The civilizational approach as a socioligical research strategy

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THE CIVILIZATION APPROACH AS A SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH STRATEGY

Akmal Gadaimurodovich Abdullaev

Introduction

The civilizational approach in the social sciences has a rich history of its own. The civilizational approach was formed within the disciplines of history, philosophy, social philosophy, religious studies, cultural studies, and philosophy of history. In sociology, the civilizational approach can be characterized by a separate analysis of the related fragments of culture and religion of any social event or reality. After Uzbekistan gained its independence, the lack of universalism observed in the social forms of the development and integration of different societies within the framework of the modernization theories of historical sociology, along with the restoration of the history of Uzbekistan and the uncovering of the true history, it became clear that there is a need to use the theory of civilization.

In the 1990s, the formation of sociology as a separate discipline in Uzbekistan, including the problems of reform and modernization of society, the civilizational approach emerged as an alternative approach to the study of the modern global world. The scientific theoretical analysis of the theory of civilizations allows us to further enrich the methodological base of sociology and within its framework to study the peculiarities of culture, religion, social institutions, social groups in a single cultural and civilizational complex.

Results and Discussion

The word civilization comes from the Latin civilis, which means citizenship or belonging to the state. In the national encyclopedia of Uzbekistan it is mentioned as “tamaddun” - civilization [1.16]. The term "civilization" was introduced into scientific use by French enlighteners in the 18th century as an independent term associated with the concept of "Culture".

Definitions of the term civilization in scientific literature and dictionaries do not provide the same understanding. Civilization is a collective and multifactorial phenomenon by its origin and structure. Civilization is formed by the characteristics of the natural environment (climatic conditions, geographical and demographic factors), the level of human needs, abilities, knowledge and skills, the economic and technological order of production, and the ethnic and national composition of the society in the system of socio-political relations of the state and society. The level of civilizations is assessed by the uniqueness of cultural-historical and religious-ethical values, spiritual progress, uniqueness of service and production, and the level of development [2.556].

Classical sociologists and political scientists of Western Europe, based on an extremely broad understanding of the phenomenon of civilization in historiography, philosophy and sociology, pointed out four main historical forms, i.e. types, of the order of the world of civilization:

1. Civilization of primitive societies (the beginning of humanity)

2. Civilizations of traditional societies (agricultural and agrarian);

3. Civilization of industrial societies (man-made industry);

4. Civilization of post-industrial societies (information exchange and post-industry) [3.461].

Israeli sociologist Shmuel Eisenstadt defined civilization from the perspective of philosophical and historical sciences as follows. According to him, the general philosophical meaning of civilization is a social form of matter movement that ensures its stability and ability to develop itself by self-regulating exchange with the environment. The historiographical meaning of civilization gives the concept of the unity of the historical process and the totality of the material, technical and spiritual achievements of mankind during this process. At the same time, it means the stage of the world historical process associated with reaching a certain social level [4.15].

Classical universalist sociologists in Western Europe sought recognition of Europe's revolutionary experience as a "model for countries in other parts of the world." As a result, Western sociologists are often inadequate in their analysis of historical situations and assume that Europe was the center of ancient civilizations without fully studying the centers that had a methodological impact on civilizations.

British historian Arnold Toynbee defined civilizations and believed that civilization is a culture that has reached the limits of self-determination and prioritized the cultural principle. All civilizations known in history are some types of human communities, cultures of peoples united by similarities in religion, architecture, visual arts, morals, customs. According to Toynbee, there is no single history of humanity, so there is no common civilization of the world. History is a "Cycle" of individual civilizations that are closed to themselves and live together in parallel and sometimes synchronously. At the same time, some universals can be formed as a result of communication and interaction of civilizations. Thus, he foresaw and recognized the possibility of forming a world civilization with world religion and ethics [5.318]

Uzbek sociologist scientist Azamat Seitov believes that material values and technical and technological innovations form the content and state of civilization today. Since it is an integral part of modern science and technology, which ensures the material development of society, civilization does not face contradiction in effective instrumental forms of culture. There is a tendency to antagonistically consider modern world civilization along the lines of civilization in the "West" and "East" countries, each of which has its own logic of development, it is the East and the West that states that the directions of liberal and traditional thought are the process of transition from industrial society to post-industrial society [6.48] .

"Sociology of History" is invaluable for understanding the role and importance of civilization in sociological research. Historical sociology studies many natural and social factors in any society, economic relations in society, development of individuals, and their change. Also, this branch analyzes the processes of class division in society, stratification processes, religious and ethnic (racial) affiliation, religious ideas, customs, traditions and values from generation to generation on the basis of concrete historical facts.

In addition, the sociology of history makes it possible to determine the social "vector" or "magnetic pole" of society in different periods in different societies. P. Sorokin in his work "Man, Society and Civilization" "However, until the 14th century, sociology was hardly a systematic science. He used this form in the fourteenth century by the great Arab thinker and statesman Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) in his comprehensive work called "Historical Prolegomena" (Introduction). came out Large parts of this work still look very modern today. Along with Plato, Aristotle, Vico and Comte, Ibn Khaldun is undoubtedly one of the founders of sociology (as well as scientific history). Unfortunately, Ibn Khaldun's works remained unknown to Western scholars until the beginning of the 19th century" [7.137].