Any system, including society, is not immune from both the critical accumulation of internal contradictions and destructive external influences that can cause a malfunction in its functioning up to the occurrence of various crises, the typology of which is one of the areas of sociology research, philosophy and a number of other humanities. At one time, not without the introduction of the Marxist theory, it was believed that the crisis is a sign of the unviability of the system and its imminent destruction. However, as practice shows, crises are not only a test for survival, but also an incentive to improve the functioning of the system.
Definition of concept
Like many other scientific terms, the word "crisis" is of Greek origin. In this language krisis means "decision". However, over time, this term has acquired so many new readings that the very concept of a crisis often needs to be substantially adjusted.
First of all, the crisis implies the existence of a certain problem, which becomes a milestone in the development of the system. In many ways, it is determined by the presence of two or more opposing sides,offering their development options. Thus, the crisis, understood as a kind of demarcation line, delimits the existence of the system into three stages. At the first, pre-crisis, the presence of confrontation and uncertainty regarding the choice of the development path is noted. At the moment of crisis, uncertainty is replaced by a clear victory for one of the conflicting parties. The third stage, post-crisis, is characterized by the acquisition by the system of qualitatively new characteristics, mainly in organizational terms.
Thus, the crisis is primarily understood as an extreme exacerbation of contradictions in the system, threatening the termination of its existence and characterized by failures in the functioning of the usual regulatory mechanisms.
Causes of occurrence
The causes and consequences of crises primarily depend on the nature of the system itself. However, some general reasons for their selection can be identified.
The causes of failure in the system can be both objective and subjective. The former stem from the recurring internal need for modernization. The crisis in this case may arise due to an error in the choice of development strategy, external influence or current circumstances.
The subjective causes of the crisis are generated not only by management errors, but also by various force majeure circumstances such as man-made or natural disasters or natural disasters. Another source of system failures is unidentified or neglected imperfections in the management system, making risky decisions.
Basis for classification
Perhaps the main characteristic of crises is their diversity. It manifests itself not only in the causes and their consequences, but also in the very essence of the crisis situation. However, any problem can be predicted and solved. To facilitate this process, the need arose for a typology of crises according to various criteria.
There are a lot of grounds for attributing the crisis to one or another subgroup. Among the most important are the causes of its occurrence, nature and consequences. Crisis issues are an important criterion for classification. From this point of view, specialists single out macro- and mega-crises. The time factor also plays a significant role, from the standpoint of which the crisis can be described as either protracted or short-term.
Finally, after all the upheavals of the 20th century, such an important phenomenon in the development of the system as the repetition of the main stages of its existence was revealed. Because of this, the crisis can be described as regular or periodic.
One should take into account the presence of so-called systemic crises, when others fail as a result of a failure in the operation of one element. The difficulties that have arisen in the economy can provoke a social explosion, which often results in a political crisis. However, in this case, the chain of actions can unwind in the other direction.
Crises of socio-economic systems
This area is perhaps the most important for every person, since the individual lives in society, andsociety is the most characteristic example of a socio-economic system. To facilitate the creation of a typology of crises of this kind, the problems are differentiated with the allocation of such spheres of society as economic, social, political and spiritual.
Such a division allows not only to more accurately identify the manifestations of the crisis and thereby predict it, but also to facilitate the adoption of anti-crisis measures. In general, based on the differentiation of problems, we can distinguish such types of crises as:
- economic;
- social;
- political;
- organizational;
- psychological;
- technological.
Subspecies can be distinguished within each of these types.
Economic crises
The main reason for its occurrence is the accumulation of unsold products and production capital, which is manifested in the growth of unemployment. Economists note that the very nature of the production cycle produces the emergence of crisis phenomena, which, on the one hand, indicates the growth of contradictions that cannot be resolved by traditional methods, and, on the other hand, helps to eliminate obsolete principles from the system and modernizes it.
Along with specific types of economic crises (monetary, credit and banking, foreign economic, investment, mortgage, inflationary, stock, etc.) there are structural ones that affect all sectors of the economy. These include:
- commodity-market, essencewhich consists in correcting the economic system;
- production-structural, causing requirements for updating part of the production structures or their complete replacement with more adequate to the current moment;
- system-transformational, entailing a complete restructuring of the economic system of society.
The main factors of crises in the economic sphere include the reduction in production and the use of production capacities not at full strength, the fall in the level of gross domestic product, the cessation of regular payments (including social payments), the lack of innovative technologies, and also bankruptcy and ruin of enterprises.
Social crises
The reason for their occurrence are the contradictions caused by the conflict of interests of various social groups or institutions. As a rule, a social crisis is either a background or a consequence of an economic crisis, the beginning of which inevitably exacerbates problems within society. The relationship with the state of the economy is clear: there is dissatisfaction in society with rising prices and unemployment, a decrease in educational and he alth budget items, various crisis centers arise in which people try to find help and support.
The general decline in living standards observed in these cases is one of the many causes of the demographic crisis. Along with the ecological one, it is included in the group of global crises of our time. A social crisis manifests itself in a significant excessmortality over births, which leads to an aging population and its reduction, as well as an increase in the number of emigrants, which are mainly educated people.
Negative trends in society can also cause psychological crises. They manifest themselves most clearly in societies that have entered a transitional period, like those experienced by Russia in the 1990s. last century. In this case, we are talking about a general increase in the number of neuroses: a person does not feel protected and is in a state of fear.
Political crises can also be attributed to the number of social crises. As follows from the concept, the crisis in this case manifests itself in the clash of interests of various groups in the political field, which is realized not only in the regular struggle of parties or opposition between the ruling strata and the opposition, but also in the disorganization of the political life of the country. They arise when there are serious doubts about the legitimacy of the government or its inability to resolve the accumulated problems.
Territorial classification of crises
Depending on the area of distribution, the crisis can be individual, local, regional, national, transnational and global. It should be borne in mind that this typology of crises is organically combined with others. For example, a political crisis can cover both a separate region (for example, Catalonia or the Basque Country in Spain) or an entire state (Russia before the 1917 revolution).
This relationship was first thought aboutafter the first world economic crisis in 1825. In the future, the level of globalization has made such crises more protracted and more severe in consequences. In particular, the most severe of the world crises was in 1929. The fall in stock prices on the largest US stock exchanges, which began on October 24, provoked not only the collapse of the country's economy, but also led to an open confrontation between social groups. Since, after the First World War, the economies of European countries were closely connected with the American one and were even somewhat dependent on it, the crisis quickly assumed alarming proportions. One of its consequences is the collapse of democracy in Germany and the coming to power of the National Socialist Party.
Classification by the nature of the flow
Since the development of the system has the possibility of failures in its operation, the crisis can be predicted. This is especially true of regular or cyclical crises. Some phases can be distinguished in the nature of their course. The first one is recession. The crisis in this case is just beginning to manifest itself in various forms, for example, there is a drop in production or an oversupply of goods on the market. At the next stage, stagnation occurs, during which the system tries to adapt to changing conditions. This stage occurs until the situation of balance between the needs of society and its capabilities is again established. In addition, at this stage, the search for fundamentally new ways out of the economic crisis, which is, as a rule, primary, is carried out, as well as theirapprobation.
After finding the balance, the phase of revival begins, during which the connections between the various elements of the system are restored. In economic terms, this is manifested in an increase in the flow of investments, the creation of new jobs, which helps to reduce unemployment and improve the standard of living of the population. This leads to the entry of the system into a new phase - the rise. The capital accumulated at the previous stage allows the implementation of various innovations, which entails quantitative and qualitative changes in the life of society. However, at the same stage, the accumulation of new contradictions inevitably occurs, which again lead to the phase of decline.
However, this sequence is not always carried out perfectly. Researchers note the existence of irregular crises, in which a phase change does not occur. These include:
- interim crisis, characteristic of the phases of recovery or recovery, which are interrupted for a while;
- partial crisis, which has a character similar to the previous subspecies, but differs from it in that it covers not one sphere of social life, but several at once;
- industry crisis.
The transition from one phase to another can be caused not only by natural causes. Sometimes, in order to stimulate development, to accelerate it, artificial crises can be provoked.
Classification of crises by causes
As already mentioned, different types of crises are interconnected. Negativetrends in the economy can give rise to a social explosion, and they themselves can be caused by a lack of innovation, that is, a technological crisis. However, the causes of crisis phenomena sometimes arise from the most unexpected side. In particular, natural crises that are practically independent of the will of man are singled out. These may include various cataclysms: hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis. But sometimes their development merges with anthropogenic activity, and in this case, an ecological crisis arises.
This is evidenced by facts such as the emergence of previously unknown diseases, and therefore are incurable, the depletion of non-renewable natural resources or their pollution, as well as global warming caused by the greenhouse effect due to increased emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This is caused not only by economic development, with an increase in the number of people on the planet requiring more and more resources. In the early 90s. of the last century, it has been proven that an ecological crisis can be caused by local hostilities: at least 500 oil wells were blown up during the Gulf War.
Regardless of the causes, it should be understood that the environmental crisis is one of the most serious problems facing humanity today.
Crisis Management
Timely recognition of negative development trendssystem allows you to predict possible shocks and take care of methods of dealing with them in advance. In this respect, a typology of crises is essential. The correct definition of the type and nature of the crisis phenomenon in itself is the key to a quick recovery. In addition, understanding the crisis as one of the conditions for the existence of the system indicates that overcoming it is a manageable process, even if it is a natural disaster.
The Company has accumulated significant experience in combating negative trends. This is evidenced by both a large number of different crisis centers and qualitative changes in policy, designed, if not to get rid of crises altogether, then at least to minimize the possible damage.
