The theory of convergence of planned and market systems. Representatives of convergence theory

Convergence theory

Convergence theory

(from Latin convergere - to come closer, converge) is based on the idea of ​​the predominance of tendencies to combine elements into a system over the processes of differentiation, distinction and individualization. Initially, the theory of convergence arose in biology, then it was transferred to the sphere of socio-political sciences. In biology, convergence meant the predominance of the same, identical significant characteristics during the development of different organisms in the same, identical environment. Despite the fact that this similarity was often external in nature, such an approach made it possible to solve a number of cognitive problems.

Followers of the proletarian ideology of Marxism-Leninism believed that in principle there could be nothing in common between capitalism and socialism. The idea of ​​the eternal struggle between socialism and capitalism, until the final victory of communism on the entire planet, permeated all socialist and, in part, bourgeois politics.

After two world wars in the second half of the twentieth century, the idea of ​​the unity of the modern world within the framework of industrial society emerged. The idea of ​​convergence took shape in the works of J. Galbraith, W. Rostow, P. Sorokin (USA), J. Tinbergen (Netherlands), R. Aron (France) and many other thinkers. In the USSR, during the era of the dominance of Marxist-Leninist ideology, the famous physicist and thinker - dissident A. Sakharov spoke with the ideas of convergence. He repeatedly appealed to the country's leadership, calling for an end to the Cold War and to enter into a constructive dialogue with developed capitalist countries to create a unified civilization with sharp restrictions on militarization. The leadership of the USSR ignored the validity of such ideas, isolating A. Sakharov from scientific and public life.

Convergence theories are fundamentally humanistic. Their possibility justifies the conclusion that the development of capitalism, which was critically interpreted by communists in the 19th-20th centuries, has undergone many changes. Industrial society, which was replaced in the 70s. post-industrial, and at the end of the century information, acquired many aspects that the ideologists of socialism spoke about. At the same time, many points that were programmatic for socialism were not implemented in practice in the USSR and other socialist countries. For example, the standard of living in socialist countries was much lower than in developed capitalist countries, and the level of militarization was much higher.

The advantages of a market society and the difficulties arising under socialism made it possible to propose a reduction in confrontation between the two social systems, increase the threshold of trust between political systems, and achieve a weakening of international tension and a reduction in military confrontation. These political measures could lead to the unification of the potential that the countries of capitalism and socialism have accumulated for the joint development of the entire civilization of the Earth. Convergence could be carried out through economics, politics, scientific production, spiritual culture and many other spheres of social reality.

The possibility of joint activities would open up new horizons in the development of the scientific potential of production, increasing the level of its informatization, in particular computerization. Much more could be done in the area of ​​environmental protection. After all, ecology has no state borders. Nature and man do not care in what system of political relations water and air, land and near-earth space are polluted. The atmosphere, the bowels of the earth, the World Ocean - these are the conditions for the existence of the entire planet, and not capitalism and socialism, governments and deputies.

The deployment of convergence could lead to a reduction in the working day for the vast majority of workers, equalization of incomes among different segments of the population, and expansion of the scope of spiritual and cultural needs. Experts believe that education would change its character and there would be a transition from a knowledge-centric level to a culture-centric one. In principle, the theoretical model of society within the limits of convergence in content approaches the communist-Christian understanding, but with the preservation of private property.

The democratization of the countries of former socialism expands the basis for the implementation of the ideas of convergence in our days. Many experts believe that at the end of the 20th century. society has approached the threshold of a radical change in cultural forms. The mode of cultural organization that relies on industrial production and national-state organization in the political sphere can no longer develop further at the same pace as now. This is due to the resources of nature, the total threat of destruction of humanity. At present, the distinction between the countries of capitalism and post-socialism is not along the lines of the political system, but along the line of the level of development.

It can be stated that in modern Russia one of the main problems is the search for a basis for new development and demilitarization, without which the civilized development of society is simply impossible. Therefore, the possibilities of modern convergence pass through the problem of creating conditions for the restoration of civilized relations in post-socialist countries. The world community is simply obliged to create favorable conditions for this. The main elements of modern convergence are considered to be the rule of law, the establishment of market relations, and the development of civil society. We add to them demilitarization and overcoming national-state isolation in meaningful activities. Russia cannot fail to become a full-fledged subject of the world community in the broadest cultural context. Our country does not need humanitarian aid and loans for consumption, but inclusion in the global world reproduction system.

Korotets I.D.


Political science. Dictionary. - M: RSU. V.N. Konovalov. 2010.

Convergence theory

one of the political science concepts that considers the defining feature of modern social development to be the tendency towards the convergence of two socio-political systems, the smoothing out of economic, political and ideological differences between capitalism and socialism, and their subsequent synthesis into a kind of “mixed society”. The term was coined by P.A. Sorokin. Main representatives: J. Galbraith, W. Rostow, J. Tinbergen and others.


Political Science: Dictionary-Reference Book. comp. Prof. Science Sanzharevsky I.I.. 2010 .


Political science. Dictionary. - RSU. V.N. Konovalov. 2010.

See what “Convergence theory” is in other dictionaries:

    - (from Lat. convergo I am getting closer, converging), one of the main. concepts of modern bourgeois sociology, political economy and political science, seeing and societies. development of modern era, the prevailing tendency towards convergence of the two social systems of capitalism and... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

    convergence theory- see convergence theory Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000. CONVERGENCE THEORY ...

    Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    Encyclopedia of Sociology

    One of the concepts of Western social science, which considers the defining feature of modern social development to be the tendency towards convergence of two socio-political systems, smoothing out economic, political and ideological differences between... encyclopedic Dictionary

    A modern bourgeois theory according to which the economic, political and ideological differences between the capitalist and socialist systems are gradually smoothed out, which will ultimately lead to their merger. The very term... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

    "Convergence" theory- a bourgeois apologetic theory trying to prove the inevitability of the rapprochement of capitalism and socialism and the creation of a hybrid society that is unified in its social essence. The term “convergence” is borrowed from biology, where it refers to the process... ... Scientific communism: Dictionary

    Convergence theory- the doctrine of the evolutionary development of society and the interpenetration of capitalism and socialism, forming a single industrial society. The methodological basis for the emergence of the theory of convergence was the theory of industrial society. First… … Geoeconomic dictionary-reference book

    CONVERGENCE THEORY- (from Latin convergero to approach, converge) English. convergence, theory of; German Convergenztheorie. The concept, according to both the socialist and the capitalist, is that societies develop along the path of rapprochement, the emergence of similar characteristics in them, as a result of which... Explanatory dictionary of sociology

    convergence theory- the theory of the development of the mental child, proposed by V. Stern, in which an attempt was made to reconcile two approaches: 1) preformist, where heredity was recognized as the leading factor; 2) sensationalistic, where the emphasis was on external conditions. In this… Great psychological encyclopedia

Books

  • Convergent journalism. Theory and practice. Textbook for bachelor's and master's degrees, E. A. Baranova. The first textbook in Russian scientific and educational literature that analyzes changes in the work of journalists that have occurred as a result of the convergence process. They are associated with new...
  • Internet media: theory and practice. Textbook for university students. UMO stamp on classical university education, Edited by M. M. Lukina. 350 pp. The textbook examines Internet media in theoretical and applied terms as a new media segment that emerged as a result of the convergence and development of the Internet...

CONVERGENCE THEORY(from Latin convergera - to approach, converge) - the theory of convergence, historical rapprochement and fusion of two opposing social systems, socialism and capitalism, which arose in the 50s and 60s. 20th century on the basis of neoliberal idealism in the elite environment of theorists of socio-historical development ( P. Sorokin , J. Fourastier, F. Perroux, O. Flechtheim, D. Bell ,R.Aron, E. Gelner, S. Hungtinton, W. Rostow and etc.). The theory of convergence was an alternative to the Cold War and the threat of World War 3, to the historical absurdity of further divergence, which was destroying the unity of the emerging world civilization and the internationalization of global processes - the unity of the development of science and technology, global processes of division of labor and its cooperation, exchange of activities, etc. Proponents of this theory recognized the positive experience of socialism in the field of economic and social planning, in science and education, which was actually borrowed and used by Western countries (the introduction of five-year planning in France under Charles de Gaulle, the development of state social programs, the creation of the so-called welfare state in Germany, etc.). At the same time, this theory assumed that the rapprochement of the two systems is possible on the basis of a counter movement, which is expressed in the improvement of the social and economic foundations of capitalism, on the one hand, and the humanization of socialism and even the introduction of elements of a market economy, on the other. These and similar assumptions met with sharp rebuff from the socialist system. Socialism refused to adapt to the changes that took place in the world and within its own system, to use the world experience of social development, creation civil society . The further course of historical events exceeded the wildest utopian expectations of the theorists of convergence: it actually took place, but not as an adaptation, but as a restructuring in conditions of a deep historical crisis. At the same time, the assumptions of the authors of the so-called theory also came true. negative convergence - the assimilation of the negative phenomena of the opposite system, which it has already managed to overcome (selfish individualism at the stage of “wild” capitalism) or is itself experiencing (corruption, excesses of mass culture). Warnings about this by R. Heilbroner, G. Marcuse , J. Habermas and others could be heard in the process of rational adaptation, but not in an irrational crisis. As a result, the convergence of the two systems one way or another became a reality with an asymmetrical and incomplete restructuring of both converging sides, with still unstable trends, but with some civilizational prospects in the Euro-Asian and North American regions.

Literature:

1. Popper K. The poverty of historicism. M., 1993;

2. Bell D. The end of ideology. Glencoe, 1966;

3. Aran R. L'opium des intellectuals. P., 1968.

I.I.Kravchenko

Convergence theory, modern bourgeois theory according to which the economic, political and ideological differences between the capitalist and socialist systems are gradually smoothed out, which will ultimately lead to their merger. The very term “convergence” is borrowed from biology (see. Convergence in biology). K. t. arose in the 50-60s. 20th century under the influence of the progressive socialization of capitalist production in connection with the scientific and technological revolution, the increasing economic role of the bourgeois state, and the introduction of planning elements in capitalist countries. Characteristic of cultural theory are a distorted reflection of these real processes of modern capitalist life and an attempt to synthesize a number of bourgeois apologetic concepts aimed at masking the dominance of big capital in modern bourgeois society. The most prominent representatives of K. t.: J. Galbraith, P. Sorokin (USA), Ya. Tinbergen (Netherlands), R. Aron (France), J. Strachey (Great Britain). The ideas of political theory are widely used by “right” and “left” opportunists and revisionists.

Technology considers technical progress and the growth of large-scale industry to be one of the decisive factors in the rapprochement of two socio-economic systems. Representatives of economic technology point to the consolidation of the scale of enterprises, the increase in the share of industry in the national economy, the growing importance of new industries, and so on as factors contributing to the increasing similarity of systems. The fundamental flaw of such views is in the technological approach to socio-economic systems, in which the social-production relations of people and classes are replaced by technology or the technical organization of production. The presence of common features in the development of technology, technical organization and the sectoral structure of industrial production in no way excludes the fundamental differences between capitalism and socialism.

Supporters of capitalism also put forward the thesis about the similarity of capitalism and socialism in socio-economic terms. Thus, they talk about the ever-increasing convergence of the economic roles of the capitalist and socialist states: under capitalism, the role of the state guiding the economic development of society is supposedly strengthening, under socialism it is decreasing, since as a result of the economic reforms carried out in socialist countries, there is supposedly a departure from the centralized, planned management of the people's economy and a return to market relations. This interpretation of the economic role of the state distorts reality. The bourgeois state, unlike the socialist one, cannot play a comprehensive guiding role in economic development, since most of the means of production are privately owned. At best, the bourgeois state can carry out forecasting of economic development and recommendatory (“indicative”) planning or programming. The concept of “market socialism” is fundamentally incorrect - a direct distortion of the nature of commodity-money relations and the nature of economic reforms in socialist countries. Commodity-money relations under socialism are subject to planned management by the socialist state; economic reforms mean improving the methods of socialist planned management of the national economy.

Another version of K. t. was put forward by J. Galbraith. He does not talk about the return of socialist countries to the system of market relations, but, on the contrary, states that in any society, with perfect technology and a complex organization of production, market relations must be replaced by planned relations. At the same time, it is argued that under capitalism and socialism there allegedly exist similar systems of planning and organization of production, which will serve as the basis for the convergence of these two systems. The identification of capitalist and socialist planning is a distortion of economic reality. Galbraith does not distinguish between private economic and national economic planning, seeing in them only a quantitative difference and not noticing a fundamental qualitative difference. The concentration in the hands of the socialist state of all command positions in the national economy ensures a proportional distribution of labor and means of production, while corporate capitalist planning and state economic programming are unable to ensure such proportionality and are unable to overcome unemployment and cyclical fluctuations of capitalist production.

Political theory has become widespread in the West among various circles of the intelligentsia, with some of its supporters adhering to reactionary socio-political views, while others are more or less progressive. Therefore, in the struggle of Marxists against communist theory, a differentiated approach to the various supporters of this theory is necessary. Some of its representatives (Galbraith, Tinbergen) associate nuclear theory with the idea of ​​peaceful coexistence of capitalist and socialist countries; in their opinion, only the convergence of the two systems can save humanity from thermonuclear war. However, deducing peaceful coexistence from convergence is completely incorrect and essentially opposes the Leninist idea of ​​​​the peaceful coexistence of two opposing (rather than merging) social systems.

In its class essence, capitalism is a sophisticated form of apology for capitalism. Although outwardly it seems to be above both capitalism and socialism, advocating for a kind of “integral” economic system, in essence it proposes a synthesis of the two systems on a capitalist basis, on the basis of private ownership of the means of production. K. t., being primarily one of the modern bourgeois and reformist ideological doctrines, at the same time performs a certain practical function: it tries to justify for capitalist countries measures aimed at the implementation of “social peace”, and for socialist countries - measures which would be aimed at bringing the socialist economy closer to the capitalist one along the paths of so-called “market socialism”.

Lit.: Bregel E., Theory of convergence of two economic systems, “World Economy and International Relations”, 1968, No. 1; Galbraith J., The New Industrial Society, trans. from English, M., 1969; Modern bourgeois theories about the merger of capitalism and socialism, M., 1970; Sorokin P. A., The basic trends of our times. New Haven, 1964; Rose G., Was steckt hinter der Konvergenztheorie?, B., 1969; Meissner N., Konvergenztheorie und Realitä t, 2 Aufl., B., 1971.

E. Ya. Bregel.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia M.: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1969-1978

Currently, there are a large number of popular and well-founded psychological theories, each of which offers a special view of human development. In some, this process is determined by innate instincts, in others - by the social environment, which provides special incentives and their reinforcements. But there is a concept that combines these factors - the getotype and Stern convergence.

It is based on a number of proven statements.

1. Man is simultaneously both a biological and a social being. Therefore, genotype and environment are equally important in the process of child development.

2. The theory of convergence proves that only through the merging of internal data and external conditions does the full formation of personality occur. Each neoplasm is the result of this process.

To solve the problem of the relationship between the social and the biological in development, convergence theory used a special method that was taken from comparative studies. We are talking about the twin method.

It is a fact that there are monozygotic twins (with identical heredity) and also dizygotic twins (with different hereditary background). Let us consider the main provisions of the application of this method in more detail.

If children with different heredities are formed differently in the same social conditions, this means that this process is determined by heredity. If it is almost the same, then, accordingly, the decisive role in it is given to the environment.

The same is true for monozygotic twins. If they live in different families, but the development indicators are the same, then this is evidence that heredity played a decisive role, but if they are different, then the environment.

The theory of convergence, having compared the indicators of differences between DZ and MZ twins developing in different and identical conditions, was able to draw a number of fundamental conclusions. They concern the problem of the relative importance of environmental and hereditary factors and prove the leading role in their interaction.

The theory of convergence used the features of formation, paying great attention to the discrepancy between the environment and genetic data.

Uses examples of convergence as evidence. For example, there is a large amount of material in the environment for a child to play with. But when and how he will do this depends to a large extent on the presence of a hereditary instinct for play.

Stern laid the basis for periodization. Consequently, he relied on the fact that human development includes the obligatory repetition of all stages of the formation of ancestors in the process of evolution. As a result, they identified the following stages:

  • From birth to six months, the child is at the “mammalian” stage, so his behavior is reflexive and impulsive.
  • From six months to a year, he enters the “monkey” stage, when imitation and grasping actively develop.
  • Before the age of six, the child is at the "primitive peoples" stage. At this stage, speech and an upright gait appear. Games and fairy tales will play a leading role in development.
  • In primary school, a child must master high ethical and social concepts, since this is the initial stage of active personality formation.
  • At the middle level, the main attention should be paid to education and intellectual development. This is the age of learning the foundations of all sciences.
  • The last period is the stage of maturity, at which the final spiritual formation of a person occurs.

Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus

Institute of Parliamentarism and Entrepreneurship

Department of Political Science

Course work

in the academic discipline "Political Ideology"

on the topic “Political theory of convergence»

Gorunovich Mikhail Vladimirovich

(date, signature)

Socio-Economic Faculty of Distance Learning, 5th year,

group 22121/12

Record book number 275/22816

Place of work and position held:

Dexma LLC, electric welder

Phones:

urban:

mobile: +375292586656

Supervisor

Art. teacher

Gorelik A. A.

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………...…..….……3

SECTION 1. CONCEPT, ANALYSIS AND ESSENCE OF THE POLITICAL DOCTRINE OF CONVERGENCE……………………………………………………………...……6

SECTION 2. CRITICISM AND PROSPECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL THEORY OF CONVERGENCE ……………………………………………………….………………..19

2.1. Criticism of the political theory of convergence……………………………19

2.2. Prospects for the development of the political theory of convergence………………21

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….………26

REFERENCES…………………………………..……………….……….29

INTRODUCTION

The processes taking place in modern politics and convergence (the formation of convergent policies) are in every sense not only interrelated, but also double-edged problems. Their relationship has not only situational, but also methodological, theoretical, scientific, practical and strategic relevance. An in-depth study of their relationship should not be postponed “for later”; it must be recognized as a timely and natural matter.

The idea of ​​convergence first appeared after the Second World War as a consequence of the desire for peace. In the initial period of scientific research, many believed that the term “convergence” was arbitrarily transferred by bourgeois ideologists to the field of social relations from biology, where it means the appearance of similar characteristics in different organisms under the influence of a common external environment. Thus, in the general theory of systems by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, the general scientific significance and general methodological role of analogy and interdependence between the theories of similarity and convergence are especially emphasized. The convergence of science as a system of knowledge and processes of social activity of people is similar to the convergence of other spheres of society and social processes.

Based on the theory of similarity, scientists are trying to prove that under the influence of modern productive forces, socialism and capitalism are acquiring more and more similar features, evolving towards each other, and sooner or later they must merge and form some new, convergent hybrid society.

The modern world historical process is beginning to be increasingly interpreted as a process of interaction between a reformed post-socialist society and self-developing, self-degenerating capitalism. It is believed that such interaction includes stages of the advance and retreat of socialism, stages of the destruction of capitalism and violent outbursts of its active counter-offensive and temporary victories. Trying to understand all the complex vicissitudes of this process, the social scientific thought of the West at one time tried to find a conciliatory explanation for the interaction of the “two systems.” However, interest in this problem disappeared as soon as capitalism won the Cold War and socialism was, if not completely destroyed, then thrown far back.

The idea of ​​convergence took shape in the works of J. Galbraith, W. Rostow, P. Sorokin (USA), J. Tinbergen (Netherlands), R. Aron (France), Zb. Brzezinski (Poland) and many other thinkers. In the USSR, during the era of the dominance of Marxist-Leninist ideology, the famous physicist and thinker, dissident A. Sakharov, advocated the ideas of convergence.

The object of the course work is the set of relations that constitute the essence of the political doctrine of convergence and the main stages of its formation.

The subject of the study is the political doctrine of convergence and the political views of its developers and numerous followers.

The purpose of this work is to analyze the views of supporters of the political doctrine of convergence.

The goal identified the following tasks:

1. Consider the concept and essence of the political doctrine of convergence;

2. reveal the political views of critics of the political doctrine of convergence;

3. consider the prospects for the development of the political doctrine of convergence.

During the study, various reference and encyclopedic materials, Internet resources, etc. were used.

When writing the work, we used the logical research method, the method of analyzing political science, sociological, methodological literature, as well as methods of generalization, comparison, and modeling.

The structure of the course work includes: title page, table of contents, introduction, two sections, conclusion and bibliography. The volume of the course work, including a list of used literature of 15 titles, is 30 pages.

SECTION 1. CONCEPT, ANALFROM AND ESSENCE

POLITICAL DOCTRINE OF CONVERGENCE

The theory of convergence (from the Latin сonvergere - to come closer, converge) unites a wide range of political science teachings and considers in modern civilizational social development the tendency towards rapprochement and synthesis of socialism and capitalism.

The term “convergence” itself is borrowed from biology, where it means the acquisition of identical properties and forms by organisms relatively distant in origin due to the living of these organisms in the same environment. Despite the fact that this similarity was often external in nature, such an approach made it possible to solve a number of cognitive problems. It is understood that humanity, with non-coinciding or opposite socio-political systems, is on the same “ship” Earth, and the spread of contacts leads to a mutual exchange of values, therefore capitalism and socialism are enriched with each other’s features and form a single “convergent” society.

Followers of the proletarian ideology of Marxism-Leninism believed that in principle there could be nothing in common between capitalism and socialism. The idea of ​​the eternal struggle between socialism and capitalism, until the final victory of communism on the entire planet, permeated all socialist and, in part, bourgeois politics.

After two world wars in the second half of the twentieth century, the idea of ​​the unity of the modern world within the framework of industrial society emerged. The theory of convergence in various modifications was supported in their developments by P. Sorokin (1889-1968), J. Galbraith (b. 1908), W. Rostow (b. 1916), R. Aron (1905-1983), Zb. Brzezinski (b. 1908) and other Western theorists. In the USSR, A. Sakharov spoke with the ideas of convergence. He repeatedly appealed to the country's leadership, calling for an end to the Cold War and to enter into a constructive dialogue with developed capitalist countries to create a unified civilization with sharp restrictions on militarization. The leadership of the USSR ignored the validity of such ideas, isolating A. Sakharov from scientific and public life.

Convergence theories are fundamentally humanistic. Their possibility justifies the conclusion that the development of capitalism, which was critically interpreted by communists in the 19th-20th centuries, has undergone many changes. Industrial society, which was replaced in the 70s. post-industrial, and at the end of the century information, acquired many aspects that the ideologists of socialism spoke about. At the same time, many points that were programmatic for socialism were not implemented in practice in the USSR and other socialist countries. For example, the standard of living in socialist countries was much lower than in developed capitalist countries, and the level of militarization was much higher.

The advantages of a market society and the difficulties arising under socialism made it possible to propose a reduction in confrontation between the two social systems, increase the threshold of trust between political systems, and achieve a weakening of international tension and a reduction in military confrontation. These political measures could lead to the unification of the potential that the countries of capitalism and socialism have accumulated for the joint development of the entire civilization of the Earth. Convergence could be carried out through economics, politics, scientific production, spiritual culture and many other spheres of social reality.

The political doctrine of convergence is based on the methodology of technological determinism, according to which the development of society is directly determined by science and technology, regardless of the nature of production relations. Its supporters claim that the scientific and technological revolution led to the creation of an “industrial society”, which has two options - “Western” and “Eastern”. In their opinion, all states belonging to the “industrial society” strive to rationally exploit natural resources, increase labor productivity in order to increase the standard of living of the population and create a system of general material well-being. From this point of view, “industrial society” is characterized not only by rapid scientific and technological development, but also by the absence of antagonistic classes. Having overcome the former spontaneity, it is developing on a planned basis, there are no economic crises, and social inequality has been smoothed out. Understanding the “Western version” of “industrial society” as modern state-monopoly capitalism, bourgeois ideologists attribute to it those properties that are in fact inherent only in socialism. This speaks of a forced recognition of the strength and viability of the socialist system, which relatively recently was portrayed by bourgeois ideologists as a historical anomaly and a short-lived experiment doomed to failure. Real socialism is ascribed features that are actually characteristic of capitalism: exploitation of man by man, social antagonism, oppression of the individual. Bourgeois ideologists not only deliberately erase the qualitative difference between two opposing social systems - capitalism and socialism, but also try to prove the illegality and unnecessaryness of the revolutionary transition from one to the other. This is the main socio-political meaning of the anti-communist concept of a “single industrial society”, which is one of the main components of the political doctrine of convergence. According to bourgeois ideologists, under the influence of scientific and technological progress, similar signs and features inevitably appear in both the “Western” and “Eastern” versions of “industrial society”; their accumulation should ultimately lead to a synthesis of the two systems, to the emergence of “ a single industrial society”, combining the advantages of socialism and capitalism and excluding their disadvantages.