Traditional development of society. Traditional society: how to understand it

Society in a broad sense is a part of the material world, separated from nature, including people, as well as various relationships and connections between them. In the narrow - a group of people united by common tasks, interests, goals, views. Any society has developed in one way or another, otherwise it would not have survived. Social development implied the passage of certain stages, which are most often called formations and are periodically drawn up in a table.

The key was the attitude to the production of material goods. There are only 4 or 5 such formations, depending on the approach:

Characteristic features - the presence of common property, less, compared with the rest, inequality in terms of property. The period of accumulation of primary wealth in society.

2. Slave

It is not mandatory for any society. There is a violent seizure and redistribution of property.

3. Feudalism

Traditional or subsistence agriculture, fragmentation, constant skirmishes, epidemics, low level of culture and medicine.

4. Capitalism

The progress of science and technology begins, manual labor is replaced by machine labor, the level of production grows several times, the number of goods produced per capita increases. Wars in history are on the rise. Increasing inequality between different classes.

5. Communism

Recognized by far not all as the most progressive. A fair distribution of property is declared.

This is what was taught within the framework of Soviet history and the Soviet view of the formation of society. Received the name of the formational approach. Designed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

However, as you might guess, there are other approaches in the West. First, the bases of division are much further. For example, historical types of society are considered depending on the presence of writing, that is, those who had writing in one form or another and those who did not have it are distinguished. Secondly, the multivariability of social development is recognized, implying, among other things, regression, and not just progress.

According to the structure, the types of society are divided into simple and complex. In the first, everything is quite homogeneous, the relationships are simple. Secondly, there are classes, which, in turn, can also differ in complex organization.

In general, the types of society and their characteristics is not an easy topic. For example, there are open and closed. In the first, a person can go upstairs using special social elevators. The second deprives such an opportunity, belonging to the privileged part of society can only be born. An extreme example is the castes in India.

Civilization approach

Since the formational approach has been repeatedly criticized, including for putting the utopian and dubious idea of ​​communism on top, an alternative could not but arise. And she really showed up. The civilizational approach was developed by Danilevsky, Spengler and Toynbee. According to them, civilization is a closed world of culture, both spiritual and material, which exists for a certain time, and then collapses. They singled out the Romano-Germanic, ancient Egyptian, ancient Roman, Russian (meaning the Russian Empire) and so on.

Today, these views have undergone some changes. In particular, it is believed that civilization is a stage of development that either leads to changes and a reassessment of the ethnic group itself, or to disintegration into different nationalities, which happened to the Roman Empire, or to assimilation, which happened to Egypt.

The famous American professor Bell considers the following main types of society:

1. Pre-industrial civilization

The second name is traditional society. It existed until the 19th century. Some states are still at this stage of development, but their number in the world is gradually decreasing. The domination of one dynasty or a small group (aristocratic republics). The economic basis is agriculture and cattle breeding, manual labor is highly developed. The distribution of wealth depends directly on the position in society. Most societies are closed, there is no upward movement or it is extremely difficult, only possible in exceptional cases. The culture is poorly developed, most of the population does not receive normal medical care, education, is not protected from arbitrariness, and is limited in legal rights.

2. Industrial civilization

An industrial society is also known as an evolving society. Appeared about 200 years ago. Education is closely linked to the industrial revolution and scientific and technological progress. Many states, including the CIS, are at this stage. Thanks to science, man has ceased to be so dependent on nature. Market relations began to dominate in the economy, and the number of different forms of ownership increased. Production became machine-made, capacities were increased. Democracy reigns in the political sphere. The presence of power is not taken for granted, the leader must prove that he has the right to it. The question of the legitimacy of power is raised.

Different groups of society receive civil rights. The position of the individual is directly related to what it can give to society, to produce. Many structures are noticeably simplified. The value is the protection of rights, equality and progress, universal literacy. In connection with this, education is being modernized, it is available to everyone. The validity of many traditions is being reconsidered.

3. Post-industrial civilization

Often known as the information society. It is believed that the United States, Japan and a number of EU countries are now at this stage of development. The role of intellectual labor and the generation of new ideas is growing. Information acquires an independent economic value. Politically, reaching a consensus becomes important. The modernization of education is reaching a new level, the issue of its quality, and not just accessibility, is being actively discussed. Terminology is being revised, including in science, as well as in art, including the basic one. The very concept of modernization, however, like many others, can be subjected to reassessment and rethinking. Database control is becoming a way to manage significant resources.

It should be noted that within the framework of the civilizational approach, the formation of all possible types is not completed. First, scientists are still studying the information variety. Secondly, it is unclear what the future holds. This

a special science, futurology, deals with the issue. Interesting assumptions on this topic can be found if you search for data on the issues of "multivariability of social development types of societies." Just keep in mind that these are all hypotheses.

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.	The presence of different forms of ownership. 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 in the share of small-scale 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 significantly increasing 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. 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. A person is an 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- 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, a high level of knowledge development, scientific and technological progress, the secularization of consciousness.

post-industrial society- a modern type of 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

Material prepared: Melnikova Vera Aleksandrovna

Plan
Introduction
1 General characteristics
2 Transformation of traditional society
and literature

Introduction

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 by a rigid class hierarchy, the existence of stable social communities (especially in the countries of the East), a special way of regulating 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.

1. General characteristics

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;

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, time-tested). In general, traditional societies are characterized by the predominance 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.

2. Transformation of traditional society

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.”

In ancient times, changes in traditional society occurred extremely slowly - over generations, almost imperceptibly for an individual. Periods of accelerated development also took place in traditional societies (a striking example is the changes in the territory of Eurasia in the 1st millennium BC), but even during such periods, changes were carried out slowly by modern standards, and after their completion, the society returned to a relatively static state with a predominance of cyclical dynamics.

At the same time, since ancient times, there have been societies that cannot be called completely traditional. The departure from the traditional society was associated, as a rule, with the development of trade. This category includes Greek city-states, medieval self-governing trading cities, England and Holland of the 16th-17th centuries. Standing apart is Ancient Rome (until the 3rd century AD) with its civil society.

The rapid and irreversible transformation of traditional society began to occur only from the 18th century as a result of the industrial revolution. To date, this process has captured almost the entire world.

Rapid changes and departure from traditions can be experienced by a traditional person as a collapse of landmarks and values, a loss of the meaning of life, etc. Since adaptation to new conditions and a change in the nature of activity are not included in the strategy of a traditional person, the transformation of society often leads to the marginalization of part of the population.

The most painful transformation of a traditional society occurs when the dismantled traditions have a religious justification. At the same time, resistance to change can take the form of religious fundamentalism.

During the period of transformation of a traditional society, authoritarianism may increase in it (either in order to preserve traditions, or in order to overcome resistance to change).

The transformation of traditional society ends with a demographic transition. The generation that grew up in small families has a psychology that differs from that of a traditional person.

Opinions on the need (and degree) of transformation of traditional society differ significantly. For example, the philosopher A. Dugin considers it necessary to abandon the principles of modern society and return to the "golden age" of traditionalism. Sociologist and demographer A. Vishnevsky argues that the traditional society "has no chance", although it "fiercely resists." According to the calculations of the academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Professor A. Nazaretyan, in order to completely abandon development and return society to a static state, the human population must be reduced by several hundred times.

1. Knowledge is Power, No. 9, 2005, "Demographic Oddities"

Textbook "Sociology of Culture" (chapter "Historical Dynamics of Culture: Characteristics of the Culture of Traditional and Modern Societies. Modernization")

· A. G. Vishnevsky's book “The Sickle and the Ruble. Conservative Modernization in the USSR"

The book "European Modernization"

Nazaretyan A.P. Demographic utopia of "sustainable development" // Social sciences and modernity. 1996. No. 2. S. 145-152.

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Traditional society is a kind of society, which has its own characteristics. What are the characteristics of a traditional society?

Definition

A traditional society is a community in which everything is governed by values. Much more attention is paid to the preservation of numerous traditions in such an estate than to the development of the partnership itself. A characteristic feature of a traditional society is the presence of a rigid hierarchy and the existence of a clear division into classes.

The traditional community is agrarian. This can be explained by the fact that the work on the land is part of the long-term values ​​that are characteristic of this type of social order. In its original form, the traditional caste is preserved in some states of Africa, Asia and the East.

signs

The characteristic features of a traditional society are:

1. The basis of life is agricultural activity. This way of life is characteristic of the Middle Ages. To date, it has been preserved in some states of Africa, Asia and the East.
2. Class-corporate social system. This means that the public is clearly divided into several classes, which do not overlap in any way in the course of their activities. Such a system originated many millennia ago.
3. The traditional society is characterized by the value of the human person, since a person is a continuation of God. For this reason, spiritual life is placed higher than material wealth. Also, a person feels a close relationship with the land on which he was born, and his estate.
4. Established traditions that clearly regulate human behavior from birth, family relationships and values. The ruler thus has undeniable power.
5. Low life expectancy, which is associated with a high birth rate and no less high mortality.
6. Two features characteristic of a traditional society are respect for one's own culture and ancient customs.

To date, researchers have agreed that the traditional society is deprived of a choice in terms of spiritual and cultural development. This significantly hinders his progress.

Features

What are the characteristics of a traditional type of society? Let's list them in order:

1. A patriarchal way of life, in which the man plays the main role, and the woman is a secondary member of society.
2. A sense of collectivism and belonging to a particular community.
3. Since the traditional society is built on agriculture and primitive crafts, it is characterized by complete dependence on the forces of nature.
4. The desire of a person to earn no more than is necessary to meet basic needs.
5. The purpose of this type of state is not the development, but the maintenance of the human population. That is why countries with such a way of life do not have the desire to produce goods.

The traditional type is the earliest, as it arose with the public. At first glance, it may seem that there is no development in it. However, it is not. It's just that this type of community develops in a slightly different way than other varieties.

Development

In economic terms, traditional society is characterized by development based on agriculture. At the same time, material goods are distributed depending on the social status of a person.

A traditional type of society is characterized by the value of redistributive relations, when rights and obligations are distributed depending on the social status of a person. At the same time, a person has no chance to improve his social position, since it is inherited, as well as the choice of activity. For example, the son of a blacksmith will also be a blacksmith. In addition, marriages between people from different social strata of society are strictly prohibited.

Traditional society is characterized by division into communities. For example, it can be a merchant guild, an order of chivalry, or thieves' corporations. A person outside the community is considered an outcast, so expulsion from it has always been one of the worst punishments. Man is born, lives and dies on the same earth.

culture

A traditional society is characterized by a culture built entirely on the observance of legacies that have been laid down over many decades. Traditions are an intangible part of the culture of society, which is passed down from generation to generation. The task of the traditional community is to preserve and honor their own culture.

Religion plays a very important role in this type of society. A person is a servant of God or gods and therefore is obliged to perform certain religious rituals.

Traditional culture tends to develop over many centuries, like Chinese or Indian culture.

Values ​​of traditional society

In this type of state, labor is regarded as a duty. Among the least prestigious and difficult are agriculture, trade and handicrafts. The most respected are the clergy and military affairs.

What values ​​are characteristic of a traditional society?

1. The distribution of material wealth does not depend on whether a person works for the benefit of the state or the city. It depends on the position of the person. For example, a citizen from a higher class has an order of magnitude more privileges.
2. The desire to obtain material benefits that are not due to this estate causes misunderstanding among the public.
3. Traditional social mechanisms are aimed at maintaining stability, not development.
4. The administration of the state belongs to rich people who do not need to take care of the food of the family, which means they have free time. Whereas people from the lower classes were constantly occupied with the question of how to satisfy basic needs.

The basis of the traditional society is the middle class - people who have private property, but do not seek excessive enrichment.

The division of society into classes

Class division is the basis of traditional society. An estate is a group of people that has certain rights and obligations. Belonging to a particular class is passed down from generation to generation. Among the estates of traditional medieval society, the following can be distinguished:

1. Noble people, clergy, warriors - the highest class of people. They do not need to work on the land to meet their needs. They have property by birthright, as well as servants.
2. Independent entrepreneurs - merchants, millers, artisans, blacksmiths. They need to work to maintain their material wealth, but they are not in someone's service.
3. The serfs are completely subordinate to the master, who regulates their lives. The duties of the peasant have always included cultivating the land, maintaining order on the estates, and fulfilling the instructions of the master. The owner had the opportunity to punish the peasant for wrongdoing and monitor all aspects of his life, down to personal and family relationships.

Such foundations of traditional society have not changed for centuries.

Life in a traditional society

As already noted, each layer of traditional society had its own rights and obligations. Thus, the upper classes had access to any benefits of civilization that society provided. They had the opportunity to show off their wealth through the possession of luxurious housing and clothing. In addition, the nobility often brought gifts to the clergy, the military, donated funds for the needs of the city.

The middle class had a stable income, which was enough for a comfortable life. However, no one had the right and opportunity to boast of wealth. The lower strata of society were forced to be content with only small benefits, which were hardly enough to meet basic needs. At the same time, their rights were often regulated by the upper classes. For example, there could be a ban on the use of any household items for the poor or the consumption of a certain product. Thus, the social gap between the strata of society was emphasized.

Traditional societies of the East

Some signs of the traditional type of society have been preserved in the eastern countries to this day. Despite the industrialization and development of the economies of countries, they retained the following features:

• religiosity - most of the states of the East are Muslim, which means that religion plays a very important role both in the life of society and in the life of an individual;
• reverence for old traditions is strong in the powers not only of the East, but also in Asia (China, Japan);

• the possession of material values ​​depends on class affiliation.

In the modern world, there are practically no traditional societies in the classical sense. States evolve and develop in economic, spiritual, political directions, thereby gradually replacing the values ​​inherent in traditional society.

A person in a traditional community

A traditional society is characterized by the perception of a person as a part of the public, in which everyone has a certain role, personal ties predominate, since family, neighborly, clan relations can be observed within society. This is especially evident in the example of the noble strata of society, where everyone knew everyone personally.

At the same time, everyone has a social role that he adheres to throughout his life. For example, a landowner is a patron, a warrior is a protector, a peasant is a farmer.

In a traditional society, it is impossible to obtain wealth through honest work. Here it is inherited along with position in society and private property. It is assumed that power gives wealth, and not vice versa.

a brief description of

Traditional society is characterized by the following features:

1. Dependences of private and social life on the religious ideas of society.
2. Cyclic development.
3. The absence of a personal principle, the predominantly collectivist nature of society.
4. Undeniable recognition of any power, patriarchy.
5. The predominance of tradition, not innovation.

In traditional society, special attention is paid to the family, as it is aimed at procreation. It is for this reason that traditional society families have many children. In addition, society is characterized by conservatism, which significantly slows down its development.

Traditional, industrial and post-industrial. Traditional society is the first form of organization of human relations in terms of historical development. This social structure is at the first stage of development and is characterized by a number of the following features.

First of all, a traditional society is a society whose life is based on an agricultural (subsistence) economy using extensive technologies and primitive crafts. Typical for the period of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages. It is believed that almost any society that existed in the period from the primitive community to the beginning is traditional.

The tools used during this period are manual. Their improvement and modernization took place at a very slow, almost imperceptible rate of natural forced evolution. The economic system was based on the use of it was dominated by subsistence farming, mining, construction, trade.

The social system of this type of society is class-corporate, it is stable and immobile for centuries. There are several estates that do not change for a long time, maintaining the static and unchanging nature of life. Many traditional societies do not have commodity relations at all or are so poorly developed that they are oriented only to satisfy the needs of a small stratum of the social elite.

The traditional society has the following features. It is characterized by the complete dominance of religion in human life is considered the implementation of divine providence. The most important quality of a person is collectivism, a sense of belonging to his class, a close connection with the land where he was born. Individualism is not yet characteristic of people. At this time, the spiritual life was more significant for a person compared to the material.

The rules of life in a team, coexistence with neighbors, attitude to power were determined by tradition. A person acquired status at birth. was interpreted solely from the point of view of religion, therefore, the attitude to power was provided by an explanation of the divine purpose of the government to fulfill its role in society. enjoyed indisputable authority and played a paramount role in the life of society. Such a society is not characterized by mobility.

Examples of traditional societies today are the ways of life in most countries of North and Northeast Africa (Ethiopia, Algeria), Southeast Asia (Vietnam).

In Russia, a society of this type existed until the middle of the 19th century. Despite this, by the beginning of the century it was one of the largest and most influential countries in the world, had the status of a great power.

The main spiritual values ​​that a traditional society has are traditions, the culture of ancestors. Cultural life was focused mainly on the past: respect for ancestors, admiration for cultural monuments and works of previous eras. Culture is characterized by homogeneity, orientation to its own traditions and rather categorical rejection of alternative cultures of other peoples.

Many researchers believe that traditional society is characterized by a culture of lack of choice. The dominant worldview in society and stable traditions provide a person with a ready-made clear and spiritual guide. Therefore, the world around is understandable to a person and does not cause unnecessary questions.