CLASSIFICATION

S OF
SOCIETY
By:

Don Gie Belinario

Steffi Lane Fernandez
Princess Grace Nachon
Jhecca Antenor
Manuel John Ortega

Six Classifications of Societies

based on the Level of
Technology
1. Hunting and Gathering Societies
2. Pastoral Societies
3. Horticultural Societies
4. Agricultural Societies
5. Feudal Societies
6. Industrial Societies
7. Postindustrial Societies

1. Hunting and Gathering Societies

The members of hunting and gathering
societies primarily survive by hunting
animals, fishing, and gathering plants.
The vast majority of these societies
existed in the past, with only a few
(perhaps a million people total) living
today on the verge of extinction.
To survive, early human societies
completely
depended
upon
their
immediate environment.
Labor in hunting and gathering societies
was divided equally among members.

These societies probably also

had at least some division of
labor based on gender.
Hunting and gathering societies
were
also
tribal.
Members
shared an ancestral heritage
and a common set of traditions
and rituals. They also sacrificed
their individuality for the sake of
the larger tribal culture.

2. Pastoral Societies
Members of pastoral societies, which
first emerged 12,000 years ago,
pasture animals for food and
transportation. Pastoral societies still
exist today, primarily in the desert
lands
of
North
Africa
where
horticulture and manufacturing are
not possible.
Domesticating animals allows for a
more manageable food supply than
do hunting and gathering

Pastoral societies allow certain

of its members (those who are
not domesticating animals) to
engage
in
nonsurvival
activities. Traders, healers,
spiritual leaders, craftspeople,
and
people
with
other
specialty professions appear.

3. Horticultural Societies

Unlike pastoral societies that rely on

domesticating animals, horticultural
societies rely on cultivating fruits,
vegetables, and plants.
These societies first appeared in
different parts of the planet about
the same time as pastoral societies.
Like
hunting
and
gathering
societies, horticultural societies had
to be mobile.

4. Agricultural Societies

Agricultural
societies
use
technological advances to cultivate
crops (especially grains like wheat,
rice, corn, and barley) over a large
area.
Sociologists
use
the
phrase
Agricultural Revolution to refer to
the technological changes that
occurred as long as 8,500 years ago
that led to cultivating crops and
raising farm animals.

Increases in food supplies

then
led
to
larger
populations than in earlier
communities.
Greater degrees of social
stratification appeared in
agricultural societies.

5. Feudal Societies

From the 9th to 15th centuries,

feudalism was a form of society
based on ownership of land.
Between the 14th and 16th centuries,
a new economic system emerged
that began to replace feudalism.
Capitalism is marked by open
competition in a free market, in which
the means of production are privately
owned.

6. Industrial Societies
Industrial societies are based on using
machines (particularly fueldriven ones) to
produce goods.
Sociologists refer to the period during the
18th century when the production of
goods in mechanized factories began as
the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution appeared first in
Britain, and then quickly spread to the rest
of the world.
Industrialization brought about changes in
almost every aspect of society.

7. Postindustrial Societies
Sociologists note that with the advent of
the computer microchip, the world is
witnessing a technological revolution.
This
revolution
is
creating
a
postindustrial
society
based
on
information, knowledge, and the selling
of services.
Sociologists
speculate
about
the
characteristics of postindustrial society
in the near future.
Sociologists believe society will become
more concerned with the welfare of all

Herbert Spencer
April 27, 1820

Militant
Industrial
Societies

The first was a type in which

the Regulating System
was dominant over all the
other aspects of society.
The second was one in which
the Sustaining System
was emphasised, and all the
other aspects of society were
subordinated to its service.

Military Society is any form of

society in which the military exerts a
dominant or pervasive role.
Characteristics:
1. Organisation
for
Offensive
and
Defensive Military Action
2. Centralised Pattern of Authority and
Social Control
3. Rigid Social Classes
4. Religious Beliefs and Doctrines relating
to the Hierarchical Power of Gods

The concept of Industrial society refers to

that form of society or any particular society, in
which industrialisation and modernisation have
occurred.
The general term industrial society originates
from Saint Simon who chose it to reflect the
emerging central role of manufacturing industry in
18th century Europe, in contrast with the previous
pre-industrial society and agrarian society.
Spencers Industrial Society is one in which
military activity and organisation exists but it is
carried on at a distance. It takes place in the
periphery of the society and the greater part of
the social organisation is peaceful. It
concentrates upon the increase and improvement
of all aspects.

Characteristics:
1. Recognition of Personal Rights
2. Sustaining System Possessing a
Large Degree of Freedom
3. Opportunity for the Growth of Free
Associations and Institutions
4. A Less Rigid Class Structure
5. In the Industrial Society, Religious
Organisations and Religious Beliefs
Lose their Hierarchical Structure
and Power

6. Here the Members of the Society

do not exist for the Good of the
State; but the Well-being of the
Individuals becomes the Supreme
Objective of the Government
7. Awareness of the Duty to Resist
Irresponsible Government
8.
Dominance
of
Free
and
Contractual
Type
of
Human
Relationships

Characteristic
Militant Society
Dominant function or Corporate defensive and
offensive
activity for
activity
preservation and
aggrandizement
Principle of social
Compulsory cooperation;
regimentation by enforcement of
coordination
orders; both positive and
negative regulation of activity

Relations between
state and
individual

Individuals exist for benefit of

state;
restraints on liberty,
property, and
mobility

Relations between
state and
other
organizations
Structure of state
Structure of social
stratification

All organizations public; private

organizations excluded

Type of economic
activity

Industrial Society
Peaceful, mutual
rendering of individual
services
Voluntary cooperation;
regulation by
contract and
principles of justice; only
negative regulation
of activity
State exists for benefit of
individuals
freedom; few
restraints on property and
mobility
Private organizations
encourage

Centralized
Decentralized
Fixity of rank, occupation, and
Plasticity and openness of
locality; inheritance of positions rank, occupation, and
locality;
movement
between positions
Economic autonomy and selfLoss of economic
sufficiency; little external trade;
autonomy;
protectionism
interdependence via

Ferdinand Tnnies
July 26, 1855

Gemeinscha
ft
Gesellscha

ft

Gemeinschaft ("community") is an
association in which individuals are
oriented to the larger group as much
as, and often more than, their own
self
interest,
and
are
further
regulated by common social mores or
beliefs
about
the
appropriate
behavior
and
responsibility
of
members of the association.

Gemeinschaft

often
translated as community (or
left untranslated) refers to
groupings based on feelings of
togetherness and on mutual
bonds, which are felt as a goal
to be kept up, their members
being means for this goal.

Gesellschaft
("society")
describes associations in which,
for the individual, the larger
association
never
takes
precedence over their own self
interest, and these associations
lack the same level of shared
social mores as Gemeinschaft.

Gesellschaft often
translated as society on the
other hand, refers to groups
that are sustained by it being
instrumental for their
members' individual aims and
goals.

The equilibrium in Gemeinschaft is

achieved through morals,
conformism, and exclusion - social
control - while
Gesellschaft keeps
its equilibrium
through police,
laws, tribunals and
prisons.
Amish, Hassidic communities are
examples of Gemeinschaft, while
states are types of Gesellschaft.
Rules in Gemeinschaft are implicit,
while
Gesellschaft has explicit
rules (written
laws).

Following his "essential will"

("Wesenwille"), an actor will see himself
as a means to serve the goals of social
grouping; very often it is an underlying,
subconscious force. Groupings formed
around an essential will are called a
Gemeinschaft
The other will is the "arbitrary will"
("Krwille"): An actor sees a social
grouping as a means to further
his
individual goals; so it is purposive and
futureoriented. Groupings around the
latter are called
Gesellschaft.

mile Durkheim
April 15, 1858

Mechanical

Organic
Solidarity

 In mechanical solidarity social

cohesion and integration comes
from the homogeneity of individuals:
People feel connected through
similar
work, educational and
religious training, and lifestyle.
In simpler societies (e.g., tribal),
solidarity is usually based on kinship
ties of familial networks.
Mechanical solidarity normally
operates in
"traditional" and
small scale societies.

Organic solidarity comes from the

interdependence that arises from
specialization of work and the
complementarities between peoplea
development which occurs in
"modern" and "industrial" societies.
Definition: it is social cohesion
based upon the
dependence
individuals have on each other in
more advanced societies.

Feature
Morphologic
al
(structural)
basis

Mechanical solidarity
Organic solidarity
Based on resemblances
Based on division of labor
(predominant in less advanced
societies)
(predominately in more
advanced societies)
Segmental type (first clanbased, later

territorial)

Little interdependence (social

bonds
relatively
weak)

Types of
norms
(typified by
law)

Organized type (fusion of

markets and growth
of cities)

Relatively low volume of

population

Much interdependency
(social
bonds relatively
strong)

Relatively low material and

moral
density

Relatively high volume of

population

Relatively high material

and
moral
density
Rules with repressive sanctions Rules with restitutive
sanctions
Prevalence of penal law
Prevalence of cooperative

law
(civil,
commercial, procedural,

Formal
features
of
conscience
collective

High volume

Low volume

High intensity

Low intensity

High determinateness

Low determinateness

Collective authority
absolute

More room for

individual
initiative
and reflection
Increasingly secular

Content of Highly religious

conscience Transcendental (superior to Human-orientated
collective human interests and
(concerned with
beyond discussion)
human
interests
Attaching supreme value to and open to
discussion)
society and
interests of society as a
whole
Concrete and specific

Attaching supreme
value to individual
dignity, equality of
opportunity, work ethic
and social justice
Abstract and general

Henry James
Sumner Maine
August 15,
1822

Status

Contract

In his works, especially in Ancient

Law (1861), Maine contrasted
early societies in which social
relations are dominated by status
with
progressive
(complex)
societies in which social relations
are predominantly determined by
contract.

By status Maine meant a condition

of society in which all the relations
of Persons are summed up in the
relations of Family. These relations
are ascribed to the individual as a
member of a kinship group.
By contract Maine meant individual
obligation arising from the free
agreement of individuals.

Maine introduced the idea that law

and society developed from status
to contract.
In ancient times, individuals were
bound by social status and/or
belonging to traditional social
castes.
In the modern world, people were
regarded as independent entities,
free to make contracts on
their
own.