Lesson 1: Stages of Society

• Types of Societies


  • Hunting and Gathering
  • Horticultural and Pastoral
  • Agrarian Societies
  • Industrial Societies
  • Post-industrial Societies
• In order to have a better understanding of modernity, you must understand first its history. How did we arrive in the modern world? Some 7 or 4. Some argue that 4 and 5 are only one. Bear in mind that this societies does not exist absent the other. They can both simultaneously exist. Ex: PH is in the industrial stage, however there are still horticultural and pastoral.
• Hunting and Gathering


  • Historical Period: The only tyle of society until about 12, 000 years ago, Common several centuries ago, At present time, only a few remains today and are threatened with extinction
  • Productive Technology: Primitive weapons
  • Population Size: 25-40 people in a group
  • Settlement Pattern: Nomadic – move from one place to another as their resources deplete
  • Social Organization: Family-centered, Specialization limited to age and sex, little to none social inequality
• Hunting and Gathering Societies

  • Bushmen of Southwestern Africa (Gods must be crazy movie)
  • Aborigines of Australia
  • Sentinelese of India (World's Last Stone Age Tribe, oldest hunting and gathering society, they are the purest, meaning they do not have any idea about modernity, tendency is they kill those who get close with their perimeter)
  • John Allen Chau – an american missionary was inspired to preach his religion, and the best way to express it was to preach it to the Sentinelese. According to hearsey, his boat was rained by arrows which cause his death. He was not able to preach. His body was gathered after. Anthropologists were mad since John being a modern man have antibodies that the Sentinelese does not have. Americans wanted to sue the Sentinelese. But the united nations opposed
• Horticultural and Pastoral


  • Historical Period: From about 12, 000 years ago, with decreasing numbers after 3000 BCE
  • Productive Technology: Horticultural societies use hand tools for cultivating plants, Pastoral societies are based on the domestication of animals
  • Population Size: Settlements of several hundred people, connected through trading ties to form a societies of several thousand people
  • Settlement Pattern: Horticultural from small permanent settlements, Pastoralist started as nomadic
  • Social Organization: Family-centered, Religious system begins to develop, Moderate specialization, Increased social inequality
• Horticulture


  A type of food production where food is grown using very simple tools
• Horticultural Societies


  Do not permanently plant or care for a field, Unlike farmers, do not irrigate their fields, nor do they fertilize them, Most use sticks and hoes, no concept of plows, mechanized tractors, or even certs pulled by animals
• Horticultural Societies


  • Yanomami of the Amazon Rainforest (The Yanomami men are horticulturalist. They employ shifting cultivation to avoid overused areas. The Yanomami women grow plantains, and cassava as main crops along with sweet potato, sugar cane, corn and mangoes in garden plots for as long as the lands remain fertile)
• Pastoral


  A nomadic group of people who travel with a herd of domesticated animals, which they rely on for food, Very dependent to animals and their by-products, Desert areas or northern climates where it's difficult to grow crops
• Pastoral Societies


  • Maasai of East Africa (Are a pastoral society that herd cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats)
• Agrarian Societies


  • Historical Period: From about 5000 years ago, with large but decreasing numbers today
  • Productive Technology: Animal-drawn plow
  • Population Size: Millions of people
  • Settlement Pattern: People Settles. For the first time, we had permanent settlements.
  • Social Organization: Family loses significance as distinct religious, political, and economic systems emerge, Extensive specialization, Increased social inequality
• Agrarian Societies


  • Egypt during the construction of Pyramids
  • Medieval Europe (until before French Revolution)
• Cradles of Civilization


  • Mesopotamian Civilization
  • Egyptian Civilization
  • Ancient China (Huang Ho) Civilization
  • Indus Valey Civilization
• Cradles of Civilization


  • Control over rivers (Nile River, Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Indus River, Huang Ho and Yangtze Rivers)
  • Centralization (Development of irrigation and its capacity to harness the waters of rivers paved way for centralization)
  • High Populations (Centralization created large settlements)
  • Coordination of the Population (Coordination among large populations require communication and record-keeping, thus the creation of writing and number systems)
  • Control over the Population (Exercise of control over the population became necessary, thus the establishment of a "ruler" and the creation of formal or written laws)
  • Establishment of a Religious System (A society's leader is often serving as a "god-king")
  • High Division of Labor (A large, disciplined and technically knowledgeable labor force was needed to build an efficient system for controlling flood waters)
• Industrial Revolution


  • Massive scale replacement of human power and animal power with the power of machines
  • Change in the Production of Goods: From handmade goods to machine-made goods, From production at home to production in factories, From producing small amounts to mass production, Use of technology to speed up production and meet human needs
• Causes and Preconditions of Industrial Revolution in 18th Century England

  • Natural Resources - Britain was fortunate to have large amounts of coal and iron ore
  • Geography - England had many good harbors, and coastal and river trade was well developed, England had relatively good roads and numerous canals for the cheap transport of raw materials and finished goods
  • Investment Capital - Entrepreneurs and other private individuals had money that they, as capitalists, were willing to invest and risk in business ventures
  • Labor Supply - There were large numbers of skilled workers in the population due to the increase in population
  • Increased Demand - There was a great demand for British products, both in the domestic and foreign markets
  • Transportation and Colonial Empire - Britain had a good navy and had built up a shipping industry. Its expanding colonial empire furnished raw materials for goods
  • Agricultural Changes - Agricultural revolution allowed more food to be produced and required fewer farmers to produce it; many left the farms and went to cities to find work in factories
  • Role of Government - Britain had stable government that had established a good banking system, promoted scientific experimentation, and passed laws to protect businesses
  • Inventions - Inventors devised inventions that would speed up and improve production of goods
• Industrial Societies


  • Historical Period: From about 1750 to the present
  • Productive Technology: Advanced sources of energy, Mechanized production
  • Population Size: Millions of people, People become more highly specialized
  • Settlement Pattern: Cities contain most of the population
  • Social Organization: Distinct religious, political, economic, educational, and family systems, Highly specialized, Marked social inequality persists, diminishing over time
• Industrial Societies


  • Most societies today which generate most of the world's industrial production
• Post-Industrial Societies


  • Historical Period: Emerging in recent decades
  • Productive Technology: Computers that support an information-based economy
  • Population Size: Billions of people
  • Settlement Pattern: Population remains concentrated in cities
  • Social Organization: Similar with industrial societies, but information processing and other service work are gradually replacing industrial production
• Post-Industrial Societies


  • The United States was the first country to have more than fifty percent of its workers employed in service sector jobs (Managed computer services, medical services, construction services, marketing services)