Basic concepts. What is a society? How to understand what society is

In a broad sense, a part of the material world isolated from nature, which is a historically developing form of human life. In a narrow sense, human stage. history (social economic formations, interformational ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Society, society (society, society wrong.), cf. 1. The totality of certain production relations, forming a special stage of development in the history of mankind. “... Marx put an end to the view of society as a mechanical unit ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

State * Army * War * Elections * Democracy * Conquest * Law * Politics * Crime * Command * Revolution * Liberty * Navy Power * Administration * Aristocrat ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

Community, community, artel, association, gang, conversation, brotherhood, brethren, gang, group, community, caste, clique, coalition, conglomerate, corporation, circle, bunch, camp, league, world, party, galaxy, sect, council, assembly, union, sphere, ... ... Synonym dictionary

- (society) The meaning of the English word society (society) can be expanded or narrowed, it can mean almost any form of association of people with common interests, values ​​and goals. In the 19th century society meant the upper class; Now… … Political science. Dictionary.

Society- Society ♦ Société “A human or animal society is an organization,” writes Bergson. “It implies subordination, and also, as a rule, subordination of some elements to others” (“Two Sources of Morality and Religion”, Chapter I). Society -… … Philosophical Dictionary of Sponville

SOCIETY, in a broad sense, a set of historically established forms of joint activity of people; in a narrow sense, a certain type of social system (for example, an industrial society); some form of social relationship... Modern Encyclopedia

In a broad sense, the totality of historically established forms of joint activity of people; in a narrow sense, a historically specific type of social system, a certain form of social relations (for example, a society opposed to the state, in ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- "SOCIETY" (Society) USA, 1989, 100 min. Horror movie, comedy. The teenager does not find mutual understanding in the family, and all his suspicions about the strange behavior of his parents and older sister can be attributed to the unbalanced psyche of the young ... ... Cinema Encyclopedia

1) citizens of the country, its population, considered in conjunction with their history, interests, needs, desires, beliefs, behavior, psychology; 2) the association of citizens, enterprises for the implementation of common economic activities ... ... Economic dictionary

Books

• The Affluent Society, Galbraith D.K. , The Affluent Society is the most famous work of John Galbraith, which was published in 1958 and published for the first time in Russian. The prosperous United States is at the center of a captivating narrative… Category: Other publications
• Society of Jesus in the Russian Empire (1772-1820) and its role in the worldwide restoration of the Order throughout the world, Marek Inglot, Society of Jesus in the Russian Empire (1772-1820) and its role in the worldwide restoration of the Order throughout the world. The book was published with the support of the Historical Institute of the Society ... Category:

Any newly born baby instantly becomes a member of society with the appropriate rights and rules. But what is this society that we all belong to? This concept is quite broad and includes many aspects. Society is a kind of system in which people interact and communicate, and are also divided into different groups depending on the feature that unites them.

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Origins

The first community arose back in primitive times, when people united in order to survive together. In this way, entire clans were created with their hierarchy, who were engaged in a common cause and were often at war with other communities. In order to develop successfully, it was necessary to fight for food and territory, and then share them. In addition, differences in religion or interracial prejudices could serve as reasons for conflicts.

It was from this distant primitive community that the modern society, which at first glance looks so different from it, came about.

Definition in dictionaries

Society is such a broad concept that completely different groups of people can be called this word. So, it can be called children who are engaged in a macrame circle, and at the same time, the entire population of the whole planet is also united under this broad concept. The thing is that all members of society are united by their interaction. So, people who are completely different in worldview, skin color, character, are forced to maintain social relations and get along peacefully with each other.

And it’s not for nothing that “society” is the same root as the word “communicate”. It could not have formed without this simple action. If people were deprived of the need to talk to each other, everyone could live alone, but this is completely inefficient. Every person in society has a role to play. A striking example of this is the difference in professions.

Another example is an organization, firm or company, since people working in any production are united by a common goal - the release of quality products. That is why each institution is assigned the names of forms of economic activity that characterize the property from a legal point of view and indicate the nature of the relationship of people working there.

The most famous and complete dictionary was created by V. I. Dal. In addition, there is a special dictionary dedicated to the interpretation of social science terms, the author of which is N. E. Yatsenko. So, what interpretation of society do these authors give?

Dictionary N. E. Yatsenko

Dictionary of V. I. Dahl

Oddly enough, but in this popular explanatory dictionary there is no definition of society as such. His lexicographer interpreted the verb "to communicate" - that is, to connect, unite something or someone, as well as to communicate and interact with oneself. You can also watch with another person. on the same thing from different points of view and yet unite into one whole unification.

Society structure

Society cannot exist without society and social interactions. It can be imagined as a single organism, for the normal functioning of which the coordinated work of all members is necessary. . And that means, it is possible to single out separate systems and structures in it, including the following categories:

• institutions;
• segments of society;
• community;
• social groups.

All these categories are affected by external factors. In every society, the appearance of an individual who will develop and change the views of a group of people is quite natural. This can lead both to minor deviations from the original foundations, and to a change in the history of entire nationalities.

They play a very important role in the development of any association, as they establish connections and interactions not only within one group, but also between several communities.

Characteristic features

Society has characteristic features and characteristics that distinguish it from other organizations of groups of people. These characteristics include fundamental features, which will be described below.

Relationships and connections

So , society in the simplest sense- this is the interaction of its members with each other, leading to the emergence of a social structure. This interaction is carried out both between individuals and between groups, cells and similar elements of society.

At birth, a person enters the society of people, as well as the group of his family. Then he begins to enter the society of his peers in kindergarten and school. Over time, the number of such groups increases. A person enters society on the basis of interest in a common cause, profession, favorite business. Moreover, these groups do not always meet the needs individual person, so that the association of people in which we are not always suits us and satisfies our needs. So, it happens due to the imperfection of the division of the general flow of people into smaller groups.

Nevertheless, a person communicates in his group according to certain rules. They can be both open and not vowels. However, this does not mean that a person cannot influence or change them. In the group, you can take a lower position than you would like, or a higher position compared to the rest. This leads to a certain inequality of group members.

To achieve the same position of all members of the group is not possible. It is only before the law that everyone should be equal, but, for example, in an interest group, someone will still occupy a leading position due to greater talent or a stronger character. Such positions can be identified in any society - a family, a political party, a work collective.

Types of society depending on science

There is a special science - social science, aimed at studying the concept under consideration. But besides it, there are other sciences (psychology, philosophy, and the like) that actively use the term society. Wikipedia considers the meaning these definitions are also for interdisciplinary and sub-disciplines of anthropology.

Social science

No matter how broad the concept considered here, it is possible to distinguish several historical types as a classification. They will be discussed next:

social anthropology

Social society is the main form of human existence, which includes self-regulation mechanisms. Most often in sociology it is divided into types based on the level of their development. Sociologist D. Lenski compiled the following classification:

• hunting and gathering group - a community in which responsibilities were first divided;
• an agrarian simple society is a group of people that does not have a separate leader to manage it;
• agrarian complex - a group of people in the political structure of which there are people involved in managerial activities;
• industrial - a society engaged in production activities;
• special, which cannot be attributed to any of the above types.

Also in sociology they use the term virtual society, it functions on the Internet, which is typical for the modern age of technology.

Since society also call the totality of all people on the planet, it is important to understand how they represent its development. It is assumed that the first tribes, who rallied for the sake of survival, chose the territory in which they led a settled life. Developing, they turned into villages, and then cities. Whole states grew out of the latter. Subsequently, people developed laws and certain norms of behavior that a group of individuals had to follow. People could deserve a certain status and improve your position in the team.

Political anthropology

This subdiscipline classifies There is a society according to the political structure into the following types:

• tribe;
• chiefdom;
• state.

Moreover, the strength of these types will primarily depend on the environment of other groups of people who can be friendly or hostile. Usually a more isolated society is more secure from encroachment and lives more peacefully.

Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that that society is a living organism where each member plays an important role and influences the development of other individuals and the life of the organization as a whole.

The word "society" is known to each of you. But it is worth considering - what does it mean?

The concept of society

Modern man cannot exist without other people. In the 5th grade, you learned that two principles coexist in a person: biological and social. The latter means that throughout our lives, from infancy to old age, we learn to live in society, learn the rules of behavior, master various social roles.

Turning to the historical past of mankind, we recall that primitive people united in tribal communities in order to jointly obtain food, take care of children and the elderly, escape from natural disasters, defend themselves from enemies and attacks from wild animals, and develop new territories. People did it all together, together. This is where the concepts of "community", "society" originated. The unification and interaction of ancient people helped the human race to survive.

Scientists believe that the society in which we live appeared simultaneously with the appearance on Earth of “reasonable man” - or, as it is also called, a modern man. This happened about 40 thousand years ago.

The concept of "society" is extremely diverse. It may include two dozen people - 6 "A" class, or maybe more than a billion - modern China and India.

Society can be called associations of people with the same interests. For example, a society of diving enthusiasts or a society for the protection of wildlife.

Society is also called the people living in the territory of a given country, state. These concepts should be distinguished: the country is a geographical concept, the state is political, and society is social (from the Latin words socium - society; socialis - public).

Society is studied by sociology - a science that studies the structure of society, the interaction of groups of people included in it. The study of countries is carried out by geography, and states - by political science and jurisprudence.

A country is a territory that has certain borders (for example, Russia, China).

The state is an organization of supreme power with its own system of institutions (parliament, government, army, police, courts) that carry out their activities and manage society in a certain territory.

Society may refer to:

• humanity as a whole;
• society refers to people living on the territory of a country or state (Russian society, French society, etc.);
• association of people by interests (sports society), by origin (knight's society), by profession (workers, teachers), etc.;
• society is a specific stage in the historical development of a people or country (for example, primitive society, medieval society, etc.).

What meanings of the concept "society" do the illustrations reflect?

Public relations

In the 5th grade, we began to understand interpersonal relationships that are formed in small groups of people (family, student team, etc.) who personally know each other. The most diverse people are bound into society by social relations that develop between people as representatives of large social groups and between large social groups. Nations, urban population, workers, youth, pensioners, schoolchildren, doctors, teachers, etc. These are all large social groups. They include thousands and millions of people. Collective (but not personal) relations between people are called social relations.

Public relations are relations between people as representatives of large social groups (classes, professions, peoples, etc.). They are based on collective rules, i.e. requirements to behave in a certain way.

In large groups there are social relations, and in a small group interpersonal relationships are established.

Let's take an example. The teacher may treat the student with great sympathy, but if the student has not learned the lesson, then he will give him a deuce. A teacher and a student are representatives of two large social groups, their relations are subject to certain rules, they have different social statuses (position in society) and different social roles (behavior corresponding to the status).

Public relations are regulated by laws, mores, traditions, customs, i.e. collective norms - ideas about how, for example, marriages are concluded between people, how labor disputes are resolved, how a student should behave at school, and much more that we encounter in everyday life.

Social relations form the basis of society. They hold many people together. In fulfilling his duties, the teacher enters into a certain relationship with the student, and he - with the teacher, parents, policeman, peers, salesman, etc.

In the world around us, there are various forms of social relations: rivalry (competition), mutual assistance, cooperation, love, enmity. For example, politicians compete with each other for votes in government elections, school sports teams compete for first place in the district sports day, rescuers from different countries cooperate to eliminate the consequences of an earthquake and help people, etc.

Give examples of how the forms of social relations indicated in the diagram appear in life or in history.

Public relations have two obligatory properties - stability and variability. For example, teachers and students have existed at all times, but the social relations between a teacher and a student in the ancient world or in the Middle Ages were completely different than in modern society. Previously, the teacher had the right to punish a negligent student with rods, and parents maintained this order, sometimes “for fidelity” adding punishment at home. Now rods are forbidden, as is forbidden, and much more. In the modern world, social relations are built on respect for human rights, strict observance of laws.

Summing up

Society is a necessary condition for human life. Scientists believe that society has existed for about 40 thousand years, since the appearance of "reasonable man." "Society" is an ambiguous concept.

The relations that develop between people as representatives of large social groups are called "public".

Basic terms and concepts

Society, country, state, public relations.

Test your knowledge

1. Explain the meaning of the concepts: "society", "country", "state", "public relations".
2. Why does the concept of "society" have many meanings? Which of them do you consider the most important for the study of social science?
3. What is the difference between social and interpersonal relations? Which are more common? Give examples.
4. Explain what "sociology", "jurisprudence", "political science" is. What are they studying? When preparing your answer, refer to the dictionary at the end of the textbook.

Workshop

1. Using knowledge about society, determine the meaning in which the concepts are used: "ancient society", "medieval society", "sports society", "high society", "Russian society".
2. What concepts: "society", "country" or "state" - are missing in the sentences?
   1. ------Violet lovers organized an exhibition-sale.
   2. Power in the medieval ----- most often belonged to the monarch.
   3. ------ Egypt is in Africa.
3. Prepare a story on the topic "Journey into ancient Roman society."
4. Read the story of Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko "In Bad Society". How do you understand the meaning of the title of this story?

(Kravchenko A.I. Social science. Textbook for the 8th grade. M., 2007, p. 9-16, §1)

1. The concept of society.

The concept of "society" often has a very different content. Firstly, it is a group of people united for communication and (or) activity. Such a definition implies any collective, from a primitive tribal community to a fan club, but small in scale. On the contrary, in the broad, philosophical sense of the word, this concept unites all of humanity, in contrast to animals, plants, and inanimate nature (O. is a part of the material world isolated from nature, a set of historically established forms of joint human activity).

Using the terms "feudal society" or "industrial society", we mean a certain historical stage of development, characteristic of various countries and peoples. But under "civil society" philosophers and political scientists understand the sphere of social relations, connections, groups that are independent of the state. (In such a society, citizens are able to independently defend their common rights and interests, solve local problems and influence government policy on a national scale). And if earlier the “society” included only its elite, now it is the entire population of the country.

In the most common sense among sociologists, society is the social organization of a given country (or ethnic group), i.e. not just the totality of the population, but also its structure, the system of relationships and connections. It is necessary to separate "society" from the political organization of the given country - the state. By the way, you should not confuse the state with the territory on which it operates - in fact, the country. Although very often politicians, in order to give themselves weight, broadcast on behalf of the whole country - both the state and society, deliberately mixing geographical, political and social concepts.

2. Signs of society.

Note that the last definition of society also applies to those human groups - clan, tribe, union of tribes - which in ancient times have not yet “grown up” to the creation of a state. However, if this organization is to some extent self-sufficient and has "its own face", we have a society before us. Here are its signs:
- it is not part of a larger system;
- marriages are concluded between representatives of this association;
- it is replenished mainly at the expense of children born in such marriages;
- the association has a territory that it considers its own;
- it has its own name and its own history;
- it has its own control system;
- the association exists longer than the average life expectancy of an individual;
- it is united by a common system of values ​​(customs, traditions, norms, laws), which is called culture.

3. Spheres of society.

What is modern society in this sense? There are different methods of its structuring or models that contribute to a more detailed analysis.

First, you can build all sorts of layers or social groups vertically, from top to bottom, depending on their wealth or proximity to power, in other words, on their economic and political influence. Then society will appear before us as a pyramid, at the top of which is a wealthy and powerful elite, at the bottom - the "gray" majority, and the middle class - between them.

Secondly, one can imagine a society as a set of institutions that satisfy its most important needs within the framework of established social norms (institution - Latin “establishment”). The most important social institutions are the family (with the function of population reproduction), production (creation of material wealth), the state (regulation of social relations, protection of law and order and sovereignty, and many others), education (accumulation and transfer of experience), religion.

But the most common approach invites us to study society in its spheres (subsystems): economic, political, social and spiritual.

The economy includes the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods and services. Politics brings together institutions involved in solving the most important problems of society. First of all, this is the state - with all its ramified structure of government bodies - and the parties, since the political sphere includes everything related to the struggle for this power, for influence on the adoption of strategically important decisions. A mature society has regulated mechanisms for the change of power and political struggle.

The social sphere covers relations between various social groups, classes, and strata. If society could be considered on its own, apart from economics and politics, then this hypostasis of it would be the social sphere. However, this term is also used in a narrower sense: for example, an official refers to the system of public transport and utilities, education and health care in this way. Here the "social sphere" is a set of public institutions that serve our needs. An even narrower meaning of this phrase is a system of public assistance to vulnerable segments of the population (pensioners, the unemployed, the disabled, orphans, etc.). When we hear about the imperfection of the social sphere and its insufficient funding, we are talking about the last two meanings of the term.
And last but not least, we remember the spiritual realm! And this includes science, and education, and all the treasures of art, together with museums and libraries, as well as religion and other forms of intellectual activity.

Of course, the division of society into spheres is somewhat arbitrary: in real life, all parts of this complex system are interconnected and intertwined.

4. World community and globalization.

In conclusion, it must be said that society - as a social organization of the country - in a certain sense is already becoming a thing of the past. Isn't our Russian society, just like American or Japanese, part of a larger system - the world community? Globalization - the process of historical rapprochement of peoples and the transformation of mankind into a single political system - is increasingly covering countries and continents. Starting in the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, prompted by the capitalist development of industrial countries, it linked the world at first economically, and now creates a common political, legal and cultural space. People from different countries and continents discuss the same news, listen to the same music, "cheer" for "their own" at world sports competitions, defend the rights formulated by the UN assemblies, and demand certain political decisions from their representatives in the Security Council, European Union, NATO and dozens of other international organizations.