Sustainable Development of Society as a Historical Necessity

N. O. Ismailov

History, Economics and Law Research Institute, Michurinskiy prospect, 16, Moscow, Russia

Keywords: Justice, Freedom, Responsibility, Ecologization, Sustainable Development of Society, Needs, Interests.

Abstract: The article concerns the concept of sustainable development of society as a historical necessity. The author

proposes the concept of sustainable development as one of the most important conditions of the historical

progress of society and the implementation of the principle of social justice. The concept based on the

principles of human and social security. The author researches the concept of sustainable development as a

necessary condition for reflecting the actual realities of the modern world and makes an attempt to identify

provisions in it that contribute to a more complete implementation of social justice in the context of current

social realities. The transition to the principles of the concept of sustainable development of society in the

conditions of the realities of modern society shall be proclaimed by the author as a historical necessity as the

only possible way for the survival of mankind as a biological species. The author proposes to consider the

problems of modern world in the field of ecology and other global problems of our time exclusively in the

context of the interconnection and interdependence of all spheres of public life. The research of the strategy

of sustainable development of society in the context of the problem of justice requires rethinking of

fundamental social values and the need to form people's new worldview. A new alternative model of social

development can be considered a historical necessity, contributing to the provision of harmony between man

and nature, a more complete life of people, the preservation of mankind and the biosphere. This article is a

further development of individual ideas of the author, laid out by him in his works from the References.

1 INTRODUCTION

In different historical epochs, in individual local

societies, there were problems of primary importance

for these societies, the solution of which was often

possible without outside help. In each new era new

problems arose, generated by new historical

circumstances. This situation was the result of the life

of relatively isolated societies, of course, if these

possible problems did not come into contact with the

interests of neighboring countries. However, over

time, different countries have become much more

dependent on each other. With this state of things,

many problems could no longer be limited to a

national scale and could be resolved within the

framework of the activities and decisions of an

individual society.

In the conditions of modern realities, various areas

of life in the world community are interconnected to

such a degree, that the solution of many important

problems for any society is due to the activities of the

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4935-4902

entire world community. That is, in reality, many

problems become global. Now these problems for the

fate of the world are becoming top priority, since they

began threate the mankind existence. The most

important such problem, in our opinion, is the

problem of the survival of mankind as a biological

species. In the current era, people have begun to

invade nature more and more often, disrupting the

ecological balance of the planet with their actions,

contributing to its death. We regard such a selfish way

of using natural and human resources by people as

unreasonable and irresponsible. It is a dead-end and

is disastrous for humanity.

For many centuries, people have used natural

resources formed over millions of years without

trying to restore the natural ecological balance of

nature. At the present stage, the planet's raw materials

have begun to decline sharply, and the activities of

people to meet their needs, related to their impact on

nature, are only increasing, with necessity generates

a violation of the planet's eco-balance. And this

contributes to a sharp deterioration in people's health.

Ismailov, N.

Sustainable Development of Society as a Historical Necessity.

DOI: 10.5220/0010663800003223

In Proceedings of the 1st International Scientiﬁc Forum on Sustainable Development of Socio-economic Systems (WFSDS 2021), pages 59-63

ISBN: 978-989-758-597-5

“And all this is done by certain social forces, for the

sake of obtaining the maximum possible immediate

profit” (Ismailov, 2014).

In the context of the current world realities, the

achievement of a more complete measure of justice,

social freedom, equality, guarantees of human

security, the solution of other major problems of

public life outside the solution of global problems is

not fully possible. We believe that the most pressing

global problems are the survival of mankind,

measures to restore the planet's ecological balance,

preserve the biosphere, etc.

The research of social justice, the problems of

freedom and responsibility in the context of the

concept of sustainable development naturally

generates inside the people a reassessment of many

social values and ideals, a reassessment of the

understanding of morality, the spiritual foundations

of social life, forms a new worldview, which should

contribute to the revival of the former harmony

between man and nature now.

Thus, we suppose that a new alternative model of

social development is an objective necessity for

humanity. A new fair model of the development of

society should exclude the predatory and destructive

"attitude to natural and human resources, ensure the

necessary balance between the socio-economic

development of society and the preservation of nature

and its restoration. The new concept of social

development is the concept of sustainable

development ”(Ismailov, 2014).

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

As a methodological basis for the research of

sustainable development of society, we use the

principle of development, considering this problem in

change and development, the principle of historicism,

considering the dynamics of environmental and other

global problems in conjunction with specific events

of the current era.

We also use an integrated approach, trying to

consider the problem from a systemic-philosophical

standpoint, from the standpoint of an axiological

approach.

The axiological approach makes it possible to

reveal people's attitude to current global problems in

the context of their existing values, through the prism

of various concepts of morality. In this regard, it is

important to assess the activities of people to

implement the principles of sustainable development

in the context of the concept of justice and the

formation of harmony between man and nature, the

preservation of the biosphere and its balance.

In our research of the concept of sustainable

development of society, we come from an

understanding of this process as a reflection of the

new historical realities of the life of society, reflection

in the research environment of the new needs of

society, that is, from the point of view of a

materialistic understanding of history.

It seems that we should point out the

interdisciplinary nature of the research of global

problems of our time and the concept of sustainable

development of society. Each of the sciences studying

this problem can make its own contribution to the

holistic understanding of these processes. However,

we believe, first of all, that in such a study it is

necessary to rely on a philosophical interpretation of

these processes. Since philosophy contains the results

and achievements of the various sciences.

3 RESEARCH RESULTS

The world community has already realized the

injustice and fatality of man's predatory attitude

towards nature. This path of development meets the

momentary interests of those social forces that,

pursuing their own selfish goals, produce a huge

amount of goods and services, destroy the biosphere,

produce weapons, etc. The market economy tries to

meet the growing needs of the people, of course.

However, in order to obtain more profit in different

ways, people are indoctrinated with the idea of the

need for much more consumption than they really

need. This path of development is beneficial to those,

whose well-being is growing due to the depletion of

natural resources and the robbery of the broad masses

of the people. “Of course, promoting the so-called

reasonable needs cannot artificially restrain people in

their desire to live better and consume more best

goods. For it is unfair to forcibly determine the

measure of the reasonableness of their needs for

people, but it seems that it is possible to unobtrusively

form their interests and values” (Ismailov, 2014).

Therefore, society can engage in the development of

various preventive measures to prevent such

predatory and excessive consumption, since such

consumption does not include measures to restore the

ecological balance.

At the current stage of the development of society,

an obvious contradiction has appeared between

the constantly growing needs of people and the

inability of the biosphere to satisfy them. The concept

of sustainable development of society is an attempt to

WFSDS 2021 - INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

resolve this contradiction. It offers reasonable

universal human values, free from an unrestrained

robbery and predatory attitude towards nature and

also from an uncultured and irresponsible attitude

towards it, which also fouls its ecological balance

(Ismailov, 2014).

An alternative model of social development,

guided by a sustainable development strategy,

contributes to the rethinking of many well-known

values that people now see from a different

perspective. For example, the well-known problem of

freedom and responsibility shall be subject to

rethinking. Now, freedom shall be understood as an

environmental responsibility before the world

community and future generations for the

preservation of life on earth. Among other things,

freedom should be interpreted as a natural human

right to life and the ability to build their future.

However, it's clear that this will be hindered by

irresponsible actions of certain categories of people.

“Freedom should be considered within the boundaries

of environmental safety, within the limits of the need

to preserve nature, human living conditions, within

the limits of the need for every person to have decent

living conditions” (Ismailov. 2014).

If we consider the problem of equality in this

context, then it seems fair to raise the question of

equality between generations. Using natural

resources in the interests of the present generation,

people shall be eager to preserve them in the interests

of future generations. As noted by the Russian

Academy of Sciences academician V.I. Osipov,

sustainable development is interpreted as

“continuous, constantly supported (renewable)

development that satisfies the needs of living people

and does not threaten the preservation of such

opportunities for future generations” (Osipov, 2012).

Also, the questions related to the consideration of

the historical process shall be subjected to rethinking.

Exploring the meaning of the historical process, a

prominent specialist in sustainable development of

society, N.M. Mamedov points out that the historical

process is determined by the co-evolutionary

inherently self-organizing anthropo-sociocultural

genesis that is taking place on the surface of our

planet. He thinks that this picture of the historical

process will be incomplete if the role of natural

factors in the development of human activity shall be

not taken into account. And the concept of sustainable

development brings fundamentally new moments to

the understanding of the historical process

(Mamedov, 2010).

In the context of the need for mankind's transition

to a new model of social development, nature should

now be considered not as an exclusively raw material

resource of the economy, but as a common home for

people. In modern society, more and more people are

talking about the need for people to obey reason and

create effective measures to save the world.

Surely, humanity should not abandon scientific

and technological progress, but at the same time it

should strive to preserve the ecological balance of the

planet, to preserve the natural resources available at

this historical stage and to transfer them to future

generations. It seems that such measures are an

objective necessity. “The main indicator of

sustainable development is the harmony between

socio-economic and environmental development in

the system of cultural values, therefore, the value of

nature, attitude towards it, is of fundamental

importance” (Mamedov, 1996), considers N.M.

Mamedov. Relationship of the people and their

attitude to nature constitutes the dual basis of culture

and determines its features. He notes that culture is a

method and a result of adaptation of people's life

(Mamedov, 2012).

The fundamental task of the sustainable

development strategy is greening, but the solution to

this task shall be presented in conjunction with its

economic, social, political, legal and moral aspects.

To implement this strategy, it is also necessary to

form a new worldview. For these aspects of the

problem are dialectically interdependent. At the same

time, measures to ensure sustainable development

shall be undertaken, both at the national and

international levels, within the framework of the

activities of both public and political organizations.

The posing of the question of the need for

sustainable development of society was, at first,

mainly associated with the problem of limited natural

resources and environmental threats resulting from

the scientific and technological progress of society.

As the concept of sustainable development was

further developed, “three main components of the

problem were identified: environmental

sustainability, economic sustainability, and socio-

political sustainability” (Afanas'eva, 2012).

Sustainable development of society is a solution

to environmental questions, but also a scientifically

based socio-economic policy. This is the creation of

appropriate conditions in society for the development

of the individual, equality of rights and freedoms, the

security of citizens and the mechanism of legal

protection, relations between various social groups

based on the principles of social justice, freedom and

responsibility, relations based on the de facto equality

of all before the law (Ismailov, 2009).

Sustainable Development of Society as a Historical Necessity

The realization of the principles of sustainable

development objectively contradicts the individual

interests of representatives of certain social groups in

the economic plan of the most developed countries of

the world. Now they must limit themselves in the

consumption of various goods they are accustomed.

This was done earlier through the use of natural and

labor resources of other countries. With that there are

calls to move to the principles of sustainable

development, limiting the consumption of material

goods in developing countries.

4 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

So, we can state the fact of the existence of the

concept of sustainable development in modern

conditions, predominantly as a declaration, since

programs for the implementation of the principles of

this concept, in all fairness, should not consolidate the

current dominance of economically developed

countries in the world. Of course, the solution of the

accumulated environmental problems is very

important for the transition to the provisions of

sustainable development, but such measures should

not be implemented through the transformation of

some countries into an ecological and raw material

appendage of others.

Modern science rightly states that the necessary

transition to the principles of the concept of

sustainable development is a common human

problem. However, with that, from our point of view,

there is an erroneous opinion that the idea of

sustainable development is unique in terms of the

absence of politicization in it, that it is suit

representatives of all social forces, all political

movements, as V.M. Platonov (Platonov, 2001).

The absence of politicization in the concept of

sustainable development is not possible, because

some countries may try to solve existing problems by

infringing on the interests of others. Also, within

individual countries, some social groups may try to

solve various questions of sustainable development at

the expense of infringing on the interests of others.

The transition to the principles of sustainable

development contradicts the interests of those social

forces that predatory use natural resources and

impose on people a not always reasonable level of

consumption of material benefits (Ismailov, 2014).

Thus, the concept of sustainable development of

society contains elements of expression of ideology

and political interests. It evidences by the conflict of

interests of various social forces. With the possible

transition of the world community to the principles of

sustainable development, some countries and social

groups will certainly try to solve their problems by

infringing on the interests of others.

Consequently, the principle of social justice

should be a prerequisite and ideological justification

for a possible transition to sustainable development.

The concept of sustainable development and the

concept of justice are, of course, interrelated and

complementary. Any other interpretation and vision

of the problems we have outlined here cannot be

complete.

In the context of the problems we are examining,

let us touch upon the question of Russia's interests.

We think that the defining goal of Russia's transition

to the principles of sustainable development is to

develop its own way of a transition, which would take

into account its own experience in this direction, the

geopolitical position of the country, the volume of

natural resources, the value system, traditions and

worldview in general of all peoples representing it.

Also it should take into account the actual scientific

and technological potential of the country and the

level of education. All activities in this direction

should be guided by the principle of social justice.

V.G. Fedotova believes that Russia could become a

producer of a high scientific and intellectual product,

according to its capabilities. Unfortunately, this

perspective is undermined by the current education

reform (Fedotova, 2011).

As one of the main goals of the entire education

system, we see the formation of a worldview that

would represent a person as a particle of nature,

emphasize his inseparable unity with nature, and

emphasize the impossibility of a full and reasonable

development of any society without respect for

nature. It is advisable to bring the entire system of

lifelong education into adequate conformity with the

concept of sustainable development. Certain

questions related to the concept of sustainable

development can, perhaps, cause controversy, but in

general, as V.P. Shantsev points out, no one should

doubt “the validity of the general principles of

sustainable development” (SHancev, 2013).

The fundamental goal of society's transition to the

principles proclaimed by the concept of sustainable

development should be, among other things, the

creation of appropriate conditions for personal and

public security, an ideology of solidarity and social

harmony. “Exactly so called “concept of sustainable

development” with a legislative basis can become the

basis of the state ideology and national idea supported

by the majority of the population, institutions of state

power, and the clergy,” V.M. Platonov. The real

transition to the principles of sustainable

WFSDS 2021 - INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

development can only begin when this development

model is gradually included "in the real legal,

political and other socio-cultural normative systems,

including morality and even religion" (Platonov,

2001).

5 CONCLUSION

Summing up the results of the sustainable

development of society as a historical and objective

necessity research, it seems appropriate to point out

the lag of social consciousness behind social life at

the current historical stage, the lack of adequate

reflection by public consciousness of the issues

caused by the problem of the need for modern society

to transition to the principles of sustainable

development. In the context of the realities of the

modern world, public consciousness as a whole is

clearly lagging behind social life and, unfortunately,

does not reflect to the necessary extent all the

complexity of the global problems hanging over the

world community.

We can only hope that the current global problems

should necessarily induce people to fully realize the

importance of solving the identified problems, since

the achievement of this goal, as we think, is a

historical necessity for the world community.

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Sustainable Development of Society as a Historical Necessity