The structures within civilizations helped maintain social order and encourage growth. How?

Stability and social order are not always compatible with growth and innovation, which often involves dramatic social changes and dislocations. This is one of the key points that Karl Polanyi makes in his influential book The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (1944). He argues that the introduction of the free market system in the Commercial Revolution and of machine-based industrial technology in the Industrial Revolution led first to considerable poverty and suffering and then improved the material well-being of the European population. At the same time, he maintains, they profoundly undermined the social stability of European societies by breaking down the social framework of mutual interdependence.
In his opinion, the emergence of 20th century totalitarianism in both its communist and fascist forms represented the reaction of large segments of the population to the lack of social reciprocity and mutual bonding. He traces this lack to the long-term domination of the free market economy and industrial technology.
Polanyi’s historical reflections provided justification for the creation of the welfare state promised by British war-time propaganda as a viable alternative to the Nazi warfare state. They legitimized something similar to the reforms that the Labor party would institute when it came to power in England in 1945: the nationalization of certain segments of industry, such as transportation, the creation of a national health care system, and government regulation of relationships between employers and employees.
An effective educational system can contribute to strengthening social stability by helping people to internalize the values and ideals of their society; this is exactly what happened, for example, when the French Third Republic introduced free and obligatory schooling in the late 19th century. According to Eugene Weber’s study, the new French school system turned millions of peasants into patriotic citizens.
Greater social and economic inclusivity also promotes integration and stability by helping people feel that they are part of the society in which they live; similarly, fairness in the functioning of the legal system and of government bureaucracy contributes to creating and maintaining a stable social order.