19 Third Scientific and Technical Revolution. Post-industrial civilization

19.1. Stages of modern scientific and technological revolution

A huge impact on the development of the national economy of the world in the second half of the twentieth century. rendered the third scientific and technological revolution (NTR). Its midwife can be considered the Second World War, during which the warring countries created fundamentally new weapons and military equipment systems: the atomic bomb, jet aircraft, jet mortar, the first tactical missiles, etc. These are the fruits of applied R & D of numerous top-secret military institutes and design bureaus, for obvious reasons, instantly introduced into production, initially set the direction of the third scientific and technological revolution.

The prerequisites for the scientific and technological revolution were created by scientific discoveries of the first half of the 20th century, in particular: in the field of nuclear physics and quantum mechanics, achievements of cybernetics, microbiology, biochemistry, chemistry of polymers, as well as an optimally high technical level of production development, which was ready to embody these achievements . Thus, science began to turn into a direct productive force, which is a characteristic feature of the third scientific and technological revolution.

The scientific and technological revolution has an all-embracing character, affecting all spheres of not only economic life, but also politics, ideology, life, spiritual culture, and psychology of people.

It is believed that the scientific and technological revolution has gone through two stages: the first - from the mid 40s - the 60s., The second - from the 70s. and to the present. Such a division into stages was adopted for the convenience of studying this global phenomenon that transformed the world. The boundary between the two stages of the third scientific and technological revolution, according to them, is the creation and introduction of fourth-generation computers into the national economy, on the basis of which complex automation was completed and the transition to a new technological state of all sectors of the economy began.

Achievements NTR. For a more visual representation of the third scientific and technological revolution, we present a brief chronology of its discoveries and inventions.

• First stage.
• 40s - television, transistors, computers, radar, rockets, atomic bomb, synthetic fibers, penicillin;
• 50s - hydrogen bomb, artificial earth satellites, jet passenger aircraft, electric power plant based on a nuclear reactor, numerical control machines (CNC);
• 60s - lasers, integrated circuits, communication satellites, high-speed express trains.
• Second phase.
• 70s - microprocessors, fiber-optic information transfer, industrial robots, biotechnology;
• 80s - super-large and volumetric integrated circuits, heavy-duty ceramics, fifth-generation computers, genetic engineering, thermonuclear fusion.

One of the most important incentives for the accelerated development of scientific and technological progress and the introduction of its achievements in production was the desire of national corporations to ensure a steady increase in production profitability in the new, post-war conditions of international and domestic competition.

The imperial ambitions of the United States and the USSR, the long-term confrontation of two military blocs during the cold war, played a significant role in the development of the scientific and technological revolution. In an arms race of unprecedented scale, a bet was placed on technological superiority, the creation and improvement of new types of weapons of mass destruction. Following the US, the USSR creates its own nuclear weapons, not inferior to the American ones. These are strategic, continental bombers, ballistic intercontinental and medium-range missiles that revolutionized military affairs, creating the conditions for our country's launch of the first artificial Earth satellite (October 1957) and the first manned Yu.A. Gagarin spacecraft (April 1961). Thus, the scientific and technological revolution from the very first steps raised before mankind the question of the scope of using its results. As you can see, initially it was mainly the military sphere.

In contrast to the capitalist countries in the USSR, with its over-centralized, and therefore more costly, inert economy to scientific and technological progress, the scientific and technological revolution developed to a greater extent under the influence of foreign policy factors: first military confrontation with the West, and then in accordance with the doctrine of “peaceful competition two systems. " Therefore, the application of the achievements of the STR was mainly in the military field.

Meanwhile, market relations in the leading foreign countries as the NTR developed more and more penetrated into other sectors of the national economy, contributing to the growth of labor productivity and, consequently, the profitability of production. Scientific and technical potential in these countries developed more and more taking into account market conditions, and not the foreign policy factor. For example, in the USA in 1955 there were only 10 computers, by the end of the 50s - about 2 thousand, and in 1970 - already 56 thousand. On their basis, high-performance machine tools with programmed control, complex automated systems, industrial robots were created . Not lagged behind the United States and other advanced capitalist countries. During the 60s in the developed capitalist countries, the production of plastics increased 4.5 times, 6.5 times the production of synthetic fibers, etc.

Consequences of the STR. Under the influence of scientific and technological revolution, significant changes took place in the social structure of capitalist society. Along with the accelerated growth of the urban population, the share of those employed in the service and trade sectors has increased at an enormous pace. If the number of people employed in this field in 1950 was 33% of the total active population in the capitalist countries, then in 1970 it was already 44%, exceeding the share of people employed in industry and transport. The appearance of the worker changed, his qualifications and the level of general educational and professional training grew; the level of payment, and with it the level and lifestyle. The social position of industrial workers increasingly converges with the indicators of the lives of employees and specialists. On the basis of structural changes in the national economy, the sectoral composition of the working class changed. There was a reduction in employment in industries with a high burden of labor (mining, traditional light industry, etc.) and an increase in employment in new industries (radio electronics, computers, nuclear energy, polymer chemistry, etc.).

By the beginning of the 70s. the number of middle strata of the population ranged from 1/4 to 1/3 of the amateur population. There was an increase in the share of small and medium owners.

At the second stage of the NRT, which began in the 1970s, the considered processes acquire a kind of “second wind”. Important role played by the mid-70s. In connection with the process of international detente, substantial funds were previously released, which were previously allocated to the military-industrial complexes (MIC) of the leading countries. The West has increasingly reoriented its economy to social needs. Scientific and technical programs have become more closely linked to social ones. This did not slow down the increase in technical equipment and the quality of labor, the growth of workers' incomes, and the increase in per capita consumption. In combination with reforming the model of state regulation of the economy, such a reorientation of the economy made it possible, on the basis of the development of scientific and technological revolution, to capitalist countries, to avoid a depressive state and begin a transition to a higher stage of social organization.

It is considered that the invention of microprocessors and the development of electronic information technology, advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering opened the second stage of the scientific and technological revolution, the stage of improving the productive forces or the "society of high technologies." Based on the use of microprocessors, the process of complex automation of production began, accompanied by a multiple reduction in the number of machine tools and mechanics, maintenance personnel, etc. Such means of labor as automated lines, automated sections, workshops, machines with numerical program control, and processing centers are being developed. At the same time, the process of automating information has spread to other areas of the economy - management, finance, design, etc. Information technology itself becomes a special industry, and science is becoming a powerful knowledge industry.

As noted, under the influence of the scientific and technological revolution in the 1950s and 1960s. changes in the sectoral structure of the national economy. At its second stage, on the basis of the widespread transition to resource-based and labor-saving, environmentally friendly, knowledge-intensive industries and technologies, a profound restructuring of the economies of the leading countries took place.

This could not cause profound social changes. Today, the largest number of people employed (from half to 2/3 of the working population) is in the sphere of information and services (tertiary type of employment), and then in industry and the agrarian sector. The working class is now not the majority of the population in developed countries. These changes indicate an increase in the intellectual functions of labor, an increase in the general educational level of people employed in various sectors of the economy.

However, it should be noted, and the negative phenomena that accompany the triumphant march of the NTS. In employment, this is chronic unemployment. In particular, it is the result of rapid structural changes in the economy due to the release of a large number of workers in old industries. In addition, this is the result of the deepening process of the international division of labor and, as a result, the mass migration of labor, and, finally, the rationalization of production in conditions of tough competition.

At the second stage of the scientific and technological revolution, Western countries faced serious economic and socio-political crises, which was the reason for the beginning of rather deep internal transformations. Only a combination of scientific and technological innovations and socio-political reforms allowed capitalist countries to take full advantage of the achievement of scientific and technological progress, providing the majority of the population of their countries with material wealth and a high level of democratic freedoms.

Thus, it is possible to assert with a high degree of confidence that the third scientific and technological revolution (like previous scientific and technological revolutions) qualitatively transformed not only the sphere of material production, but also significantly changed social relations, had a huge impact on the spiritual life of society.