![]() Urban areas created the need for administrators and public servants. At the same time, farmers eventually came to labor for the ruling class.Īs more people specialized in nonfarming jobs, villages grew into towns and then into cities. Economies begin to develop because people now had goods and services to trade. Wild animals needed to be domesticated and herds shepherded. Farming equipment and irrigation systems needed to be built and maintained. Excess crops needed to be stored, processed, protected, and transported. ![]() As agriculture grew, new jobs emerged, along with new technologies. The improved efficiency in food production meant that not everyone had to toil all day in the fields. ![]() Knowing there would be abundant food each year as long as crops were tended led people to abandon the nomadic life of hunter-gatherers and settle down to farm. With this new technology, one family could grow enough crops not only to feed themselves but also to feed others. (Information courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)Īgriculture began with the simplest of technologies-for example, a pointed stick to break up the soil-but really took off when people harnessed animals to pull an even more efficient tool for the same task: a plow. Agriculture developed later in the western hemisphere, arising in what would become the eastern United States, central Mexico, and northern South America between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago (Diamond 2003).Īgricultural practices have emerged in different societies at different times. The people living in the highlands of New Guinea developed agriculture between 9,000 and 6,000 years ago, while people were farming in Sub-Saharan Africa between 5,000 and 4,000 years ago. Next were the valleys of the Indus, Yangtze, and Yellow rivers in India and China, between 10,000 and 9,000 years ago. The earliest agriculture was in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East around 11,000–10,000 years ago. Although there is still a great deal of disagreement among archeologists as to the exact timeline, research indicates that agriculture began independently and at different times in several places around the world. The first true economies arrived when people started raising crops and domesticating animals. Many sociologists contend that hunter-gatherers did not have a true economy, because groups did not typically trade with other groups due to the scarcity of goods. Food reserves only consisted of what they could carry. Once the resources of an area ran low, the group had to move on, and everything they owned had to travel with them. They ate what they caught or gathered their goods as soon as possible, because they had no way of preserving or transporting it. They hunted animals for their meat and gathered wild fruits, vegetables, and cereals. They would settle in an area for a brief time when there were abundant resources. Small groups of extended families roamed from place to place looking for subsistence. Our earliest ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers. Photo (b) courtesy of Kārlis Dambrāns/flickr) In a postindustrial society, information is the most valuable resource. In an agricultural economy, crops and seeds are the most important commodity. What are these older economic systems? How did they develop? Why did they fade away? What are the similarities and differences between older economic systems and modern ones?Įconomics of Agricultural, Industrial, and Postindustrial Societies These changes in economies raise many questions for sociologists. Many of these earlier systems lasted centuries. In the past, other economic systems reflected the societies that formed them. Vietnam, where the economy was devastated by the Vietnam War, restructured to a state-run economy in response, and more recently has been moving toward a socialist-style market economy. For example, Russia has been transitioning to a market-based economy since the fall of communism in that region of the world. Countries have switched systems as their rulers and economic fortunes have changed. The dominant economic systems of the modern era are capitalism and socialism, and there have been many variations of each system across the globe. (Photos (a) and (b) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) They have very different views on how economies should be run. Morgan was one of the most influential capitalists in history. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was one of the founders of Russian communism.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |