SOCIETY

According to sociologists, a society is a group of people with common territory, interaction, and
culture. Social groups consist of two or more people who interact and identify with one another.
 Territory: Most countries have formal boundaries and territory that the world recognizes as
theirs. However, a society’s boundaries don’t have to be geopolitical borders, such as the one
between the United States and Canada. Instead, members of a society, as well as nonmembers,
must recognize particular land as belonging to that society.
 Interaction: Members of a society must come in contact with one another. If a group of people
within a country has no regular contact with another group, those groups cannot be considered
part of the same society. Geographic distance and language barriers can separate societies within
a country.
Example: Although Islam was practiced in both parts of the country, the residents of East
Pakistan spoke Bengali, while the residents of West Pakistan spoke Urdu. Geographic distance,
language differences, and other factors proved insurmountable. In 1971, the nation split into two
countries, with West Pakistan assuming the name Pakistan and East Pakistan
becoming Bangladesh. Within each newly formed society, people had a common culture,
history, and language, and distance was no longer a factor.
 Culture: People of the same society share aspects of their culture, such as language or
beliefs. Culture refers to the language, values, beliefs, behavior, and material objects that
constitute a people’s way of life. It is a defining element of society.

TYPES OF SOCIETY

1 Preindustrial Society
Before the Industrial Revolution and the widespread use of machines, societies were small, rural,
and dependent largely on local resources. Economic production was limited to the amount of
labor a human being could provide, and there were few specialized occupations. The very first
occupation was that of hunter-gatherer.

Hunter-Gatherer

Hunter-gatherer societies demonstrate the strongest dependence on the environment of the

various types of preindustrial societies. As the basic structure of human society until about
10,000–12,000 years ago, these groups were based around kinship or tribes. Hunter-gatherers
relied on their surroundings for survival—they hunted wild animals and foraged for uncultivated
plants for food. When resources became scarce, the group moved to a new area to find
sustenance, meaning they were nomadic. These societies were common until several hundred
years ago, but today only a few hundred remain in existence, such as indigenous Australian
tribes sometimes referred to as “aborigines,” or the Bambuti, a group of pygmy hunter-gatherers
residing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hunter-gatherer groups are quickly disappearing
as the world’s population explodes.

Pastoral

Changing conditions and adaptations led some societies to rely on the domestication of animals
where circumstances permitted. Roughly 7,500 years ago, human societies began to recognize
their ability to tame and breed animals and to grow and cultivate their own plants. Pastoral
societies rely on the domestication of animals as a resource for survival. Unlike earlier hunter-
gatherers who depended entirely on existing resources to stay alive, pastoral groups were able to
breed livestock for food, clothing, and transportation, creating a surplus of goods. Herding, or
pastoral, societies remained nomadic because they were forced to follow their animals to fresh
feeding grounds. Around the time that pastoral societies emerged, specialized occupations began
to develop, and societies commenced trading with local groups.

Horticultural

Around the same time that pastoral societies were on the rise, another type of society developed,
based on the newly developed capacity for people to grow and cultivate plants. Previously, the
depletion of a region’s crops or water supply forced pastoral societies to relocate in search of
food sources for their livestock. Horticultural societies formed in areas where rainfall and other
conditions allowed them to grow stable crops. They were similar to hunter-gatherers in that they
largely depended on the environment for survival, but since they didn’t have to abandon their
location to follow resources, they were able to start permanent settlements. This created more
stability and more material goods and became the basis for the first revolution in human survival.

Agricultural

While pastoral and horticultural societies used small, temporary tools such as digging sticks or
hoes, agricultural societies relied on permanent tools for survival. Around 3000 B.C.E., an
explosion of new technology known as the Agricultural Revolution made farming possible—and
profitable. Farmers learned to rotate the types of crops grown on their fields and to reuse waste
products such as fertilizer, leading to better harvests and bigger surpluses of food. New tools for
digging and harvesting were made of metal, making them more effective and longer lasting.
Human settlements grew into towns and cities, and particularly bountiful regions became centers
of trade and commerce. This is also the age in which people had the time and comfort to engage
in more contemplative and thoughtful activities, such as music, poetry, and philosophy. This
period became referred to as the “dawn of civilization” by some because of the development of
leisure and humanities. Craftspeople were able to support themselves through the production of
creative, decorative, or thought-provoking aesthetic objects and writings. As resources became
more plentiful, social classes became more divisive. Those who had more resources could afford
better living and developed into a class of nobility. Difference in social standing between men
and women increased. As cities expanded, ownership and preservation of resources became a
pressing concern

Feudal

The ninth century gave rise to feudal societies. These societies contained a strict hierarchical
system of power based around land ownership and protection. The nobility, known as lords,
placed vassals in charge of pieces of land. In return for the resources that the land provided,
vassals promised to fight for their lords. These individual pieces of land, known as fiefdoms,
were cultivated by the lower class. In return for maintaining the land, peasants were guaranteed a
place to live and protection from outside enemies. Power was handed down through family lines,
with peasant families serving lords for generations and generations. Ultimately, the social and
economic system of feudalism would fail, replaced by capitalism and the technological advances
of the industrial era.

2 Industrial Society
In the 18th century, Europe experienced a dramatic rise in technological invention, in an era
known as the Industrial Revolution. What made this period remarkable was the number of new
inventions that influenced people’s daily lives. Within a generation, tasks that had until this point
required months of labor became achievable in a matter of days. Before the Industrial
Revolution, work was largely person- or animal-based, relying on human workers or horses to
power mills and drive pumps. In 1782, James Watt and Matthew Boulton created a steam engine
that could do the work of 12 horses by itself. Steam power began appearing everywhere. Rather
than planting and harvesting fields by hand, farmers were able to purchase mechanical seeders
and threshing machines that caused agricultural productivity. Products such as paper and glass
became available to the average person and the quality and accessibility of education and health
care soared. Gas lights allowed increased visibility in the dark, and towns and cities developed a
night life. One of the results of increased productivity and technology was the rise of urban
centers. Workers flocked to factories for jobs, and the populations of cities became increasingly
diverse. The new generation became less preoccupied with maintaining family land and
traditions, and more focused on acquiring wealth and achieving upward mobility for themselves
and their family. People wanted their children and their children’s children to continue to rise to
the top, and as capitalism increased, so did social mobility. It was during the 18th and 19th
centuries of the Industrial Revolution that sociology was born. Life was changing quickly and
the long-established traditions of the agricultural eras did not apply to life in the larger cities.
Masses of people were moving to new environments and often found themselves faced with
horrendous conditions of filth, overcrowding, and poverty. Social scientists emerged to study the
relationship between the individual members of society and society as a whole.

3 Postindustrial Society
Information societies, sometimes known as postindustrial or digital societies, are a recent
development. Unlike industrial societies that are rooted in the production of material goods,
information societies are based on the production of information and services. Digital technology
is the steam engine of information societies, and computer moguls such as Steve Jobs and Bill
Gates are its John D. Rockefellers and Cornelius Vander bilts. Since the economy of information
societies is driven by knowledge and not material goods, power lies with those in charge of
storing and distributing information. Members of a postindustrial society are likely to be
employed as sellers of services—software programmers or business consultants, for example—
instead of producers of goods. Social classes are divided by access to education, since without
technical skills, people in an information society lack the means for success