TYPES OF SOCIETIES

Social sciences are concerned with the various aspects of human behavior, the interrelationship between them. Man has lived in close association with other beings in order to satisfy various biological and psychological needs and that is why man cannot be thought of separately from his social environment i.e., society.

Definition of Society: Society is a relatively independent self-perpetuating human group which occupies territory, shares a culture and has most of its association withing the group.

Suggestions of the above definition:

People must occupy a common territory. Their territory may change with physical boundaries or even political controls. E.g. We have Aryan Society or Dravidian Society though these old boundaries no longer exist.

Secondly, people who share a territory must interact with each other. Human beings are social in nature, therefore, they should have meaningful interaction with each other. Meaningful interaction will lead to meaningful relationships between individuals or groups.

Thirdly, the people who share a territory should have a common culture. They should also have a shared sense of membership and consciousness of the group. This provides a common thread of identity, and a feeling of belonging to the group.

Types of societies: It has taken hundreds and thousands of years for societies to evolve to their present form. Yet, physically modern man is only forty thousand years old. In the past six thousand years there has been an emergence of division of labor, specialization in social, economic and political institutions. It is only after the industrial revolution about 250 years ago that great advances have been made in the field of science and technology.

Thus, thousands of human societies have existed in different forms and at different stages like biological organisms, societies also have to adapt to their natural environment. Man has exploited food and other resources for the satisfaction of their needs. Different societies use different strategies for subsistence. Those societies with better productive strategies (technology) tend to grow larger in size than societies with simple technologies.

We have to study the evolution of societies through different forms in the context of the specific environment and the strategies used to exploit the environment thus, we have different societies on the basis of different subsistence strategies.

Hunting and gathering societies: is the oldest type of society. Very few societies in this category exist now. The Aranda Tribe of Central Australian Desert and the San tribe of the Kalahari dessert are examples of this type of society.

Hunting and gathering societies are mainly nomadic in nature. They live in very small and scattered groups. This is because they depend on whatever food is available in their environment on a day to day basis. Since the groups are scattered there is very little interaction between them.

The hunting and gathering way of life has a deep influence on the social structure and culture of these societies. The social structure and culture is simple and least diversified. They live in small primary groups. These groups are organsed on the basis of kinship. Family I sthe center of the social structure. In fact, family is the only clearly defined institution in the hunting and gathering societies. The family performs all functions like economic functions, child rearing and educating the young and protecting of group members etc. Political institutions, excepting the institution of headman, are absent. Even the headman has limited powers. Decisions are taken at group level.

Economic life is simple. Individuals gather food on a day to day basis. There is almost no hoarding and preserving for the future. They move from one place to another for food. They lead a nomadic life. Thus, they have very little possessions worth calling ‘property’.

Technology is also very simple and rudimentary like bow, arrow and digging sticks. There is very little division of labor in these societies. If it exists, it is only on the basis of age and sex of the individual.

The group members in hunting and gathering societies share almost identical values and beliefs. Their religious life revolves around unseen spirits (Animism), belief in nature (Naturism) and belief in symbols (Totemism).

 

Pastoral societies: Pastoral is that stage when hunting and gathering groups began to domesticate animals. This was adopted by the groups as an alternative mode of subsistence in deserts and other regions where plant food gathering became unsuitable. Instead animals like goats and sheep were available as a more or less stable source of food. This mode of subsistence existed around 12,000 years ago in some parts of Africa and near Eastern countries.

Economic life: The pastoral society is more productive than hunting and gathering society. Domesticated animals provide stable food supply. Pastoralists are also nomadic in nature as they move from one place to another looking for new grazing grounds for their animals. Their material possessions include tents, woven carpets, some simple vessels and their animals.

Conflicts occur in this society because of control over grazing grounds. Some individuals become wealthier than others. They become powerful and patterns of chieftains and slavery also appear. As far as their values and belief systems are concerned, the pastoralists believe in god to be worshipped in order to get care and protection.

The pastoral subsistence mode of these societies thus provide for complex social structure, with larger population and appearance of political and economic institutions.

 

Horticultural societies: emerged almost at the same time as pastoral societies. While the pastoralists follow the mode of domestication the animals, horticultural societies domesticate plants. This depends on environmental factors like land for grazing, rain and soil conditions, fertility of soil, etc. They use rudimentary technology like hoes, digging stick and slash and burn cultivation.

In horticultural societies there is steady supply of food and even a surplus. This helps to support a larger population and more productive individuals with more surplus become powerful. Since there is surplus food, people are no longer engaged in food production. Such people took to the roles of shaman, trader, craft worker and so on. Disputes always arise between groups over material possessions.

The religious beliefs seen in horticultural societies are different from that of hunters and gatherers. They believe in the worship and propitiation of gods. The practice of cannibalism and head-hunting is common among these societies.

The horticultural people live in relatively permanent settlement for a few years as a result of which they can create houses, stone sculptures, thrones, etc. Because of conquest and trade links there is greater interaction between people in this society. Economic and political institutions also become well-developed in the horticultural society.

 

Agricultural societies: emerged around five thousand years ago with the invention of the plough. The agricultural societies are permanent settlements of people who cultivate the same land continuously. They use animal power for cultivation of food grains, cereals and crops. They periodically re-fertilize the soil to improve and increase its fertility. Production of food materials increase several times so that a surplus is created. Therefore, people could take up diverse occupations.

An important development in this society is the development of elaborate political institutions with more property and wealth, there is greater conflict and warfare. Here hereditary monarchies tend to emerge. As the agricultural societies advance, the political institutions become more elaborate. Elaborate courts, governments, bureaucracy, and state in established. As wealth gets concentrated in the hands of a few individuals, inequality and social classes emerge.

Religion emerged as a separate social institution with regular officials to run religious duties and who also hold great political influence in society.

Economic institutions also appear when economic activities have become complex. There is collection of revenue, taxation by the authority and maintenance of records. Writing was also a turning point of these societies. There is diversification of activities and building of artifacts such as paintings and statues, public buildings, palaces, monuments, etc.

The result of all the developments is that the structure and culture in these societies are more complex. There is emergence of greater social inequality and heterogeneity of culture.

The agricultural societies grew in size and complexity, socially, economically, and politically creating conditions for the industrial revolution which led to the emergence of industrial societies.

 

Industrial societies: emerged with the Industrial Revolution in England. This catapulted human societies into a radically different order of industrial social system.

The industrial societies are based on advanced technology and mechanized methods for the large-scale production of agricultural and nonagricultural goods.

Distinction between pre-industrial and industrial societies: The various aspects of industrial societies are radically different from pre-industrial societies. We find major differences in regard to mode of production, political system, education system, etc. between the two societies.

Agriculturalism and Industrialism: The pre-industrial societies are characterized by agriculturist i.e., traditional, simple, rural features. The industrial societies are characterized by industrial i.e., modern, complex and urban.

Social structure: in pre-industrial societies is relatively simple with little division of labor, and less role differentiation. The basic institutions are family and kinship, other institutions are either absent or exist in very basic forms.

Industrial societies have high degree of division of labor and therefore specialization. There is status structure and more role differentiation. Other institutions like economic, religious and political institutions take over the functions of society.

Status system: Statuses in the pre-industrial societies are ‘ascribed’ statuses. These are usually determined by birth and the individual’s life is more or less predetermined. In the industrial societies one sees ‘achieved’ statuses. These are achieved through hard work and individual capability. 

Social interaction: In the simple societies social interaction is close, personal, intimate, face-to-face in nature. The primary group is small, permanent. In the industrial societies social interaction is impersonal, and formal in nature. The secondary group is large and is characterized by anonymity.

Social and cultural values: The traditional societies are more or less homogeneous. They have the same norms, values, customs, rituals and ceremonies. Industrial societies are characterized by homogeneity. They have different cultures, norms, values and beliefs.

Behavior norms: Customs and traditions, norms and values control and regulate social behavior and provide the standard of behavior. Group welfare is more important than individuals’ interests. In industrial societies norms and values are no longer strong enough to control the individuals. These secondary means of control like the law, police and court become predominant.

Social change: It is not accepted easily in rural societies. The rate of social change is slow. In Industrial societies rapid social change is a normal and desired one. Change is always welcome and viewed as progress where as in simple societies it is viewed with suspicion.

 

Post Industrial Societies: The term post-industrial society was coined by the sociologist Daniel Bell in the early 1960s. He used the term post industrial society to describe the form of society that would replace the familiar industrial society of our era. In the Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting – Daniel Bell tries to make some future predictions. Bell said that in the next thirty to fifty years, we will see the emergence of the post-industrial society.

This type of society has five major components:

The first and the simplest characteristic of a post-industrial society is that the majority of the labor force is no longer engaged in agriculture or manufacturing but in services as trade, finance, transport, health, recreation, research, education, government, commerce.  

Secondly, in post-industrial society there is change in occupational distributions throughout the years there has been a growth of professional and technical employment i.e., jobs that usually require some college education. Bell has observed that the growth rate of professionals, technicians, scientists and engineers has been more than the labor force.

Thirdly, in a post-industrial society problems are not solved through trial and error methods, but by using the theoretical approach. Earlier inventors used to be generalists who knew something about many different fields. Today so many specialized fields exist. Specialists are trained in certain specific areas only. One effect of this trend i.e., invention by specialists is that science based industries such as computer and electronics are beginning to dominate our society.

Another feature of this society is that there will be planning of technology. This will be done to avoid the possible negative side effects of the new technologies e.g. Agricultural production increased due to use of cheap chemical fertilizer. However, the negative side effect has been that nitrate residues are found in the rivers. Also, DDT was used as a pesticide to save crops, but it destroyed wild life and birds.

Bell argues that if these technologies were assessed before they were introduced then alternative technologies or arrangements could be made. He feels that post-industrial society will plan their technologies more carefully.

The fifth element found in post-industrial society is the rise of a new intellectual technology. As society and its inventions become more complex, it is more difficult to understand them intuitively. New intellectual technologies have arisen to help us reach rational decisions in situations which are complex and uncertain. So instead of using institutions to solve problems, we will use information theory, cybernetics, decision theory, game theory, or utility theory. Computers are designed in such a way that they give use to a wide range of options. According to Daniel Bell there are too many variables and too much information for the mind to hold. Hence there will be a need for intellectual technology.

Daniel Bells work is sometimes referred as ‘social forecasting’. It is easy to criticize Bells work now, but the work is important for the questions it raises and the approach it takes, as well as the forecasts it makes.