Primitive social theory: On the history of the ‘primitive concept’ in sociology and its applications under post-digital modernity

This article offers a new account of the ‘primitive society’ concept in the history of sociology. While accounts and critiques of the primitive concept pervade adjacent disciplines, few have investigated the role of the primitive in sociological thought. This article contends that while ‘primitive society’ was often peripheral to the ‘classical’ generation of European sociologists, it became central to modernization theory’s efforts to build a generalized theory of global modernity. While the decline of modernization theory saw a coincident decline in the usage of the primitive concept, this article notes recent efforts by social theorists to revive the concept. The article concludes by arguing that the ‘primitive’ concept may be more useful in post-digital modernity than it was in 19th-century social science.