Formational and civilizational approaches to the history of mankind

For a long time in the domestic literature and science there was only one approach to the study and study of the past of mankind. According to him, the entire development of the society is subject to a change in economic formations. This theory was advanced and clearly substantiated by Karl Marx. But today more and more often history is viewed from the point of view of a wider range of development factors, combining the formational and civilizational approaches to the history of the birth and development of the human race.

There are many explanations for this phenomenon, but the most important of them is that Marx's theory is one-sided and does not take into account a multitude of factors and historical information that can not be ignored in the study of such a multifaceted phenomenon as society.

Formational and civilizational approaches are based on the following factors:

1. Formational - is based on economic development and property right;
2. Civilizational - takes into account all the elements of life, ranging from religious to the "individual-power" relationship.

It should be noted that as such a single concept in the civilizational approach is not worked out. Each researcher also takes into account only one or two factors. Thus, Toynbee identifies sixteen types of society, based on the development of society within a single territory from its inception to the peak and decline. In contrast, Walt Rostow singles out only 5 civilizations, based on the ratio of "population to consumption", the highest of which is the state of mass consumption.

As can be seen from the latter theory, the formational and civilizational approaches quite often resonate with each other, which does not seem strange. This situation is due to the fact that they all characterize the history of society from only one point of view. Thus, both the formational and civilizational approaches to the study of society can not fully reveal its origin and development at all stages, based solely on one method.

Thus, the most complete of them are the theory of Marxian formations and Toynbee's theory of civilizations. At the same time, most researchers have recently been increasingly inclined to think that if we combine the key parameters of these concepts, then the formational and civilizational approaches can fully justify why the development of science, economics, culture and other spheres of public life has followed the path that Is traced through the pages of history.

The above is due to the fact that Marx's theory of the five stages (formations) of people's development is based mainly on the type of economy and the development of tools. Toynbee's theory effectively complements it, revealing social, religious, cultural, scientific and other factors. It should be noted that in the early stages Toynbee paid more attention to the religious component, which was the reason for their opposition. Over time, the situation has changed, and today the formational and civilizational approaches to the study of society are divided only conditionally.

It should be noted that these methods of comprehension of history have both shortcomings and dignities. Thus, the theory of formations has a detailed elaboration of all aspects of the five stages of the economic history of any community. The disadvantage is the one-sided understanding of the processes arising in the states (namely, they are studied by Marx's theory), which is expressed in the fact that only European countries have been identified for study. The experience of the Slavic states, the Arab, American and African world was not taken into account. Approximately also on one factor, his judgments and "father" of the theory of civilizations Toynbee built.

Formational and civilizational approaches to the history of the development of mankind are at the moment opposed, which is fundamentally wrong. Such an attitude to the methods of researching the essence of society's improvement does not leave the possibility of most accurately considering all the deep processes taking place in society. Therefore, in order to prevent the formation of white spots, one should apply the formational and civilizational approaches simultaneously.