different types of societies it must be noted that although humans have established many types of societies throughout history sociologists and anthropologists usually refer to five basic types of societies each defined by its type of economy and level of technology let me briefly sketch each type of society below hunting and gathering societies beginning about 250 000 years ago hunting and gathering societies are the oldest ones we know of few of them remain today partly because modern societies have encroached on their existence as the name hunting end gathering implies people in these societies both hunt for food and gather plants and other vegetation they have few possessions other than some simple hunting and gathering equipment to ensure their mutual survival everyone is expected to help find food as well as share the food they find to seek their food hunting and gathering peoples often move from place to place because they are nomadic their societies tend to be quite small often consisting of only a few dozen people beyond this simple summary of the type of life these societies lead anthropologists have also charted the nature of social relationships in them one of their most important findings is that hunting and gathering societies are fairly egalitarian although men do most of the hunting in women most of the gathering women and men in these societies are roughly equal because hunting and gathering societies have few possessions their members are also fairly equal in terms of wealth and power as virtually no wealth exists labor in hunting and gathering societies was divided equally among members because of the mobile nature of the society these societies stored little in the form of surplus goods therefore anyone who could hunt fish or gather fruits and vegetables did so these societies probably also had at least some division of labor based on gender as already intimated above males probably traveled long distances to hunt and capture larger animals females hunted smaller animals gathered plants made clothing protected and raised children and helped the males to protect the community from rival groups hunting and gathering societies were also tribal members shared an ancestral heritage and a common set of traditions and rituals they also sacrificed their individuality for the sake of the larger tribal culture horticultural and pastoral societies horticultural and pastoral societies both developed about ten thousand to twelve thousand years ago in horticultural societies people use hoes and other simple hand tools to raise crops in pastoral societies people raise and heard sheep goats camels and other domesticated animals and use them as their major source of food and also depending on the animal as a means of transportation some societies are either primarily horticultural or pastoral while other societies combine both forms pastoral societies tend to be at least somewhat nomadic as they often have to move to find better grazing land for their animals horticultural societies on the other hand tend to be less nomadic as they are able to keep growing their crops in the same location for some time both types of societies often manage to produce a surplus of food from vegetable or animal sources respectively and this surplus allows them to trade the extra food with other societies it also allows them to have a larger population size than hunting and gathering societies that often reaches several hundred members accompanying the greater complexity and wealth of horticultural and pastoral societies is greater inequality in terms of gender and wealth than is found in hunting and gathering societies in pastoral societies wealth stems from the number of animals a family owns and families with more animals are wealthier and more powerful than families with fewer animals in horticultural societies wealth stems from the amount of land a family owns and families with more land are wealthier and more powerful one other side effect of the greater wealth of horticultural and pastoral societies is greater conflict as just mentioned sharing of food is a key norm in hunting and gathering societies in horticultural and pastoral societies however wealth and more specifically the differences in wealth leads to disputes and even fighting over land and animals whereas hunting and gathering peoples tend to be very peaceful horticultural and pastoral peoples tend to be more aggressive agricultural societies agricultural societies developed some 5 000 years ago in the middle east thanks to the invention of the plow when pulled by oxen and other large animals the plow allowed for much more cultivation of crops than the simple tools of horticultural societies permitted the wheel was also invented about the same time and written language and numbers began to be used the development of agricultural societies thus marked a watershed in the development of human society ancient egypt china greece and rome were all agricultural societies and india and many other large nations today remain primarily agricultural we have already seen that the greater food production of horticultural and pastoral societies led them to become larger than hunting and gathering societies and to have more trade and greater inequality and conflict agricultural societies continue all these trends first because they produce so much more food than horticultural and pastoral societies they often become quite large with their numbers sometimes reaching into the millions second their huge food surpluses lead to extensive trade both within the society itself and with other societies third the surpluses and trade both lead to degrees of wealth unknown in the earlier types of societies and thus to unprecedented inequality exemplified in the appearance for the first time of peasants people who work on the land of rich landowners finally agricultural societies greater size and inequality also produce more conflict some of this conflict is internal as rich landowners struggle with each other for even greater wealth and power and peasants sometimes engage in revolts other conflict is external as the governments of these societies seek other markets for trade and greater wealth industrial societies industrial societies emerged in the 1700s as the development of machines and then factories replaced the plow and other agricultural equipment as the primary mode of production the first machines were steam and water powered but eventually of course electricity became the main source of power the growth of industrial societies marked such a great transformation in many of the world societies that we now call the period from about 1750 to the late 1800s the industrial revolution this revolution has had enormous consequences in almost every aspect of society some for the better and some for the worse on the positive side industrialization brought about technological advances that improved people's health and expanded their lifespans as noted earlier there is also a greater emphasis in industrial societies on individualism and people in these societies typically enjoy greater political freedom than those in older societies compared to agricultural societies industrial societies also have lowered economic and gender inequality in industrial societies people do have a greater chance to pull themselves up by their bootstraps than was true in earlier societies and rags to riches stories continue to illustrate the opportunity available under industrialization on the negative side industrialization meant the rise and growth of large cities and concentrated poverty and degrading conditions in these cities as the novels of charles dickens pointedly remind us this urbanization changed the character of social life by creating a more impersonal and less traditional gesellschaft society it also led to riots and other urban violence that among other things helped fuel the rise of the modern police force and forced factory owners to improve workplace conditions today industrial societies consume most of the world's resources pollute its environment to an unprecedented degree and have compiled nuclear arsenals that could undo thousands of years of human society in an instant post-industrial societies sociologists note that with the advent of the computer microchip the world is witnessing a technological revolution this revolution is creating a post-industrial society based on information knowledge and the selling of services that is rather than being driven by the factory production of goods society is being shaped by the human mind aided by computer technology although factories will always exist the key to wealth and power seems to lie in the ability to generate store manipulate and sell information sociologists speculate about the characteristics of post-industrial society in the near future they predict increased levels of education and training consumerism availability of goods and social mobility while they hope for a decline in inequality as technical skills and know-how begin to determine class rather than the ownership of property sociologists are also concerned about potential social divisions based on those who have appropriate education and those who do not sociologists believe society will become more concerned with the welfare of all members of society they hope post-industrial society will be less characterized by social conflict as everyone works together to solve society's problems through science you