My Proposal [What I am doing]
My Proposal
History and Theory of Society
During 2023-2025 I will show you that there have been 9 types of society over the entire course of human history. I will suggest a 10th possible future society. I will show you the differences between types of society. I will suggest to you why societies emerge, and why they stagnate, stabilise, survive, and succeed.
On some measures I will suggest to you which is the better society and which is the worse society in its place and time. In the earlier societies it may be sufficient to know why a particular type of society was ‘necessary’.
Among ten types of society I identify three types that distinctly coexist today.
My types of society have been described in different terms by other writers. I suggest to you a radically new way of categorising them.
All societies have certain things in common. The three simultaneous and indispensable forces that bind societies internally and thus ensure every society’s continuity (bordering, bonding, binding) will be identified and explored over a period of 40,000 years. I will suggest to you that societies lose their dynamism when one or more of these three ‘BBB’ forces weakens.
The (ten) types of society emerged for a variety of reasons. Sometimes in some places the reason was the weakening of one or more of the essential internal forces of cohesion that are preconditions for the maintenance of societies. At other times or in other places there were other reasons. I identify these other reasons and incorporate them in the typology and general theory.
I am able to explore all the reasons for the unraveling of societies and the emergence of new societies because I begin with a defined ‘category’ schema that clearly differentiates between all (ten) types of society and demonstrates what is unique about each.
These are not ‘stages’. They are ‘types’. Each is reduced to a single internal ‘differentiation’ that is unique to the type. In every case this differentiation refers to the form of governance that characterises the society. It is always expressed as a simple binary ‘over’ relationship. For example, two of the early differentiations in the history are ‘group over person’ and ‘person over group’. For later types of society the binary formulations refer not to persons or groups but rather to organisations, or mechanisms, or systems. ‘Over’ is defined differently for each of the types. ‘Power’ may not be the right word for what I have in mind.
For the purpose of verifying the existence and characteristics of these categories I use a checklist of concepts I have designed. I rely heavily on this checklist to guide the synthesis through the periods and the places.
Firstly, I check whether the relevant unit of people can be called a ‘society’.
Secondly, I check whether the form of society’s governance is conducted through individuals, organisations, or systems, or, as is often the case, a mixture of all three.
I am looking for system dynamics. These are hard to find. For example, I look for systems in beliefs, traditional relationships, instinctual behaviours, and ancient and modern governing institutions. I will show you that societies strive for systems to facilitate governance throughout history.
I will explain why I conceptualise early systems before the invention of organisations as functionally equivalent to modern ‘third party’ regulation. I will explain to you how and why revolutionary seventeenth century system dynamics in one society radically changed the world.
I will explain what I mean by ‘system’ and, broadly, how my theory of system differs from all others.
Thirdly, I check for evidence of how the balance between the interests of individuals and the interest of society is calculated during the processes of governance. I will show you that the balance or ratio is calculated differently in each category of society. But I will also explain the similar or equivalent nature of this continual calculation and miscalculation in diverse societies spanning all categories.
Fourthly, I check for evidence of signs (signals) and symbols that represent the concepts and methods for organising the society, the governance, the system, and the interests. I will show you how signs and symbols function in the abstract as codes for social action and interpersonal understanding, and the overlap of code with rules and law. I will pin this down by tracing the relevant empirical phenomena from prehistory to modernity.
Fifthly, I check the extent to which society and its form of governance undergo evolution and dissolution. I will sometimes define evolution as selecting among differentiation variables for survival. I will explain to you what I mean by the evolution of society, and how my explanation differs from other uses of the term in social science.
I will explain to you my interpretation of modern society in crisis. I will do this based on the patterns I have found in the history of society. I will demonstrate to you why it is not possible to understand a contemporary crisis in an advanced society without knowledge of the societies and crises that came and went before.
I will project the patterns forward into the new machine age of artificial intelligence, taking into consideration the ‘early modern’ conceptualisations of governing as a form of system machinery.
I will propose to you a pathway for preserving all the benefits that our generation has derived from Type 8 Society, which is the modern Western society. I will show you how we can remove the glitches in its mechanism and adapt to changes, threats and opportunities in the world and the new technologies.
I will try to keep the analysis-synthesis simple and brisk. I will suggest to you practical examples at every step, in broad comparative terms, without getting lost in detail.
In fact, most of the historical examples can already be found in the Social Science Files Archive whose construction (for this purpose) began at around this time last year.
The greatest influence on my thinking is still Max Weber. I will sometimes publish posts about the ideas of Weber and other important theorists. But in the posts that deal with core subject matter of this ‘Proposal’, i.e. New History and Theory of Society, I will be presenting my own (sometimes un-Weberian) theoretical framework.
The historical analyses are built upon what I consider the most reliable, relevant and respected contemporary research in history and other social sciences, much of which is already identified in the Archive.
An area in which I have done my own historical research is seventeenth century England. What occurred there was pivotal in the creation of Type 8 society. I will explain the context and events to you in broad terms using the concepts and categories I have described.
I explore 10 society types
person over person (individualised) (biology)
group over person (equalised) (foragers)
person over group (personalised) (chiefs)
centre over society (administered) (Uruk..)
group over society (participatory) (Rome..)
centre over periphery (externalised) (empire)
rank over status (stratified) (Medieval)
system over system (functional) (the West)
state over society (dominated) (the Rest)
mechanism over individual (automated)
The concepts and ideas in this post are original under copyright and must be attributed to ©2023 Michael G. Heller
Composition Red, Blue, Black, White, by Sonia Delaunay (Date: 1964)