Pre-industrial Societies

Synonyms

The concept of "pre-industrial society" is widley used across the social sciences and it is preferred over similar concepts that are ideologically loaded. Pre-industrial society can be said to be "value
free" as oppossed to others (see in ''The Division of Labor in Society''. {Link without Title} . One objection to this term is that tradition implies "stagnation". Therefore, this is a "loaded" term.

Marx, who gave the theoretical foundations to the concept, used the term "pre-capitalist society". However, it is not a neutral term since it implies that a transition to capitalism was a progressive or inevitable development (in Marx's view, necessary for a transition to communism). His followers (i.e. Louis Althusser ) used "pre-industrial society" interchageably with that of Marx.

Other synonyms are " Agrarian Society "" and " Pre-modern Society ". All of these concepts are related as they derive from Marx and Hegel 's ideas. Nonetheless, each of these are not strictly "synonyms". Each has their own ideological and intellectual lineage, and deserve independent treatment.

Theoretical foundations

There are several ideas that gave way to the term: "Pre-industrial society"":

The Marx ist and Hegel ian idea that history progresses forward; always towards the improvement of the spirit (as in Hegel) and/or the social conditions (as in Marx).

The in 'his 'Dialectics of Nature'' and in ''The Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State''.[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/preface.htm

In classic Marxist theory, there is the idea that the progression of human history is determined by the modes of production. ( Economic Determinism , Dialectics , Historical Materialism ).

The ''Pre-industrial stages'' proper are:

---1st stage. Primitive Communism (no private property)

---2nd stage. Slavery (rise of private property)

---3rd stage. Feudalism (consolidation of authority)

The ''Industrial or Modern stages'' are: capitalism, Socialism (a transitional stage) and communism.

Contemporary Political Theory claims that capitalism, avoiding socialism and communism, has already transcended the industrial stage. Daniel Bell called the current stage as the "post-industrial society"; others (in example Foucault ) call the actual stage as " Post-modern ."

Some attributes of the pre-industrial societies

A Traditional Authority . Power was manifested in many forms of personalistic authorities instead of through an impersonal State or Bureaucracy .)

Limited Production (i.e. artisanship vs. mass production)

Stagnant Social Change - Behavior and thought were enforced by moral/religious codes and not by the Law or Science .

Primarily had an agraricultural economy

Limited Division Of Labor - i.e. Capitalism needs a vast amount of specialized knowledge and skills due to the complex nature of industrial production. In pre-industrial societies, production was relatively simple and, thus, the number of specialized crafts was limited.

Limited variation of Social Class es

Parochialism - Social theories hold that Communication s were limited between human communities in pre-industrial societies. Few had a chance to see or hear beyond their own village. In contrast, industrial societies grew with the help of faster means of communication, having more Information at hand about the world, allowing Knowledge Transfer and Cultural Diffusion between them.

Pre-industrial societies developed largely in Rural communities. Capitalism developed largely in Urban areas.

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Pre-industrial Societies