Pre-industrial society refers to social attributes and forums of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, which occurred from 1750 to 1850. ''Pre-industrial'' refers to a time before there were machines and tools to help perform tasks ''en masse''. Pre-industrial civilization dates back to centuries ago, but the main era known as the pre-industrial society occurred right before the industrial society. Pre-Industrial societies vary from region to region depending on the culture of a given area or history of social and political life. Europe was known for its

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

and the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

. The term "pre-industrial" is also used as a benchmark for environmental conditions before the development of industrial society: for example, the Paris Agreement on

Climate Change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, adopted in Paris on 12 December 2015 and in force from 4 November 2016, "aims to limit

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees celsius, compared to ''pre-industrial'' levels." The date for the end of the "pre-industrial era" is not defined.

Common attributes

* Limited

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Extreme agricultural economy * Limited division of labor. In pre-industrial societies, production was relatively simple and the number of specialized crafts was limited. * Limited variation of social classes * Parochialism—

Communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

s were limited between communities in pre-industrial societies. Few had the opportunity to see or hear beyond their own village. Industrial societies grew with the help of faster means of communication, having more information at hand about the world, allowing knowledge transfer and

cultural diffusion In cultural anthropology and cultural geography, cultural diffusion, as conceptualized by Leo Frobenius in his 1897/98 publication ''Der westafrikanische Kulturkreis'', is the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technolo ...

between them. * Populations grew at substantial rates Cipolla, Carlo M. Before the Industrial Revolution: European Society and Economy, 1000-1700. New York: Norton, 1976 * Social classes: peasants and lordsPersson, Karl Gunnar. Pre-industrial Economic Growth: Social Organization, and Technological Progress in Europe. Oxford: Blackwell, 1988. *

Subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...

level of living * Population dependent on peasants for food * People were located in villages rather than in cities

Economic systems

* Hunter gather society *

Commodity market A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products, such as cocoa, fruit and sugar. Hard commodities are mined, such as gold and oil. Futures contracts are the oldest way of investin ...

* Mercantilism * Subsistence agriculture *

* Primitive communism

Labor conditions

Social structure and working conditions

Harsh working conditions were prevalent long before the Industrial Revolution took place. Pre-industrial society was very static and often cruel – child labour, dirty living conditions, and long working hours were not equally as prevalent before the Industrial Revolution.R.M. Hartwell, ''The Industrial Revolution and Economic Growth'', Methuen and Co., 1971, pp. 339–41

References

Bibliography

* Grinin, L. 2007. Periodization of History: A theoretic-mathematical analysis. In
''History & Mathematics''
Ed. by Leonid Grinin, Victor de Munck, and

Andrey Korotayev Andrey Vitalievich Korotayev (russian: link=yes, Андре́й Вита́льевич Корота́ев; born 17 February 1961) is a Russian anthropologist, economic historian, comparative political scientist, demographer and sociologist, ...