The concept of traditional society
In the process of historical development, primitive society is transformed into a traditional society. The impetus for its emergence and development was the agrarian revolution and the social changes in society that arose in connection with it.
Definition 1
A traditional society can be defined as a society with an agrarian structure, based on strict adherence to traditions. The behavior of members of a given society is strictly regulated by customs and norms characteristic of a given society, the most important stable social institutions, such as family and community.
Let us consider the features of the development of traditional society by characterizing its main parameters. The peculiarities of the nature of the social structure in a traditional society are determined by the emergence of excess and surplus products, which in turn indicates the emergence of grounds for the formation of a new form of social structure - the state.
Forms of government in traditional states are fundamentally authoritarian in nature - this is the power of one ruler or a narrow circle of elite - dictatorship, monarchy or oligarchy.
In accordance with the form of government, there was also a certain nature of participation of members of society in the management of its affairs. The very emergence of the institution of state and law determines the need for the emergence of politics and the development of the political sphere of society. During this period of development of society, there is an increase in the activity of citizens in the process of their participation in the political life of the state.
Another parameter for the development of a traditional society is the dominant nature of economic relations. In connection with the emergence of a surplus product, private property and commodity exchange inevitably arise. Private property remained dominant throughout the entire period of development of traditional society, only its object changed in different periods of its development - slaves, land, capital.
In contrast to primitive society, in traditional society the employment structure of its members has become significantly more complicated. Several sectors of employment appear - agriculture, crafts, trade, all professions associated with the accumulation and transmission of information. Thus, we can talk about the emergence of a greater variety of areas of employment for members of traditional society.
The nature of settlements also changed. A fundamentally new type of settlement arose - the city, which became the center of residence for members of society engaged in crafts and trade. It is in cities that the political, industrial and intellectual life of traditional society is concentrated.
The formation of a new attitude towards education as a special social institution and the nature of the development of scientific knowledge dates back to the functioning of the traditional era. The emergence of writing makes it possible to form scientific knowledge. It was at the time of the existence and development of traditional society that discoveries were made in various scientific fields and the foundation was laid in many branches of scientific knowledge.
Note 1
An obvious disadvantage of the development of scientific knowledge in this period of social development was the independent development of science and technology from production. This fact was the reason for the rather slow accumulation of scientific knowledge and its subsequent dissemination. The process of increasing scientific knowledge was linear and required a significant amount of time to accumulate a sufficient amount of knowledge. People involved in science most often did it for their own pleasure; their scientific research was not supported by the needs of society.
1. Despotism and tyranny
2. The Church pays significant attention to the life of society
3. High status of values, traditions and customs
4. The rise of folk culture
5. Agriculture
6. Manual labor
7. Factor of production - land
8. Non-economic forms of forced labor
9. Collectivism prevailed (influence of society, man is a social being)
10. Low social mobility
An example of a traditional society can be examples from history: for example, the history of Ancient Egypt, Rome, Kievan Rus, etc. . But even in the modern world you can find countries with some principles of traditional society, for example, Saudi Arabia, a state with an absolute monarchy, division into classes and low social mobility (practically impossible). The country in North Africa (Algeria) cultivates mainly grains, grapes, vegetables, and fruits. A country in northeast Africa (Ethiopia), which has a share of GDP (%): industry - 12, agriculture - 54. The main branch of agriculture is crop production.
1. development of democratic values
2. Factor of production - capital
3. industrialization
4. Transformation of science into a separate productive force
5. application of science in production
6. Changing society's relationship with nature
7. growth of the working class
8. Various forms of public
9. High social mobility
10. Urbanization
11. Mass culture
Industrial society - the leading factor of production is capital, so England of the 19th century can serve as an example. It was there that this type of society first emerged, and in the twentieth century, in its second half, almost all European countries (including Russia) entered this stage of social development.
In Russia, the formation of an industrial society began in the second half of the 19th century, when industry was rapidly developing in the country and urbanization was taking place. It was necessary to carry out Industrialization (together with collectivization) as quickly as possible, and literally forcefully introduce Soviet society into the industrial era. And yet, industrial society finally emerged only in the 60s and 70s. And already in the 80s of the twentieth century, when a teacher in a city school class asked: “Whose parents work at the factory?” then 70% (or even more) raised their hands. And even kindergartens and hospitals were factory ones, and, therefore, people of creative and intellectual professions also served mainly the industrial sphere.
Traditional society
Traditional society- a society that is regulated by tradition. 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 Eastern countries), and a special way of regulating the life of society, based on traditions and customs. This organization of society strives to preserve the socio-cultural foundations of life unchanged. Traditional society is an agrarian society.
general characteristics
A traditional society is usually characterized by:
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.
In a traditional society, collectivist attitudes predominate, individualism is not encouraged (since freedom of individual action 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 (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.
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.
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. Periods of accelerated development also occurred 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 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) 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 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 number of humanity must be reduced by several hundred times.
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), a special way of regulating the life of society, based on traditions and customs. This organization of society actually strives to preserve unchanged the sociocultural foundations of life that have developed in it.
A traditional society is characterized by:
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 predominate, individualism is not encouraged (since freedom of individual action 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 (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 Division of 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.
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 of accelerated development also occurred 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 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) 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.
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Princess Marya and Natasha, as always, met in the bedroom. They talked about what Pierre had said. 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. - From what? 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.
English society, traditional; German Gesellschaft, traditionelle. Pre-industrial societies, agrarian-type structures, characterized by the predominance of subsistence farming, class hierarchy, structural stability and the method of socio-cult. regulation of all life based on tradition. See AGRICULTURAL COMPANY.
Great definition
Incomplete definition ↓
pre-industrial society, primitive society) is a concept that focuses in its content a set of ideas about the pre-industrial stage of human development, characteristic of traditional sociology and cultural studies. Unified theory T.O. does not exist. Ideas about T.O. are based, rather, on its understanding as a sociocultural model that is asymmetrical to modern society, rather than on a generalization of the real facts of life of peoples not engaged in industrial production. Characteristic of the economy T.O. the dominance of subsistence farming is considered. In this case, commodity relations are either absent altogether or are focused on meeting the needs of a small layer of the social elite. The basic principle of the organization of social relations is the rigid hierarchical stratification of society, as a rule, manifested in the division into endogamous castes. At the same time, the main form of organization of social relations for the vast majority of the population is a relatively closed, isolated community. The latter circumstance dictates the dominance of collectivist social ideas, focused on strict adherence to traditional norms of behavior and excluding individual freedom, as well as an understanding of its value. Together with caste division, this feature almost completely excludes the possibility of social mobility. Political power is monopolized within a separate group (caste, clan, family) and exists primarily in authoritarian forms. A characteristic feature of T.O. it is considered either the complete absence of writing, or its existence in the form of a privilege of certain groups (officials, priests). At the same time, writing quite often develops in a language different from the spoken language of the vast majority of the population (Latin in medieval Europe, Arabic in the Middle East, Chinese writing in the Far East). Therefore, intergenerational transmission of culture is carried out in verbal, folklore form, and the main institution of socialization is the family and community. The consequence of this was the extreme variability of the culture of the same ethnic group, manifested in local and dialect differences. Unlike traditional sociology, modern socio-cultural anthropology does not operate with the concept of T.O. From her perspective, this concept does not reflect the real history of the pre-industrial stage of human development, but characterizes only its last stage. Thus, sociocultural differences between peoples at the stage of development of the “appropriating” economy (hunting and gathering) and those who went through the stage of the “Neolithic revolution” can be no less or even more significant than between “pre-industrial” and “industrial” societies . It is characteristic that in the modern theory of the nation (E. Gelner, B. Anderson, K. Deutsch) to characterize the pre-industrial stage of development, terminology that is more adequate than the concept of “TO” is used - “agrarian”, “agrarian-literate” society”, etc.
Great definition
Incomplete definition ↓
