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SOCIAL STRUCTURE

SOCIAL STRUCTURE. Modern societies are complex, especially compared with other earlier social arrangement. Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach.

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SOCIAL STRUCTURE

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  1. SOCIAL STRUCTURE Modern societies are complex, especially compared with other earlier social arrangement.

  2. Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach • Until about 10-12,000 years ago the hunting and gathering type of society was the only one in existence. The Lenskis focus their research on sociocultural evolution, or the changes that occur as a society gains new technology.

  3. Preindustrial Society • Hunting and Gathering SocietiesHunting and gathering refers to simple technology for hunting and gathering vegetation. Up until about 10,000 years ago all humans were hunters and gatherers. Today only a small number of such societies are still in existence.

  4. number of such societies are still in existence. This way of life is characterized by small bands of people, a nomadic lifestyle, stratification based only on age and sex, and few positions of leadership. Such societies usually recognize a shaman, or a spiritual leader. Social organization tends to be simple and equal, being organized around kinship.

  5. Horticultural and Pastoral Societies Ten to twelve thousand years ago plants began to be cultivated. Horticulture is technology based on using hand tools to cultivate plants. This strategy first appeared in the Middle East, and soon after, appeared in Asia and South America. Some societies, like the Yanomamo, combine hunting and gathering with horticulture.

  6. Pastoralism is technology that supports the domestication of animals. Both of these strategies are capable of producing material surpluses. However, both also produced greater social inequality.

  7. Agrarian Societies Agrarian societies emerged 5,000 ago and are based on agriculture, or the technology of large-scale farming using plows harnessed to animals or, eventually, mechanical tractors. The technological change during this time period was so dramatic -- including the wheel, irrigation, writing, and the expanding use of metals -- that the Lenskis call this era the "dawn of civilization."

  8. The power of the elite greatly increased with the development of agriculture, supported by religious beliefs and the expanding political power structure.

  9. Industrial Society • Industrialism is technology that powers sophisticated machinery with advanced sources of energy. A major shift at this level of technological development involves production moving from the family household to the factory. Occupational specialization expands as well. Cultural values become more heterogeneous. As industrialism first emerges, social inequalities increase.

  10. As the process continues resources spread through society more widely. Great population increases occur as health conditions improve.

  11. Postindustrial and Postmodern Societies • Postindustrialism refers to technology that supports an information-based economy. The primary form of production centers on the creation, processing, storage, and application of information. This type of society is based on computers and skills related to their use.

  12. More Recently, social scientists have gone beyond discussion of postindustrial societies to ideal type of postmodern society. A postmodern society is a technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and media images.

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