Social Dynamics of Integrated Culture: An Overview of Sorokin's Reading of Civilization(s)

Abstract

Sorokin analyses society and culture from an historical and dynamic point of view. In his seminal works in which he scrutinizes on the culture and civilizations, he sees the course of mentality transform societies within long-term and non-identical cycles. The mentalities behind those social changes or the truth systems, as Sorokin names them, are diffused into the social tissue. For Sorokin, all cultural systems are integrated cultures, dominated as they are by such truth systems. Sorokin sees culture in an antagonistic way that travels from ideational to sensate cultural systems via a perfect midway, i.e. idealistic culture. Each of these cultural systems have their own mentalities, knowledge and truth systems, philosophy and worldviews, perceptions of the religious and the sacred, judgment of right and wrong, styles of art and literature, moral and common laws, social relation forms, economical and political organizations. As a harsh critique of culture theorists like Danilevski, Spengler, and Toynbee as well as modern Western civilization, Sorokin also inspires intellectuals across non-Western modernities, from Mexico to India, Brazil, Russia, Japan, and Turkey.