![]() 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? Economics of Agricultural, Industrial, and Postindustrial Societiesįigure 2. In an agricultural economy, crops and seeds are the most important commodity. 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. ![]() They are all dependent on each other and their work. The farmers, doctors, and carpenters all rely on the teacher to educate their children. In a simplified example, an elementary school teacher relies on farmers for food, doctors for healthcare, carpenters to build shelter, and so on. Most individuals perform a specialized task to earn money they use to trade for goods and services provided by others who perform different specialized tasks. economy, and the economies of other industrialized nations, meet the definition of organic solidarity. Organic solidarity arises out of the mutual interdependence created by the specialization of work. Mechanical solidarity exists in simpler societies where social cohesion comes from sharing similar work, education, and religion. In 1893, Émile Durkheim noted the change in the way society was held together and was interested in how the division of labor in modern society impacted social solidarity (Ritzer, G 2008) Durkheim described what he called “mechanical” and “organic” solidarity that correlates to a society’s economy. While today’s economic activities are more complex than those early trades, the underlying goals remain the same: exchanging goods and services allows individuals to meet their needs and wants. As societies grow and change, so do their economies-the economy of a small farming community is very different from the economy of a large nation with advanced technology. ![]() The earliest economies were based on trade, which was often a simple exchange in which people traded one item for another. Our earliest forms of writing (such as Sumerian clay tablets) were developed to record transactions, payments, and debts between merchants.
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