Influence of modernization processes on the system of values and identity

Abstract

The article is devoted to the impact of modernization on the sphere of values and the system of identities. A relevant interpretation of the essence of values is chosen, which is understood as a supra-useful semantic content, as well as a special modality, because identities also have a value load. The relationship between values and identity and understanding of how the crisis of values affects the crisis of identities are provided. The reasons for the emergence of modernization processes and their stages are considered. The process of primary modernization in Western Europe in the modern era was mediated by a kind of pre-modernization that took place during the Renaissance and Reformation. In the Renaissance, urbanization began (the transfer of cultural centers from the countryside to the city), the trend of individualism was born. When individualism ceased to be “high” and the primitive accumulation of capital began in Western Europe, this process was not deliberately sanctioned by Protestantism. At this time, peasants were massively expelled from their lands, habitual ties and relationships were torn, established values were devalued, and an identity crisis was intensified. The article shows that at a certain time the crisis of identity and values covered the former Soviet republics when after the collapse of the USSR they turned into independent states. In the post-Soviet space, modernization began, carried out from above, which by its nature is a catch-up form. It was revealed that the post-Soviet states, to overcome the crisis of values and identities, began to carry out modernization based on their national cultures and new identities and a new system of values began to form.