The word "crisis" itself is translated from Greek as "break", a kind of difficult transitional situation. However, this does not mean that in the social sense, a crisis is always a negative phenomenon. During a crisis, not only the destruction of the old social (political, economic) system takes place, but also new solutions and ways of development open up.
Main characteristics of the crisis
Any crisis situation has certain features. First of all, this is a pronounced reaction of society. Some of the changes caused by the crisis are unexpected; therefore, society is not prepared for them. Hence the reactivity. If the crisis is deep enough and entails significant changes, its development, as a rule, occurs intermittently. This is due to the fact that the crisis comes to different functions of society at different times. At the same time, the exit from the crisis does not always mean its end, certain phenomena can be periodically repeated, thus revealing the elements that remained unfinished, weakened at the previous stage of the development of the crisis.
The problem with the crisis lies in the fact that, as a rule, the tasks set by this phenomenon in front of society can be mutually exclusive. If the search for solutions to such problems is delayed, the crisis may worsen. Any crisis is, first of all, destruction. Moreover, the more global the crisis, the more serious the consequences of these devastations. Even structures and social institutions that are vital for the development of society can undergo deformation and even complete destruction. This usually occurs due to a lack of basic resources to ensure the normal functioning of the system.
Nevertheless, the crisis has not only a destructive but also a constructive beginning. As a result, the crisis is called upon to find the factors that hinder the stable development of society and to define the tasks for the future. In addition, whatever one may say, not a single society, not a single structure develops without crises. Therefore, this phenomenon is quite natural.
Ways to get out of the crisis
During a crisis, a kind of natural selection takes place, which allows you to correct or rebuild some social structures, while at the same time preserving the essence of society. There are three options for overcoming the crisis. The first is the disintegration of the system. Alas, as a result of the crisis, society may perish. There is a loss of the ability to reproduce itself. France was on the verge of such a "death" of the system during the Great French Revolution of the 18th century.
The second option is reform. This is a softer way to solve the problems posed by the crisis, since the genotype of society is being rebuilt gradually, without drastic changes. The third option is revolution. A revolutionary way out of a crisis is a sharp leap from one state to another, which can be catastrophic enough, thus society can suffer significant losses.
