Attention to traditional society is due to drastic changes in the worldview of mankind. At this stage of development, society is diverse, rich and poor, highly educated and without primary education, believers and atheists are forced to coexist in it. Modern society needs individuals who are socially adapted, morally persistent, and have a desire for self-improvement. It is these qualities that are formed at an early age in the family. Traditional society most meets the criteria of education in a person of acceptable qualities.
The concept of traditional society
Traditional society is mainly a rural, agrarian and pre-industrial association of large groups of people. In the leading sociological typology “tradition - modernity”, it is the main opposite of the industrial one. According to the traditional type, societies developed in the ancient and medieval eras. At the present stage, examples of such societies are clearly preserved in Africa and Asia.
Signs of a traditional society
Distinctive features of traditional society are manifested in all spheres of life: spiritual, political, economic, economic.
The community is the main social unit. It is a closed association of people united by a clan or local principle. In a man-land relationship, it is the community that acts as the intermediary. Its typology is different: they distinguish feudal, peasant, urban. The type of community determines the position of a person in it.
A characteristic feature of a traditional society is agricultural cooperation, which is made up of clan (family ties. Relations are based on collective labor activity, use of land, systematic redistribution of land. Such a society is always characterized by weak dynamics.
Traditional society is primarily a closed association of people, which is self-sufficient and does not allow external influences. Traditions and laws determine his political life. In turn, society and the state suppress the individual.
Features of the economic structure
Traditional society is characterized by the predominance of extensive technology and the use of hand tools, the dominance of corporate, community, state ownership, while private property still remains untouchable. The standard of living of the majority of the population is low. In labor and production, a person is forced to adapt to external factors, thus, society and the features of the organization of labor activity depend on natural conditions.
Traditional society is a confrontation between nature and man.
The economic structure enters into complete dependence on factors of a climatic nature. The basis of this economy is cattle breeding and agriculture, the results of collective labor are distributed taking into account the position of each member in the social hierarchy. In addition to agriculture, people in traditional society are engaged in primitive craft.
Social Relations and Hierarchy
The values of traditional society consist in honoring the older generation, old people, observing the customs of the family, unwritten and written norms and accepted rules of behavior. Conflicts arising in teams are resolved with the intervention and participation of the elder (leader).
In traditional society, social structure implies class privileges and a rigid hierarchy. Moreover, social mobility is practically absent. For example, in India, transitions from one caste to another with an increase in status are strictly prohibited. The main social units of society were the community and the family. First of all, man was part of a collective that is part of a traditional society. Signs indicating the inappropriate behavior of each individual were discussed and regulated by a system of norms and principles. The concept of individuality and following the interests of an individual in this structure are absent.
Social relations in a traditional society are built on submission. Each is included in it and feels itself part of the whole. The birth of a person, the creation of a family, death occurs in one place and the environment of people. Work and life are built, transmitted from generation to generation. Leaving the community is always difficult and difficult, sometimes even tragic.
A traditional society is an association based on common features of a collective of people in which individuality is not a value, the ideal scenario of fate is the fulfillment of social roles. It is forbidden to not correspond to the role, otherwise a person becomes an outcast.
Social status affects the position of the individual, the degree of proximity to the leader of the community, priest, leader. The influence of the head of the clan (elder) is unquestioning, even if individual qualities are called into question.
Political structure
The main wealth of traditional society is power, which was valued higher than law or law. The army and the church play a dominant role. Form of government in the state in the era of traditional societies there was mainly a monarchy. In most countries, representative authorities did not have independent political significance.
Since power is the most valuable, it does not need justification, but passes to the next leader by inheritance, its source is God's will. Power in a traditional society is oppressive and concentrated in the hands of one person.
The spiritual sphere of traditional society
The spiritual basis of society are traditions. Sacred and religious-mythical representations have dominance in both individual and public consciousness. Religion has a significant impact on the spiritual sphere of traditional society; culture is homogeneous. The oral way of exchanging information prevails over the written one. Rumor spread is part of social norms. The number of people with education, as a rule, is always insignificant.
Customs and traditions also determine the spiritual life of people in the community, which is characterized by deep religiosity. Religious dogmas are reflected in culture.
Hierarchy of values
The totality of cultural values, revered unconditionally, also characterizes traditional society. Signs of a value-oriented society can be general or class. Culture determines the mentality of society. Values have a strict hierarchy. The highest, without a doubt, is God. The desire for God forms and determines the motives of human behavior. He is the ideal embodiment of good behavior, supreme justice and a source of virtue. Another value can be called asceticism, which implies the rejection of the blessings of the earth in the name of gaining heaven.
Fidelity is the next principle of behavior expressed in service to God.
In a traditional society, second-order values are also distinguished, for example, idleness - refusal of physical labor in general or only on certain days.
It should be noted that they all have a sacred (sacred) character.Class values can be idleness, militancy, honor, personal independence, which was acceptable for representatives of the noble strata of traditional society.
The correlation of modern and traditional societies
Traditional and modern society are closely interconnected. It is as a result of the evolution of the first type of society that mankind has embarked on an innovative path of development. Modern society is characterized by a fairly rapid change of technology, continuous modernization. Cultural reality is also subject to change, which leads to new life paths for future generations. Modern society is characterized by a transition from state ownership to private ownership, as well as neglect of individual interests. Some features of traditional society are inherent in modern. But, from the point of view of Eurocentrism, it is backward due to its closeness to external relations and innovations, the primitive, long-lasting nature of changes.
