Pre-industrial society refers to social attributes and forums 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 on Climate Change, adopted in Paris on 12 December 2015 and in force from 4 November 2016, "aims to limit

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

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 Parochialism is the state of mind, whereby one focuses on small sections of an issue rather than considering its wider context. More generally, it consists of being narrow in scope. In that respect, it is a synonym of "provincialism". It may, pa ...

— 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 Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...

at hand about the world, allowing knowledge transfer and cultural diffusion between them. * Populations grew at substantial rates Cipolla, Carlo M. Before the Industrial Revolution: European Society and Economy, 1000-1700. New York: Norton, 1976 * Social classes: peasants and lordsPersson, Karl Gunnar. Pre-industrial Economic Growth: Social Organization, and Technological Progress in Europe. Oxford: Blackwell, 1988. * Subsistence level of living * Population dependent on peasants for food * People were located in villages rather than in cities

Economic systems

Hunter gather society A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, f ...

* Commodity market * Mercantilism *

Subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no ...

* Subsistence * Primitive communism

Labor conditions

Social structure and working conditions

Harsh working conditions were prevalent long before the Industrial Revolution took place. Pre-industrial society was very static and often cruel – child labour, dirty living conditions, and long working hours were not equally as prevalent before the Industrial Revolution.R.M. Hartwell, ''The Industrial Revolution and Economic Growth'', Methuen and Co., 1971, pp. 339–41

References

Bibliography