Agrarian society is a concept that characterizes the socio-economic development of society, its specific stage, in which agriculture predominates, there is a rigid class hierarchy, the decisive role in socio-political life belongs to the church and the army. This is the first stage of development of society.

“Peasant society” and “traditional society” are synonyms for the concept of “agrarian society,” the definition of which began to be actively used in the 50-60s of the last century. Since the concept of industrial society has become widespread.

Traditional or agrarian society is a close interaction between man and nature, his competition with it. The features of this type of society are manifested in all spheres of life (social, economic, spiritual, political).

Social life

The agricultural type of society implies social relations based on subordination. Everyone is included in the collective, everyone becomes part of it. A person was usually born, started a family, and died in one place and environment. His life and work activity passed from generation to generation, that is, they were reproduced. Changing the team was difficult or even tragic. The life span of people in such a society was quite short. This is 40-50 years. There was a high mortality rate due to not very developed medicine, and other areas of life. Mortality was compensated by high birth rates.

Economic sphere

In the economic sphere, there is a complete dependence of the economy on nature and climate. The most common types of economy are cattle breeding and agriculture; their distribution depends on a person’s position in the social hierarchy. In general, people work individually, mainly manually, without the use of any equipment.

Political life

The basis of an agrarian society was the agricultural community, the relationships in which were very strong due to descent from a common ancestor and recognition of each other as relatives. The basis of the community was the collective use of land, joint labor activity, and periodic redistribution of land. Agrarian society is characterized by low dynamics. The position of each person in it directly depends on what social status he occupies and whether he is close to power. The eldest (head of the family, clan, leader) is indisputable, regardless of what personal qualities he possesses, whether he has won the love and respect of other members of the community. In a traditional society, old people are always revered. It is based on written and unwritten traditions, norms and customs. Conflicts, disputes, and disagreements are resolved with the participation of a senior, authoritative member of society.

Spiritual sphere of life

We can say that an agrarian society is closed, self-sufficient, it does not allow any influence on it from the outside. Traditions determine political life, not laws. Power is of greater value than law; it does not require any justification. Since it is inherited by the will of God, that is, the ruler carries out the will of the highest powers on earth. Power is always with one person; most often he prefers a despotic type of government, being the supreme ruler of the earth. We can say that society, and the state itself, seeks to suppress a person and his personality. Thus, the form of government of an agrarian society is monarchy.

Fashion and agrarian society

The concept of fashion as such did not exist. Each nation had a generally accepted way of dressing, that is, a national costume, which changed very little or remained unchanged for a long time. Social hierarchy was very evident in clothing. Depending on belonging to a particular stratum, a person’s national costume also changed.

Culture

During the agrarian period of human history, a very significant event occurred. This is the emergence of writing and the emergence of a special estate or class of people - the learned estate. Only a few were literate during the mid-agrarian era. Only a few societies created their own written language. However, very few people in these societies could actually read and write.

Literacy leads to the centralization and accumulation of knowledge and culture. Although there is rivalry and disagreement between the learned class and the clergy.

Conclusion

Thus, we can highlight the characteristic features of an agrarian society:

• dominance of agricultural production;
• little or no production development;
• weak social differentiation;
• predominance of the rural population.

In the modern world there are no longer examples of such a structure of society, although it is possible to cite as an example the various Aboriginal tribes that live in Australia and Africa.

The concept of an agrarian society

Definition 1

Agrarian society is a historical stage of socio-economic development, in which the resources produced in agriculture are of greatest importance.

Its emergence became possible thanks to the Neolithic revolution. The main difference from a hunter-gatherer society is the fact that people in agrarian societies have ways of producing more food from a small amount of space. In connection with this fact, the population density in such a society increases many times over, which in turn inevitably entails a complication of the socio-political organization of the existing social system.

The main characteristic features of an agrarian society

• This type of society is characterized by weak social differentiation among its members;
• the overwhelming predominance of the rural population over the urban;
• the main type of production is agriculture;
• weak and insignificant development of industrial sectors;

Characteristics of an agricultural society

1. The technological basis of the agrarian type of society and agrarian civilization as a whole is the variety of agricultural tools used by people using human and animal energy. Thanks to this diversity, the emergence of family and other cooperation between people is possible, which allows for more active reproduction of material wealth.
2. The demographic and social characteristics of an agrarian society lie in the dominant role of the patriarchal family, which includes parents, children, grandparents, relatives living together and doing the same thing to get the best result.
3. The basis of the economic subsystem of an agrarian society is the agricultural method of production, the main subject of labor in which is the land and human life activities constantly associated with it.
4. The industrial production of the agricultural era is characterized by the production of iron and steel, the invention of iron and steel tools and weapons, and the application of industrial knowledge and human power to the cultivation of land.
5. The economic strength of this era lies in private and communal ownership of means of processing, tools and land. During this period of development of society, a process of deepening the division of labor is taking place, and the handicraft sector is actively growing.
6. The political subsystem of the agrarian era is an unstable empire, which is based on the army, the bureaucracy existing in society, private and civil law, and community self-government. The times of the emergence and existence of agrarian society are characterized by continuous wars, which became especially bloody due to the invention of iron weapons. Also, due to the constant military threat from the outside, the process of strengthening cities, which were surrounded by walls, ditches, and guarded by the army almost constantly, is actively underway.
7. The spiritual subsystem of the agrarian era is characterized by the dominance of mythology and religion over the consciousness of people. An agrarian society is characterized by a struggle between different religious and worldview systems. There is active construction of temples, music, dance and architectural arts are developing. The beginnings of education and science appear.
8. Social consciousness in an agrarian society is mythological, religious in nature and represents a set of myths that are unconditionally believed. In people's minds, the unconscious dominates the conscious, and spiritual development is relegated to the background.

Around the V-IV millennia BC. e. the gradual transformation of primitive communal (tribal) society begins in agrarian-political(Asian, Eastern) By the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. arose state-societies three types: small kingdoms (principalities); federations (conglomerates) of such kingdoms, in which the core was one strong kingdom (later Kievan Rus was like this); empires are large territorial, multi-ethnic states with strong centralized governance. In empires, one tribe (people) occupied a dominant spiritual, political and economic position. The centers of empires became areas located on trade routes connecting kingdoms with different social divisions of labor: agricultural, pastoral, craft. Ancient local civilizations of the Sumerians, Egyptians and others arose in them.

Note that the technological basis The agrarian (pre-industrial) type of society and agrarian civilization consisted of a variety of agricultural tools (plow, axe, harrow, etc.) based on the use of muscular energy of humans and animals. From it arises simple family and other cooperation, which allows for the expanded reproduction of material goods and people.

Demosocial subsystem pre-industrial society is characterized by: a patriarchal family, including parents, children, grandparents, relatives; the majority of the population living in villages - household unions; inequality in the consumption of material and spiritual goods; mythological consciousness of people; natural demosocial consumption with market elements.

Economic subsystem the agrarian era characterizes agricultural method production, in which the main subject of labor was the land and the human activity associated with it. The productive force of the agrarian era was the production of iron and steel, the invention of iron and steel tools and weapons, and the application of industrial knowledge and the muscular power of people. The economic strength of this era was private and communal ownership of the means of production and land; The division of labor deepened and the craft sector grew. The vast majority of the population worked in agriculture.

It is worth saying - the political subsystem The agrarian era was represented by unstable empires based on the army, bureaucracy, private and civil law, and communal self-government: New Assyrian (IX-VII centuries BC; Western Asia, except Urartu and Asia Minor); New Babylonian and Median (VII-VI centuries BC); later Hellenistic, Indian and Chinese empires arose (for example, the Qin Empire; IV-III centuries BC). There were continuous wars, which became especially bloody after the invention of iron weapons; fortified cities arose - centers of kingdoms - surrounded by walls, permanent armies, and colonies.

Spiritual subsystem The agrarian era is characterized by: the dominance of mythology and religion, the construction of temples; the development of certain types of art (musical, epic, dance, architectural); the beginnings of education and science; the struggle of various religious (worldview) systems.

Social consciousness had a mythological, religious character, was a collection of myths; the unconscious in him dominated the conscious, and the spiritual remained undeveloped.

In the kingdoms and empires of early and imperial antiquity arose and competed with each other elements two types of formations: (1) political(state, Asian, mobilization) and (2) economic(market, European, liberal) It is important to note that some of them became leaders in some kingdom or empire. Some of these societies created public, and then world-wide religious civilizations(Egyptian, Greek, Persian) For almost two millennia of the agrarian era, political and economic empires, formations, and civilizations waged an ideological, economic, political and military struggle for dominance.

In the VI century. BC e. The Achaemenid Empire conquered the ancient city-policies on the Asia Minor coast. In 336 BC. e. The Greek army was led by Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian Empire during a ten-year campaign. As a result, the ancient type of society (formation and civilization) began to influence the Asian type of society in the Middle East. Having made it its capital, it should not be forgotten that Babylon, Alexander tried bring closer together the ancient and Asian worlds in terms of formation and civilization. About 70 cities were built on Asian territory - centers of ancient civilization. After Alexander's death in 323 BC. e. his followers continued this policy. Much attention was paid to creating an economic rather than a despotic state.

Ancient Greece passed the formational and civilizational baton to the Roman Republic through the Greek city-states - colonies in Italy. Rome's contribution to the development of ancient society consisted of the codification of legal norms and the detailing of private law, the significant development of democracy, which became the guardian of citizen-owners, their class and property differences. The Roman state is part auxiliary sphere economic society - existed due to taxes from citizen-owners and campaigns of conquest. In the 1st century BC e. as a result of serious internal contradictions (the struggle of the Gracchi brothers for the interests of the poor), slave uprisings and conflicts of power-hungers, the Roman Republic gave way to the Roman Empire, a political and economic formation and civilization.

In the 5th century The Roman Empire fell under the blows of the barbarians. Its successors were the Holy Roman Empire and Byzantium. Greek territories became provinces of the Roman East. Then came the time of Christianization and Christian civilization in Byzantium, the heir of Rome. As a result of the victory of Islam over Byzantium in 1453, the Middle East suddenly threw off the elements of ancient formation and civilization, and again found itself in the usual rut of the Asian formation and civilization, which were developed in Islamic civilization.

Leonid Do not forget that Vasiliev believes that in this region the Greeks and Romans carried out an experiment on the “organic synthesis of the ancient world and the traditional East”, which failed. Instead, in Palestine, at the crossroads of peoples, a new world religion arose - Christianity, which laid the foundation for a new social formation and civilization. Originating from the Eastern peoples and their civilizations, it became the religion of the West. Already here one can discern a sign of a hybrid (mixed) social formation and civilization.

Eastern (despotic) societies in medieval era reached its highest peak, which was facilitated by the disappearance of a competitor in the ancient world.
It is worth noting that the main features of such societies are: colossal inequality in people's lives, taken for granted by the illiterate and religious population; the refined subjectivity of the ruling classes; temporary economic efficiency through the exploitation of one’s own people and the peoples of conquered countries; slow evolution in a spiral of political upheavals and social catastrophes.

At the end of the 4th century, Byzantium turned out to be a battlefield antique And Asian formations and civilizations. By the way, this struggle led to the gradual transformation of Byzantium into a despotic empire. Process ancient westernization did not take place there: the Asian formation and collectivist civilization prevailed. For this reason, L.V. We should not forget that Vasiliev makes an important conclusion for our days: “And since the general structures underlying the ancient West and the traditional East are fundamentally different, their organic combination, synthesis, turns out to be extremely difficult.” . In any case, on the territory of the East, in the specific conditions of antiquity and the Middle Ages.”

In Europe, the result of all this confrontation at the end of the agrarian era (XI-XIV centuries) was feudalism - an advanced type of society (ancient-Asian), with a solidarist civilization. It is worth noting that it was the result of a collision antique society with primitive communal. There was, on the one hand, the Christianization of the barbarians, and on the other hand, the decentralization of state power. The Christianization of barbarians limited the categorical nature of the collectivist principle, softening the omnipotence of the rulers. It is important to note that at the same time she maintained respect for ancient property, especially in cities. As a result of this synthesis, a feudal type of society (formation and civilization) arose, which allows us to conclude that the convergence of only such social formations and civilizations is possible, between which there are some similarities. It is worth noting that they were between the primitive communal society of the barbarians and the ancient one of the Romans. It can be assumed that the ancient and Asian types of society did not have such features, which led to the collapse of the project of Alexander the Great.

Why did the synthesis (convergence) of Asian and ancient societies not take place in a new unity? Because these types of society form opposites within the same historical era. It is quite clear that a society in which the basis is a market economy, and the civilizational principle is ϲʙᴏboda, cannot Just And evolutionarily converge with a society whose basis will be a despotic state, and whose civilizational principle will be equality. It is worth saying that for the convergence of such societies it is necessary developed subjective factor, understanding of the complexity of the problem, developed means of convergence, which did not exist in the agrarian era - all appeared only in the era of industrialism.

They appeared in various regions of the country as a result of the Neolithic revolution. The specialization of tribes in both cattle breeding and agriculture caused an increase in products that could easily be exchanged for other goods. The surplus product characteristic of the era of chiefdoms was replaced by a surplus product, which, unlike the first, can be used not only for sale, but also for the exploitation of hired labor. Essentially, the excess product did not significantly exceed the vital product and was more like food reserves. At this level, a person has to eke out a miserable existence and devote his entire working day to obtaining food. It is not for nothing that sociologists say that traditional, and above all primitive society, is one where people have no leisure.

So, a complex society is an era of surplus product. It appeared for the first time in the history of mankind. In agriculture, one family is able to provide for itself in one or two months, the rest of the working time goes to the production of surplus product, a significant part of which is alienated in favor of the state and the ruling class.

Thus, it is in agriculture that for the first time in history the exploitation of man by man appears. And the reason for this was the growth of labor productivity and the emergence of surplus product. It has a distinctive feature: the surplus product is created by one person and appropriated by another. It is appropriated by the ruling class, which at the end of the 19th century the American sociologist Thorstein Veblen called the leisure class. Its characteristic feature is demonstrative behavior, the acquisition of luxury and expensive things that are not needed for life.

But the emergence of the leisure class testifies to the enormous progress of mankind. If there are people who live without working anywhere, it means that leisure has appeared in society - time free from work and household chores. The social life of society is becoming incredibly complicated: the sphere of leisure and entertainment is emerging, art is being professionalized, which is aimed at satisfying the demands of the ruling class (circus performers, traveling actors, troubadours, etc.), the sphere of commodity-money relations is expanding, in which professionals serving economic interests of the ruling class (bankers, lenders, merchants, etc.).

At this time, home crafts (production of products for one's own needs) give way to crafts (production of products for exchange and sale).

Arable farming literally tied people to one place. Large permanent settlements arose. They became large due to the fact that one square kilometer of soil now cost much more than before. Saving land and the peculiarities of its cultivation forced people to organize into a new type of social community - into territorial communities. And the productivity of a meter of land increased: now it could feed many more eaters.

The population grew, cities were created, large territorial power associations called states arose. An increasing number of people were freed from the need to work on the land. Some of them took up highly specialized full-time craft work. Why is it called that? The fact is that home crafts represented a kind of amateur labor, which could not be done the entire working day or not the entire working week. This is work for yourself and your family. Craft work is a professional occupation for the purpose of producing products for sale.

Cities began as centers where segments of the population that specialized in crafts sold their products to other segments of the population that specialized in agriculture, trade, or management. An agricultural society is a set of cities and suburban areas united by economic exchange.

Although many cities appeared in an agrarian society (in fact, they only appear under it), the bulk of the population lived in villages. The village is a closed territorial peasant community leading a subsistence economy, loosely connected with the market. It is focused on the traditional way of life and religious values.

The social organization of society has become more complex. Collective property gave way to personal and then private property. The latter is possible only where property is inherited from father to son. And this implies a radical break in the previous family organization. Group marriage and simple monogamy are being replaced by a complex patriarchal family of the modern type (or close to it).

Now the land was not divided among all the relatives who made up a local group or clan, but was concentrated in one family, in the hands of men. Wealth inequality has risen sharply. Society was divided into a working majority and a non-working minority. The former only sold their labor power, the latter only accumulated surplus product.

The economic and social strength of an agrarian society rested primarily on land ownership. The mature form of such a society is feudalism. Feud - hereditary land ownership granted to a vassal (servant) by his lord (master) on condition of military service, participation in court and government, as well as payment of customary fees. The social organization of feudalism is class system, and political - monarchy.

Soon the military comes to the fore among all classes. Previously, in the pre-state era, they defended themselves with the whole clan, the whole group. There were no privileged military classes. Now they are needed. The military, risking their lives and not their wallets, defended the throne from both external and internal enemies (uprising of subjects). The second was often more important than the first. That is why kings, kings, and emperors granted land plots to the military, and not to civilians. They helped in collecting taxes, which often had to be taken by force. Until now, forceful methods of taxation have proven their effectiveness.

An important part of the work of managing the company was drafting legislation and monitoring its strict implementation. Officials gradually concentrated all judicial power in their hands. It was during this period that humanity moves to a new phase of development - the phase of a legal society. Under King Hamurappi (2.5 thousand years BC), written law first appeared.

Right - a set of generally binding rules of behavior (norms) established or sanctioned by the state. In a social sense, this is the will of the ruling class elevated to law. Compliance with norms is ensured by the coercive force of state bodies - the police and the courts. Another feature of the state is the division of the population not according to tribal, but according to territorial principles.

In a complex society, individuals occupy different positions on the scale of access to power. At the top is the ruling class, which achieves everything not through family ties. In a large state, the ruling class cannot consist entirely of blood relatives. The ruling class of a large state is heterogeneous, that is, heterogeneous in composition, all related groups are mixed in it. On the contrary, in a simple society, positions of power are often in the hands of one related group, the clan.

As some lands were depleted, states sought to seize others. The division of lands into fertile and infertile led to constant clashes between the groups of people inhabiting them. Who do you think attacked more often? Of course, the inhabitants of infertile lands. Since they were threatened with extinction, the aggression of the invaders increased tenfold. The history of agrarian states is the history of incessant wars for the best lands. As a matter of fact, the state, as a political union of several tribes, was needed to protect against the “poor of land.” The inhabitants of the fertile lands entered into an agreement among themselves to join forces to protect themselves from the inhabitants of the depleted lands.

Thus, complex societies are numerous, ranging from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions of people. A change in population qualitatively changes the social situation. In a simple small society, everyone knew each other and were directly related. In chiefdoms, people are still related - close or distant - although they may occupy different social positions.

In complex societies, personal, consanguineous relationships are replaced by impersonal, non-kinship ones. Especially in cities, where often even those living in the same house do not know each other. The system of social ranks gives way to a system of social stratification.

Complex societies are called stratified because, firstly, the strata are represented by large groups of people, and secondly, these groups consist of those who are not related to the ruling class (group).

The English archaeologist G. Child identified the signs of complex societies:

· resettlement of people in cities;

· development of non-agricultural specialization of labor;

· emergence and accumulation of surplus product;

· the emergence of clear class distances;

· transition from customary law to legal laws;

· the emergence of the practice of large-scale public works such as irrigation and the construction of pyramids;

· emergence of overseas trade;

· the emergence of writing, mathematics and elite culture.

The generalized formula of a complex society can be expressed as follows: state, stratification, civilization.

So, traditional (agrarian) society can be characterized as follows: the predominant type of production is agriculture. Characterized by limited social mobility and strong social control. The rules of existence are determined by traditions. In this case, commodity relations are either absent altogether or are focused on meeting the needs of a small segment of the population. It is believed that any society from the primitive community to the industrial revolution of the late 18th century can be called traditional. Characterized by the use of manual labor and simple machines. In traditional society, due to its “closedness,” changes occurred slowly.

Examples of modern countries of traditional (agrarian) type (based on analysis of GDP components): most countries of North Africa (Algeria), countries of northeast Africa (Ethiopia, where agriculture accounts for 54% of GDP), countries of southeast Asia (Vietnam, where 79% of the population is rural).

Industrialization in Russia began only in the middle of the 19th century. This alone did not prevent our country, by the end of the 19th century, from being one of the largest and strongest states and from having the status of a great European power.

For industrial Society is characterized by the fact that the greatest contribution to the economy is made by the extraction and processing of natural resources, as well as industry. Typically, about 80% of the population is employed in industry. The industrial revolution leads to the transition from a traditional society to an industrial one.

It's important to understand what it is industrial revolution. This is a process of socio-economic transition from an agricultural type to an industrial type with the predominance of industrial production.

Along with the development of industry, there is a rapid development of science, technology, means of communication, and an increase in people's living standards. The first country to experience the industrial revolution was Great Britain.

The changes taking place in society affect all spheres of life. Thus, families break up, generations begin to live in different places, cities grow, and people actively move there (urbanization is the process of growth of cities and increasing their role in the life of society, associated with the active relocation of the population to cities).

According to the French scientist Raymond Aron, industrial society is the result of the influence of production automation, the emergence of large-scale industries and increased labor productivity.

American sociologist William Rostow believes that sociocultural factors (the growth of scientific knowledge, the impulses and aspirations of people) also had a great influence on this process.

The society of the type under consideration is characterized by dynamic changes and increased social mobility. The structure of society is also changing, classes are being replaced by social groups. The rights and freedoms of citizens are expanding.

Post-industrial society is defined by the following features: Concepts of this type of society appeared in the 1960s. The leading role in society is given to knowledge, information, and computers. The service sector is expanding, obtaining a quality education is becoming important, and the information society is beginning to take shape. In such a society, scientific developments are the main driving force of the economy. The commodity-producing economy is moving to a service economy.

It is important to understand that the service sector includes not only trade and the household sphere, but also the state, army, transport, healthcare, education, science, culture, production and sale of intellectual property (software).

Automation of production occurs, the importance of human participation in production decreases.

The pace of economic development is increasing manifold.

P. Drucker: “Today knowledge is already applied to the sphere of knowledge itself, and this can be called a revolution in the field of management. Knowledge is quickly becoming the determining factor of production, relegating both capital and labor to the background.”

Post-industrial society is also associated with the era of postmodernism (postmodernity is a state of modern culture that includes a unique philosophical position).

Social consciousness is changing: rejection of the universality and unity of the world.

The main features are also called the strengthening of pluralism, multivariance and diversity of forms of social development, changes in the system of values, motives and incentives of people.

We have prepared a table especially for you that will help you understand how the considered types of societies differ from each other:

Table: Division of society into types

Comparison line	Traditional (agrarian, pre-industrial society)	Industrial society	Post-industrial society
Factor of production	Earth	Capital	Knowledge
Main product of production	Food	Industrial products	Services
Characteristic features of production	Manual labor	Wide application of mechanisms and technologies	Automation, computerization of production
Nature of work	Individual work	Normal team activities	Increasing creativity in work
Employment	Agriculture - about 75% of the population	Industry – about 85%	Services – 66%, industry – 33%
Social structure	Community Classes Inclusion of everyone in a team Closedness of social structures Low social mobility	Class division, simplification of social structure, mobility and openness of social structures	Maintaining social division, growing middle class, division based on level of knowledge and profession
Lifespan	40-50	Over 70	Over 70
Human impact on nature	Local, uncontrolled	Global, uncontrollable	Global, controlled
Interaction with other countries	Irrelevant	Close relationship, but not everywhere. An example of closedness: the “Iron Curtain” (a concept denoting an informational, political and border barrier, erected in 1919-1920 and for several decades separating the USSR and other socialist countries from the capitalist countries of the West).	Openness
Political life	Most countries are monarchies, there are no political freedoms, government is above the law	The emergence of political freedoms, equality before the law, the authorities begin to demand obedience to the law	Political pluralism, strong civil society, democracy
Spiritual life	Traditional religious values, homogeneous culture, few educated people	New values ​​of personal success, faith in science, mass culture, development of education	A special role for science and education, the emergence and spread of subcultures

Social modernization is an important source and process of social conflicts in societies. Modernization (from the French moderne - modern, newest) in our case is the process of updating backward social systems, formations, civilizations in the spirit of the requirements of modernity. An example of modernization is the transition from an agricultural to an industrial society.

There are several definitions of modernization. A group of Western sociologists (Moore, Aizenstadt, etc.) consider modernization as a process of formation of two types social systems(Western European and North American). Clarifying this point of view, Neil Smelzers lists six areas of social life that are included in improving social systems: economics, politics, education, religion, stratification, family. Here modernization is understood in the broad sense of the word - as an evolutionary change in society.

In the light of this understanding, social modernization affects social systems, formations, and civilizations. It can occur as a result own response to internal contradictions, and as a result borrowing answers already discovered by other peoples in the form of social institutions. In the first case it is called self-modernization, and in the second - catch-up modernization. Modernization is always the result of social hybridization, the social grafting of modernity into existing social structures.

To understand the modernization of social systems, formations and civilizations, it is important to determine modern. If we are talking about self-modernization, then we mean the criteria of social progress: technological level; level, quality and fairness of people's lives; labor efficiency; variety and mass of goods; effectiveness of the political system; dominant meanings of life, etc. In the case of catch-up modernization, Western society is usually taken as a model of modernity.

Formational modernization is the process of replacing a previous social deformation with a new one as a result of improving the social subsystems that form it and the relationships between them. It represents a deep and comprehensive conflict between old and new, traditional and modern. Social-formational modernization can occur in the form of social evolution, revolution, deprivation.

Civilization modernization includes the emergence of a civilizational leader, a new project, a civilizational institution that responds, on the one hand, to external challenges, and on the other hand, to the character, mentality, and way of life of the people. It also represents a conflict between old and new civilization. Post-Soviet Russia is currently undergoing yet another civilizational modernization.

Ability to permanent self-modernization- a sign of an economic or mixed society. Political countries are engaged catching up modernization, borrowing new technology and social institutions from the West. In the history of Russia, four modernizations can be distinguished: Peter’s, the abolition of serfdom, Soviet, and post-Soviet. The Soviet period of modernization was catching up in terms of industrialization and inversion in terms of social formation.

In Russia, modernization: 1) is initiated from above by the absolutist (tsarist Russia), totalitarian (USSR), liberal (post-Soviet Russia) state power; 2) is partial, that is, it does not affect the type of social system; 3) combined with the militarization of the country, the development of the military industry, army and navy, education and science, and a decline in the standard of living of the population.

At the first stage, the driving force behind the modernization of political society (in particular, Russia) is the new political an elite offering the people a new formational and civilizational project. Then a new powerful centralized state is created as the main instrument of modernization. At the second stage, there is a rapid modernization of the state economy, a redistribution of GDP to revive military power; the egalitarian, ascetic, slowly improving lifestyle of the working people is supported; the new way of life is being “varnished” and its “enemies” are being fought. At the third stage, there is a decline in the political formation, the ruling elite, military power, and the standard of living of the population; the dissatisfaction of workers grows, saying “you can’t live like this anymore,” but not knowing how to live further. And finally, the collapse of the previous social system occurs in order to revive it on a new elite and ideological basis.

Russia's full-fledged formational response to the challenges of Western modernization has always been hampered by its isolationism. In the context of globalization, this can no longer be done, “...in our century,” writes Toynbee, “the main thing in the consciousness of society is to understand oneself as part of a wider universe, while a feature of the social consciousness of the last century was the claim to consider oneself, one’s society, as closed universe." In the context of globalization, Russia will either modernize or degrade - it will join the alliance of countries of the South.