Agrarian And Feudal Society And The Transformation example essay topic

Introduction In order to understand the statement "The world of modernity has been deserted by the gods". I will firstly, discuss the hunter / gatherer, agrarian and feudal society and the transformation of this human society from tradition to a society of reason and rationality. I will then discuss how this transformation related to the emergence of Sociology as an academic discipline. Hunter / Gatherer, Agrarian & Feudal Society Human society passed through a number of stages, including, hunter / gatherer, agrarian and feudal societies. During the hunter / gatherer era, societal units were divided into tribes, which led to a nomadic existence, utilization of the natural vegetation and hunting and gathering.

Some scholars suggest that approximately 10,000 years ago, population growth and the development of tools, led to the development of agriculture, the end of nomadic forms of existence, and the development of villages and towns. This period is known as the agricultural age and was characterized by the application of muscle power to nature. There was little separation of home and workplace and a quite alien notion would have been that of working for somebody else. It was during the agricultural age that the feudal society emerged. Even though the poorer class had their own land to work, they were almost forced to supplement the income derived from this with some wage labour. Feudalism promoted the growing separation of home and workplace.

This pre-industrial era involved the tilling of the soil and the provision of supporting services by the poorer class to the bourgeoisie who began emerging towards the end of the feudal period. The Bourgeoisie, as Karl Marx called them, owned and controlled the means of production and were the people behind the application of science to industrial production. By offering wages in return for labour, this economic elite group of people was able to enjoy the fruits of this labour but did not partake in any physical work. The conditions of labour, namely, the degrading conditions under which persons who had been torn away from their traditional village setting now had to live and work. The great world religions emerged during this period.

It is argued by some sociologists that this emergence was a direct response to the hardship and drudgery that was experienced during the agricultural age. In the feudal society custom and tradition counted for so much, this insistence that a well-considered strong conviction overrode everything else had a great liberating force. However, the most advantage group of this period not only had the greatest share of wealth, which was predominantly in the form of land and the comforts which accrued from that land, but also were served by a Church which provided ideologies helping to stabilize order. Christianity itself contained much which might encourage challenge to the feudal order. The Roman Catholic Church and its doctrines, which put priests as intermediaries between individuals and their destinies, was able to counteract challenges with organic models of society whereby each person plays his natural part in the wider scheme of things.