Theory of collectivist society formation (on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Zakhar Ilyich Fainburg)

The 24th of January 2022 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous philosopher, sociologist, culturologist, political economist, Doctor of Philosophy and Candidate of Economic Sciences, Professor Zakhar Ilyich Fainburg (24.01.1922 – 10.09.1990). The years of his life chronologically almost coincided with the time of Soviet socialism. His scientific work from the student times until his death was devoted to one topic – the socio-economic mechanisms of social development during the transition or shift from individualistic societies to a collectivist-type society. These mechanisms covered the entirety of society development processes from changing the nature of labor at work to overcoming religious-like social consciousness. The results of the scientific search of Z.I. Fainburg are system-based, because they contain various aspects of the structure and functioning of modern society in their unity / solidarity, and, moreover, they are characterized as essential, because they provide the modern researcher with heuristically valuable methodology and social knowledge instrumentarium. There has been analyzed the characteristic features of Z.I. Fainburg’s systemic approach concerning the scientist’s examination of the nature of labor and the formation of its new historical type; the culture and core values of the individual, as well as the personality development concept in a post-economic society and the prospects for the collectivist society formation as a new social reality. Serious attention is paid to semiotic problems related to the use of “thought experiment” methods in socio-philosophical science fiction and the construction of concepts of new social knowledge.