This article examines such issues as studying the modern development of society. Its objective is to designate research problems and questions in order to analyze development in the West and in Russia. Shown are changes in the approaches toward the study of development throughout the course of a modern society’s establishment, while exposing the peculiarities of industrial progress in the West from a perspective of changes occurring in the subjectness of people within manufacturing and management processes. Industrial development leads to the following results: the formation of a complex technological system which engulfs all areas of society’s life, the simplification of human beings and everything associated with their (humans’ and society’s) reproduction, the loss of their position as a subject of action. The subject of action position is assumed by a complex system, however, it is not capable of functioning in unusual situations, and it is not capable of quickly mobilizing due to the commercial nature of its communications and interactions. Indicated are the specifics of Russian industrialization, its key difference from its Western counterpart being the fact that a person acts as a subject of progressive shifts, which are carried out consciously. The end result of development in this case is the emergence of a system within which complex labor is not completely algorithmized, the person retains freedom of action and remains its subject, people are still capable of solving unusual problems. The peculiarity of Russian progress also lies in the fact that it starts with copying Western models, which are then reworked according to Russian tradition. Noted is a need for analyzing said tradition, which, according to research conducted by Russian sociologists, contains progressive values. The internal mechanisms of development in Russia are unclear and in need of analysis: they must be searched for within the cultural sphere, since the market throughout the entire course of Russian history has always been limited. Shown is the relativity of modern Russian conservatism, its conjunction with the pursuit of progress and a person’s comprehensive development. The main contradiction when it comes to Russian development is the discrepancy between Russian and Western variants of such. The following conclusions are made: first of all, it is necessary to analyze modern tendencies which are traditionally considered as benchmarks for Russian development; second, there is a need for exposing the moving mechanisms of traditional development, for evaluating the possibilities and means for joining it with modern technology.

development, progress, globalization, technological system, complicated action, algorithm, actor, culture, tradition.

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What is development sociology? Department of development sociology. University of Bayreuth Official website. URL: http://www.entwicklungssoziologie.uniayreuth.de/en/studies_teaching/What_is_ESoz/index.html [date of visit: 19.02.2018].