The main spheres of society are economic, political, social and spiritual.
The basis of the economic sphere is the material production of immediate life goods. The philosophy of Marxism affirms its leading role in the development of society as a whole. Perhaps there is a rational grain here, however, it should be noted that all spheres of society are very closely interconnected and have a noticeable and undeniable influence on each other.
Material production appears in the concrete historical form of a mode of production, which is characterized by the unity of productive forces and production relations. Productive forces include the means of production (means of labor and objects of labor) and the worker with his qualifications, physical strength, labor skills, intelligence, etc.
Production relations characterize the way the means of production are connected to the worker and include relations of ownership, distribution, exchange and consumption.
The development of productive forces is an evolutionary-revolutionary process. The first revolution in the productive forces is associated with the beginning of the production of not only tools, but also means of subsistence (the emergence of cattle breeding and agriculture). On the basis of the division of labor and the growth of its productivity, a surplus product arose, which led to the emergence of systematic exchange and trade, the concentration of the surplus product in the hands of part of society and the emergence of private property and exploitation. Based on exploitation, labor became more intense. There was a separation of mental labor from physical labor, crafts from agriculture, and economic specialization of countries and regions took place. The second most important revolution is the transition from hand tools to machines. The role of scientific knowledge began to increase, but at the same time, practical skills. Man became an appendage of the machine. At the same time, there was a gradual democratization of society. The third, the scientific and technological revolution (STR), began in the middle of the last century. It is characterized by the transition from machine production to automated production and the introduction of computer technology. The importance of knowledge-intensive industries is growing. Scientific activity becomes a link in material production. A qualitatively new type of continuously learning and improving employee is being formed. In connection with the environmental crisis, there is a need for long-term consideration of the large-scale consequences of the use of science and technology.
Changes in the productive forces are accompanied by corresponding processes in production relations. Commodity-money relations cut off useless and low-quality labor.
Consequently: the main components of the economic sphere of society are production (industry and agriculture), trade, and consumption.
The political sphere of society originates in a class, antagonistic society. The political system is closely related to political power. Power is the ability to impose your will on other people. The means of imposition are direct violence, persuasion, authority, and reaching a compromise. The most important component of the political system is the state. The functions of the state include the regulation of social relations, the organization of public life, coercive and pacifying actions, the protection of human rights to life, property, etc., the regulation of relations with other states, and the solution of social issues.
As universal human interests grow, the importance of politics increases, performing the function of stabilizing society, giving it stability and viability, and harmonizing relations.
There are democratic, totalitarian and authoritarian political regimes. A totalitarian regime controls all major spheres of citizens' life and strives for complete uniformity. An authoritarian regime also strives for uniformity of sentiment, but controls only the main public spheres and relies on the authority of the political leader. A democratic regime proclaims and strives to ensure civil and political rights and freedoms, is based on the election of government bodies, the principle of a real separation of branches of government (legislative, executive and judicial). A form of control over power in a democracy is the institutions of civil society - organizations independent of government that have authority and influence in society.
The social sphere of society covers the social interaction of individuals and society. With the integration of many goals, interests, aspirations, and wills, individual interactions accumulate into mass ones, and a social structure is formed. Social relationships include platform (interest, orientation, common interest) and responsibilities between partners. In a socially differentiated society, nations, classes, social groups, primary groups of people, families, and individuals are distinguished. There are also informal groups in society (united to solve some common problems), diffuse groups (temporary non-permanent associations), etc.
Stratification theory divides society into groups based on profession, income level, education, etc.
In modern society, the processes of social integration and social differentiation coexist.
The main functions of the spiritual sphere of society are cognitive and informational, ideological justification of social relations, the formation of a social ideal, projects for changing reality, communication, and educational. At the same time, all kinds of design constructions can be implemented only when there are material opportunities for this. On the other hand, any change in the economic and political spheres “emerges” and takes shape precisely in the spiritual sphere of society.
The spiritual sphere of society also includes its culture as an indicator of development. Various types of art, philosophy, science, religion, etc. take a person beyond the boundaries of everyday life and help give his life meaning.
1. The main directions of interaction between the education sector and other areas. 2. Strengthening the connection between education and science. 3. The task of penetration of art into the educational process is one of the key ones. 4. Forms of interaction between education and production. 5. Interaction between education and politics. 6. Problems of interaction between education and the family and everyday sphere. 7. Organization of everyday life and leisure time for teachers: sociological aspect. 8. Interdependence of education and society. 9. Education and ideology. 10. Education strategy.
1. The main directions of interaction between the education sector and other areas.
In a social system, not only social subjects are identified as parts, but also other entities - spheres of social life. Society is a complex system of specially organized human life activity. Like any other complex system, society consists of subsystems, the most important of which are called spheres of public life .
Sphere of social life- a certain set of stable relations between social actors.
Spheres of public life are large, stable, relatively independent subsystems of human activity.
Each area includes:
certain types of human activities (for example, educational, political, religious);
social institutions (such as family, school, parties, church);
established relationships between people (i.e., connections that arose in the process of human activity, for example, relations of exchange and distribution in the economic sphere).
Traditionally, there are four main spheres of public life:
social (peoples, nations, classes, gender and age groups, etc.);
economic (productive forces, production relations);
political (state, parties, socio-political movements);
spiritual (religion, morality, science, art, education).
It is important to understand that people are simultaneously in different relationships with each other, connected with someone, isolated from someone when solving their life issues. Therefore, the spheres of social life are not geometric spaces where different people live, but the relationships of the same people in connection with different aspects of their lives.
Social The sphere is the relationships that arise in the production of immediate human life and man as a social being.
The concept of “social sphere” has different meanings, although they are interconnected. In social philosophy and sociology, this is the sphere of social life, which includes various social communities and connections between them. In economics and political science, the social sphere is often understood as a set of industries, enterprises, and organizations whose task is to improve the standard of living of the population; at the same time, the social sphere includes healthcare, social security, public services, etc. The social sphere in the second meaning is not an independent sphere of social life, but an area at the intersection of the economic and political spheres, associated with the redistribution of state income in favor of those in need.
A person, occupying a certain position in society, is included in various communities: he can be a man, a worker, a father of a family, a city resident, etc. The position of an individual in society can be clearly shown in the form of a questionnaire.
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The example of this conditional questionnaire can briefly describe the social structure of society. Gender, age, marital status determine the demographic structure (with such groups as men, women, youth, pensioners, single, married, etc.). Nationality determines the ethnic structure. Place of residence determines the settlement structure (here there is a division into urban and rural residents, residents of Siberia or Italy, etc.). Profession and education constitute the actual professional and educational structures (doctors and economists, people with higher and secondary education, students and schoolchildren). Social origin (from workers, from employees, etc.) and social status (employee, peasant, nobleman, etc.) determine the class-class structure; This also includes castes, estates, classes, etc.
Economic sphere- this is a set of relationships between people that arise during the creation and movement of material goods.
The economic sphere is the area of production, exchange, distribution, consumption of goods and services. In order to produce something, people, tools, machines, materials, etc. are needed. – productive forces. In the process of production, and then exchange, distribution, consumption, people enter into various relationships with each other and with goods - relations of production. Production relations and productive forces together constitute the economic sphere of society:
productive forces- people (labor), tools, objects of labor;
industrial relations – production, distribution, consumption, exchange.
Political sphere- these are relations between people, associated primarily with power, which ensure joint security.
The Greek word politike (from polis - state, city), appearing in the works of ancient thinkers, was originally used to denote the art of government. Having retained this meaning as one of the central ones, the modern term “politics” is now used to express the content social activities, which are centered on the problems of acquiring, using and maintaining power. The elements of the political sphere can be represented as follows:
political organizations and institutions- social groups, revolutionary movements, parliamentarism, parties, citizenship, presidency, etc.;
political norms– political, legal and moral norms, customs and traditions;
political communications – relationships, connections and forms of interaction between participants in the political process, as well as between the political system as a whole and society;
political culture and ideology- political ideas, ideology, political culture, political psychology.
Needs and interests shape the specific political goals of social groups. On this target basis, political parties, social movements, and government government institutions arise that carry out specific political activities. The interaction of large social groups with each other and government institutions constitutes the communicative subsystem of the political sphere. This interaction is regulated by various norms, customs and traditions. Reflection and awareness of these relations form the cultural-ideological subsystem of the political sphere.
Spiritual realm- this is the area of ideal, intangible formations, including ideas, values of religion, art, morality, etc.
Structure of the spiritual sphere life of society in the most general terms is as follows:
religion is a form of worldview based on belief in supernatural forces;
morality - a system of moral norms, ideals, assessments, actions;
art - artistic exploration of the world;
science is a system of knowledge about the laws of existence and development of the world;
law - a set of norms supported by the state;
education is a purposeful process of education and training.
Spiritual sphere is the sphere of relations that arise in the production, transmission and development of spiritual values (knowledge, beliefs, norms of behavior, artistic images, etc.).
If a person’s material life is connected with the satisfaction of specific everyday needs (food, clothing, drink, etc.). then the spiritual sphere of a person’s life is aimed at satisfying the needs for the development of consciousness, worldview, and various spiritual qualities.
Spiritual Needs Unlike material ones, they are not given biologically, but are formed and developed in the process of socialization of the individual.
Of course, a person is able to live without satisfying these needs, but then his life will differ little from the life of animals. Spiritual needs are met in the process spiritual activity - cognitive, value, prognostic, etc. Such activities are aimed primarily at changing individual and social consciousness. It manifests itself in art, religion, scientific creativity, education, self-education, upbringing, etc. At the same time, spiritual activity can be both producing and consuming.
Spiritual production is the process of formation and development of consciousness, worldview, and spiritual qualities. The product of this production is ideas, theories, artistic images, values, the spiritual world of the individual and spiritual relationships between individuals. The main mechanisms of spiritual production are science, art and religion.
Spiritual consumption is called the satisfaction of spiritual needs, the consumption of products of science, religion, art, for example, visiting a theater or museum, acquiring new knowledge. The spiritual sphere of society's life ensures the production, storage and dissemination of moral, aesthetic, scientific, legal and other values. It covers various forms and levels of social consciousness - moral, scientific, aesthetic, religious, legal.
In each of the spheres of society, corresponding social institutions.
Social Institute– this is a group of people, relationships between whom are built according to certain rules (family, army, etc.), and a set of rules for certain social entities (for example, the institution of the presidency).
To maintain their own lives, people are forced to produce, distribute, exchange and consume (use) food, clothing, housing, etc. These benefits can be obtained by transforming the environment using a variety of means that also need to be created. Vital goods are created by people in the economic sphere through social institutions such as manufacturing enterprises (agricultural and industrial), trading enterprises (shops, markets), exchanges, banks, etc.
In the social sphere The most important social institution within which the reproduction of new generations of people takes place is the family. The social production of man as a social being, in addition to the family, is carried out by such institutions as preschool and medical institutions, schools and other educational institutions, sports and other organizations.
For many people, the production and presence of spiritual conditions of existence are no less important, and for some people even more important, than material conditions. Spiritual production distinguishes humans from other beings in this world. The state and nature of the development of spirituality determine the civilization of mankind. Main in the spiritual sphere institutions of education, science, religion, morality, and law act. This also includes cultural and educational institutions, creative unions (writers, artists, etc.), the media and other organizations.
At the heart of the political sphere there are relationships between people that allow them to participate in the management of social processes and occupy a relatively safe position in the structure of social connections. Political relations are forms of collective life that are prescribed by laws and other legal acts of the country, charters and instructions regarding independent communities, both outside and inside the country, written and unwritten rules of various social groups. These relations are carried out through the resources of the corresponding political institution.
On a national scale, the main political institution is state. It consists of many of the following institutions: the president and his administration, government, parliament, court, prosecutor's office and other organizations that ensure general order in the country. In addition to the state, there are many organizations civil society, in which people exercise their political rights, i.e. the right to manage social processes. Political institutions that seek to participate in the governance of the entire country are political parties and social movements. In addition to them, there may be organizations at the regional and local level.
Society, being a complex system of human activity and relationships, consists of material production, social reproduction, organizational and spiritual activity. In this article we will talk about the main spheres of public life, point out their characteristics and relationships. Using the material, you can prepare additional information for the lesson and create a plan for the topic.
Spheres of public life
Society consists of certain subsystems (spheres). The set of spheres of public life is a stable relationship between social actors.
In social science there are four subsystems:
- Economic;
- Political;
- Social;
- Spiritual.
Each of these areas consists of:
- a certain type of activity;
- social institutions (school, family, church, parties);
- relationships that arose during human activity.
Economic sphere
This area includes relationships that arise during the material production of vital goods, namely production, exchange, distribution, consumption of services and goods.
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The economic component of society includes production forces (labor personnel, tools) and production relations (production, distribution, exchange, consumption of goods). The main components of the economic subsystem are production, consumption and trade.
Political sphere
Includes relationships related to politics and power.
The original meaning of the word politics, translated from ancient Greek, meant “the art of government.” In the modern world, the term is used to refer to social life, the problems of which are the acquisition, use and retention of power.
The main components of this group of social life are:
- political institutions (parties);
- legal and moral standards;
- communications;
- culture and ideology.
Social sphere
This group of social life includes relationships that arise during the production and life of a person as an individual in society. It includes social communities and relationships between them.
The social structure is divided:
- demographic;
- ethnic;
- settlement;
- educational;
- professional;
- estate-class group.
Spiritual realm
This system includes ideal intangible formations, which include values, ideas, religion, art, morality.
Spirituality aims to satisfy the needs for self-awareness, worldview and spiritual qualities. The main components are spiritual production (science, art, religion) and spiritual consumption (visiting cultural institutions, acquiring new knowledge).
Interrelation of spheres of society
All of the above components of society are closely interconnected.
In different eras, humanity has tried to single out one of the spheres. Thus, in the Middle Ages, the spiritual, religious component was of great importance, in the Age of Enlightenment - scientific knowledge and morality. Marxism emphasized economic relations, and many other concepts emphasized law and politics.
The characteristic of modern society is the combination of all components. Example - place in the social hierarchy affects political views, access to spiritual values, and education. Economic relations depend on state policy, which is formed on the traditions and customs of the people.
You can find out the features of each subsystem in the following table:
What have we learned?
Society has four subsystems closely interconnected. The economic component is responsible for material benefits, their receipt and distribution, the political component is responsible for power and management, the social subsystem is responsible for the relationships between different layers of the population, the spiritual sphere is responsible for morality, education and culture.
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3. The main spheres of social life and their relationship
Society is a complex dynamic system that includes spheres of public life as subsystems.
The economic, or material and production sphere is an area of social life associated with human activity in the production, distribution, exchange, consumption of material goods, the material living conditions of people.
The social sphere is an area of public life associated with the relations between various social communities (classes, nations, social strata, etc.), their role in the life of society.
The political, or political-legal sphere is an area of public life associated with the organization of society and its management, the system of management institutions.
The spiritual sphere is an area of social life associated with specialized spiritual production, with the functioning of social institutions within which spiritual values are created and disseminated.
The development of each sphere of social life is subject to its own laws, but the independence of the spheres is relative. Problems in the functioning of one of them immediately affect the condition of the others. For example, the instability of economic life gives rise to a crisis in the political sphere, tension in social relations, disorganization of people in the spiritual sphere, and uncertainty in the present and future.
In the relationships between spheres of public life, cause-and-effect and functional connections are distinguished. From the point of view of Marxism, cause-and-effect relationships play a dominant role. This means that all spheres form a hierarchical structure, that is, they are in a relationship of subordination and subordination. Marxists clearly point out the dependence of all spheres on the economic sphere and their conditionality by the economic sphere, which is based on material production based on a certain nature of property relations. At the same time, Marxists emphasize that the economic sphere is only the main reason; it only ultimately determines the development of other spheres of social life. They do not deny the reverse impact of other areas on the economy.
Preference is given to functional connections primarily in Anglo-American sociology. The main emphasis is on the fact that each sphere can exist only within the framework of integrity, where it performs specific, strictly defined functions. For example, the adaptation function is provided by the economic sphere, the goal achievement function is provided by the political sphere, etc.
24.Political organization of society. The state, its most important features, historical types and forms. Civil society and the rule of law
Throughout its history, the most progressive, thinking
representatives of humanity tried to create a model of an ideal social
a device where reason, freedom, prosperity and justice would reign.
The formation of civil society was linked to the problems
improving the state, enhancing the role of law and law.
Ancient thinkers did not separate “Society” and “State”. So,
for example, the national assembly of the inhabitants of Athens was at the same time the highest body
political management. At the same time, the state (public power)
dominated society, dominating it in the form of an eastern
despotism, sometimes in the form of the Roman Empire, sometimes in the form of a medieval monarchy.
Aristotle defined the state as sufficient for the self-sufficient
existence of a set of citizens, i.e. nothing more than civil
society. Cicero, justifying the legal equality of people, wrote: “... the law
is the connecting link of civil society, and the law established by law
the same for everyone..." Identification of civil society with
state lasted for a long time, and was due to the level
development of economic and socio-political relations (primitive
forms of division of labor, the initial stage of development of commodity-money relations,
nationalization of public life, the caste nature of social
structures).
The separation of the state from society and the transformation of it and society into
relatively independent phenomena occurred only as a result
bourgeois revolutions and the establishment of the complete dominance of exchange relations
as a means of connecting people into social organisms. Society,
freed from the tyranny of the state and united individual
independent subjects, called civil. Nowadays it
plays the same role that the polis played in antiquity, and the Middle Ages -
estate.
As a result of the development of social relations, the
scientists' views on civil society. At the turn of the XVI-XVII centuries. in the works of N.
Machiavelli, G. Grotius, T. Hobbes, J. Locke, C. Montesquieu, J.-J. Rousseau has already
compliance with civil society was not motivated by everyone, but only
progressive, in their opinion, forms of government based
on a natural-legal, contractual basis. In particular, J. Locke believed
that "absolute monarchy... is incompatible with civil society and,
therefore cannot be a form of civil government at all.”
Machiavelli believed that the best form of state was a mixed one, consisting of
monarchy, aristocracy and democracy, each of which is designed to restrain
and protect others.
Characterizing civil society, I. Kant considered the following to be the main ones:
ideas:
a) a person must create everything on his own and must be responsible
for what was created;
b) the clash of human interests and the need to protect them
are motivating reasons for people’s self-improvement;
c) civil freedom, legally ensured by law, is
a necessary condition for self-improvement, a guarantee of preservation and elevation
human dignity.
These ideas formed the basis of the theory of civil society. Kant,
transferring the concept of antagonism between individuals as a stimulus for their self-development
on relations between states, concludes that for humanity
the greatest problem which nature forces him to solve is
achieving a universal legal civil society.
W. Humboldt, accepting the philosophical teachings of Kant, on specific
examples tried to show the contradictions and differences between civil
society and state. He considered civil society to be:
a) a system of national, public institutions formed by the
individuals;
b) natural and common law;
c) person.
The state, unlike civil society, consists, according to its
opinion:
a) from the system of state institutions;
The most correct approach to studying society is systems approach, which involves the analysis of social structures, including the study of the elements of society and the relationships between them, as well as the analysis of processes and changes occurring in society and reflecting trends in its development.
It is logical to begin a structural analysis of a system by identifying the largest complex parts, called subsystems. Such subsystems in society are the so-called spheres of public life, which are parts of society, the limits of which are determined by the influence of certain social relations. Traditionally, social scientists have identified the following main areas of society:
1. Economic sphere- a system of economic relations that arises and is reproduced in the process of material production. The basis of economic relations and the most important factor determining their specificity is the method of production and distribution of material goods in society.
2. Social sphere- a system of social relations, i.e. relations between groups of people occupying different positions in the social structure of society. The study of the social sphere involves considering the horizontal and vertical differentiation of society, identifying large and small social groups, studying their structures, forms of implementation of social control in these groups, analyzing the system of social connections, as well as social processes occurring at the intra- and intergroup level.
Note that the terms “social sphere” and “social relations” are often used in a broader interpretation, as a system of all relations between people in society, reflecting not the specifics of a given local sphere of society, but the integrative function of social science - the unification of subsystems into a single whole.
3. Political (political-legal) sphere - a system of political and legal relations that arise in society and reflect the attitude of the state towards its citizens and their groups, citizens towards the existing government, as well as relations between political groups (parties) and political mass movements. Thus, the political sphere of society reflects the relations between people and social groups, the emergence of which is determined by the institution of the state.
4. Spiritual realm- a system of relations between people, reflecting the spiritual and moral life of society, represented by such subsystems as culture, science, religion, morality, ideology, art. The significance of the spiritual sphere is determined by its priority function of determining the value-normative system of society, which, in turn, reflects the level of development of public consciousness and its intellectual and moral potential.
It should be noted that an unambiguous division of the spheres of society is possible and necessary within the framework of its theoretical analysis, however, empirical reality is characterized by their close relationship, interdependence and mutual intersection, which is reflected in such terms as socio-economic relations, spiritual-political, etc. That is why the most important task of social science is to achieve the integrity of scientific understanding and explanation of the patterns of functioning and development of the social system.