herding and horticultural societies differ from hunter-gatherer societies in that they settle in one place, occasionally moving to another when water becomes scarce or land is depleted; make their living by cultivating food; and have some control over their food production (Ward and Edelstein 2014).
The ability to control food sources was a major turning point in human history. Societies became more settled and stored surpluses of food, which led to increases in population size. A community could contain as many as 3,000 individuals. More people, surplus food, and greater accumulation of possessions encouraged the development of private property and created new status differences between individuals and families. Forms of social inequality started to become pronounced.
The technological breakthrough that moved many societies from the horticultural to the agricultural stage was the plow, introduced more than 6,000 years ago. It marked the beginning of the agricultural revolution in Europe, the Middle East, and other parts of the world, and it brought about massive changes in social structures in many societies. The end of the horticultural stage also saw advances in irrigation systems, the fertilization of land, crop rotation, more permanent settlements, land ownership, human modification of the natural environment, higher population density (cities), and power hierarchies.
Agricultural Societies.
Pedro and Lydia Ramirez, their four young children, and Lydia’s parents live as an extended family in a small farming village in Nicaragua. The family plows the land with the help of strong animals such as horses and oxen, uses fertilizers, and waters the garden when needed. The Ramirezes’ way of life is typical in an agricultural society. Agricultural societies rely primarily on raising crops for food but make use of technological advances such as the plow, irrigation, animals, and fertilization to continuously cultivate the same land. The continuous cultivation of the same land results in permanent settlements and greater food surpluses. Agricultural societies use energy more efficiently than foraging societies. For example, the plow circulates nutrients better than a digging stick, and when an animal pulls the plow, the farmer uses strength beyond that of a person. As increasingly sophisticated agricultural technology resulted in surplus food, the size of population centers increased to as much as a million or more.
As surpluses accumulated, land in some societies became concentrated in the hands of a few individuals. Wealthy landowners built armies and expanded their empires. During these periods, fighting for land took precedence over technological advances. War was prevalent, and societies were divided increasingly into rich and poor classes. Those who held the land and wealth could control the labor sources and acquire serfs or slaves. Thus, the feudal system was born. Serfs (the peasant class) were forced to work the land for their survival. Food surpluses also allowed some individuals to leave the land and to trade goods or services in exchange for food. For the first time, social inequality became extensive enough to divide society into social classes. At this point, religion, political power, a standing army, and other meso-level institutions and organizations came to be independent of the family. The meso level became well established.
As technology advanced, goods were manufactured in cities. Peasants moved from farming communities, where the land could not support the large population, to rapidly growing urban areas, where the demand for labor was great. It was not until the mid-1700s in England that the next major transformation of society began to take place, resulting largely from technological advances and additional harnessing of energy. (See Figure 3.1 for a timeline of this transformation.)
▲ Plows, essential for agricultural societies to develop, were pushed by people and then pulled by animals and later machines. Harnessing energy ever more effectively is a prerequisite to a society becoming more complex.
© Getty/Bloomberg/Contributor
© Getty/Loop Images/Contributor
▼ Figure 3.1 Timeline of the Industrial Revolution, 1712–1903
Industrial Societies.
The Industrial Revolution involved the harnessing of steam power and the manufacture of gasoline engines, permitting machines to replace human and animal power. A tractor can plow far more land in a week than a horse, and an electric pump can irrigate more acres than an ox-driven pump. As a result of such new technologies, raw mineral products such as ores, raw plant products such as rubber, and raw animal products such as hides could be transformed into mass-produced consumer goods. The Industrial Revolution brought about enormous changes in occupations, the division of labor, production of goods, and social structures.
Industrial societies rely primarily on mechanized production resulting in greater division of labor based on expertise. Economic resources were distributed more widely among individuals in industrial societies, but inequities between owners and laborers persisted. Wage earning gradually replaced slavery and serfdom, and highly skilled workers earned higher wages, leading to the rise of a middle class. Farm workers moved from rural areas to cities to find work in factories that produced consumer goods. Cities grew, and many became populated by millions of people.
Family and kinship patterns at the micro level also changed. Agricultural societies need large, land-based extended family units to do the work of farming (recall how the Ramirez parents, grandparents, and children in Nicaragua all help out at harvest time), but industrial societies need individuals with specific skills, the ability to move to where the jobs are, and smaller families to support. Family roles change. Children are an asset in agricultural societies and begin work at an early age. However, from a purely economic perspective, children become a liability in an industrial society because they contribute less to the finances of the family.
Meso- and macro-level dimensions of social life expand in industrializing societies and become more influential in the lives of individuals. National institutions and multinational organizations develop. Today, for example, global organizations such as the World Bank, the World Court, the United Nations, and the World Health Organization address social problems and sometimes even make decisions that change national boundaries or national policies. Corporations such as Nike and Gap are multinational organizations (located in many countries). Some voluntary associations—such as Doctors without Borders, which serves medical needs, and Amnesty International, which lobbies for human rights—do their work across the globe.
Perhaps the most notable characteristic of the industrial age is the rapid rate of change compared with other stages of societal development. The beginning of industrialization in Europe was gradual, based on years of population movement, urbanization, technological development, and other factors of modernization. Today, however, societal change occurs so rapidly that societies at all levels of development are being drawn together into a new age—the postindustrial era. As you will see, this rapid change and globalization have caused disruption in many societies, and reactions to the change vary widely.
Postindustrial or Information Societies.
Postindustrial societies are those that have moved from human labor and manufacturing to automated production and service jobs, largely processing information. Postindustrial societies require workers with high levels of technical and professional education. Those without
