Social Science

Unit 1
- Prof. Ms. S. S. Tantarpale
 Society and Types of Societies
Although humans have established many types of societies throughout
history, sociologists and anthropologists (experts who study early and
tribal cultures) usually refer to six basic types of societies, each
defined by its level of technology. They are as follows:
1) hunting and gathering societies:
• The members of hunting and gathering societies primarily survive
by hunting animals, fishing, and gathering plants. The vast majority of
these societies existed in the past, with only a few (perhaps a million
people total) living today on the verge of extinction.
• To survive, early human societies completely depended upon their immediate
environment. If the plants died, or the rivers dried up so the animals left the area,
therefore society had to relocate to an area where resources were plentiful. Consequently,
hunting and gathering societies, which were typically small, were quite mobile. In some
cases, where resources in a locale were extraordinarily plentiful, small villages might
form. But most hunting and gathering societies were nomadic, moving constantly in
search of food and water.
• Labor in hunting and gathering societies was divided equally among members. Because
of the mobile nature of the society, these societies stored little in the form of surplus
goods. Therefore, anyone who could hunt, fish, or gather fruits and vegetables did so.
These societies probably also had at least some division of labor based on gender. Males
probably traveled long distances to hunt and capture larger animals. Females hunted
smaller animals, gathered plants, made clothing, protected and raised children, and helped
the males to protect the community from rival groups.
• Hunting and gathering societies were also tribal. Members shared an ancestral heritage
and a common set of traditions and rituals. They also sacrificed their individuality for the
sake of the larger tribal culture.
2) Pastoral societies:

• Members of pastoral societies, which first emerged 12,000 years ago, pasture animals
( cattle, sheep , horses and goats) for food and transportation. Pastoral societies still exist
today, primarily in the desert lands of North Africa where horticulture and manufacturing
are not possible.
• Domesticating animals allows for a more manageable food supply than do hunting and
gathering. Hence, pastoral societies are able to produce a surplus of goods, which makes
storing food for future as a possibility. With storage comes the desire to develop
settlements that permit the society to remain in a single place for longer periods of
time. And with stability comes the trade of surplus goods between neighboring pastoral
communities.
• Pastoral societies allow certain of its members (those who are not domesticating animals)
to engage in non-survival activities. Traders, healers, spiritual leaders, crafts people, and
people with other specialty professions appear.
3) Horticultural societies:

• Unlike pastoral societies that rely on domesticating animals, horticultural societies rely
on cultivating fruits, vegetables, and plants. These societies first appeared in different
parts of the planet about the same time as pastoral societies. Like hunting and gathering
societies, horticultural societies had to be mobile. Depletion of the land's resources or
dwindling water supplies, for example, forced the people to leave. Horticultural societies
occasionally produced a surplus, which permitted storage as well as the emergence of
other professions not related to the survival of the society.
5) Agricultural societies:
• Agricultural societies use technological advances to cultivate crops (especially grains
like wheat, rice, corn, and barley) over a large area. Sociologists use the
phrase Agricultural Revolution to refer to the technological changes that occurred as
long as 8,500 years ago that led to cultivating crops and raising farm animals.
• Increases in food supplies then led to larger populations than in earlier communities. This
meant a greater surplus, which resulted in towns that became centers of trade supporting
various rulers, educators, crafts people, merchants, and religious leaders who did not have
to worry about locating nourishment.
• As villages and towns expanded into neighboring areas, conflicts with other communities
inevitably occurred. Farmers provided warriors with food in exchange for protection
against invasion by enemies. A system of rulers with high social status also appeared.
This nobility organized warriors to protect the society from invasion. In this way, the
nobility managed to extract goods from the “lesser” persons of society.
• 6) Feudal societies:
• From the 9th to 15th centuries, feudalism was a form of society based on
ownership of land. Unlike today's farmers, vassals under feudalism were
bound to cultivating their lord's land.
• In exchange for military protection, the lords exploited the peasants into
providing food, crops, crafts, homage, and other services to the owner of
the land.
• The caste system of feudalism was often multigenerational; the families of
peasants may have cultivated their lord's land for generations.
• Between the 14th and 16th centuries, a new economic system emerged that
began to replace feudalism. Capitalism is marked by open competition in
a free market, in which the means of production are privately owned.
• The introduction of foreign metals, silks, and spices stimulated great
commercial activity in society.
7) Industrial societies:
• Industrial societies are based on using machines (particularly fuel‐
driven ones) to produce goods. Sociologists refer to the period during the
18th century when the production of goods in mechanized factories
began as the Industrial Revolution.
• As productivity increased, means of transportation improved to better
facilitate the transfer of products from place to place. Great wealth was
attained by the few who owned factories, and the “masses” found jobs
working in the factories.
• Industrialization brought about changes in almost every aspect of
society. As factories became the center of work, “home cottages” as the
usual workplace became less prevalent, as did the family's role in
providing vocational training and education. People's life expectancy
increased as their health improved. Political institutions changed into
modern models of governance.
• Cultural diversity increased, as did social mobility. Large cities emerged as
places to find jobs in factories. Social power moved into the hands of
business elites and governmental officials, leading to struggles between
industrialists and workers.
• Labor unions and welfare organizations formed in response to these
disputes and concerns over workers' welfare, including children who toiled
in factories.
• Rapid changes in industrial technology also continued, especially the
production of larger machines and faster means of transportation.
• The Industrial Revolution also saw to the development
of bureaucratic forms of organization, complete with written rules, job
descriptions, impersonal positions, and hierarchical methods of
management.
8) Postindustrial societies:
• Sociologists note that with the advent of the computer microchip, the world is witnessing
a technological revolution. This revolution is creating a postindustrial society based on
information, knowledge, and the selling of services. That is, rather than being driven by
the factory production of goods, society is being shaped by the human mind, aided by
computer technology.
• Although factories will always exist, the key to wealth and power seems to lie in the
ability to generate, store, manipulate, and sell information. Sociologists speculate about
the characteristics of postindustrial society in the near future.
• They predict increased levels of education and training, consumerism, availability of
goods, and social mobility. While they hope for a decline in inequality as technical skills
and “know‐how” begin to determine class rather than the ownership of property,
sociologists are also concerned about potential social divisions based on those who have
appropriate education and those who do not.
• Sociologists believe society will become more concerned with the welfare of all
members of society. They hope postindustrial society will be less characterized by social
conflict, as everyone works together to solve society's problems through science.