title: Pre-industrial society
text: Pre-industrial society refers to social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution, which occurred from 1750 to 1850. Pre-industrial refers to a time before there were machines and tools to help perform tasks en masse. Pre-industrial civilization dates back to centuries ago, but the main era known as the pre-industrial society occurred right before the industrial society. Pre-Industrial societies vary from region to region depending on the culture of a given area or history of social and political life. Europe was known for its feudal system and the Italian Renaissance.
  
  The term "pre-industrial" is also used as a benchmark for environmental conditions before the development of industrial society: for example, the
  Paris Agreement, adopted in Paris on 12 December, 2015 and in force from 4 November, 2016, "aims to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels." The date for the end of the "pre-industrial era" is not defined.
  
  Common attributes
  
   Limited production
   Extreme agricultural economy
   Limited division of labor. In pre-industrial societies, production was relatively simple and the number of specialized crafts was limited.
   Limited variation of social classes
   Parochialism—Communications were limited between communities in pre-industrial societies. Few had the opportunity to see or hear beyond their own village. Industrial societies grew with the help of faster means of communication, having more information at hand about the world, allowing knowledge transfer and cultural diffusion between them.
   Populations grew at substantial rates 
   Social classes: peasants and lords
   Subsistence level of living
   Population dependent on peasants for food
   People were located in villages rather than in cities
  
  Economic systems
  
   Hunter gather society
   Commodity market
   Mercantilism
   Subsistence agriculture
   Subsistence
  
  Labor conditions
  
  Harsh working conditions had been prevalent long before the Industrial Revolution took place. Pre-industrial society was very static, and child labour, dirty living conditions, and long working hours were not as equally prevalent before the Industrial Revolution.
  
  See also
   Agrarian society
   Industrialisation
   Modernization theory
   Traditional society
   Dependency Theory
   Imperialism
   Hunter gatherers
   Low technology
   Transhumance
   Nomads
   Pastoral nomads
   Nomadic
   Post-industrial society
   Proto-industrialization
  
  References
  
  Bibliography 
   Grinin, L. 2007. Periodization of History: A theoretic-mathematical analysis. In: History & Mathematics. Ed. by Leonid Grinin, Victor de Munck, and Andrey Korotayev. Moscow: KomKniga/URSS. P.10-38. .
  
  Sociological terminology
  Industrial Revolution