Value factor of the countries uneven development

Abstract

The authors consider reasons for the countries uneven development, provide sociological foundations for the study of this phenomenon, examine countries’ sociodynamics, reconstruct a map of countries development in the contemporary global world, and explore the trajectory of Belarus. The authors argue that the vector of sociodynamics is not predetermined, it depends on internal factors, and culture plays a key programming role. Value choice is an important factor determining the pace and direction of the contemporary society evolution. The article is based on the available data of international projects - European Values Study (EVS) and World Values Study (WVS). The period covered by these studies is forty years - from 1981 to 2021, and in Belarus surveys have been conducted since 1990. Authors’ generalizations are based on the Inglehart-Welzel model, and they confirm the hypothesis that the dynamics of value orientations in the Belarusian society follows the trajectory of changes that took place in Western Europe and North America in previous decades. The authors argue that social-demographic groups of the Belarusian society can be placed at different stages of the values transformation, i.e., urban and more educated population of Belarus (mainly the younger and middle-aged groups) are close to contemporary Czech Republic and Slovakia and slightly differ from Austria and Germany in terms of the value orientations.