Typology of societies. Traditional, industrial, post-industrial society: description, features, similarities and differences
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Typology of societies: Traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies
In the modern world, there are various types of societies that differ from each other in many ways, as explicit (language of communication, culture, geographical position, size, etc.) and hidden (degree of social integration, level of stability, etc.). Scientific classification involves the selection of the most essential, typical features that distinguish some features from others and unite societies of the same group.Typology(from the Greek tupoc - imprint, form, pattern and logoc - word, teaching) - a method of scientific cognition, which is based on the dismemberment of systems of objects and their grouping using a generalized, idealized model or type.
In the middle of the 19th century, K. Marx proposed a typology of societies, which was based on the mode of production of material goods and production relations - primarily property relations. He divided all societies into 5 main types (according to the type of socio-economic formations): primitive communal, slave-owning, feudal, capitalist and communist (the initial phase is a socialist society).
Another typology divides all societies into simple and complex. The criterion is the number of management levels and the degree of social differentiation (stratification).
A simple society is a society in which the constituent parts are homogeneous, there are no rich and poor, leaders and subordinates, the structure and functions here are poorly differentiated and can easily be interchanged. These are the primitive tribes that have survived in some places to this day.
A complex society is a society with highly differentiated structures and functions, interconnected and interdependent, which necessitates their coordination.
K. Popper distinguishes between two types of societies: closed and open. The differences between them are based on a number of factors, and, above all, the relationship between social control and individual freedom.
A closed society is characterized by a static social structure, limited mobility, immunity to innovations, traditionalism, dogmatic authoritarian ideology, collectivism. To this type of society K. Popper attributed Sparta, Prussia, tsarist Russia, Nazi Germany, Soviet Union of the Stalinist era.
An open society is characterized by a dynamic social structure, high mobility, innovation, criticism, individualism, and a democratic pluralist ideology. K. Popper considered ancient Athens and modern Western democracies to be examples of open societies.
Modern sociology uses all typologies, combining them into some kind of synthetic model. The prominent American sociologist Daniel Bell (b. 1919) is considered its creator. He subdivided world history into three stages: pre-industrial, industrial, and post-industrial. When one stage replaces another, the technology, the mode of production, the form of ownership, social institutions, political regime, culture, lifestyle, population, and the social structure of society change.
Traditional (pre-industrial) society- a society with an agrarian way of life, with a predominance of natural economy, class hierarchy, sedentary structures and a method of socio-cultural regulation based on tradition. It is characterized by manual labor, extremely low rates of development of production, which can satisfy the needs of people only at a minimum level. It is extremely inertial, therefore it is not receptive to innovations. The behavior of individuals in such a society is regulated by customs, norms, and social institutions. Customs, norms, institutions, consecrated by traditions, are considered unshakable, not allowing even the thought of changing them. Fulfilling their integrative function, culture and social institutions suppress any manifestation of individual freedom, which is a necessary condition for the gradual renewal of society.
Industrial society- The term industrial society was introduced by A. Saint-Simon, emphasizing its new technical basis.
In modern terms, it is a complex society, with an industry-based way of managing, with flexible, dynamic and modifying structures, a way of socio-cultural regulation based on a combination of individual freedom and the interests of society. These societies are characterized by a developed division of labor, the development of mass media, urbanization, etc.
Post-industrial society- (sometimes it is called informational) - a society developed on an information basis: the extraction (in traditional societies) and processing (in industrial societies) of natural products are replaced by the acquisition and processing of information, as well as preferential development (instead of agriculture in traditional societies and industry in industrial) services. As a result, the structure of employment and the ratio of various professional and qualification groups are changing. According to forecasts, already at the beginning of the 21st century in advanced countries, half of the workforce will be employed in the field of information, a quarter - in the field of material production, and a quarter - in the production of services, including information.
The change in the technological basis also affects the organization of the entire system of social ties and relations. If in an industrial society the mass class was made up of workers, then in a postindustrial society it was white-collar workers and managers. At the same time, the significance of class differentiation is weakening, instead of a status ("grainy") social structure, a functional ("ready-made") structure is being formed. Instead of leadership, the principle of governance is being replaced by coordination, and representative democracy is being replaced by direct democracy and self-government. As a result, instead of a hierarchy of structures, a new type of network organization is created, focused on rapid change depending on the situation.
It has been proven that society is constantly evolving. The development of society can proceed in two directions and take three definite forms.
Directions of development of society
It is customary to distinguish social progress (the tendency of development from a lower level of the material state of society and the spiritual evolution of a person to a higher one) and regression (the opposite of progress: the transition from a more developed state to a less developed one).
If you demonstrate the development of society graphically, you will get a broken line (where the ups and downs will be displayed, for example, the period of fascism - the stage of social regression).
Society is a complex and multifaceted mechanism, in connection with which progress can be traced in one of its areas, while regression in another.
So, if you turn to historical facts, then you can clearly see technical progress (the transition from primitive labor tools to the most complex CNC machines, from pack animals to trains, cars, airplanes, etc.). However, the flip side of the coin (regression) is destruction natural resources, undermining the natural environment of a person, etc.
Social progress criteria
There are six of them:
- the establishment of democracy;
- growth in the well-being of the population and its social security;
- improving interpersonal relationships;
- the growth of spirituality and the ethical component of society;
- weakening interpersonal confrontation;
- the measure of freedom provided to the individual by society (the degree of individual freedom guaranteed by the society).
Forms of social development
The most common is evolution (smooth, gradual changes in the life of society, occurring in a natural way). Features of her character: gradualness, continuity, ascent (for example, scientific and technical evolution).
Second form social development- revolution (rapid, profound changes; radical revolution in social life). The nature of revolutionary changes has radical and fundamental features.
Revolutions can be:
- short-term or long-term;
- within one or several states;
- within one or several spheres.
If these changes affect all existing public areas (politics, daily life, economy, culture, public organization), then the revolution is called social. Such changes cause strong emotionality, mass activity of the entire population (for example, such Russian revolutions as October, February).
Third form social development- reforms (a set of measures aimed at transforming specific aspects of society, for example, economic reform or reform in the field of education).
D. Bell's systematic model of typologies of social development
This American sociologist differentiated world history into stages (types) with respect to the development of society:
- industrial;
- post-industrial.
The transition from one stage to another is accompanied by a change in technology, form of ownership, political regime, lifestyle, social structure of society, mode of production, social institutions, culture, population.
Pre-industrial society: characteristics
Simple and complex societies are distinguished here. A pre-industrial society (simple) is a society without social inequality and division into strata or classes, as well as without commodity-money relations and the state apparatus.
In primitive times, gatherers, hunters, and then early pastoralists and farmers lived in a simple society.
Social structure preindustrial society(simple) has the following features:
- small size of the association;
- the primitive level of development of technology and division of labor;
- egalitarianism (economic, political, social equality);
- priority of blood family ties.
Evolutionary stages of simple societies
- groups (local);
- communities (primitive).
The second stage has two periods:
- tribal community;
- neighbor's.
The transition from clan communities to neighboring ones became possible thanks to a sedentary lifestyle: groups of blood relatives settled close to each other and were united both by marriages and by mutual assistance with regards to joint territories, a labor corporation.
Thus, preindustrial society is characterized by the gradual emergence of the family, the emergence of a division of labor (inter-sex, inter-age), the emergence of social norms that are taboo (absolute prohibitions).
Transitional form from a simple society to a complex one
Chiefdom is a hierarchical structure of a system of people that does not have a ramified administrative apparatus, which is an integral part of a mature state.
According to the size criterion, this is a large association (more than a tribe). It already includes truck farming without arable farming and a surplus product without surplus. Gradually, there is a stratification into rich and poor, noble and simple. The number of management levels is 2-10 and more. Modern example chiefdoms are: New Guinea, Tropical Africa and Polynesia.
Complex societies of the pre-industrial type
The final stage in the evolution of simple societies, as well as the prologue to complex ones, was the Neolithic Revolution. A complex (pre-industrial) society is characterized by the emergence of a surplus product, social inequality and stratification (castes, classes, slavery, estates), commodity-money relations, a ramified, specialized management apparatus.
It is usually numerous (hundreds of thousands - hundreds of millions of people). In a complex society, consanguineous, personal relationships are replaced by unrelated, impersonal ones (this is especially evident in cities, when even the roommates may be unfamiliar).
Social ranks are being replaced by social stratification. As a rule, a pre-industrial society (complex) is referred to as stratified due to the fact that the strata are numerous, and the groups include only those who are not related by kinship with the ruling class.
Signs of a Complex Society by W. Child
There are at least eight of them. The signs of a pre-industrial society (complex) are as follows:
- People are settled in the cities.
- Non-agricultural labor specialization is developing.
- A surplus product appears and accumulates.
- Clear class distances emerge.
- Customary law is replaced by legal law.
- Large-scale public works such as irrigation are emerging, and pyramids are also emerging.
- Overseas trade appears.
- Writing, mathematics and an elite culture emerged.
Despite the fact that the agrarian society (pre-industrial) is characterized by the emergence a large number cities, most of the population lived in the countryside (a closed territorial peasant community, conducting a subsistence economy, which is weakly connected with the market). The village is oriented towards religious values and traditional way of life.
Characteristic features of a pre-industrial society
The following features are distinguished traditional society:
- Agriculture is dominant, dominated by manual technology(the energy of animals and people is used).
- A significant proportion of the population is rural.
- Production is focused on personal consumption, and therefore market relations are underdeveloped.
- Caste or class system of population classification.
- Low level of social mobility.
- Large patriarchal families.
- Social change is proceeding at a slow pace.
- Priority is given to the religious and mythological worldview.
- Uniformity of values and norms.
- Sacralized, authoritarian political power.
These are schematic and simplified features of a traditional society.
Industrial type of society
The transition to this type was due to two global processes:
- industrialization (creation of large-scale machine production);
- urbanization (resettlement of people from villages to cities, as well as the promotion of urban life values in all segments of the population).
Industrial society (originated in the 18th century) is the child of two revolutions - political (French Revolution) and economic (English Industrial Revolution). The result of the first is economic freedoms, a new social stratification, and the second is a new political form(democracy), political freedom.
Feudalism was replaced by capitalism. In everyday life, the concept of "industrialization" has become firmly established. Its flagship is England. This country is the birthplace of machine production, new legislation and free enterprise.
Industrialization is interpreted as the use of scientific knowledge about industrial technology, the discovery of fundamentally new sources of energy, which made it possible to perform all the work previously carried out by people or draft animals.
Thanks to the transition to industry, a small proportion of the population was able to feed a significant number of people without land cultivation.
Compared to agricultural states and empires, industrial countries are more numerous (tens, hundreds of millions of people). These are the so-called highly urbanized societies (cities began to play a dominant role).
Signs of an industrial society:
- industrialization;
- class antagonism;
- representative democracy;
- urbanization;
- division of society into classes;
- transfer of power to the owners;
- insignificant social mobility.
Thus, we can say that pre-industrial and industrial societies are actually different social worlds. This transition, obviously, could not be easy or fast. Western societies, so to speak, pioneers of modernization, took more than one century to implement this process.
Post-industrial society
It gives priority to the service sector, which prevails over industry and agriculture. The social structure of post-industrial society is shifting in favor of those employed in the above-mentioned sphere, and new elites are also emerging: scientists and technocrats.
This type of society is characterized as "post-class" due to the fact that the disintegration of consolidated social structures and identities that are so characteristic of an industrial society is traced in it.
Industrial and post-industrial society: distinctive features
Main characteristics of modern and post modern society are listed in the table below.
Characteristic | Modern society | Postmodern society |
1. The basis of public welfare | ||
2. Mass class | Managers, employees |
|
3. Social structure | "Grainy", status | "Cellular", functional |
4. Ideology | Sociocentrism | Humanism |
5. Technical basis | Industrial | Information |
6. Leading industry | Industry | |
7. Principle of management and organization | Management | Agreement |
8. Political regime | Self-government, direct democracy |
|
9. Religion | Small denominations |
Thus, both industrial and post-industrial society are modern types. home distinctive feature the latter is that a person is not viewed as primarily an “economic man”. Post-industrial society is a “post-labor”, “post-economic” society (the economic subsystem loses its decisive importance; labor is not the basis of social relations).
Comparative characteristics of the considered types of development of society
Let's trace the main differences that have a traditional, industrial and post-industrial society. Comparative characteristics are presented in the table.
Comparison criterion | Pre-industrial (traditional) | Industrial | Postindustrial |
1. The main production factor | |||
2. Main production product | Food | Manufactured goods | |
3. Manufacturing features | Exclusively manual labor | Widespread use of technologies and mechanisms | Computerization of society, automation of production |
4. Specificity of labor | Individuality | Dominance of standard activities | Encouraging creativity |
5. Structure of employment of the population | Agricultural - approximately 75% | Agriculture - about 10%, industry - 75% | Agriculture - 3%, industry - 33%, services - 66% |
6. Priority type of export | Mainly raw materials | Manufactured products | |
7 social structure | Classes, estates, castes included in the collective, their isolation; negligible social mobility | Classes, their mobility; simplification of the existing social. structures | Maintaining the existing social differentiation; an increase in the size of the middle class; professional differentiation based on qualifications and level of knowledge |
8. Average life expectancy | 40 to 50 years old | Up to 70 years old and above | Over 70 years |
9. The degree of human influence on the environment | Uncontrolled, local | Uncontrolled, global | Controlled, global |
10. Relations with other states | Minor | Close relationship | Complete openness of society |
11. Political sphere | Most often, monarchical forms of government, lack of political freedoms, power is above the law | Political freedoms, equality before the law, democratic reforms | Political pluralism, strong civil society, emergence of a new democratic form |
So, it is worth recalling once again the three types of socium development: traditional, industrial and post-industrial society.
56. Traditional society and the problem of modernization. Industrial and post-industrial society. Information society.
A traditional society is usually understood as one where the main regulators of life and behavior are traditions and customs, which remain stable and unchanged throughout the life of one generation of people. Traditional culture offers people within it a certain set of values, socially approved models of behavior and explanatory myths that organize the world around them. It fills the human world with meaning and represents a "tamed", "civilized" part of the world.
The communicative space of traditional society is reproduced by the direct participants in events, but it is much wider, since it includes and is determined by the previous experience of adaptation of the collective or community to the landscape, environment, and more broadly to the surrounding circumstances. The communicative space of traditional society is total, since it completely subordinates a person's life and within its framework a person has a relatively small repertoire of possibilities. It is fastened with the help of historical memory. In the preliterate period, the role of historical memory is decisive. Myths, legends, legends, fairy tales are broadcast exclusively from memory, directly from person to person, from mouth to mouth. The person is personally involved in the process of broadcasting cultural values. It is historical memory that preserves the social experience of a collective or group and reproduces it in time and space. It performs the function of protecting a person from outside influences.
The explanatory models offered by the main religions turn out to be effective enough to still keep tens and even hundreds of millions of people around the world in their communication space. Religious communications can interact. If this symbiosis is long-standing, then the degree of penetration of a particular religion into traditional culture can be very significant. Although some traditional cultures are more tolerant and allow, for example, like Japanese traditional culture, to visit their adherents to the temples of different religions, usually they are still clearly locked in a particular religion. Confessional communications can even supplant earlier ones, but more often a symbiosis occurs: they penetrate each other and are significantly intertwined. Major religions include many of the earlier beliefs, including mythological stories and their heroes. That is, in reality, one becomes part of the other. It is the confession that sets the main theme for religious communicative streams - salvation, achieving merging with God, etc. Thus, confessional communication plays an important therapeutic role in helping people to cope with difficulties and hardships more easily.
In addition, confessional communications have a significant, sometimes decisive, influence on the picture of the world of a person who is or was under their influence. The language of religious communication is the language of social power, which stands above a person, determines the peculiarities of the worldview and requires him to obey the canons. So, the features of Orthodoxy, according to I.G. Yakovenko, left a serious imprint on the mentality of the adherents of this trend in the form of the cultural code of traditional Russian culture. As part of the cultural code, in his opinion, there are eight elements: an attitude towards syncresis or the ideal of syncresis, a special cognitive construct "due" / "being", an eschatological complex, a Manichean intention, a worldly or gnostic attitude, "a split in cultural consciousness", a sacred status power, extensive dominant. “All these moments do not exist in isolation, are not arranged in a row, but are presented in a single whole. They support each other, intertwine, complement each other and therefore are so stable.
Over time, communications lost their sacred character. With the change in the social structure of society, communications appeared that were not aimed at preserving the genus or primary group. These communications were aimed at integrating many primary groups into a single whole. This is how communications with external sources appeared and became stronger. They needed a unifying idea - heroes, common gods, states. More precisely, the new centers of power needed communications that would unite into a single whole. These could be confessional communications that held people together with symbols of faith. Or there could be power communications, where the main method of consolidation was, in one form or another, coercion.
The big city as a phenomenon appears in modern times. This is due to the intensification of the life and activities of people. A big city is a repository of people who got into it from different places, of different origins who do not always want to live in it. The rhythm of life is gradually accelerating, the degree of individualization of people increases. Communications are changing. They become mediated. The direct transmission of historical memory is interrupted. The emerging mediators, communication professionals: teachers, religious figures, journalists, etc. are repelled by different versions of the events that took place. These versions can be both the result of self-reflection and the result of ordering certain groups of interests.
Modern researchers distinguish several types of memory: mimetic (associated with activity), historical, social or cultural. It is memory that is the element that holds together and creates continuity in the transfer of ethnosocial experience from older to younger generations. Of course, memory does not preserve all the events that happened to representatives of a particular ethnic group during the period of its existence, it is selective. It preserves the most important, key ones, but preserves them in a transformed, mythologized form. “A social group, established as a community of remembrance, protects its past from two main points of view: originality and longevity. By creating her own image, she emphasizes differences with the outside world and, on the contrary, downplays internal differences. In addition, she develops "the consciousness of her identity carried through time," therefore, "facts stored in memory are usually selected and arranged in such a way as to emphasize correspondence, similarity, continuity."
If traditional communications contributed to the achievement of the necessary unity of the group and maintained the balance “I” - “We” of identity necessary for its survival, then modern communications, being mediated, have, in many ways, a different goal. This is the actualization of the broadcast material and the formation of public opinion. Currently, the destruction of traditional culture is taking place due to the displacement of traditional communications and their replacement with professionally built communications, the imposition of certain interpretations of past and present events with the help of modern media and mass media.
When a portion of new pseudo-actual information is thrown into the space of mass communication, which is already oversaturated in informational terms, many effects are achieved at once. The main one is the following: a mass person, without making efforts, without resorting to actions, gets tired quickly enough, receiving a concentrated portion of impressions and, as a result of this, as a result, there is usually no desire to change anything in his life and in his surroundings. He, with a skillful presentation of the material, has confidence in what he sees on the screen and in the authorities broadcast. But there is no need to necessarily see someone's conspiracy - there is no less order coming from consumers, and the organization of modern media and the conjuncture in a significant part of cases is such that it is profitable to perform such operations. Among other things, the ratings depend on this, and hence the income of the owners of the respective media and mass media. Viewers are already accustomed to consume information, looking for the most sensational and entertaining. With its excess, with the illusion of complicity in the process of its joint consumption, the average mass person practically does not have time for reflection. A person involved in such consumption is forced to constantly be in a kind of information kaleidoscope. As a result, he has less time for the really necessary actions and, in a significant part of cases, especially with regard to young people, the skills to carry them out are lost.
Thus, influencing memory, power structures can achieve actualization in the right moment necessary interpretation of the past. This allows it to extinguish negative energy, public dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in the direction of its internal or external opponents, who in this case become enemies. This mechanism turns out to be very convenient for the authorities, since it allows them to divert the blow from themselves at the right time, to divert attention in a situation that is unfavorable for themselves. The mobilization of the population carried out in this way makes it possible for the authorities to straighten public opinion in the direction they need, to defame enemies and create favorable conditions for further activities. Without such a policy, retaining power becomes problematic.
In a situation of modernization, risks significantly increase, both social and technological. According to I. Yakovenko, “in a modernizing society, the nature of the city“ takes its toll ”. The dynamic dominant generated by the city contributes to the erosion of the cosmos of what should be "A person, getting used to innovations," does not notice the subtle transformation of his own consciousness, which, along with new skills, assimilates cultural meanings, attitudes and attitudes. Along with the disintegration of traditional culture, the degree of individualization gradually increases, i.e. separating "I" from the collective "We". The established, seemingly forever, communicative and economic practices are changing.
Intergenerational exchange is curtailed. Old people cease to have authority. Society is changing significantly. The main channels for the transfer of knowledge and traditions are the media and mass media, libraries, universities. “Traditions are mainly addressed by those generational forces that strive to preserve the existing order and the stability of their community, society as a whole, to resist destructive external influences. However, here, too, maintaining continuity is of great importance - in symbolism, historical memory, myths and legends, texts and images dating back to the distant or recent past "
Thus, even rapidly occurring modernization processes still retain in one form or another the elements of the familiar traditional culture. Without this, the structures and people at the head of the change are unlikely to have the necessary legitimacy to stay in power. Experience shows that modernization processes will be more successful than in to a greater extent supporters of change will manage to achieve a balance between old and new, between elements of traditional culture and innovation.
Industrial and post-industrial society
An industrial society is a type of economically developed society in which industry is the predominant branch of the national economy.
Industrial society is characterized by the development of the division of labor, the mass production of goods, the mechanization and automation of production, the development of the media, the service sector, high mobility and urbanization, the growing role of the state in regulating the socio-economic sphere.
1. Establishment of the industrial technological order as dominant in all social spheres (from economic to cultural)
2. Change in the proportions of employment by industry: a significant reduction in the share of people employed in agriculture (up to 3-5%) and an increase in the share of people employed in industry (up to 50-60%) and services (up to 40-45%)
3. Intensive urbanization
4. The emergence of the nation-state, organized on the basis of common language and culture
5. Educational (cultural) revolution. The transition to universal literacy and the formation of national education systems
6. Political revolution leading to the establishment of political rights and freedoms (etc. of all electoral rights)
7. Growth in the level of consumption ("consumption revolution", the formation of a "welfare state")
8. Changing the structure of working and free time (the formation of a "consumer society")
9. Changes in the demographic type of development (low birth rate, mortality, increased life expectancy, aging of the population, ie, an increase in the share of older age groups).
Postindustrial society is a society in which the service sector has priority development and prevails over the volume of industrial production and agricultural production. In the social structure of post-industrial society, the number of people employed in the service sector is increasing and new elites are being formed: technocrats, scientists.
This concept was first proposed by D. Bell in 1962. It recorded the entry in the late 50s and early 60s. developed Western countries that have exhausted the potential of industrial production, into a qualitatively new stage of development.
It is characterized by a decrease in the share and importance of industrial production due to the growth of the services and information sectors. The production of services is becoming the main area of economic activity. Thus, in the United States, about 90% of the employed population now works in the field of information and services. On the basis of these changes, there is a rethinking of all the basic characteristics of an industrial society, a fundamental change in theoretical guidelines.
Thus, post-industrial society is defined as a "post-economic", "post-labor" society, i.e. a society in which the economic subsystem loses its decisive importance, and labor ceases to be the basis of all social relations. A person in a post-industrial society is no longer viewed as an "economic person" for the most part.
The first "phenomenon" of such a person is considered to be the youth riot of the late 1960s, which marked the end of the Protestant work ethic as the moral foundation of Western industrial civilization. Economic growth ceases to act as the main, especially the only reference point, the goal of social development. The emphasis is shifting to social, humanitarian problems. The priority issues are the quality and safety of life, self-realization of the individual. New criteria of welfare and social well-being are being formed.
Post-industrial society is also defined as a "post-class" society, which reflects the disintegration of stable social structures and identities characteristic of an industrial society. If previously the status of an individual in society was determined by his place in the economic structure, i.e. class belonging to which all other social characteristics were subordinated, now the status characteristic of an individual is determined by many factors, among which education and the level of culture play an increasing role (what P. Bourdieu called "cultural capital").
On this basis, D. Bell and a number of other Western sociologists put forward the idea of a new "service" class. Its essence lies in the fact that in a post-industrial society, not the economic and political elite, but intellectuals and professionals who make up new class, power belongs. In reality, there has been no fundamental change in the distribution of economic and political power. Claims about the "death of a class" also seem clearly exaggerated and premature.
However, significant changes in the structure of society, associated primarily with a change in the role of knowledge and its carriers in society, are undoubtedly taking place (see information society). Thus, one can agree with D. Bell's assertion that "the changes that are recorded by the term post-industrial society can mean a historical metamorphosis of Western society."
INFORMATION SOCIETY - a concept that actually replaced at the end of the 20th century. interesting radio-controlled helicopter at a low price to order the term "post-industrial society". For the first time, the phrase "I.O." was used by the American economist F. Mashlup ("The production and dissemination of knowledge in the United States", 1962). Mashlup was one of the first to study the information sector of the economy using the example of the United States. In modern philosophy and other social sciences, the concept of "I.O." is rapidly developing as a concept of a new social order, significantly different in its characteristics from the previous one. Initially, the concept of "post-capitalist" - "post-industrial society" is postulated (Dahrendorf, 1958), within the boundaries of which the production and dissemination of knowledge begins to prevail in the sectors of the economy, and, accordingly, a new industry appears - the information economy. The rapid development of the latter determines its control over the sphere of business and the state (Galbraith, 1967). The organizational foundations of this control are highlighted (Baldwin, 1953; White, 1956), when applied to social structure mean the emergence of a new class, the so-called meritocracy (Young, 1958; Gouldner, 1979). Information production and communication become a centralized process (McLuen's "global village" theory, 1964). Ultimately, information is the main resource of the new post-industrial order (Bell, 1973). One of the most interesting and developed philosophical concepts of I.O. belongs to the famous Japanese scientist E. Masuda, who seeks to comprehend the future evolution of society. The basic principles of the composition of the coming society, presented in his book "The Information Society as a Post-Industrial Society" (1983), are as follows: "the basis of the new society will be computer technology, with its fundamental function to replace or enhance human mental work; the information revolution will quickly turn into a new one. productive force and will make possible the mass production of cognitive, systematized information, technology and knowledge; the potential market will be the "border of the known", the possibility of solving problems and the development of cooperation will increase; the leading branch of the economy will be intellectual production, the products of which will be spread through synergistic production and share use "; in the new information society the main subject of social activity will be the "free community", and the political system will be "participatory democracy"; the main goal in the new society will be the realization of the "value of time". Masuda proposes a new, holistic and attractive in its humanity utopia of the 21st century, which he himself called "Computeropia", which includes the following parameters: (1) the pursuit and realization of the values of the time; (2) freedom of decision and equality of opportunity; (3) the flourishing of various free communities; (4) synergetic relationship in society; (5) functional associations free from super-governing power. The new society will potentially have the ability to achieve the ideal form of social relations, since it will function on the basis of synergetic rationality, which will replace the principle of free competition in an industrial society. From the point of view of understanding the processes that actually take place in modern post-industrial society, the works of J. Beninger, T. Stonier, J. Nisbet are also significant. Scientists suggest that the most likely result of the development of society in the near future is the integration of the existing system with the latest mass media. The development of a new informational order does not mean the immediate disappearance of an industrial society. Moreover, there is a possibility of establishing total control over information banks, its production and distribution. Information, having become the main product of production, accordingly, becomes a powerful power resource, the concentration of which in one source can potentially lead to the emergence of a new version of a totalitarian state. ... Such a possibility is not excluded even by those Western futurologists (E. Masuda, O. Toffler) who are optimistic about the future transformations of the social order.
In the modern world, there are various forms of societies that differ significantly from each other in many respects. In the same way, in the history of mankind, it can be noted that there were different types societies.
Typology of society
We looked at society from the inside: its structural elements. But if we come to the analysis of society as an integral organism, but one of many, we will see that in the modern world there are various types of societies, sharply differing from each other in many parameters. A retrospective view shows that society has also gone through various stages in its development.
It is known that any living, naturally developing organism, during the time from its inception to the end of its existence, goes through a number of stages, which, in essence, are the same for all organisms belonging to this kind, regardless of the specific conditions of their life. Probably, this statement is to a certain extent true for social communities, considered as a whole.
The typology of society is the definition of
a) what steps mankind goes through in its historical development;
b) what forms of modern society exist.
What criteria can be used to define historical types, as well as various forms of modern society? Different sociologists have approached this problem in different ways.
So, English sociologist E. Giddens subdivides societies into the main way of earning a livelihood and identifies the following types of societies.
· Hunter-gatherer societies consist of a small number of people who support their existence by hunting, fishing and gathering edible plants. Inequality in these societies is weak; differences in social status determined by age and sex (the time of existence - from 50,000 BC to the present time, although now they are on the verge of complete extinction).
At the heart of agricultural societies- small rural communities; there are no cities. The main way of obtaining a livelihood is agriculture, sometimes supplemented by hunting and gathering. These societies are more unequal than hunter-gatherers; these societies are headed by leaders. (the time of their existence - from 12,000 BC to the present time. Today, most of them are part of larger political formations and are gradually losing their specific character).
· Pastoralist societies are based on breeding domestic animals to meet material needs. The sizes of such societies range from a few hundred to thousands of people. These societies are usually characterized by strong inequalities. They are ruled by chiefs or military leaders. The same length of time as agricultural societies. Today pastoralist societies are also part of the larger states; and their traditional way of life is destroyed
· Traditional states, or Civilizations... In these societies, agriculture is still the basis of the economic system, but there are cities in which trade and production are concentrated. Among the traditional states, there are very large ones, with a multimillion population, although their size is usually small in comparison with large industrial countries. Traditional states have a special government apparatus headed by a king or emperor. Significant inequalities exist between the various classes (dating from about 6000 BC to the nineteenth century). TO today traditional states have completely disappeared from the face of the earth. Although hunter-gatherer tribes, as well as pastoral and agricultural communities, continue to exist today, they can only be found in isolated areas. The cause of the destruction of societies that defined the entire human history two centuries ago was industrialization - the emergence of machine production based on the use of inanimate energy sources (such as steam and electricity). Industrial societies are in many ways fundamentally different from any of the previous types of social structure, and their development has led to consequences far beyond the borders of their European homeland.
· Industrial (industrial) societies are based on industrial production, with a significant role assigned to free enterprise. Only a small part of the population is employed in agriculture; the overwhelming majority of people live in cities. There is significant class inequality, albeit less pronounced than in traditional states. These societies constitute special political formations, or national states (the time of existence - from the eighteenth century to the present).
Industrial society - modern society. Until now, in relation to modern societies, they use their division into countries of the first, second and third world.
Ø Term first world denotes industrialized countries in Europe, Australia, Asia, and the United States and Japan. Almost all countries of the first world adopted a multiparty parliamentary system of government.
Ø Countries second world called the industrial societies that were part of the socialist camp (today these countries include societies with an economy in transition, i.e. developing from a centralized state to a market system).
Ø Countries third world, in which most of the world's population lives, almost all were formerly colonies. These are societies in which most of the population is engaged in agriculture, lives in rural areas and uses mainly traditional production methods. However, some of the agricultural products are sold on the world market. The level of industrialization of the third world countries is low, the majority of the population is very poor. In some third world countries there is a system of free enterprise, in others - central planning.
The best known are two approaches to the typology of society: formational and civilizational.
A socio-economic formation is a historically defined type of society based on a specific mode of production.
Mode of production- This is one of the central concepts in Marxist sociology, characterizing a certain level of development of the entire complex of social relations. The production method is the totality of production relations and productive forces. In order to obtain means of livelihood (to produce them), people must unite, cooperate, join for joint activities in a certain relationship, which are called production. Productive forces - it is a combination of people with a set of material resources in work: raw materials, tools, equipment, tools, buildings and structures. This the set of material elements forms the means of production. The main part of productive forces are of course themselves people (personality element) with their knowledge, skills and abilities.
The productive forces are the most flexible, mobile, continuously developing part this unity. Industrial relations are more inert, are inactive, slow in their change, however, they form that shell, a nutrient medium, in which the productive forces develop. The indissoluble unity of the productive forces and production relations is called the mode of production, since it indicates in what way the personal element of the productive forces is combined with the material, thereby forming a specific method of obtaining material goods inherent in a given level of development of society.
On the foundation basis (industrial relations) grows up superstructure. It is, in fact, the totality of all other relations, "remaining after the deduction of production", and containing many different institutions, such as the state, family, religion or different kinds ideologies existing in society. The main specificity of the Marxist position proceeds from the assertion that the nature of the superstructure is determined by the nature of the base.
A historically defined stage in the development of a given society, which is characterized by a specific mode of production and the corresponding superstructure, is called socio-economic formation.
A change in production methods(and the transition from one socio-economic formation to another) is caused by antagonism between outdated industrial relations and productive forces, which becomes cramped in these old frames, and they break.
Based on the formation approach, all human history divided by five socio-economic formations:
Primitive,
Slave-owning,
Feudal,
Capitalist,
· Communist (including socialist society as its initial, first phase).
Primitive communal system (or primitive societies). Here the production method is characterized by:
1) an extremely low level of development of productive forces, all labor is necessary; everything that is produced is consumed without a remainder, without forming any surplus, which means that it does not give an opportunity either to make savings or to carry out exchange operations;
2) elementary production relations are based on public (more precisely, communal) ownership of the means of production; people cannot appear who could afford to professionally engage in management, science, religious rituals, etc .;
3) it makes no sense to force the prisoners to work forcibly: they will use everything they produce without a trace.
Slavery:
1) the level of development of the productive forces makes it possible to profitably convert prisoners into slaves;
2) the emergence of a surplus product creates the material prerequisites for the emergence of the state and for professional engagement in religious activities, science and art (for a certain part of the population);
3) slavery as a social institution is defined as a form of property that gives one person the right to own another person.
Feudalism. The most developed feudal societies are characterized by the following features:
1) relations of the lord-vassal type;
2) monarchical form of government;
3) land tenure based on the granting of feudal estates (feuds) in exchange for service, primarily military;
4) the existence of private armies;
5) certain rights of landowners in relation to serfs;
6) the main object of property in the feudal socio-economic formation is land.
Capitalism. This type of economic organization is distinguished by the following features:
1) the presence of private property;
2) making a profit is the main motive for economic activity;
3) market economy;
4) appropriation of profits by capital owners;
5) providing the labor process with workers who act as free agents of production.
Communism. More like a doctrine than a practice, this concept refers to societies in which absent:
1) private property;
2) social classes and the state;
3) compulsory ("enslaving man") division of labor;
4) commodity-money relations.
Karl Marx argued that communist societies would gradually take shape after the revolutionary overthrow of capitalist societies.
The criterion of progress, according to Marx, is:
- the level of development of productive forces and a consistent increase in the share of surplus labor in the total volume of labor;
- a consistent increase in the degree of freedom of a man of labor during the transition from one formation to another.
The formative approach that Marx relied on in his analysis of society has historically been justified.
An approach based on the analysis of civilizational revolutions meets the needs of a more adequate understanding of modern society. Civilizational approach more versatile than formational. The development of civilizations is a more powerful, significant, long-term process than a change in formations. In modern sociology, on the issue of types of society, it is not so much the Marxian concept of the sequential change of socio-economic formations that prevails as "triadic" scheme - types of agrarian, industrial and post-industrial civilization. Unlike the formational typology of society, which is based on economic structures, certain industrial relations, the concept of "civilization" fixes attention not only on the economic and technological side, but on the totality of all forms of society's life - material and economic, political, cultural, moral, religious , aesthetic. In the civilization scheme, the focus is on Not only the most fundamental structure of social and historical activity - technology, but to a greater extent - a set of cultural patterns, values, goals, motives, ideals.
The concept of "civilization" is important in the classification of types of society. In history stand out civilizational revolutions:
agrarian(it took place 6-8 thousand years ago and carried out the transition of mankind from consumer to productive activity;
industrial(XVII century);
scientific and technical (mid-twentieth century);
informational(modern).
Hence, in sociology, stable is division of societies into:
- pre-industrial (agricultural) or traditional(in the modern sense, backward, basically agricultural, primitive, conservative, closed, not free societies);
- industrial, man-made(i.e., having a developed industrial basis, dynamic, flexible, free and open in the organization of social life);
- postindustrial(i.e., the most developed countries, production basis which is the use of the achievements of scientific-technical and scientific-technological revolutions and in which, due to the sharp increase in the role and significance of the latest science and information, significant structural social changes have occurred).
Under traditional civilization understand pre-capitalist (pre-industrial) social structures of the agrarian type, in whose culture the main method of social regulation is tradition. Traditional civilization covers not only the periods of antiquity and the Middle Ages, this type of social organization has survived to our times. Many countries of the so-called "third world" are inherent in the features of a traditional society. Its characteristic signs are:
- the agrarian orientation of the economy and the extensive type of its development;
- a high level of dependence on natural climatic, geographical conditions of life;
- conservatism in social relations and lifestyle; orientation not towards development, but towards the reconstruction and preservation of the established order and existing structures of social life;
- negative attitude to any innovations (innovations);
- extensive and cyclical type of development;
- priority of traditions, established norms, customs, authority;
- a high level of human dependence on social group and tough social control;
- a sharp limitation of individual freedom.
Idea industrial society developed in the 50-60s by such well-known sociologists of the United States and Western Europe as R. Darendorf, R. Aron, W. Rostow, D. Bell and others. Industrial society theories are today being combined with technocratic concepts as well as with the theory of convergence.
The first concept of an industrial society was put forward by a French scientist Jean Fourastier in the book "The Great Hope of the 20th Century" (1949). The term "traditional society" was borrowed by him from the German sociologist M. Weber, the term "industrial society" - from A. Saint-Simon. In the history of mankind, Furastier singled out two main stages:
· The period of traditional society (from the Neolithic to 1750-1800);
· The period of industrial society (from 1750-1800 to the present).
J. Fourastier pays the main attention to the industrial society, which, in his opinion, is fundamentally different from the traditional one.
An industrial society, in contrast to a traditional one, is a dynamically developing, progressive society. The source of its development is technical progress. And this progress changes not only production, but society as a whole. It provides not only a significant overall improvement in living standards, but also an equalization of incomes for all strata of society. As a result, disadvantaged classes disappear in an industrial society. Technological progress in itself is everything. social problems, which makes a social revolution unnecessary. The specified work by J. Fourastier breathes with optimism.
In general, the idea of an industrial society did not receive wide distribution for a long time. She became famous only after the appearance of the works of another French thinker - Raymond Arona, which is often attributed to her authorship. R. Aron, like J. Fourastier, distinguished two main stadial types of human society: traditional (agrarian) and industrial (rational). The first of them is characterized by the dominance of agriculture and animal husbandry, subsistence farming, the existence of estates, an authoritarian mode of government, for the second - the domination of industrial production, the market, equality of citizens before the law and democracy.
The transition from a traditional society to an industrial one was a tremendous progress in every way. Industrial (technogenic) civilization formed on the ruins of medieval society. It was based on the development of mass machine production.
Historically the emergence of an industrial society was associated with such processes:
- the creation of national states rallying around a common language and culture;
- the commercialization of production and the disappearance of the subsistence economy;
- the dominance of machine production and the reorganization of production at the factory;
- the decline in the share of the working class employed in agricultural production;
- urbanization of society;
- the growth of mass literacy;
- Granting electoral rights to the population and institutionalizing politics around mass parties.
Traditional
 |
Industrial
 |
Postindustrial
 |
| 1.ECONOMY. | ||
| Natural agriculture | It is based on industry, in agriculture - an increase in labor productivity. Breaking natural addiction. | The basis of production is information. The service sector is at the forefront. |
| Primitive crafts | Machine technology | Computer techologies |
| The prevalence of collective ownership. Protecting the property of only the upper stratum of society. Traditional economics. | The basis of the economy is state and private property, a market economy. | Availability different forms property. Mixed economy. |
| The production of goods is limited to a certain type of goods, the list is limited. | Standardization is uniformity in the production and consumption of goods and services. | Individualization of production, right up to exclusiveness. |
| Extensive economy | Intense economy | Increase specific gravity small-scale production. |
| Hand tools | Machine technology, conveyor manufacturing, automation, mass production | A developed sector of the economy is associated with the production of knowledge, processing and dissemination of information. |
| Dependence on natural and climatic conditions | Independence from natural and climatic conditions | Cooperation with nature, resource-saving, environmentally friendly technologies. |
| Slow introduction of innovations into the economy. | Scientific and technical progress. | Modernization of the economy. |
| The standard of living of the bulk of the population is low. | Population income growth. Mercantilism consciousness. | High level and quality of life of people. |
| 2. SOCIAL SPHERE. | ||
| Dependence of position on social status. Basic units of society - family, community | The emergence of new classes - the bourgeoisie and the industrial proletariat. Urbanization. | The erasure of class distinctions. The growth of the proportion of the middle class. The share of the population employed in the processing and dissemination of information significantly increases over the labor force in agriculture and industry |
| The stability of the social structure, the boundaries between social communities are stable, the observance of a strict social hierarchy. Class. | The mobility of the social structure is great, the possibilities of social movement are not limited. The emergence of classes. | Elimination of social polarization. Erasing class distinctions. |
| 3. POLICY. | ||
| Dominance of the Church and the Army | The role of the state is growing. | Political pluralism |
| Power is hereditary, the source of power is the will of God. | The rule of law and law (though more often on paper) Equality before the law. Individual rights and freedoms are enshrined in legislation. The main regulator of relations is the rule of law. | Civil society. The relationship between the individual and society is based on the principle of mutual responsibility. |
| Monarchical forms of government, political freedoms are absent, power is above the law, absorption of the individual by the collective, despotic state The state subjugates society, society outside the state and its control does not exist. | Granting political freedoms, the republican form of government prevails. Active person subject of politics.Democratic transformations | Law, right - not on paper, but in practice. Democracy. Democracy of "consensus". Political pluralism. |
| 4. SPIRITUAL SPHERE. | ||
| Norms, customs, beliefs. | Continuing education. | |
| Providencealism consciousness, fanatical attitude to religion. | Secularization consciousness. The emergence of atheists. | Freedom of conscience and religion. |
| Individualism and identity of the individual were not encouraged, the collective consciousness prevails over the individual. | Individualism, rationalism, utilitarianism of consciousness. | Striving to prove yourself, to achieve success in life. |
| There are few educated people, the role of science is not great. Elite education. | The role of knowledge and education is great. Mainly secondary education. | The role of science, education, the information age is great. Higher education. A global telecommunications network, the Internet, is being formed. |
| The prevalence of oral information over written. | The dominance of mass culture. | The presence of different types of culture |
| GOAL. | ||
| Adaptation to nature. | Liberation of man from direct dependence on nature, partial subordination of it to himself. The emergence of environmental problems. | Anthropogenic civilization, i.e. in the center - a person, his individuality, interests. solution of environmental problems. |
conclusions
Types of society.
Traditional society- a type of society based on subsistence agriculture, a monarchical system of government and on the predominance of religious values and worldview.
Industrial society- a type of society based on the development of industry, on a market economy, the introduction of scientific achievements in the economy, the emergence of a democratic form of government, at a high level of knowledge development, on scientific and technological progress, secularization of consciousness.
Post-industrial society- a modern type of society based on the dominance of information (computer technology) in production, development of the service sector, continuing education, freedom of conscience, democracy of consensus, on the formation of civil society.
TYPES OF SOCIETY
1.By the degree of openness:
— closed society - characterized by a static social structure, limited mobility, traditionalism, very slow introduction of innovations or their absence, authoritarian ideology.
—open society - characterized by a dynamic social structure, high social mobility, ability to innovate, pluralism, lack of state ideology.
- By the presence of writing:
— preliterate
—written (proficient in the alphabet or sign letter)
3.According to the degree of social differentiation (or stratification):
— simple - pre-state formations, there are no leaders and subordinates)
— complex - several levels of government, strata of the population.
Explanation of terms
| Terms, concepts | Definitions |
| individualism of consciousness | a person's desire for self-realization, the manifestation of his personality, self-development. |
| mercantilism | the goal is the accumulation of wealth, the achievement of material well-being, money issues are in the first place. |
| providentialism | fanatical attitude to religion, complete submission to it of the life of both an individual and the whole of society, a religious worldview. |
| rationalism | the predominance of reason in the actions and actions of a person, and not emotions, an approach to solving issues from the point of view of rationality - unreasonableness. |
| secularization | the process of liberation of all spheres of public life, as well as the consciousness of people from the control and influence of religion |
| urbanization | urban and urban growth |
Prepared by: Vera Melnikova
