EVOLUTION OF DEVELOPMENT AND PECULIARITIES OF THE METHODOLOGY OF INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH TO STUDY OF SOCIAL LIFE

Abstract

Introduction: At the current stage of development of world scientific thought among researchers, the popularity of institutional methods of social cognition is growing. The institutional approach is seen as an instrument for identifying and analyzing the main elements, signs, correlations within certain social entities. Investigation of external and internal factors of the formation and development of the social whole requires the study of the features of its internal structure, functional activity, etc. Aim and tasks: The purpose of the article is to define and substantiate the theoretical and methodological foundations of the institutional approach, as well as its role in the development of world sociological thought. Research methods: The analysis of the peculiarities of the institutionalization of social life is based on the principles of the integrated application of methodological approaches and methods of socio-philosophical research. Research results: In modern scientific thought, the institutional approach has gone through a number of stages, has a prevailing system of categories, and in its basis are the aggregate knowledge of social sciences. The institutional approach involves shifting the focus from the individual to the institutions, considering the latter as a unit of analysis as certain meaningful sources; social behavior of people is considered in close connection with the existing system of social-normative acts and institutions, the need for which is due to natural historical development. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, institutionalism began to emerge as the principle of scientific research. An important place in the development of the concept of a social institution is the structural and functional theory of T. Parsons, who views society as a system of social relations and social institutions. A functional aspect in the understanding of social institutions is developed by N. Lumann. In the conceptual boundaries of the theory of systems, in his opinion, institutes perform the function of unloading and at the same time stabilize the expectations of the behavior of individuals. As for the normative approach, here social institutions are interpreted as a system of rules, codes, meanings. This approach is presented in the modern political philosophy of the West in the works of J. Rowles in the theory of justice, P. Ricker – in the phenomenology of self, J. Garbermas – in the communicative theory. Discussion: In the mid-1980 s, there emerged a "new institutionalism" based on the principle of "methodological individualism," which recognizes the actual actors of the social process as individuals, and not groups and organizations (J.G. Marsh, J.P. Olsen, D.N. North, R. Patnam, K. Shepsley, D.White, E. Ostrom, O.Williamson, J. Hodgson). Within the framework of the neo-institutional approach several scientific directions have emerged: historical, sociological, from the point of view of the theory of rational choice (in economic and political sciences), semiotic. Conclusions: Modern institutional theory is represented by three main areas: socio-psychological, socio-legal and conjunctural-statistical (empirical and prognostic) institutionalism. Today, institutionalism is one of the most popular and popular approaches to world scientific thought. In Ukrainian sociology, the institutional theory owes its development to foreign concepts, which in the future were adapted, developed, supplemented by native scientists.