Message on the topic of cultural society. Distinctive features of the party

culture tradition elitist

The term “culture” appeared in Ancient Greece. Originally it meant the cultivation or cultivation of the soil; in the Middle Ages, culture was the art of cultivating the land. But already in the 18th century there was a rethinking of this term. It began to be used in relation to aristocrats in order to more advantageously distinguish them from the simple, uneducated people. Moreover, translated from German language kultur is " high level civilization."

In our country, the term culture is associated primarily with good manners, classical music and literature, historical monuments. In fact, the concept of culture is very multifaceted and applies to many aspects of social life, both intangible and tangible. We can talk endlessly about manifestations of culture, for example, there is a culture of religion, social and interpersonal relations, various ethnic groups, countries, eras, and professional groups. Therefore, there are a huge number of definitions for this concept.

In sociology, the concept of culture is one of the most frequently used. E. Giddens gives the following definition of this term: “Culture is a social structure to which individual members or social groups of a given society are subject”

When sociologists talk about culture, first of all they mean the favorable aspects of human life that we learn in the process of socialization, and are not transmitted genetically from parents to children. For example, Kluckhohn, in his definition of culture, makes it clear to us that culture can be created by people themselves and it is quite possible for it to be learned. The formation of personality occurs precisely through the assimilation of values, rules and norms of behavior in society. Therefore, we can safely say that culture is significantly involved in the process of shaping the personality of individuals, and also serves as one of the main regulators of their behavior in society. As an example of this thesis, one can cite such a phenomenon as “Mowgli children,” that is, individuals who were raised by animals. They cannot be called individuals, since they have not been socialized and their behavior is chaotic and uncontrollable. Observing them, the Swedish naturalist Karl Liney decided that they were representatives of a special genus. But later scientists realized that such children did not develop personality due to the fact that they did not communicate with other people.

The famous psychologist Sigmund Freud conducted a number of studies on the conflict between culture and the instinctive principle of man. As a result, he found out that culture often suppresses some human impulses, especially aggressive ones, but does not exclude them completely, but rather determines the conditions under which they will be realized.

Culture also influences social change, but three aspects are considered: religion, the communication system and the influence of the individual on the history of society. For example, some religions encourage people to maintain existing traditions and customs and not allow any changes occurring in society. But Max Weber argued that very often the opposite happens: religion becomes one of the driving forces social change.

One of the main factors determining the direction of social change is the nature of the communication systems that exist in society. For example, writing has changed people's perception of the connections between the past, present and future. Societies in which writing existed from ancient times kept chronicles and thereby created history. People who understood its laws were able to understand the direction of development of the society in which they live, and in the future even contribute to its movement.

Also, one of the cultural factors influencing social change is the role of the individual in history. There are many examples when a person managed to captivate a lot of people with his ideas and thereby contribute to a revolution in society.

The culture of each people has unique styles of behavior that are different from representatives of other cultures. The habits, traditions, and values ​​of residents of different countries often differ significantly from each other, and when they find themselves in another country, people get lost because they cannot navigate the culture that is new to them. Very often it is difficult for us to understand the customs and beliefs of representatives of other countries and religions. In the modern world, speakers of different cultures are in constant dialogue. And it is precisely because of this that conflicts often occur due to different assessments of reality.

An example is the international scandal that occurred in connection with the publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper. For Western culture this was quite harmless, but supporters of Islam perceived this act as a grave insult to their culture. This situation led to aggressive attacks from the offended. But the European side can rightfully consider itself offended, because for the modern European culture Characterized by such values ​​as freedom of speech and freedom of artistic creativity. For Europeans these are the same undoubted values ​​as for supporters of Islam their religious beliefs and traditions. In this case, the cultural conflict generated political consequences. It is worth considering that both sides were right in their own way, but only in the context of their own ideas about reality.

The position of judging another culture from the point of view of one's own culture is called ethnocentrism, which is most pronounced among missionaries. They specifically travel around the world to impose their own on representatives of other religions, which they consider barbaric.

American sociologist William Graham Sumner in his book “Folk Customs” openly says that ethnocentrism was associated with the activities of the first anthropologists, who compared any culture with their own, which was considered, in their opinion, the best. In fact, culture should be viewed and analyzed only in its own context and without comparison with anything else.

Culture shapes people's attachment to a particular group. This probably happens because members of one group trust each other more than members of other groups. Therefore, culture helps to increase solidarity between representatives of a particular social group. But often it is the cause of intragroup or intergroup conflicts. This phenomenon can be examined using the example of language, which is one of the main elements of culture. On the one hand, speaking the same language, representatives of a social group can communicate, and this contributes to their unity. But if we look at the situation from the other side, we see that communication in one language excludes those who do not speak that language. In addition to language, social groups can differ in clothing style, behavior, cultural values, and traditions.

In ancient times, small communities of people, like hunter-gatherer tribes, were characterized by a unified culture or monoculture. But only a few countries have managed to maintain this monoculture, including Japan, which demonstrates the highest level of cultural homogeneity. The predominant number of industrial and post-industrial powers are characterized by cultural diversity or multiculture. It arose due to the migration of peoples, wars, colonial policies pursued by states, and globalization, which led to the relocation of people from their usual habitats to an alien environment. Russia can serve as an example of a multicultural country. Our country is officially home to 180 peoples, which is about 20 percent of the total population. And it is natural that representatives of all nationalities try to adhere to the characteristics of their culture.

Modern society is also characterized by the presence of subcultures and countercultures. The definition of subculture is applicable to a group of people who differ from the majority of people in their cultural traditions. Subcultures include hackers, hippies, football fans, emo, goths, etc. In addition, a person can be a member of several subcultures at the same time. Countercultures reject most existing cultural traditions.

Culture plays an important role in preserving the norms and values ​​of any society, but it also involves the creation of new traditions. And subcultures and countercultures often become a kind of guide for people into the world of alternative ideas that are familiar to them. Subcultures provide people with freedom of action and are forces that can change society.

Cultural factors leading to social changes in our time also include the development of science and the secularization of knowledge, which have given a person’s worldview a critical and creative character. Today, any of us is looking for an explanation for any phenomenon. We will not follow customs and traditions just because our ancestors followed them. In addition to changes in the way we think, the content of our ideas has also changed. The concepts of equality, self-improvement, freedom appeared in society relatively recently. These ideas became the driving force behind social and political changes in society, often leading to revolutions. Initially they appeared in Western countries, later they began to spread in many countries around the world. Thus, they gave rise to a number of global changes in society. But the changes taking place in modern society are making its cultures much more united than ever before. Now, thanks to mass communication, residents of different countries have more opportunities than before, which contributes to the development of culture. For example, with the help of the Internet we learn about what is happening in other countries now, what they are into, what music they listen to, what fashion they follow.

The problem of the relationship between the concepts of “culture” and “society” and the mechanisms of their interaction

The concept of “society” has many meanings, just like the concept of “culture”. In philosophical, sociological and historical literature the term “society” is used in at least five, although related, but still different meanings. The relationship between culture and society is not their opposition, like the relationship “culture - nature (nature)”, because they are equally forms of extra-biological and super-biological existence, they have a common origin and an inextricable history - without each other, culture and society do not exist (which is why scientists often resort to the expression “sociocultural forms”).

Definition of ratio culture and society-- complex theoretical problem and is resolved differently by both domestic and foreign researchers. In the most general view The following approaches can be distinguished:

1. Put an equal sign between these concepts. Culture coincides with social development, therefore, culture is society. Florian Znaniecki, justifying the identity of social and cultural systems,

defines society as a series of coexisting and intersecting groups within which society coincides with a certain type of cultural orientation.

At the same time, culture and society are not identical - they are different, and the dissimilarity is determined not by volume, but by modality. If we use the well-known idea of ​​ontology that there are three modes of being - things, properties and relationships, then human society is a system social relations, A culture--unity of mutually transforming things, properties and relationships. It appears to us, first of all, as a property of a person - his non-inherited, lifetime developed ability to transform the world, and with it himself; then it turns out to be the relationship - spiritual, practical and practical-spiritual - of a person to the world he is transforming and to other people, in interaction with whom his activity is manifested. And, finally, culture is embodied in the fruits of this activity - “second nature”, i.e. in the world of things.

• 2. Distinguishing between society and culture ( E. Markaryan, A. Flier and others.), propose to consider the latter as a function of society that arise simultaneously. Society-- is a socially consolidated sustainable group of people chasing just as much sustainable goals and interests. A culture-- cumulative way to realize these goals and interests, social experience of this team. The general concept of “culture”, according to Flier, is nothing more than a speculative category marking a certain class of phenomena in the social life of people, a certain aspect of their existence. It practically cannot reproduce itself. With this approach, the individual falls out of the culture.
• 3. Culture is seen as part of society that are in complex interaction. Society makes certain demands on culture - some of its leaders respond to them, others resist them, and still others generally avoid any participation in solving social problems. Culture, regardless of the extent to which its leaders are aware of it, influences the life of society and the direction of its development. Concepts such as “bias” and “apoliticality”, “civicism” and “lack of ideas”, “social responsibility” and “escapism”, “critical realism” and “art for art’s sake” speak quite clearly about the intensity of the relationship between these two spheres being.

Culture as a whole has significant redundancy in relation to social needs. Redundancy of culture is not excess. It is designed to contribute to greater reliability of the social system, to help it adequately respond to unforeseen changes. The greater the accumulated stock of cultural information, the more stable and viable the society.

Anthropological dimension culture and society consider a person as an individual, as a social subject. The personality-forming factor of culture makes it necessary to study both social life and a special area of ​​cultural creativity, which has a decisive impact on society. Culture opens the way to society, and it also makes the very existence of society possible. Society-- This a system of relationships and methods of objective influence on a person. Inner life a person is not filled with social requirements. They cannot exercise total control over the preferences, values, and interests of the individual. P. Sorokin draws attention to the diversity of cultural orientations in the same social group. He, for example, believes that a given cultural system is not at all localized within one social system (group), but, like an ocean current washing many shores and islands, extends to many different groups, and the boundaries of cultural systems do not coincide with the boundaries organized groups. Therefore, to distinguish between culture and society appropriate in the field of cultural dynamics, cultural self-determination of the individual, providing the possibility of social identification.

Mutual influence of the type of society and culture. In the history of mankind, there are three ways of organizing the life of society, characterized by in different forms relations between individuals and the society to which they belong, and thereby different types of culture. In a primitive, archaic society, the individual was “dissolved” in his tribal group to such an extent that, as social psychologists say, he did not yet have consciousness of himself as “I” - he was aware of himself as “We”.

The next historical way of organizing the life of society, which accordingly gave rise to the second type of culture, was based on the class, or clan, stratification of society, which required the formation of the state as an institution that, with its power, would consolidate a heterogeneous social whole and legitimize not only on behalf of the secular Ruler, but also on named after the gods, hierarchical relationships between members of society. The birth of states and the implementation of the tasks assigned to them occurred in the monarchical-imperial countries of the East, later in Ancient Rome, then in medieval Europe and Russia: all members of society, regardless of their place in the social hierarchy - from the first minister to the last servant - became subjects of the state personified by the Supreme Ruler. This type of society with the political and religious culture dominated for several thousand years and then lost its influence. In the 20th century Attempts were made to restore it essentially in a different form - without the monarchical form and the traditional religious sanctification of the absolute power of uncrowned monarchs, but these experiments turned out to be short-lived.

As long as the hierarchical organization of social existence was based on the forceful provision of domination and subordination, this method of life support, biological in origin, was preserved, and the very achievements of culture acted as instruments of violence - this was most clearly manifested in war as a constant way of resolving social contradictions.

The third, democratic, way of organizing the life of society with a type of culture corresponding to its needs, having arisen in the ancient Greek polis, having existed for a short time in Ancient Rome, reborn from feudal ashes, in modern times was finally strengthened in European city-communes on the basis of bourgeois production in democratically self-organized states Europe as a society of citizens, in other words, civil society.

In our time there has been a kind of inversion in the relationship between society and culture. The determining factor in the fate of humanity today is not the structure of society, but the degree of development of culture: having reached a certain level, it entailed a radical reorganization of society and the entire system of social management. This was reflected in the expansion of the refusal to use traditional, inherited from our ancestors, methods of physically deadly violence of the state over the state and the nation over the nation, some industrial corporations over others, etc. in the use of a culturally generated method of resolving all contradictions and conflicts, unknown to animals a world alternative to violence, whose name is dialogue.

Specific and intermediate cultures. To consider the problem of “culture and society,” it seems important to consider some typological problems characterizing social existence. Thus, a stable and consistent set of value orientations in a society determines the unity and integrity of its spiritual life. This totality forms that middle culture (the core of culture) of society as a whole, which relieves the tension of oppositional values, eliminates the threat of split and radical inversion in the dynamics of society. It is within the framework of the middle culture that a stable moral ideal, acceptable to the general population for a long period of time. Within its framework, the extremes of value orientations are removed: asceticism - hedonism, obedience - will, own - alien, sacred - demonic, popular - anti-national, proletarian - bourgeois, etc., as well as developing a sustainable lifestyle, providing moderate well-being for broad sections of the population, accessible goals and means of achieving these goals.

Exist different types middle cultures, specific to a particular civilization, and later to national communities. In the classical civilizations of the East, the middle culture is formed within the framework of a religious system that gives room to the widest strata of believers. In an industrial society, such a culture is created on the basis of the unity of the economic system and the market, which give rise to the middle class.

The problem of forming a middle culture in Russian society is very urgent. Connection of contradictory social and cultural components, the weakness of the unifying spiritual principle, which was usually religion, contributed to the preservation of antinomic values ​​and meanings, which leads to constant and acute splits in society. The constantly felt need for the maturation of a middle culture is interrupted by the clash of opposing principles and principles.

Middle culture penetrates, without merging with it, into everyday culture, or everyday culture formed primarily by customs and norms. Of course, everyday life is not devoid of value orientations, but first of all these are vital values ​​- physical well-being and comfort, moderate commitment to such social values ​​as stability and order.

Any culture has its own characteristics, which are preserved in a typologically homogeneous society. This specificity means the peculiarity of a given culture, its difference from all others, and manifests itself in different ways.

Firstly, as specific may be the so-called marginal culture. This is a borderline culture that arises on the verge of cultural and historical eras, worldviews, languages, ethnic cultures or subcultures, different from the dominant (middle) culture in society. Such a culture arises in connection with a sharp change in lifestyle and living conditions. The reasons for the emergence of a marginal culture are: 1) major social upheavals; 2) urbanization; 3) emancipation of ethnic minorities; 4) changing mode of production; 5) activity informal movements and public organizations.

People of a marginal culture have difficulty with cultural identification and cannot clearly define who they are or what their culture is. They find themselves between, for example, traditional and modern cultures, between different confessions, etc. ** For more on cultural marginality, see Chapter 12.

Secondly, specific culture can act as subculture. Subculture-- a cultural subsystem of the “official” culture that determines the lifestyle, value orientation and mentality of its bearers. The existence of subcultures is explained by many reasons, and one of the most important is that culture includes a mass of heterogeneous material. The cultures of children and adults, teenagers and pensioners differ quite sharply: different age categories of people practice specific life styles, worship different idols, and spend their leisure time differently. Subcultural formations reflect the social, ethnic, and demographic features of cultural development. They are sufficiently stable, autonomous, closed and manifest themselves in language, consciousness, ethical and aesthetic attitudes. Religious sects can be considered a clear example of a subculture in the modern world. The subculture is designed to keep its distinctive features in a certain isolation from “other” cultural layers and not turn into officialdom.

Subcultural trends are largely due to the desire of any culture, possessing the status of officialdom, fill all the compartments of life, become universal and total. Any unification always gives rise to an alternative. The formation of subcultures can express the social need for differentiation of spiritual life, for the development of other forms of behavior and activity.

On the other side, familiarization with cultural standards, entering the world of the dominant culture is a complex and contradictory process. He constantly encounters psychological and other difficulties characteristic of the younger generation. This gives rise to the special life aspirations of young people, who from the spiritual fund appropriate for themselves what corresponds to their life impulse. This is how certain cultural cycles are born, determined by the change of generations.

Subcultures, although they are renewed continuously throughout history, still express the process of adaptation to the dominant ones. cultural norms. They are more conducive to gradual evolutionary, peaceful transformations. Cultural creative impulses emanating from subcultures are integrated into the general mainstream of the leading trends of the era, acting as a unique variation of the general culture.

A special subculture is formed by the low life of the street, the crowd, the slums, the criminal environment, etc. It is in this area increased attention to pulp literature, pornography, vulgar language, fence inscriptions and drawings, etc. If a society feels a threat to its basic values, the always existing conservative tendency within it to limit the manifestation of excessive spiritual and moral discord expands. The response to this trend is the increasing influence of those segments of the population in the system of power that advocate preserving the stability of society and its national identity.

Thirdly, a specific culture acts as counterculture. She strives to penetrate the “core” of the middle, “official” culture, to replace its fundamental values ​​with her own - often opposite ones. The emergence of counterculture is due to the fact that local cultural values penetrate wider social groups, going beyond their own cultural environment.

The concept of "counterculture" used in modern cultural studies in two senses. Firstly, to designate socio-cultural attitudes that oppose the fundamental principles that dominate a particular culture. In this sense, the term “counterculture” is used when talking about replacing one type of culture with another. Secondly, it is identified with the Western youth subculture of the 60s, which reflected a critical attitude towards modern culture and its rejection as the “culture of the fathers”. In 1960 Theodore Roszak introduced it in order to unite various spiritual influences (early hippies and beatniks) directed against the dominant culture into a relatively holistic phenomenon - counterculture.

The goal of any countercultural education can be defined as the desire to show the failure of dominant attitudes. Every counterculture, even if it does not ultimately occupy a dominant position, strives to create a new universal vocabulary, channels cultural communication and, ultimately, create a new person and a new social reality. This is rarely possible: official (middle) culture, as a rule, has greater potential for sustainability than counterculture and is based on an extensive system of social coercion. The confrontation between early Christianity and Hellenistic culture, humanism and Christianity lasted for centuries. Even when countercultures triumphed, displacing competitors, the latter still remained - in the form of subcultures that continued to exert a huge influence on cultural development. They remain as such to this day.

Ethnic, national and civilizational. The sociocultural structure and interaction of different countries and peoples is largely influenced by the levels and forms of culture that have manifested themselves throughout the historical development of mankind. These levels of culture can be defined in general terms as ethnic, national and civilizational. They differ in many respects in their content, dynamics and trends and enter into complex, sometimes tense relationships that undergo significant transformations in the course of the historical development of society

Ethnic culture.“Ethnos” translated from Greek means “tribe”, “people”. In science, this concept began to be used in the 19th century, when ethnography appeared, studying peoples who still lived in a community and did not know writing. According to general theory ethnicity, ethnicity - the most “natural” way group organization population, the primary form of reproduction of the human community on the basis of common “soil and blood”. Ethnic community is based not on “blood”, but on the self-awareness of people, and therefore it is not a biological concept, but a social one (or, one might say, biosocial).

Ethnos is a social group whose members are united by ethnicity self-awareness- consciousness of one's genetic connection with other members of this group. An individual's ethnic self-awareness is built on his ideas about his origin. He recognizes himself as belonging to a certain ethnic group because he considers himself a descendant of a number of previous generations of ancestors who belonged to this ethnic group. The memory of ancestors is passed on from generation to generation. As a result, a historical heredity, which determines the integrity of the ethnic group.

Ethnic culture is what distinguishes people from the “animal kingdom” at the earliest stages of development. Ethnographic studies have shown that even among the savages of South America, Africa and Polynesia, who today have not reached the stage of barbarism, there are ways cultural self-identification, those. dividing people into “us” and “strangers”. If the first basis of identity was blood relationship, it was replaced by a community of customs and morals.

Culture includes a complex system of rituals and myths in which people, identifying themselves with animals and natural forces, talk about the origins own kind. Myth is a form collective identity. And in developed mythology, people begin to realize not only their difference from others, but also their tribal unity in the person common ancestor. Ethnic culture includes national clothing and local colloquial, called “dialect”, folklore, i.e. folk art, which includes folk dances and songs, epic tales and myths. In ethnic communities, the close connection of economic relations with ritual and religious relations leads to the syncretism of a culture in which there is not yet a stable division into subjective and objective factors, into “I-we”.

Ethnic culture created spontaneously, and its “author” (subject) is the entire people. A person becomes familiar with it in the immediate process of life, because without attaching no special effort, nor developed personality. People form in their daily lives mentality- a way of thinking and feeling, worldview, spiritual disposition, which embodies national identity of a given people, his culture.

Without feeling ethnic identity the individual may experience feelings of insecurity and loss of identity. It is precisely because of its proximity to natural biological sources that the ethnic principle, which has penetrated into self-consciousness and become the source of self-organization of the people, ensures its survival in difficult natural and historical conditions, and clashes with neighbors and conquerors. Ethnic culture is formed largely as a protective mechanism that guarantees life support within “one’s” people.

The historical conditions in which ethnic groups exist give rise to various kinds of social ties that unite people not along ethnic lines - state-political, economic, religious, etc. As a result, ethno-social communities are built on top of ethnogenetic communities. People how an ethnosocial community can be composed of one or more ethnic groups and include people of different ethnic origins, since the factors ensuring its unity are not limited to the idea of ​​genetic kinship.

National culture. Nation is a later and higher form of regulation of sociocultural relations, characteristic of highly urbanized industrial societies with a developed division of labor. There is a strong opinion that exactly ethnic origin serves as a shaping factor for the nation. Meanwhile, almost every nation is actually formed from representatives of different ethnic groups as an overcoming, limitation or transformation of their own ethnic characteristics. Often most of ethnic group may be located outside its state. Of course, in the cultural appearance of a nation, as a rule, there is a predominance of the largest - or most influential - ethnic part.

Ethnic culture influenced the emergence of cities and states. Urbanization inevitably means a retreat into the background, a decline in the role of natural and genetic factors. The regulation of the life of society and the interaction of various groups and components, the functioning of a unified communication system is ensured by power, primarily in the form of the state, and culture - in the form of a single language, ideological consciousness and literature. Social stratification culture is the formation of the culture of new urban classes. Culture acquires two more dimensions: political and religious. In the culture of early urban civilizations (since Sh-P of the millennium BC e. to the middle of the 2nd millennium AD. BC) the dominant feature of consolidation is still the principle of territorial-neighborhood solidarity. This type of culture is transformed with the advent of bourgeois nations into a national type of culture.

Government And writing became the first prerequisites for the future national unification of people. And above the ethnic culture, thanks to writing, a culture of a different order began to be built on, examples of which are Egyptian science, the ancient Hebrew religion, ancient philosophy and art.

National culture is embodied in the values ​​of a particular country’s way of life, which are, to one degree or another, shared by the ethnic groups inhabiting it. Therefore, it is sometimes said that, on the one hand, ethnic cultures form the national one within the state, and on the other hand, the national culture leaves its imprint on ethnic cultures. If the latter bear echoes of the culture of myth, then the national ones carry echoes of the culture of Logos, state, politics, and economics.

Differences between social groups within one nation do not extend to the cultural heritage of the entire nation. Each nation is characterized by the creation of a single semiotic field - a system of sign means known to all its representatives (language, traditional forms of behavior, symbols - everyday, artistic, political, etc.), which ensure their mutual understanding and everyday interaction. On the other hand, the entry of ethnic groups into a nation does not mean their assimilation of the entire national culture. They only partially perceive the spiritual culture of the nation, forming their own subculture.

Of considerable importance for the formation of national culture is the penetration of folk culture into aristocratic, urban into rural, sedentary into nomadic, metropolitan into provincial, and vice versa.

Both ethnic and nationality a person is determined by his self-awareness. Usually national identity due to ethnicity. But often - especially in our era - ethnic and national identity do not coincide: in modern nations. There are many people of different ethnic origins - “Russian Americans”, “Russified Germans”, “Russian Jews”, “Siberian Ukrainians”, etc. The term “nationality” is used to denote the ethnicity of people, no matter where they live.

Ethnic and national cultures form an organic unity; they are impossible without each other. Ethnic (folk) culture is the most ancient layer of national culture. She is the source of the people's language (which becomes in the national culture literary language). From it, writers borrow plots and images, composers - melodies and rhythms, architects - styles and techniques for designing buildings. The originality and uniqueness of the “face” of any national culture largely depends on its ancient traditions that have developed over centuries. If we take this into account, it becomes clear why the typical traits of a German are neatness, thrift, the desire to always and everywhere observe a certain order, to follow strictly defined instructions. A typical Frenchman appears as emotionally excitable, energetically gesticulating, easily, with irony regarding everything, including himself; who believes that there is nothing in the world more beautiful than French national culture and cuisine. A typical Englishman is deeply committed to traditions, as a rule, conservative in his views, assessments, and affections; most often calm and calm, balanced and cool-headed.

But national culture cannot be reduced to ethnic culture. However, the relationship between them is very complex and contradictory. Ethnic culture preserves archaic, in many ways no longer relevant modern conditions norms of life, any changes and innovations are alien to her. The national type of culture is relevant, i.e. focused on solving current social problems, and prognostic, i.e. aimed at achieving the future.

Ethnic culture tends to be closed and suffers from xenophobia, i.e. hostility to everything foreign and unfamiliar. The national one, on the contrary, as it develops, becomes more and more open to contacts with other cultures and becomes richer, absorbing their achievements. ** Read about intercultural communication in Chapter 11.

Ethnic culture strives to preserve differences between local, local, peculiar separate groups population characteristics of life, behavior, pronunciation, etc.; in national culture these differences are leveled out and gradually disappear with its development.

The best achievements of national culture are the product of the creativity of the most talented representatives of the nation, enlightened, erudite people. Its focus is not so much the village as the city with its theaters, museums, libraries, educational institutions. Mastering national culture does not come naturally - it is achieved in the process education and self-education and requires serious intellectual effort. * ** On the role of education in mastering national culture. *

Culture and civilization. Civilization as a macro-community arises on the basis of broader and fundamentally different connections. The features of civilization are determined not by the ethno-national composition of the population, but by the nature of the sociocultural structure of society. The same civilization can be developed by different peoples at different times and in different places on the globe.

Concept "civilization" is one of the key terms in cultural studies. Its history is closely connected with the history of the concept of “culture” in the Problem ratios culture and civilization Many serious works by famous cultural theorists are devoted to this topic. Many of them connect it with questions about the fate of culture, civilization and even all of humanity.

The origins of the word "civilization" go back to ancient times, to Latin word civilis relating to the qualities of a citizen as a city dweller. To this day, this meaning has been preserved in the word civilian, still implying qualities befitting a citizen. - courtesy, courtesy, friendliness and familiarity with the urban environment. Adjective "civilized“originally had the meaning of “urban”, “educated”, “educated” as opposed to “uneducated”, “rude”, “wild”, “barbaric”.

The very concept of “civilization” appeared in the 18th century, during the Enlightenment, and bore the imprint of the culture and worldview of that era. It is generally accepted that this word was first used by the Marquis de Mirabeau. They began to use it more and more confidently P.A. Golbach, J.A. Condorcet and other thinkers, giving it a “sublime” meaning. This concept was originally used in connection with theory of progress, and therefore was used only in a single number to denote the opposite of “barbarism” stages of the world-historical process. It is precisely as the opposite of this world that the concept of civilization was put forward. Its ideals were rationality, science, citizenship, justice, which were to become the foundations of public and private life of people. The figures of the Enlightenment believed that all this was opposed by the dark world of barbarism, ignorance, prejudice, and religious fanaticism. During this era, the opinion arose that the development of culture is the development of civilization. But within French Enlightenment We also encounter a different attitude towards civilization. In the works J.-J. Rousseau we encounter criticism of contemporary civilization, which is assessed as a stage of decline and degradation, we find a call to abandon civilization and return back to life in unity with nature.

However, in the 19th century, civilization began to be understood not only as historical process, but also what has already been achieved state society. L. Morgan, F. Engels and other historians and philosophers viewed civilization as a stage of social progress following savagery and barbarism. And since at this stage there arise various shapes society, the idea of ​​the existence of different civilizations gained recognition in historical and philosophical literature. Initially, the concept of “civilization” had a very strong motive of the superiority of Europeans over other people.

IN Anglo-American traditions civilization is usually used in much the same sense as the word "culture". One of the greatest historians of the 20th century, A. Toynbee, refers to various types of society as civilizations, which act as relatively independent sociocultural worlds. Toynbee distinguishes civilizations from primitive primitive societies. Civilizations can span different states and exist over a long historical time, going from birth to death.

The concept of “civilization” (like the concept of “culture” in some cases) indicates one or another form of historical life of people, limited by the spatial framework or boundaries of a particular era. For example, they talk about " eastern civilization", "European civilization", "ancient civilization", etc. Nevertheless, a unified terminology has not yet developed in philosophical and scientific literature: French researchers prefer the word “civilization”, and German researchers prefer “culture” (“Hochkultur”, i.e. “ high culture"), For designations for approximately the same processes.

Gradually, especially in German scientific and philosophical literature, civilization began to be distinguished from culture. The idea of ​​civilization as a set of material and social benefits delivered to a person by the development of social production has come into use. A trend has emerged contrast culture and civilization, consider them as opposites (G . Simmel, O. Spengler, G. Marcuse, etc.). Civilization is identified primarily with technical development and mass society, and therefore with standardization and averaging, whereas “culture” is presented as a set of artistic achievements and a sphere of personal improvement. This understanding of culture and civilization was proposed by German thinkers I. Kant and F. Tennis. ABOUT. Spengler in his book “The Decline of Europe” he formed his understanding of civilization. For Spengler, civilization is a type of development of society when the era of creativity and inspiration is replaced by a stage of ossification of society, a stage of impoverishment of creativity, a stage of spiritual devastation. Creative stage is a culture that is being replaced by civilization.

From here civilized man- this is not at all what cultured person. Cultured person makes the “internal culture” of the individual - the transformation of the achievements of human culture into the fundamental attitudes of being, thinking and behavior of the individual. A civilized person is a person who has only “external culture,” which consists of observing the norms and rules of decency accepted in a civilized society. If this observance has not become an internal necessity for him, then it cannot be considered truly cultural. In a civilized person there may be hidden a savage, a barbarian, a beast, capable of breaking all the laws of human society on occasion. “Civilized lack of culture” is a phenomenon that often occurs in life.

In Russian the word civilization became widespread in the 60s of the XIX century. and is included in the first edition of the dictionary Dahl: “civilization is community life, citizenship, awareness of the rights and responsibilities of man and citizen.” This word is already often used N. Dobrolyubov, D. Pisarev and N. Chernyshevsky to contrast social and natural principles, developed and wild states.

N. Berdyaev, like I. Kant, F. Tennis, O. Spengler, in culture and civilization sees the contrast between the organic and mechanical state of society. Culture is based on inequality, on qualities, it is aristocratic. Civilization is imbued with a desire for equality, wants to settle in numbers, and is democratic.

Civilization was also understood as the spiritual, ethical beginning of the life of society, existing independently of its material aspects. A. Schweitzer (1875-1975) believed that modern Western civilization is in a state of deep decline, the main reason for which is destruction ethical principles. The concepts of “civilization” and “culture” are identical in this approach.

As a result, three main values words civilization. In the first case, “culture” and “civilization” are not perceived as synonyms . The organic nature of culture is opposed to the deadening technicalism of civilization. The second meaning of the word suggests movement of the world from split to united. A third paradigm is also possible - pluralism of separate disparate civilizations. ** This meaning of the term “civilization” is revealed in Chapter 10.

The most common is systems approach, in which civilization is viewed as a sociocultural supersystem that does not coincide with either a nation or a state, but is an integral community. Modern American Explorer S. Huntington defines civilization as a cultural community of the highest rank. At the level of civilizations, in his opinion, the broadest cultural unities of people and the most general socio-cultural differences between them are distinguished. This is a non-ethnic concept, since the characteristics of civilizations are determined by the nature of the sociocultural structure of society.

In fact, civilization is understood as a cultural community of people who have some social genotype, social stereotype, having mastered a large, fairly autonomous, closed world space and, due to this, received a strong place in the world scenario.

conclusions

• 1. Culture and society are in relation to each other not only of coincidence, but also of difference, which, however, cannot be considered as a rigid separation of the cultural and the social. Society as a stable social system is preserved to the extent that cultural factors are reproduced that allow it to be preserved as a system of relations between individuals. Culture highlights the “human” aspect of society and in this sense acts as a characteristic of society and its development from the point of view of the active creative participation of the social individual in this process. It is also advisable to distinguish between culture and society in the field of cultural dynamics and cultural self-determination of the individual.
• 2. What gives society sustainability middle culture. Within its framework, a stable moral ideal is formed, acceptable to the broad masses and for a long period of time. Culture at the same time has its own characteristics, which are preserved in a typologically homogeneous society. As specific may act as a marginal culture, subculture, counterculture. Marginal is called peripheral, borderline, different from the dominant middle culture in society. People belonging to this culture have difficulty with cultural identification.
• 3. Culturally specific phenomena are born within various social groups -- subcultures, which does not pretend to become a dominant era, to become an official doctrine. This is fundamentally different from counterculture, which, on the contrary, openly opposes itself to the dominant culture and claims a leading position . Counterculture is the search for a new value core of modern culture.
• 4. Belonging to an ethnic group was established at the moment of birth. The consanguineous relationship was complemented and cemented by a peculiar ethnic culture. Preliterate ethnic culture was mastered in the immediate flow of life and therefore did not imply either special efforts or developed individuality.
• 5. National culture characterized by the unity of territory, statehood, and common economic life, while identification mental signs fade into the background. The commonality of culture is present in the language, and, accordingly, in writing, beliefs, symbols, everyday culture, customs, etc. Mastering national culture requires conscious personal effort. Hence, national culture cannot do without specialized cultural institutions and the national education system.

6. The concept of “civilization” is as polysemantic as the concept of “culture”. They are often interpreted as synonyms or separated and even opposed. Culture is viewed as a spiritual phenomenon, and civilization as the reification of culture, creating an economically decent life and a relatively high level of comfort. Civilization is also considered as a stage of historical development, which is based on the development of production and commodity-money relations.

Review questions

• 1. How do the concepts of “society” and “culture” relate? What points of view are there on this matter?
• 2. What is meant by “average” culture and what functions does it perform in society?
• 3. What are specific crops?
• 4. What factors cause the ethnic and national dimensions of culture? How do they interact with each other?
• 5. How do the concepts of culture and civilization relate? What are your points of view on this matter?

Who knows harmony with Nature and will,
Whom the enemies could not defeat
On the Kuru field, Kulikovo field,
On the ice of Chudskoye, in the smoke of Borodino,
Near Stalingrad, in the traps of the capital,
THIS IS NOT DESIGNED TO BECOME A SLAVE,
How impossible it is to come to terms with wickedness.
Having spread a network of strife and devastation,
The enemy is fattening at a bloody feast...
But the Original Russian Spirit is still alive,
And we are holding a meeting with Svetoslav!
Svetobor

Goals of a cultural society
For yourself to live - to smolder, for your family - to burn, and for the people - to shine.

Russian proverb

For this is love for God, that you keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous.

Gospel of John

My bodily life is subject to suffering and death, and no effort can save me from either suffering or death. My spiritual life is not subject to either suffering or death. And therefore, my salvation from suffering and death lies in only one thing: in the transference of my consciousness into my spiritual “I”, in the merging of my will with the will of God.

L.N. Tolstoy

For the speedy and successful spiritual development of a person, it is required cultural society, which will set as its goal the creation of all the necessary conditions for each resident, thanks to which society itself as a whole will be regulated. SOCIETY DEVELOPES WHEN THE NORM OF PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR BECOME ONLY SAHAJIYA-DHARMA - SATISFACTION OF THEIR ANIMALS WITH FOOD, SLEEP, PROTECTION, COUPLE, WHEN THE INTEREST IN KNOWLEDGE IS LOST.

The social structure that ensures normal development for humanity is called VARNA-ASHRAMA-DHARMA. This society is based on the idea that the world order established by the Creator will provide everyone with everything they need, so that nothing will be lacking if humanity lives in accordance with natural laws. The goal of such a spiritualized society is not simply to ensure a peaceful material existence, but to give everyone every opportunity to quickly achieve spiritual perfection. IF A SOCIETY DOES NOT SET FOUR GOALS: KNOWLEDGE /DHARMA/, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT /ARTHA/, SENSUAL PLEASURE /KAMA/ AND LIBERATION FROM THE MATERIAL WORLD /MOKSHA/, THEN IT IS CONSIDERED UNCULTURAL. Knowledge distinguishes man from animal. It is recommended by the Vedas because it ensures economic development, which is the goal of knowledge on the material level, because economic development can be achieved only by observing the objective Laws of the Universe, Nature and Society. Dharma teaches how to live in accordance with these Laws. Economic prosperity is necessary in order to increase sensual pleasure, and liberation begins to attract only after disappointment with this temporary, imaginary happiness that sensual pleasures bring.

Having come from the animal kingdom to the human kingdom, the living being naturally strives to receive kama - pleasure through his senses; but in order to fully realize kama, she has to master both artha - economic development, and dharma - the objective laws of Nature, without which she has no opportunity to delight her senses.

According to the Vedic worldview, of all four of the above principles of activity, liberation is considered the most important. The Bhagavata Purana explains: Of the four principles, namely, knowledge, economic development, sense enjoyment and liberation, the last should be taken most seriously. The remaining three are doomed to destruction by the power of the inexorable law of nature - death.

Social stages of life
It is much better for a person to fulfill his duties, even imperfectly, than to fulfill others' duties perfectly.

It is better to experience failure in doing your own duty than in doing someone else's,

Because following someone else's path is dangerous.

Bhagavan Krishna

To successfully achieve any of the four goals of society, each person needs to do his duty.

A person's personal responsibilities are determined by the actual level of his abilities. To determine a person’s abilities, the Vedic scriptures advise using the device of VARN - social levels and ASHRAM - spiritual stages of development.

The great legislator Manu, the progenitor of humanity, teaches: people are divided by natural development into four castes: sorcerers, knights, ves and sudras.

VEDUNS - those who are able to control the mind and senses, have tolerance, simplicity, purity, knowledge, truthfulness, faith in Vedic wisdom and devotion to the Lord. They taught all branches of Vedic knowledge, were priests and performed Vedic rituals.

VITYAZI - those who have valor, strength, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, nobility and the ability to lead. Although they studied the Vedic scriptures, they never acted as preachers and teachers. Their duty is to fight for justice.

VESI - those who are engaged in agriculture, trading, raising and protecting cows. A cow is considered one of the mothers of a person, as she feeds him with her milk, therefore, according to Aryan norms, killing cows is considered barbaric. Just as a king is obliged to protect his subjects, so a prince must protect cows. When an animal dies a violent death, its development stops, it will have to be born again in the same body and live out its entire life to its natural end, thereby gaining the full experience of life. In addition, the killer and his victim are one organism, since at the level of the biosphere they are inseparable from each other; they can be compared to different “creatures” inside the human body: for example, if a lymphocyte harms a red blood cell, then it harms the entire body, and therefore itself.

If the development of the victim slows down, then, naturally, the development of the entire biosphere slows down, and therefore the development of the killer, and according to the law of Karma, all sinful responsibility for the actions committed falls on him, creating his fate both in this and in the next life.

Vedic society does not need industrial development and urbanization. According to the statements of the Vedas, one can live happily, having a little land, growing grain on it and keeping cows, because it is not muscular labor that enriches the country - as demons claim, trying to justify the dictatorship of the proletariat and the Gulag, thus preparing the consciousness of humanity for submission to the one-man dictatorship of the Antichrist, - and the export of grain, which is the purest gift of Nature.

But if non-ferrous metals, oil and other raw materials are sold to buy bread, the country not only does not get rich, but leads its people to impoverishment and harnesses them to the colonial yoke of other countries that provide bread. Therefore, the wealth of the villages is not money, but cows, grain, milk and butter. But, nevertheless, they wear jewelry, beautiful clothes and even gold, receiving them in exchange for their agricultural products.

SUDRAS are those who serve the other three castes, for they have no inclination for intellectual, military and commercial activities and, as a result, are satisfied with their position.

The duty of all four castes is non-harm, truthfulness, honesty, purity and self-control. Inclusion in one of the castes depends on personal natural abilities and inclinations, which can be clearly seen in the life goal that a person has chosen to achieve. This purpose could be:

KAMA - lust, uncontrolled activity of vital feelings: this is the state of sudra;

ARHA - benefit, fulfillment of desires, consciously controlled: this is the state of weight;

DHARMA - responsibility for the correctness of actions: this is the state of a knight;

MOKSHA - liberation, living in spirituality and preaching a creed: this is the state of a sorcerer.

Each of the castes has its correspondence with the eternal gunas or qualities of nature and reflects the following:

Sudras - TAMAS - darkness, ignorance, inertia, kinetic energy;

Vesi - TAMAS-RAJAS - a combination of ignorance and activity; rajas - passion, acceleration, potential energy;

Knights - RAJAS-SATTVA - a combination of correct activity and enlightenment;

Sorcerers - SATTVU - enlightenment, peace, balance.

The Sudras therefore live in fear and despondency;
vesi - in sorrow and joy;
knights - in anger and rage;
sorcerers - in peace and tranquility.

Thus, the nature of each person marked the signs of his caste - the predominance of one in him or the combination of all three gunas in different ratios, level of consciousness and attitude to life. Those who are under the influence of tamas guna perceive the world in a black and white glamor of pleasant and unpleasant sensations; those under the influence of rajas gunas perceive it in the delusion of the continuously changing multicolor of their passions; and the perceptions of those under the influence of sattva guna are distorted by the imposition of the positives of virtue on the negatives of vices; only those who, without making any effort, in any situation, remaining relaxed and natural in the indifferent calm of Awareness, achieve liberation from the power of darkness.

According to his karma and in accordance with the level of his development, the zhivatma creates his organic body in a certain guna.

The level of consciousness of people, which determines their varna, depends on this. However, on the spiritual level there are no caste or any other material differences. At the same time, on the material level, these differences enable each member of society to devote himself entirely to the service of the Supreme God. In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna says: “Those who take shelter of Me, even of low birth—women, vesis (merchant class) and Sudras (working class/—can attain the highest goal" (BG, 9.32).

The Vedic scriptures claim that such a social system is the most perfect because it was not created by man, but by Bhagavan Krishna Himself, who said in the Bhagavad Gita: “According to the three gunas of material nature and the activities associated with them, four castes have been created by Me human society" (BG, 4.13). In other words, the varna-ashram system has existed since the emergence of humanity. Vishnu Purana /3.8.9/ further explains: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vishnu, is to be worshiped by the proper performance of prescribed duties in the system of four varnas and four ashramas.”

Supporters of the varna-ashrama-dharma structure (Varna-ashrama-dharma - “var” is the color of the etheric body, corresponding to the level of human development, the spiritual step of life; “ashram” - “scar” is a mark, a certain social step corresponding to age; “dharma” - from the word “hara” - center) claim that the idea of ​​a true communist society was borrowed precisely from it - it is this device that ensures the implementation of the basic law of communism: “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” And although there is the possibility of degenerating into a system of hereditary castes, nevertheless, each varna is determined by the level of consciousness, inclinations and abilities of each person, and not by his origin; the original structure of this system was given by the Creator - it is logical and natural.

In reality, society achieves prosperity only when people belonging to these natural stages of society cooperate with each other for spiritual development. Bhagavata Purana /1.3.13/ puts it this way: “The highest perfection that a person can achieve is to perform prescribed duties in accordance with his varna and his ashram, thereby satisfying the Supreme Lord.”

It is obvious that the concept of culture is extremely close to the concept of society, and in some aspects even merges with it. Therefore, in some traditions (for example, in the activity approach) it is very difficult to identify significant differences in the use of these concepts.

Nevertheless, in modern social science, when analyzing culture, it is customary to pay attention to Special attention meaningful aspects of human activity, determined by values, norms, symbols, etc. In this regard, culture is understood as a set of patterns of behavior, ideals, and knowledge that set a program of action for society. At the same time, cultural ideals in public life may or may not be realized.

The easiest way to imagine the relationship between society and culture is using the example of a computer, which consists of interconnected elements - memory cards, processor, etc. If these details and the connections between them are compared to society, then culture can be compared to a program running on a computer.

Thus, society is usually understood as form really existing relations, which is represented by individuals, social groups and relationships between them, and culture - as content these relationships, which is presented in a system of norms, values ​​and symbols.

A person becomes familiar with culture in the process of joint work, education and communication, reading books, visiting museums, thus perceiving the values ​​and norms transmitted from generation to generation.

Tradition and innovation. Traditions These are historically established ideas, customs, and norms that have been passed on from generation to generation over a long period of time. They constitute the “collective memory” of various social groups, allow us to maintain the continuity of their development. Thanks to tradition, a person entering social life does not start with a “clean slate”: in his activities he can rely on the experience of his predecessors. Each group, community, organization preserves its own special traditions; It is with their diversity that the diversity of cultures is associated.

Innovation- innovations that create the prerequisites for social change (new values, principles, samples, inventions, etc.); they are opposed to traditions. Innovation is a mechanism for the development of society as dynamic system. With the development of society, human living conditions also change. The usual traditional way of life may no longer meet the changed requirements. In order to solve emerging problems, innovations are introduced into culture. For example, the impact of industry on nature leads to climate change and air pollution; the threat of an environmental crisis requires innovative thinking, i.e. forces society to formulate new values ​​and principles of attitude towards nature.

Innovation is a reflection of creative character human activity, his desire to search for new norms, values ​​and symbols. Useful innovations that stand the test of time become ingrained in culture and can become traditions over time.

The search for something new will not always be successful: some innovations may turn out to be unviable or even dangerous for society. For example, the emergence and spread of new foreign words sometimes has a destructive effect on the national language. Attempts to thoughtlessly transfer other people's experience often turn out to be unviable ( educational models, economic relationships) on domestic soil. Scientific discoveries intended for military use (atomic or bacteriological weapons) are dangerous.

Tradition is directed to the past, innovation is directed to the future. Tradition is a static pole of culture, a kind of “anchor” that ensures the stability of social life. Innovation acts as a source of dynamics, change, and creativity. Although tradition and innovation are opposites, both are needed for the existence and sustainable development of society.

At different moments social development The ratio of traditions and innovations in culture may change. For example, in traditional society, the share of traditions is very high, and in industrial innovations are encouraged. This is due to the fact that traditions are more in demand in groups and societies that exist in difficult conditions on the brink of survival - in primitive society, peasant community. Traditional norms, tested by many generations of ancestors, are beneficial for survival, while time-untested innovations can be dangerous. On the contrary, in periods of transition, when the old value system is no longer able to maintain stability, innovation is needed. Therefore, the relationship between traditions and innovations depends on the state and type of society, its specific needs and living conditions.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• 1. Culture is the activity of man and society to create and preserve material and spiritual values, as well as the result of this activity. In a narrow sense, culture is understood as the meaningful aspect of human activity, determined by values, norms, and patterns.
• 2. Development of culture requires a balanced combination of tradition and innovation. Traditions These are historically established ideas, customs, and norms that have been passed on from generation to generation over a long period of time. Innovation- cultural innovations that form the prerequisites for social change.

QUESTIONS

• 1. What are the main differences between nature and culture? What characteristics do they have in common?
• 2. How do the concepts of “society” and “culture” relate?
• 3. How does a modern person become involved in culture? What are the main obstacles that may arise along the way?
• 4. Name examples of traditions and innovations in modern culture. What positive and negative aspects can be seen in them?

Culturology: lecture notes by Enikeev Dilnara

1. Culture and society

1. Culture and society

What's it like cultural content society? Answer this question The very definition of culture helps:

1) culture acts as a system of socially acquired and transmitted (transmitted) from generation to generation of various kinds of symbols, values, norms, i.e. the cultural content with the help of which people organize their life activities;

2) culture can be defined as a system of values ​​and beliefs that are expressed through social tools (namely, through traditions, language, various norms, forms of behavior) and with the help of these tools is ordered social life people and their interaction;

3) culture is a system of extra-biologically developed mechanisms, as well as a system of collectively shared values ​​inherent in a certain group of people.

In addition, the following social functions of culture can be distinguished:

1) the stimulation function, which is expressed in the fact that culture is a set of material and spiritual values ​​towards the achievement of which human activity is aimed;

2) the programming function - since culture is a set of signs and symbols that record social experience;

3) the implementation function indicates that human activity is realized within the framework of culture, and also in the course of this activity, the reproduction of existing and newly created cultural patterns occurs;

4) regulatory function. Culture regulates human activity through traditions, rituals, values, and signs.

Therefore, culture is important element the process of socialization, namely upbringing and education.

In cultural studies as a science, the study of the relationship between culture and society is carried out sociology of culture, which includes sociological theory, and on the other hand, philosophy and cultural theory. Sociology of culture is a discipline whose object of study is societies as sociocultural systems, as well as various subcultures of social groups, entities and cultural space person and individual.

The subject of the sociology of culture is certain social and cultural mechanisms and patterns of cultural development as elements of the social system.

Objectives of the sociology of culture:

1) study cultural activities social societies;

2) explore the features of the functioning of sociocultural institutions;

3) determine the causes and contradictions in the development and functioning of the culture itself.