Page 502 - Essencials of Sociology

How Social Change Transforms Social Life 475

revolution allowed hunting and gathering societies to develop
into horticultural and pastoral societies. The plow brought about
the second social revolution, from which agricultural societies
emerged. The third social revolution, prompted by the invention
of the steam engine, ushered in the Industrial Revolution. Now we
are in the midst of the fourth social revolution, stimulated by the
invention of the microchip. The process of change has accelerated
so greatly that the mapping of the human genome system could
be pushing us into yet another new type of society, one based on
biotechnology.
From Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft

Although our society has changed extensively—think of how
life was for your grandparents—we have seen only the tip of the The evolution of societies has been
iceberg. Based on what happened in earlier social revolutions, we know that by the time so thorough that this scene—once
this fourth—and perhaps fifth—social revolution is full-blown, little of our current way common for all humanity—has
become strange, exotic. Our type of
of life will remain.
society, too, will be replaced by some
Consider the change from agricultural to industrial society. This transition didn’t just new type yet to appear.
touch the surface. It was not simply that people changed where they lived, moving from
the farm to the city. The change was so extensive and deep that it transformed peoples’
personal connections. Lives had been built around the reciprocal obligations (such as
exchanging favors) that are essential to kinship, social status, and friendship. Moving to
the city broke many intimate relationships, replacing them with impersonal associations
built around paid work, contracts, and money. As reviewed on pages 107–108, sociolo-
gists use the terms Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft to indicate this fundamental shift in
society.
Traditional, or Gemeinschaft, societies are small, rural, and slow-changing. Men domi-
nate social life, and the divisions of labor between men and women are rigid. People
live in extended families, have little formal education, treat illness at home, tend to see
morals in absolute terms, and consider the past the key for dealing with the present. In The Protestant Reformation ushered
contrast, modern, or Gesellschaft, societies are large, urbanized, and fast-changing, with in not only religious change but also,
more fluid divisions of labor between the sexes. When a group reaches the third stage of as Max Weber analyzed, fundamental
change in economics. This painting
the demographic transition, people have smaller families and low rates of infant mortal-
by Johann Zoffany from about 1775
ity. They prize formal education, are future-oriented, have higher incomes, and enjoy is of Sir Lawrence Dundas, a Scottish
vastly more material possessions. merchant. Note the wealth that he
enjoyed.
The Industrial Revolution
and Capitalism
As you can see, these are not just surface changes.
The switch from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft society
transformed people’s social relationships and their ori-
entations to life. In his analysis of this transition, Karl
Marx stressed that when feudal society broke up, it
threw people off the land, creating a surplus of labor.
When these desperate masses moved to cities, they
were exploited by capitalists, the owners of the means
of production (factories, machinery, and tools). This
set in motion antagonistic relationships between capi-
talists and workers that remain today.
Max Weber traced capitalism to the Protes-
tant Reformation. He noted that the Reformation
stripped Protestants of the assurance that church
membership saved them. As they agonized over
heaven and hell, they concluded that God did not
want the elect to live in uncertainty. Surely God