Traditional society is characterized by the following signs of dominance. Traditional society and its characteristics

The development of society is a step-by-step process, representing an upward movement from the simplest economy to a more efficient, advanced one. In the 20th century, famous political scientists and sociologists put forward a theory according to which society overcomes three stages of its development: agricultural, industrial and post-industrial. Let us dwell in more detail on the agrarian society.

Agrarian society by types, features, characteristics, characteristics

An agrarian, traditional or pre-industrial society is based on the traditional values ​​of humanity. This type of society main goal sees the preservation of traditional way of life, does not accept any changes and does not strive for development.

An agrarian society is characterized by a traditional economy, which is characterized by redistribution, and the manifestation of market relations and exchange is strictly suppressed. In a traditional society, there is a priority of attention of the state and the ruling elite over the individual’s own interests. All politics is based on an authoritarian type of power.

A person's status in society is determined by his birth. The whole society is divided into classes, movement between which is impossible. The class hierarchy is again based on traditional way of life life.

An agrarian society is characterized by high mortality and birth rates. And at the same time low life expectancy. Very strong family ties.

The pre-industrial type of society persisted for a long time in many Eastern countries.

Economic features of agrarian civilization and culture

The basis of traditional society is agriculture, the main components of which are farming, cattle breeding or fishing in coastal areas. The priority of a certain type of farming depends on climatic conditions and geographical location places of settlement. Agrarian society itself is completely dependent on nature and its conditions, while man does not make changes to these forces, without in any way trying to tame them. For a long time V pre-industrial society subsistence farming predominated.

Industry is either absent or insignificant. Craft labor is poorly developed. All work is aimed at satisfying basic human needs; society does not even try to strive for more. Extra hours of work are recognized by society as punishment.

A person inherits a profession and occupation from his parents. The lower classes are overly devoted to the higher ones, hence this system state power like a monarchy.

All values ​​and culture as a whole are dominated by traditions.

Traditional agrarian society

As already mentioned, an agrarian society is based on simple crafts and agriculture. The time frame for the existence of a given society is Ancient world and the Middle Ages.

At that time, the economy was based on the use natural resources without any changes to the latter. Hence the low development of labor tools, which remain hand-held for a very long time.

The economic sphere of society is dominated by:

• construction;
• extractive industries;
• subsistence farming.

There is trade, but it is insignificantly developed, and the development of the market is not encouraged by the authorities.

Traditions give a person an already established value system, the main role in which is played by religion and the undeniable authority of the head of state. Culture is based on traditional reverence for one's own history.

The process of transformation of traditional agrarian civilization

An agricultural society is quite resistant to any changes, since its basis is traditions and an established way of life. The transformations are so slow that they are invisible to an individual. Transformations are much easier for states that are not fully traditional. As a rule, this is a society with developed market relations - Greek policies, trading cities of England and Holland, Ancient Rome.

The impetus for the irreversible transformation of agrarian civilization was the industrial revolution XVIII century.

Any transformations in such a society are very painful for a person, especially if religion was the foundation for a traditional society. A person loses guidelines and values. At this time there is an increase authoritarian regime. All changes in society are completed by the demographic transition, in which psychology younger generation is changing.

Industrial and post-industrial agrarian society

Industrial society different sharp jump in industrial development. A sharp increase in economic growth rates. This society is characterized by the “optimism of modernizers” - an unshakable confidence in science, with the help of which it is possible to solve any problems that arise, including social ones.

In this society, there is a purely consumerist attitude towards nature - maximum development of available resources, pollution of nature. Industrial society lives one day at a time, striving to satisfy social and everyday needs to the full here and now.

Post-industrial society is just beginning its development path.

In a post-industrial society, the first place comes to:

• high technology;
• information;
• knowledge.

Industry is giving way to the service sector. Knowledge and information have become the main commodity in the market. Science is no longer recognized as omnipotent. Humanity is finally beginning to realize all the negative consequences that have befallen nature after the development of industry. Are changing public values. Environmental conservation and nature protection come to the fore.

The main factor and sphere of production of an agricultural society

The main factor of production for an agrarian society is land. That is why an agrarian society practically excludes mobility, since it is completely dependent on the place of residence.

The main sphere of production is agriculture. All production is based on the procurement of raw materials and food. All members of society, first of all, strive to satisfy everyday needs. The basis of the economy is family farming. Such a sphere may not always be able to satisfy all human needs, but certainly most of them.

Agrarian state and agrarian fund

The Agrarian Fund is a state apparatus that provides the country with adequate food. Its main task is to support the development of agricultural business in the country. The fund is responsible for the import and export of agricultural goods and distributes products within the country.

Human civilization needs quality products nutrition that only developed agriculture can provide. It is important to take into account that agriculture has never been a highly profitable industry. Entrepreneurs abandon this type of business as soon as they encounter difficulties and lose profits. IN in this case The state’s agricultural policy helps agricultural production by allocating the necessary funds to compensate for possible losses.

IN developed countries The rural way of life and family farming are becoming increasingly popular.

Agrarian modernization

Agrarian modernization is based on increasing the rate of development of agricultural production and sets itself the following tasks:

• creating a new model of economic growth agriculture;


• creation of favorable economic trends for agricultural business;


• improving rural infrastructure;


• attracting the younger generation to the village to live and work;


• assistance in solving problems with land;


• environmental protection.

The main assistant of the state in modernization is private business. Therefore, the state is obliged to meet the needs of agricultural business and help its development in every possible way.

Modernization will bring agricultural and agricultural production to the proper level in the country, improve the quality of food, create additional jobs in the countryside and increase the standard of living of the population of the entire country as a whole.

Traditional	Industrial	Post-industrial
1.ECONOMY.
Subsistence farming	The basis is industry, in agriculture - increasing labor productivity. Destruction of natural dependence.	The basis of production is information. The service sector comes to the fore.
Primitive crafts	Machinery	Computer technology
The predominance of collective forms of ownership. Protection of property of only the upper class of society. Traditional economics.	The basis of the economy is state and private property, 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 exclusiveness.
Extensive economy	Intensive economy	Increase specific gravity small-scale production.
Hand tools	Machinery, conveyor production, automation, mass production	The economic sector associated with the production of knowledge, processing and dissemination of information has been 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 technological progress.	Modernization of the economy.
The standard of living of the majority of the population is low.	Growing income of the population. Mercantilism consciousness.	High level and quality of life of people.
2. SOCIAL SPHERE.
Dependence of position on social status. The main units of society are family, community	The emergence of new classes - the bourgeoisie and the industrial proletariat. Urbanization.	Erasing class differences. Increasing share of the middle class. The share of the population engaged in information processing and dissemination over the labor force in agriculture and industry is increasing significantly
Stability of the social structure, stable boundaries between social communities, adherence to strict social hierarchy. Estate.	The mobility of the social structure is great, the possibilities of social movement are not limited. The emergence of classes.	Eliminating social polarization. Blurring class differences.
3. POLITICS.
Dominance of the Church and the Army	The role of the state is increasing.	Political pluralism
Power is hereditary, the source of power is the will of God.	The dominance of law and law (though, more often on paper) Equality before the law. Individual rights and freedoms are legally enshrined. The main regulator of relations is the rule of law.	Civil society. Relations between the individual and society are built on the principle of mutual responsibility.
Monarchical forms of government, no political freedoms, power above the law, absorption of the individual by the collective, despotic state The state subjugates society, society is 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	Law, right - not on paper, but in practice. Democracy. Consensus democracy. Political pluralism.
4. SPIRITUAL SPHERE.
Norms, customs, beliefs.		Continuing education.
Providentialism consciousness, fanatical attitude towards religion.	Secularization consciousness. The emergence of atheists.	Freedom of conscience and religion.
Individualism and individual identity were not encouraged; collective consciousness prevailed over the individual.	Individualism, rationalism, utilitarianism of consciousness.	The desire to prove oneself, to achieve success in life.
Few educated people, the role of science is not great. The education is elite.	The role of knowledge and education is great. Mainly secondary education.	The role of science, education, and the information age is great. Higher education. Formed global network telecommunications - Internet.
The predominance of oral information over written information.	The dominance of mass culture.	Availability different types culture
TARGET.
Adaptation to nature.	Liberation of man from direct dependence on nature, partial subordination of it to himself. The emergence of environmental problems.	Anthropogenic civilization, i.e. in the center is a person, his individuality, interests. solving 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 worldviews.

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– a modern type of society based on the dominance of information ( computer technology) in production, development of the service sector, lifelong 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, and authoritarian ideology.

— open society – characterized by a dynamic social structure, high social mobility, the ability to innovate, pluralism, and the absence of state ideology.

1. By availability of writing:

— preliterate

—written (knowing the alphabet or symbolic writing)

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

— simple — pre-state formations, there are no managers and subordinates)

— complex – several levels of management, layers of the population.

Explanation of terms

Material prepared by: Melnikova Vera Aleksandrovna

IN scientific literature, for example, in sociological dictionaries and textbooks, there are various definitions concepts of traditional society. Having analyzed them, we can identify the fundamental and determining factors in identifying the type of traditional society. Such factors are: the dominant place of agriculture in society, not subject to dynamic changes, the presence of social structures of different stages of development that do not have a mature industrial complex, opposition to the modern one, the dominance of agriculture in it and low rates of development.

Features of a traditional society

Traditional society is an agrarian society, therefore it is characterized by manual labor, division of labor according to working conditions and social functions, regulation of social life based on traditions.

There is no single and precise concept of traditional society in sociological science due to the fact that broad interpretations of the term “” make it possible to classify social structures that differ significantly from each other in their characteristics, for example, tribal and feudal society, to this type.

According to the American sociologist Daniel Bell, a traditional society is characterized by the absence of statehood, the predominance traditional values and patriarchal way of life. Traditional society is the first in time of formation and arises with the emergence of society in general. In the periodization of human history, this occupies the longest time period. It identifies several types of societies according to historical eras: primitive society, slaveholding ancient society and medieval feudal society.

In a traditional society, as opposed to an industrial and post-industrial societies, man is entirely dependent on the forces of nature. Industrial production in such a society is absent or occupies a minimal share, because traditional society is not aimed at producing consumer goods and there are religious prohibitions against polluting nature. The main thing in a traditional society is to maintain the existence of man as a species. The development of such a society is associated with the extensive spread of humanity and the collection natural resources from large areas. The main relationship in such a society is between man and nature.

The way of life in it is characterized by a rigid class hierarchy, the existence of stable social communities(especially in Eastern countries), in a special way regulation life society based on traditions and customs. This organization society strives to preserve the socio-cultural foundations of life unchanged. Traditional society- agricultural society.

A traditional society is usually characterized by:
-traditional economy
-predominance of the agricultural structure;
- stability of the structure;
-class organization;
-low mobility;
-high mortality;
-high birth rate;
-low life expectancy.

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

In a traditional society, collectivist attitudes predominate, individualism is not welcomed (since freedom of individual action can lead to a violation of the established order, 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.). What is valued is not so much individual capacity as the place in the hierarchy (official, class, clan, etc.) that a person occupies.

In a traditional society, as a rule, relations of redistribution rather than market exchange predominate, and elements of a market economy are strictly regulated. This is because free markets increase social mobility and change social structure societies (in particular, they destroy class); the redistribution system may be regulated by tradition, but market prices are not; forced redistribution prevents “unauthorized” enrichment/impoverishment of both individuals and classes. Persecution economic benefit in traditional society it is often morally condemned and opposed to selfless help.

In a traditional society, most people live their entire lives in local community(for example, a village), connections with `big society` quite weak. At the same time, family ties, on the contrary, are very strong.
The worldview (ideology) of a traditional society is determined by tradition and authority.

Transformation of traditional society
Traditional society is extremely stable. As the famous demographer and sociologist Anatoly Vishnevsky writes, “everything in it is interconnected 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. Accelerated periods development took place in traditional societies (a striking example is changes in the territory of Eurasia in the 1st millennium BC), but even in such periods changes were carried out slowly by modern standards, and upon their completion society again returned to a relatively static state with a predominance of cyclic dynamics.

At the same time, since ancient times there have been societies that cannot be called completely traditional. The departure from 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. Ancient Rome (before the 3rd century AD) stands apart with its civil society.

The rapid and irreversible transformation of traditional society began to occur only in the 18th century as a result of industrial revolution. By now this process took over almost the entire world.

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

The most painful transformation of traditional society occurs in cases where 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 the demographic transition. The generation that grew up in small families has a psychology that differs from the psychology of a traditional person.

Opinions about the need (and extent) 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 traditional society “has no chance,” although it “fiercely resists.” According to the calculations of Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Professor A. Nazaretyan, in order to completely abandon development and return society into a static state, the human population must be reduced several hundred times.

] The social structure in it is characterized by a rigid class hierarchy, the existence of stable social communities (especially in Eastern countries), and a special way of regulating the life of society, based on traditions and customs. This organization of society actually strives to preserve unchanged the socio-cultural foundations of life that have developed in it.

General characteristics

A traditional society is characterized by:

• traditional economy, or the predominance of the agricultural way of life (agrarian society),
• structural stability,
• estate organization,
• low mobility,

A traditional person perceives the world and the established order of life as something inextricably integral, holistic, sacred and not subject to change. A person's place in society and his status are determined by tradition and social origin.

According to the formula formulated in 1910–1920. According to L. Lévy-Bruhl's concept, people of traditional societies are characterized by prelogical (“prelogique”) thinking, incapable of discerning the inconsistency of phenomena and processes and controlled by mystical experiences of participation (“participation”).

In a traditional society, collectivist attitudes prevail, individualism is not encouraged (since freedom of individual action can lead to a violation of the established order, tested by time). 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 (states, etc.). What is valued is not so much individual capacity as the place in the hierarchy (official, class, clan, etc.) that a person occupies. As noted, Emile Durkheim in his work “On the Separation social labor“showed that in societies of mechanical solidarity (primitive, traditional), individual consciousness is entirely outside the “I”.

In a traditional society, as a rule, relations of redistribution rather than market exchange predominate, and elements of a market economy are strictly 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 class); the redistribution system may 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 traditional society is often morally condemned and opposed to selfless help.

In a traditional society, most people live their entire lives in a local community (for example, a village), and connections 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 determined by tradition and authority.

“For tens of thousands of years, the life of the overwhelming majority of adults was subordinated to the tasks of survival and therefore left even less room for creativity and non-utilitarian cognition than for play. Life was based on tradition, hostile to any innovations; any serious deviation from the given norms of behavior was a threat to everything to the team,” writes L. Ya. Zhmud.

Transformation of traditional society

Traditional society appears to be extremely stable. As the famous demographer and sociologist Anatoly Vishnevsky writes, “everything in it is interconnected 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 accelerated development took place in traditional societies (a striking example is changes in the territory of Eurasia in the 1st millennium BC), but even in such periods changes were carried out slowly by modern standards, and upon their completion, society again returned to a relatively static state with a predominance of cyclical speakers.

At the same time, since ancient times there have been societies that cannot be called completely traditional. The departure from 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. Ancient Rome (before the 3rd century AD) with its civil society stands apart.

The rapid and irreversible transformation of traditional society began to occur only in the 18th century as a result of the industrial revolution. By now, 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 guidelines and values, 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 traditional society occurs in cases where 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 the demographic transition. The generation that grew up in small families has a psychology that differs from the psychology of a traditional person.

Opinions about the need (and extent) 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 traditional society “has no chance,” although it “fiercely resists.” According to the calculations of Professor A. Nazaretyan, in order to completely abandon development and return society to a static state, the number of humanity must be reduced by several hundred times.

See also

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Notes

Literature

• (chapter " Historical dynamics culture: cultural features of traditional and modern societies. Modernization")
• Nazaretyan A.P. // Social science and modernity. 1996. No. 2. P. 145-152.

An excerpt characterizing Traditional Society

Princess Marya and Natasha, as always, met in the bedroom. They talked about what Pierre had told. Princess Marya did not speak her opinion about Pierre. Natasha didn't talk about him either.
“Well, goodbye, Marie,” Natasha said. – You know, I’m often afraid that we don’t talk about him (Prince Andrei), as if we are afraid to humiliate our feelings and forget.
Princess Marya sighed heavily and with this sigh acknowledged the truth of Natasha’s words; but in words she did not agree with her.
- Is it possible to forget? - she said.
“It felt so good to tell everything today; and hard, and painful, and good. “Very good,” said Natasha, “I’m sure he really loved him.” That's why I told him... nothing, what did I tell him? – suddenly blushing, she asked.
- Pierre? Oh no! How wonderful he is,” said Princess Marya.
“You know, Marie,” Natasha suddenly said with a playful smile that Princess Marya had not seen on her face for a long time. - He became somehow clean, smooth, fresh; definitely from the bathhouse, do you understand? - morally from the bathhouse. Is it true?
“Yes,” said Princess Marya, “he won a lot.”
- And a short frock coat, and cropped hair; definitely, well, definitely from the bathhouse... dad, it used to be...
“I understand that he (Prince Andrei) did not love anyone as much as he did,” said Princess Marya.
– Yes, and it’s special from him. They say that men are friends only when they are very special. It must be true. Is it true that he doesn't resemble him at all?
- Yes, and wonderful.
“Well, goodbye,” Natasha answered. And the same playful smile, as if forgotten, remained on her face for a long time.

Pierre could not fall asleep for a long time that day; He walked back and forth around the room, now frowning, pondering something difficult, suddenly shrugging his shoulders and shuddering, now smiling happily.
He thought about Prince Andrei, about Natasha, about their love, and was either jealous of her past, then reproached her, then forgave himself for it. It was already six o'clock in the morning, and he was still walking around the room.
“Well, what can we do? If you can’t do without it! What to do! So, this is how it should be,” he said to himself and, hastily undressed, went to bed, happy and excited, but without doubts and indecisions.
“We must, strange as it may be, no matter how impossible this happiness is, we must do everything in order to be husband and wife with her,” he said to himself.
Pierre, a few days before, had set Friday as the day of his departure for St. Petersburg. When he woke up on Thursday, Savelich came to him for orders about packing his things for the road.
“How about St. Petersburg? What is St. Petersburg? Who's in St. Petersburg? – he asked involuntarily, albeit to himself. “Yes, something like that a long, long time ago, even before this happened, I was planning to go to St. Petersburg for some reason,” he remembered. - Why? I'll go, maybe. How kind and attentive he is, how he remembers everything! - he thought, looking at Savelich’s old face. “And what a pleasant smile!” - he thought.
- Well, don’t you want to go free, Savelich? – asked Pierre.
- Why do I need freedom, Your Excellency? We lived under the late count, the kingdom of heaven, and we see no resentment under you.
- Well, what about the children?
“And the children will live, your Excellency: you can live with such gentlemen.”
- Well, what about my heirs? - said Pierre. “What if I get married... It could happen,” he added with an involuntary smile.
“And I dare to report: a good deed, your Excellency.”
“How easy he thinks it is,” thought Pierre. “He doesn’t know how scary it is, how dangerous it is.” Too early or too late... Scary!
- How would you like to order? Would you like to go tomorrow? – Savelich asked.