Dmitry V. Nikolaenko THEORY OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SYSTEMS: DEFINITIONS, TYPOLOGY, TIME-SPATIAL MODELS Translated by Tatyana Nikolaenko CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 153 1. THE TERMINOLOGY AND CONCEPTS USED: DEFINITIONS 154 2. TYPES OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL FORMATIONS 158 3. PERIODS OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SYSTEMS' (SCS) EVOLUTION 169 4. EVOLUTION OF THE SPACES OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SYSTEMS: NUMERICAL SYMBOLS TO THE TIME-SPATIAL MODELS 173 5. EVOLUTION OF THE SPACES OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SYSTEMS: LEGEND TO THE TIME-SPATIAL MODELS 177 6. EVOLUTION OF THE SPACES OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL
    SYSTEMS: TIME-SPATIAL MODELS 180 6.1. BARBARIAN-NOMADIC SCS 180 6.2. MUSLIM SCS 187 6.3. CHINESE SCS 194 6.4. WESTERN SCS 201 6.5. RUSSIAN SCS 208 6.6. HINDU SCS 215 6.7. SOUTH-AMERICAN SCS 222 6.8. BLACK AFRICAN SCS 229 7. PERIODS AND SUBPERIODS OF THE
    SOCIO-CULTURAL SYSTEMS EVOLUTION 236 INTRODUCTION T his article is the first brief, but hopefully more or less systematical presentation of the theory of socio-cultural systems to an English-reading audience. It is actually the translation of the essay "Morphology of the Socio-Cultural Formations" written originally in Russian, but with some extras added to present here a more complete idea of the theory. Researches in this direction are conducted by the author since 1984, but not so many works were published until 1997. Those that were - fortunately or unfortunately - all are in Russian. During these years the author lived and worked in several countries and regions of the World: in 1985/87 it was People's Republic of China, in 1991/92 - Federal Republic of Germany, in 1992/93 - Republic of South Africa, in 1994 - the USA, and in 1995/97 - South Africa again. The result is real, personalized, not just read about observations of various socio-cultural types of spaces. The work on the theory is going on. In 1998/99 we intend to make ready for publishing - in both Russian and English - texts on socio-cultural interpretations of demographic processes and current demographic situation in the World, state and political boundaries, wars and regional conflicts, economics and money, social processes in various socio-cultural systems. Some of these directions are explored in co-opearation with our loyal colleagues and co-authors, and Tatyana Nikolaenko in particular. January 10th, 1998 Simferopol, Crimea 1. THE TERMINOLOGY AND CONCEPTS USED: DEFINITIONS In this first small chapter we wish to define more precisely the principal terms used further. It's always quite complicated procedure, but in this particular case we can do it quite correctly after describing indicative qualities of every main socio-cultural formation. We do not even hope to present here a completely exhaustive, maximum correct definitions, and in general don't believe such "statements of a things' precise meaning" make any particular sense. It seems more important to define certain theoretical basis that would make it possible to successively and exactly distinguish one socio-cultural formation or process from another, along the whole length of their historical evolution. Complexity of this task is that socio-cultural formations and processes have very long life terms and exist as an astonishing diversity of specific external forms. With it all, their essence remains one and the same. Variety of the socio-cultural formations' and processes' specific forms makes defining the terminology used here quite a practical problem. * * * HOMELAND - the most profoundly transformed in a socio-cultural respect territory where representatives of a certain socio-cultural formation lived and / or still live during historically prolonged interval of time, absolutely securing this territory as their own. Homeland's territory is always furiously protected and defended from any outside invasions. Representatives of the alien socio-cultural formations may be present there only for a brief time and with many a restrictions that especially concerns homelands of socio-cultural systems. Territories of the Urals and Moscow region may serve as the examples of the Russian homeland. They were assimilated in accordance with Russian standards and are clearly interpreted as Russian homeland, though duration of these territories'occupation by the Russian population differs essentially. SOCIO-CULTURAL SYSTEM (SCS) - type of the socio-cultural formations dominating in a socio-cultural evolution. SCS-s include main part of the World's population and inhabited territories. SCS-s are characterized by great sizes of their territories and considerable quantities of own population; they possess original standards of a space, society and state organisation as well as many a unique qualities because of those they do differ drastically from the rest of the socio-cultural formations. Unique characteristics of SCS-s are as follows: * ability to expand own homeland at the expense of socio-cultural assimilation of a new territories; * ability to generate complicated structure of own space, with internal buffer zones, in order to protect and defend itself from other SCS-s; * complete cycle of the space socio-cultural assimilation which includes seven principal stages; * domination of the inner logics over outer factors which are always used in a strict correspondence with the SCS' evolution internal order; * ability to create naturally dependent vassals in a course of socio-cultural transformation of other territories; * own world religion, or its own unique version; * ability to widen a circulation of own language outside own homeland, and first of all - in the internal buffer zone and among the naturally dependent vassals; * reliability and self-sufficiency of own economy; * ability to generate and invent stable original economic standards and forms which may have no analogues outside a particular SCS. There are eight SCS-s, and in the process of their evolution each of them goes through seven stages. ............