Braslavskiy R., Kozlovskiy V. The Civilizational Dimension of the Structurating of Societies. Russian Sociological Review, 2021, vol. 20, no 1, pp. 148–175. DOI: 10.17323 ...

Текст статьи на сайте журнала URL: https://sociologica.hse.ru/2021-20-1/456709467.html (дата обращения 05.04.2021)

Abstract

The civilizational approach in contemporary sociology aims at clarifying the relationships between social structure, and culture, institutions and actors. The civilizational dimension of social structuration focuses on uncovering the complex interactions between civilizational pattern and social structure. The focus is on a historically defined combination of interpretive models and institutional frameworks which unfolds the dynamics of society. The fundamental premise of civilizational analysis in sociology is the rejection of any kind of one-sided reductionist, whether social or cultural determinism. The key moments are distinction, autonomy and contingency in the interweaving of structural, institutional, cultural aspects of social interaction. The civilizational dimension of societal structuration includes: a) determination of the method of differentiation and integration of spheres of social life; b) establishment of basic norms and “promissory notes” for the main institutional sectors; c) building a social center and establishing its relationship with the periphery; d) construction of collective identities; e) ordering the formation of social stratification and the social division of labor; f) self-representations and strategies of sociopolitical elites, their management practices. The key aspects of civilizational structuration of social formations are highlighted and considered on the examples of the Imperial and Soviet periods in the history of Russian society. The civilizational dimension of contemporary societies is the combination of: a) inherited local civilizational traditions (often with their own anticipations of modernity); b) cultural and institutional influences of other traditions and reactions to them, perceived in the course of intercivilizational encounters; c) articulations and visions of the problems of modern civilization, including the models of modernity which receive the universal meaning and value, which were developed and inherited on their own, or were borrowed and imposed from the outside.

Content (in russ)