UDC: 101.1:316.334.56
https://doi.org/10.25198/2077-7175-2025-3-161

UTOPIA AS AN ATTRACTOR OF SOCIAL CHANGES

O. N. Khalutornykh
Lomonosov Moscow State University; Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: olganik@yandex.ru

Abstract. The article is devoted to the role of utopia/dystopia as an attractor of social transformations in the context of increasing instability of the world order, variability of scenarios for the development of a possible future for both individual communities and humanity as a whole. The relevance of the study is due to the growing interest of theorists and practitioners in alternative models of social structure in the context of global crises. In the work, utopia is considered through the prism of attractor theory – a concept of nonlinear dynamics that describes the state to which any open system evolves. The attractor sets not only the ultimate goal of transformation, but also the main parameters for achieving it (methods, forms, time and space frameworks). It is proved that the clarity of these parameters depends on many factors and affects the system in two ways – bringing the desired result closer and at the same time limiting the ways to achieve it. The main hypothesis is that it is utopia, which demonstrates in detail to reformers and their followers the image of the standard reality and the ways of its formation, acts as a specific form of social forecasting and foresight of the future society, and acquires greater significance in the period of maximum instability. Based on the methods of structural-functional and systemic analysis within the framework of the synergetic paradigm, the author highlights the key characteristics of utopia as a functional element of attractive management (integrativity, adaptability, teleology), and also confirms the thesis about the ability of utopian models in crisis conditions of social systems to influence the choice and implementation of sustainable trajectories of society development. Particular attention is paid to the study of the ideas of cosmism and their impact on the formation of Soviet cosmonautics, it is demonstrated that utopian projects received the opportunity to be integrated into scientific and technical achievements, which contributed to the implementation of key stages of space exploration in the USSR and abroad. The results of the study showed that utopia functions as a significant attractor of change during the period of maximum instability of society, creating a zone of attraction for multidirectional social initiatives. It was revealed that partial implementation of utopian ideas reduces the risks of negative scenarios. Further studies of utopias/dystopias, representing models of an alternative (desirable or negative) world, are promising for the development of strategies, management methods and socio-cultural design.

Key words: utopia, attractor, management philosophy, self-organizing system, social change.

Cite as: Khalutornykh, O. N. (2025) [Utopia as an attractor of social changes]. Intellekt. Innovacii. Investicii [Intellect. Innovations. Investments]. Vol. 3, pp. 161–168. – https://doi.org/10.25198/2077-7175-2025-3-161.


References

  1. Arshinov, V. I., Svirsky, Ya. I. (2013) [The problem of management in the context of the paradigm of complexity]. Filosofiya upravleniya: metodologicheskiye problemy i proyekty [Philosophy of management: methodological problems and projects]. Rus. acad. sciences, Institute of Philosophy; ed. V. I. Arshinov, V. M. Rozin. M .: IFRAS, pp. 7–44. (In Russ.).
  2. Vasilkova, V. L. (1999) Poryadok i khaos v razvitii sotsial’nykh sistem: sinergetika i teoriya sotsial’noy samoorganizatsii [Order and chaos in the development of social systems: synergetics and the theory of social self-organization]. St. Petersburg: Lan, 480 p.
  3. Gorfunkel, A. H. (1969) Tommaso Campanella [Tommaso Campanella]. M.: Thought, 247 p.
  4. Lytkin, V. V., Panov, V. Yu. (2015) [Social and anthropological program of Russian cosmism (formulation of the problem of utopianism in Russian cosmism)]. Nauchnyye vedomosti Belgorodskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Filosofiya. Sotsiologiya. Pravo [Scientific bulletin of Belgorod State University. Series: Philosophy. Sociology. Law]. Vol. 8 (205), pp. 91–98. (In Russ.).
  5. Melik-Gaikazyan, M. V., Melik-Gaikazyan, I. V. (2012) Attraktivnyy menedzhment: metodologicheskiye printsipy upravleniya simvolizmom tseley [Attractive management: methodological principles of managing the symbolism of goals]. Tomsk: Tomsk State Pedagogical University, 160 p. (In Russ.).
  6. Sakharov, S. A. (2023) [Roman moral values in the socio-political concept of Aurelius Augustine (according to the treatise «On the City of God»]. Ukrepleniye traditsionnykh rossiyskikh dukhovno-nravstvennykh tsennostey i obespecheniye prav cheloveka v usloviyakh sovremennykh vyzovov. Sbornik nauchnykh statey [Strengthening traditional Russian spiritual and moral values and ensuring human rights in the context of modern challenges. Collection of scientific articles]. Smolensk, pp. 89–97. (In Russ.).
  7. Swietochowski, A. (2012) Istoriya utopiy: Ot Antichnosti do kontsa XIX veka [History of utopias: From Antiquity to the end of the 19th century]. M.: Book house «LIBROKOM», 448 p. (In Russ., transl. from Polish).
  8. Stozhko, K. P. (2022) [Fundamentals of Christian humanism of Thomas More: (on the 540th anniversary of his birth)]. Aksiologiya gumanizma: istoriya, filosofiya, pedagogika, ekonomika, pravo. Sbornik nauchnykh statey [Axiology of humanism: history, philosophy, pedagogy, economics, law. Collection of scientific articles]. Ekaterinburg: OOO «Publishing house of the UMC UPI», pp. 123–136. (In Russ.).
  9. Toynbee, A. J. (2002) Tsivilizatsiya pered sudom istorii: Sbornik [Civilization before the Court of History: Collection]. Moscow: Rolf, 592 p. (In Russ., transl. from Eng.).
  10. Fastovich, G. G. (2023) [The doctrine of the Athenian philosophers about the state (based on the study of Plato’s dialogue devoted to the problems of the «ideal state»)]. Pravo i gosudarstvo: teoriya i praktika [Law and state: theory and practice]. Vol. 7 (223), pp. 42–44. – https://doi.org/10.47643/1815-1337_2023_7_42. (In Russ.).
  11. Khalutornykh, O. N. (2023) [Narratives of social utopias]. Gumanitarnyy vestnik [Humanitarian Bulletin]. Vol. 5 (103). Serial number 7. – http://dx.doi.org/10.18698/2306-8477-2023-5-870. (In Russ.).
  12. Khalutornykh, O. N., Maksimova, M. V. (2021) [On the prognostic and modeling functions of social utopias of Russian cosmists]. Sotsium i vlast [Society and power]. Vol. 2 (88), pp. 50–57. – https://doi.org/10.22394/1996-0522-2021-2-50-57. (In Russ.).
  13. Khalutornykh, O. N., Maksimova, M. V. (2021) [Social utopia as an instrument of attractive management: philosophical aspect]. Vestnik Tadzhikskogo natsional’nogo universiteta [Bulletin of the Tajik National University]. Vol. 3, pp. 103–111. (In Russ.).
  14. Erlichson, I. M. (2008) [«New Atlantis» by F. Bacon in English socio-political and philosophical-theological thought of the Restoration era (1660–1689)]. Izvestiya Rossiyskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta im. A. I. Gertsena [Bulletin of the A. I. Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia]. Vol. 66, pp. 270–280. (In Russ.).