Global social transformations in the context of demographic change and urbanization

Abstract

The article, from the standpoint of sociological analysis, examines fundamental changes in the structure of society, the distribution of resources that go beyond the framework of constant processes. Global social transformations reflect deeper forms of change at the level of value systems and power structures. The author of the article considers the most noticeable forms of changes at the level of social roles, institutions, status hierarchies, reflecting deep changes. The article deals with the term “transformation” from the standpoint of a deep, fundamental process of structural changes, fundamentally different from the previous one. New changes in the global social reality are taking place under the influence of the coronavirus pandemic, challenges and threats that have penetrated into all spheres of human life. An analysis is made of the “stopping” of the diverse global world, which had been changing so rapidly and it was impossible to imagine that all countries, regardless of the level of development, disagreements, struggle, would be absorbed by only one thing – obscurity, alienation, closeness. Questions are raised, world politics has changed due to the processes that fill its content, but how has it changed at the conceptual level, have modern transformations had a profound impact on the structure and geographical distribution of the population? If the growth of the role of nation-states is claimed, then how has the role of supranational institutions been transformed? What place does urbanization occupy in the processes of demographic changes associated with modern transformations? Is it fair to say that the urbanization of rural space is challenging conventional wisdom about what “rural” really means and what is still “rural” in many non-urban areas in wealthy societies?