What is the difference between the evolutionary and revolutionary development of society? The concept of evolutionary and revolutionary development of society

Society has never stood still. Therefore, sociologists of different eras and scientific schools have tried in their own way to comprehend the laws by which it moves. This led to the formation of two polar points of view: the revolutionary and evolutionary development of society.

Spencer's Theory

English sociologist and philosopher Herbert Spencer studied many aspects of the life of society. In particular, it was he who described in detail those processes that affect the evolutionary development of society. His main book, Basic Principles, was written in 1862. In it, Spencer combined such phenomena as the principle of non-intervention of the state and evolutionism. Thanks to the author, his contemporaries learned a lot about the theory of progress.

Summarizing what Spencer wrote, one can say, what is the difference between the evolutionary and revolutionary development of society. First of all, the degree of state intervention in people's lives. If it is minimal, then there is a process of differentiation. It is the disintegration of one complex system into many small ones. The new parts receive separate functions from their predecessors, with which they can cope best. So the society gradually and peacefully evolves, all more effectively using its own resources.

Features of differentiation

The process of differentiation can result in excessive accumulation of discrepancies between different parts of society. This can lead to the decay of the system. This disastrous phenomenon is opposed by integration, which accompanies the development of society.

Interestingly, Spencer actually predicted the Darwinian theory. It was formulated by an English scientist a few years after the publication of the "Basic Principles." Spencer also believed that social evolution is an integral part of universal universal evolution. He also described the important principle of the historical process, according to which different peoples with each generation moved to a new stage of progress, abandoning traditional remnants.

What is the difference between the evolutionary and revolutionary development of society? Whether it happens peacefully or militarily. This is a fundamental difference between these two ways. There are other important points. One of them was noted by the French scientist Emile Durkheim. This researcher, along with Karl Marx, Max Weber and Auguste Comte, is considered the godfather of modern sociological science.

Durkheim's Theory

Durkheim believed that the evolutionary development of society, in contrast to the revolutionary, leads to a gradual natural division of labor. For example, this was the origin of capitalism in Western Europe. This is the difference between the evolutionary and revolutionary development of society.

According to Durgeym, there are two types of social structure. Simple societies are divided into the same segments, which are similar to each other. On the other hand, there are complex societies with a clear and multilateral system of their own device. In this case, each of them has its own small parts, which is the result of differentiation. The difference in structure is what distinguishes the evolutionary and revolutionary development of society. In the case of sharp changes, progress stops.

Emil Durkheim also identified several stages that accompany the complication of society, if it follows the evolutionary path of development. First, the size of the population increases. This leads to a growing number and quality of public relations. Then begins the process of division of labor, which stabilizes the contradictions between different groups.

German sociologist Ferdinand Tennis was the first scientist to study social progress on a historical example. In his book "Community and Society" he showed the transition of Germany from the traditional way to modern relations. Gradualism is what distinguishes the evolutionary and revolutionary development of society.

Marxism

In the XIX century, most sociologists adhered to the views of Spencer. However, the reverse point of view also appeared at that time. Its founders were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. These two German scholars became supporters of the revolution as a solution to the problems between different strata of the population under capitalism. Marx became the author of "Capital". Fundamental work eventually turned out to be a bible for various left-wing political movements.

Result of revolutions

The evolutionary and revolutionary development of society is opposite to each other, because they imply different ways of progress. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there were several major armed protests aimed at restructuring the society. Some of them were successful and led to the fall of the existing order.

Different ways of development of society (evolutionary and revolutionary) also differ in consequences. Gradual progress also slowly solves those contradictions that arise between social classes. The revolution leads to terror and instant breakup of established traditions. Initially, such stories existed only in the pages of books, but events after the First World War showed their real bloodiness and ruthlessness.

Stages of growth of society

The modern concept of the evolutionary and revolutionary development of society developed gradually. Each new generation of scientists brought something new into these theories. For example, in the twentieth century, American Walt Whitman Rostow proposed a new term "growth stage". There were five in total. Each of them characterized a certain stage of the progress of society.

The first stage is a traditional society. It is based on agriculture. This is a very inert state, which can hardly be changed. From this stage, the evolutionary and revolutionary development of society begins. The value of traditional society is great, because it is at this stage that all the customs of this or that people are born.

The second stage is characterized by a transition period. At this stage, society accumulates enough resources to begin its development. The number of investments is growing. In addition, the state becomes centralized (in the past, feudalism departs).

At the third stage, the industrial revolution begins , which is characterized by the development of a wide variety of branches of the economy. The methods of production change, which increases its effectiveness.

Industrial Society

At the fourth stage prerequisites arise for the emergence of an industrial society, which is finally formed at the last stage of evolutionary development. It is distinguished by a developed and complex system of division of labor, in which everyone is engaged in his own work according to education and skills.

Increased production allows you to supply a large number of very different products to the market. This improves the quality of people's lives. The production is modernized with the help of automation and mechanization. This process ends with a scientific and technological revolution. There are modern developed communication systems (vehicles, etc.). People become more mobile, and cities go through the stage of urbanization, when the new infrastructure for a comfortable and comfortable life appears.

Post-industrial society

The idea of an industrial society that arose from the evolutionary development of society was very popular in the twentieth century. But it did not become final either. Some sociologists (Zbigniew Brzezinski, Alvin Toffler) proposed the concept of a post-industrial society that corresponds to the modern world economy.