Understanding Societies: From Agricultural to Modern
The Agricultural Society
Transition and Adaptation
The shift to agricultural societies was driven by significant environmental changes that forced humans to find new solutions and resources. The depletion of game and increasing populations led to the exploration of cultivation and the domestication of various animal species. This new way of life resulted in a novel economic system characterized by accumulation, redistribution, and control. Production intensified, leading to the potential for surpluses, which could be seen as either a shared benefit or a form of tribute imposed by those in power.
Emergence of Tribal Leadership
Shared leadership transitioned to a tribal chief, an individual with the authority to collect and store food and goods. This allowed the chief and their subordinates to maintain a standard of living that reflected their rank, a system that tended towards hereditary succession.
The Rise of States
Conditions for State Formation
The evolution from these early societies to states required several new conditions: the centralization of power, increased social stratification, a clear division of labor, unequal distribution of resources (like irrigation), urban development, and significant cultural growth.
Advancements and Transformations
Increased production through the development of new intensive agricultural techniques improved living conditions in cities and enriched social life. Laws became more explicit, facilitating new trade and cultural expressions, including writing, early scientific inquiry, and the documentation of religious beliefs through monuments and texts. This new form of social organization first emerged in the Middle East, likely due to the region’s favorable conditions for the development of both agriculture and animal husbandry.
Social Configurations and Socialization
Throughout history, the human species has developed diverse social configurations and societal models, each with its own unique lifestyle. However, as individuals, we also engage in social configurations through a process known as ‘socialization’.
The Dynamics of Socialization
Social and Personal Identity
From birth, we belong to specific social groups and develop a sense of social identity alongside our personal identity. Personal identity allows us to see ourselves as unique individuals, while social identity enables us to share values with others. We acquire habits and customs from the society we belong to or identify with. The process through which we develop our identity is socialization.
Socialization Processes and Forms
Socialization is the process by which an individual internalizes the culture of their society, developing and establishing their identity as a person. This lifelong process is divided into two main stages:
Primary Socialization
This crucial stage introduces the individual to society and primarily occurs within the family during childhood. In modern industrial societies, primary school and television also play a role. The child adopts roles, attitudes, and values from those around them, learning to accept and understand their actions, identifying with them and the world they inhabit. The child internalizes these roles and norms through a process of progressive generalization, moving from specific norms, attitudes, and values to more generalized ones. Primary socialization carries a significant emotional weight.
Secondary Socialization
This stage involves the internalization of various institutions, contrasting with the ‘base world’ acquired during primary socialization. New agents of socialization come into play, including institutions like workplaces, political organizations, and religious groups. Individuals can choose the social sector they wish to join and internalize the rules that govern it. Social internalization in this stage is less emotionally charged, and social roles often involve a degree of anonymity. Social roles are more interchangeable, and individuals may distance themselves from their roles. While knowledge is internalized almost automatically in primary socialization, secondary socialization often requires specific teaching techniques and can be more complex. This period of maturation and growth can lead to identity crises, potentially causing individuals to struggle with consistency and personal identification. However, secondary socialization does not erase the past but builds upon it.
Resocialization
Resocialization is the process of internalizing the cultural content (roles, attitudes, values) of a society different from the one in which the individual was initially socialized. This process often resembles primary socialization, involving two key aspects: the dismantling of the previous worldview and the formation of new, strong affective identifications. Resocialization typically occurs during periods of profound crisis, which can be triggered by personal growth, rapid social change, or cultural clashes resulting from emigration. As George Herbert Mead noted, the fact that individuals are shaped by social processes does not negate their unique individuality.
The Role of Tradition
Transmission and Authority
Through the socialization process, each generation inherits a particular way of understanding reality, interpreting the world around us, and developing as individuals. Traditions are part of this inherited knowledge. Tradition encompasses what we receive, preserve, and build upon from those who came before us. It consists of knowledge, experiences, and rules that encompass beliefs and guide all human activities, from practical skills to morals, rituals, and folklore. Traditions are the product of a historical process in which previous generations transmit to subsequent ones ways of making sense of things, along with power and possibilities. While humans are capable of exploring multiple possibilities, early humans had a far more limited range of options compared to what we have inherited. Although tradition represents a form of authority, it also provides us with an invaluable foundation of knowledge that prevents us from starting from scratch and offers crucial guidance for understanding the world and functioning within our society. Traditions only persist if they are accepted, reaffirmed, and developed, as their authority rests on the recognition of those who rely on the experiences passed down to them. We must acknowledge that we always have the freedom to accept or reject traditions. To understand human development, we must be aware of the historical trajectory of our fundamental impulses and passions, as well as the cultural transformations they have undergone.
Culture: Characterization and Subcultures
Defining Culture
Anthropologists distinguish between material culture (consisting of physical objects and tools) and mental culture (encompassing social beliefs, values, and norms). When describing the cultures of different peoples, anthropologists consider everything from religious beliefs and moral codes to customs, celebrations, and games. There are numerous definitions of culture, each emphasizing different aspects. Culture can be defined as a form of adaptation that goes beyond biological survival, as the historical product of various groups, or as a humanizing factor. Notably, culture can also be described as a system of shared symbols that give meaning to our lives, providing orientation, a way of seeing the world, and interpreting reality.
Subculture and Counterculture
Within every culture, there are subcultures. These are variations within a larger culture based on factors like age, socioeconomic status, social class, ethnicity, and more. Countercultures, on the other hand, are movements that rebel against the dominant culture, proposing alternative cultural and societal models. Examples include:
- Urban tribes: These groups emphasize individuality and difference. Young people often seek to establish an identity that neither their family nor society readily provides. They unite around a leader or idol and adopt cultural expressions that set them apart from others.
- Deviant social groups: These can include groups like criminal gangs, which engage in a direct and violent challenge to the established system, or migrant groups who may face marginalization.
- Alternative social groups: These groups often emerge in response to a sense of meaninglessness or uncertainty about the future. They seek to find purpose through activities like communal living, meetings, workshops, and discussions. They often reject materialism and mainstream societal values.