ANALYZING THE EARLIER AND MODERN THINKING IN CONVERGENCE THEORY

The convergence theory has two variants. One is the economic, which is based on the thesis that capitalism and socialism are gradually drawing closer and that the differences between them are disappearing. The other is the sociological variant, which holds that not only the economic but also the social systems, including the entire range of political, economic and other social relations, reveals this trend towards mutual drawing together and eventual merger into single system. A general sociological study of convergence theory is beyond the scope of this study, which is intended as a study of the theory only on its economic aspect. With the aid of secondary data, we analyzed the earlier and modern thinking in convergence theory and argues that the earlier one represented attempts by the capitalist and socialist countries to achieve social peace through welfare-related reforms and programs, while the core notion of the convergence theory of today is modified in recognition that as nations achieve similar levels of economic development, they becomes more alike in terms of different aspects of social life. Growing attention to large-scale changes in economic, technological, and cultural relations which were inspired by globalization has renewed interest in today’s idea of convergence. Criticisms of both the old and modern convergence theory are also presented in this paper.