Chapter 7: Agrarian Societies
The thousand years or so immediately
preceding 3000 BC were perhaps more fertile in fruitful inventions and
discoveries than any period in human
history prior to the 16th century. The innovations of that period included the invention of the
wheel and its application both to wagons and to the manufacture of pottery, the
invention of the plow, the harnessing of animals to pull wagons and plows and
their use as pack animals, the harnessing of wind power for sailboats, the
invention of writing and numerical notation and invention of the calendar.
Collectively, these innovations
transformed the conditions of life for societies in the Middle East, and
eventually for societies throughout the world.
With these new cultural resources, societies expanded their populations,
increased their material wealth and developed social organizations far more
complex than anything known before (175).
Simple agrarian societies
Technology
Although all of the innovations mentioned
above were important, the plow had the greatest potential for social and
cultural change (175). It made more
permanent cultivation possible in a greater variety of soils, and thereby led
to the widespread replacement of horticulture by agriculture (176). It also facilitated the harnessing of animal
energy which led to increased productivity.
The plow and related techniques of agriculture apparently spread by
diffusion until agrarian societies were eventually established throughout most
of Europe, North Africa and Asia. The
plow presupposed certain earlier inventions and discoveries—underlying again the
cumulative nature of technological change (175-176).
Religion and the Growth of the Economic
Surplus
In the earliest agrarian societies,
religion was an extremely powerful force.
Technological advance created the possibility of a surplus, but to
transform that possibility into a reality required an ideology that motivated
farmers to produce more than they needed to stay alive, and persuaded them to
turn that surplus over to someone else.
Although this has sometimes been accomplished by means of secular and
political ideologies, a system of beliefs that defined people’s obligations
with reference to the supernatural worked best in most societies of the past
(178).
Population: Growth in Size of Communities and Societies
In the first few centuries after the
shift to agriculture, there was striking growth in the size of a number of
communities, especially in Mesopotamian societies. Egypt was the largest and most politically stable. This achievement was due to its unique
environmental situation: no other
society had such excellent natural defenses and was so little threatened by
other societies (179-180).
The Polity: Growth of the State
Conquests posed serious organizational
problems for the rulers of early agrarian societies. Traditional modes of government based on kinship ties were no
longer adequate for administering the affairs of societies whose populations
now sometimes numbered in the millions.
Through rulers continued to rely on relatives to help them govern, they
were forced to turn increasingly to others.
One solution was to incorporate a conquered group as a subdivision of
the conquering society, leaving its former ruler in charge but in a subordinate
capacity. Eventually all successful
rulers found it necessary to create new kinds of governmental structures that
were no longer based on kinship ties alone (180-181).
One consequence of the growth of empires
and bureaucracy was the establishment of the first formal legal system. As empire grew, it was necessary to bring diverse
cultures under a single political system (183).
The Economy: The First Monetary Systems and the Growth of Trade
Money was absent in the first simple
agrarian societies, although there existed standardized media of exchange, such
as barley. As these media became too
cumbersome the use of currency became common.
The growth of monetary systems had enormous implications for societal
development. Money has always
facilitated the movement, the exchange, and ultimately the production of goods
and services of every kind. The
establishment of a monetary system
greatly expands the market for the things each individual produces,
because products can then be sold even to people who produce nothing the
producer wants in exchange. Thus the
demands for goods and services increases (184).
Stratification: Increasing Inequality
In most simple agrarian societies of the
ancient world, newly emerging or expanding social and cultural differences
created internal divisions within society, and sometimes conflict as well. Three cleavages were especially serious:
1.
there was
one between the small governing class and the much larger mass of people who
had no voice in political decisions and who to hand over all or most of the
surplus they produced to the governing class;
2.
there was a
division between the urban minority and the far more numerous rural population;
and
3.
there was a
cleavage between the small literate minority and the illiterate masses.
Because these 3 lines of cleavage tended
to converge, their impact was greatly magnified (185). In many respects the differences within
simple agrarian societies were greater than similarities between them (185).
Slowdown in the Rate of Technological
Innovation
Another significant development in these
societies was a marked slowdown in the rate of technological innovation and
progress, beginning within a few centuries after the shift from horticulture to
agriculture (185). This was due largely
to the negative feedback generated by the major technological advances, as the
ruling class became detached from the subsistence technologies and fought to
maintain the status quo (186).
Advanced Agrarian Societies
Technology
During the period in which simple
agrarian societies dominated the Middle East, the most important technological
advance was the discovery of the technique of smelting iron. Prior to this, bronze had been the most important
metal. But since the supply was limited
and the demands of the governing class always took precedence over the needs of
the peasants, bronze was used primarily for military, ornamental and ceremonial
purposes (188-189).
Prior to the military collapse of the
Hittite empire, iron was 5 times more expensive than gold, 40 times more than
silver. It was not until about the 8th
century BC that iron came into general use for ordinary tools. Thus, it is not until this period that we
can speak of true advanced agrarian societies, although many Middle Eastern
societies of the previous 3-4 centuries were certainly transitional types
(189).
During this transitional period 2 further
discoveries greatly enhanced the value of iron. First it was found that if the outer layers of the iron absorbed
some carbon from the fire during the forging process, the metal became somewhat
harder. Later it was discovered that
this carbonized iron could be hardened still further by quenching the hot metal
in water, thus producing steel. With
these developments, iron became not only more common than bronze but also more
useful for both military and economic purposes (189).
Compared with simpler societies, advanced
agrarian societies enjoyed a very productive technology. Unfortunately, the same conditions that
slowed the rate of technological advance in simple agrarian societies continued
to prevail. Nevertheless, over the
centuries quite a number of important innovations were made including: the catapult, crossbow, gunpowder,
horseshoes, stirrups, wood-turning lathe, auger, screw, wheelbarrow, rotary fan
for ventilation, clock, spinning wheel, porcelain, printing, iron casting, magnet,
water-powered mills, windmills, and, in the period just preceding the emergence
of the 1st industrial societies, the working steam engine, fly
shuttle, spinning jenny, spinning machine, and various other power-driven tools
(189-190).
Population: Continuing Trends
1. Size
of Societies and Communities
The populations of advanced agrarian
societies were substantially larger than those of any societies that preceded
them. This was due partly to advances
in agricultural technology that permitted
greater population densities, and partly to advances in military
technology that aided the process of empire building (191).
2. Fertility
and Mortality
Birthrates in both simple and advanced
agrarian societies have averaged 40 or more births per 1000 population per
year, triple that of most modern industrial societies. In general, there seems to have been little
interest in limiting the size of families, since large families, particularly
ones with many sons, were valued for both economic and religious reasons.
One of the few constraints on population
growth was the threat of severe deprivation (192). Large cities were unhealthy places, especially for the common
people (193).
The Economy: Increasing Differentiation
1. Division
of Labor
The growth in both territorial and
population size that came with the shift from simple to the advanced agrarian
level brought with it an increase in the division of labor. For the first time, there was significant
economic specialization both by regions and by communities, and this was accompanied
by increased occupational specialization (194).
2. Command
Economies
Because politics and economics were
always highly interdependent in advanced agrarian societies, the people who
dominated the political system also dominated the economic system. How resources should be used and what should
be produced and in what quantities including distribution were determined less
by the forces of supply and demand than by arbitrary decisions of the political
elite. These were command economies,
not market economies (195-196).
3. The
Rural Economy
In most advanced agrarian societies, the
governing elite owned a grossly disproportionate share of the land. Not only did they own most of the land, but
also the peasants who worked it. The
basic philosophy of the governing class seems to have been to tax peasants to
the limit of their ability to pay (197).
Living conditions for peasants were primitive, and many were worse off
than hunters and gatherers had been thousands of years earlier (198). To compound the misery created by their
economic condition, peasants were often subjected to further cruelties
(199). To the governing class this
seemed only fitting and proper, since most of them viewed peasants as subhuman
(200). For the majority of peasants,
the one real hope for substantial improvement in their lot lay in devastation
wrought by plagues, famines, and wars (200).
4. The
Urban Economy
Thus it is with a sense of shock that we
discover that rarely if ever did all urban communities of an advanced agrarian
society contain as much as 10% of its total population and in most cases they
held even less (200). The population of
the city was composed mostly of the governing class, merchants, artisans,
slaves, beggars and criminals (200-202).
The Polity: Continuing Development of the State
In nearly all advanced agrarian
societies, government was the basic integrating force. In any society created by conquest and run
for the benefit of a tiny elite, coercion was necessary to hold things
together. Nearly every advanced agrarian
society was a monarchy headed by a king or emperor whose position was usually
hereditary. Republican governments were
the exception (205). Because of the
absence of commercialization, most conflict was intraclass (205). Commercialization had the power to change
this dramatically. Not only did a
wealthy commercial class itself constitute a potential threat to the power of
an aristocratic governing elite, but the introduction of commercial elements
into the rural economy could trigger violence (205). External threats were no less frequent or serious, and warfare
was a chronic condition (206).
Most members of the governing class
considered political power a prize to be sought for the rewards it
offered. This practice reflects a
proprietary theory of the state (208).
Religion: The Emergence of Universal Faiths
During the era in which advanced agrarian
societies were dominant, there were a number of important developments in the
religious sphere. The most important
was the emergence and spread of 3 new religions: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Each proclaimed a universal faith (209). The emergence of universal faiths reflected
the broader social and intellectual horizons that resulted from advances in
transportation technology and the spreading web of trade relations (210).
Another important development was the
growing separation of religious and political institutions, although leaders in
both spheres worked closely together.
Kinship:
Changing Significance in Society
For individuals, kinship ties remained of
great importance throughout the agrarian era, although for societies they
ceased to be the chief integrating force.
Civil and military offices were so numerous that not even the largest of
extended families could fill them all (213).
Leisure and the Arts
Although the life of the peasant was
hard, there were occasional opportunities for leisure and recreation, such as
weddings, festivals, and raucous games (214).
Stratification: Increasing Complexity
The basic cleavages in advanced agrarian
societies were much the same as they had been in simple agrarian societies and
as a consequence, so were the basic patters of inequality. The principal division in society was still
the one between the governing class and the mass of peasants. But stratification altered in one
respect; it had become more
complex. This growing complexity was
seen in a growing overlap in classes and occupations (216). On the whole, class divisions were greater
than those in simple agrarian societies (217).
Variations on agrarian themes
Advanced agrarian societies varied
technologically and religiously. These
variations stemmed not from ideological differences but from differences in
their social and biophysical environments (218-219).
AGRARIAN SOCIETIES IN THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVE
The initial effect of the shift from
horticulture to agriculture was an increase in food production. Societies that adopted the plow were able to
produce more food in a given territory than those that relied on the hoe and
digging stick. This increase in
productivity could be used either to expand the economic surplus or expand
population, with both usually occurring.
The single most important consequence of the greater economic surplus
was further growth of the state and of the power of the governing class that
controlled it (221).