CC BY
0THE SOCIO-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AS A MAIN CONDITION FOR
THE TRANSFORMATION OF VALUES
Ulugbek Saidullaev
Researcher at the Institute of Social and Spiritual Research of the Republican Center for Spirituality and Enlightenment
Abstract: Social changes are an integral part of society's development. At the same time, socio-cultural development plays an important role in shaping values in the life of society and individuals. Socio-cultural development is a complex and multifaceted process determined by various factors such as technological changes, globalization, social movements, and political transformations. In this process, the system of values in society is constantly changing, which creates not only modern social phenomena but also new opportunities for development.
Keywords: axiology, dynamics of values, system of social values, new ideals, subject of value assessment, national and universal values.
INTRODUCTION.
Changes in the economy, politics, and the system of public administration require precisely value-based foundations. The history of humanity testifies that the value system, which forms the basis of the masses' worldview, can perform two functions. It can either be a factor accelerating the development process or an insurmountable obstacle on this path. In other words, any institutional changes can become truly "irreversible reforms" only when they are accepted by society and anchored in the value system formed in that society. Some modern philosophical theories view civilizations and cultures as important existing but independent phenomena. However, the concept of continuity refutes this opinion, emphasizing the existence of connections between historical periods. That is, the previous period gives rise to the subsequent one, serving as its natural and necessary foundation. A certain stage of historical development takes its values from the past, develops them, and creates the basis for humanity's transition to the next stage.
LITERATURE ANALYSIS AND METHODS.
Mass consciousness is traditionally evaluated by philosophy and sociology as an unchanging sphere of social life. However, changes in society lead to changes in the mass worldview as well. It is natural that people's interests arise from human activities, needs, and social relationships. Therefore, in defining the concept of value, one can agree with the following opinion of the modern American philosopher T. Shibutani: "If people have a need, interest, and benefit in relation to a certain object, it has value, that is, it can be called a value"[1].
The Uzbek scientist K. Nazarov, who conducted scientific research in the field of axiology, writes the following: "It is known that values have a unique influence on society and human activity. Sometimes, acting as an ideal, they encourage people to engage in effective activities, and sometimes, as a spiritual criterion and moral requirement, they determine people's behavior and lifestyle, their aspirations and needs, manage or guide their activities. The affirmation of certain values unites entire peoples, nations, states, or groups for a short or long period of time to achieve specific goals, and determines the direction of their activities"[2]
In this context, it is appropriate to cite the thoughts of academician E.Yusupov: "Values are material and spiritual riches that have formed and developed during the historical development of social life, have exerted and continue to exert a positive influence on social, economic, and spiritual development in the past, present, and future, have penetrated into people's consciousness, and have acquired social significance''^].
Some philosophers attempted to evaluate value from the perspective of usefulness or necessity. As mentioned above, this tendency emerged in the middle of the last century. For example, the Russian scholar B.A. Chagin writes: "The content of value is determined by necessity, usefulness, importance, and need". Another scholar, V.P. Tugarinov, who also adheres to the principle of usefulness, provides an even more detailed definition: "Values are beneficial phenomena (properties of phenomena) of nature and society that are historically necessary for people of a certain society or class and manifest themselves in the form of truth, purpose, or ideal"[4].
However, other scholars object to this. In their opinion, an object or phenomenon itself cannot be a value or manifest itself as a value. Their value depends on the evaluating subject. There are many examples of this in history - what is significant and valuable for some may seem completely insignificant to others. For instance, consider the thoughts of the English writer Jerome K. Jerome: "An Indian warrior takes pride in a belt on which hang the scalps of slain enemies, while a European general suffers from vanity, showing off his stars and medals. A Chinese man lovingly grows his hair to braid it into a single plait, a black African willingly exchanges precious oil and ivory for glass beads, and a Christian girl gives herself to someone in exchange for an insignificant title added to her surname. The European general will undoubtedly be horrified by the scalps on the Indian's belt, while the Indian warrior will remain indifferent to the general's shiny orders and medals"[5]
The difficulty in providing a comprehensive definition of the concept of value lies in its multifaceted nature and richness of content. Therefore, authors often include in their definitions only the characteristic they consider most important. Moreover, even the sum of these definitions does not fully reveal the content of this
concept. From this perspective, some studies conducted in our country in recent years on this issue are mainly limited to revealing only a certain aspect of this concept.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS.
In the past century, humanity witnessed revolutionary changes. In particular, the collapse of the bipolar world, the emergence of new independent states on the world map, the acceleration of the globalization process, the rapid penetration of the internet into people's lives, and so on. From this perspective, it is necessary to focus separately on the transformation of values common to countries that emerged from the former union and gained independence, using Uzbekistan as an example. If we evaluate the past period from an evolutionary point of view, we can identify several stages.
1989-1999. This period can be called the destabilization of social order. In the 1990s, among the main problems concerning society were shortages of food and essential goods, scarcity of durable consumer goods, rising crime rates, and environmental pollution. In several countries, including Uzbekistan, representatives of national minorities began to fear persecution from the ethnic majority (for example, Meskhetian Turks, Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan, and others). People's trust in the ruling party and government, police and courts, trade unions, and other organizations decreased. Some newly formed political movements, under the slogan of national revival, began to openly promote nationalism.
An important aspect of this process is that, on the one hand, the consciousness of the broad population of the newly independent states, particularly Uzbekistan, underwent a process of assimilating important values such as professionalism, personal dignity, freedom of beliefs and behavior, initiative, inviolability of private property, and non-interference of the state in citizens' personal lives. On the other hand, values such as patience, endurance, equality, and paternalism gained new relevance. As a result, liberalism based on market economy, religious, socio-individualistic, and other opposing ideological directions and value systems were formed.
1999-2016. During this period, society went through another stage of development. In Uzbekistan, due to the widespread promotion of the idea of national independence, more attention was paid to patriotism, national pride, and traditional cultural and religious values, rather than Western values of liberalism and individualism. The improvement of the country's international position, positive changes in the economy, growth in wages and social benefits led to a relative improvement in the standard of living.
Observing the dynamics of values during the transition period of 1999-2016, it is necessary to focus specifically on the manifestation of certain priority values in society. These values partially cover the period from 2016 to the present day as well.
1. In Uzbekistan, family is one of the traditional and fundamental values, and there is almost complete consensus on this matter in society. Observations conducted during the research show that the importance of family in the life of Uzbek society is extremely significant. For the absolute majority, family relationships are considered the main condition for happiness. Uzbekistanis who support traditional family values understand marriage as the highest form of relationship between a man and a woman. For example, while in some post-Soviet regions there is an opinion that "marriage is an outdated way of creating a family," in Uzbekistan, supporters of this idea constitute an extremely small minority. Furthermore, for the vast majority of Uzbekistanis, having children is one of the main conditions for family happiness.
2. Research shows that informal human relationships are very important for Uzbekistan's society - friendship and cooperation occupy a significant place in people's lives. Friendship is understood as "closeness to family," as a certain form of kinship relations. Friendship "based on common interests," which was widespread during the Soviet era, has significantly decreased in recent times.
3. In the mass consciousness of Uzbekistan's citizens, labor, work, and profession are of great importance. They occupy the second place after family values. Most people believe that work should always come first, even if it leaves less free time. However, this high labor activity is not associated with civic responsibility or the desire for achievements and self-realization in work activities. Such attention to work is related to the lower level of the hierarchy of human needs, that is, to material factors.
4. Values of personal independence and self-governance. Currently, observing independent states, one can see the formation of two polar types of values in society: paternalistic-egalitarian and individualistic-liberal. The first type is inherited from the past, while the second has formed as a result of living conditions.
5. People with individualistic-liberal views rely on their own strength in solving their problems, believe they control their own destiny, perceive social stratification as a natural phenomenon, and have a positive attitude towards the "new rich". Supporters of paternalistic-egalitarian views believe that all problems should be solved by the state, local authorities, or enterprise management. According to the paternalistic system of views, the state takes care of each citizen in a "fatherly" manner, supports them materially and morally, and in return, citizens show loyalty to the authorities.
6. The attitude of the Uzbekistan population towards democratic values deserves special attention. As times change, democratic changes are becoming more noticeable and entering people's daily lives. However, an important aspect of the issue is that it's impossible to simply transfer democratic norms and standards formed in a completely foreign cultural environment to any country in an unchanged form.
After all, there are fundamental differences in the worldview and cultural consciousness of Eastern and Western countries. Therefore, concepts such as "Eastern democracy" and "Uzbek mentality" have become widely used terms.
7. Using the example of Uzbek society, we can say that after the country gained independence, the idea of patriotism was further strengthened and became one of the main values of society. In our country, the sense of patriotism includes such important tasks as the people's awareness of their national identity, the development of their language, culture and traditions, and the strengthening of independent statehood.
8. It can be said that the role of religion and religious values in Uzbek society has changed significantly at present. History testifies that during the period of the former regime, strict state control was established over religious organizations, religious freedom and propaganda were restricted, and theologians and believers were persecuted. The slogan "Religion is the opium of the people!" was widely propagated in almost all educational institutions and government agencies. As a result, religion was pushed out of public life and public consciousness, especially among young people and socially active groups of the population, the number of those who considered religion a value significantly decreased.
CONCLUSION.
It should be particularly emphasized that the process of value transformation is a multifaceted and complex process, and its study requires taking into account the diversity of sociocultural approaches and factors influencing societal values. The investigation of these processes is of great importance for predicting sociocultural development, developing programs for advancement, as well as for forming strategies for effective social cooperation and constructive dialogue in society.
References:
1. Shibutani Tamosu. Society and personality; an interactionist approach to social psychology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall 1961. P. 145.
2. Nazarov Q. Qadriyatlar falsafasi (Aksiologiya). - T.: Faylasuflar milliy jamiyati nashriyoti. - 2004. 22 b.
3. Yusupov E. Falsafa - Toshkent: Sharq, 1999. - B. 323.
4. Chagin B.A. Problema sennosti i otsenki. - M.: 1966. S.7
5. Tugarinov V.P. Teoriya sennostey. M.1968. S.15.
6. Djerom K. Djerom. Dosujie mysli dosujego cheloveka. - M.:1983. S. 2122.
