I. Types of societies
1. Characterized by mobility in terms of relocation where food is abundant and weather conditions are favorable.
2. Men hunt animals or look for plant sources for food.
3. Women, children, and older folks cooked, sewed, and maintained “house” for the men.
B. Horticultural and Pastoral
1. Characterized by domestication of animals, farming, and generation of surplus resources.
2. People had more permanent settlements.
3. Labor was more diversified because of the presence of various types of workers, including farmers, craftspeople, and traders.
4. Beginnings of a growing economy.
II. Revolutions
A. Agricultural Revolution
1. Introduction of innovations in farming, ranching, and animal husbandry techniques with the invention of new types of plows and mechanized seed spreaders, new methods in crop rotation, irrigation, and selective breeding.
2. Increased efficiency in food production.
3. Labor force became stratified due to race, gender, and class lines. The white, rich families owned the lands, while the poor blacks farmed the lands.
B. Industrial Revolution
1. Introduction of more mechanized machines such as mechanical plows and reapers, steam-powered ships and railways, electrical power generation, and new tools and appliances, which further diminished the need for manual labor.
2. Emergence of the modern corporation or manufacturing economy that was capable of having various offices and companies in different geographic locations and involved other aspects of business such as marketing and distribution.
3. Increased labor force stratification along class, race, and gender lines. Men began earning “wages” for their families and held positions at the workplace, while women ran the household. In families where both man and woman had to work, the women held small and low-paying jobs in factories under dangerous working conditions, together with children and elder people who needed to work.
4. Introduction of the concept of assembly line production.
5. Time of great population booms due to high immigration rates. Science and medical discoveries were many such as increased life expectancy and minimal infant mortality rate.
6. Introduction of the laws that protected workers, including child labor.
7. Increased access to food and water sources and some form of health care.
8. Invention of forms of communication such as the Morse code and the telephone. Travel became easier as well with the completion of the transcontinental railroad.
C. Information Revolution
1. Began with the development of the microchip used in computers and electronic devices to introduction of the internet. Other technologies were also introduced including various types of digital media, satellite and cable broadcasting, and telecommunications.
2. Brought about a shift from manufacturing and industrialized economy to one based on the production of knowledge and services.
Knowledge Workers Sector
Works primarily with information, thus, they produce products with their head rather than with their hands.
Value in economy comes from ideas, judgments, designs, analyses, and innovations. For instance, advertising, science and research, marketing, and product development.
Service Sector
Workers provide service to a business or individual clients. For example, wholesaling and retailing, food business, or no goods at all such as massage therapy.
Focus is on serving and interacting with people. Examples of industries where this can be found include entertainment, consulting, education, and banking, among others.
