society Society or human society is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations such as social status, roles and social networks. By extension, society denotes the people of a region or country, sometimes even the world, taken as a whole. [1] Used in the sense of an association, a society is a body of individuals outlined by the bounds of functional interdependence, possibly comprising characteristics such as national or cultural identity, social solidarity, language or hierarchical organization.
Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals sharing a distinctive culture and institutions. Like other communities or groups, a society allows its members to achieve needs or wishes they could not fulfill alone. independent of, and utterly irreducible to, the qualities of constituent individuals; it may act to oppress. The urbanization and rationalization inherent in some, particularly Western capitalist, societies, has been associated with feelings of isolation and social “anomie”.
More broadly, a society is an economic, social or industrial infrastructure, made up of a varied collection of individuals. Members of a society may be from different ethnic groups. A society may be a particular ethnic group, such as the Saxons; a nation state, such as Bhutan; a broader cultural group, such as a Western society. The word society may also refer to an organized voluntary association of people for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes. A “society” may even, though more by means of metaphor, refer to a soci * Evolution of societies
A half-section of the 12th century Song Dynasty version of Night Revels of Han Xizai, original by Gu Hongzhong; the painting, which is a masterpiece of the era’s artwork, portrays servants, musicians, monks, children, guests, hosts all in a single social environment, serves as an in-depth look into 10th-century Chinese social structure. According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, one critical novelty in human society, in contrast to humanity’s closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobo), is the parental role assumed by the males, which were unaware of their “father” connection[clarification needed]. 2][3] Sociologist Gerhard Lenski differentiates societies based on their level of technology, communication and economy: 1) hunters and gatherers, 2) simple agricultural, 3) advanced agricultural, 4) industrial, and 5) special (e. g. fishing societies or maritime societies). [4] 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 (categorization on duties and responsibilities. ) * 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. In addition to this there are: * Humanity, mankind, that upon which rest all the elements of society, including society’s beliefs. * Virtual society is a society based on online identity, which is evolving in the information age.
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 food stocks to become agrarian villages. Villages grew to become towns and cities. Cities turned into city-states and nation-states. [5] Today, anthropologists and many social scientists vigorously oppose the notion of cultural evolution and rigid “stages” such as these. In fact, much anthropological data has suggested that complexity (civilization, population growth and density, specialization, etc. does not always take the form of hierarchical social organization or stratification. Also, cultural relativism as a widespread approach/ethic has largely replaced notions of “primitive,” better/worse, or “progress” in relation to cultures (including their material culture/technology and 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 a lone person has rather limited means at their disposal, and societies serve to aid individuals in times 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. Social evolution as a phenomenon carries with itself certain elements that could be detrimental to the population it serves.
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)al organism such as an ant colony. Society today The term society is currently used to cover both a number of political and scientific connotations as well as a variety of associations
Western world The development of the Western world has brought with it the emerging concepts of Western culture, politics and ideas, often referred to simply as Western society. Geographically, it covers at the very least the countries of Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand and sometimes also includes South America and Israel. The cultures and lifestyles of all of these stem from Western Europe. They all enjoy relatively strong economies and stable governments, allow freedom of religion, have chosen democracy as a form of governance, favor capitalism and international trade, re heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian values, and have some form of political and military alliance or cooperation. [6] : Information society Although the concept of information society has been under discussion since the 1930s, in the modern world it is almost always applied to the manner in which information technologies have impacted society and culture. It therefore covers the effects of computers and telecommunications on the home, the workplace, schools, government and various communities and organizations, as well as the emergence of new social forms in cyberspace. 7] One of the European Union’s areas of interest is the Information Society. Here policies are directed towards promoting an open and competitive digital economy, research into information and communication technologies, as well as their application to improve social inclusion, public services and quality of life. [8] World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva The International Telecommunications Union’s World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva and Tunis (2003/2005) has led to a number of policy and application areas where action is required. [9] These include: promotion of ICTs for development; * information and communication infrastructure; * access to information and knowledge; * capacity building; * building confidence and security in the use of ICTs; * enabling environment; * ICT applications in the areas of government, business, learning, health, employment, environment, agriculture and science; * cultural and linguistic diversity and local content; * media; * ethical dimensions of the Information Society; * international and regional cooperation. Knowledge society The Seoul Cyworld control room Main article: Knowledge society
As access to electronic information resources increased at the beginning of the 21st century, special attention was extended from the Information Society to the knowledge society. In the words of an Irish governmental analysis, “The capacity to manipulate, store and transmit large quantities of information cheaply has increased at a staggering rate over recent years. The digitisation of information and the associated pervasiveness of the Internet are facilitating a new intensity in the application of knowledge to economic activity, to the extent that it has become the predominant factor in the creation of wealth.
As much as 70 to 80 percent of economic growth is now said to be due to new and better knowledge. “[10] The Second World Summit on the Knowledge Society, held in Chania, Crete, in September 2009, gave special attention to the following topics:[11] * business and enterprise computing; * technology-enhanced learning; * social and humanistic computing; * culture, tourism and technology; * e-government and e-democracy; * innovation, sustainable development and strategic management; * service science, management and engineering; * intellectual and human capital development; ICTs for ecology and the Green Economy; * future prospects for the Knowledge Society; * technologies and business models for the creative industri Other uses People 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, professional and scientific associations describe themselves as societies (for example, the American Mathematical Society, American Society of Civil Engineers, or the Royal Society). In some countries (for example the United States, France and Latin America), the term “society” is used in commerce to denote a partnership between investors or the start of 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).
