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The following points highlight the seven main features of a traditional society.
1. “A society is traditional if behaviour is governed by custom and if ways of behaviour continue with little change from generation to generation”. Such a society is averse to all sorts of innovation because of its abiding faith in the time-worn, traditional methods of dealing with problems confronting the society.
Loyalty to the past makes it blind to the scope and promise of non-traditional ways of dealing with the problems of society.
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2. A traditional society is marked, in the words of Talcott Parsons, by ‘particularistic’ values as opposed to ‘universalistic’ values which characterize a modern society. Family and kinship ties are very strong. Inadequate development of transport facilities tends to limit spatial mobility which, in its turn, restricts marriage and all other kinds of social relationships within a narrow circle.
3. It follows from the above that social status in a traditional society is ascribed rather than achieved, as is the case in a modern society.
In the words of Hagen:
“In a traditional society the social classes form a pyramid, from the peasants and labourers at the bottom to the small group of powerful individuals at the top. The individual’s position in the society is normally inherited rather than achieved, except that a group sometimes gains political control of the country by force”.
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4. A traditional society is basically agricultural in nature.… Agriculture, therefore, determines the thinking, patterns of living and behaviour of the inhabitants of a traditional society. Gemeinschaft relationships predominate over gesellschaft relationships.
5. Social mobility, like spatial mobility, is very much restricted in a traditional society. There is a clear cleavage between the elite and the masses. It is particularly so in countries which were under colonial rule.
In the particular situation of underdeveloped countries, intellectuals often represent modern Western culture and find themselves separated from, and in conflict with, the traditional cultural values of the mass of their fellow countrymen.
6. One can discern differences in the political activities of traditional and modern societies. Mass participation in politics, not simply in terms of voting periodically during elections but in terms of building powerful lobbies or pressure groups to influence political decision-making, is a very recent phenomenon in traditional societies.
Discerning observers of the Indian political scene have noted that “intellectuals, in a broad sense, have dominated political life in India since independence and that active participation in politics of the mass of the population such as occurred in the independence movement has only recently begun to revive, on a limited scale, with the emergence of peasant movements. …. Students are the principal source of recruitment to active political work, and this fact accounts in part for the prevalence of factionalism in the major parties”.
7. All the characteristic features of a traditional society are, for obvious reasons, reflected in the education system. Stagnant economy, absence of diversification in occupational patterns and allegiance to tradition—all these have a bearing on the system of education prevailing in these societies.
Literacy is low as compared to advanced societies. Enrolment in general stream is far greater than that in specialized fields. The reason is obvious. Agriculture and industry are not developed to the extent that they can absorb technical hands beyond a certain limit.