic processes, environmental problems and other issues related to a specific historical and socio-economic situation in the context of the country's transition to market relations.

The birth and development of Russian scientific sociology was due to numerous reasons and factors. By the middle of the 19th century, when Russian sociology, based on the prevailing opinion, began its formation, Western sociological thought had already found its embodiment in the works of O. Comte, Saint-Simon, G. Spencer and other social scientists of that time. Undoubtedly, the sociological views of Western schools and their representatives had a certain influence on the process of the emergence of sociology in Russia.

Sociological thought in Russia is developing as a part of global sociological science. Influenced by various currents of Western sociology, she at the same time puts forward original theories that reflect the uniqueness of the development of Russian society.

Contemporary Russian sociology is the sociology of liberalism, a social system based on the economic freedom of the individual and on the priority of civil society over the state.

12. P. Sorokin in the history of Russian and world sociology.

Pitirim A. Sorokin(1889-1968) - one of the most prominent classics of sociology, who had a great influence on all development in the XX century. Sometimes P. Sorokin is called not a Russian sociologist, but an American one. Indeed, chronologically the "Russian" period of his activity is strictly limited to 1922, the year of his expulsion from Russia. However, the formation of Sorokin's sociological views, as well as his political position, took place precisely in his homeland, in the conditions of wars, revolutions, the struggle of political parties and scientific schools. In the main work of the "Russian" period - the two-volume "System of Sociology" (1920) - he formulates the basic principles of the theory of social stratification and social mobility (he introduced these terms into scientific circulation), structures theoretical sociology, highlighting social analytics, social mechanics and social genetics.

Sorokin considers social behavior, social interaction of individuals, which he considers as a generic model of both a social group and society as a whole, to be the basis of sociological analysis. He divides social groups into organized and unorganized, Special attention giving the analysis of the hierarchical structure of an organized social group. Within the groups there are strata (layers), distinguished by economic, political and professional characteristics. Sorokin argued that a society without stratification and inequality is a myth. The forms and proportions of the stratification may change, but its essence is constant. Stratification is an invariable characteristic of any organized society and exists in a non-democratic society and in a society with a “flourishing democracy”.

Sorokin speaks of the existence of two types of social mobility in society - vertical and horizontal. Social mobility means a transition from one social position to another, a kind of "lift" for moving both within a social group and between groups. Social stratification and mobility in society is predetermined by the fact that people are not equal in their physical strength, mental abilities, inclinations, tastes, etc .; moreover, by the very fact of their joint activity. Joint activity necessarily requires organization, and organization is unthinkable without leaders and subordinates. Since society is always stratified, inequality is inherent in it, but this inequality must be reasonable.

Society should strive for a state in which a person can develop his abilities, and science and the instinct of the masses, and not revolutions, can help society in this. In Sociology of Revolution (1925) Sorokin calls the revolution a "great tragedy" and defines it as "a death machine that deliberately destroys the healthiest and most able-bodied, most outstanding, gifted, strong-willed and mentally qualified elements of the population from both sides." The revolution is accompanied by violence and cruelty, a reduction in freedom, not an increase in it. It distorts the social structure of society, worsens the economic and cultural position of the working class. The only way to improve and reconstruct social life can only be reforms carried out by legal and constitutional means. Every reform must be preceded by a scientific study of specific social conditions, and every reform must first be "tested" on a small social scale.

Sorokin's theoretical legacy and his contribution to the development of national and world sociology can hardly be overestimated, he is so rich in deeply meaningful, theoretically and methodologically supported knowledge of social reality and trends in the future development of society.

Sociology P. Sorokin

Pitirim Sorokin(1889-1968) created a sociological theory that was called "integral". It viewed society as a sociocultural system. He singled out four sections in sociology: the doctrine of society, social mechanics (definition of the statistical laws of society), social genetics (the origin and development of society), social policy (private sociological science).

The element of society is the interaction of individuals. It is subdivided into stereotyped and unconventional, one-sided and two-sided, antagonistic and non-antagonistic. Society is a process and a result social interaction(interactions of many individuals). Its result is their adaptation to the environment. In the process of such adaptation, a social order of society arises, the main development trend of which is social equality.

The development of human society takes place through evolution and revolution. Social evolution represents a gradual and progressive development based on knowledge of society, reforms, human cooperation, striving for social equality. Social revolution - rapid, deep progressive or regressive development of society, based on the violence of one class over another. It changes the nature of social equality.

Based on the experience of personal participation in the two Russian revolutions of 1917, P. Sorokin singles out their main reasons: the suppression of the basic needs of the majority of the population by the existing social system, the inefficiency of this social system, and the weakness of the forces of public order protection. The social revolution is going through stages revolutionary explosion when basic needs find a way out and destroy the country, and counterrevolution when these needs curb.

Pitirim Sorokin developed a theory social stratification, division of society into many social strata (strata) depending on wealth, power, education, etc.

He also belongs to the priority in the discovery of the theory of social mobility, movement from one social stratum to another.