SYG 2000: Lecture 13. Chapter 5: Societies and Their Transformation

I. Societies and their Transformation:

  A. Groups: people who interact with one another/think themselves belonging together

  B.. society: people who share culture & territory/largest, most complex group studied

II. Hunting & Gathering Societies: dep on hunting animals/gathering plants (no grow)

  A. basic d of L by sex: eg men hunt lg animals/both hunt sm animals/both gather plants

  B. shaman: individual thought able to influence spiritual forces/1 few soc div other gen

  C. gen dif: wom contribute >food to group (up to 4/5), yet male hunters have >prestige

  D. family other maj unit: distributes food/educates/nurses sick/virtually all other needs

  E. cannot support lg # people: 25-40/nomadic/gather what is already there

  F. high value on sharing food: essential to survival/children have 50-50 chance survive

 G. most egalitarian: because hunt/gather is perishable+have no $;no wealth accumulate

 H. most leisure of all human groups:  no work to store up material possessions

   I. common 100 yrs ago:today few:aborigines Australia/pygmies Cent Africa/groups LA

III. Pastoral/Horticultural Societies: based on pasturing of animals

A.     pastoral (herding) soc: dev in arid regions: low rainful impractical grow crops

    1. remained nomadic: followed animals to pasture

B.Horticultural (gardening) societies: based cultivation of plants by use hand tools

C. first social revolution: domestication: over 1000s yrs fundamental break with past

D. dependable food supply: group larger/no everyone need produce food

E. d of l permitted: some people specialize making jewelry, tools, weapons, etc.

F. trade: stimulated by surplus of objects—also allow accum of objects

G. set stage inequality: led to feuds/war+opened door to slavery

H. primary pattern of transformation: from fewer to more possessions & > inequality

IV. Agricultural Society: food surplus of agricultural revolution/dev cities/culture: art etc

  A. Inequality: becomes fundamental feature of life in society

  B. Elite: surrounds self w/ armed men to protect privilege from control surplus

  C. levy taxes: others become subjects/forerunner of the state

  D. females subject to males:  Elise Boulding theorizes since men charge plowing/cows

    1. after men put metal tips on plow,left women sub tasks: weeding, carry H2O to fields

    2. Boulding (1976) not explain: why men took over metal work and plowing?

V. Industrial Society: Herbert Blumer def: good produced by machines powered by fuels

  A. first use steam engine: permits untold new accumulation wealth

  B. control means of production: factories/machinery/tools—dictate work conditions

  C. reverse inequality: as indus progress

    1. indicators: housing/consumer good/abol slavery/rep democracy/trial by jury

VI. Post-Industrial (information) Society:people don’t produce anything/transmit use info

  A. U.S. 1st country 50% work force in service industries:ed/health/research/gov/banking

  B. 4th social revolution: microchip: new tech allows work at home/explore remote space

VII. Bioeconomic Society: centers @ application genetic structures to produce food/meds

A.     transformation: biotechnology replacing biology; biochemistry replacing chemistry

B.     starting  point?:  1953 Francis Frick/James Watson ident double-helix struc DNA

     1.coul be: decoding of human genome 2001

  C. revolution: healthcare: prevent instead treat disease/cloning/ bioengineering