What are areas of public life?
What are the areas of public life?
How are different spheres of society interrelated?

The structure of society has always interested people. Have you thought about it? For many centuries, scientists have tried to create a model, an image with which to reproduce human society for study. It was represented in the form of a pyramid, clockwork, likened to a branched tree.

Spheres of society

Society is rationally arranged. Each of its spheres (parts) performs its functions, satisfies certain needs of people. Remember what needs are.

Spheres of public life - areas of public life in which the most important needs of people are satisfied.

Scientists identify four main areas of public life: economic, political, social and spiritual. Such a division is conditional, but it helps to better navigate the diversity of social phenomena.

The economic sphere includes firms, enterprises, factories, banks, markets, mines, etc. That is, everything that allows society to produce such a quantity of goods and services that will satisfy the vital material needs of people - food, housing, clothing, leisure, etc. .d.

The main task of the economic sphere is the organization of the activities of large groups of people in the production, consumption (purchase and use of the purchased for their own purposes) and distribution of goods and services.

IN economic life the entire population is involved. Children, pensioners, the disabled, for the most part, are not producers of material goods. But they participate in the exchange - when they buy goods in a store, distribution - when they receive pensions and benefits, and, of course, in the consumption of material goods. You are not yet creating wealth, but you are actively consuming it.

The political sphere includes the state and public authorities and administration. In Russia, this is the President, government, parliament (Federal Assembly), local authorities authorities, army, police, tax and customs services, as well as political parties. The main task of the political sphere is to ensure order in society and its security, resolve social conflicts, adopt new laws and monitor their implementation, protect external borders, collect taxes, etc.

The social sphere includes the daily relationships of citizens, as well as the relationships of large social groups society: peoples, classes, etc.

The social sphere also includes various institutions for ensuring the life of people. These are shops, passenger transport, public utilities and consumer services (housing management companies and dry cleaners), catering (canteens and restaurants), health care (clinics and hospitals), communications (telephone, post office, telegraph), as well as leisure and entertainment facilities (parks cultures, stadiums).

Organs occupy an important place in the social sphere social protection And social security. They are designed to provide social assistance to those in need: pensioners, the unemployed, large families, disabled people, low-income people. You learned about how social assistance is provided to families in the 5th grade.

The spiritual realm includes science, education, religion and art. It includes universities and academies, research institutes, schools, museums, theaters, art galleries, cultural monuments, national art treasures, religious associations, etc. It is in this area that the accumulation and transfer of the spiritual wealth of society to the next generations is carried out, and people and entire societies find the answer to the question of the meaning of life and their existence.

What areas of public life are depicted in the photographs? Justify your answer.

The relationship of the four spheres of society

So, we have identified four main areas of modern society. But this does not mean that they exist separately from each other. On the contrary, they are closely related and influence each other. For example, if the country's economy does not fulfill its tasks, does not provide the population with a sufficient amount of goods and services, does not expand the number of jobs, then the standard of living drops sharply, there is not enough money to pay wages and pensions, unemployment appears, and crime grows. Thus, success in one, economic, sphere affects well-being in another, social.

The economy can also have a strong influence on politics, there are many examples of this in history.

Additional reading

The Byzantine Empire and Iran waged long-term wars with each other over which of them would collect duties from merchants who led caravans along the Great Silk Road. As a result, they exhausted their forces in these wars, and the Arabs took advantage of this, who seized most of their possessions from the Byzantine emperors, and conquered Iran entirely.

Explain how this example shows the relationship between the economic and political spheres.

The social sphere is directly connected with political life. Changes in the political sphere, such as a shift in power, the arrival of other politicians to rule the state, can worsen the living conditions of people. But it is also possible Feedback. The reason for the change of power was often the indignation of the masses of the worsening of their situation. For example, the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist also because the taxes that the emperor established were unbearably high for his subjects and they preferred the power of the barbarian kings to the imperial one.

Summing up

There are four spheres of public life: economic, political, social and spiritual. The spheres of public life satisfy the basic needs of people and are closely interconnected with each other.

Basic terms and concepts

Spheres of society: economic, political, social, spiritual.

Test your knowledge

What areas can society be divided into? Give brief description every area of society. What is their significance for society?
Explain how different areas of society influence each other. Use the diagram on p. 20.
What do you think is the most important area of society? Explain your answer.

Workshop

Quiet my home!
Willows, river, nightingales...
My mother is buried here
During my childhood...

Where I swam for fish
Hay is rowed into the hayloft:
Between river bends
People dug a canal.

Tina is now a swamp
Where he loves to swim...
Quiet my home
I didn't forget anything.

New fence in front of the school
The same green space.
Like a happy crow
I'm sitting on the fence again!

My wooden school! ..
The time will come to leave -
The river behind me is foggy
Will run and run...

In a social system, not only social subjects are distinguished as parts, but also other formations - spheres of society's life. Society will be a complex system of specially organized human life.
Like any other complex system, society consists of subsystems, the most important of which are called areas of public life.

Sphere of life of society- a certain set of stable relations between social subjects.

The areas of public life are large, stable, relatively independent subsystems of human activity. Material published on http: // site

It is worth saying that each sphere contains:

certain human activities (eg educational, political, religious);
social institutions (such as family, school, parties, church);
established relations between people (i.e. connections that have arisen in the course of people's activities, for example, relations of exchange and distribution in economic sphere)

Traditionally, there are four main areas of public life:

social (peoples, nations, classes, gender and age groups, etc.)
economic (productive forces, production relations)
political (state, parties, socio-political movements)
spiritual (religion, morality, science, art, education)

Do not forget that it is important to understand that people are simultaneously in different relationships with each other, connected with someone, isolated from someone when solving their life issues. Therefore, the spheres of the life of society are not geometric spaces where different people live, but the relations of the same people in connection with various aspects of their lives.

Graphically, the spheres of public life are presented in fig. 1.2. The central place of man is symbolic - he is inscribed in all spheres of society.

Figure No. 1.2. Spheres of public life

Social sphere

Social sphere - ϶ᴛᴏ relationships that arise in the production of direct human life and man as a social being.

The concept of "social sphere" has different meanings, although they are related. In social philosophy and sociology - ϶ᴛᴏ sphere of social life, which includes various social communities and connections between them. In economics and political science, the social sphere is often understood as a set of industries, enterprises, organizations, the task of which will be to improve the standard of living of the population; at ϶ᴛᴏm to the social sphere ᴏᴛʜᴏϲᴙt health care, social security, public services, etc. The social sphere in the second sense is not an independent sphere of social life, but an area at the intersection of economic and political spheres, associated with the redistribution of state revenues in favor of those in need.

The social sphere contains various social communities and relations between them. A person, occupying a certain position in society, is inscribed in various communities: he can be a man, a worker, a father of a family, a city dweller, etc. Visually, the position of the individual in society can be shown in the form of a questionnaire (Fig. 1.3)

Figure No. 1.3. Questionnaire

On the example of the ϶ᴛᴏth conditional questionnaire, one can briefly describe the social structure of society. It is worth saying - gender, age, marital status determine the demographic structure (with such groups as men, women, youth, pensioners, single, married, etc.). Nationality determines the ethnic structure. The place of residence determines the settlement structure (here there is a division into urban and rural residents, residents of Siberia or Italy, etc.) Profession and education constitute the actual professional and educational structure (doctors and economists, people with higher and secondary education, students and schoolchildren) Social origin (from workers, from employees, etc.) and social position (employee, peasant, nobleman, etc.) determine the class structure; here ᴏᴛʜᴏϲᴙt castes, estates, classes, etc.

Economic sphere

Economic sphere- ϶ᴛᴏ the totality of people's relations arising from the creation and movement of material goods.

The economic sphere is the area of production, exchange, distribution, consumption of goods and services. It is worth saying that in order to produce something, people, tools, machines, materials, etc. are needed. - productive forces. In the process of production, and then exchange, distribution, consumption, people enter into a variety of relationships with each other and with the goods - relations of production. Production relations and productive forces together constitute the economic sphere of society:

productive forces- people (labor force), tools of labor, objects of labor;
industrial relations - production, distribution, consumption, exchange.

It should be said - the political sphere

It is worth saying that the political sphere is one of the most important spheres of public life.

It should be said - the political sphere- ϶ᴛᴏ relations of people, connected primarily with power, which provide joint security.

The Greek word politike (from polis - state, city), having appeared in the writings of ancient thinkers, was originally used to denote the art of government. Having retained the ϶ᴛᴏ meaning as one of the central ones, the modern term "politics" is now used to express social activities, which are centered on the problems of acquiring, using and retaining power. The elements of the political sphere can be represented as follows:

political organizations and institutions- social groups, revolutionary movements, parliamentarism, parties, citizenship, presidency, etc.;
political norms - political, legal and moral norms, customs and traditions;
political communications - relations, connections and forms of interaction between participants in the political process, as well as between the political system as a whole and society;
political culture and ideology— political ideas, ideology, political culture, political psychology.

Needs and interests form certain political goals of social groups. On the ϶ᴛᴏth target basis, political parties arise, social movements, power state institutions that carry out specific political activities. The interaction of large social groups with each other and with the institutions of power constitutes the communicative subsystem of the political sphere. This interaction is regulated by various norms, customs and traditions. Reflection and awareness of these relations form the cultural and ideological subsystem of the political sphere.

Spiritual sphere of society

spiritual realm- ϶ᴛᴏ the area of ideal, non-material formations, including ideas, values of religion, art, morality, etc.

The structure of the spiritual realm life of society in the most in general terms is:

religion is a form of worldview based on belief in supernatural forces;
morality - a system of moral norms, ideals, assessments, actions;
art - artistic vision of the world;
science is a system of knowledge about the patterns of existence and development of the world;
law - a set of norms supported by the state;
education is a purposeful process of education and training.

Spiritual sphere - ϶ᴛᴏ the sphere of relations that arise in the production, transfer and ϲʙᴏ of spiritual values (knowledge, beliefs, norms of behavior, artistic images, etc.)

If the material life of a person is connected with the satisfaction of specific everyday needs (for food, clothing, drink, etc.), then the spiritual sphere of human life is aimed at meeting the needs for the development of consciousness, worldview, and various spiritual qualities.

spiritual needs unlike material ones, they are not biologically defined, but are formed and developed in the process of socialization of the individual.

Of course, a person is able to live without satisfaction of these needs, but then his life will not differ much from the life of animals. Spiritual needs are met in the process spiritual activity - cognitive, value, prognostic, etc. It is this kind of activity that is aimed primarily at changing individual and social consciousness. It is worth noting that it will stay in art, religion, scientific creativity, education, self-education, upbringing, etc. With ϶ᴛᴏm, spiritual activity can be both productive and consuming.

spiritual production called the process of formation and development of consciousness, worldview, spiritual qualities. The product of this production will be ideas, theories, artistic images, values, the spiritual world of the individual and spiritual relations between individuals.
It should be noted that the main mechanisms of spiritual production are science, art and religion.

Spiritual consumption called the satisfaction of spiritual needs, the consumption of products of science, religion, art, for example, visiting a theater or a museum, obtaining new knowledge. The spiritual sphere of the life of society ensures the production, storage and dissemination of moral, aesthetic, scientific, legal and other values. It is worth noting that it covers various forms and levels of social consciousness - moral, scientific, aesthetic, religious, legal.

Social institutions in the spheres of society

In each of the spheres of society, ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙ developing social institutions are being formed.

Social institution -϶ᴛᴏ a group of people, relations between them are built according to certain rules (family, army, etc.), and a set of rules for certain social subjects (for example, the institution of presidency)

To maintain their own lives, people are forced to produce, distribute, exchange and consume (use) food, clothing, housing, etc. These benefits can be obtained by transforming environment through a variety of means, which are also extremely important to create. Vital goods are created by people in the economic sphere through social institutions such as manufacturing enterprises(agricultural and industrial), trading enterprises (shops, markets), stock exchanges, banks, etc.

In the social sphere the most important social institution, within which the reproduction of new generations of people is carried out, will be the family. The social production of a person as a social being, in addition to the family, is carried out by such institutions as preschool and medical institutions, schools and other educational institutions, sports and other organizations.

For many people, production and the existence of spiritual conditions of existence are no less important, and for some people even more important than material conditions. Spiritual production distinguishes people from other beings in the ϶ᴛᴏ world. The state and nature of the development of spirituality determine the civilization of mankind.
It should be noted that the main in the spiritual realm the institutions of education, science, religion, morality, law act. This also includes cultural and educational institutions, creative unions (writers, artists, etc.), funds mass media and other organizations.

At the heart of the political sphere relations between people lie, which allow them to participate in the management of social processes, to occupy a relatively safe position in the structure of social ties. It is worth saying that political relations are ϶ᴛᴏ forms of collective life, which are prescribed by laws and others. legal acts country, statutes and instructions regarding independent communities, both outside the country and inside it, written and unwritten rules of various social groups.
It is worth noting that these relations are carried out through the resources of a political institution.

On a national scale, the main political institution is state. It is important to understand that it consists of many of the following institutions: the president and his administration, government, parliament, court, prosecutor's office and other organizations that provide general order in the country. In addition to the state, there are many civil society organizations in which people exercise ϲʙᴏ and political rights, that is, the right to manage social processes. It is worth saying that the political institutions that seek to participate in the governance of the entire country are political parties and social movements. In addition to them, there may be organizations at the regional and local levels.

The relationship of spheres of public life

The spheres of public life are closely interconnected. In the history of the social sciences, there have been attempts to single out any sphere of life as determining in relation to others. So, in the Middle Ages, the idea of the special significance of religiosity as part of the spiritual sphere of society dominated. In modern times and the Age of Enlightenment, the role of morality and scientific knowledge was emphasized. A number of concepts assign the leading role to the state and law. Marxism asserts the defining role economic relations.

Within the framework of real social phenomena, elements of all spheres are combined. For example, the nature of economic relations can influence the structure of the social structure. A place in the social hierarchy forms certain political views, opens up access to education and other spiritual values. The economic relations themselves are determined legal system country, which is very often formed on the basis of the spiritual culture of the people, their traditions in the field of religion and morality. Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that at various stages of historical development, the influence of any sphere may increase.

Complex nature social systems combined with their dynamism, i.e. mobile, changeable character.

The sphere (subsystem) of the life of society is a kind of social organization that has a special purpose, content, patterns, its subjects, methods and means of their activity, certain limits of prevalence. The social basis for the allocation of spheres of life of society are those goals and objectives, needs and interests, plans and programs of subjects, the implementation of which is necessary for the successful life of society and requires isolation, relatively independent delimitation and functioning. This basis is the main one for delimiting the spheres of society. An individual not only takes something from society to satisfy his own needs and interests, but also lives and acts in society. Therefore, society is interested in developing its culture, maintaining what has been achieved, and providing a decent standard of living for citizens. Society is also interested in its general, civilizational improvement and authority among other societies. Historically objectively, as well as as a result of the goal-setting activity of people, necessary and relatively independent spheres of the life of society have developed, having their own purpose, signs, system of relations, functions, etc. Society demanded from individuals qualified activities in these areas, it began to train personnel for them. Let us give a brief description of the main spheres of society. I. The sphere of the material and production life of society is a necessary subsystem, the content of which is reproduction, storage, distribution and consumption material assets society, meeting the material needs of people. The ego is predominantly a material (objective) and energy sphere of life, where economic laws and the subjects themselves in the system of the economy (economy), where material and physical needs for labor activity are satisfied. The main criteria of the sphere are: the material and financial wealth of society, the development of labor tools, the availability of new, environmentally and socially harmless technologies, the implementation of professional training of specialists in material production, the material standard of living of people. In the structure of material and production life, one can single out: the financial life of society; vital activity of industrial subjects; Agriculture; service sector; the life of people in the field of transport and communications; trade; material and production individual labor activity; vital activity of subjects in handicraft production; scientific and technological progress in the material and production sphere; social division of labor; the functioning of the economic consciousness of subjects in this area; system of norms and principles of material and production activity; system of economic relations. 2. The social sphere of the life of society is a necessary subsystem, the content of which is the life of people as members of communities and relations, characterizing their position in society from the standpoint of social equality or inequality, justice or injustice, respect or contempt. Main criteria social life society are: the status of the individual in society and its real embodiment in life; the position of various demographic, professional, social and other communities in the state; the quality of the state's activities in this area; quality and standard of living of people. The structure of the social sphere of society's life can be represented by the position of the subjects: 1) in the demographic aspect - the position in society of the younger, middle and older generations, men and women; 2) by professional activity - the position in society of various professional groups; 3) on a social basis - the position in society of pensioners, the disabled, homeless, multi-family, etc. The structure of the social sphere can be presented differently - according to the main components of the status of an individual or a social community: the rights of an individual or a social community, guarantees of their implementation in society; freedoms of an individual or a social community, guarantees of their implementation; obligations of subjects to themselves, the state and other subjects; the responsibility of the individual or social community to himself, the state and other subjects. 3. The political and legal sphere of the life of society is a subsystem, the content of which is the exercise of power in society using legal norms and guarantees, as well as the realization of the interests of citizens in relation to property and power. The vital activity of the subjects of society can be associated with the conquest, use or loss of power. The main subjects of the political life of society are the citizens of the country and the state as a special apparatus for governing the country (society), to which citizens delegate certain functions, empower it and instruct it to solve specific tasks. Political and legal life is carried out within a certain organizational framework - in the political organization of society as a set of political institutions: the state, political parties, movements, unions, etc. An important characteristic of political life is its consistency. The political system of the life of society includes: the political organization of society; political relations and activities of subjects; functioning of political consciousness; mode of exercise of power; political culture. The main criteria of political and legal life are: consistency of the policy of the state apparatus with the interests of the citizens of the country; the existence of political rights and freedoms of citizens, their implementation; democracy; rule of law in political and legal activity subjects of society; social orientation of state activity. The structure of the political and legal sphere of society consists of: the political and legal status of the subjects of society (the state); the system of state and public (civil) political and legal relations of society; the totality of existing political and legal institutions; the functioning of political and legal consciousness, worldview and qualities of subjects; exercise of power in the country. 4. The spiritual life of society is a subsystem, the content of which is the production, storage and distribution of society's values that can satisfy the needs of the consciousness and worldview of subjects, reproduce the spiritual world of man. The spiritual life of society is the leading process of formation and development of its spiritual culture. The main criteria for the sphere of the spiritual life of society are: the development of individual consciousness; a person's awareness of himself, his relationship with nature and society; humanistic orientation of the type of public outlook; state of spiritual values; the degree of their consistency with the needs and interests of the individual and other subjects of society, as well as the degree of development of education, science, the information life of society, art, the practical implementation of the freedom of conscience of citizens. The spiritual sphere of society's life is designed to reproduce individual and social consciousness, the spiritual values of the individual and society, to regulate the activities of its institutions and subjects of spiritual life. The structure of the sphere of the spiritual life of society, as well as other spheres, can be represented in many ways. The most common approach is the selection of relatively independent processes of spiritual life, which have their own purpose, content and methods of implementation. In spiritual life, the following stand out: the process of reproduction of individual and social consciousness, as well as personal and social worldview through the satisfaction of the corresponding needs of subjects; educational process in society; scientific life of society; artistic and aesthetic life of society; functioning of religion, freethinking and atheism; information life of society. In the structure of the spiritual life of society, a certain side also includes moral life, with its processes of understanding the role and significance of morality, its categories, norms and principles for the functioning of spiritual life. Basic concepts The material and production sphere of the life of society, the social sphere of the life of society, the political and legal sphere of the life of society, the spiritual sphere of the life of society. 1.2.

Introduction

Human society is a set of social phenomena and processes that form a stable integrity, and includes all types of social interactions.

The complexity of defining the concept of "society" is primarily due to its extreme generalization, and, in addition, to its enormous significance. This led to the existence of many definitions of this concept.

The concept of "society" in the broad sense of the word can be defined as a part of the material world that is isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, which includes: ways of human interaction; forms of association of people.

Society is the product of the combined activity of many people. Human activity is a way of existence or existence of society.

Society is characterized as a dynamic self-developing system, i.e. such a system that is capable of seriously changing, at the same time retaining its essence and qualitative certainty. This is a complexly organized self-developing open system, which includes individuals and social communities, united by cooperative, coordinated connections and processes of self-regulation, self-structuring and self-reproduction.

Like any complex system, society consists of interconnected subsystems - intermediate complexes, less complex than the system itself. The allocation of subsystems of society is an important issue for sociological science.

Different approaches to identifying the main areas of public life

There is no unity among researchers on the question of which spheres of public life should be singled out. Some divide society into only two spheres - material and spiritual; the first includes the economy and production, the second - science and culture. Within the framework of Marxism, society consists of two subsystems: the base and the superstructure. The basis is a set of production relations that make up economic structure society. The superstructure includes organizations, ideas, and institutions. The superstructural ideas include political, legal, moral, aesthetic, religious, and philosophical views, which the authors of Marxism call forms of social consciousness. This approach was considered decisive in Soviet sociological science. Today it has given way to a civilizational approach. As part of this approach society is considered as a combination of four areas or spheres: economic, spiritual, social and political. Attempts by individual authors to supplement this series with the family and household sphere raise objections: for all the significance of this area of life, it expresses a more specific section of society in comparison with other subsystems that reflect the fundamental structure of society.

Spheres of public life

Each of the spheres of public life covers a certain range of social relations and social institutions, corresponds to certain functions that society has to perform.

The economic sphere covers relations related to the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods. The most important function here is the interaction of society as a system with the external natural environment: adaptation to it (adaptation) and its transformation.

The social sphere includes relations between various social communities and groups. It is designed to unite and integrate society on the basis of correlating and taking into account the interests of various groups.

The political sphere is formed by the relations of civil society, political parties and the state. The purpose of the sphere of politics is to exercise direction and control.

The spiritual sphere covers the relations that develop in the process of creation, distribution, preservation and development of spiritual values. Through it, such an important function of society as the maintenance of certain values, norms of human community is carried out.

The basic human needs serve as the basis for delimiting the spheres of public life.

The division into four spheres of public life is conditional. You can name other areas: science, artistic and creative activity, racial, ethnic, national relations. However, these four areas are traditionally singled out as the most common and significant.

The economic sphere is the activity of the subjects of social relations in the production, distribution and consumption of the results of labor.

In many ways, this sphere is decisive in relation to others, since material production is the main condition for the life of people. It includes industrial and agricultural production, the relationship of people in the production process, the exchange of products of industrial activity, their distribution.

The elements of the economic sphere are:

material needs;

Economic benefits (goods) that satisfy these needs;

Economic resources (sources of production of goods);

Business entities (individuals or organizations).

The economic sphere exists in the following forms:

The economic space is the one in which economic life takes place;

Activities of economic management institutions;

way of producing wealth.

The significance of the economic sphere of the life of society is that it creates the material basis for the existence of society, contributes to solving the problems facing society, directly affects the social structure (classes, social groups), political processes, the spiritual sphere - both directly (on content) and and on the infrastructure, the carrier of the spiritual sphere (schools, libraries, theaters, books).

In domestic political and sociological literature, a political system is usually defined as a set of state and socio-political organizations, associations, legal and political norms, principles of organizing and exercising political power in society. From the above definition it follows that the core of the political system of society is political power, around which various state and socio-political institutions, norms, patterns and standards are formed and function. political activity and etc.

The elements of the political system of society are the state and government bodies, political parties, public organizations, trade unions, other institutions. The state is its main element.

All elements of the political system have their own functions, but at the same time are interconnected.

Politic system society is not simple sum various institutions and institutions of power, but a holistic education that has an orderly internal structure and performs the appropriate functions.

Summarizing the existing approaches to the classification of the functions of the political system, we can distinguish such main functions as:

1. The function of articulation and aggregation of interests of different groups of citizens of the state. The political system is the arena for the representation and realization of these interests by means of political power.

2. Management function associated with the political management of the economy, social and other spheres of society.

3. The function of developing a political strategy and tactics for the socio-economic development of society.

4. The function of political socialization of citizens and society as a whole.

5. The function of legitimizing political power, associated with the justification, recognition and acceptance of the existing political regime by the citizens of the state.

6. Mobilization and consolidating function, expressed in maintaining the unity and cohesion of civil society on the basis of national ideas, priorities and goals.

The social sphere of the life of society is a collection of individuals, their communities and relationships between them, a social structure; this is the process of functioning and development of society, in which its social function, social being itself, is realized, i.e. holistic reproduction and enrichment of society and man as subjects of the life process.

Social structure in the broad sense of the word includes different kinds structures and represents an objective division of society according to various, vital signs. The most important sections of this structure in the broad sense of the word are social-class, socio-professional, socio-demographic, ethnic, settlement, etc.

Social structure in the narrow sense of the word is a social class structure, a set of classes, social strata and groups that are in unity and interaction.

The modern social process can be defined as the reproduction and self-realization of various elements (systems, communities, organizations, institutions, etc.) of society and the individual as an integral unity with the properties of stability or necessary variability in accordance with objective trends and patterns of a given social system.

The essence of the social process is expressed in the reproduction of various social communities and phenomena, society and the individual, in the diversity of the results of their activities, acting as a social organic integrity, the organization of this social system. social process acts as self-development and self-regulation of the subject in the totality of its socio-moral, professional, ideological, socio-cultural and other qualities, as an expression of the historical integrity of the subject.

The spiritual sphere of society's life is a subsystem, the content of which is the production, storage and distribution of society's values that can satisfy the needs of the consciousness and worldview of subjects, reproduce the spiritual world of man. It includes all spiritual formations, including spiritual culture in all its diversity, forms and levels of social consciousness, spontaneous moods, habits, etc.

The spiritual life of society is the leading, main process of formation and development of its spiritual culture. The structural elements of the sphere (they are also called forms of social consciousness) are:

Moral form of social consciousness (morality);

Scientific form of social consciousness (science);

Aesthetic form of social consciousness (art);

Religious form of social consciousness (religion);

Legal form of public consciousness (law and politics).

Within the framework of each of these forms of social consciousness, separate elements are formed, which, taken together, constitute the spiritual culture of society: norms, rules, patterns, behaviors, laws, customs, traditions, symbols, myths, knowledge, ideas, language. All these elements are products of spiritual production.

public life sphere

The complex nature of the development of society is determined by its very complex structure, the action in it of many heterogeneous factors. First of all, it carries out various types of social activities in their nature and content: production and economic, social, political, religious, aesthetic and others, which seem to have their own social space. The latter is outlined by the corresponding type of social relations within which this or that social activity takes place. As a result, various spheres of social life are formed. The main ones are economic, social, political, spiritual.

Economic sphere includes the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods. This is the sphere of functioning of production, the direct implementation of achievements scientific and technological progress, the implementation of the entire set of production relations of people, including the ownership of the means of production, the exchange of activities and the distribution of material wealth.

The economic sphere acts as an economic space in which the economic life of the country is organized, the interaction of all sectors of the economy, as well as international economic cooperation. Here, the economic consciousness of people, their material interest, the results of their production activities, as well as their creative abilities are directly embodied in life. The activities of economic management institutions are also implemented here. In the economic sphere, the interaction of all objective and subjective factors of economic development is carried out. The significance of this sphere for the development of society is fundamental.

Social sphere- this is the sphere of relations between social groups existing in society, including classes, professional and socio-demographic strata of the population (youth, the elderly, etc.), as well as national communities regarding social conditions their lives and activities.

We are talking about creating healthy conditions for the production activity of people, about ensuring the necessary standard of living for all segments of the population, about solving the problems of health care, public education and social security, about observing social justice in the exercise by each person of his right to work, as well as in the distribution and consumption of created in a society of material and spiritual goods, about the resolution of contradictions arising from social stratification society, on the social protection of the relevant segments of the population. This refers to the regulation of the whole complex of social-class and national relations concerning working conditions, life, education and the standard of living of people.

As can be seen, the functioning of the social sphere is associated with the satisfaction of a special range of social needs. The possibilities of their satisfaction are determined by the social position of a person or social group, as well as the nature of existing social relations. The degree of satisfaction of these needs determines the level and quality of life of a person, family, social group, etc. These are general indicators of the achieved level of people's well-being and the effectiveness of the functioning of its social sphere. The social policy of the state should be directed to this.

Political sphere there is a space for the political activity of classes, other social groups, national communities, political parties and movements, various kinds of public organizations. Their activity takes place on the basis of established political relations and is aimed at the implementation of their political interests.

These interests of theirs concern, first of all, political power, as well as the realization of their political rights and freedoms.

spiritual realm- this is the sphere of people's relations about various kinds of spiritual values, their creation, distribution and assimilation by all layers of society. At the same time, spiritual Values mean not only, say, objects of painting, music or literary works, but also people's knowledge, science, moral standards of behavior, etc., in a word, everything that constitutes the spiritual content of social life or the spirituality of society.

The spiritual sphere of public life develops historically. It embodies the geographical, national and other features of the development of society, everything that has left its mark on the soul of the people, its national character. The spiritual life of society is made up of the daily spiritual communication of people and from such areas of their activity as knowledge, including scientific, education and upbringing, from the manifestations of morality, art, religion. All this makes up the content of the spiritual sphere, develops the spiritual world of people, their ideas about the meaning of life in society. This has a decisive influence on the formation of spiritual principles in their activities and behavior.

Great importance in this respect has the activities of institutions that perform the functions of education and upbringing - from primary schools to universities, as well as the atmosphere of family education of a person, the circle of his peers and friends, all the richness of his spiritual communication with other people. An important role in the formation of human spirituality is played by original folk art, as well as professional art - theater, music, cinema, painting, architecture, etc.

An important aspect of the functioning of the social structure of society is social mobility. We are talking about the transition of people from one social group and strata to another. Thus, for example, when a peasant moves to the city and becomes a factory worker, he not only moves from the rural to the urban stratum of society, but becomes a member of another class and occupational group. The social situation also changes when, say, the children of workers and peasants become intellectuals, and the children of intellectuals become entrepreneurs, or when an entrepreneur becomes a professional politician.

The problems of the functioning of the social structure, the interaction of various social groups are most directly related to the problems of civil society.

Comprehending the problem of civil society and adopting what was left to us by previous thinkers, it is necessary to take into account modern realities and the current state of development of this problem. Apparently, it would be correct to consider civil society as the interaction of all large and small social groups existing in society. economic basis their interactions should be freely developing different forms of ownership. And to protect their interests, the relevant bodies of the rule of law state, in which everything is subject to the Law, are called upon. As a result, in a truly civil society, which is based on the interests and rights of the Citizen, each person will be able to get opportunities to express himself freely and creatively, to satisfy his needs in accordance with the benefit that he brings to other people and society. At the same time, he will enjoy all the means of legal and social protection of the state.

There are two main trends in the development of the social structure of modern society. The first of these is the active process of differentiation of society, the emergence of new social groups. The second is due to the integration processes in the economy going on in the world, which affect the development of the social structure of society. Converging working conditions, its nature and content among representatives of various social groups. This leads to convergence of other conditions of their life, as well as the structure of their needs and interests.