Russian scientific thought and Western social utopians: conformity of views on human tendencies of formation of the ''new economy''

Evolution of ideas about the model of an economic man in the framework of the Russian economic thought in a greater degree corresponds to the vector of formation of the ''new economic man''. In domestic research they initially emphasized the importance of the role of the social, non-economic factors. The development of the Russian economic thought of the end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th centuries was much influenced by the historical school. For the Russian economic thought it was typical to understand economy as an integral part of the society and the state. For Western economists economy is a self-contained system. The article shows that modernization does not coincide with Westernization. The main differences are identified between Western and Russian (non-Western) models of modernization from the point of view of the transformations in the nature of work. The crisis of Western modernization led to the alienation of labour, and the destruction of the human personality, causing the necessity of reviewing the fundamentals of its provisions. Work in the Russian economy was considered as a manifestation of the spiritual life and never came down to a simple action or skills. The basis of the Russian economic thought was the consideration of the integrity of work in three aspects: spiritual-moral, economic and organizational-technical intrinsic characteristics. The spiritual-moral component of labour played the leading role. It ensured the integrity of the person and countering the influence of the processes aimed at its destruction. In the article the peculiarities of the formation of representations about the model of economic man before the beginning of the 20th century are given. The Russian economic thought of the problem of alienation of labour understands bringing work to a simple, mechanical set of business functions, the violation of the consistency of the labour process and life aspirations of man, impoverishment of the spiritual-moral and social-economic content of work. To overcome the alienation of labour it is necessary to restore a holistic perception of the man with his characteristic aspirations to a free, independent, collective, creative work, providing the necessary and sufficient conditions for self-realization. In the works of the utopians development of man, the fullness of the implementation of its abilities (harmonious development) is considered from different points of view: from the standpoint of mental and physical labour, through the decision of the questions connected with education, the changing nature of work; improvement of personal interest in work; property relations; etc. The Russian economic thought and the Western social-utopians highlight the key essential characteristics of man, which must be taken into account in the model of the ''new economic man''. The need and opportunity of preservation of traditional national values and assimilation of the achievements of other civilizations were clearly shown in Japan.

Keywords

Authors

References