Methodology of the Analysis of Global Socio-Political Phenomena in Pitirim Sorokin's Creativity

Abstract

Within the framework of sociological creativity of Pitirim Sorokin, special attention should be paid to the unique methodology by which this scientist carried out the analysis of large-scale social phenomena, including certainly wars and revolutions. The analysis of “an influence issue” of any global social phenomenon on the life of society is the cornerstone of this methodology. Within the framework of such an extensive problem, P. Sorokin singled out several important components of its issues, and then, for each of them, presented an overview of the accumulated knowledge, proven provisions and existing uncertainties. In general, P. Sorokin’s analysis of theories of wars and revolutions demonstrates that influences of wars and revolutions on society are complicated. Therefore, they cannot be precisely described by simple and unilateral formulas. True theory should explain when, why, under what conditions, and how any factor becomes the real cause of war and why, under what conditions, etc. it does not affect. P. Sorokin, in particular, applied this methodology to the analysis of revolutionary events in Russia in 1917.