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Social agenda in the era of social transformations

Sadovaja E.S.,

Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, sadovaja.elena@yandex.ru

elibrary_id: 565189 | ORCID: 0000-0002-0553-3047 |

Article received: 2024.11.24 18:20. Accepted: 2025.02.26 18:20


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2025.03.05
EDN: RYTCJL

Rubric: Theory and methodology of political studies

For citation:

Sadovaja E.S. Social agenda in the era of social transformations. – Polis. Political Studies. 2025. No. 3. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2025.03.05. EDN: RYTCJL (In Russ.)

Abstract

The process of transformation of the modern world order has revealed the limitations of many previously established theoretical concepts designed to reflect social processes from an analytical point of view. This applies to the fundamental concept of “social development”. In recent decades, unprecedented efforts have been made to give it a normative character at the UN level and to create an international political program of action on this basis. The purpose of this study, which relies on the analysis of scientific and socio-political discourses, is to consider the experience of “privatization” of this concept by left-globalist elites in order to universalize it and promote on its basis their own agenda for transforming the world order. The analysis showed that the evolution of the development discourse and the change in the interpretation of “social development” reflect to some extent reality – the economy no longer allows for the implementation of the social contract that has been in place for several centuries, which implies a progressive improvement in living conditions in exchange for loyalty. This requires as a result a complete restructuring of the social system. However, the promoted development discourse, its transformation into a political program of action, has become the basis for revising international institutions and mechanisms of coordination in the interests of one part of humanity without taking into account the interests of another. The revealed cultural and historical determinism of the concept of development predetermined the failure of claims to give it a universal character. The suggested version of the future does not suit the world majority, which is not ready to abandon traditional values and ideas of multipolarity in favour of a new world order, which essentially represents a project of transition to posthumanity under the control of some single decision-making centre. The upcoming period of transition to multipolarity will be extremely conflictual and the success of states in passing through it will depend on their ability to maintain social stability, ensure social consolidation and socio-political mobilization, and find their own “identical” goals for moving into the future.

Keywords

social development, social contract, welfare state, social policy, values, unconditional basic income, transformation of the world order, concept of catch-up development, multipolarity.

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