Dominant sphere in an industrial society. Civilizational approach to the development of society: agrarian, industrial and post-industrial society

Throughout the existence of mankind, society has not stood still and has developed. Science considers this development from different angles, using two different types approach: civilizational and formational. In this article, I propose to consider only the first of these approaches.

This approach provides for the division of the stages of development of society into 3 time periods. Let's look at them and try to give each a detailed description and distinctive features.

Pre-industrial (agrarian) society

The first time period in the development of society. This type of society is characterized by the employment of the population mainly in the field of agriculture, while labor is of an individual nature. The main factor of production is land, labor is carried out manually, without the use of machinery. In this society, the life span is very short (40-50 years), there is a high mortality rate, which occurs due to underdeveloped medicine, and indeed all spheres of life, which, however, is compensated by a high birth rate. There is no social mobility, class or estate affiliation is determined at birth. The form of government is a monarchy. There are no examples of such states in modern world, however, various tribes of aborigines living in the territories of Africa and Australia can serve as such examples.

industrial society

An industrial society is characterized by the employment of the population in all spheres of activity. Thus, 85% work in the industrial sector, 5% in the service sector, and 10% in the agricultural sector. Naturally, these figures are not absolutely accurate, but they cannot change significantly and show the approximate employment of the population in different types activities. In this society, social mobility appears, however, it is not so high, there is a division into classes, belonging to which is not determined at birth. Unlike the agrarian society, in the industrial one there is the use of technology in many types of labor, while the main factor of production is capital. Average life expectancy is quite high (about 70 years). The form of government is a republic, which provides every person with natural rights (the right to life, freedom, etc.). A vivid example of such a society can serve as the USSR (from the time of its foundation to the collapse) and modern China.

post-industrial society

Post-industrial society is characterized by high employment in the service sector. Thus, the distribution of labor in these areas of activity is approximately as follows: the service sector - 60%, agriculture - 5%, industry - 35%. At the same time, there is a complete automation of production, and knowledge is its main factor. There is high social mobility (higher than in industrial society), class affiliation is not assigned at birth, but is determined only by the mental and other abilities of an individual. Life expectancy in such a society is higher than in the previous two, it averages more than 70 years. The form of government is a republic, which, just like in an industrial society, provides natural and other rights to people, but at the same time, an active civil society appears, which receives many rights to participate in political life. Vivid examples of states with this type of society can be modern Sweden, Spain, France.

3 Objectives of the lesson on the lines of personality development Lines 1-2. Lines 1-2. Picture of the world in facts and concepts Recall and summarize the main achievements of the Ancient World, the Middle Ages, the New Age. Line 3. Line 3. Historical thinking. When determining the logical sequence of the development of civilization, to consolidate the idea that the achievements of each era became the basis for the development of another. Line 4-5. Line 4-5. Moral and civil-patriotic self-determination. Define and explain your assessment of the changes in the New Age, based on modern humanistic moral values.

10 Creating a problem situation Page 6 The word “progress” appears in the text. How do you understand it? On the basis of what did the people of the New Age consider their time to be progressive? Progress is a movement from simple to complex, from worst to best. In the text I prove the words: “out of the darkness of ignorance”, “gaining new opportunities”

11 Creating a problem situation Page 6 Compare the text of the first and second columns. What is the contradiction? What is the question? Unlike the first text, the Bible says that everything new has already been once. That is, the opinions of the people of the 19th century diverged from the saying of the Bible.

Page 15 Remember and name the main events 1st row of centuries 2nd row of the 17th century 3rd row of the 18th century In the 15th century. Knowledge update

16 Finding a Solution Page From era to era, life has changed. The achievements of one period of history became the basis for the development of another. Highlight the achievements of each stage in the development of civilization. 1 row Ancient world 2 row Middle Ages 3 row new time -

17 Finding a solution 1 row Achievements of the Ancient World Civilization: cities, writing, division of people into social strata. Different religions of the world and philosophical teachings have developed. Ancient East Ancient East: complete subordination of subjects to a strong state, state property, care of communities and the state about the situation of their subjects. Antique West Antique West: participation of citizens in the affairs of the state, their freedom, equality, private property. (Write in notebook) -

19 Finding a Solution Series 3 Achievements of the Modern Age Scientific picture of the world, colonial empires, world market, technical progress, capitalist relations, class division of society, industrial revolution, machine industry. industrial society. (Write in notebook) -

21 Finding a Solution Pg. 13, table Fill in the table (write in a notebook) - collectively agrarian society Signs of modernization Industrial society Economy Agriculture is the basis of the economy. Most of the people live in villages. Natural economy. Development market relations. Division of labor. Industrial revolution. urban growth and rural population. Most of the people and means are employed in the machine industry. Approval of market relations. The distribution of labor. Urban population prevails over rural.

22 Finding a Solution Pg. 13, table Fill in the table (write in a notebook) - collectively Agrarian society Signs of modernization Industrial society Social structure Class system. Rights and obligations depend on the origin of the disintegration of estates and communities. Formation of civil equality. Civil equality

23 Finding a Solution Pg. 13, table Fill in the table (write in a notebook) - collectively Agrarian society Signs of modernization Industrial society Politics The state administration is dominated by landowning nobility. Involvement of the general public in political life Constitution. Elections. parliament.

24 Finding a Solution Pg. 13, table Fill in the table (write in a notebook) - collectively Agrarian society! Signs of modernization Industrial society Culture Subordinated to religion. Few educated people. Reducing the influence of religion on culture. The gradual spread of literacy. Mass education. Variety of religions. 26 Topic: Introduction. Why is New Time called "new"? Problem. Why did the people of the 19th century consider their time to be the most progressive? Answer the problematic question The life of people in modern times has changed in all areas. Significantly facilitated manual labor; people became more literate, so it seemed to them that their era, compared with the primitive Ancient World and the “dark” Middle Ages, was more progressive.

The classical characteristic of an industrial society suggests that it is formed as a result of the development of machine production and the emergence of new forms of mass labor organization. Historically, this stage corresponded to the social situation in Western Europe in 1800-1960.

general characteristics

The generally accepted characteristic of an industrial society includes several fundamental features. What are they? First, an industrial society is based on a developed industry. It has a division of labor that promotes productivity. An important feature is competition. Without it, the characterization of industrial society would be incomplete.

Capitalism leads to what is actively growing entrepreneurial activity courageous and enterprising people. At the same time, civil society is developing, as well as the state administrative system. It becomes more efficient and more complex. An industrial society cannot be imagined without modern means of communication, urbanized cities and a high quality of life for the average citizen.

Technology Development

Any characteristic of an industrial society, in short, includes such a phenomenon as the industrial revolution. It was she who allowed Great Britain to be the first in human history to cease to be an agrarian country. When the economy begins to rely not on the cultivation of agricultural crops, but on a new industry, the first shoots of an industrial society appear.

There is a significant redistribution labor resources. Work force leaves agriculture and goes to the city to work in factories. Up to 15% of the state's inhabitants remain in the agricultural sector. The growth of the urban population also contributes to the revival of trade.

Entrepreneurial activity becomes the main factor in production. The presence of this phenomenon is the characteristic of an industrial society. Briefly, this relationship was first described by the Austrian and American economist Joseph Schumpeter. On this path, society at a certain point experiences a scientific and technological revolution. After that, the post-industrial period begins, which already corresponds to the present.

Free society

With the onset of industrialization, society becomes socially mobile. This allows people to destroy the framework that exists under the traditional order, characteristic of the Middle Ages and the agrarian economy. In the state, the boundaries between classes are blurred. They lose caste. In other words, people can get rich and become successful thanks to their efforts and skills, without looking back at their own background.

The characteristic of an industrial society lies in the significant economic growth due to an increase in the number of highly qualified specialists. In society, technicians and scientists who determine the future of the country are in the first place. This order is also called technocracy or the power of technology. The work of merchants, advertising specialists and other people who occupy a special position in the social structure becomes more significant and weighty.

The formation of nation-states

Scientists have determined that the main characteristics of an industrial society boil down to being industrial and becoming dominant in all areas of life from culture to economics. Along with urbanization and changes in social stratification comes the emergence of nation-states built around a common language. The unique culture of the ethnic group also plays an important role in this process.

In a medieval agrarian society, the national factor was not so significant. In the Catholic kingdoms of the 14th century, belonging to one or another feudal lord was much more important. Even armies existed on the principle of hiring. It was only in the 19th century that the principle of national recruitment into the state armed forces was finally formed.

Demography

The demographic situation is changing. What is the characteristic of industrial society here? Signs of change boil down to declining birth rates in one average family. People devote more time to their own education, standards are changing in relation to the presence of offspring. All this affects the number of children in one classical “cell of society”.

But at the same time, the death rate is falling. This is due to the development of medicine. Medical services and medicines are becoming more accessible to a wide segment of the population. Increases life expectancy. The population dies more in old age than in youth (for example, from diseases or wars).

Consumer society

The enrichment of people in the industrial age led to the emergence of the main motive for the work of its members is the desire to buy and acquire as much as possible. Is born new system values, which is built around the importance of material wealth.

The term was coined by the German sociologist Erich Fromm. In this context, he emphasized the importance of reducing the length of the working day, increasing the share of free time, as well as blurring the boundaries between classes. This is the characteristic of an industrial society. The table shows the main features of this period of human development.

Mass culture

The classic characteristic of an industrial society by spheres of life says that consumption increases in each of them. Production begins to focus on the standards that defines the so-called This phenomenon - one of the most striking features of an industrial society.

What is it? Mass culture formulates the basic psychological attitudes of the consumer society in the industrial era. Art becomes accessible to everyone. It voluntarily or involuntarily promotes certain norms of behavior. They can be called fashion or lifestyle. In the West, the rise of mass culture was accompanied by its commercialization and the creation of show business.

John Galbraith's theory

The industrial society was carefully studied by many scientists of the 20th century. One of eminent economists in this series is John Galbraith. He substantiated several fundamental laws with the help of which the characteristics of an industrial society are formulated. At least 7 provisions of his theory have become fundamental for the new and currents of our time.

Galbraith believed that the development of industrial society led not only to the establishment of capitalism, but also to the creation of monopolies. Large corporations in free market economic conditions acquire wealth and absorb competitors. They control production, trade, capital, and progress in science and technology.

Strengthening the economic role of the state

An important characteristic, according to John Galbraith's theory, is that in a country with such a system of relations, the state increases its intervention in the economy. Prior to this, in the agrarian era of the Middle Ages, the authorities simply did not have the resources to radically influence the market. In an industrial society, the situation is quite the opposite.

The economist in his own way noted the development of technology in the new era. By this term, he meant the application of systematized new knowledge in production. Demands lead to the triumph of corporations and the state in the economy. This is due to the fact that they become the owners of unique scientific production developments.

At the same time, Galbraith believed that under industrial capitalism, the capitalists themselves had lost their former influence. Now the presence of money did not mean power and importance at all. Instead of owners, scientific and technical specialists come to the fore, who can offer new modern inventions and production methods. This is the characteristic of an industrial society. According to Galbraith's plan, the former working class is being eroded under these conditions. The aggravated relations between the proletarians and the capitalists are coming to naught thanks to technological progress and the equalization of the incomes of graduates.

So, traditional (agrarian) Societies can be characterized as follows: the predominant form of production is agriculture. Characterized by limited social mobility and strong social control. The rules of existence are determined by tradition. In this case, commodity relations either do not exist at all, or are oriented towards meeting the needs of a small segment of the population. It is believed that any society from the primitive community to the industrial revolution of the late 18th century can be called traditional. It is characterized by the use of manual labor and simple machines. In a traditional society, due to its "closedness", changes took place slowly.

Examples modern countries traditional (agrarian) type (based on the analysis of GDP components): most countries of North Africa (Algeria), countries of northeast Africa (Ethiopia, where agricultural 54% of GDP), countries of Southeast Asia (Vietnam, where 79% of the population is rural).

In Russia, industrialization began only in the middle of the 19th century. This alone did not prevent our country by the end of the 19th century from being one of the largest and most powerful states, having the status of a great European power.

For industrial society is characterized by largest contribution The extraction and processing of natural resources, as well as industry, contribute to the economy. Typically, about 80% of the population is employed in industry. The industrial revolution leads to the transition from a traditional society to an industrial one.

It is important to understand what is industrial revolution. This is a process of socio-economic transition from an agrarian type to an industrial one with a predominance of industrial production.

Along with the development of industry, there is a rapid development of science, technology, means of communication, and an increase in the standard of living of people. The first country where the Industrial Revolution took place was Great Britain.

The changes taking place in society affect all spheres of life. So, families break up, generations begin to live in different places, cities grow, and people actively move there (urbanization is the process of growing cities and increasing their role in society, associated with the active migration of the population to cities).

According to the French scientist Raymond Aron, an industrial society is the result of the influence of production automation, the emergence of large-scale industries and an increase in labor productivity.

The American sociologist William Rostow believes that sociocultural factors (the growth of scientific knowledge, the impulses and aspirations of people) also had a great influence on this process.

The society of the type under consideration is characterized by dynamic changes and the growth of social mobility. The structure of society is also changing, estates are being replaced social groups. The rights and freedoms of citizens are expanding.

post-industrial society is defined by the following features: concepts of this type of society appeared in the 1960s. The leading role in society is given to knowledge, information, computers. The service sector is expanding, getting a quality education is gaining importance, and the information society is beginning to take shape. In such a society scientific developments is the main driving force of the economy. Commodity-producing economy passes to the service.

It is important to understand that the service sector includes not only household trade, but also the state, army, transport, healthcare, education, science, culture, production and sale of intellectual property (software).

There is an automation of production, the importance of human participation in production is decreasing.

The pace of economic development is multiplying.

P. Drucker: “Today, knowledge is already applied to the sphere of knowledge itself, and this can be called a revolution in the field of management. Knowledge is rapidly becoming the determining factor of production, relegating both capital and labor to the background.”

Post-industrial society is also associated with the era of postmodernism (postmodern is the state of modern culture, which includes a peculiar philosophical position).

The public consciousness is changing: the rejection of the universality and unity of the world.

The main features are also called the strengthening of pluralism, multivariance and diversity of forms of social development, changes in the system of values, motives and incentives of people.

Especially for you, we have prepared a table that will help you understand how the types of companies considered differ from each other:

Table: The division of society into types

An important source and process of social conflicts in societies is social modernization. Modernization (from French moderne - modern, latest) in our case is the process of updating backward public systems, formations, civilizations in the spirit of modern requirements. An example of modernization is the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society.

There are several definitions of modernization. A group of Western sociologists (Moore, Eisenstadt and others) consider modernization as a process of formation of two types social systems(Western European and North American). Clarifying this point of view, Neil Smelthers lists six areas of social life that are included in cultivating social systems Keywords: economics, politics, education, religion, stratification, family. Here, modernization is understood in the broad sense of the word - as an evolutionary change in society.

In the light of this understanding, social modernization affects social systems, formations, civilizations. It may occur as a result own response to internal contradictions, and as a result borrowing answers already discovered by other peoples in the form of social institutions. In the first case, it is called self-modernization, and in the second - catch-up modernization. Modernization is always the result of social hybridization, the social inoculation of modernity into existing social structures.

To understand the modernization of social systems, formations and civilizations, it is important to define modern. If we are talking about self-modernization, they mean the criteria of social progress: technological level; the level, quality and fairness of people's lives; labor efficiency; variety and mass character of goods; the effectiveness of the political system; the dominant meanings of life, etc. In the case of catching up modernization, Western society is usually taken as a model of modernity.

formational modernization - the process of replacing the old social deformation with a new one as a result of improving the social subsystems that form it and the relations between them. It represents a deep and comprehensive conflict between old and new, traditional and modern. Socio-formational modernization can take the form of social evolution, revolution, deprivation.

Civilizational modernization includes the emergence of a civilizational leader, a new project, a civilizational institution that meets, on the one hand, external challenges, and, on the other hand, the character, mentality, and way of life of the people. It also represents a conflict between the old and the new civilization. Post-Soviet Russia is currently undergoing another civilizational modernization.

Ability to permanent self-modernization- a sign of an economic or mixed society. Political countries are engaged catching up modernization, borrowing from the West new technology and social institutions. In the history of Russia, four modernizations can be distinguished: Peter's, the abolition of serfdom, Soviet, post-Soviet. The Soviet period of modernization was catching up in terms of industrialization and inverse in terms of social formation.

In Russia, modernization is: 1) initiated from above by the absolutist ( royal Russia), totalitarian (USSR), liberal (post-Soviet Russia) state power; 2) is partial, i.e. does not affect the type of social system; 3) combined with the militarization of the country, the development military industry, army and navy, education and science, falling living standards.

At the first stage, the driving force behind the modernization of political society (in particular, Russia) is a new political an elite that offers the people a new formational and civilizational project. Then a new powerful centralized state is created as main tool modernization. The second step is a rapid upgrade. state economy, redistribution of GDP for the revival of military power; leveling, ascetic, slowly improving way of life of working people is maintained; "varnishing" of the new way of life and the fight against its "enemies" are carried out. At the third stage, there is a decline in the political formation, the ruling elite, military might, and the standard of living of the population, and the discontent of the working people grows, saying “you can’t live like this anymore,” but who don’t know how to live on. And, finally, the former social system is disintegrating in order to revive it on a new elite and ideological basis.

Russia's full-fledged formational response to the challenges of Western modernization has always been hampered by its isolationism. In the context of globalization, this is no longer possible, “... in our century,” writes Toynbee, “the main thing in the consciousness of society is to comprehend oneself as part of a wider universe, while a feature of the public consciousness of the last century was the claim to consider oneself, one’s society as closed universe." In the context of globalization, Russia will either modernize or degrade - it will move into an alliance of the countries of the South.

An industrial society is a society in which the process of creating a large, technically developed industry (as the basis and leading sector of the economy) and its corresponding social and political structures has been completed. It grows out of a traditional society. The term itself belongs to Saint-Simon, was used by Comte O. to contrast the new, emerging economic and social structure with the former, pre-industrial (patriarchal). Modern theories of industrial society are a kind of technological determinism.

Distinctive features of an industrial society: Approval of the industrial technological order as dominant in all public spheres(from economic to cultural)

Changes in the proportion of employment by industry: a significant reduction in the share of employment in agriculture(up to 3-5%) and an increase in the share of people employed in industry (up to 50-60%) and services (up to 40-45%)

Intensive urbanization

Rise of the nation-state, organized on the basis of a common language and culture

Educational (cultural) revolution. The transition to universal literacy and the formation of national education systems

Political revolution leading to the establishment of political rights and freedoms (ex. all suffrage)

Growth in the level of consumption ("revolution of consumption", formation of the "welfare state")

Changing the structure of working and free time (the formation of a "consumer society")

Change in the demographic type of development (low birth rate, mortality, increase in life expectancy, aging of the population, i.e. an increase in the proportion of older age groups).

Industrialization is the basis of a broader social process - modernization. The "industrial society" model has often been used as a catch-all to describe modern society, embracing capitalism and socialism as its two variants. In the theories of convergence (rapprochement, convergence), signs of convergence of capitalist and socialist societies were emphasized, which ultimately become neither classically capitalist nor traditionally socialist.

4 DK 1948 by employees of the Energy Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences Brook I.S. and Rameev B.I. a certificate for a digital computer was received, which meant the beginning of work on the creation of a computer. The first computer in the USSR was launched on December 25, 1951. In Russia-USSR, an industrial society was created and strengthened throughout the 20th century. The development of an industrial society in Russia was evidenced by: the rapid modernization of the country in the late 19th-n. growth in the number of hired workers in the economy, especially in factories and factories, the emergence of new industries, the development of oil production, electricity production, rapid railway construction, the development of shipping companies, the use of Russia's technical and technological achievements of the West

concentration of production and monopolization of the economy, the emergence of cartels and syndicates, banking and financial capital, increased investment of foreign capital in the Russian economy

The formation of an industrial society in Russia in the post-reform era was negatively affected by the following factors: the half-heartedness of the reforms of the 1860s and 1870s, the preservation of remnants of serfdom, the insufficient development of market relations, which negatively affected the development of industry

preservation of the autocratic estate system, which impeded the freedom of enterprise, the development of trade and industry

active intervention of tsarism in the economy, a large place for state capital in industry and finance

colonial character Russian Empire, the use of internal colonies for the development of capitalism "in breadth" and not "in depth"

the expenditure of significant funds to support the landowners, the maintenance of a huge army of bureaucracy.

industrial society

The modern stage, or epoch, in the development of mankind. Previous eras: primitive society, ancient agrarian society, medieval agro-industrial society. In the most developed Western European countries, the transition to acting. began around the 15th century. and ended in the 18th century. For I.o. are characterized by the following features: a sharp increase industrial and agricultural production, unimaginable in previous eras; the rapid development of science and technology, means of communication, the invention of newspapers, radio and television; a sharp expansion of propaganda opportunities; a sharp increase in the population, an increase in its life expectancy; a significant increase in the standard of living in comparison with previous eras; a sharp increase in the mobility of the population; complex division of labor not only within individual countries, but also on an international scale; centralized state-in; smoothing of the horizontal differentiation of the population (its division into castes, estates, classes) and the growth of vertical differentiation (the division of society into nations, "worlds", regions).

The following facts, in particular, testify to the radical nature of the changes that have already taken place in the 20th century: since the beginning of the century, the population of the planet has more than tripled; in 1900 about 10% of the population lived in cities, by the end of the century - about 50%; 90% of all items currently used by man were invented in the last hundred years; the volume of industrial production is 20 times higher at the end of the century than at its beginning; people use 600 million cars; more than 4,000 artificial Earth satellites have been launched; so much consumed in 15 years natural resources, how much has been used by man for the entire time of his existence.

And about. is the beginning of the formation of a single humanity and, accordingly, the formation of world history in the proper sense of the word.

Sometimes I.o. recent decades, which has achieved especially effective economic growth, is called post-industrial. D. Bell put forward the idea that from the point of view. implementation by society of various production technologies in world history, three main types of social organization can be distinguished: pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial. This division of history is, however, crude and superficial. It is based on only one feature of social development - the level of economic growth. As a result, the last three centuries of history are divided into two opposing eras, while the entire previous history, which spans many millennia, falls under the inexpressive rubric of "pre-industrial society." The very difference between industrial and post-industrial types of society is significant only from the point of view. level of economic development. It turns out, however, to be secondary when the integral culture of the developed societies of the last three centuries is taken into account. Post-industrial society is not an independent era, but only the modern stage of the industrial era, which has an undoubted internal unity.

Within each of the epochs, one or more civilizations can exist, which can be divided depending on their characteristic style of thinking, the structure of feelings and peculiar collective actions into individualistic, collectivistic and intermediate (see: Individualistic society and collectivistic society). Individualistic civilization in I.o. represented by capitalism, the collectivist - by socialism, two variants of which are communism and national socialism.

One of the main trends of I.o. - modernization, the transition from a traditional society to a modernized one. This trend has become noticeable in Zap.

Europe already in the 17th century, later it spread to other regions. Traditional societies are characterized by reliance primarily on faith, not reason, on tradition, not on knowledge, a disdainful attitude towards economic growth, the introduction of new technologies and economic management. Modernizing societies rely primarily on reason, knowledge and science, carry out consistent industrialization, which sharply increases labor productivity, strengthen the role of management and, in particular, economic management, and give the development of productive forces a certain dynamism and stability. Modernization leads to an increase in the complexity of the social system, intensification of communications, and the gradual formation of a world community. The process of modernization is typical not only for capitalist, but also for socialist countries. The latter also appeal to reason and science and strive to ensure sustainable economic growth. Moreover, they lay claim to much more efficient modernization than is available to the capitalist countries. Modernization is not a historical law covering all societies and all epochs. It characterizes only the transition from an agro-industrial society to an industrial one and represents a social trend that has noticeably intensified in the 20th century, but is capable of dying out in the future under unfavorable circumstances (depletion of natural resources, aggravation of global problems, etc.).

Two fundamental oppositions (individualist society - collectivist society and traditional society - modernized society) make it possible to single out four types of social structure of the acting society: traditional collectivist society (China, India, etc.), traditional individualistic society, modernized collectivist society (communist Russia, National Socialist Germany, etc.) and a modernized individualistic society (USA, Japan, etc.). Modern Russia is moving from a collectivist society to a modernized individualistic society.

This schematization shows the non-uniqueness of the so-called. app. way and, at the same time, the non-uniqueness of the socialist, in particular the communist, choice. There is no common road that each society would have to pass - albeit at different times and at different speeds. History does not go in the direction once described by K. Marx - to socialism, and then to communism. But it is not a repetition by all societies of the path that was once ap. countries. Modern humanity is not a single, homogeneous whole. It is made up of very different societies at different levels of economic and cultural development. Societies belonging to different historical eras still exist today. In particular, pre-industrial, agro-industrial societies are widespread in Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Industrial-type societies differ significantly in their level of development. Gross national product per capita in Russia and Brazil is several times lower than in Italy and France, and in the latter it is almost two times lower than in the USA and Japan. The presence in the modern world of societies belonging to different historical eras, and significant differences between societies belonging to the same era, indicate that each era, including the industrial one, is always a certain heterogeneity and certain dynamics. An epoch is only a trend in the development of a fairly large and influential group of societies that can become a trend in the development of many other societies, and over time, perhaps, the vast majority of them.