HUMAN SOCIETY: HISTORY, EVOLUTION AND TYPES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The history of human society is one of the main fields of study in the social sciences, such as anthropology, sociology, archeology or history. Over the centuries, the structure of human societies has changed enormously.

Today, Western society is based on the capitalist economic system. However, this has not always been the case. Societies, like individuals, are constantly changing and evolving. These changes bring new ways of life, ways of thinking, values ​​and advantages and difficulties for those who live in them.

Normally, the paradigm with which societies are analyzed is according to their economic organization and the way in which resources are managed. Each of these elements gives it a specific characteristic.

History and evolution

From Prehistory to the Contemporary Age, the way humans organize themselves in society has gone through several quite different phases.

Information gathered about ancient societies enables us to better understand our own culture.

Prehistoric societies

The study of the time before the appearance of the written word is quite complex. Due to the lack of records from the time, most of the current data on prehistory comes from archeology and the comparison of humans with other species of primates.

For this reason, there are many theories about what prehistoric societies looked like. Some of the most important are the following:

- Thomas Hobbes theory

Thomas Hobbes, one of the most important anthropologists of the seventeenth century, believed that the existence of a society is impossible without an organization in the form of a state. Therefore, prehistoric humans would have existed in a state of constant struggle against each other, which would have made it impossible for any type of culture to emerge.

The first societies, therefore, would have been created through a social contract, to avoid the struggle for resources and to be able to act cooperatively.

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On the other hand, Rousseau also believed in the theory of the social contract as the origin of societies. However, he thought that in their natural state men would seek their own benefit without harming others, and that to be in society they would have to sacrifice for the common good.

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Regarding the organization of primitive societies, Henry Maine thought that they would be formed by patriarchal groups; that is, by families with a powerful man at the head who would protect women and children.

- Sigmund Freud Theory

Maine's idea resembles that of Sigmund Freud's of early societies, who thought that primitive social groups would resemble those of gorillas.

Thus, there would be an "alpha male" who would have a harem of women at his disposal to protect and provide food for, and the rest of the males would have to compete in order to reproduce.

- Tería de Engels

In contrast to these ideas, Engels believed that the fundamental unit of primitive societies was the clan.

Prehistoric humans would organize themselves into tribes to which they would give absolute priority; This loyalty would be achieved because prehistoric men had no notion of fatherhood and, therefore, considered the children of the tribe as children of all.

Ancient societies

Regardless of the form prehistoric societies took, the emergence of agriculture totally changed the way humans had to relate to each other.

The abandonment of the nomadic lifestyle that the first humans had to date, coupled with a greater abundance of food and resources, were the catalysts for the formation of the first great cultures.

According to some historians, the agglomeration of people in the same space led to disputes over resources. In this way, the concept of private property arose, which until that moment had not existed.

To avoid some of the conflicts arising from this change, societies began to organize and become more like the environment we have today.

First societies

The first great societies (such as Mesopotamia, Greece or the Roman Empire) were based on a great division of labor.

While the lower rungs of society (such as slaves and peasants) were engaged in physical labor and the production of food and resources, the ruling classes could engage in art, war, and philosophy.

These first civilized societies began to produce their own cultural manifestations; for example, representations of their gods, theater, poetry, music or sculpture.

On the other hand, science and technology advanced enormously within these ancient societies, to such an extent that it was not until after the Middle Ages that modern societies managed to match their knowledge.

For example, Ancient Greece was the first civilization to develop a democratic system; however, only citizens who met certain requirements could vote.

Societies in the Middle Ages

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the European continent plunged into ten centuries marked by poverty, famines, ignorance and lack of development.

Although in the East the Roman tradition continued in the Byzantine Empire, Western Europe lost much of its advances so far due to the barbarian invasions of the continent.

Feudal system

The societies that developed at this time were highly hierarchical and based on a feudal system. This system consisted of a pact between the lower classes of society (such as the peasants) with the nobility, who had to protect them from dangers in exchange for a tribute.

This feudal system, together with the control of the Catholic Church, made culture and science barely advance for ten centuries in Europe. In other parts of the world, there was a greater cultural development, as for example, in the Arab kingdoms of the time.

Illustration

Starting in the 15th century, a series of great changes caused European society to change completely. The discovery of the New World, the Enlightenment, and the formation of the first Constitutions caused the world to transform very rapidly.

At this time societies were based on the idea of ​​positivism; that is, the belief that human beings are always advancing. Therefore, the future was viewed with optimism, somewhat helped by the great explosion of scientific and technical knowledge of the time.

At this time the bourgeois class began to gain real power; that is, those people who were not born noble but who had become rich thanks to their commercial activities.

In addition, art was developed again very quickly, moving away from the Church for the first time in several centuries and innovations such as opera appeared.

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution brought about a new gigantic change in the organization of the two societies. Due to the advent of machines, manual labor became less burdensome and social power fell to those who had more means of production (rather than land).

At this time a new social class appeared: the proletariat, who were people who had to exchange daily work in exchange for a salary from the industrialists.

Art and culture changed to reflect the new realities of this class, and philosophers of great importance appeared, such as Marx, who were concerned about their living conditions.

Technology advanced exponentially during the Industrial Revolution, creating inventions such as the steam engine, the printing press or the first household appliances. These societies began to turn more and more towards capitalism, an economic system that is based on personal work and individualism.

20th century and current society

The 20th century was a time of great changes in technology and cultural advances, but it was also one of the bloodiest in human history.

The two world wars and the great historical dictatorships contrast with achievements as important as the arrival of man on the Moon, the eradication of many contagious diseases and the creation of the communication technologies that we know today.

Technological advances

Due to the great technological advances of the time, our current societies are nothing like those that have existed throughout history. Most of the population is dedicated to providing services, scientific research has advanced exponentially, and culture has become much unified throughout the world.

Already in the 21st century, thanks to the general economic boom that we enjoy, today's societies are much more concerned about the well-being of all their citizens. There has been a great boom in issues such as ecology, feminism or socialism.

Also due to the rapidity of changes that we are experiencing today, today's societies pose a series of unique challenges in history.

The increase in material well-being has brought with it a decrease in the mental well-being of the population, something that can be seen in philosophical currents such as postmodernism, critical theory or nihilism.

Types of companies

Human beings have developed various types of societies throughout history. Sociologists have classified the different classes into six categories:

Hunting and gathering societies

They are groups of people who depend mainly on wild foods for their subsistence. Until about 12,000 to 11,000 years ago, when agriculture and the domestication of animals emerged in Southwest Asia and Mesoamerica, all peoples were hunters and gatherers.

Until humans began domesticating plants and animals around 10,000 years ago, all human societies were hunter-gatherers. Today, only a small fraction of the world's population survive in this way and they are found in isolated and inhospitable areas such as deserts, frozen tundra, and dense rain forests.

Prehistoric hunter-gatherers often lived in groups of a few dozen people, made up of various family units. They developed tools and depended on the abundance of food in the area, if they couldn't find food, they moved to another area. It is probable that, in general, the men hunted while the women ate.

Pastoral societies

A pastoral society is a social group of shepherds, whose way of life is based on herding and is usually nomadic. Daily life focuses on caring for the herds.

Desert areas or climates where farming is difficult are pastoral societies that have been around for hundreds of years. Since they couldn't farm, they depended on meat and dairy from their herds.

Horticultural societies

Horticultural societies developed around 7000 BC in the Middle East and gradually spread west, through Europe and Africa, and east through Asia.

In a horticultural society people subsist by growing plants for food consumption, without the use of mechanized tools or the use of animals.

Agricultural societies

In an agricultural society the economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and agricultural land. People lead a more sedentary lifestyle than nomadic hunter-gatherer or semi-nomadic herder societies because they live permanently close to cultivated land.

The first civilizations based on complex and productive agriculture developed in the floods of the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile rivers.

Industrial societies

In an industrial society, mass production technologies are used to manufacture large quantities of products in factories.

Industrial society used external energy sources, such as fossil fuels, to increase the speed and scale of production, decreasing the human labor required.

Post-industrial societies

Post-industrial society is the stage of development of society in which the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy.

This society is marked by the transition from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy, a transition that is also connected with social restructuring.

The American sociologist Daniel Bell coined the term post-industrial in 1973 in his book The Advent of Post-Industrial Society, which describes several characteristics of a post-industrial society:

-A transition from the production of goods to the production of services.

-The replacement of manual workers with technical and professional workers, such as computer engineers, doctors and bankers.

-The substitution of practical knowledge for theoretical knowledge.

- Greater attention is paid to the theoretical and ethical implications of new technologies, which helps society avoid some of the negative consequences of the introduction of new technologies, such as environmental accidents.

-The development of new scientific disciplines, such as those involving new forms of information technology, cybernetics or artificial intelligence.

-A greater emphasis on the university and polytechnic institutes, which educate graduates who create and guide the new technologies crucial for a post-industrial society.

References

1. "The evolution of society" in: National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved on: March 1, 2018 from the National Center for Biotechnology Information: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
2. "The evolution of society" in: Fight Back. Retrieved on: March 1, 2018 from Fight Back: fightback.org.nz.
3. "Origins of Society" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: March 1, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.
4. "In Sync we trust" in: The Muse. Retrieved on: March 1, 2018 from The Muse: themuse.jezebel.com.
5. "History of Europe" in: Britannica. Retrieved on: March 1, 2018 from Britannica: britannica.com.