Historical types of society

Historical types of society sociology distinguishes from the diversity of societies that exist now or ever. They are united on the basis of similar criteria.

So, for example, if writing is the main sign, then the historical types of society are divided into written and pre-written. The first have an alphabet and fix their speech in books, computers or on other media. But pre-written speak able, and to record sounds - no. After all, in our days there are uncivilized tribes.

According to the second classification, historical types of society are grouped into simple and complex. This distinction is based on the degree of stratification in society and on the number of levels of management. Simple societies are primitive tribes. They do not have a division into poor and rich, subordinates and leaders. Complex societies have several levels of management. The social strata of its population are located as income decreases. You can draw an analogy and say that pre-literate societies coincide with simple ones, and written ones - with complex ones.

The third classification is based on the method of obtaining means of subsistence. According to her, historical types of society are of several types. The oldest and longest (hundreds of thousands of years) is gathering and hunting. They lived during the period of the proto-community or human herd. Over time, the hunt turned into cattle breeding, and gathering - into gardening. This happened when people realized that it is more profitable to tame animals, and not to constantly kill them, and it is more profitable to grow plants, and not just to collect.

Together with the transition to a settled way of life from the nomadic, with agriculture, the state was born. There were classes, cities, writing - the main features of a civilized society. In place of the agrarian civilization more than two hundred years ago came the industrial one. Its main features are smoking plants and city quarters. Some experts also distinguish a post-industrial society, which in industrialized countries was replaced by an industrial society in the late 20th century. It is no longer dominated by industry, but by the sphere of service and informatics. Its signs are huge supermarkets, computerized manufactures, space stations.

Dedicated types of society in sociology at the present stage represent a synthesis of all previously known classifications. The creator of the new model is recognized by the American scientist Daniel Bell. Dividing the modern history into three stages: pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial, he defined the corresponding historical types of society. The change of one stage to another entails changes in technologies and modes of production, forms of ownership, social institutions, political regimes, culture, way of life, the number of people, the structure of society. For the traditional (pre-industrial) society is characteristic of agriculture as a determining factor of development, and the church and the army in the role of the main institutions. In industrial industry dominates, led by the firm and the corporation. In a post-industrial society, the main factor of development is theoretical knowledge, which is concentrated in universities. This historical triad has many options offered by other well-known sociologists.

So, what has been said above leads to certain conclusions. The development of mankind consists of three stages, corresponding to three types of society: pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial. The time of transition from the primitive to the traditional phase is called the Neolithic revolution. And the transition from a pre-industrial society to an industrial one-an industrial revolution.