Typology of societies. Historical types of societies and their characteristics

Modern societies can be distinguished by numerous indicators, but they also have identical features, which allows them to be typologized. One of the main directions in the typology of society is the choice of forms of state power, political relations, as criteria for dividing individual types of society. For example, Aristotle and Plato divide societies according to the type of government system: democracy, aristocracy, tyranny, monarchy and oligarchy. In our time, with a similar approach, authoritarian societies are distinguished (they combine elements of democracy and totalitarianism), democratic ones - the population has mechanisms of influence on state structures, totalitarian ones - all the main directions of social life are determined by the state.

Marxism makes the basis for the typology of society the difference between societies according to the type of production relations in individual socio-economic stages: primitive communal society (appropriating the simplest method of production); with the Asian mode of production of society (the presence of unique collective ownership of land); slaveholding societies (use of slave labor and ownership of people); feudal societies (exploitation of peasants attached to the land); socialist or communist societies (due to the elimination of private property relations, equal treatment of everyone in ownership of the means of production).

Consideration of types of societies is the purpose of this study.

In modern sociology, the typology based on the identification of post-industrial, industrial and traditional societies is recognized as the most stable.

Traditional society (or agrarian, simple) is a society with sedentary structures, an agricultural structure and a method of socio-cultural regulation based on traditions. The behavior of individuals in such a society is regulated by norms of traditional behavior (customs) and is strictly controlled. In such a society there are well-established social institutions, among which the main one is the family or community. Any social innovations are considered unacceptable. Such a society is characterized by low rates of development. For him, the key indicator is established social solidarity, which was established by T. Durkheim Parsons, while studying the society of indigenous Australians. The System of Modern Societies. M., 2002. P. 25..

Modern societies are classified as industrial and post-industrial societies.

Industrial society is a type of organization of social life that combines the interests and freedom of the individual with general principles governing their joint activities. Such societies are characterized by social mobility, flexibility of social structures, and a wide system of communications.

The negative side of post-industrial society has become the danger of tightening social control by the ruling elite over citizens and society as a whole through access to electronic media and communications 2 Moijyan K.Kh. Society. Society. Story. M., 2004. P. 211..

In our time, the theory of post-industrialism has been developed in detail. This concept has both a large number of supporters and an ever-increasing number of opponents. In science, two main directions of perception of the future improvement of human society have emerged: techno-optimism and eco-pessimism. Techno-optimism paints a more optimistic future, suggesting that scientific and technological progress will cope with all the adversities on the path to the development of society 3 Reznik Yu.M. Civil society as a phenomenon of civilization. M., 2003. P. 78. Ecopessimism predicts a total catastrophe by 2030 due to the increasing destruction of the biosphere of our planet.

Analyzing the history of social thought, one can discover several typologies of society.

Typologies of society during the formation of sociological science

The founder of sociology is considered to be the French scientist O. Comte, who proposed a three-part stage typology, including:

stage of military domination;

stage of feudal rule;

stage of industrial civilization.

The basis of G. Spencer's typology is the principle of evolutionary development of societies: from elementary to more differentiated. Spencer saw the development of societies as an integral part of the evolutionary process common to all nature. The lowest pole of the evolution of society is formed by the so-called military societies, which are characterized by high homogeneity, the subordinate position of the individual and the dominance of coercion as a factor of unification. Then, through a series of intermediate stages, society reaches the highest pole - it becomes industrial: democracy, the voluntary nature of integration, and spiritual pluralism begin to dominate in it. Moidzhyan K.H. Decree. op. P. 212..

Typologies of society in the classical period of the formation of sociology.

Such typologies differ from those described above. Sociologists of this period saw their task as explaining it, based not on the uniform laws of the development of nature, but on the basis of nature itself and its internal laws. For example, E. Durkheim was looking for the “original cell” of the social as such and for this he sought to find the most elementary, “simplest” society, the most primitive form of organization of “collective consciousness”. In this regard, his typology of societies is built from simple to complex, and it is based on the principle of complicating the form of social solidarity, i.e. members' awareness of their unity. Simple societies are characterized by mechanical solidarity, since their constituent personalities are extremely similar in life situation and consciousness. In complex societies there is a branched structure of differentiated functions of individuals, and therefore individuals differ significantly from each other in consciousness and way of life. They are united by functional connections, and their solidarity is “organic”. Both types of solidarity exist in any society, but in archaic societies mechanical solidarity predominates, while in modern societies organic solidarity predominates.

The German classic of sociology M. Weber imagined the social as a kind of system of subordination and domination. His concept was based on an understanding of society as the result of a confrontation for power and for maintaining dominance. Societies are classified according to the type of dominance they have. The charismatic type of dominance appears on the basis of the personal special strength (charisma) of the leader. Leaders and priests often possess charisma; such dominance is irrational and does not require a unique management system. According to Weber, modern society is characterized by a legal type of domination based on law, characterized by the presence of a bureaucratic system of management and the principle of rationality.

The typology of the French sociologist J. Gurvich is characterized by a complex multi-level system. The scientist points to four types of archaic societies that had a primary global system:

tribal (American Indians, Australia);

tribal, heterogeneous and weakly hierarchized associations, grouped around a leader who was credited with magical powers (Melanesia and Polynesia);

tribal with a military organization, consisting of clans and family groups (North America);

tribal tribes grouped into monarchical states (“black” Africa).

charismatic societies (Japan, Persia, Ancient China, Egypt);

patriarchal societies (Slavs, Old Testament Jews, Homeric Greeks, Romans and Franks);

city-states (Italian Renaissance cities, Roman cities and Greek city-states);

feudal hierarchical societies (European Middle Ages);

societies where enlightened absolutism and capitalism arose (Europe).

In the current world, Gurvich identifies: a society of pluralistic collectivism; liberal democratic society, which is built on the principles of collectivist statism; technical-bureaucratic society, etc. Moijyan K.Kh. Society. Society. Story. M., 2004. P. 215.

The postclassical stage of the history of sociology is characterized by typologies based on the principle of technological and technical development of societies. Currently, the most popular typology is that distinguishes traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.

Traditional societies are characterized by the dominant development of agricultural labor. The main area of production becomes the procurement of raw materials, which is carried out by the peasant family; mainly members of society want to satisfy everyday needs. The economy is based on family farming, which can satisfy almost all its needs. Technological progress is invisible. The main method of decision making is the “trial and error” method. Social relations and social differentiation are poorly developed. Such societies are tradition-oriented, which means they are oriented toward the past.

An industrial society is a society characterized by the predominant development of industry and rapid rates of economic growth. Economic progress is realized mainly through a consumer, extensive attitude towards biological resources: in order to satisfy its current needs, such a society develops the natural resources at its disposal to the fullest extent possible. The main sector of production is the processing and processing of materials, which is carried out by teams of workers in factories. This society strives to meet social needs and achieve maximum adaptation. The main method for approving decisions is empirical research.

Post-industrial society is a society whose emergence is currently taking place. It has several important differences from industrial society. Thus, if an industrial society is characterized by maximum attention to the development of industry, then in a post-industrial society priority is given to technology, knowledge and information. Also, the service sector is rapidly improving, surpassing industry. Kumar K. Civil Society. M., 2004. P. 45..

Information is recognized as the basis of a post-industrial society, which in turn forms another type of society - an information society. According to the vision of adherents of the concept of the information society, a completely new society is emerging, characterized by processes other than those that took place at previous stages of development of societies even in the 20th century. For example, centralization is replaced by regionalization, instead of bureaucratization and hierarchization - democratization, concentration is replaced by the process of disaggregation, and individualization comes instead of standardization. The described processes are caused by information technologies.

People offering services either provide information or use it. Thus, teachers pass on knowledge to students, repairmen use their knowledge to service equipment, doctors, lawyers, and designers sell their specialized knowledge and skills. Unlike factory workers in an industrial society, they do not produce anything. Instead, they use and transfer knowledge to provide services that others are willing to pay for.

Scientists are already using the concept of “virtual society” to describe the modern type of society that is developing under the influence of information technologies (primarily Internet technologies). Due to the computer boom that has swept modern society, the virtual world is becoming a new reality. Many researchers point to the virtualization (replacement of reality by simulation) of society. This process is growing, becoming total, as all the elements that make up society are virtualized, radically changing their status and appearance.

Post-industrial society also refers to a “post-economic”, “post-labor” society, in other words, a society where the economic subsystem loses its defining significance and labor ceases to be the basis of all social relations. In a post-industrial society, a person loses his former economic essence and ceases to be considered as an “economic man”; it focuses on other, “postmaterialist” values. The emphasis is shifting to humanitarian, social problems, and issues of safety and quality of life, self-realization of the individual in various social spheres are becoming priorities, and therefore new criteria for social well-being and well-being are being formed.

As follows from the concept of post-economic society, which was developed by the Russian scientist V.L. Inozemtsev, in contrast to the economic one, focused on material enrichment, in a post-economic society for most people the main goal is the development of their own personality Shapiro I. Democracy and civil society // Polis 2003. No. 3. P. 52..

Thus, a wide variety of societies have existed and continue to exist in history. In a broad sense, society is understood as the interaction of people with nature and among themselves, as well as ways of uniting them. In a narrower definition, this concept is represented by a certain set of people who are endowed with their own will and consciousness and who manifest themselves in the light of certain interests and moods. Any society can be characterized by the following features: name, stable and holistic forms of interaction between people, the presence of a history of creation and development, the presence of its own culture, self-sufficiency and self-regulation. For scientific and practical purposes, it is important to identify those that have some significant similar characteristics. On this basis, they can be compared and even, in some respects, their development can be predicted. Social scientists divide the entire variety of societies that existed before and exist now into certain types. There are many ways to classify societies. One of them involves the separation of pre-industrial (traditional) society and industrial (modern, industrial) society.

Parameter name	Meaning
Article topic:	Types of societies
Rubric (thematic category)	Policy

Society. Main spheres of public life.

Society:

In a broad sense - part of the material world, inextricably linked with nature and including ways of interaction between people and forms of their unification

In a narrow sense, it is a set of people endowed with will and consciousness, carrying out actions and actions under the influence of certain interests, motives, and moods. (e.g., society of book lovers, etc.)

The concept of “society” is ambiguous. In historical science there are concepts - “primitive society”, “medieval society”, “Russian society”, meaning a certain stage in the historical development of mankind or a specific country.

Society is usually understood as:

A certain stage of human history (primitive society, medieval, etc.);

People united by common goals and interests (society of Decembrists, society of book lovers);

Population of a country, state, region (European society, Russian society);

All of humanity (human society).

Functions of the society:

‣‣‣production of vital goods;

‣‣‣human reproduction and socialization;

‣‣‣ensuring the legality of the state’s management activities;

‣‣‣historical transmission of culture and spiritual values

Human society includes a number of areas – spheres of social life:

Economic - relations between people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material and intangible goods, services and information;

Social - interaction of large social groups, classes, layers, demographic groups;

Political - the activities of state organizations, parties and movements related to the conquest, retention and exercise of power;

Spiritual - morality, religion, science, education, art, their influence on people's lives.

Social relations are usually understood as the diverse connections that arise between people in the process of economic, social, political, cultural life and activity.

1) Pre-industrial society (traditional) - competition between man and nature.

It is worth saying that it is characterized by the predominant importance of agriculture, fishing, cattle breeding, mining and wood processing industries. About 2/3 of the working population is employed in these areas of economic activity. Manual labor dominates. The use of primitive technologies based on everyday experience passed down from generation to generation.

2) Industrial - competition between man and transformed nature

It is worth saying that it is characterized by the development of the production of consumer goods, which is carried out through the widespread use of various types of technology. Economic activity is dominated by centralism, gigantism, uniformity in work and life, mass culture, low level of spiritual values, oppression of people, and destruction of nature. The time of brilliant craftsmen who could, without fundamental special knowledge, invent a loom, a steam engine, a telephone, an airplane, etc. Monotonous assembly line work.

3) Post-industrial - competition between people

It is worth saying that it is characterized not only by the widespread use of the achievements of science and technology in all areas of human activity, but also by the targeted improvement of technology itself based on the development of fundamental sciences. Without the application of the achievements of fundamental sciences, it would be impossible to create either an atomic reactor, a laser, or a computer.
Posted on ref.rf
Humans are being replaced by automated systems. One person, using modern technology equipped with a computer, can produce the final product, not in a standard (mass) version, but in an individual version in accordance with the consumer’s order.

4) New information technologies, according to modern scientists, can lead to fundamental changes in our entire way of life, and their widespread use will mark the creation of a new type of society - an information society.

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*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 techologies
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, a market economy.	Availability 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 exclusiveness.
Extensive economy	Intensive economy	Increasing the share of small-scale production.
Hand tools	Machine technology, 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 technical 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 processing and disseminating information over the labor force in agriculture and industry is increasing significantly
Stability of the social structure, stable boundaries between social communities, adherence to 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.	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 established. 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.
There are 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. A global telecommunications network—the Internet—is being formed.
The predominance of oral information over written information.	The dominance of mass culture.	Availability of different types of 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

Traditional society – a type of society based on subsistence farming, a monarchical system of government and the predominance of religious values and worldviews

(existed before capitalism).

Industrial society - a type of society based on a market economy, high industrial development, 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, secularization of consciousness (the period of capitalism)

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.

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

Terms, concepts	Definitions
individualism of consciousness	a person’s desire for self-realization, manifestation of his personality, self-development.
mercantilism	the goal is to accumulate wealth, achieve material well-being, money issues come first.
providentialism	a fanatical attitude towards religion, complete subordination to it of the life of both an individual and the entire society, a religious worldview.
rationalism	the predominance of reason in human actions and actions, rather than emotions, an approach to resolving issues from the point of view of reasonableness - unreasonableness.
secularization	the process of liberating all spheres of public life, as well as the consciousness of people, from the control and influence of religion
urbanization	growth of cities and urban populations

Material prepared by: Melnikova Vera Aleksandrovna

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

NOU SOUTH URAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS

"Finance and Credits"

Topic: “Comparative characteristics of different types of societies”

Gichenko Valentina Nikolaevna

Speciality

"Economy"

Course 1, EZB - 101 FC

Supervisor:

Kartals 2007

1. What is society?

2. Types of societies

a) Traditional society

b) Industrial society

4. Conclusion

5. Literature

1. What is society?

We all often throw around the word “society” left and right without thinking about its meaning. For sociology, this concept is basic; it is with it that discussions about the object and subject of science begin. It is very useful for any sane person to know what society is, what laws it lives by, what types it is divided into and how to behave in society.

Since ancient times, man has been interested not only in the mysteries and phenomena of the natural world around him (river floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, the change of seasons or day and night, etc.), but also in problems associated with his own existence among other people. Indeed, why do people strive to live among other people and not alone? What makes them draw boundaries between themselves, divide into separate states and be at enmity with each other? Why are some allowed to enjoy many benefits, while others are denied everything?

The search for answers to these and other questions forced scientists and thinkers of antiquity to turn their gaze to man and the society in which he exists.

The impetus for the study of social issues was the development of production. Using natural resources, thus expanding the sphere of production, people were faced with the limitations of these resources, as a result of which the only way to increase productivity was the rational use of labor, or, in other words, people employed in the production of material goods. If at the beginning of the 19th century. manufacturers served as an addition to resources and mechanisms, and only the mechanisms had to be invented and improved, then in the middle of the century it became obvious that only competent people interested in their activities could operate complex equipment. In addition, the increasing complexity of all spheres of people’s life has raised problems of interaction between them, managing these interactions and creating social order in society. When these problems were realized and posed, the prerequisites arose for the formation and development of a science that studies associations of people, their behavior in these associations, as well as interactions between people and the results of such interactions.

The emergence of man and the emergence of society is a single process. No man - no society. What do we call society? In everyday life, society sometimes refers to a group of people who are part of someone's social circle. Society is not the sum of individuals, but an ensemble of human relationships.

In a broad sense, the concept of “society” is understood as a part of the material world isolated from nature. In a narrower sense, it is a certain stage of human history or a separate specific society. Society is understood as continuously developing. This means that it has not only a present, but also a past and a future. The generation of people who lived in the distant and very recent past did not leave without a trace. They created cities and villages, technology, and various institutions. From them people living today received language, science, art, and practical skills.

So, society is a historically developing set of relations between people, emerging on the basis of constant changes in the forms and conditions of their activity in the process of interaction with limited and unlimited nature. There are different approaches to understanding the essence of society. In the history of philosophy and sociology, society has often been understood as a collection of human individuals. This understanding of society was based on a variety of mythological, theological, teleological, idealistic ideas, the common thing of which was that society is the result of the subjective manifestation of human will. In domestic science, society is understood as a relatively stable system of social connections and relationships, determined in the process of historical development of mankind, both between large and small groups of people, supported by the power of custom, tradition, law, social institutions, etc., based on a certain the method of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material and spiritual goods. Each specific form of society is associated with a specific territory and political power. People included in a given territorial-political state system, the content, forms and direction of their social actions are not only self-determined, but also determined by this system. In turn, this form of organization of society is created by people, or rather, by power structures, no matter which way (democratic or anti-democratic) they came to power. Hence the conclusion follows: what is the society (totalitarian, autocratic, democratic, etc.), so are the people and their social actions, what is the power structure, so is the society.

2. Types of societies

Sociologists divide all the conceivable and real diversity of societies that existed before and exist now into certain types. Several types of society, united by similar characteristics or criteria, make up a typology. In the modern world, there are different types of societies that differ from each other in many ways, both explicit (language of communication, culture, geographical location, size, etc.) and hidden (degree of social integration, level of stability, etc.). Scientific classification involves identifying the most significant, typical features that distinguish one feature from another and unite societies of the same group. The complexity of social systems called societies determines both the diversity of their specific manifestations and the absence of a single universal criterion on the basis of which they could be classified.

In the mid-19th century, K. Marx proposed a typology of societies, which was based on the method of production of material goods and production relations - primarily property relations. He divided all societies into 5 main types (according to the type of socio-economic formations): primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist and communist (the initial phase is socialist society).

Another typology divides all societies into simple and complex. The criterion is the number of levels of management and the degree of social differentiation (stratification). A simple society is a society in which the constituent parts are homogeneous, there are no rich and poor, no leaders and subordinates, the structure and functions here are poorly differentiated and can be easily interchanged. These are the primitive tribes that still survive in some places.

A complex society is a society with highly differentiated structures and functions, interconnected and interdependent on each other, which necessitates their coordination.

K. Popper distinguishes two types of societies: closed and open. The differences between them are based on a number of factors, and, above all, the relationship of social control and individual freedom. A closed society is characterized by a static social structure, limited mobility, immunity to innovation, traditionalism, dogmatic authoritarian ideology, and collectivism. K. Popper included Sparta, Prussia, Tsarist Russia, Nazi Germany, and

Soviet Union of the Stalin era. An open society is characterized by a dynamic social structure, high mobility, the ability to innovate, criticism, individualism and a democratic pluralistic ideology. K. Popper considered ancient Athens and modern Western democracies to be examples of open societies.

The division of societies into traditional, industrial and post-industrial, proposed by the American sociologist D. Bell on the basis of changes in the technological basis - improvement of the means of production and knowledge, is stable and widespread.

a) Traditional society

Traditional (pre-industrial) society is a society with an agrarian structure, with a predominance of subsistence farming, class hierarchy, sedentary structures and a method of sociocultural regulation based on tradition. It is characterized by manual labor and extremely low rates of development of production, which can satisfy people's needs only at a minimum level. It is extremely inertial, therefore it is not very susceptible to innovation. The behavior of individuals in such a society is regulated by customs, norms, and social institutions. Customs, norms, institutions, sanctified by traditions, are considered unshakable, not allowing even the thought of changing them. Carrying out their integrative function, culture and social institutions suppress any manifestation of individual freedom, which is a necessary condition for the gradual renewal of society.

Currently, the leading theories of traditional society are the theories of “multidimensional models” by F. Riggs and D. Apter. The peculiarity of these theories is the refusal to emphasize the “civilizing mission” of Western technology, the recognition of the heterogeneity of traditional society, the desire to find new criteria for assessing the “development” of society, including taking into account “human”, mainly psychological factors. The development of classical theories of traditional society are also various theories of “pluralistic” traditional societies, characterizing it as a culturally heterogeneous and socially separated society, as well as the theory of “patrimonial society” by S. Eisenstadt, which describes a traditional society in which old forms of life are destroyed and new ones socio-political structures have not yet developed.

b) Industrial society

The term industrial society was introduced by A. Saint-Simon, emphasizing its new technical basis. Industrial society - (in modern terms) is a complex society, with a method of economic management based on industry, with flexible, dynamic and modifying structures, a method of socio-cultural regulation based on a combination of individual freedom and the interests of society. These societies are characterized by a developed division of labor with strong specialization, mass production of goods for a wide market, mechanization and automation of production and management, and a scientific and technological revolution. The consequence of these processes is the high development of means of transport and communications, a high degree of population mobility and urbanization, and qualitative changes in the structures of national consumption. In an industrial society, the main characteristics of large industry and the behavior patterns it sets become decisive for social communication in society as a whole and for the majority of the population. The theory of industrial society was formulated in two versions: by the French social philosopher R. Aron in lectures at the Sorbonne in 1956 - 1959. and the American economist and political scientist W. Rostow in the book “Stages of Economic Growth”. The theory of industrial society reduces social progress to the transition from a backward, “traditional” (pre-capitalist) society, dominated by a subsistence economy and class hierarchy, to an advanced, industrialized, “industrial” (capitalist) society with mass market production and a bourgeois-democratic system . According to the theory of industrial society, this transition is based on a process of successive technical innovations in production, largely explained by a confluence of random circumstances in combination with various psychological motives for activity (nationalism, Protestant ethics, the spirit of entrepreneurship and competition, personal ambitions of politicians, etc. ). The main criterion for the progressiveness of a society is considered to be the achieved level of industrial production, and according to Rostow, the production of durable consumer goods (cars, refrigerators, televisions, etc.).

c) Post-industrial society

Post-industrial society (sometimes called information society) is a society developed on an information basis: extraction (in traditional societies) and processing (in industrial societies) of natural products are replaced by the acquisition and processing of information, as well as preferential development (instead of agriculture in traditional societies and industry in industrial) service sectors. As a result, the employment structure and the ratio of various professional and qualification groups are also changing. According to forecasts, already at the beginning of the 21st century in advanced countries, half of the workforce will be employed in the field of information, a quarter in the field of material production and a quarter in the production of services, including information.

The term “post-industrial society” was born in the United States back in the 50s, when it became clear that mid-century American capitalism differed in many ways from the industrial capitalism that existed before the great crisis of 1929-1933. It is noteworthy that initially post-industrial society was considered in the rationalistic concepts of linear progress, economic growth, increased well-being and technicalization of labor, as a result of which working time is reduced and, accordingly, free time increases. At the same time, already at the end of the 50s, Riesman questioned the advisability of limitless growth of well-being, noting that among young Americans from the “upper middle class” the prestige of owning certain things was gradually falling.

Since the late 60s, the term “post-industrial society” has been filled with new content. Scientists highlight such features as the massive spread of creative, intellectual work, a qualitatively increased volume of scientific knowledge and information used in production, the predominance in the structure of the economy of the service sector, science, education, culture over industry and agriculture in terms of share in GNP and the number of employees , change in social structure.

In a traditional agrarian society, the main task was to provide the population with basic means of subsistence.

Therefore, efforts were concentrated in agriculture and food production.

In the industrial society that replaced it, this problem faded into the background. In developed countries, 5-6% of the population employed in agriculture provided food for the entire society. Industry came to the fore. The majority of people were employed there. Society developed along the path of accumulation of material wealth.

The next stage is associated with the transition from an industrial to a service society. For the implementation of technological innovation, theoretical knowledge becomes crucial. The volume of this knowledge becomes so large that it provides a qualitative leap. Extremely developed means of communication ensure the free dissemination of knowledge, which makes it possible to talk about a qualitatively new type of society.

In the 19th century and until the mid-20th century, communications existed in two different forms. The first is mail, newspapers, magazines and books, i.e. media that were printed on paper and distributed by physical transportation or stored in libraries. The second is the telegraph, telephone, radio and television; here coded messages or speech were transmitted through radio signals or cable communications from person to person. Now technologies that once existed in different areas of application are erasing these differences, so that consumers of information have at their disposal a variety of alternative means, which also gives rise to a number of complex problems from the point of view of legislators.

Powerful private interests inevitably become involved. Just as the replacement of coal with oil and competition between trucks, railroads, and natural gas pipelines have led to dramatic changes in the distribution of corporate power, employment structures, labor unions, geographic distribution of enterprises, and the like, so have the enormous changes taking place in communications technology. , affect communications-related industries.

In very general terms, 5 problems can be identified here:

1. Merging telephone and computer systems, telecommunications and information processing into one model. Related to this is the question of whether the transfer of information will be carried out primarily through telephone communications or whether some other independent data transmission system will arise; what will be the relative proportion of microwave stations, communication satellites and coaxial cable as transmission channels.

2. Replacement of paper by electronic means, including electronic banking instead of using checks, e-mail, transmission of newspaper and magazine information by facsimile means and remote copying of documents.

3. Expansion of television service through cable systems with multiple channels and specialized services that will allow direct communication to consumer home terminals.

Transport will be replaced by telecommunications using videophones and indoor television systems.

4. Reorganization of information storage and computer-based query systems into an interactive information network accessible to research groups; direct receipt of information from data banks through library and home terminals.

5. Expansion of the education system based on computer training, the use of satellite communications for rural areas, especially in underdeveloped countries; use of video discs for both entertainment and home education.

Technologically, communications and information processing merge into a single model called COMMUNICATION. As computers become increasingly used in communications networks as switching systems, and electronic communications become integral elements in computer data processing, the distinction between information processing and communication is disappearing. The main problems here are legal and economic, and the main question is whether this new area should be subject to government regulation or whether it is better to develop under conditions of free competition.

The most important question is political. Information in the post-industrial era is power. Access to information is a condition of freedom. Legislative problems directly follow from this.

Post-industrial society cannot be considered only as a new stage in the technical sphere. The person himself changes. Labor is no longer a vital necessity for him. Post-industrialization is associated with the transformation of the labor process, at least for a noticeable part of society, into a type of creative activity, into a means of self-realization and with overcoming some forms of alienation inherent in industrial society. At the same time, a post-industrial society is a post-economic society, since in the future it overcomes the dominance of the economy (production of material goods) over people and the development of human abilities becomes the main form of life activity.

The formation of a post-industrial society represents a profound social, economic, technological and spiritual revolution. Its core, the core, is, in turn, the formation of a new social type of person and the nature of social relations. This type can be defined as a “rich individuality”, a “multidimensional person”. If 30-50 years ago a person’s life path and the circle of his social connections were determined primarily by what class or social stratum he belonged to, and only secondarily by his personal abilities, then a “multidimensional person” can really choose between work according to hiring and owning your own business, between different ways of self-expression and material success. This means that a person can choose and build at his own discretion the relationships he enters into with other people. They are less and less blindly dominant over it, as they were in the era of industrial capitalism. It is precisely this change that is associated with the “market renaissance” currently observed in developed countries.

Behind the “market renaissance” there is actually a colossal development of the non-market sphere - the system of social protection, education, health care, culture and, very importantly, domestic work in education, “production” by a person of himself and his children, the work of direct communication. A characteristic feature of the emerging post-industrial society is becoming a two-story, two-sector economy, consisting of a sector for the production of material goods and services, which is controlled by the market, and a sector of “human production,” where human capital is accumulated and, in essence, there is no room for market relations. Moreover, the development of the sphere of “human production” increasingly determines the development and structure of the market, the dynamism of the economy and the competitiveness of countries in the world. At the same time, “human production” is less and less the prerogative of the state and more and more of civil society itself: local governments, public organizations, and finally, the citizens themselves.

The intellectual property of the “multidimensional man” of post-industrial society is formed as a result of the enormous labor costs of raising children in the family, expenditures of the state, private foundations and citizens themselves on education, the own efforts of children, and then students, to master the knowledge and values of culture, general - state, private and collective costs for maintaining and developing culture and art, people’s time spent mastering cultural achievements. Finally, intellectual property embodies the time and effort of a person to maintain his “sports shape” - his health, efficiency, not to mention the total costs of protecting and restoring the environment. Already in 1985, the value of America's “human capital” was several times greater than the sum of all the assets of American corporations. This comparison speaks for itself.

The ease of accumulation and transmission of information in the era of post-industrialization gives rise to its own problems. Thus, the threat of police and political surveillance of individuals using sophisticated information technology becomes increasingly obvious. As former Senator S. Ervin wrote in a review of the use of computer data banks by federal agencies, “the subcommittee found numerous cases in which agencies began with very good intentions and then went so far beyond what was necessary that the privacy and constitutional rights of individuals were threatened by the very existence of dossiers on them... The most important discovery was the establishment of the fact that there were an extremely large number of government data banks with huge dossiers on almost every resident of the country.54 agencies that provided information on this subject reported the existence of 858 data banks , containing 1.25 billion records per individual."

All this confirms the following fact: when any agency with power establishes bureaucratic norms and strives at all costs to enforce them, the threat of abuse is created. Another equally important point is that control over information most often results in abuse, from concealing information to its illegal publication. In order to prevent these abuses, institutional restrictions are necessary, primarily in the field of information.

In a post-industrial society, for the self-expression and self-affirmation of a person, politics, administrative and public self-government - direct (“participatory”) democracy, which expands a person’s social connections and thereby the opportunities for him to show creative initiative, are of great importance.

Western social thought in the 80s came to the same conclusion that it came to in its time... Karl Marx in the first draft of "Capital": culture, science, information - the public domain. As soon as they are “launched” into production, i.e. used as a productive force, they become truly universal property. “In classical and Marxian economic theory, capital was thought of as “embodied labor,” but knowledge cannot be interpreted in the same way,” wrote D. Bell. “The main thing is that knowledge, as a systematized theory, is a collective property. Neither an individual, "neither a single group of workers nor a corporation can monopolize or patent theoretical knowledge, or extract from it a unique industrial advantage. It is the public property of the intellectual world." At the same time, science, information, and cultural values are essentially not alienated either from their creator (“producer”) or from the one who uses them. Therefore, this public property is individual for everyone who uses it. Thus, post-industrial society is characterized by the unity of individual and social (but not state!) ownership of the main “product” and “production resource” predicted by Marx.

The process of post-industrialization is irreversible. However, so far it has not covered all aspects of public life and not all countries. A new world map is being created. This is an information map that can be likened to a climate map in the sense that it reflects some constant environmental conditions. This information map shows a greater density of information in North America, somewhat less in Europe, Japan and Russia; in all other places the density of information is negligible and even disappears. Even in the most developed countries (USA, Japan, Germany, Sweden), society is still very far from becoming fully post-industrial. Until now, many millions of people in them are engaged in simple labor and are subjected to the most ordinary capitalist exploitation. And even in these countries, especially in the United States, there are masses of illiterates who, naturally, remain on the side of the road to the future. Of course, this prevents post-industrialization, preserves old relationships and old technologies, and sometimes recreates them on a new technological basis. Global problems also remain unresolved - environmental problems and the problem of backwardness of most countries on Earth. However, these problems can only be solved on a post-industrial basis. In turn, further post-industrialization is unthinkable without solving them. The situation in Russia is interesting. Obvious trends towards post-industrialism in developed countries and comparing them with what is happening in Russia indicate rather the multidirectionality of processes occurring “there” and “here” than that Russia is finally beginning to develop “like everyone else.” The fact is that Russia is still just entering the late stage of industrial society. Market structures are actively expanding. At the same time, in developed countries, most of the public relations are moving into the non-market sector, into the sector of human restoration. In order for development to follow the path “like everyone else,” we must at least understand that without turning economics and politics to face people - at first, at least on a post-industrial basis - there is no possibility of developing the country “along the path of world civilization.” out of the question. And one of the main paradoxes of history is that the ideas that Russian leaders are in a hurry to renounce are actually confirmed (albeit not fully) in places where these ideas have never turned into the dominant ideology.

A change in the technological basis also affects the organization of the entire system of social connections and relationships. If in an industrial society the mass class was made up of workers, then in a post-industrial society it was employees and managers. At the same time, the importance of class differentiation weakens; instead of a status (“granular”) social structure, a functional (“ready-made”) one is formed. Instead of leadership, coordination becomes the principle of management, and representative democracy is replaced by direct democracy and self-government. As a result, instead of a hierarchy of structures, a new type of network organization is created, focused on rapid change depending on the situation.

True, at the same time, some sociologists draw attention to the contradictory possibilities of, on the one hand, ensuring a higher level of individual freedom in the information society, and on the other, the emergence of new, more hidden and therefore more dangerous forms of social control over it.

Table 1 MAIN STAGES OF SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO THE THEORY OF POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
STAGES\CHARACTERISTICS	Pre-industrial society	Industrial society	Post-industrial society
Main branch of the economy	Agriculture	Industry	Knowledge-intensive service (knowledge production)
Dominant social group	Owners of the land and the people cultivating it (slave owners, feudal lords, etc.)	Owners of capital (capitalists)	Knowledge owners (managers)

According to this theory (it is based on the ideas of O. Toffler, D. Bell and other institutional economists), the development of society is considered as a change in three socio-economic systems - pre-industrial society, industrial society and post-industrial society (Table 3). These three social systems differ in the main factors of production, leading sectors of the economy and dominant social groups. The boundaries of social systems are socio-technological revolutions: the Neolithic revolution (6-8 thousand years ago) created the prerequisites for the development of pre-industrial exploitative societies, the industrial revolution (18-19 centuries) separates industrial society from pre-industrial, and the scientific and technological revolution (with second half of the 20th century) marks the transition from industrial to post-industrial society. Modern society is a transitional stage from the industrial to the post-industrial system.

The Marxist theory of social formations and the institutional theory of post-industrial society are based on similar principles, common to all formational concepts: economic development is considered as the fundamental basis for the development of society, this development itself is interpreted as a progressive and staged process.

3. Comparative characteristics

Table 2. Comparative characteristics of different types of societies

Type of society	Pre-industrial	Industrial	Post-industrial Countries closest to this type of society
Characteristic representatives	Afghanistan Nicaragua	Great Britain
Gross national product per capita (in dollars)		about 10,000	about 18,000
Main factor of production
Main product of production		Industrial products
Characteristic features of production	Manual labor	Wide application of mechanisms and technologies	Automation of production, computerization of society
Nature of work	Individual work	Mostly standard activities	A sharp increase in creativity in work
Employment	Agriculture - about 75%	Agriculture - about 10%	Agriculture - up to 3%, industry - about 33%, services - about 66%
Grain yield (in c/ha)
Milk yield per 1 cow in liters per year
Main type of export		Production products
Education Policy	Fight against illiteracy	Training of specialists	Continuing Education
Number of scientists and engineers per 1 million inhabitants	about 100 people	about 2000 people	about 2000 people
Mortality per 1000 people	about 20 people	about 10 people	about 10 people
Lifespan		over 70 years	over 70 years
Human impact on nature	Local, uncontrolled	Global, uncontrollable	Global, controlled
Interaction with other countries	Irrelevant	Close relationship	Openness of society

4. Conclusion

So, having analyzed all societies, we can characterize them as stages of development of human society. At the lowest stage of development is traditional society; it is characterized as a society with an agrarian structure, with a predominance of subsistence farming. at the next level is industrial society, which, unlike traditional society, is more complex. It is based on the industrial method of economic management, a method of social regulation based on a combination of individual freedom and the interests of society. At the highest stage of development is post-industrial society; unlike other societies, it is developed on an information basis.

To summarize, we note that each of these societies plays an important role. Moreover, they are historical stages in the development of humanity as a whole.

5. Literature

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TYPES OF SOCIETY

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