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From Hunters and Gatherers to Peasant society: the great transition Part I

Every society has transformed or changed from one phase to another. There are various historical evidences which show that evolution of human society has taken place through various phases or parts. The earliest phase was the development of the apes. Scientific evidence shows that human beings or homo sapiens have evolved from apes. This transformation did not take place in one day or in one month. It took years for this evolution when changes in body parts and development of a formal society with human beings has taken place. The first form society formed in this way is the society of the hunters and gatherers. According to August Comte, all societies have passed through distinct stages of belief or ideology and all these societies have moved from a lower stage to a higher stage of development.  According to Comte there are mainly three types of societies
1) the military society which is based on theological thinking
2) the legal society which is based metaphysical thinking and 
3) the industrial society which is based on positive thinking or thinking based on science and rationality
Similarly, Herbert Spencer noted that there are mainly two types of societies, 1) militant societies which have more control on its people and 2) industrial societies which is service-oriented and there is not much place for control over people.

    However, later sociologists stressed that these categories are very simplistic in nature. The different types of societies are not so simple in form and structure. There are many other societies and evolution has taken place in many phases which has given rise to different types of societies. Societies have changed as a result of the availability of food resources and other basic necessities. Necessities and also environmental changes had led to the social transformation of the societies. Based on the nature of basic necessities available for the people the most simple form of society is the society which was formed of the hunters and gatherers. This is the first stage of human evolution and social transformation. This is the stage when every individual relied on plant and other natural resources for their livelihood. They were dependent on plants and animals available in the forests for their food. This type of society was completely dependent on the available natural resources for their existence. This society was formed of several tribes which together formed larger groups called as clans. All these tribes used to move around in groups to maintain safety and security from other unknown tribes. 

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