Editing Society (section)

==Types==
Sociologists tend to classify societies based on their level of technology, and place societies in three broad categories: [[pre-industrial]], [[industrial society|industrial]], and [[postindustrial]].{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=99}}

Subdivisions of these categories vary, and classifications are often based on level of technology, communication, and economy. One example of such a classification comes from sociologist [[Gerhard Lenski]] who lists: (1) hunting and gathering; (2) horticultural; (3) agricultural; and (4) industrial; as well as specialized societies (e.g., fishing or herding).{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=96}}

Some cultures have developed over time toward more complex forms of organization and control. This [[cultural evolution]] has a profound effect on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes have, at times, settled around seasonal food stocks to become agrarian villages. Villages have grown to become towns and cities. Cities have turned into [[city-state]]s and [[nation-state]]s. However, these processes are not unidirectional.<ref>{{cite book |last=Glassman |first=Ronald M. |date=20 June 2017 |title=The Origins of Democracy in Tribes, City-States and Nation-States |chapter=The Importance of City-States in the Evolution of Democratic Political Processes |page=1502 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-51695-0_126 |isbn=978-3-319-51695-0 |lccn=2019746650 |oclc=1058216897}}</ref>

===Pre-industrial===
{{Main article|Pre-industrial society}}
In a pre-industrial society, food production, which is carried out through the use of human and animal [[Manual labour|labor]], is the main economic activity. These societies can be subdivided according to their level of technology and their method of producing food. These subdivisions are hunting and gathering, pastoral, horticultural, and agrarian.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=96}}

==== Hunting and gathering ====
{{Main article|Hunter-gatherer}}
[[File:BushmenSan.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption |[[San people]] in Botswana start a fire by hand.]]
The main form of food production in hunter-gatherer societies is the daily collection of wild plants and the hunting of wild animals. Hunter-gatherers move around constantly in search of food.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=135}} As a result, they do not build permanent [[villages]] or create a wide variety of [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]]. The need for mobility also limits the size of these societies, and they usually only form small groups such as [[Band society|bands]] and [[tribe]]s,{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=134}} usually with fewer than 50 people per community.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Lee |first1=Richard B. |last2=Daly |first2=Richard H. |year=1999 |chapter=Introduction: Foragers & Others |encyclopedia=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=3 |isbn=0-521-57109-X |lccn=98038671 |oclc=39654919}}</ref>{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=134}} Bands and tribes are relatively [[Egalitarian community|egalitarian]], and decisions are reached through [[Consensus decision-making|consensus]]. There are no formal political offices containing real power in band societies, rather a [[Tribal chief|chief]] is merely a person of influence, and [[leadership]] is based on personal qualities.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=146}} The family forms the main [[Social group|social unit]], with most members being related by birth or marriage.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=142}}

The anthropologist [[Marshall Sahlins]] described hunter-gatherers as the "[[original affluent society]]" due to their extended leisure time: Sahlins estimated that adults in hunter gatherer societies work three to five hours per day.<ref name="sahlins">{{cite book |last=Sahlins |first=Marshall D. |author-link=Marshall Sahlins |editor-last1=Lee |editor-first1=Richard B. |editor-last2=DeVore |editor-first2=Irven |title=Man the Hunter |chapter=Discussions, Part II: Notes on the Original Affluent Society |publisher=Aldine Publishing Company |year=1968 |location=Chicago, Illinois |pages=85–89 |lccn=67017603 |oclc=490234}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sahlins |first=Marshall D. |author-link=Marshall Sahlins |year=1972 |chapter=The Original Affluent Society |title=Stone Age Economics |publisher=Aldine-Atherton, Inc. |publication-place=Chicago, Illinois |page=34 |isbn=0-202-01098-8 |lccn=75169506 |oclc=363958 |chapter-url=http://www.primitivism.com/original-affluent.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001191830/http://www.primitivism.com/original-affluent.htm |archive-date=1 October 2019 |access-date=9 January 2024 |quote=Reports on hunters and gatherers of the ethnological present—specifically on those in marginal environments—suggest a mean of three to five hours per adult worker per day in food production.}}</ref> This perspective has been challenged by other researchers, who have pointed out high mortality rates and perennial warfare in hunter-gatherer societies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hill |first1=Kim |last2=Hurtado |first2=A. M. |last3=Walker |first3=R. S. |title=High adult mortality among Hiwi hunter-gatherers: Implications for human evolution |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=443–454 |date=April 2007 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.11.003 |pmid=17289113 |bibcode=2007JHumE..52..443H |eissn=1095-8606 |issn=0047-2484 |lccn=72623558 |oclc=925940973}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Keeley |first=Lawrence H. |author-link=Lawrence H. Keeley |year=1996 |chapter=Crying Havoc: The Question of Causes |pages=113–126 |title=War Before Civilization |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-509112-4 |lccn=94008998 |oclc=30158105}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Kaplan |first=David |title=The Darker Side of the 'Original Affluent Society' |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=56 |number=3 |pages=287–484 |date=Autumn 2000 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |doi=10.1086/jar.56.3.3631086 |s2cid=140333399 |eissn=2153-3806 |issn=0091-7710 |lccn=2006237061 |oclc=60616192}}</ref> Proponents of Sahlins' view argue that the general well-being of humans in hunter gatherer societies challenges the purported relationship between technological advancement and [[Progress|human progress]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Gowdy |first=John |editor-last1=Lee |editor-first1=Richard B. |editor-last2=Daly |editor-first2=Richard H. |year=2005 |title=Hunter-Gatherers and the Mythology of the Market |encyclopedia=Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=391–398 |isbn=0-521-57109-X |lccn=98038671 |oclc=39654919 |url=http://libcom.org/history/hunter-gatherers-mythology-market-john-gowdy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224174603/http://libcom.org/history/hunter-gatherers-mythology-market-john-gowdy |archive-date=24 February 2021 |access-date=9 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Jerome |editor-last1=Watkins |editor-first1=Stuart |date=September 2008 |title=Managing abundance, not chasing scarcity: the real challenge for the 21st century |issue=2 |journal=Radical Anthropology |url=http://www.radicalanthropologygroup.org/new/Journal_files/journal_02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513015838/http://www.radicalanthropologygroup.org/new/Journal_files/journal_02.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2013 |access-date=9 January 2024}}</ref>

==== Pastoral ====
{{Main article|Pastoral society}}
[[File:Maasai-Adumu.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption |[[Maasai people|Maasai]] men perform [[adumu]], the traditional jumping dance.]]
Rather than searching for food on a daily basis, members of a [[Pastoralism|pastoral]] society rely on domesticated herd animals to meet their food needs. Pastoralists typically live a nomadic life, moving their herds from one pasture to another.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=267}} Community size in pastoral societies is similar to hunter-gatherers (about 50 individuals), but unlike hunter gatherers, pastoral societies usually consist of multiple communities—the average pastoral society contains thousands of people.  This is because pastoral groups tend to live in open areas where movement is easy, which enables political integration.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|pp=268-269}} Pastoral societies tend to create a food surplus, and have [[Division of labour|specialized labor]]{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=99}} and high levels of inequality.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|pp=268-269}}

==== Horticultural ====
{{Further|Horticulture|Subsistence pattern}}
Fruits and vegetables grown in garden plots, that have been cleared from the jungle or forest, provide the main source of food in a horticultural society. These societies have a similar level of technology and complexity to pastoral societies.<ref name="Bulliet">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/earthitspeoplesg0000unse_v2p3/mode/2up |first1=Richard W. |last1=Bulliet |author-link=Richard Bulliet |first2=Pamela Kyle |last2=Crossley |author2-link=Pamela Kyle Crossley |first3=Daniel R. |last3=Headrick |author3-link=Daniel R. Headrick |first4=Steven W. |last4=Hirsch |first5=Lyman L. |last5=Johnson |first6=David |last6=Northrup |year=2015 |title=The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History |page=14 |edition=6th |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-285-44563-2 |lccn=2014932005 |oclc=891574574 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Along with pastoral societies, horticultural societies emerged about 10,000 years ago, after technological changes of the [[Neolithic Revolution|Agricultural Revolution]] made it possible to cultivate crops and raise animals.<ref name="Bulliet"/> Horticulturists use human labor and simple tools to cultivate the land for one or more seasons. When the land becomes barren, horticulturists clear a new plot and leave the old plot to revert to its natural state. They may return to the original land several years later and begin the process again. By rotating their garden plots, horticulturists can stay in one area for a long period of time. This allows them to build permanent or semi-permanent villages.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=165}}

As with pastoral societies, surplus food leads to a more complex division of labor. Specialized roles in horticultural societies include craftspeople, [[shamans]] (religious leaders), and traders.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=165}} This role specialization allows horticultural societies to create a variety of artifacts. Scarce, defensible resources can lead to wealth inequalities in horticultural political systems.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/7607/1/7607.pdf|title=Domestication Alone Does Not Lead to Inequality: Intergenerational Wealth Transmission among Horticulturalists|first1=Michael|last1=Gurven|first2=Monique|last2=Borgerhoff Mulder|first3=Paul L.|last3=Hooper|first4=Hillard|last4=Kaplan|first5=Robert|last5=Quinlan|first6=Rebecca|last6=Sear|first7=Eric|last7=Schniter|first8=Christopher|last8=von Rueden|first9=Samuel|last9=Bowles|first10=Tom|last10=Hertz|first11=Adrian|last11=Bell|date=19 February 2010|journal=Current Anthropology|volume=51|issue=1|pages=49–64|via=CrossRef|doi=10.1086/648587|s2cid=12364888|access-date=19 December 2023|archive-date=1 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701161903/http://dro.dur.ac.uk/7607/1/7607.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Agrarian ====
{{Main|Agrarian society}}
[[File:Detail of Les tres riches heures - March.jpg|thumb|alt=Painting of farmers, with one plouging with two oxen |Ploughing with oxen in the 15th century]]
Agrarian societies use agricultural [[technological]] advances to cultivate crops over a large area. Lenski differentiates between horticultural and agrarian societies by the use of the [[Plough|plow]].{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1987|pp=164-166}} Larger food supplies due to improved technology mean agrarian communities are larger than horticultural communities. A greater food surplus results in towns that become centers of trade. Economic trade in turn leads to increased specialization, including a ruling class, as well as educators, craftspeople, merchants, and religious figures, who do not directly participate in the production of food.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1987|pp=166-172}}

Agrarian societies are especially noted for their extremes of social classes and rigid social mobility.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Langlois |first=Simon |editor-last1=Smelser |editor-first1=Neil J. |editor1-link=Neil Smelser |editor-last2=Baltes |editor-first2=Paul B. |editor2-link=Paul Baltes |year=2001 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292447431 |title=Traditions: Social |encyclopedia=[[International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences]] |edition=1st |volume=23 |publisher=[[Elsevier|Elsevier Science]] |page=15830 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/02028-3 |isbn=0-08-043076-7 |lccn=2001044791 |oclc=47869490 |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429035948/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292447431_Traditions_Social |url-status=live }}</ref> As land is the major source of wealth, social hierarchy develops based on [[landownership]] and not labor. The system of [[Social stratification|stratification]] is characterized by three coinciding contrasts: governing class versus the [[Commoner|masses]], urban minority versus peasant majority, and literate minority versus illiterate majority. This results in two distinct subcultures; the urban elite versus the peasant masses. Moreover, this means cultural differences within agrarian societies are greater than differences between them.{{Sfn|Brown|1988|pages=78-82}}

The landowning strata typically combine government, religious, and military institutions to justify and enforce their ownership, and support elaborate patterns of consumption, [[slavery]], [[serfdom]], or [[peonage]] is commonly the lot of the primary producer. Rulers of agrarian societies often do not manage their empire for the [[common good]] or in the name of the [[public interest]], but as property they own.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenski |first1=Gerhard |author1-link=Gerhard Lenski |last2=Nolan |first2=Patrick |year=2010 |chapter=The Agricultural Economy |title=Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology |edition=11th |pages=35–37 |publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated |isbn=978-0-19-994602-0}}</ref> [[Caste system in India|Caste systems]], as historically found in South Asia, are associated with agrarian societies, where lifelong agricultural routines depend upon a rigid sense of duty and discipline. The scholar Donald Brown suggests that an emphasis in the modern West on personal liberties and freedoms was in large part a reaction to the steep and rigid stratification of agrarian societies.{{Sfn|Brown|1988|page=112}}

===Industrial===
{{main article|Industrial society}}
[[File:Union Pacific 844, Painted Rocks, NV, 2009 (crop).jpg|thumb|alt=An industrial train |Industrial transportation, including [[train]]s, can stabilize the economy,  leading to population growth.]]
Industrial societies, which emerged in the 18th century in the [[Industrial Revolution]], rely heavily on machines powered by external sources for the mass production of goods.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=315}}{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=101}} Whereas in pre-industrial societies the majority of labor takes place in primary industries focused on extracting raw materials (farming, fishing, mining, etc.), in industrial societies, labor is mostly focused on processing raw materials into finished products.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009|page=221}} Present-day societies vary in their degree of industrialization, with some using mostly newer energy sources (e.g. [[Fossil fuel|coal, oil]], and [[Nuclear power|nuclear energy]]), and others continuing to rely on human and animal power.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009|page=208}}

Industrialization is associated with population booms and the growth of cities. Increased productivity, as well as the stability caused by improved transportation, leads to decreased mortality and resulting population growth.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=319}} Centralized production of goods in factories and a decreased need for agricultural labor leads to [[urbanization]].{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=101}}{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=328}} Industrial societies are often [[Capitalism|capitalist]], and have high degrees of inequality along with high [[social mobility]], as [[Businessperson|businesspeople]] use the market to amass large amounts of wealth.{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=101}} Working conditions in factories are generally restrictive and harsh.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009}} Workers, who have common interests, may organize into [[Trade union|labor unions]] to advance those interests.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009|p=223}}

On the whole, industrial societies are marked by the increased power of human beings. Technological advancements mean that industrial societies have increased potential for deadly warfare. Governments use [[Information technology|information technologies]] to exert greater control over the populace. Industrial societies also have an increased [[Natural environment|environmental]] impact.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009|page=205}}

===Post-industrial===
{{main article|Post-industrial society}}
{{see also|Information revolution}}
Post-industrial societies are societies dominated by information and services, rather than the production of goods.{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=102}} Advanced industrial societies see a shift toward an increase in service sectors, over manufacturing. Service industries include education, health and finance.{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=528}}

==== Information ====
{{Main article|Information society}}
[[File:ONU Geneva mainroom.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=Many people gathered in a large meeting room |World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva]]

An information society is a society where the usage, [[Content creation|creation]], [[Information distribution|distribution]], manipulation and [[Information integration|integration]] of information is a significant activity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beniger |first=James Ralph |author-link=James R. Beniger |year=1986 |title=The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=0-674-16986-7 |lccn=85031743 |oclc=13064782 |pages=21–22}}</ref> Proponents of the idea that modern-day global society is an information society posit that information technologies are impacting most important forms of social organization, including education, economy, health, government, [[warfare]], and levels of democracy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mattelart |first=Armand |author-link=Armand Mattelart |translator-last1=Taponier |translator-first1=Susan G. |translator-last2=Cohen |translator-first2=James A. |language=en |year=2003 |title=Histoire de la Société de l'information |trans-title=The Information Society: An Introduction |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |isbn=0-7619-4948-8 |lccn=2002114570 |oclc=52391229 |pages=99–158}}</ref> Although the concept of information society has been discussed since the 1930s, in the present day, it is almost always applied to ways that information technologies impact society and culture. It therefore covers the effects of computers and telecommunications on the home, the workplace, schools, government, and various communities and organizations, as well as the emergence of new social forms in cyberspace.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lyon |first=David |author-link=David Lyon (sociologist) |editor-last1=Armitage |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=Roberts |editor-first2=Joanne |year=2002 |chapter=Cyberspace: Beyond the Information Society? |title=Living with Cyberspace: Technology & Society in the 21st Century |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]] |isbn=0-8264-6035-6 |lccn=2002071646 |oclc=824653965 |pages=21–33 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324224249 |access-date=10 January 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429040244/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324224249_Living_With_Cyberspace_Technology_and_Society_in_the_21st_Century |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Knowledge ====
{{Main|Knowledge society}}
[[File:Seoul-Cyworld control room.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|alt=Three people working on computers in a control room |The Seoul [[Cyworld]] control room]]
As the access to electronic information resources increased at the beginning of the 21st century, special attention was extended from the information society to the knowledge society. A knowledge society generates, shares, and makes available to all members of the society knowledge that may be used to improve the [[human condition]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Phillips |first1=Fred |last2=Yu |first2=Ching-Ying |last3=Hameed |first3=Tahir |last4=El Akhdary |first4=Mahmoud Abdullah |date=2017 |title=The knowledge society's origins and current trajectory |journal=International Journal of Innovation Studies |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=175–191 |doi=10.1016/j.ijis.2017.08.001 |doi-access=free}}</ref> A knowledge society differs from an information society in that it transforms information into resources that allow society to take effective action, rather than only creating and disseminating [[raw data]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Castelfranchi |first=Cristiano |date=December 2007 |title=Six critical remarks on science and the construction of the knowledge society |journal=Journal of Science Communication |publisher=[[International School for Advanced Studies|SISSA]] |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=C03 |doi=10.22323/2.06040303 |doi-access=free |issn=1824-2049 |oclc=56474936 }}</ref>