S.Eisenstadt’s civilizational analysis in the contexts of sociological theorising

Abstract

The article represents an overview of S. Eisenstadt's theoretical heritage, focusing on its theoretical and methodological core, that is, civilizational analysis. Theoretical sources, synthesis and links of civilizational analysis, its conceptual coordinates on the map of sociological theoretical knowledge are examined. It is argued that the formation of this theoretical direction meant the restoration of classic sociological tradition, in particular approaches indicated by E. Durkheim, M. Mauss and M. Weber to the problematic of historical civilizations. This theme has acquired its new meanings and actualizations in reflections on peculiarities and challenges of modernization from the end 1970-s in Eisenstadt’s and some other researchers’ works. Conceptual interpretation of modernity as a distinctive civilizational pattern and Eisenstadt’s concept of multiple modernities are also important aspects of this theoretical direction. The main idea of Eisenstadt’s concept of multiple modernities is a recognition of many possible patterns of modernization as a not purely Western civilization phenomenon. Some methodological implications of Eisenstadt’s civilizational analysis for the prospects of sociological research, particularly with focus on peculiarities of social transformation and modernization in Ukraine are suggested. It is argued that socio-cultural and political dynamics of Ukraine’s transformation could be analyzed as the combination of various civilizational programs. This is explained by the fact that modernization in Ukraine does not follow the classical scheme - from traditional to modern society, but rather occurs as a parallel transformation from one type of modernization (former Soviet) to another (market and democratic). In addition this transformation is undergoing in the context of the conflict between two geopolitical modernization projects – Western, European and Eurasian (“Russian world”).