Synthesis of social forms in the study of developing countries of the 20th century

The article analyzes the research approaches to the problem of the stadial status of developing countries. The development of a specific “Third World” paradigm in domestic social studies proceeded from the ideas of transitivity, multistructurality and dependence to the concepts of “societal dualism” and “social synthesis” that emerged in the 1970-1780s. We stick to the opinion on proper use of the concept of “synthesis of the traditional and the modern”, proposed by the orientalists N. A. Simony and L. I. Reisner. It considers the situation of the imposition of heterogeneous structures, which are stadially different as a result of the process of the West and the East mutual influence. The article shows the historical examples confirming the effectiveness of this methodological approach. Researchers of the former colonial countries come to the conclusion that by the end of the era of colonialism almost all countries of the East were by nature a combined society due to the synthesis of various forms and manifestations in the socioeconomic sphere.