The Theory of Social Change and Modernization Processes

1. Fundamentals concepts of social change in the conception of the philosophy of history

mythical versus the historical understanding of time (Eliade, Bultmann) - the concept of time in ancient Israel versus in ancient Greece - ancient historiography (Herodotus, Thucydides, Tacitus, Livy) - Colingwood's features for Christian historiography (universal, providencial , apocalyptic, periodization) - milenarismus and chiliasm, Joachim di Fiore - differences between the medieval, renaissance and modern (Cartesian) historiography - progress in theory Bossuet, Condorcet, Turgot

2. Classical evolutionism and its approach to the issue of social change

the General Features: organicistic metaphor, metaphor embryos differences classical evolutionism and Darwinism - Auguste Comte in his conception and evolution of human knowledge, Law of three stages, social statics versus social dynamics - Morgan Lewis in three stages of development of human history: barbarism, savagery and civilization  

3. Neoevolucionismus in the 20th century anthropology

differences in comparison with classical evolutionism

- unilinear versus multilinear evolution - general versus specific evolution - Leslie White - role of energy - Julien Steward - Marshall Sahlins

4. Neoevolucionism in sociology after World War II

differences in comparison with classical evolutionism - Gerhard Lenski and his typology and developmental stages by: hunters and gatherers, gardening, agricultural and industrial companies - Talcott Parsons, types of companies, evolutionary universals, role in the evolution of cultural innovation, integration processes and differenciace, adaptive upgrading  

5. The reactions to neoevolucionismus in sociology from the late 20th century

the theory of structural differentiation - Smelser, - criticism of the theory of differentiation and division of labor: Ruescheymer: the relationship of power and division of labor, dedifferentiation processes

- the shift in the biologic neoevolucionism in sociology: variation, selection, stabilization - the role of system theory, sources of variability within the process variaions, selection of three types: of power, structural and material

- Eisenstadt's coalescing in theory, partly coalescing and nekoalescent changes

6. Theory of modernization

relationship of modernization theory and classical evolutionism - classical theories of modernization in the 50s, the definition of modernization: historical, relativistic, analytical - westernocentrismus in classical modernization theory, the context of the Cold War, - the convergence theory - neomodernistic and neokonvergence theory - transitology - multiple (multiple) modernity - Huntington's critique of modernization theories: the concept of political order

7. Cyclical theory of social change

Giambatisto Vico - Ibn Khaldun - Pareto - Sorokin - Danilevskij - Spengler - Toynbee

8. Concepts of social change in historical materialism

Karl Marx and his historical materialism - the Socio-economic formation - dependency theory (Cardoso) - the World-systems theory - Marvin Harris and his theory of cultural materialism  

9. Theory of Revolution

the etymology of the term revolution - classics: Marx and Tocqueville - Theda Skocpol's structural conception of revolution - Jean Baechler and his analysis of the revolutionary phenomenon: the classification of marginal groups and antisocieties

- the difference between political and social revolution - the difference between revolution and coup - Jaroslav Krejci: vertical versus horizontal revolution - Shmuel Eisenstadt: revolution and the theory of coalescing changes