Stages of Cultural Research in the World-Systems Approach. Part 1. The Formulation of the Problem and Ontology Development

Introduction. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the idea of the world-system approach as an economy-centered paradigm, which has become widespread in the domestic scientific community, does not correspond to reality at the present stage. The purpose of the article is to analyze the formation of ontological and theoretical foundations for studying culture in the world-system approach.

Methodology and sources. The world-system approach is considered as a supradisciplinary paradigm that integrates knowledge from various scientific fields into comprehensive research programs (I. Lakatos). The development of ontology and theoretical foundations of culture in relation to the world-system is interpreted as a problem-shift in the development of the approach. Three problem-shifts in the development of the concept of “culture” are identified. The historical method was used to reconstruct the stages of problem-shifts. In this part of the article, based on the works of I. Wallerstein, the content of the first two stages is considered.

Results and discussion. The start of the first stage of cultural studies in the world-system approach dates back to the end of the 1970s, when I. Wallerstein and T.K. Hopkins attempted to describe the patterns of development of the world-system. They viewed the “cultural” aspect of the world-system dynamics as fundamental and co-equal with the “economic” and “political” aspects. At this stage, they establish conceptual connections between culture and the territorial dynamics of the world-system and indicate the presence of a cultural component in the institution of global hegemony. The second phase of the formation of the concept of "culture” begins in the late 1980s. I. Wallerstein develops the concept of “geoculture” in terms of world-historical development. At this stage, he criticizes the concepts of culture used in science and politics, and reveals the relationship between the dominant concepts of culture and the contradictions of the world-system. I. Wallerstein describes culture as a field of ideological struggle and a mechanism for resolving contradictions in the worldsystem, ensuring the stability of the order prevailing in the system.

Conclusion. The authors emphasize that the obtained results can provide a basis for analyzing the influence of world-system processes on changes in the content of Russian cultural concepts.

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