Social systems and their structure, models. Training courses

A system is a set of elements between which there is interrelation and interaction and which in this interaction form a single whole. Society is viewed as a macrosystem that includes a set of subsystems.

Concept of social system

A social system is a complexly organized integral formation, ordered and associated with a set of mutually determined connections between its elements. A number of features inherent in the social system can be identified:

1. integrity, relative completeness of the object and its relative unity;
2. the presence of internal connections;
3. the presence of external connections with other objects and systems;
4. has its own structure, internal structure;
5. the social system as an object is relatively autonomous;
6. self-organizing and self-regulating system;
7. performs numerous functions;
8. the social system is aimed at achieving a certain result.

Modern society is a system consisting of separate levels of social communities. In sociological analysis, subjects are mainly studied at four levels of community.

1. The fundamental level of formation and organization of society is humanity as a whole, forming its interests as a single civilization.
2. The level of social structure of society is social communities, layers, social groups.
3. The level of the individual, since for sociology it is the personality that is the subject of study as a subject and an object social relations.

Social and public relations

Social relations- This is a relatively independent specific species public relations, which expresses the activities of social subjects regarding their unequal position in society and role in public life. The concepts of “social relations” and “public relations” are often equated. However, such an identification is legitimate only when social relations are understood in a broad sense, contrasting them with natural relations. Social relationships are not static forms social interaction, they are always interconnected with other relations in the system of social relations. In order to isolate social relations proper from the system of social relations, it is necessary first of all to establish the reason on the basis of which they are built.

Each type of social relationship is realized between social subjects regarding a particular object. If these are relations regarding the means of production, these are economic relations, state power– political relations, legal norms – legal relations and so on. Social relations in the narrow sense arise during the implementation of social interaction itself, between different social layers, groups and individuals. Consequently, social relations are relationships between groups of people, diverse connections between social subjects in the process of their life.

Public relations are a broader concept than social relations. Social relations are those relationships that are established between in large groups of people. According to the sphere of manifestation, social relations can be divided into: economic, political, spiritual, social.

Social relations are relations that exist alongside social relations. These include all forms of relationships between small communities: everyday, neighborly, and the like. This is the transformation of social norms through the prism of individual interests.

Social interest and social value

Social interest- one of the most important driving forces behavior and activity of any social subject, personality, social community, layer, society. IN modern society there is a wide variety of interests, and their coordination is the main task of the state, political parties and public organizations. The concept of “interest” is closely related to the concept of “value”. Value in sociology is defined as a special social relationship, thanks to which the needs and interests of a person or social group are transferred to the world of things, objects and spiritual phenomena.

Social value- this is the significance of phenomena and objects of reality from the point of view of their compliance or non-compliance with the needs of society, social groups or individuals. Based on subjects or carriers of value, they are divided into:

• Individual values. Everyone has things that have value only for an individual and for no one else (photos, relics, and so on).
• Group or collective values. Collective values ​​formed in the activities of a social community, layer, group of people have a certain significance, uniting this community.
• Universal values ​​are values ​​that arise as a result of the activities of all people that have a certain significance for all people (for example, love, friendship).

Establishment certain types social and public relations occur on the basis of the following processes:

• Spatial contact (during chance encounters).
• Psychological contact (when a certain interest arises between its subjects.
• Social contact - interaction based on the exchange of values, benefits: reveals the need for communication and social action. Between the subjects of social contact there are certain values. At social contact an information mechanism of communication arises. Communication is a multifaceted process of interaction between social subjects, organizing their life activities, realizing needs, and exchanging information.

Social systems- this is the following set of interconnected and ordered elements:

people and various social groups;

material objects (equipment of labor, objects of labor, buildings, structures, means of communication, etc.);

processes (economic, political, social, spiritual);

values ​​(ideas, knowledge, cultural and moral values, customs, traditions, beliefs, etc.).

All social systems can be classified on the same basis as other types of systems.

I. According to genetic characteristics, they are divided into:

Material systems:

Small social groups (family, professional groups, party cells, etc.);

Medium (rural community, municipality, etc.);

Large (state, confederation of trade unions, parties, etc.);

Complex systems (state unions, military-political blocs, economic unions etc.).

Ideal systems are associated with human awareness and knowledge of the surrounding world. They can also be divided into:

Small (individual consciousness, spiritual world personality);

Average (the belief system of a certain group of individuals, traditions and customs of an ethnic group, etc.);

Large ( economic theory, sociological science, etc.);

Universal (worldview, mythology, religion, etc.).

II. According to their form, social systems are divided into:

Small social systems. These include individual social objects, the internal structure and functioning of which are relatively simple, and the interaction of their constituent elements is of a coordination nature (individual, family, small group etc.).

Average social systems. They have in their structure two clearly defined groups of elements, between which the connections are of a subordinate nature (for example, the structure of local government, the economic structure of the region, etc.).

Large social systems. They include a complex structure of interactions between their constituent elements (for example, the state, parties, economic system countries).

Complex social systems. These include those that have a multi-level system of existence with internal regulation of subsystems (Commonwealth independent states, International Monetary Fund, European Union, civilizations).

III. According to the nature of interaction, social systems are divided into:

Open (soft) systems are influenced by external conditions and themselves have a reverse impact on them (for example, international sports, cultural, etc. associations).

Closed. There are no completely closed (rigid) systems, but there are limited interactions with other specific systems. For example, the system of correctional (penal) institutions in the state.

IV By the nature of their laws, social systems are:

Probabilistic. In them, their components can interact in an indefinite number of ways (for example, a society at war).

Deterministic. They have a precisely defined result of interaction (for example, legal, legislative).

V. By degree of generality:

Socio-economic formations are a set of production forces and production relations;

Social communities united on any basis (nations, classes, ethnic groups, settlements);

Organizations operating in the real sector of the economy (manufacturing);

Primary level of social systems. Here, each person has direct contact with everyone (teams, departments).

VI. By territorial basis:

Federation;

Subject of the federation;

Municipal associations (city, town, etc.)

VII. In areas of public life:

Economic (industry, communications, agriculture, transport, construction);

Political;

Social;

Spiritual;

family - household.

VIII. According to the degree of homogeneity, social systems can be:

Homogeneous - homogeneous social systems, the elements of which have the same or similar properties. Such systems do not have deep differences in their structure. An example of a homogeneous social system is students as a social group.

Heterogeneous - heterogeneous social systems that consist of elements with various properties and structures. An example of a homogeneous social system can be any specific society (Russian, American).

IX Social systems can vary in degree of complexity. The degree of complexity does not depend on the scale of the system, not on its “size,” but on the structure, organization, nature of the connection of elements and other factors. For example, a person is a more complex social system than other social systems that are much larger in size.

Thus, the social system as a sociological phenomenon is a multidimensional and multidimensional formation with complex composition, typology and functions.

social system classification

Under social system is understood as a holistic formation consisting of functionally interconnected and interacting elements (individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, communities). Social system is a broader concept than social structure. If a social system is a way of organizing the interaction of all its constituent elements, then the social structure acts as a set of the most stable elements and their connections, ensuring the reproduction and functioning of the entire system. In other words, social structure forms the basis, the framework of the social system.

Society as a global social system is a complex integral formation, including a number of subsystems that carry an independent functional load. The following main subsystems of society are mainly distinguished: economic, political, social and spiritual (sociocultural).

Economic subsystem regulates relations between people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption material goods. It is designed to solve three interrelated issues: 1) What produce (what goods and services); 2) How produce (based on what technology and using what resources); 3) for whom produce (to whom these goods and services are intended). Main function economic subsystem – adaptation to changing conditions natural environment and satisfaction material needs and interests of members of society. The higher the level of economic organization of society, the higher the degree of its adaptation, and therefore the efficiency of its functioning, which is clearly demonstrated today by the most developed industrial countries.

Political subsystem regulates relations related to the establishment, organization, functioning and change of public authority. The main elements of the political subsystem are the state, legal institutions (court, prosecutor's office, arbitration, etc.), political parties and movements, socio-political associations and unions, etc. It also includes value-normative structures that regulate the interactions of political subjects, and means mass media, ensuring the relationship between the state and civil society. The main function of the political subsystem is to ensure social order, stability and integration of society, its mobilization to solve vitally important tasks and problems.

Social subsystem regulates the interactions of various groups and communities regarding the social conditions of their life. The social sphere in the broadest sense is a set of organizations and institutions responsible for the well-being of the entire population ( catering, healthcare, passenger transport, utilities and consumer services, etc.). The social sphere at a narrow level implies only institutions social protection and social security, which cover some socially vulnerable segments of the population (pensioners, unemployed, disabled people, large families, etc.).

Spiritual (sociocultural) subsystem directs activities to create, develop and master cultural, spiritual and moral values ​​that determine human consciousness and behavior. The main structural elements of the spiritual sphere include science, education, upbringing, morality, literature, art, and religion. The main functions of this subsystem are socialization of the individual, education and upbringing younger generation, development of science and culture, reproduction of the socio-cultural environment of people’s livelihoods, enrichment of their spiritual world.

All four subsystems are closely interconnected and influence each other. At the same time, it is extremely difficult to establish which of them plays the leading role. The Marxist position, according to which the economic sphere determines social, political and spiritual processes, has been repeatedly criticized by many sociologists. Their main argument– it is impossible to explain the reasons for the stability of some societies and the collapse of others only by the influence of production relations. Currently, researchers refrain from making unambiguous assessments of the leading role of one or another subsystem of society. In their opinion, society can develop normally only as a result of the effective and coordinated functioning of all its main subsystems - economic, political, social and spiritual-cultural. Underestimating any of them is fraught negative consequences for the functioning of society as an integral system.

When determining the social structure of a society, it is important to establish its initial constituent elements. From this position, sociologists identify two main theoretical models of social structure: normative-value and categorical. The first is represented by structural functionalism and related sociological directions (2.8). According to this model, the main elements of the social structure are normative and value formations - social institutions, status-role groups, etc. In this case, the source of change in the social structure is the dominant system of values, norms, and cultural patterns in society that determine the significance of one or another social role, one or another type social activities. Thus, social structure is viewed not as a frozen configuration, but as dynamic complete system, which is the result of the interaction of its constituent elements.

The categorical model of social structure is based on the fact that the main components of the social structure are large social categories - classes, social strata, professional groups, etc. At the same time, Marxist sociologists emphasize the conditionality of the social structure by the dominant mode of production and focus on the analysis of class contradictions , their impact on structural changes in society, while representatives of technological determinism consider technological innovation to be the source of changes in the social structure and believe that technological progress is capable of resolving all the contradictions of modern society.

There is also an exclusively empirical approach to the study of the social structure of society. Supporters of this direction include in the content of the social structure only observable and empirically recorded communities of people with measurable characteristics (age, profession, income, education, etc.).

Finally, in sociological literature one often encounters an extremely broad interpretation of social structure, when we're talking about about the general structure of society, including the most diverse and diverse structural components, and when we mean the socio-demographic, socio-territorial, socio-ethnic and other structure of society.

Thus, the social structure of society is considered in various aspects. The task of sociology is, first of all, to identify the patterns of its formation and development. This is all the more important because it is the social structure that largely determines the stability of society, its qualitative characteristics as an integral social system.

The social system is one of the most complex systems living nature, which is a collection of people, the relationships between them, their knowledge, skills, and abilities. The main generic feature of a social system is its human nature and the essence, insofar as it is formed by people, is the sphere of their activity, the object of their influence. This is both the strength and vulnerability of social management, its creative nature and the possibility of manifestations of subjectivism and voluntarism.

The concept of a “social system” is based on systematic approach to the study of ourselves and the world around us, and therefore this definition can be considered both in a “broad” and in a “narrow” sense. In accordance with this, a social system can be understood as either human society as a whole, or its individual components - groups of people (societies) united along some basis (territorial, temporary, professional, etc.). At the same time, it should be taken into account that the essential features of any system are: multiplicity of elements (at least two); existence of connections; holistic nature of this education.

Social systems, unlike others that received the program of their behavior from the outside, are self-regulated, which is internal to society at any stage of its development. As an integral totality, the social system has specific stable qualities that make it possible to distinguish social systems from each other. These characteristics are called systemic features.

It is necessary to distinguish the concept of “signs of a system” from the concept of “system signs”. The first characterizes the main features of the system, i.e. those features of society, a social group, or a collective that give us reason to call a given social entity a system. Second - quality characteristics, inherent in a particular system and distinguishing it from another.

The signs of a social system or, in other words, society, can be divided into two groups, the first of which characterizes the external conditions of life of a social organism, the second reveals the internal, most important points his existence.

External signs .

First a sign of society is usually called territory, on which the development of different public relations. IN in this case the territory can be called social space.

Second sign of society - chronological framework his existence. Any society exists as long as it is expedient to continue the social ties that make it up, or as long as there are no external reasons that could liquidate this society.

Third a sign of society is relative isolation, which allows us to consider it as a system. Systematicity allows us to divide all individuals into members and non-members of a given society. This leads to a person's identification with a certain society and viewing other people as ″strangers″. Unlike the animal herd, where identification with society occurs on the basis of instinct, in the human collective the correlation of oneself with a given society is built primarily on the basis of reason.

Internal signs.

First the hallmark of society is its relative stability, achieved through the constant development and modification of social connections existing in it. Society, as a social system, can exist only through the constant development and modification of the social connections that exist in it. The stability of a social system is thus closely related to its ability to develop.

Second sign - presence internal public structures . In this case, structure refers to stable social formations (institutions), connections, relationships that exist on the basis of any principles and norms specific to this society.

Third the hallmark of a society is its ability to be self-sufficient self-regulating mechanism. Any society creates its own specialization and infrastructure, which allow it to have everything necessary for normal existence. Any society is multifunctional. Various social institutions and relationships ensure the satisfaction of the needs of members of society and the development of society as a whole.

Finally, ability to integrate, is seventh a sign of society. This feature lies in the ability of a society (social system) to include new generations (systems, subsystems), to modify the forms and principles of some of its institutions and connections on the basic principles that determine one or another character of social consciousness.

I would like to especially note that the main distinctive feature social systems, resulting from their nature, is the presence goal setting. Social systems always strive to achieve certain goals. Here nothing is done without conscious intention, without a desired goal. People unite in various kinds of organizations, communities, classes, social groups and other types of systems, which necessarily have certain interests and common goals. There is a close connection between the concepts of “goal” and “interest”. Where there is no community of interests, there cannot be unity of goals, since unity of goals based on common interests creates the necessary prerequisites for the development and improvement of such a supersystem as society as a whole.

The same object (including the social system), depending on the goals of the study, can be considered both statically and dynamically. Moreover, in the first case we are talking about the structure of the object of study, and in the second - about its functions.

The entire diversity of social relations is grouped into certain areas, which make it possible to distinguish separate subsystems in the social system, each of which fulfills its own functional purpose. The relationships within each subsystem are functionally dependent, i.e. together acquire properties that they do not possess individually.

The social system can effectively implement its tasks when performing the following functions:

1) it must have the ability to adapt, adapt to changed conditions, be able to rationally organize and distribute internal resources;

2) it must be goal-oriented, capable of setting main goals, objectives and maintaining the process of achieving them;

3) it must remain stable on the basis of common norms and values ​​that are internalized by individuals and relieve tension in the system;

4) it must have the ability to integrate, to include new generations in the system. As you can see, the above is not only a set of functions, but also distinctive features social systems from others (biological, technical, etc.).

In the structure of society, the following main subsystems (spheres) are usually distinguished:

- economic- includes social relations of ownership, production, exchange, distribution and consumption of material and spiritual goods;

- political- a set of social relations regarding the functioning of political power in society;

- social- a set of social relations (in the narrow sense of the term) between groups of people and individuals who occupy a certain position in society, have a corresponding status and social roles;

- spiritual and cultural- includes relationships between individuals and groups of individuals regarding spiritual and cultural benefits.

When studying any phenomenon, it is important to highlight not only its character traits that distinguish it from others social entities, but also to show the diversity of its manifestation, development in real life. Even a superficial glance allows one to capture a multicolored picture of the social systems that exist in modern world. Chronological, territorial, economic, etc. are used as criteria for differentiating types of social systems. factors, depending on the goals and objectives of the study.

The most common and generalized is the differentiation of social systems in accordance with the structure social activities and social relations, for example, in such spheres of social life as material and production, social (in the narrow sense), political, spiritual, family and everyday life. The listed main spheres of public life are divided into private areas and their corresponding systems. All of them form a multi-level hierarchy, the diversity of which is due to the complexity of society itself. Society itself is a social system of the highest complexity, which is in constant development.

Without dwelling in detail on the types of social systems and their characteristics (since this is not the scope of this course), we will only note that the system of internal affairs bodies is also one of the types of social systems. We will dwell on its features and structure below.

1Social system- this is a way of organizing the life of a group of people, which arises as a result of the interaction of individuals on the basis of dictated social roles. The system arises as a union into an orderly and self-preserving whole with the help of norms and values ​​that ensure the interdependence of the parts of the system and the subsequent integration of the whole.

The social system can be presented as a hierarchical structure of the following organizational levels: biosphere, ethnosphere, sociosphere, psychosphere, anthroposphere. At each level of the hierarchical pyramid (Fig. 1), we describe the behavior of an individual, as a member of a certain group, through certain rules of behavior aimed at achieving a set goal.

At the lower, biosphere level, a group of people represents a subsystem of an ecological system that lives mainly on the energy of the Sun and participates in the exchange of biomass with other subsystems of this level. The Earth's biosphere is considered from the point of view of the theory of V.I. Vernadsky. Society in this case is a collection of individual consumers of someone else’s biomass who do not have any noticeable influence on each other, giving up their biomass as a result of biological death. This society is better called a population.

At the second, ethnic level, a group is already a collective of individuals capable of common unconscious actions and characterized by identical unconscious responses to external influences, that is, a well-defined stereotype of behavior generated by landscape (regional) conditions of residence. Such a society is called an ethnos. The ethnos lives due to the biochemical energy of the passionary impulse initially received at birth, which is wasted on culture and art characteristic only of it, technical innovations, wars and on maintaining a nourishing surrounding landscape. The basis for building a model at this level is the ethnic theory of the historian L.N. Gumilyov.

At the third, social level, the group is a society. Each individual has his own system of action, which is consistent with social consciousness. Here we consider society based on the theory of social action by T. Parsons. By uniting individuals into a cohesive group, society regulates the behavior of everyone within that group. The behavior of group members is based on social actions determined by social statuses and a set of social roles.

At the fourth, psychic level, the group is a crowd. Each member of the group has a set of collective reflexes. A collective reflex is a synchronized response of a group of people to an external stimulus. The behavior of a group is a chain of successive collective reflexes. The basis of the model at this level is the theory of collective reflexes by V.M. Bekhterev.

At the last level, the group is a thinking organization, each member of which has his own inner world. To construct a multi-agent model of society at this level, we can choose N. Luhmann’s theory of autopoietic systems. Here the elements of the system are communications. Communication is not only a process of transmitting information, but also a self-referential process.

To model a social system, various theories describing society can be used. But these theories complement rather than contradict each other. By modeling a social system based on the chosen theory, we obtain a model of a certain level. Next, we combine these models hierarchically. Such a multi-level model will most adequately reflect the dynamics of development of a real society.

b) The concept of hierarchy is based on such a phenomenon as social status.

Social status is a position occupied by a person or group in society and associated with certain rights and responsibilities. This position is always relative, i.e. considered in comparison with the statuses of other individuals or groups. Status is determined by profession, socioeconomic status, political opportunity, gender, origin, marital status, race and nationality. Social status characterizes the place of a person or social group in the social structure of society, in the system of social interactions and necessarily contains an assessment of this activity by society (other people and social groups). The latter can be expressed in various qualitative and quantitative indicators - authority, prestige, privileges, income level, reward, title, fame, etc. 1

There are different types of statuses.

Personal status is the position that a person occupies in a small or primary group, depending on how he is assessed by his individual qualities.

Social status is the position a person occupies automatically as a representative of a large social group or community (professional, class, national).

Each person in society has not one status, but rather a status set - the totality of all statuses belonging to one individual. In this regard, there is a need to highlight the main status - the most characteristic status for a given individual, by which others identify him or with which they identify him.

It is also customary to highlight the prescribed status (independent of desires, aspirations and efforts this person) and achieved status (the position that a person achieves through his own efforts).

Thus, social stratification- this is the arrangement of people in the status hierarchy from top to bottom. The term “stratification” is borrowed from geology, where it refers to the vertically arranged layers of earth that are revealed when cut through. Stratification is a certain section of the social structure of society, or a theoretical angle of view on how human society is structured. In real life, people, of course, do not stand above or below others.

Russian sociologist A.I. Kravchenko offers a kind of generalizing model of social stratification. 2 He arranges the status hierarchy from top to bottom according to four criteria of inequality:

1) unequal incomes,

2) level of education,

3) access to power,

4) prestige of the profession.

Individuals who have approximately the same or similar characteristics belong to the same layer, or stratum.

The inequality here is symbolic. It can be expressed in the fact that the poor have a minimum income determined by the poverty threshold, live on government benefits, are unable to buy luxury goods and have difficulty buying durable goods, are limited in proper rest and leisure, have low level education and do not occupy positions of power in society. Thus, the four criteria of inequality reflect, among other things, differences in the level, quality, lifestyle, cultural values, quality of housing, type social mobility. 3

These criteria are taken as the basis for social stratification. There are stratifications:

economic (income),

political (power),

educational (level of education),

professional.

Each of them can be represented in the form of a vertical scale (ruler) with marked divisions.

In economic stratification, the divisions of the measurement scale represent the amount of money per individual or family per year or per month (individual or family income expressed in national currency). What is the income of the respondent, this is the place he occupies on the scale of economic stratification.

It is difficult to build political stratification according to a single criterion - this does not exist in nature. Its substitutes are used, for example, positions in the state hierarchy from the president and below, positions in companies, organizations, positions in political parties, etc. or combinations thereof.

The educational scale is based on the number of years of study at school and university - this is a single criterion indicating that society has a unified education system, with formal certification of its levels and qualifications. A person with a primary education will be positioned at the bottom, a person with a college or university degree in the middle, and someone with a doctorate or professor at the top.

The prestige of professions can only be determined through a sociological survey. To obtain information on a whole-of-society basis, the survey should be conducted on a national sample.

B) Social community

Our central concept - societal community - has as its main function (as an integrative subsystem) the definition of obligations arising from loyalty to the societal collective, both for its members as a whole and for various categories of differentiated statuses and roles within society. Thus, in most modern societies, readiness for military service is a test of loyalty for men, but not for women. Loyalty consists of the willingness to respond to a properly “reasonable” call made on behalf of the collective or in the name of the “public” interest. The normative problem is to determine when such a response establishes a duty. In principle, any team needs loyalty, but it is of particular importance for the societal community. Typically, government bodies act on behalf of and in the interests of societal loyalty, and they also monitor compliance with relevant norms. However, there are other public authorities that enjoy the same rights as the state, but are not varieties of its structures.

Of particular importance are the relationships between the loyalties of subgroups and individuals in relation to the societal collective, that is, the whole society, and in relation to other groups of which they are members. The fundamental feature of all human societies is role pluralism, the participation of the same people in a number of groups. The expansion of role pluralism is an important component of the differentiation processes leading to the formation of modern societies. Therefore, one of the significant problems of integration facing the societal community is the problem of regulating the loyalties of its members in relation to itself and to other groups. Individualist social theory persistently exaggerated the importance of individual “self-interest” as an obstacle to the integration of social systems. In general, the personal motives of individuals are effectively channeled into the social system through loyalty and membership in groups that are different in relation to them. The immediate problem for most individuals is the problem of choosing and balancing their obligations in cases of conflicting competing loyalties. For example, a normal adult male in societies modern type is both an employee and a family member. Although the demands of these two roles are often in conflict, most men have a vital interest in maintaining loyalty to both roles.

A societal community is a complex network of interpenetrating collectives and collective loyalties, a system characterized by differentiation and segmentation. Thus, family units, business firms, churches, government agencies, educational establishments and so on. separated from each other. And each type of collective consists of many specific groups, for example, many families, each of which has several people, and many local communities.

Loyalty to the societal community should occupy a high place in any stable hierarchy of loyalties and is therefore a subject of special concern to society. And yet, the highest place in this hierarchy belongs to the cultural legitimization of the normative order of society. First of all, it acts through the institutionalization of a value system, which is an integral part of both societal and cultural systems. Then selective values, which are specifications of general value patterns, become part of each specific norm integrated into the legitimate order. In a system of norms that govern loyalties, therefore, the rights and obligations of collectives must be consistent not only with each other, but also with the legitimate foundations of the order as a whole.

2) society as a social system.

society is a certain collection (association) of people. But what are the boundaries of this totality? Under what conditions does this association of people become a society?

The signs of society as a social system are as follows:

The association is not part of any larger system (society).

Marriages are concluded (mainly) between representatives of this association.

It is replenished mainly by the children of those people who are already its recognized representatives.

The association has a territory that it considers its own.

It has its own name and its own history.

It has own system governance (sovereignty).

The association lasts longer than the average life expectancy of an individual.

He is united general system values ​​(customs, traditions, norms, laws, rules, morals), which is called culture.

Characteristics of society as systems

One of current problems modern social science remains to define the concept of society, despite the fact that there are a lot of definitions of society in modern literature. They highlight different aspects of society, and this is not surprising, since society is an extremely complex entity. Taking into account its multi-level nature, ambiguity, abstractness and other characteristics, some scientists have come to the conclusion that it is generally impossible to give a single, universal definition of society, and all definitions available in the literature in one way or another reduce society to a single characteristic. From this point of view, definitions of society can be divided into three groups:

subjective - when society is viewed as a special amateur collective of people. So, S.G. Spasibenko defines society as “the totality of all methods and forms of interaction and unification of people”;

active- when society is considered as a process of collective existence of people. For example, K.H. Momjian defines society as organizational form joint activities of people;

organizational- when society is considered as a social institution, i.e. a system of stable connections between interacting people and social groups. G.V. Pushkareva notes that society is a universal way of social organization, social interaction and social connections, ensuring the satisfaction of all basic needs of people - self-sufficient, self-regulating and self-reproducing

Is there any rationality in all these definitions? grain, since society really consists of actively operating subjects connected with each other by fairly stable relationships. Which of these definitions to prefer should most likely be determined by the specific task of the study.

Let us continue to identify the essential characteristics of society. Unlike the philosophy of the 17th - 18th centuries, which was characterized by social atomism (i.e., society was viewed as a mechanical sum of individuals), modern philosophy views human society as a collection of many various parts and elements. Moreover, these parts and elements are not isolated from each other, not isolated, but, on the contrary, are closely connected with each other, constantly interact, as a result of which society exists as a single integral organism, as one system(a system is defined as a set of elements that are in regular relationships and connections with each other, which forms a certain integrity, unity). Therefore, to describe society, the concepts generally accepted in system theory are now widely used: “element”, “system”, “structure”, “organization”, “relationship”. The advantages of the systems approach are obvious, the most important of which is that, by building the subordination of the structural elements of society, it allows us to consider it in dynamics, thereby helping to avoid unambiguous, dogmatic conclusions that limit the value of any theory.

Analysis of society as a system assumes:

Identification of the structure of the social system - its elements, as well as the nature of their interaction;

Determination of the integrity of the system, the system-forming factor;

Studying the degree of determinism of the system, the variability of such development;

Analysis of social changes, the main forms of such changes

Of course, when analyzing society as a system, its specifics should be taken into account. A social system differs from systems existing in nature in a number of ways:

plurality elements, subsystems that make up society, their functions, connections and relationships;

Heterogeneity, different quality social elements, among which, along with material ones, there are also ideal and spiritual phenomena.

The uniqueness of its main element - man - gives a special specificity to the social system; having the opportunity to freely choose the forms and methods of their activities, types of behavior, which gives the development of society a greater degree of uncertainty, and therefore unpredictability.