The relevance of the general theory in social science and Imre Lakatos's methodology of research programs in its development

The article describes the current state of social science, its place in today's world and the challenges it faces in the new millennium. The author analyses the modern sociological schools, discusses the views on the methodology of Imre Lakatos in the context of the analysis of contemporary sociological schools. The following conclusions are made: more and more representatives of social science feel the need to develop a unified theoretical framework; integrational processes in social science require a common methodological framework; a unified sociological theory, first of all, can actually be created, and in the second place, it may be created in the relatively near future.