Reforming and Reformation in the System of Culture and Systems of Society

Abstract

The article is devoted to the role of modern culture in the situation of permanent reforms. This is an understanding of the problem identified by Orekhovsky P. A. and Razumov V. I. in the journal “Ideas and Ideals” at the end of 2021. The author continues the discussion about the consequences of the spread of “narcissistic culture” in different areas of life. The author of the article studies the problem from the standpoint of a systematic approach. This methodology allows us to see the built-in social changes in the structure of the social system, the stabilizing role of culture as a “supersystem”. Such a methodological position excludes the possibility of criticizing the system from within, being one of its structures. Instead of critical analysis, a humanistic-semantic one is proposed, based on understanding, explanation, prognostication. The methodological complex is built on the combinatorics of the humanistic-semantic, constructivist, systemic approach. The author proves the thesis of the all-penetrating nature and the stabilizing role of culture in modern managerial processes of updating the subsystems of society. The methods of the constructivist approach help to explain the distribution of new social roles. Society is differentiated into reformers (dominant actors) and those who are subject to reform (statistical actors). The theatrical terminology of the dramatic approach explains the playful meaning of social actions. The main game of the reformers is a “mousetrap”. It reveals the ‘pure’ qualities of the initiators of the reforms. The author studies the social roles and the specifics of their distribution in the processes of reformation. The article considers the processes of reforming and reformation. Differences in the meanings, goals and tools of these processes are shown. Reforming is a social process based on the principles of humanism and justice. Reformation is a game which action takes place on the ‘fields of attraction’of discourses. Reformism is defined as a fashion for reform, for novelty, a trend for constant renewal of the structures of the society system. The goal is to receive benefits and advantages from the social position of the reformers. This is a game of dominant actors defending the right to change the rules of the game, access to resources. Reformation does not lead to the solution of social problems, exacerbates the course of socio-cultural processes. The risks from the consequences of reformation are anomie, social changes of a traumatic nature which all relevant actors feel, regardless of their dominance in the ‘fields of attraction’. The system is brought into balance by culture with its system-forming functions that provide normative order. Using the techniques of integral sociology, the author shows the stabilizing role of the value core of culture in the life of the ‘society’ system.