Humanity is in constant and dynamic development. Once upon a time it was based on primitive communal foundations, but now it is based on the latest technologies and information. At the end of the last century, the so-called era of post-industrial society began. It is the features of this type that will be discussed in this article.

One of the key tasks of the science called sociology is to identify the main types of society. This typologization is based on the views of Karl Marx and Hegel. According to these outstanding thinkers and economists, human civilization develops in an ascending line, passing through a series of specific historical stages that follow each other.

Thus, humanity has already overcome several such steps. We are talking about a primitive, slave-owning, feudal and communist society (the latter type, however, is still preserved in some countries of the world). Today, sociologists distinguish the following types of society: industrial, post-industrial and traditional (or agrarian).

A characteristic feature of the traditional type is that the bulk of all material goods and resources are produced by the agricultural sector. At the same time, industrial sectors are poorly or insufficiently developed. It is worth noting that at the beginning of the 21st century there were practically no purely agricultural countries left. All of them, one way or another, were transformed into industrial ones (as a result of the industrial revolution). Sometimes economists also distinguish an industrial-agrarian type of society. He acts as an intermediate link.

Industrial society arose on the basis of industry, machine production and corresponding forms of labor organization. It is characterized by processes such as urbanization, the formation of a wage labor market, the development of higher and specialized education, the modernization of transport and infrastructure, and so on.

Industrial society, according to the theory of Marxism, sooner or later must transform into a post-industrial society. We will consider the signs and features of this type in more detail. We will also list those countries that are currently at this stage of development.

General characteristics of post-industrial society

The concept of a post-industrial society was developed by scientist Daniel Bell back in 1919. His work was called: “The Coming Post-Industrial Society.” Its signs, according to Bell’s theory, are visible primarily in the size and structure of the state’s GDP. In his opinion, the stage of post-industrial civilizational development should begin precisely in the 21st century. As we can see, his forecast turned out to be accurate.

This stage is due to the development of the latest communication technologies and services, the introduction of innovations, and the transition to electronics at all levels of production activity. Another important feature of post-industrial societies is the high level of development of the service sector in the economy.

Changes during the transition from the industrial to the post-industrial stage of development affect all spheres of human life, including cultural, scientific and educational. Thus, the culture of post-industrial society is characterized by the emergence of qualitatively new trends, in particular postmodernism. This cultural phenomenon is based on three main principles: humanism, pluralism and irrationalism. Postmodernism as a new movement has manifested itself in many spheres of human life: in philosophy, literature, and fine arts.

Post-industrial society: signs

This type of society, like any other, has its own characteristic features. Among them it is worth highlighting the following:

• the dominance of abstract, theoretical knowledge over practical ones;
• an increase in the total number of “intellectuals” (representatives of science, researchers);
• rapid development of new technologies and innovations;
• strengthening the importance of information in all spheres of life and activity;
• dominance of the service sector in the structure of the economy;
• development and implementation of resource-saving, environmentally friendly production;
• the gradual blurring of class boundaries and distinctions;
• the formation of an economically stable layer of society, the so-called middle class;
• the increasing role of science and education in the life of society;
• changing the role of women in society (feminization);
• pluralism of opinions and points of view in politics and culture.

"Tertiary sector" in the economy of post-industrial countries

A full description of post-industrial society is impossible without an analysis of changes in the structure of the economy of these states. After all, it also changes qualitatively.

The economy of a post-industrial society differs primarily in that its structure is dominated by the so-called tertiary sector. What is this, what areas does it include?

The "tertiary sector" in the economy is nothing more than the service sector. Since the economy of a post-industrial society provides for the active introduction into industry of automated machines and lines that do not require human participation, the living labor force is gradually being forced out into other areas of activity. The tertiary sector of the economy includes transport, communications (communications), tourism and recreation, trade, health care system, and the like.

Very often, sociologists and economists also distinguish the “quaternary market” of the economy. It includes science and education, marketing, financial services, the media, as well as all those areas that plan and organize production activities.

Examples of countries with a post-industrial development model

Today, there is a debate in academic circles: which states can be classified as belonging to one or another type of social development? Thus, it is customary to classify as post-industrial those countries in whose economic structure the main share is occupied by “tertiary sector” enterprises.

In the modern world, the countries of post-industrial society are the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Israel, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Luxembourg and others.

The creative class and its role in the development of post-industrial society

This term appeared quite recently in the USA. As a rule, the creative or creative class means that part of civil society that is characterized by maximum activity, mobility and, in fact, creativity. It is representatives of this class who shape public opinion and turn the “wheel of progress.”

In economically developed countries (such as the USA or Japan), the creative class makes up about 20-30% of all workers. It is concentrated, as a rule, in large cities and metropolitan areas of its country. Representatives of the creative class include scientists, journalists, writers, public figures, engineers and artists. In other words, all those who are able to take a creative and innovative approach to solving important problems of society.

Information society and its features

Today, in the 21st century, post-industrial society is often called information or virtual. Its main features are the following:

1. Information is gradually becoming the most important and valuable commodity.

2. One of the key sectors of the economy is the production of necessary information and data.

3. An appropriate infrastructure for consuming information as a product begins to form.

4. There is an active introduction of information technologies into all, without exception, spheres of human life.

Finally...

At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, a new type of social relations began to form - the so-called post-industrial society. The signs of this new type are associated with radical changes in the field of labor communications, in the structure of the economy, culture and science.

The relative predominance of the share of services over material production does not necessarily mean a decrease in production volumes. It’s just that these volumes in a post-industrial society increase more slowly than the volume of services provided increases.

Services should be understood not only as trade, utilities and consumer services: any infrastructure is created and maintained by society to provide services: state, army, law, finance, transport, communications, healthcare, education, science, culture, the Internet - these are all services. The service sector includes the production and sale of software. The buyer does not have all rights to the program. He uses its copy under certain conditions, that is, he receives a service.

Close to post-industrial theory are the concepts of information society, post-economic society, postmodernity, “third wave”, “society of the fourth formation”, “scientific-information stage of the production principle”. Some futurologists believe that post-industrialism is just a prologue to the transition to the “post-human” phase of development of earthly civilization.

The term “post-industrialism” was introduced into scientific circulation at the beginning of the 20th century by the scientist A. Coomaraswamy, who specialized in the pre-industrial development of Asian countries. In its modern meaning, this term was first used in the late 1950s, and the concept of post-industrial society received wide recognition as a result of the work of Harvard University professor Daniel Bell, in particular, after the publication of his book “The Coming Post-Industrial Society” in 1973.

The concept of post-industrial society is based on the division of all social development into three stages:

• Agrarian (pre-industrial) - the agricultural sector was decisive, the main structures were the church, the army
• Industrial - the determining factor was industry, the main structures were the corporation, the firm
• Post-industrial - theoretical knowledge is decisive, the main structure is the university, as the place of its production and accumulation

The formation of the concept of post-industrial society

Reasons for the emergence of a post-industrial economy

It should be noted that among researchers there is no common point of view on the reasons for the emergence of post-industrial society.

Developers of post-industrial theory indicate the following reasons:

The decline in the share of people employed in industry, which is characteristic of post-industrial countries, does not indicate a decline in the development of industrial production. On the contrary, industrial production, as well as agriculture in post-industrial countries, are extremely developed, including due to a high degree of division of labor, which ensures high productivity. There is simply no need to further increase employment in this area. For example, in the United States, about 5% of the employed population has long been working in agriculture. At the same time, the United States is one of the world's largest grain exporters. At the same time, over 15% of US workers are employed in the transportation, processing and storage of agricultural products. The division of labor made this labor “non-agricultural” - this was taken up by the service sector and industry, which further increased their share of GDP by reducing the share of agriculture. At the same time, in the USSR there was no such detailed specialization of economic entities. Agricultural enterprises were engaged not only in cultivation, but also in storage, transportation, and primary processing of crops. It turned out that from 25 to 40% of the workers worked in the village. At a time when the share of the rural population was 40%, the USSR provided itself with all the grain (and other agricultural products, such as meat, milk, eggs, etc.) itself, but when the share of the agricultural population dropped to 25% (by the end of 1960 's), the need for food imports arose, and finally, with this share decreasing to 20% (by the end of the 1970s), the USSR became the largest importer of grain.

In a post-industrial economy, the greatest contribution to the cost of material goods that are produced within this economy comes from the final component of production - trade, advertising, marketing, that is, the service sector, as well as the information component in the form of patents, R&D, etc.

In addition, information production is playing an increasingly important role. This sector is economically more efficient than material production, since it is enough to produce an initial sample, and the costs of copying are insignificant. But it cannot exist without:

1. Developed legal protection of intellectual property rights. It is no coincidence that it is post-industrial countries that defend these issues to the greatest extent.
2. Rights to information that are subject to legal protection must be monopolistic in nature. This is not only a necessary condition for turning information into a commodity, but also makes it possible to extract monopoly profits, increasing the profitability of the post-industrial economy.
3. The presence of a huge number of consumers of information who benefit from using it productively and who are ready to offer “non-information” goods for it.

Features of the investment process

The industrial economy was based on the accumulation of investments (in the form of savings of the population or through the activities of the state) and their subsequent investment in production capacities. In a post-industrial economy, the concentration of capital through monetary savings drops sharply (for example, in the United States, the volume of savings is less than the volume of household debts). According to Marxists, the main source of capital is property rights to intangible assets, expressed in the form of licenses, patents, corporate or debt securities, including foreign ones. According to the modern views of some scientists of Western economic science, the main source of financial resources is the company’s market capitalization, which is formed on the basis of investors’ assessment of the efficiency of business organization, intellectual property, the ability to successfully innovate and other intangible assets, in particular, consumer loyalty, employee qualifications, etc. d.

The main production resource - the qualifications of people - cannot be increased through increased investment in production. This can only be achieved through increased investment in people and increased consumption - including the consumption of educational services, investments in human health, etc. In addition, increased consumption makes it possible to satisfy basic human needs, as a result of which people have time for personal growth , development of creative abilities, etc., that is, those qualities that are most important for the post-industrial economy.

Today, when implementing large projects, significant funds are necessarily provided not only for construction and equipment, but also for personnel training, their constant retraining, training, and the provision of a range of social services (medical and pension insurance, recreation, education for family members).

One of the features of the investment process in post-industrial countries is the ownership of significant foreign assets by their companies and citizens. In accordance with the modern Marxist interpretation, if the amount of such property is greater than the amount of property of foreigners in a given country, this allows, through the redistribution of profits created in other regions, to increase consumption in individual countries even more than their domestic production grows. According to other directions of economic thought, consumption grows most rapidly in those countries where foreign investment is actively directed, and in the post-industrial sector, profit is formed mainly as a result of intellectual and managerial activity.

In post-industrial society, a new type of investment business is developing - venture capital. Its essence lies in the fact that many developments and promising projects are simultaneously financed, and the super-profitability of a small number of successful projects covers the losses of the rest.

Prevalence of knowledge over capital

In the first stages of industrial society, having capital, it was almost always possible to organize mass production of any product and occupy the corresponding niche in the market. With the development of competition, especially international competition, the size of capital does not guarantee protection against failure and bankruptcy. Innovation is a must for success. Capital cannot automatically provide the know-how necessary for economic success. Conversely, in post-industrial sectors of the economy, the presence of know-how makes it easy to attract the necessary capital even without having your own.

Technological changes

Technological progress in industrial society was achieved mainly through the work of practical inventors, often without scientific training (for example, T. Edison). In post-industrial society, the applied role of scientific research, including fundamental research, is sharply increasing. The main driver of technological change was the introduction of scientific achievements into production.

In a post-industrial society, knowledge-intensive, resource-saving and information technologies (“high technologies”) receive the greatest development. These are, in particular, microelectronics, software, telecommunications, robotics, production of materials with predetermined properties, biotechnology, etc. Informatization permeates all spheres of society: not only the production of goods and services, but also the household, as well as culture and art.

Among the features of modern scientific and technological progress, theorists of post-industrial society include the replacement of mechanical interactions with electronic technologies; miniaturization penetrating all areas of production; changes in biological organisms at the genetic level.

The main trend in changing technological processes is the increase in automation, the gradual replacement of unskilled labor with the work of machines and computers.

Social structure

An important feature of post-industrial society is the strengthening of the role and importance of the human factor. The structure of labor resources is changing: the share of physical labor is decreasing and the share of mental, highly qualified and creative labor is growing. Labor force training costs are increasing: costs of training and education, advanced training and retraining of workers.

According to the leading Russian specialist on post-industrial society V.L. Inozemtsev, the “knowledge economy” in the United States employs about 70% of the total workforce.

"Class of professionals"

A number of researchers characterize post-industrial society as a “society of professionals”, where the main class is the “class of intellectuals”, and power belongs to the meritocracy - the intellectual elite. As the founder of post-industrialism D. Bell wrote, “ post-industrial society... involves the emergence of an intellectual class, whose representatives at the political level act as consultants, experts or technocrats". At the same time, trends in “property stratification based on education” are already clearly evident.

According to the famous economist P. Drucker, ““Knowledge workers” will not become the majority in the “knowledge society,” but... they have already become its leading class”.

To designate this new intellectual class, E. Toffler introduces the term “cognitariat”, for the first time in the book “Metamorphoses of Power” (1990).

…Purely manual labor is at the lower end of the spectrum and is gradually disappearing. With few manual workers in the economy, the "proletariat" is now in the minority and is increasingly being replaced by the "cognitariat". As the super-symbolic economy emerges, the proletarian becomes a cognitarian.

Change in the status of hired labor

In a post-industrial society, the main “means of production” is the qualifications of employees. In this sense, the means of production belong to the worker himself, so the value of employees for the company increases dramatically. As a result, the relationship between the company and knowledge workers becomes more partnership-like, and dependence on the employer is sharply reduced. At the same time, corporations are moving from a centralized hierarchical to a hierarchical network structure with increasing employee autonomy.

Gradually, in companies, not only workers, but also all management functions, up to the very top management, are beginning to be performed by hired employees, who are often not the owners of the companies.

Increasing the importance of creative and reducing the role of unskilled labor

According to some researchers (in particular, V. Inozemtsev), post-industrial society is moving into a post-economic phase, since in the future it will overcome the dominance of the economy (production of material goods) over people and the development of human abilities will become the main form of life activity. Already now, in developed countries, material motivation is partially giving way to self-expression in activity.

On the other hand, the post-industrial economy has less and less need for unskilled labor, which creates difficulties for the population with a low educational level. For the first time in history, a situation arises where population growth (in its unskilled part) reduces, rather than increases, the economic power of a country.

Historical periodization

According to the concept of post-industrial society, the history of civilization is divided into three large eras: pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial. During the transition from one stage to another, a new type of society does not displace previous forms, but makes them secondary.

The pre-industrial way of organizing society is based on

• labor-intensive technologies,
• use of human muscle power,
• skills that do not require long training,
• exploitation of natural resources (in particular agricultural land).

The industrial method is based on

• machine production,
• capital-intensive technologies,
• use of extramuscular energy sources,
• qualification requiring lengthy training.

The post-industrial method is based on

• high technology,
• information and knowledge as the main production resource,
• creative aspect of human activity, continuous self-improvement and advanced training throughout life.

The basis of power in the pre-industrial era was land and the number of dependent people, in the industrial era - capital and energy sources, in the post-industrial era - knowledge, technology and qualifications of people.

The weakness of post-industrial theory is that it considers the transition from one stage to another as an objective (and even inevitable) process, but does little to analyze the social conditions necessary for this, the accompanying contradictions, cultural factors, etc.

Post-industrial theory operates mainly with terms characteristic of sociology and economics. The corresponding “cultural analogue” is called the concept of postmodernity (according to which historical development proceeds from traditional society to modern society and further to postmodernity).

The place of post-industrial societies in the world

The development of post-industrial society in the most developed countries of the world has led to the fact that the share of manufacturing in the GDP of these countries is currently significantly lower than that of a number of developing countries. Thus, this share in the US GDP was 13.4% in 2007, in the French GDP - 12.5%, in the UK GDP - 12.4%, while in China's GDP - 32.9%, in Thailand's GDP - 35.6%, in Indonesia's GDP - 27.8%.

By moving commodity production to other countries, post-industrial states (mostly former metropolises) are forced to put up with the inevitable increase in the necessary qualifications and some well-being of the labor force in their former colonies and controlled territories. If in the industrial era, from the beginning of the 19th century until the 80s of the 20th century, the gap in GDP per capita between backward and developed countries increased increasingly, then the post-industrial phase of economic development slowed down this trend, which is a consequence of the globalization of the economy and the growth of education population of developing countries. Associated with this are demographic and sociocultural processes, as a result of which by the 90s of the 20th century, most countries of the Third World had achieved a certain increase in literacy, which stimulated consumption and caused a slowdown in population growth. As a result of these processes, in recent years, most developing countries have experienced GDP per capita growth rates significantly higher than in most economically developed countries, but given the extremely low starting position of developing economies, their gap in consumption levels with post-industrial countries cannot be overcome in foreseeable future .

It should be borne in mind that international goods supplies often occur within the framework of one transnational corporation, which controls enterprises in developing countries. Economists of the Marxist school believe that the bulk of the profit is distributed disproportionately to the total labor invested through the country where the board of directors of the corporation is located, including through an artificially exaggerated share based on ownership rights to licenses and technologies - at the expense and to the detriment of the direct producers of goods and services (in particular, software, an increasing amount of which is being developed in countries with low social and consumer standards). According to other economists, the bulk of added value is actually created in the country where the head office is located, as developments are carried out there, new technologies are created and connections with consumers are formed. The practice of recent decades requires special consideration, when both the headquarters and financial assets of the majority of the most powerful TNCs are located in territories with preferential taxation, but where there are no production, marketing, or, especially, research departments of these companies.

As a result of the relative decline in the share of material production, the economies of post-industrial countries have become less dependent on the supply of raw materials. For example, the unprecedented rise in oil prices from 2004 to 2007 did not create a crisis like the oil crises of the 1970s. A similar increase in prices for raw materials in the 70s of the twentieth century forced a reduction in the level of production and consumption, primarily in advanced countries.

The globalization of the world economy has allowed post-industrial countries to shift the costs of the next world crisis onto developing countries - suppliers of raw materials and labor: according to V. Inozemtsev, “the post-industrial world is entering the 21st century completely an autonomous social entity that controls the global production of technology and complex high-tech goods, fully self-sufficient in industrial and agricultural products, relatively independent from the supply of energy resources and raw materials, and also self-sufficient in terms of trade and investment.”

According to other researchers, the success of the economies of post-industrial countries, observed until recently, is a short-term effect, achieved mainly due to unequal exchange and unequal relations between a few developed countries and vast regions of the planet, which provided them with cheap labor and raw materials, and forced stimulation of information industries and the financial sector of the economy (disproportionate to material production) was one of the main reasons for the global economic crisis of 2008.

Criticism of the theory of post-industrial society

Critics of the theory of post-industrial society point to the fact that the expectations of the creators of this concept were not met. For example, D. Bell, who stated that “the main class in an emerging society is primarily a class of professionals who possess knowledge” and that the center of society should shift from corporations towards universities, research centers, etc. In reality, corporations , contrary to Bell's expectations, remained the center of the Western economy and only strengthened their power over the scientific institutions among which they should have dissolved.

Attention is drawn to the fact that it is often not information as such that brings profit to corporations, but the image of the product offered to the market. The share of people employed in the marketing and advertising business is growing, and the share of advertising costs in the budget of commodity producers is growing. Japanese researcher Kenishi Ohmae has described this process as “the major paradigm shift of the last decade.” Observing how in Japan agricultural products of well-known brands are sold at prices several times higher than the prices for no-name products of the same type and quality, that is, “without a brand” (from little-known producers), he came to the conclusion that added value - the result of a well-directed brand-building effort. A skillful simulation of technological progress becomes possible when modifications that do not affect the functional properties of a thing and do not require real labor costs in the virtual reality of advertising images look like a “revolution”, a “new word”. A similar approach is outlined in Naomi Klein’s book “No Logo”.

The head of the analytical department of the treasury of Sberbank, Nikolai Kashcheev, stated: “The American middle class was created, first of all, by material production. The service sector brings Americans less income than material production, or at least it did, of course, with the exception of the financial sector. The stratification is caused by the so-called mythical post-industrial society, its triumph, when a small group of people with special talents and abilities, expensive education is at the top, while the middle class is completely washed out, because a huge mass of people leaves material production for the service sector and receives less money". He concluded: “Yet Americans are aware that they must industrialize again. After this long-standing myth about post-industrial society, these seditious words are beginning to be spoken openly by economists, who are still mostly independent. They say that there must be productive assets in which to invest. But so far nothing like this is visible on the horizon.”

It is stated [ by whom?] that the theory of post-industrialism served to enrich corporations that profited from the transfer of the real sector to the Third World, and became a justification for the unprecedented expansion of the financial speculation sector, which was presented as “the development of the service sector.” [ unreputable source?]

Notes

1. Post-industrial society // Dictionary of Social Sciences. Glossary.ru
2. K. Rühl. Structure and growth: growth without employment (2000 data)
3. Convergence of ideologies of post-industrialism and information society
4. D. Bell. The coming post-industrial society. M., Academy, 1999. ISBN 5-87444-070-4
5. Post-industrial society // Great Soviet Encyclopedia
6. V. Inozemtsev. Modern post-industrial society: nature, contradictions, prospects. Introduction. M.: Logos, 2000.
7. V. Inozemtsev. Science, personality and society in post-industrial reality
8. V. Inozemtsev. Outside the economic society. Post-industrial theories and post-economic trends in the modern world. M.: "Academia" - "Science", 1998. In particular, in Chapter 3: “The consequence of this global historical transition is the displacement of man from the sphere of direct material production”. “There is a modification of social values ​​and a change in the motivation of human activity, as a result of which the question of attitude to the means of production, so important in traditional societies, loses its former significance”
9. Social geography of the modern world
10. Bureau of Labor Statistics. US employment report for the current period. (English) Indicators of the employed population are given (English). Employment) and non-farm employment (eng. Nonfarm employment). To determine the percentage of people employed in agriculture, you need (1 - Nonfarm employment/Employment) * 100
11. Chernyakov B. A. The role and place of the largest agricultural enterprises in the US agricultural sector // Economics of agricultural and processing enterprises. - 2001. - N 5.
12. See M. Porter's statement
13. Book by V. Inozemtsev “Broken Civilization. Existing prerequisites and possible consequences of the post-economic revolution"
14. P. Drucker. Era of Social Transformation.
15. Metamorphoses of power: knowledge, wealth and power at the threshold of the twentieth century
16. Value added in manufacturing in 2007
17. Korotaev A.V. et al. Laws of history: Mathematical modeling and forecasting of world and regional development. Ed. 3, noun reworked and additional M.: URSS, 2010. Chapter 1 .
18. A. Korotaev. China is a beneficiary of the Washington Consensus
19. See, for example: Korotaev A.V., Khalturina D.A. Modern trends in world development. M.: Librocom, 2009; System monitoring. Global and regional development. M.: Librocom, 2009. ISBN 978-5-397-00917-1; Forecast and modeling of crises and global dynamics / Rep. ed. A. A. Akaev, A. V. Korotaev, G. G. Malinetsky. M.: Publishing house LKI/URSS, 2010. P.234-248.
20. Lecture “The post-industrial world as a closed economic system”
21. Grinin L. E., Korotaev A. V. The global crisis in retrospect: A brief history of ups and downs: from Lycurgus to Alan Greenspan. M.: Librocom/URSS, 2010.
22. S. Ermolaev. Devastation in academic heads. Why capitalist society cannot be post-industrial
23. D. Kovalev. POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ECONOMIC VIRTUALIZATION IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES AND RUSSIA
24. E. Denisova. The US middle class is eroding
25. "POST-INDUSTRIALISM: A GLOBAL ILLUSION?"

see also

Literature

• D. Bell. The coming post-industrial society. M.: Academy, 1999. - ISBN 5-87444-070-4
• E. Toffler. Third wave. M.: AST, 2004. 5-17-011040-5
• New post-industrial wave in the West. Anthology ed. V. Inozemtseva. - M.: Academy, 1999. ISBN 5-87444-067-4
• V. Inozemtsev. Modern post-industrial society: nature, contradictions, prospects. - M.: Logos, 2000.

Links

• V. Inozemtsev. Post-industrial economy and “post-industrial” society (On the problem of social trends of the 21st century)

Humanity is in constant and dynamic development. Once upon a time it was based on primitive communal foundations, but now it is based on the latest technologies and information. At the end of the last century, the so-called era of post-industrial society began. It is the features of this type that will be discussed in this article.

Main types of society

One of the key tasks of the science called sociology is to identify the main types of society. This typologization is based on the views of Karl Marx and Hegel. According to these outstanding thinkers and economists, human civilization develops in an ascending line, passing through a series of specific historical stages that follow each other.

Thus, humanity has already overcome several such steps. We are talking about a primitive, slave-owning, feudal and communist society (the latter type, however, is still preserved in some countries of the world). Today, sociologists distinguish the following types of society: industrial, post-industrial and traditional (or agrarian).

A characteristic feature of the traditional type is that the bulk of all material goods and resources are produced by the agricultural sector. At the same time, industrial sectors are poorly or insufficiently developed. It is worth noting that at the beginning of the 21st century there were practically no purely agricultural countries left. All of them, one way or another, were transformed into industrial ones (as a result of the industrial revolution). Sometimes economists also distinguish an industrial-agrarian type of society. He acts as an intermediate link.

Industrial society arose on the basis of industry, machine production and corresponding forms of labor organization. It is characterized by processes such as urbanization, the formation of a wage labor market, the development of higher and specialized education, the modernization of transport and infrastructure, and so on.

Industrial society, according to the theory of Marxism, sooner or later must transform into a post-industrial society. We will consider the signs and features of this type in more detail. We will also list those countries that are currently at this stage of development.

General characteristics of post-industrial society

The concept of a post-industrial society was developed by scientist Daniel Bell back in 1919. His work was called: “The Coming Post-Industrial Society.” Its signs, according to Bell’s theory, are visible primarily in the size and structure of the state’s GDP. In his opinion, the stage of post-industrial civilizational development should begin precisely in the 21st century. As we can see, his forecast turned out to be accurate.

This stage is due to the development of the latest communication technologies and services, the introduction of innovations, and the transition to electronics at all levels of production activity. Another important feature of post-industrial societies is the high level of development of the service sector in the economy.

Changes during the transition from the industrial to the post-industrial stage of development affect all spheres of human life, including cultural, scientific and educational. Thus, the culture of post-industrial society is characterized by the emergence of qualitatively new trends, in particular postmodernism. This cultural phenomenon is based on three main principles: humanism, pluralism and irrationalism. Postmodernism as a new movement has manifested itself in many spheres of human life: in philosophy, literature, and fine arts.

Post-industrial society: signs

This type of society, like any other, has its own characteristic features. Among them it is worth highlighting the following:

• the dominance of abstract, theoretical knowledge over practical ones;
• an increase in the total number of “intellectuals” (representatives of science, researchers);
• rapid development of new technologies and innovations;
• strengthening the importance of information in all spheres of life and activity;
• dominance of the service sector in the structure of the economy;
• development and implementation of resource-saving, environmentally friendly production;
• the gradual blurring of class boundaries and distinctions;
• the formation of an economically stable layer of society, the so-called middle class;
• the increasing role of science and education in the life of society;
• changing the role of women in society (feminization);
• pluralism of opinions and points of view in politics and culture.

"Tertiary sector" in the economy of post-industrial countries

A full description of post-industrial society is impossible without an analysis of changes in the structure of the economy of these states. After all, it also changes qualitatively.

The economy of a post-industrial society differs primarily in that its structure is dominated by the so-called tertiary sector. What is this, what areas does it include?

The "tertiary sector" in the economy is nothing more than the service sector. Since the economy of a post-industrial society provides for the active introduction into industry of automated machines and lines that do not require human participation, the living labor force is gradually being forced out into other areas of activity. The tertiary sector of the economy includes transport, communications (communications), tourism and recreation, trade, health care system, and the like.

Very often, sociologists and economists also distinguish the “quaternary market” of the economy. It includes science and education, marketing, financial services, the media, as well as all those areas that plan and organize production activities.

Examples of countries with a post-industrial development model

Today, there is a debate in academic circles: which states can be classified as belonging to one or another type of social development? Thus, it is customary to classify as post-industrial those countries in whose economic structure the main share is occupied by “tertiary sector” enterprises.

In the modern world, the countries of post-industrial society are the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Israel, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Luxembourg and others.

The creative class and its role in the development of post-industrial society

This term appeared quite recently in the USA. As a rule, the creative or creative class means that part of civil society that is characterized by maximum activity, mobility and, in fact, creativity. It is representatives of this class who shape public opinion and turn the “wheel of progress.”

In economically developed countries (such as the USA or Japan), the creative class makes up about 20-30% of all workers. It is concentrated, as a rule, in large cities and metropolitan areas of its country. Representatives of the creative class include scientists, journalists, writers, public figures, engineers and artists. In other words, all those who are able to take a creative and innovative approach to solving important problems of society.

Information society and its features

Today, in the 21st century, post-industrial society is often called information or virtual. Its main features are the following:

1. Information is gradually becoming the most important and valuable commodity.

2. One of the key sectors of the economy is the production of necessary information and data.

3. An appropriate infrastructure for consuming information as a product begins to form.

4. There is an active introduction of information technologies into all, without exception, spheres of human life.

Finally...

At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, a new type of social relations began to form - the so-called post-industrial society. The signs of this new type are associated with radical changes in the field of labor communications, in the structure of the economy, culture and science.

We continue to work on the introductory topic “Society”. Today we will solve several tasks on the topic “Types of societies”. Let me remind you that I only use “combat” options that have already been tested on the Unified State Examination over the years. This significantly increases our chances that similar tasks will appear in the Unified State Exam 2015, since they are included in the closed segment of the FIPI.

Solving tasks for the lesson “Types of societies”

So, a few tasks for the topic we have discussed

Let's solve the problems of part 1.

Unified State Exam 2008. Task A2. What feature is characteristic of an industrial society?

1) the influence of religious institutions

2) subsistence nature of the economy

3) dominance of agriculture

4) increasing the value of scientific information

Let's remember. Let's talk. Extreme religiosity and the agrarian nature of production are signs of a traditional society. Accordingly, answers 1 and 3 are incorrect.

Next, remember the term. Subsistence farming is production for one's own consumption. It is not typical for industrial and post-industrial society, since all products are goods and are produced for sale. So answer 2 is also not correct, correct 4— increasing the value of scientific information.

Unified State Exam 2008. Task B4. In the list below, mark the signs of a pre-industrial society:

1) the basis of production is land, agricultural labor

2) development of large machine industry

3) predominance of manual labor

4) the basis of production - knowledge, information

5) illiteracy of the majority of the population

6) the main type of export is means of production

7) the main type of export is raw materials

Let's remember lesson 3. Let's reason. Pre-industrial is a synonym for traditional, since it precedes industrial. It is agricultural, so 1 is correct, 2 is incorrect, 3 is correct, 4 is incorrect. In a traditional society, the level of education of the majority of the population is extremely low; option 5 is correct.
Means of production are equipment, machines, mechanisms. Therefore, 6 is characteristic of an industrial society, 6 is not true. Raw materials are products of agriculture and hunting, but not industrial products. In a post-industrial society, the service sector dominates. Therefore, by process of elimination, option 7 is correct.

So our answer is 1357.Please note that we write it exactly the same way, in ascending order and without commas and spaces, as the Unified State Exam procedure requires of us! Otherwise, during the machine check that processes answer form No. 1, the answer will not be read correctly.

And the assignment for part 2.

Task 33(C6 in Unified State Exam 2014 format). Give three features of a post-industrial (information) society, illustrating each of them with a specific example.

Let's remember Lesson 3. Reasoning. To begin with, let’s choose any three signs of a post-industrial society. Let's take:
1) the development of education is continuous, 2) the basis of production is information, 3) environmental problems are being solved.

Now we need specific examples! This means being brought to the utmost understanding of social reality. The ability to apply socio-economic and humanitarian knowledge in the process of solving cognitive problems on current social problems is tested.

So, 1) Mathematics teacher Stanislav Ivanovich took two advanced training courses last year, and this year he will take courses in Moscow on working with interactive whiteboards.

We see that specifics are used (what teacher? What is his name? Where will he take the courses? What will he study?). The continuity of education in connection with the development of new technologies (interactive whiteboards) is shown.

2) Bill Gates created the Windows program, which allowed his company Microsoft to gain an advantage in the computer market.

We show computer technology (information) as the basis of production of a particular company.

3) Automakers in many developed post-industrial countries produce cars with electric engines, which are more environmentally friendly and less air polluting. For example, in Russia they are preparing to release “Ë-mobile”.

We use the phrase FOR EXAMPLE, showing our readiness to give a SPECIFIC EXAMPLE!

In the comments to the lessonand in our group

Let's read the information.

Characteristic features of post-industrial society

Sphere of public life	Character traits
Economic	1.High levelusing information for economic development. 2. Dominance of the service sector. 3. Individualization of production and consumption. 4. Automation and robotization of all areas of production and management. 5. Cooperation with nature. 6. Development of resource-saving, environmentally friendly technologies.
Political	1.Strong civil society, where law and order prevail. 2.Political pluralism (many political parties). 3. The emergence of a new form of democracy - “democracy of consensus”, based on mutual concessions.
Social	1.Erasure of class differences. 2.Growth of the middle class. 3. Differentiation level of knowledge.
Spiritual	1. The special role of science and education. 2. Development of individualized consciousness. 3.Continuing education.

Let's look at examples.

Post-industrial society	Example
	1.State in southwestern Europe (Spain). It is one of the top ten global manufacturers of cars, ships, forging equipment and gas compressors, machine tools, petroleum products and chemical products. The banking system is one of the most stable in Europe. More than 500 political parties and public organizations are officially registered. It is considered an open-air museum. Cultural and historical monuments that have worldwide fame are carefully preserved. Air transport takes the leading place. Of the 42 airports, 34 provide regular flights. Spain has a well-developed media network.
	2.Country in Northern Europe (Sweden). It is consistently ranked among the 20 most developed countries in the world, and in the top ten in terms of quality of life. The main share of GDP is created by the service sector, which includes tourism (6 million tourists per year). It has a high level of social protection of the population.
	3.Country in Western Europe (France). In terms of total economic output, the country occupies a leading position in the European Union; in terms of GDP per capita ($31,100, 2006) it consistently ranks among the world's top twenty. It has the most developed railway network in Europe. Approximately 30% of GDP is spent on social needs. A 39-hour working week is officially established (the shortest in Europe).

Let's complete online assignments.

We invite you to intellectual and playful activities.

Intellectual games "Social studies"

Intellectual games at the “Know Society” forum

Used Books:

1. Social studies: Textbook for 10th grade. Part 1 – 3rd ed. / A.I. Kravchenko. – M.: “TID “Russian Word - RS”, 2003.

2. Social studies: Textbook for 11th grade. – 5th ed. / A.I. Kravchenko, E.A. Pevtsova. – M.: LLC TID “Russkoe Slovo – RS”, 2004.

3. Unified State Exam 2009. Social studies. Directory / O.V. Kishenkova. – M.: Eksmo, 2008.

4. Social studies: Unified State Exam-2008: real tasks / author's compilation. O.A.Kotova, T.E.Liskova. – M.: AST: Astrel, 2008.

5. Unified State Examination 2010. Social studies: tutor / A.Yu. Lazebnikova, E.L. Rutkovskaya, M.Yu. Brandt and others - M.: Eksmo, 2010.

6. Social studies. Preparation for the state final certification-2010: educational and methodological manual / O.A. Chernysheva, R.P. Pazin. – Rostov n/d: Legion, 2009.

7. Social studies. Experimental examination paper. Typical test tasks. 8th grade / S.V. Krayushkina. – M.: Publishing House “Exam”, 2009.

8. Social studies: a complete reference book / P.A. Baranov, A.V. Vorontsov, S.V. Shevchenko; edited by P.A. Baranova. – M.: AST: Astrel; Vladimir: VKT, 2010.

9. Social studies: profile level: academic. For 10th grade. general education Institutions / L.N. Bogolyubov, A.Yu. Lazebnikova, N.M. Smirnova and others, ed. L.N. Bogolyubova and others - M.: Education, 2007.