4.4. Typology of political regimes Political regime – 1) a set of methods for exercising power and achieving political goals; 2) a set of methods, techniques and forms of implementing political relations in society, that is, the way it functions

3.4. Typology of entry barriers The emergence of new competitors leads to competition, which can be avoided by creating new entry barriers to the industry. Limited market capacity is a significant obstacle to the creation of a new enterprise. Market with

Modern societies differ in many ways, but they also have the same parameters according to which they can be typologized.

One of the main directions in the typology is choice of political relations, forms of government as grounds for distinguishing different types of society. For example, U and I societies differ in type of government: monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy. Modern versions of this approach highlight totalitarian(the state determines all the main directions of social life); democratic(the population can influence government structures) and authoritarian(combining elements of totalitarianism and democracy) societies.

The basis typology of society it's supposed to Marxism difference between societies type of industrial relations in various socio-economic formations: primitive communal society (primitively appropriating mode of production); societies with the Asian mode of production (the presence of a special type of collective ownership of land); slave societies (ownership of people and use of slave labor); feudal (exploitation of peasants attached to the land); communist or socialist societies (equal treatment of all towards ownership of the means of production through the elimination of private property relations).

Traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies

Most stable in modern sociology is considered a typology based on the selection traditional, industrial and post-industrial society

Traditional society(it is also called simple and agrarian) is a society with an agricultural structure, sedentary structures and a method of sociocultural regulation based on traditions (traditional society). The behavior of individuals in it is strictly controlled, regulated by customs and norms of traditional behavior, established social institutions, among which the most important will be the family. Attempts at any social transformations and innovations are rejected. For him characterized by low rates of development, production. Important for this type of society is an established social solidarity, which Durkheim established while studying the society of the Australian aborigines.

Traditional society characterized by the natural division and specialization of labor (mainly by gender and age), personalization of interpersonal communication (directly of individuals, and not officials or persons of status), informal regulation of interactions (norms of unwritten laws of religion and morality), connection of members by kinship relations (family type of community organization) , a primitive system of community management (hereditary power, rule of elders).

Modern societies differ in the following features: the role-based nature of interaction (people's expectations and behavior are determined by the social status and social functions of individuals); developing deep division of labor (on a professional qualification basis related to education and work experience); a formal system for regulating relations (based on written law: laws, regulations, contracts, etc.); a complex system of social management (separation of the institute of management, special government bodies: political, economic, territorial and self-government); secularization of religion (its separation from the system of government); highlighting a variety of social institutions (self-reproducing systems of special relations that allow for social control, inequality, protection of their members, distribution of goods, production, communication).

These include industrial and post-industrial societies.

Industrial society- this is a type of organization of social life that combines the freedom and interests of the individual with general principles governing their joint activities. It is characterized by flexibility of social structures, social mobility, and a developed system of communications.

In the 1960s concepts appear post-industrial (informational) societies (D. Bell, A. Touraine, J. Habermas), caused by drastic changes in the economy and culture of the most developed countries. The leading role in society is recognized as the role of knowledge and information, computer and automatic devices. An individual who has received the necessary education and has access to the latest information has an advantageous chance of moving up the social hierarchy. The main goal of a person in society becomes creative work.

The negative side of post-industrial society is the danger of strengthening on the part of the state, the ruling elite through access to information and electronic media and communication over people and society as a whole.

Lifeworld human society is becoming stronger is subject to the logic of efficiency and instrumentalism. Culture, including traditional values, is being destroyed under the influence administrative control gravitating towards standardization and unification of social relations and social behavior. Society is increasingly subject to the logic of economic life and bureaucratic thinking.

• transition from the production of goods to a service economy;
• the rise and dominance of highly educated technical vocational specialists;
• the main role of theoretical knowledge as a source of discoveries and political decisions in society;
• control over technology and the ability to assess the consequences of scientific and technical innovations;
• decision-making based on the creation of intellectual technology, as well as using the so-called information technology.

The latter is brought to life by the needs of the beginning to form information society. The emergence of such a phenomenon is by no means accidental. The basis of social dynamics in the information society is not traditional material resources, which are also largely exhausted, but information (intellectual) ones: knowledge, scientific, organizational factors, intellectual abilities of people, their initiative, creativity.

The concept of post-industrialism today has been developed in detail, has a lot of supporters and an ever-increasing number of opponents. The world has formed two main directions assessments of the future development of human society: eco-pessimism and techno-optimism. Ecopessimism predicts total global catastrophe due to increasing environmental pollution; destruction of the Earth's biosphere. Techno-optimism draws a rosier picture, assuming that scientific and technological progress will cope with all the difficulties on the path to the development of society.

Basic typologies of society

In the history of social thought, several typologies of society have been proposed.

Typologies of society during the formation of sociological science

Founder of sociology, French scientist O. Comte proposed a three-member stage typology, which included:

• stage of military dominance;
• stage of feudal rule;
• stage of industrial civilization.

The basis of the typology G. Spencer the principle of evolutionary development of societies from simple to complex is established, i.e. from an elementary society to an increasingly differentiated one. Spencer envisioned the development of societies as an integral part of a single evolutionary process for all of nature. The lowest pole of the evolution of society is formed by the so-called military societies, characterized by high homogeneity, the subordinate position of the individual and the dominance of coercion as a factor of integration. From this phase, through a series of intermediate ones, society develops to the highest pole - industrial society, in which democracy, the voluntary nature of integration, spiritual pluralism and diversity dominate.

Typologies of society in the classical period of development of sociology

These typologies differ from those described above. Sociologists of this period saw their task as explaining it based not on the general order of nature and the laws of its development, but on nature itself and its internal laws. So, E. Durkheim sought to find the “original cell” of the social as such and for this purpose looked for the “simplest,” most elementary society, the simplest form of organization of “collective consciousness.” Therefore, his typology of societies is built from simple to complex, and is based on the principle of complicating the form of social solidarity, i.e. consciousness by individuals of their unity. In simple societies, mechanical solidarity operates because the individuals composing them are very similar in consciousness and life situation - like particles of a mechanical whole. In complex societies, there is a complex system of division of labor, differentiated functions of individuals, therefore the individuals themselves differ from each other in lifestyle and consciousness. They are united by functional connections, and their solidarity is “organic”, functional. Both types of solidarity are represented in any society, but in archaic societies mechanical solidarity predominates, and in modern societies organic solidarity predominates.

German classic of sociology M. Weber viewed the social as a system of domination and subordination. His approach was based on the idea of ​​society as the result of a struggle for power and to maintain dominance. Societies are classified according to the type of dominance that prevails in them. The charismatic type of dominance arises on the basis of the personal special power - charisma - of the ruler. Priests or leaders usually possess charisma, and such dominance is non-rational and does not require a special system of management. Modern society, according to Weber, is characterized by a legal type of domination based on law, characterized by the presence of a bureaucratic management system and the operation of the principle of rationality.

Typology of the French sociologist Zh. Gurvich features a complex multi-level system. He identifies four types of archaic societies that had a primary global structure:

• tribal (Australia, American Indians);
• tribal, which included heterogeneous and weakly hierarchized groups united around a leader endowed with magical powers (Polynesia, Melanesia);
• tribal with a military organization, consisting of family groups and clans (North America);
• tribal tribes united into monarchical states (“black” Africa).

• charismatic societies (Egypt, Ancient China, Persia, Japan);
• patriarchal societies (Homeric Greeks, Jews of the Old Testament era, Romans, Slavs, Franks);
• city-states (Greek city-states, Roman cities, Italian cities of the Renaissance);
• feudal hierarchical societies (European Middle Ages);
• societies that gave rise to enlightened absolutism and capitalism (Europe only).

In the modern world, Gurvich identifies: technical-bureaucratic society; a liberal democratic society built on the principles of collectivist statism; society of pluralistic collectivism, etc.

Typologies of society in modern sociology

The postclassical stage of development of sociology is characterized by typologies based on the principle of technical and technological development of societies. Nowadays, the most popular typology is one that distinguishes between traditional, industrial and post-industrial societies.

Traditional societies characterized by high development of agricultural labor. The main sector of production is the procurement of raw materials, which is carried out within peasant families; members of society strive to satisfy mainly domestic needs. The basis of the economy is the family farm, which is able to satisfy, if not all of its needs, then a significant part of them. Technical development is extremely weak. The main method in decision making is the “trial and error” method. Social relations are extremely poorly developed, as is social differentiation. Such societies are tradition-oriented, therefore, oriented towards the past.

Industrial society - a society characterized by high industrial development and rapid economic growth. Economic development is carried out mainly due to an extensive, consumer attitude towards nature: in order to satisfy its current needs, such a society strives for the most complete development of the natural resources at its disposal. The main sector of production is the processing and processing of materials, carried out by teams of workers in factories and factories. Such a society and its members strive for maximum adaptation to the present moment and satisfaction of social needs. The main method of decision-making is empirical research.

Another very important feature of industrial society is the so-called “modernization optimism”, i.e. absolute confidence that any problem, including social, can be solved based on scientific knowledge and technology.

Post-industrial society- this is a society that is emerging at the moment and has a number of significant differences from industrial society. If an industrial society is characterized by a desire for maximum industrial development, then in a post-industrial society a much more noticeable (and ideally primary) role is played by knowledge, technology and information. In addition, the service sector is developing rapidly, overtaking industry.

In post-industrial society there is no faith in the omnipotence of science. This is partly due to the fact that humanity is faced with the negative consequences of its own activities. For this reason, “environmental values” come to the fore, and this means not only a careful attitude towards nature, but also an attentive attitude to the balance and harmony necessary for the adequate development of society.

The basis of post-industrial society is information, which in turn gave rise to another type of society - informational. According to supporters of the theory of the information society, a completely new society is emerging, characterized by processes that are opposite to those that took place in the previous phases of the development of societies even in the 20th century. For example, instead of centralization there is regionalization, instead of hierarchization and bureaucratization - democratization, instead of concentration - disaggregation, instead of standardization - individualization. All these processes are driven by information technology.

People offering services either provide information or use it. For example, teachers transfer knowledge to students, repairmen use their knowledge to maintain equipment, lawyers, doctors, bankers, pilots, designers sell their specialized knowledge of laws, anatomy, finance, aerodynamics and color schemes to clients. They do not produce anything, unlike factory workers in an industrial society. Instead, they transfer or use knowledge to provide services for which others are willing to pay.

Researchers are already using the term " virtual society" to describe the modern type of society, formed and developing under the influence of information technologies, especially Internet technologies. The virtual, or possible, world has become a new reality due to the computer boom that has swept society. Virtualization (replacement of reality with a se simulation/image) of society, researchers note, is total, since all the elements that make up society are virtualized, significantly changing their appearance, their status and role.

Post-industrial society is also defined as a society " post-economic", "post-labor", i.e. a society in which the economic subsystem loses its decisive significance, and labor ceases to be the basis of all social relations. In a post-industrial society, a person loses his economic essence and is no longer considered an “economic man”; he focuses on new, “postmaterialist” values. The emphasis is shifting to social and humanitarian problems, and the priority issues are the quality and safety of life, the self-realization of the individual in various social spheres, and therefore new criteria for welfare and social well-being are being formed.

According to the concept of post-economic society, developed by the Russian scientist V.L. Inozemtsev, in a post-economic society, in contrast to an economic society focused on material enrichment, the main goal for most people is the development of their own personality.

The theory of post-economic society is associated with a new periodization of human history, in which three large-scale eras can be distinguished - pre-economic, economic and post-economic. This periodization is based on two criteria: the type of human activity and the nature of the relationship between the interests of the individual and society. The post-economic type of society is defined as a type of social structure where human economic activity becomes more intense and complex, but is no longer determined by its material interests, and is not set by traditionally understood economic feasibility. The economic basis of such a society is formed by the destruction of private property and a return to personal property, to the state of non-alienation of the worker from the tools of production. Post-economic society is characterized by a new type of social confrontation - the confrontation between the information-intellectual elite and all people who are not included in it, engaged in the sphere of mass production and, as a result, pushed out to the periphery of society. However, each member of such a society has the opportunity to enter the elite himself, since membership in the elite is determined by abilities and knowledge.

The typology of societies is considered from different positions. Scientific approaches make it possible to identify the main features of types of government. The 10th grade profile course in social science disciplines presents briefly but clearly the general characteristics and levels of development of countries.

Development of states

Society, according to researchers, goes through 3 steps (levels, stages) . They can be arranged sequentially as follows:

• agricultural, pre-industrial or traditional;
• industrial or capitalist;
• post-industrial or informational.

The first two types developed slowly. Their historical period lasted depending on the cultural traditions of the countries. Despite the differences and individual characteristics of the development of countries, in all states these types had similar characteristics. Scientists have not stopped studying the development of states; they are identifying which features should be brought to the level of mandatory, which may be present in whole or in part. Evolution can move slowly, keeping a state at one stage of development for many centuries. In other conditions, everything speeds up. What matters in type definition :

• man and his attitude to nature, the natural resources of the planet;
• interpersonal relationships, social connections;
• values ​​of the spiritual life of people (individuals and society).

The topic of the training course helps to imagine how the history of the planet, country, and individual person unfolds.

All three types are interconnected, it is impossible to name the exact date of transition from one state to another, evolution takes place across territories, remote areas are pulled up behind the center or vice versa.

Table “Typology of Societies”

Traditional society is still found today. These are the states of Asia and Africa. Some signs of civilization have reached countries, but have not completely taken root in society.

The industrial type of society is characterized by the flourishing of large cities, the concentration of financial resources in one hand, and a clear division of forms of ownership.

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Post-industrial society is embraced by technical modernization in all spheres of human life. Post-industrial society is often called a technogenic civilization.

Sociologists divide the entire diversity of societies that existed previously and exist now into certain types. Several societies united by similar characteristics or criteria constitute a typology.

Typology of society is a classification of societies based on determining the most important and essential features, typical features that distinguish one society from another.

In sociology, there are many typologies depending on the typologization criterion.

Typology of society according to K. Marx. The basis is the method of production and form of ownership. Humanity is capable of going through five formations - primitive, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist and communist.

If writing is chosen as the main feature, then societies are divided into preliterate and written.

Simple(pre-state entities) and complex(state entities). The criterion for typology is the features of the social structure of society - the number of levels of management and the degree of social stratification.

Traditional and modern in accordance with the characteristics of the prevailing social relations and interactions in them.

Depending on the forms of economic activity based on the method of obtaining means of subsistence, they distinguish proto-society, agrarian society, industrial and post-industrial societies.

American sociologists G. Lenski and J. Lenski distinguished societies depending on the method of obtaining their means of subsistence:

Society of hunters and gatherers. Its structure is simple, and social life is organized on the basis of family ties, everything is ruled by a leader.

Cattle breeding societies. They also lack any surplus product. The basis of its social structure is family ties. However, their system is more developed and more complex. Cattle breeding is a way of obtaining a livelihood based on the domestication of wild animals.

Agrarian society. At this stage, a surplus product already appears, trade and crafts develop. Agriculture is associated with the emergence of cities, states, intense social stratification, and the exploitation of man by man. The system of kinship ties ceases to be the basis of the social structure of society.

Industrial society. The term "industrial society" was first proposed by Saint-Simon. Appears at the end of the 18th century. due to the great industrial revolution (the birthplace of which was England) and the French Revolution of 1783-1794. The first feature of this society is industrialization- creation of large machine production. Industrialization means not just the emergence of machine production, but also the use of the achievements of science and technology for production purposes, the discovery of new sources of energy that allow the machine to perform the work that was previously performed by people or draft animals. The emergence of technological machines and the use of natural forces in industry is accompanied by the standardization of parts and components of various mechanisms, which made mass production possible. Labor productivity has increased sharply.

The second distinguishing feature of an industrial society is urbanization – growth of the urban population and the spread of urban values ​​of life to all segments of the population.

Other important features of this type of society are the flexibility of social structures, allowing them to be modified as people's needs change, social mobility, and a developed communication system.

Various authors use additional strokes when describing traditional and industrial societies and sometimes other names. K. Popper uses concepts open And closed societies, the main difference between them is the relationship between social control and individual freedom. “We will call a magical, tribal or collective society a closed society, and a society in which individuals are forced to make personal decisions an open society.”

In the 60-70s. sociologists A. Touraine, R. Aron, D. Bell developed a synthetic model of the typology of society and identified pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial(information) stage of development of society. When one stage replaces another, technology, mode of production, form of ownership, social institutions, political regime, culture, way of life, population, and social structure of society change.

The concepts of post-industrial society or postmodernity were actively developed in American (D. Bell) and Western European sociology (A. Touraine).

Daniel Bell was the first to coin the term “post-industrial society” to define modern society.

Post-industrial society- the stage of modern development, which replaces state-monopoly capitalism and industrial society.

Main characteristics of post-industrial society:

· a sharp increase in the role of knowledge and information, the emergence and development of “smart technologies” that made it possible to transform human life and work;

· change of dominant sectors of the economy: instead of the industrial sector, the main one is services, covering areas of activity not directly related to production - trade, finance, medicine, transport, science, education, recreation, etc.

· changes in the social structure of society, an increase in those layers and groups that are engaged in intellectual work. The class division is giving way to a professional one. Having the necessary education and access to information, an individual has a better chance of moving up the social hierarchy;

· changes in the sociocultural needs of the population, their value orientations;

· role-based nature of interaction (a person’s expectations and behavior are determined by their social status and social functions);

· in-depth distribution of labor;

· a formal system for regulating relations (based on written law, laws, regulations, contracts);

· a complex system of social management (branches of the Institute of Management, social management bodies and self-government);

· secularization (acquisition of secular characteristics) of religion;

· identification of various social institutions.

Due to the fact that the technical basis of modern society is information, it is called the information society, in which intellectual technologies, information, and knowledge processing are becoming increasingly important. The term “information society” was introduced by the Japanese scientist I. Masuda.

Information society - characterized primarily by the development of information production, rather than material values. The driving force behind its evolution is the exploitation of computing technology. Not only is the economic importance of the information sector growing, but also its social and political significance. Strategic resources and the main signs of its development are intellectual capital, concentration of theoretical knowledge, information processing, education, qualifications and retraining. A new infrastructure is emerging - information networks, banks, databases, mass production of information. The principle of management is agreement, and the ideology is humanism.

Depending on the political regime, societies are divided into democratic, authoritarian, totalitarian.

Thus, the typology of such a complex public entity as society cannot be unified and universal, but is determined by the methodological approach of the researcher. You should always understand what scientific, cognitive problem the author was trying to solve.

Literature

1. Volkov Yu.G. Sociology. 2nd edition. / Under the general editorship. V.I. Dobrenkova. Rostov-on-Don: “Phoenix”, 2005.

2. General sociology. Tutorial. Under the general editorship. A.G. Efendieva. – M., 2002. – 654 p.

3. Kravchenko A.I. General sociology – M., 2001.

4. Sorokin P. Man. Civilization. Society. M., 1992.

5. Radugin A.A., Radugin K.A. Sociology. Lecture course. – M., 2002.

6. Luhmann The concept of society / Problems of theoretical sociology. – St. Petersburg, 1994.

7. Skalatsky V.M. Information partnership: new trends in development // Bulletin of the Kiev National News. Un-tu im. Shevchenko. – 2004. - No. 68-69. – P.81-83.

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9. Sociology. A handbook for students of higher initial knowledge / Edited by K. Gorodanyanko, 2002. – 560 p.

Society is a multifaceted phenomenon, possessing specific features in each specific case. The diversity of societies has led to the emergence of different options for their classification. One of them is typology of societies, representing their distribution based on criteria such as social, economic, historical, cultural, etc. Concept "type" implies a form that forms the basis of a number of related objects, being a model for objects of a certain type. In the modern world, there are different types of societies that differ from each other in many ways, both explicit (language of communication, culture, geographical location, etc.) and hidden (degree of social cohesion, level of stability, etc.). Scientific classification involves identifying the most significant, typical features that distinguish one group of societies from others and unite societies of the same group.

One approach to typology divides all societies into simple and complex depending on the number of levels of government and the degree of social differentiation (stratification). Simple society - it is a society in which its constituent parts are homogeneous; there are no rich and poor, no leaders and subordinates; structural division is either absent or in its infancy. This was the primitive society at the dawn of human civilization. To this day, in the secluded corners of the earth, there are tribes that are at the primitive communal stage of development.

Unlike simple complex society - it is a society with highly developed structural elements that are interconnected and interdependent on each other. In complex societies, there is a stratification of people into rich and poor, a special administrative apparatus (state) arises; development of society occurs in different directions and at a faster pace. Property differentiation of society arose within the framework of the primitive communal system, but the formation of a truly hierarchical structure of society is associated with the creation of the state. The first states arose more than five thousand years ago - in the area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and in Egypt. Since then, many peoples have inevitably taken the path of creating a state. If in ancient times complex societies were an exception in the general mass of simple societies, now, on the contrary, simple societies are isolated cases among complex ones.

Another approach to the typology of societies identifies the presence of writing as a criterion for their differentiation. In accordance with this, a distinction is made between preliterate and literate societies. IN preliterate societies There was no written language; people transmitted information only through speech. IN written societies there was a transfer of information using signs. At first these were drawings depicting animals, birds, people, and various objects. Then cuneiform appeared, which was a simplification of drawings. But the real invention was the creation of an iconic image of sounds - the alphabet. Different peoples have different letters of the alphabet that mean different sounds. Knowledge recorded on clay tablets, wax boards, birch bark, paper, etc., served many generations of people. The original form of writing was invented by the American Indians. To transmit information they used a rope with knots tied on it. The recipient of such a letter gradually untied the knots by “reading” the message. Over time, storage media became more and more complex. Books, newspapers, radio, television, and computers appeared. But writing has not lost its significance at all.

The emergence of writing became one of the most important stages in the transition of mankind from savagery to civilization. But there have been exceptions in history. Thus, the Scythians, a people who lived in the Northern Black Sea region in the 1st millennium BC, did not have a written language despite their highly developed material culture. Some primitive relict tribes still do not have a written language.

There is a typology of societies based on identifying the mode of production. According to this criterion, a society of gatherers and hunters, a society of farmers, a society of pastoralists, and an industrial society are distinguished.

Society of Gatherers and Hunters existed during the period of dominance of the appropriating economy within the framework of the primitive communal system. People took ready-made products from nature and were completely dependent on her whims. Climate change, population growth, and food shortages have led to people turning to other means to earn their livelihood. Gathering was replaced by agriculture, and hunting was replaced by cattle breeding. There has been a transition from an appropriating economy to a producing one. Agricultural And pastoral societies existed next to each other for many centuries. This neighborhood was not always peaceful. Often nomads attacked sedentary peoples. But, despite the devastation, farmers restored their farms and often fought back against the nomads. History has shown that agricultural society turned out to be more viable, since most peoples eventually switched to a sedentary lifestyle. It is on the basis of the base created by agricultural, primarily European, peoples that industrial society, based on industrial production. It exists only 300-400 years, but is distinguished by higher rates of development compared to previous societies.

In science, there is a classification of societies that distinguishes closed and open types. The differences between them are based on the level of control over the individual and the degree of freedom of the individual. For closed society characterized by an unchanged social structure, immunity to innovation, conservatism, dogmatic ideology, and collectivism. All anti-democratic regimes of the past and present belong to this type of society. Open Society characterized by a dynamic social structure, the ability to renew itself, individualism and a democratic ideology. This type of society is widespread in the modern world, primarily in developed democratic states.

Until recently, domestic science was dominated by formational approach to the typology of societies, based on the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of socio-economic formations. Socio-economic formation - is a historical type of society based on a specific mode of production . The type of production relations based on a certain form of ownership of the means of production is economic basis society, which determines the appropriate type add-ons with its main elements - state and law. The replacement of one socio-economic formation by another occurs as a result of a change in the type of production relations, which invariably entails transformations in the superstructure. In the development of mankind, Marxist theory identifies five socio-economic formations with their corresponding types of society - primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist And communist. In the first and fifth the state does not exist. A socialist society is a transitional society from capitalism to communism.

With the development of productive forces (tools of labor), production relations change, society is divided into classes, and a state is formed. There is a transition from a primitive communal socio-economic formation to a slave-owning one. The state acts as a tool in the hands of the ruling class to suppress the oppressed. Based on historical experience, theorists of Marxism concluded that some peoples moved from a primitive communal formation to a feudal one, bypassing the slaveholding one. Formations replace each other both evolutionarily (the transition to slavery and feudalism) and as a result of revolution (the transition to capitalist and socialist society). The socialist state, expressing the interests of the working people, suppresses the resistance of the exploiters. With the completion of this task, the need for coercion disappears, which means the state becomes unnecessary. There is a transition to a classless society, in which the state withers away. The formational approach to the typology of societies is based on the real development of the historical process in the past. Nevertheless, the practice of the existence of a socialist society, including in our country, did not live up to theoretical expectations. The forecast of the transition to a classless communist society was not confirmed either.

The most common division in modern science is the division of societies into traditional, industrial and post-industrial. This concept was proposed by the American sociologist D. Bell. The scientist identified changes and improvement of the means of production and knowledge as the criteria for this typology.

Traditional (pre-industrial) society was distinguished by the predominance of a subsistence economy, a class hierarchy, and a traditional way of regulating social relations. It is characterized by manual labor and low rates of development of production, which can satisfy people's needs only at a minimum level. Traditional society is not very receptive to innovation. The behavior of people in such a society is regulated by customs and traditions based on religion. The history of traditional societies can begin with the emergence of humanity. Such societies existed during the period of slavery and feudalism. And only with the advent of bourgeois relations is an industrial society formed.

Industrial society is a complex society based on industrial production. In it, a person is endowed with greater opportunities for self-realization than in pre-industrial society. A person is given a whole set of rights and freedoms, and it is up to him how to use them. In an industrial society, production develops on the basis of mechanization and automation, and the creation of various types of goods becomes widespread. The population of cities is growing (urbanization), the number of people employed in industry is increasing, and the requirements for education and qualifications of workers are increasing. The development of mass communications is accelerating.

IN post-industrial (information) society the extraction and processing of natural products is giving way to the production and processing of information, the share of goods production in the economy is decreasing, and the share of the service sector is increasing. The commodity-producing economy is being transformed into a service economy. As a result, the structure of society changes. The class division is being replaced by a professional one. A person’s position in society and his income level directly depend on his education and level of knowledge.

As the nature of economic relations changes, the social structure of society also changes. If in a pre-industrial society the main group of the population were peasants, in an industrial society - workers, then in a post-industrial society - employees, managers, managers. Authoritarian leadership in pre-industrial society and representative democracy in industrial society are being replaced by direct democracy and self-government in post-industrial society. Individual freedom in choosing priority directions for its development is increasing.

In addition to those discussed, there are other approaches to the typology of societies. All of them, apparently, differ in the criteria that form the basis of this particular classification. The issue of typology of societies needs further development. It seems more appropriate to use different approaches, provided that everything rational is isolated from them and their opposition is avoided. The positive aspects of each of them, taken in unity, will allow us to better understand the type of a particular society.

Questions and tasks

1. What is typology? What are the parameters for identifying certain types of society?

2. What approaches to the typology of societies do you know?

3. What is the difference between a simple society and a complex one?

4. Determine the importance of writing for the development of society.

5. Give historical examples illustrating the typology of societies according to their mode of production.

6. What are the differences between closed and open societies?

7. What are the features of the formational approach to the typology of societies?

8. Give a detailed description of D. Bell’s concept. Give specific examples to illustrate each type of society.

9. Fill out the table: