~Reinhard Collaco (@reinisintheclouds)
Development of a society is just as important as development (i.e. change for the better) in all aspects of life. Over the past decades, our society has undergone several drastic changes. These changes took place in every aspect of a person’s life. It started with the basic needs and how those needs became easily available. As a result, the society then started focusing on more materialistic things.
Society as we know is a group of individuals involved in social interaction or large groups of people sharing the same space. A society is usually formed by individuals who are typically subject to political, territorial and other dominant cultures.
Humans have established a vast number and types of societies throughout history. These societies can be classified into three broad categories:
- Pre-industrial
- Industrial
- Post-industrial
Each of these societies have/had some sort of downfall in them, leading people to strive for better living.
The pre-industrial societies consisted mainly of food production and manual labor. It was sub divided into hunting and gathering, pastoral, horticultural, agricultural and feudal.
Then came the Industrial society, between the 15th and 16th century. They relied heavily on machine powered by fuel for the production of goods. This led to an increase in production and causing even greater surplus than before. Due to large surpluses, it caused a lot of changes, one of them being the increase in population.
Post-industrial society flourished between the 17th century and the present day. This society is dominated by information, services and technology. The industrialists are now seeing a shift towards an increase in labor in the service sectors over manufacturing and production. Service sectors include government, education, health, research, sales, law and banking.
Importance of development of a society
It is important for societies to develop especially those which have emerged out of conflicts in the past. So that a society can grow and build a stronger economy.
1. Job creation
One of the main reasons for job creation is the shift of workload from one sector to another. Earlier people used to engage only in farming. But gradually, these farmers moved to manual labor and wanted more work as there was surplus in the amount of food being produced. Thus, most of the people started moving to factories to find better job opportunities.
2. Industry Diversification
Since there was a large outburst of working population and food was available in surplus, there was no need of farming for a living. This motivated the industrialists to expand and diversify their industries so that they could create more job opportunities.
3. Population growth
A large population has the potential to bring greater economic development. Economic growth and population growth go hand in hand. With the increase in population, the economy develops too. Thus, more people mean more work to do, at lower wages.
4. Tax Revenue
With the development of a society, the economy is bound to develop. Consequently, the government needs to maintain the surroundings of the society and provide a better life to the people. For that, the governemt needs to have funds.
Those funds are collected through tax. These tax revenues are paid by both the people and companies. More companies in the region convert these increased tax revenue for community projects and local infrastructure.
5. Better quality of life
Better infrastructure and more jobs improve the economy in a region and raise the standards of living for the people. Societies now strive towards providing better life for the people in order to increase welfare and production.
Process of development of a society
Many nations have undergone changes to become a developed society. Every society has to follow certain procedures and norms to grow and modernize their surroundings. These are some of the factors to determine the development of a society.
Through these factors we can see how effectively a country has transitioned from an under-developed nation to a developed nation. Currently, India is a developing nation. Some of the ways a society can become developed are:
1. Education system
By providing education to each and every child, the country can ensure a higher literacy rate especially for women. This leads to better jobs and improvement in the quality of living. The values of education are priceless.
2. Resources
Resources are important for the development of a society. They help in increasing the standards of living and purchasing raw materials and fuel. An increase in the ability to purchase helps a nation in ranking higher in foreign exchanges which kick starts the development process in motion.
3. Better medical facilities
“Health is wealth”. A nation can become developed only if the citizens have a proper health care infrastructure.
4. Women empowerment
Empowerment of women is a necessity in the development of a society. It will give them a significant role in the society. Women and girls have faced discrimination and abuse in the past (and even now). This is not only a heinous crime but also prevents them from playing a major role in the societal development. Only if a nation is willing to treat its women equally and give them the same rights, can the nation prosper.
Differences and similarities between a society and culture
Culture is a set of beliefs, practices, learned behavior and moral values which are embedded in a person and pass on from one generation another. It is something that differentiates one society from another and unites the social framework through influence.
On the other hand, society is a group of people who live together and may have common interests. They may reside in a specific area and share cultures over time. It is a structure that also provides the way for people to organize themselves.
On the contrary, a similarity between society and culture is that sometimes culture may arise from a society. They are not interchangeable and have a mutual co-existence.
Conclusion
The world around us is ever changing. Nothing remains the same, so does the society and its culture. There are many countries around the world which are developed and others struggling to make it through. But every nation is trying to modernize and develop its society in the best possible manner.
Some of the ways to achieve development of a society can be by providing better education for the children and women, advanced medical facilities and equal rights.
India is one of the fastest developing countries in the world with the second largest population, the majority belonging to the working class. At the end, it can be said that our societies would always be undergoing changes and constantly developing over the years to come. Change would be the only way for the proper development of a society and that would be the best for all.
Image courtesy: Pixabay
