UDC 316.324.8:[004+007]](477)
R25_
Ratushyn,
Yu., Polenok, S.
Civilism of the Digital Society / Yurii Ratushyn, Serhii Polenok. – Kyiv: Ukrainian priority, 2025. – 408 p.
ISBN 978-617-8345-65-5
From the dump of geopolitics to Civilism — the digital society — a spontaneous order in the web space of the noosphere.
He who governs the web space of the noosphere governs the world.
This book is NOT dedicated to the philosophy of Silicon Valley — it is dedicated to the Ukrainian School of Cybernetics.
Ending eternal wars, overcoming global crises, and adapting to climate change — these transformations lead to the creation of a new international organization — the International Hub for Sustainable Development Project Management.
Accordingly, civilism is the economic and legal form of the digital society.
© Yurii Ratushyn, Serhii Polenok, 2025
Yuriy Ratushyn, Serhii Polenok
• Kyiv: Ukrainian Priority, 2025 • 408 pages • ISBN 978-617-8345-65-5
The world of the 20th–21st centuries has entered a phase of profound transformation. The geopolitical system, which developed over centuries based on power, territorial control, and competition for resources, demonstrates increasing instability. Global conflicts, economic imbalances, technological inequality, and the crisis of international institutions show that the industrial development model is exhausting its potential.
Geopolitics, based on a balance of fear, increasingly turns into a chaotic space of competing interests, where old institutions cannot ensure stability and justice. Under these conditions, humanity requires a new model of societal development capable of combining technological progress with moral principles.
The authors propose Civilism of the Digital Society — a philosophical and legal concept of a new social order based on the eternal values of freedom, equality, and justice, realized through digital institutions. Civilism is not a political ideology; it is a new form of social organization, where the individual becomes an active subject of institutional action in the digital environment.
The concept of Civilism continues a centuries-old tradition of legal thought in which Ukraine played a significant role. From the Rus’ka Pravda, one of the first legal systems in Europe, to the modern Ukrainian school of cybernetics, an intellectual trajectory emerges combining legal culture with scientific approaches to managing complex systems.
The heritage of Ukrainian cybernetics, represented by Viktor Glushkov, Mykola Amosov, Viktor Mykhalevych, Kateryna Yushchenko, and others, laid the foundation for understanding social processes as complex self-regulating systems. This scientific tradition allows a new interpretation of societal development in the digital era: while classical theory focused on power and the state, the cybernetic approach views society as a self-organizing network of interactions.
Human history can be seen as the evolution of institutional forms. Social institutions define how people interact, their rights, responsibilities, and opportunities. Key historical stages include:
The modern stage introduces a new environment: the digital space, where interactions are no longer bound by territory but occur through global knowledge and technology networks, creating the need for new institutional forms.
The digital revolution transforms society. The Internet, AI, neural networks, and digital platforms create new spaces for interaction. Emerging processes include:
However, the digital space lacks institutional structure. Civilism proposes the Digital Institutional Platform (DIP), an institutional space where digital interaction gains legal status.
A core concept is polycentric institutions. In traditional systems, power is centralized; in digital society, each individual has a polycentric institutional space allowing them to:
This enables a society where power is distributed among participants.
Civilitarian property is a citizen-owned digital asset shared across society. Each digital persona holds an inalienable ideal share within the DIP, realized through social passive income generated by:
This forms a new economic model where individuals are co-owners of digital prosperity.
Digital law combines legal norms with technological algorithms, ensuring:
Its ethical core is: “Freedom limited by equality and justice.” Balancing autonomy and responsibility within digital society.
Civilism provides a foundation for international security. Knowledge, as a nearly inexhaustible resource, enables cooperation instead of conflict. The International Hub for Sustainable Development Project Management coordinates global projects and advances the digital economy.
The digital society is a multidimensional system, defined by:
These form a noospheric network where knowledge, technologies, and social practices evolve together.
Current international initiatives, such as the UN Global Digital Compact, are largely declarative and lack institutional mechanisms. Without digital institutions, property, and legal status for digital personas, achieving global digital transformation is impossible.
Civilism proposes a social model where technology implements ethical values. Every individual participates in global digital prosperity through:
This enables a civilizational model where freedom, equality, and justice are functional elements, transitioning society from geopolitical conflict to noospheric cooperation.
© Yuriy Ratushyn & Serhiy Polenok, 2025