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barbarism

the stage of development typified by pastoralism identified in early theories of social evolution (see EVOLUTIONARY THEORY). MONTESQUIEU was the first to use the term in this way, arguing that the three main stages in social development were:

hunting or SAVAGERY;
herding or barbarism; and
CIVILIZATION. Later 19th-century evolutionary thinkers, such as E. B. TYLOR and L. H. MORGAN, also adopted the concept.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Barbarism

in the periodization proposed in the 1760’s by the Scottish philosopher A. Ferguson, which became established in European science during the 18th and 19th centuries, the second of the three epochs in the history of mankind: savagery, barbarism, and civilization. Serious substantiation was provided for this scheme by L. H. Morgan, according to whom barbarism begins with the invention of pottery and concludes with the appearance of a written language (Ancient Society, 1877; Russian translation, 2nd ed., 1935). Morgan’s periodization was adopted by F. Engels, who noted, however, that it was conventional (“Proiskhozhdenie sem’i, chastnoi sobstvennosti i gosudarstva,” in K. Marx and F. Engels., Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 21, p. 28). Most contemporary researchers do not use Morgan’s scheme, which is to a considerable degree obsolete: a new periodization of primitive history has been developed in contemporary science.

REFERENCES

Tolstov, S. P. “K voprosu o periodizatsii istorii pervobytnogo obshchestva.” Sovetskaia etnografiia, 1946, no. 1.
Pershits, A. I., A. L. Mongait, and V. P. Alekseev. Istoriia pervobytnogo obshchestva. Moscow, 1968.
Problemy istorii dokapitalisticheskikh obshchestv, book 1. Moscow, 1968.