Sociology200 EXAM 2 STUDY GUIDE Lectures The social organization of horticultural society The zenith of inequality The biophysical environment 1942 Germs The Social Organization of Horticultural Society The first great revolution in human history HORTICULTURE o First time in human history you had people whose lives and societies were dependent on growing their own food plant cultivation Changed nearly all main features of society Created new forms of social organization Was the beginning of a trend Main consequences of plant cultivation o Increase in Food production Size of society Economic surplus information and tools to satisfy basic human needs Trade and commerce Stability of the food supply improves the size of food supply also improves Population size and density Death rate declines Complexity inequality Emergence of o Multiple communities In hunting and gathering it was a single community society and now simple horticultural societies were divided among 6 or 7 different communities o Permanent settlements Hunter gatherers were nomadic o Urban centers o Slavery Not in hunting and gathering societies because they will only be able to produce the amount of food that s necessary for them to survive 15 20 of simple horticultural societies practice slavery advanced was 85 90 o Social stratification Society where there is more than one level in the society There is essentially 2 classes of people elite mass unequal distribution of power prestige and property wealth Lower class tends to be powerless called names and very poor In hunting and gathering societies there is just one layer same prestige power property o Polity In hunting and gathering what you have is a sociocracy the rule of all everyone is equally powerful and there is no formal political system you always had the position of the shaman priest physician magician but they had no real power Warfare o Boundary maintenance don t let people go against the boundary maintenance o Population pressure o Self defense o Metallurgy societies o Economic surplus Main reason why warfare increases in advanced horticultural Followed invention of kiln Made war profitable alternative to production Greed throughout human history there has been an insatiable lust for more and there are 2 ways of getting it to produce it or to take someone elses Main explanation for war throughout human history is to get more stuff Very few fishing societies and soon some advanced horticultural societies So not population size varies and how much stuff they have and how good their weapons are Consequences of Warfare o rise of polity o rise of military in horticultural territories all the men go o cult of warrior warfare is an everyday activity o walled urban centers o ethical and moral regress in hunting and gathering there is a lot of equality between men and women not a lot of warfare fishing horticultural and agrarian societies has an increase in inequality between men and women appearance of slaveryand serfdom Technological progress moral regress o Hereditary inequality the next chief is the son of the current one o Warfare o Head hunting o Cannibalism o Human sacrifice o Homicide happens almost accidentally in hunter gatherer societies now it is a regular feature of societies o patriarchy o wife abuse o decline in sharing o ideology supports inequality o slavery o gender inequality Why does complex social organization require leadership o Facilitate decision making o Organize collective action o Effect military action o Resolve conflict promote civil society o Manage economic surplus Why does leadership necessitate oligarchy small group of ppl having control of a country o Experience and prerogatives of leadership set leaders apart o Leaders have internal power o Apathetic membership o Members feel beholden to leaders o Leadership becomes conservative and self interested The Zenith of Inequality AGRARIAN SOCIETY Main technological innovations subsistence technology o Plow Controlled weeds Maintained fertility of soil Digs down deeply enough in the soil to release the nutrients and people are able to farm that same piece of land forever o Harnessing animal power Fertilizer Permanent fields Lead to increase food supply surplus First animal was the wolf that was domesticated Eventually the horse cow pig sheep o Smelting iron Tools and weapons Beginning to make tools and weapons of iron Much more efficient and effective and results in increase in productivity and surplus rapidly increasing number and usefulness of storage pits Tends to be associated with INCREASED WARFARE Productivity and Surplus o Supplied military Wars of conquest and empire building Writing and numerical systems o Record business activity o Record taxes rents etc o Independent inventions of writing Sumerians about 3 000 BCE Mexicans about 600 BCE o Polymath Someone who knows everything about everything renaissance man o Every other writing system piggy backed off two independent inventions of writing o Indian chief sequoia invented a writing system for his people based off of what Europeans brought to the new world o Manage surplus of society Population o Huge increase hunter gatherer societies 40 fishing 90 horticultural 1500 etc o tens and hundreds of thousands in agrarian o due to increase in birth rate and advantages of larger and more stable food supply o empire building o highest birth rate increased over time agricultural economy religion emergence of simple agrarian society is the universal monotheistic religion monotheistic one true god be fruitful and multiply religion pushes for an increase in birthrate adult sons are your old age insurance lots of war disease famines plagues class exploitation tends to keep the birth rate relatively high but this high birth rate can be offset by the high death rate 25 to 30 yrs is the average life expectancy old age insurance Elites maintain power o Monopolize force Restrict military technology People in power tend to be in power forever Restrict the military to themselves Hunter gatherer societies do not have war Horticultural societies have infrequent wars where all adult men go Agrarian has increased small percentage of the population of adult men that are trained to be professional soldiers Restrict military technology o Promote civil order Dominated different groups nationalities that were all forced into the same society which creates competition between groups o Confiscate spoils of war If you have warfare and your successful this