Society

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For other uses, see Society (disambiguation).

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Young people interacting within an  ethnically diverse society.

Society Portal

A society is  a grouping of individuals, which is  characterized by common interest and  may have  distinctive culture and  institutions. "Society" may refer to a particular people, such as the Nuer, to a nation state, such as Switzerland, or  to a broader cultural group, such as Western society. Society can also be explained as an  organized group of people associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or  other purposes.

[ and  usage">edit] Origin and  usage

The English word society emerged in the 15th century and  is derived from the French société. The French word, in turn, had its origin in the Latin societas, a "friendly association with others," from socius meaning "companion, associate, comrade or  business partner." Implicit in the meaning of society is  that its members share some mutual concern or  interest, a common objective or  common characteristics.

In political science, the term is  often used to mean the totality of human relationships, generally in contrast to the State, i.e., the apparatus of rule or  government within a territory:

"I mean by it  [the State] that summation of privileges and  dominating positions which are  brought into being by extra-economic power... I mean by Society, the totality of concepts of all purely natural relations and  institutions between man and  man..." ^[1]

In the social sciences society has been used ^{[citation needed]}to mean a group of people that form a semi-closed social system, in which most interactions are  with other individuals belonging to the group.

According sociologist Richard Jenkins, the term addresses a number of important existential issues facing people:

1. How humans think and  exchange information – the sensory world makes up only a fraction of human experience. In order to understand the world, we have  to conceive of human interaction in the abstract (i.e., society). 2. Many phenomena cannot be reduced to individual behavior – to explain certain conditions, a view of something "greater than the sum of its parts" is  needed. 3. Collectives often endure beyond the lifespan of individual members. 4. The human condition has always meant going beyond the evidence of our senses; every aspect of our lives is  tied to the collective. ^[2]

[edit] Evolution of societies

Gerhard Lenski, a sociologist, differentiates societies based on their level of technology, communication and  economy: (1) hunters and  gatherers, (2) simple agricultural, (3) advanced agricultural, (4) industrial.^[3] This is  somewhat similar to the system earlier developed by anthropologists Morton H. Fried, a conflict theorist, and  Elman Service, an  integration theorist, who have  produced a system of classification for societies in all human cultures based on the evolution of social inequality and  the role of the state. This system of classification contains four categories:

• Hunter-gatherer bands, which are  generally egalitarian.
• Tribal societies in which there are  some limited instances of social rank and  prestige.
• Stratified structures led by chieftains.
• Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and  organized, institutional governments.

Over time, some cultures have  progressed toward more-complex forms of organization and  control. This cultural evolution has a profound effect on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes settled around seasonal foodstocks to become agrarian villages. Villages grew to become towns and  cities. Cities turned into city-states and  nation-states.^[4]

[edit] Characteristics of society

The following three components are  common to all definitions of society:

• Social networks
• Criteria for membership, and
• Characteristic patterns of organization

Each of these will be explored further in the following sections.

[edit] Social networks

Main article: Social network

Social networks are  maps of the relationships between people. Structural features such as proximity, frequency of contact and  type of relationship (e.g., relative, friend, colleague) define various social networks.

[edit] Organization of society

Main article: Social organization

Human societies are  often organized according to their primary means of subsistence. As noted in the section on " Evolution of societies", above, social scientists identify hunter-gatherer societies, nomadic pastoral societies, horticulturalist or  simple farming societies, and  intensive agricultural societies, also called civilizations. Some consider industrial and  post-industrial societies to be qualitatively different from traditional agricultural societies.

One common theme for societies in general is  that they serve to aid individuals in a time of crisis. Traditionally, when an  individual requires aid, for example at birth, death, sickness, or  disaster, members of that society will rally others to render aid, in some form—symbolic, linguistic, physical, mental, emotional, financial, medical, or  religious. Many societies will distribute largess, at the behest of some individual or  some larger group of people. This type of generosity can be seen in all known cultures; typically, prestige accrues to the generous individual or  group. Conversely, members of a society may also shun or  scapegoat members of the society who violate its norms. Mechanisms such as gift-giving and  scapegoating, which may be seen in various types of human groupings, tend to be institutionalized within a society.

Some societies will bestow status on an  individual or  group of people, when that individual or  group performs an  admired or  desired action. This type of recognition is  bestowed by members of that society on the individual or  group in the form of a name, title, manner of dress, or  monetary reward. Males, in many societies, are  particularly susceptible to this type of action and  subsequent reward, even at the risk of their lives. Action by an  individual or  larger group in behalf of some cultural ideal is  seen in all societies. The phenomena of community action, shunning, scapegoating, generosity, and  shared risk and  reward occur in subsistence-based societies and  in more  technology-based civilizations.

Societies may also be organized according to their political structure. In order of increasing size and  complexity, there are  bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and  state societies. These structures may have  varying degrees of political power, depending on the cultural geographical, and  historical environments that these societies must contend with. Thus, a more  isolated society with the same level of technology and  culture as other societies is  more likely to survive than one in closer proximity to others that may encroach on their resources (see history for examples}. A society that is  unable to offer an  effective response to other societies it  competes with will usually be subsumed into the culture of the competing society (see technology for examples).

[ or  common goal">edit] Shared belief or  common goal

Religious procession.

Peoples of many nations united by common political and  cultural traditions, beliefs, or  values are  sometimes also said to be a society (such as Judeo-Christian, Eastern, and  Western). When used in this context, the term is  employed as a means of contrasting two or  more "societies" whose members represent alternative conflicting and  competing worldviews (see Secret Societies).

Some academic, learned and  scholarly associations describe themselves as societies (for example, the American Society of Mathematics. more  commonly, professional organizations often refer to themselves as societies (e.g., the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Chemical Society). In the United Kingdom and  the United States, learned societies are  normally nonprofit and  have charitable status. In science, they range in size to include national scientific societies (i.e., the Royal Society) to regional natural history societies. Academic societies may have  interest in a wide range of subjects, including the arts, humanities and  science.

In some countries (for example the United States and  France), the term "society" is  used in commerce to denote a partnership between investors or  to start a business. In the United Kingdom, partnerships are  not called societies, but cooperatives or  mutuals are  often known as societies (such as friendly societies and  building societies). In Latin America, the term society may also be used in commerce denoting a partnership between investors, or  anonymous investors; for example: "Proveedor Industrial Anahuac S.A." where S.A. stands for Anonymous Society (Sociedad Anonima); however in Mexico in other type of partnership it  would be declared as S.A. de C.V.

[edit] Ontology

As a related note, there is  still an  ongoing debate in sociological and  anthropological circles as to whether there exists an  entity we could call society. Some Marxist theorists, like Louis Althusser, Ernesto Laclau and  Slavoj Zizek, have  argued that society is  nothing more  than an  effect of the ruling ideology of a certain class system, and  shouldn't be used as a sociological notion. Marx's concept of society as the sum total of social relations among members of a community contrasts with interpretations from the perspective of methodological individualism where society is  simply the sum total of individuals in a territory.

[edit] See also

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

Introduction to Sociology

• Community
• Holism
• Individualism
• Small world phenomenon (mathematics)
• Social
• Social psychology
• Social relations
• Sociology
• Social theory
• Social class
• Social security

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Definition of Society from the OED.
• Lecture notes on "Defining Society" from East Carolina University.
• Learning Commons - What is  Culture ? - Glossary Item - Society
• Effland, R. 1998. The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations Mesa Community College.
• Jenkins, R. 2002. Foundations of Sociology. London: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 0-333-96050-5.
• Lenski, G. 1974. Human Societies: an  Introduction to Macrosociology. New York: McGraw- Hill, Inc.
• Raymond Williams, "Society", in: Williams, Key Words: A Vocabulary of Culture and  Society. Fontana, 1976.