Society is a complex natural-historical structure, the elements of which are people. Their connections and relationships are determined by a certain social status, the functions and roles that they perform, the norms and values ​​generally accepted in this system, as well as their individual qualities. Society is usually divided into three types: traditional, industrial and post-industrial. Each of them has its own distinctive features and functions.

This article will consider a traditional society (definition, characteristics, foundations, examples, etc.).

What it is?

To a modern man of the industrial age, new to history and social sciences, it may not be clear what a "traditional society" is. We will consider the definition of this concept below.

Operates on the basis of traditional values. Often it is perceived as tribal, primitive and backward feudal. It is a society with an agrarian structure, with sedentary structures and with methods of social and cultural regulation based on traditions. It is believed that most of its history, mankind was at this stage.

The traditional society, the definition of which is considered in this article, is a set of groups of people who are at different stages of development and do not have a mature industrial complex. The determining factor in the development of such social units is agriculture.

Characteristics of a traditional society

Traditional society is characterized by the following features:

1. Low production rates that meet the needs of people at a minimum level.
2. Large energy intensity.
3. Non-acceptance of innovations.
4. Strict regulation and control of people's behavior, social structures, institutions, customs.
5. As a rule, in a traditional society, any manifestation of individual freedom is prohibited.
6. Social formations consecrated by traditions are considered unshakable - even the thought of their possible changes is perceived as criminal.

The traditional society is considered agrarian, as it is based on agriculture. Its functioning depends on growing crops with a plow and draft animals. Thus, the same plot of land could be cultivated several times, resulting in permanent settlements.

The traditional society is also characterized by the predominant use of manual labor, the extensive absence of market forms of trade (the predominance of exchange and redistribution). This led to the enrichment of individuals or classes.

Forms of ownership in such structures, as a rule, are collective. Any manifestations of individualism are not perceived and denied by society, and are also considered dangerous, as they violate established order and traditional balance. There are no impetuses to the development of science and culture, so extensive technologies are used in all areas.

Political structure

The political sphere in such a society is characterized by authoritarian power, which is inherited. This is due to the fact that only in this way can traditions be maintained. long time. The system of government in such a society was quite primitive (the hereditary power was in the hands of the elders). The people had virtually no influence on politics.

Often there is an idea about the divine origin of the person in whose hands the power was. In this regard, politics is in fact completely subordinated to religion and is carried out only according to sacred prescriptions. The combination of secular and spiritual power made possible the ever greater subordination of people to the state. This, in turn, strengthened the stability of the traditional type of society.

social relations

In the sphere of social relations, the following features of a traditional society can be distinguished:

1. Patriarchal device.
2. The main purpose of the functioning of such a society is to maintain human life and avoid its extinction as a species.
3. Low level
4. Traditional society is characterized by division into estates. Each of them played a different social role.

5. Evaluation of the individual in terms of the place that people occupy in the hierarchical structure.
6. A person does not feel like an individual, he considers only his belonging to a certain group or community.

spiritual realm

In the spiritual sphere, traditional society is characterized by deep religiosity and moral attitudes instilled from childhood. Certain rituals and dogmas were an integral part of human life. Writing in traditional society as such did not exist. That is why all legends and traditions were transmitted orally.

Relationship with nature and the environment

The influence of traditional society on nature was primitive and insignificant. This was due to low-waste production, represented by cattle breeding and agriculture. Also, in some societies, there were certain religious rules that condemned the pollution of nature.

In relation to the outside world, it was closed. The traditional society by all means protected itself from intrusions from the outside and any external influence. As a result, man perceived life as static and unchanging. Qualitative changes in such societies took place very slowly, and revolutionary changes were perceived extremely painfully.

Traditional and industrial society: differences

Industrial society arose in the 18th century, as a result primarily in England and France.

Some of its distinguishing features should be highlighted.
1. Creation of a large machine production.
2. Standardization of parts and assemblies of different mechanisms. This made mass production possible.
3. Another important distinguishing feature- urbanization (the growth of cities and the resettlement of a significant part of the population on their territory).
4. Division of labor and its specialization.

Traditional and industrial society have significant differences. The first is characterized by a natural division of labor. Traditional values ​​and a patriarchal structure prevail here, there is no mass production.

It is also necessary to highlight the post-industrial society. The traditional, in contrast, aims at prey natural resources rather than collecting and storing information.

Examples of Traditional Society: China

Vivid examples of a traditional type of society can be found in the East in the Middle Ages and modern times. Among them, India, China, Japan, the Ottoman Empire should be singled out.

China has had a strong state power since ancient times. By the nature of evolution, this society is cyclical. China is characterized by a constant alternation of several eras (development, crisis, social explosion). It should also be noted the unity of the spiritual and religious authorities in this country. According to tradition, the emperor received the so-called "Mandate of Heaven" - divine permission to rule.

Japan

The development of Japan in the Middle Ages and in also allows us to say that there was a traditional society, the definition of which is considered in this article. The entire population of the Land of the Rising Sun was divided into 4 estates. The first is the samurai, daimyo and shogun (personified the highest secular power). They occupied a privileged position and had the right to bear arms. The second estate - the peasants who owned the land as a hereditary holding. The third is artisans and the fourth is merchants. It should be noted that trading in Japan was considered an unworthy business. It is also worth highlighting the strict regulation of each of the estates.

Unlike other traditional eastern countries, in Japan there was no unity of the supreme secular and spiritual power. The first was personified by the shogun. Most of the land and great power were in his hands. Japan also had an emperor (tenno). He was the personification of spiritual power.

India

Vivid examples of a traditional type of society can be found in India throughout the history of the country. The Mughal Empire, located on the Hindustan Peninsula, was based on a military fief and caste system. The supreme ruler - the padishah - was the main owner of all the land in the state. Indian society was strictly divided into castes, whose life was strictly regulated by laws and sacred regulations.

The theory of stages of economic growth is the concept of W. Rostow, according to which history is divided into five stages:

1- "traditional society" - all societies before capitalism, characterized by a low level of labor productivity, dominance in the agricultural economy;

2- "transitional society", coinciding with the transition to pre-monopoly capitalism;

3- "shift period", characterized by industrial revolutions and the beginning of industrialization;

4- "period of maturity", characterized by the completion of industrialization and the emergence of highly industrialized countries;

5- "an era of high-level mass consumption."

A traditional society is a society governed by tradition. The preservation of traditions is a higher value in it than development. The social structure in it is characterized (especially in the countries of the East) by a rigid class hierarchy and the existence of stable social communities, in a special way regulation of the life of society based on traditions and customs. This organization of society seeks to preserve the socio-cultural foundations of life unchanged. The traditional society is an agrarian society.

For a traditional society, as a rule, are characterized by:

the traditional economy

the predominance of the agrarian way of life;

the stability of the structure;

class organization;

· low mobility;

· high mortality;

· high birth rate;

low life expectancy.

The traditional person perceives the world and the established order of life as something inseparably integral, holistic, sacred and not subject to change. A person's place in society and his status are determined by tradition (as a rule, by birthright).

In a traditional society, collectivist attitudes prevail, individualism is not welcome (because the freedom of individual actions can lead to a violation of the established order that ensures the survival of society as a whole and is time-tested). In general, traditional societies are characterized by the primacy of collective interests over private ones, including the primacy of the interests of existing hierarchical structures (state, clan, etc.). It is not so much individual capacity that is valued, but the place in the hierarchy (bureaucratic, class, clan, etc.) that a person occupies.

In a traditional society, as a rule, relations of redistribution rather than market exchange prevail, and elements of a market economy are tightly regulated. This is due to the fact that free market relations increase social mobility and change the social structure of society (in particular, they destroy estates); the system of redistribution can be regulated by tradition, but market prices are not; forced redistribution prevents "unauthorized" enrichment/impoverishment of both individuals and classes. The pursuit of economic gain in a traditional society is often morally condemned, opposed to selfless help.

In a traditional society, most people live all their lives in a local community (for example, a village), ties with the "big society" are rather weak. At the same time, family ties, on the contrary, are very strong.

The worldview (ideology) of a traditional society is conditioned by tradition and authority.

The traditional society is extremely stable. As the well-known demographer and sociologist Anatoly Vishnevsky writes, “everything is interconnected in it and it is very difficult to remove or change any one element.”

An industrial society is a type of economically developed society in which the predominant sector of the national economy is industry.

An industrial society is characterized by the development of the division of labor, mass production of goods, mechanization and automation of production, the development of mass media, the service sector, high mobility and urbanization, and the growing role of the state in regulating the socio-economic sphere.

· Approval of the industrial technological order as the dominant one in all public spheres(from economic to cultural)

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 the service sector (up to 40-45%)

Intensive urbanization

Emergence of the nation-state, organized on the basis of a common language and culture

· Educational (cultural) revolution. The transition to universal literacy and the formation of national education systems

· political revolution leading to the establishment of political rights and freedoms (ex. of the entire suffrage)

Growth in the level of consumption ("revolution of consumption", formation of the "welfare state")

Changing the structure of working and free time (the formation of a "consumer society")

· Changes in the demographic type of development (low birth rate, low mortality, increased life expectancy, aging of the population, i.e., an increase in the proportion of older age groups).

Post-industrial society - a society in which the service sector has a priority development and prevails over the volume of industrial production and agricultural production. In the social structure of the post-industrial society, the number of people employed in the service sector increases and new elites are formed: technocrats, scientist.

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 service and information sectors. The production of services becomes 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. Based on these changes, there is a rethinking of all the basic characteristics of an industrial society, a fundamental change in theoretical guidelines.

The first "phenomenon" of such a person is considered the youth riot of the late 60s, which meant the end of the Protestant work ethic as the moral basis of Western industrial civilization. Economic growth ceases to act as the main, much less the only guideline, goal of social development. The emphasis is shifting to social and humanitarian problems. The priority issues are the quality and safety of life, self-realization of the individual. New criteria for well-being and social well-being are being formed. A post-industrial society is also defined as a "post-class" society, which reflects the disintegration of the stable social structures and identities characteristic of an industrial society. If before 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 an increasing role is played by education, the level of culture (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 economic and political elite, and to the intellectuals and professionals who make up new class, belongs to the power. In reality, there was no fundamental change in the distribution of economic and political power. Claims about the "death of the 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, we can agree with D. Bell's statement that "the changes that are fixed by the term post-industrial society may mean the historical metamorphosis of Western society."

The information society is a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing and sale of information, especially its highest form - knowledge.

Scientists believe that in the information society, the process of computerization will give people access to reliable sources of information, save them from routine work, and provide a high level of automation of information processing in the industrial and social spheres. The driving force behind the development of society should be the production of information, not a material product. The material product will become more information-intensive, which means an increase in the share of innovation, design and marketing in its value.

In the information society, not only production will change, but the whole way of life, the system of values, the importance of cultural leisure in relation to material values ​​will increase. Compared to an industrial society, where everything is directed towards the production and consumption of goods, in the information society intelligence and knowledge are produced and consumed, which leads to an increase in the share of mental labor. The ability to be creative will be required from a person, the demand for knowledge will increase.

The material and technological base of the information society will be various systems based on computer technology and computer networks, information technology, and telecommunications.

SIGNS OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

· Society's awareness of the priority of information over another product of human activity.

· The fundamental basis of all areas of human activity (economic, industrial, political, educational, scientific, creative, cultural, etc.) is information.

· Information is a product of modern man's activity.

· Information in its pure form (in itself) is the subject of purchase and sale.

· Equal opportunities in access to information for all segments of the population.

· Security of the information society, information.

· Protection of intellectual property.

· Interaction of all structures of the state and the states among themselves on the basis of ICT.

· Management of the information society by the state, public organizations.

Modern societies differ in many ways, but they also have the same parameters by which they can be typified.

One of the main trends in typology is choice of political relations, forms state power as grounds for singling out various types society. For example, u and i societies differ in type state structure : monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy. IN modern versions this approach is marked by the allocation totalitarian(the state determines all the main directions social life); democratic(population can influence state structures) And authoritarian(combining elements of totalitarianism and democracy) societies.

The basis typology of society supposed Marxism difference between societies type of industrial relations in various socio-economic formations: primitive communal society (primitive appropriating mode of production); societies with an Asian mode of production (the presence of a special type of collective ownership of land); slave-owning societies (ownership of people and the use of slave labor); feudal (exploitation of peasants attached to the land); communist or socialist societies (equal attitude of all to ownership of the means of production through the elimination of private property relations).

Traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies

The most stable in modern sociology is considered a typology based on the allocation traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.

traditional society(it is also called simple and agrarian) is a society with an agrarian way of life, sedentary structures and a method of sociocultural regulation based on traditions (traditional society). The behavior of individuals in it is strictly controlled, regulated by the customs and norms of traditional behavior, established social institutions, among which the family will be the most important. Attempts of any social transformations, innovations are rejected. For him characterized by low rates of development, production. Important for this type of society is the well-established social solidarity that Durkheim established while studying the society of Australian aborigines.

traditional society characterized by a natural division and specialization of labor (mainly by gender and age), personalization of interpersonal communication (directly individuals, not officials or status persons), informal regulation of interactions (norms of unwritten laws of religion and morality), connectedness of members by kinship relations (family type of community organization) , a primitive system of community management (hereditary power, the rule of elders).

Modern societies differ in the following traits: the role-based nature of interaction (expectations and behavior of people are determined by social status and social functions individuals); the developing deep division of labor (on a professional and qualification basis related to education and work experience); a formal system of regulation of relations (based on written law: laws, regulations, contracts, etc.); complex system social management(singling out the institution of management, special governing bodies: political, economic, territorial and self-government); secularization of religion (separation of it from the system of government); selection of a set social institutions(self-reproducing systems of special relations that allow for social control, inequality, protection of its members, distribution of benefits, production, communication).

These include industrial and post-industrial societies.

industrial society is a type of organization of social life that combines the freedom and interests of the individual with general principles governing their joint activities. It is characterized by the flexibility of social structures, social mobility, and a developed system of communications.

In the 1960s concepts appear post-industrial (informational) societies (D. Bell, A. Touraine, Y. Habermas), caused by drastic changes in the economy and culture of the most developed countries. The role of knowledge and information, computer and automatic devices . An individual who has received the necessary education, who has access to the latest information, gets an advantageous chance of moving up the ladder of the social hierarchy. Creative work becomes the main goal of a person in society.

The negative side of the post-industrial society is the danger of strengthening on the part of the state, the ruling elite through access to information and electronic means. mass media and communication over people and society as a whole.

life world human society getting stronger obeys the logic of efficiency and instrumentalism. Culture, including traditional values, is destroyed under the influence of administrative control tending towards standardization and unification of social relations, social behavior. Society is becoming more logical economic life and bureaucratic thinking.

Distinctive features of a post-industrial society:

• the transition from the production of goods to a service economy;
• the rise and dominance of highly educated vocational professionals;
• the main role of theoretical knowledge as a source of discoveries and political decisions in society;
• control over technology and the ability to assess the consequences of scientific and technological innovations;
• decision-making based on the creation of intelligent technology, as well as using the so-called information technology.

The latter was brought to life by the needs of the one that began to form. information society. The emergence of such a phenomenon is by no means accidental. The basis of social dynamics in the information society is not traditional material resources, which are also largely exhausted, but information (intellectual): knowledge, scientific, organizational factors, intellectual abilities of people, their initiative, creativity.

The concept of post-industrialism has been developed in detail today, it has a lot of supporters and an ever-increasing number of opponents. The world has formed two main directions assessments of the future development of human society: eco-pessimism and techno-optimism. eco-pessimism predicts in 2030 a total global catastrophe due to increasing pollution environment; destruction of the Earth's biosphere. Techno-optimism draws a more rosy picture, assuming that scientific and technological progress will cope with all the difficulties in the development of society.

Basic typologies of society

Several typologies of society have been proposed in the history of social thought.

Typologies of society during the formation of sociological science

French scientist, founder of sociology O. Comte proposed a three-part stadial typology, which included:

• stage of military domination;
• stage of feudal rule;
• stage of industrial civilization.

The basis of the typology G. Spencer the principle of the evolutionary development of societies from simple to complex, i.e. from an elementary society to an increasingly differentiated one. The development of societies Spencer represented as constituent part unified evolutionary process for all nature. The lowest pole of the evolution of society is formed by the so-called military societies, characterized by high homogeneity, the subordinate position of the individual and the dominance of coercion as an integration factor. From this phase, through a series of intermediate phases, society develops to the highest pole - an industrial society dominated by democracy, the voluntary nature of integration, spiritual pluralism and diversity.

Typologies of society in the classical period of development of sociology

These typologies differ from those described above. The sociologists of this period saw their task in explaining it, proceeding not from general order nature and the laws of its development, and from itself and its internal laws. So, E. Durkheim sought to find the "original cell" of the social as such, and for this purpose he was looking for the "simplest", most elementary society, the simplest form of organization of "collective consciousness". Therefore, his typology of societies is built from simple to complex, and it is based on the principle of complicating the form of social solidarity, i.e. awareness by individuals of their unity. Mechanical solidarity operates in simple societies because the individuals who make them up are very similar in consciousness and life situation- as particles of a mechanical whole. IN complex societies there is a complex system of division of labor, differentiated functions of individuals, therefore the individuals themselves are separated from each other in terms of their way of life and consciousness. They are united by functional ties, and their solidarity is "organic", functional. Both types of solidarity are present in any society, but mechanical solidarity dominates in archaic societies, while organic solidarity dominates in modern ones.

German classic of sociology M. Weber viewed the social as a system of domination and subordination. His approach was based on the concept of society as the result of a struggle for power and to maintain dominance. Societies are classified according to the type of domination that has developed in them. The charismatic type of domination arises on the basis of a personal special power - charisma - of the ruler. Charisma is usually held by priests or leaders, and such dominance is irrational and does not require a special system of government. modern society, according to Weber, a legal type of domination is inherent, based on law, characterized by the presence of a bureaucratic management system and the operation of the principle of rationality.

Typology of a French sociologist J. Gurvich differs by a complex multi-level system. He identifies four types of archaic societies that had a primary global structure:

• tribal (Australia, American Indians);
• tribal, which included heterogeneous and weakly hierarchized groups, united around the endowed magic power leader (Polynesia, Melanesia);
• tribal with a military organization, consisting of family groups and clans (North America);
• tribal tribes united in monarchical states ("black" Africa).

• charismatic societies (Egypt, Ancient China, Persia, Japan);
• patriarchal societies (Homeric Greeks, Jews of the era Old Testament, Romans, Slavs, Franks);
• city-states (Greek policies, Roman cities, Italian cities renaissance period);
• feudal hierarchical societies (European Middle Ages);
• societies that gave rise to enlightened absolutism and capitalism (Europe only).

IN modern world Gurvich distinguishes: technical-bureaucratic society; a liberal-democratic society built on the principles of collectivist etatism; a society of pluralistic collectivism, etc.

Typologies of the Society of Contemporary Sociology

The postclassical stage in the development of sociology is characterized by typologies based on the principle of the technical and technological development of societies. Nowadays, the most popular typology is one that distinguishes traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.

Traditional societies characterized by a high development of agricultural labor. The main sector of production is the procurement of raw materials, which is carried out within the framework of peasant families; members of society seek to meet mainly domestic needs. The basis of the economy is the family economy, capable of satisfying, if not all of their needs, then a significant part of them. Technical development is extremely weak. In decision making, the main method is the trial and error method. Social relations are extremely poorly developed, as is social differentiation. Such societies are traditionally oriented and therefore directed towards the past.

industrial society - a society characterized by high industrial development and rapid economic growth. Economic development is carried out mainly due to an extensive, consumer attitude to nature: in order to meet its actual needs, such a society strives for the most complete development of the resources at its disposal. natural resources. The main sector of production is the processing and processing of materials carried out by teams of workers in factories and plants. Such a society and its members strive for maximum adaptation to the present moment and satisfaction of social needs. The main decision-making method is empirical research.

Another very important feature of an industrial society is the so-called "modernizing optimism", i.e. absolute confidence that any problem, including social, can be solved based on scientific knowledge and technology.

post-industrial society- this is a society that is emerging at the moment and has a number of significant differences from an industrial society. If an industrial society is characterized by a desire for the maximum development of industry, then in a post-industrial society, knowledge, technology and information play a much more noticeable (and ideally paramount) role. In addition, the service sector is developing at a rapid pace, overtaking industry.

In a post-industrial society, there is no faith in the omnipotence of science. This is partly due to the fact that humanity has faced the negative consequences of its own activities. For this reason, “environmental values” come to the fore, and this means not only a careful attitude to nature, but also an attentive attitude to the balance and harmony necessary for the adequate development of society.

The basis of the post-industrial society is information, which in turn gave rise to another type of society - informational. According to the proponents of the information society theory, a completely new society is emerging, characterized by processes that are opposite to those that took place in the previous phases of the development of societies even in the 20th century. For example, instead of centralization, there is regionalization; instead of hierarchization and bureaucratization, democratization; instead of concentration, disaggregation; instead of standardization, individualization. All these processes are driven by information technology.

Service providers either provide information or use it. For example, teachers transfer knowledge to students, repairmen use their knowledge to service equipment, lawyers, doctors, bankers, pilots, designers sell to clients their specialized knowledge of laws, anatomy, finance, aerodynamics and color schemes. They do not produce anything, unlike factory workers in an industrial society. Instead, they transfer or use knowledge to provide services that others are willing to pay for.

Researchers are already using the term virtual society" to describe the modern type of society that has developed and is developing under the influence of information technologies, primarily Internet technologies. The virtual, or possible, world has become a new reality as a result of the computer boom that has swept society. Virtualization (replacement of reality with a simulation/image) of society, the researchers note, is total, since all the elements that make up society are virtualized, significantly changing their appearance, their status and role.

Post-industrial society is also defined as a society " post-economic", "post-labor”, i.e. a society in which the economic subsystem loses its defining significance, and labor ceases to be the basis of all social relations. In a post-industrial society, a person loses his economic essence and is no longer considered as an “economic person”; it focuses on new, “post-materialist” values. The emphasis is shifting to social, humanitarian problems, and the issues of quality and safety of life, self-realization of the individual in various social spheres, in connection with which new criteria for well-being and social well-being are being formed.

According to the concept of a post-economic society developed by the Russian scientist V.L. Inozemtsev, in a post-economic society, in contrast to an economic society focused on material enrichment, the main goal for most people is the development of their own personality.

The theory of post-economic society is associated with a new periodization of the history of mankind, in which three large-scale eras can be distinguished - pre-economic, economic and post-economic. This periodization is based on two criteria - the type human activity and the nature of the relationship between the interests of the individual and society. The post-economic type of society is defined as a type of social structure where economic activity of a person is becoming more intense and complex, but is no longer determined by his material interests, is not set by the traditionally understood economic expediency. The economic basis of such a society is formed by the destruction of private property and a return to personal property, to a state of non-alienation of the worker from the instruments of production. The post-economic society is characterized by a new type of social confrontation - the confrontation between the information and intellectual elite and all people who are not included in it, who are employed in the sphere of mass production and, because of this, are forced out to the periphery of society. However, each member of such a society has the opportunity to enter the elite himself, since belonging to the elite is determined by abilities and knowledge.

Society typology

Modern societies differ in many ways, but they also have the same parameters by which they can be typified.

One of the main directions in the typology of society is the choice of political relations, forms of state power as the basis for distinguishing different types of society. For example, in Plato and Aristotle, societies differ in the type of state structure: monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy. In modern versions of this approach, there is a separation of totalitarian ones (the state determines all the main directions of social life); democratic (the population can influence state structures) and authoritarian (combining elements of totalitarianism and democracy) societies.

Marxism based the typology of society on the difference between societies according to the type of production relations in various socio-economic formations: primitive communal society (primitively appropriating the mode of production); societies with an Asian mode of production (the presence of a special type of collective ownership of land); slave-owning societies (ownership of people and the use of slave labor); feudal (exploitation of peasants attached to the land); communist or socialist societies (equal attitude of all to ownership of the means of production through the elimination of private property relations).

Traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies

The most stable in modern sociology is the typology based on the allocation of traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.

A traditional society (it is also called simple and agrarian) is a society with an agrarian way of life, sedentary structures and a method of sociocultural regulation based on traditions (traditional society). The behavior of individuals in it is strictly controlled, regulated by the customs and norms of traditional behavior, established social institutions, among which the family and community will be the most important. Attempts of any social transformations, innovations are rejected. It is characterized by low rates of development and production. Important for this type of society is a well-established social solidarity, which was established by Durkheim, studying the society of the Australian Aborigines.

A traditional society is characterized by a natural division and specialization of labor (mainly by gender and age), personalization of interpersonal communication (directly by individuals, and not by officials or status persons), informal regulation of interactions (by the norms of the unwritten laws of religion and morality), connectedness of members by kinship relations (family type of organization). community), a primitive system of community management (hereditary power, the rule of elders).

Modern societies are distinguished by the following features: the role-based nature of interaction (expectations and behavior of people are determined by the social status and social functions of individuals); the developing deep division of labor (on a professional and qualification basis related to education and work experience); a formal system of regulation of relations (based on written law: laws, regulations, contracts, etc.); a complex system of social management (singling out the institution of management, special governing bodies: political, economic, territorial and self-government); secularization of religion (separation of it from the system of government); the allocation of many social institutions (self-reproducing systems of special relations that allow for social control, inequality, protection of its members, distribution of benefits, production, communication).

These include industrial and post-industrial societies.

An industrial society is a type of organization of social life that combines the freedom and interests of the individual with the general principles governing their joint activities. It is characterized by the flexibility of social structures, social mobility, and a developed system of communications.

In the 1960s the concepts of a post-industrial (information) society appear (D. Bell, A. Touraine, J. Habermas), caused by drastic changes in the economy and culture of the most developed countries. The role of knowledge and information, computer and automatic devices is recognized as leading in society. An individual who has received the necessary education, who has access to the latest information, gets an advantageous chance of moving up the ladder of the social hierarchy. Creative work becomes the main goal of a person in society.

The negative side of the post-industrial society is the danger of strengthening social control by the state, the ruling elite through access to information and electronic media and communication over people and society as a whole.

The life world of human society is increasingly subject to the logic of efficiency and instrumentalism. Culture, including traditional values, is destroyed under the influence of administrative control, which tends to standardize and unify social relations and social behavior. Society is increasingly subject to the logic of economic life and bureaucratic thinking.

Distinctive features of a post-industrial society:

• - the transition from the production of goods to the economy of services;
• - the rise and dominance of highly educated vocational specialists;
• - the main role of theoretical knowledge as a source of discoveries and political decisions in society;
• - control over technology and the ability to assess the consequences of scientific and technological innovations;
• - decision-making based on the creation of intellectual technology, as well as using the so-called information technology.

The latter was brought to life by the needs of the information society that began to take shape. The emergence of such a phenomenon is by no means accidental. The basis of social dynamics in the information society is not traditional material resources, which are also largely exhausted, but information (intellectual): knowledge, scientific, organizational factors, intellectual abilities of people, their initiative, creativity.

The concept of post-industrialism has been developed in detail today, it has a lot of supporters and an ever-increasing number of opponents. In the world, two main directions for assessing the future development of human society have been formed: eco-pessimism and techno-optimism. Ecopessimism predicts a total global catastrophe in 2030 due to increasing environmental pollution; destruction of the Earth's biosphere. Techno-optimism paints a more rosy picture, assuming that scientific and technological progress will cope with all the difficulties in the development of society.

Traditional	Industrial	post-industrial
1.ECONOMY.
natural agriculture	Industry is at the heart of it, and in agriculture it is the increase in labor productivity. Destruction of natural dependence.	The basis of production is information. The services sector comes to the fore.
primitive crafts	Machine technology	Computer techologies
The predominance of the collective form of ownership. Protecting the property of only the upper stratum of society. traditional economy.	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, the list is limited.	Standardization is uniformity in the production and consumption of goods and services.	Individualization of production, up to the exclusivity.
Extensive economy	intensive economy	Increase specific gravity small batch production.
Hand tools	Machine technology, conveyor production, automation, mass production	The sector of the economy associated with the production of knowledge, processing and dissemination of information is developed.
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.	Income growth. Mercantilism consciousness.	High level and quality of life of people.
2. SOCIAL SPHERE.
Dependence of position on social status. The main cells of society are the family, the community	The emergence of new classes - the bourgeoisie and the industrial proletariat. Urbanization.	Erasure of class differences. Growth of the proportion of the middle class. The proportion of the population employed in the processing and dissemination of information is growing significantly, over labor force in agriculture and industry
The stability of the social structure, the boundaries between social communities sustainable, adherence to a strict social hierarchy. estate.	The mobility of the social structure is great, the possibilities of social movement are not limited. The emergence of classes.	The elimination of social polarization. Erasure of class distinctions.
3. POLICY.
The 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 the law (though more often on paper) Equality before the law. The rights and freedoms of the individual are legally enshrined. The main regulator of relations is the rule of law.	Civil society. Relations between the individual and society are based on the principle of mutual responsibility.
There are no monarchical forms of government, there are no political freedoms, power is above the law, the absorption of the individual by the collective, a 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. Man is active subject of politics.Democratic transformations	The law, the right - not on paper, but in practice. Democracy. "Consensus" democracy. Political pluralism.
4. SPIRITUAL SPHERE.
Norms, customs, beliefs.		Continuous education.
providentialism consciousness, a fanatical attitude towards religion.	Secularization consciousness. The emergence of atheists.	Freedom of conscience and religion.
Individualism and originality of the individual were not encouraged, the collective consciousness prevails over the individual.	Individualism, rationalism, utilitarianism of consciousness.	The desire 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. Basically secondary education.	The role of science, education, the age of information is great. Higher education. A global telecommunications network, the Internet, is being formed.
Predominance of oral information over written.	The dominance of mass culture.	The presence of different types of culture
TARGET.
adaptation to nature.	The 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 the predominance of religious values ​​and worldview.

industrial society- 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, on high level development of knowledge, on scientific and technological progress, secularization of consciousness.

post-industrial society– modern type a society based on the dominance of information (computer technology) in production, the development of the service sector, continuous education, freedom of conscience, consensus democracy, and the formation of civil society.

TYPES OF SOCIETY

1.By 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.

1. According to the presence of writing:

— pre-literate

—written (owner of the alphabet or sign writing)

3.According to the degree of social differentiation (or stratification):

— simple - pre-state formations, no leaders and subordinates)

— complex - several levels of management, layers 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	goal is to accumulate wealth material well-being money matters come first.
providentialism	a fanatical attitude towards religion, the complete subordination to it of the life of both an individual and the whole society, a religious worldview.
rationalism	the predominance of the mind in the actions and actions of a person, and not emotions, an approach to resolving issues from the point of view of reasonableness - unreasonableness.
secularization	the process of liberation of all spheres public life as well as the consciousness of people out of control and influence of religion
urbanization	growth of cities and urban population

Material prepared: Melnikova Vera Aleksandrovna