Pre-industrial society

Today, for a common historical classification, certain types of economic systems are used. This classification represents history events in the form of a certain chain. The links are: traditional (pre-industrial) society, industrial and post-industrial society.

The latter term characterizes the structure, the main role in the production and exchange of knowledge and information in which belongs to computers and telecommunications. The industrial society is, first of all, processing. In this system, machine technology and energy are used to produce goods. The activities of a pre-industrial society are inextricably linked with prey. The economic system in this case is based on agriculture, fishing, hunting, and timber industry. Pre-industrial society is also engaged in the extraction of gas, oil, coal and other resources.

According to experts, to the traditional socio-economic structure should be attributed any social association from the time of primitive hunters to the very industrial revolution in the late 18th century.

Pre-industrial society (economically) can be based on agriculture (like the Old Russian, ancient Chinese or ancient Egyptian society). This socio-economic structure can be based on cattle breeding (like the nomadic Turkic and Khazar peoples). Pre-industrial society can be a fishing industry. This is typical for coastal areas, exceptionally rich in fish.

One of the features of traditional society is the domination of distribution, taking into account the social situation (redistributive relations). This can be expressed in various forms: a centralized state (as in ancient Egypt, China, Mesopotamia), a peasant community (as in Rus).

It should be noted that redistributive relations are not the only sign that characterizes the life of a pre-industrial (traditional) society. Of course, such relations dominate, however, at the same time, there is a market. In some cases, market relations can even take the front line, with a significant impact on people's lives. Along with this, trade is reduced to a narrow range of goods, as a rule, to aristocratic luxury items. In the Middle Ages the landowners, who received everything necessary in their estates, acquired pedigree horses, expensive weapons, ornaments.

The social side of traditional society also has its own specifics. The most characteristic in such a system is the exclusively personal attachment of everyone to redistribution. This is reflected in the belonging of each person to any staff performing the distribution, and also depending on the "senior" (by position, origin, age).

In this case, the transition from one social group to another is very difficult. Together with this, the importance of not only the position of the whole class in society, but also the fact that a person belongs to one or another group is of great importance. As an example, you can use class and caste separation systems.

For example, in India a caste was called a closed group of people occupying a certain, strictly assigned place in society.

Life in the structure of the estate was strictly regulated. Such a system of division in society was characteristic of pre-revolutionary Russia.

Another important criterion of separation is the community. Here this definition is applied in the broadest sense. Under the community is understood not only the peasant association, but also the merchant union of the East, the guild of merchants of Europe, the craft shop, beggarly and thieves corporations and so on.

The state system in a traditional society, as a rule, was monarchical. Even in antiquity and the Middle Ages, power was in the hands of representatives of the nobility.