Original scientific paper
INTEGRATION AND DISINTEGRATION
Rade Kalanj
; Faculty of Philosophy, Zagreb
Abstract
Discussed are integration and disintegration issues in the modern world. An attempt has been made to place them within the framework of contemporary discussions on development models, the neo–liberal economic and political paradigm, the social issues, the nature of class conflicts today, etc. The starting point is a number of alarming theoretical and practical warnings which are trying to turn attention to dangerous disintegrative tendencies both within specific societies and globally. The World Conference on Social Development had in this respect to present not only a sum of diagnoses but also a tuned strategic base for copying with dangers of disintegration. The alarming diagnoses of disintegrative tendencies gave rise to a sociological debate on a number of crucial sociological categories: differentiation, integration, cohesion, anomy, rationalization, etc. The sociological thinking is trying to answer the following question: How to overcome the dangers of disintegration? Three possible integrative answers can be given: the answer coming from the spirit of classical sociology, the communitarian answer, and the answer concerning the state power. Presented are the most important features of these three answers as well as the representative theoretical perspectives as found in the sociological tradition and more recent discussions. However, none of the perspectives has been explicitly preferred by the author. The point is that all three answers take part together in the contemporary integrative processes, but with respect to specific social milieus and specific circumstances.
Keywords
cohesion; communitarianism; community; differentiation; neo–liberal economy; social integration; state power; system integration
Hrčak ID:
141507
URI
Publication date:
15.1.1997.
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