Specificity and types of modernization in the context of linearity and alternative theories: the vector of Russian economy development

The modernization of economy is an important and long-term project for Russia. The «Strategy for the development of the Russian Federation till 2020» stresses the need for a revolutionary change in the country’s development trajectory to overcome the gap in levels of economic development of Russia and the world-system center countries. For this purpose the features of the main theories of modernisation have been revealed based on the principles of the systems approach, scientific methods of research (logical analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction), as well as private methods of analysis (structural-functional, historical, causal, structural, factor, comparative). The systematization of these theories has allowed the author to identify the key features of the classification of the modernization theories: 1) the degree of the country industrialization; 2) the source (driver) that starts the process of modernization. The study highlights two directions of the development of the modernization theory - linear and alternative. As a result, the conceptual frameworks of the process of economic modernization have been defined. The scientific novelty of the research concerns the conceptual approach to the study of the modernization of Russia's economy. This approach is based on the systematization of the modernization theories and the justification of the classification criteria of the types of modernization processes that take into account the structure of the modern world-system. Currently, taking into account the characteristics of the globalized world, Russia should adapt the best practices of major semi-peripheral countries for its features and it should form, develop and maintain a national model of modernization, including the consideration of the priority development and national focus. The proposals suggested in the research can be used in the development of the modernization concept for the Russian Federation, and the strategic measures to implement the national project of the Russian economy modernization.