Portal:Society

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The Society Portal

World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva

A society (/səˈsaɪəti/) is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members.

Human social structures are complex and highly cooperative, featuring the specialization of labor via social roles. Societies construct roles and other patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or concepts acceptable or unacceptable—these expectations around behavior within a given society are known as societal norms. So far as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would otherwise be difficult on an individual basis.

Societies vary based on level of technology and type of economic activity. Larger societies with larger food surpluses often exhibit stratification or dominance patterns. Societies can have many different forms of government, various ways of understanding kinship, and different gender roles. Human behavior varies immensely between different societies; humans shape society, but society in turn shapes human beings. (Full article...)

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A fairy tale is a story featuring folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and talking animals, and usually enchantments. In cultures where demons and witches are perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legendary narratives, where the context is perceived by teller and hearers as having historical actuality. However, unlike legends and epics they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, persons, and events; they take place once upon a time rather than in actual times. Fairy tales are found in oral folktales and in literary form. The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult to trace, because only the literary forms can survive. Still, the evidence of literary works at least indicates that fairy tales have existed for thousands of years, although not perhaps recognized as a genre; the name "fairy tale" was first ascribed to them by Madame d'Aulnoy. Literary fairy tales are found over the centuries all over the world, and when they collected them, folklorists found fairy tales in every culture. Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today.

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Credit: Photo: American Colony; Restoration: Lise Broer

An Australian Light Horse encampment on Mount Olivet and Mount Scopus near Jerusalem, 1918. Australian Light Horse were mounted troops with characteristics of both cavalry and mounted infantry who served during the Second Boer War and World War I. A number of Australian light horse units are still in existence today, most notably of the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry), now a light armoured unit.

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Did you know...

... that according to Russian sociologist Daria Khaltourina, Protestantism positively influenced the capitalist development of social systems through the promotion of literacy and Bible reading?
... that Rhodesian soccer captain Bobby Chalmers, a white man, was assisted in his leadership of the mostly black national team by his proficiency in both Ndebele and Shona?
... that following the 2011 Libyan civil war, many Tuareg fighters (pictured) for the defeated government became members of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, seeking an independent Azawad?

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Anniversaries this month

4 July 1963 - Federation of Malaya Red Cross Society received official recognition as an independent national society by the International Committee of the Red Cross
14 July 1904 - Incorporation of the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants
22 July 1932 - Establishment of the Turkish Language Association
30 July 1982 - Chinese Society Halls on Maui (pictured) placed on the Hawaii State Register of Historic Places

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“

The noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and dissipation without pleasure.

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— Edward Gibbon, Memoirs, Volume I, p. 116.

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Bob Marshall

Robert Marshall (1901–1939) was an American forester, writer and wilderness activist. He developed a love for the outdoors during his childhood and became one of the first Adirondack Forty-Sixers. He also traveled to the Alaskan wilderness and wrote numerous publications, including the 1933 bestselling book Arctic Village. A scientist with a Doctor of Philosophy in plant physiology, Marshall became independently wealthy after the death of his father. He held two significant public posts during his life: chief of forestry in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, from 1933 to 1937, and head of recreation management in the Forest Service, from 1937 to 1939. Defining wilderness as a social as well as an environmental ideal, Marshall was the first to suggest a formal, national organization dedicated to the preservation of primeval land. In 1935 he became one of the principal founders of The Wilderness Society. Marshall died of heart failure at the age of 38. Today, Marshall is considered largely responsible for the wilderness preservation movement. Several landmarks and areas, including The Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana and Mount Marshall in the Adirondacks, were named in his honor. (Full article...)

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October 1888 – After-dinner speech by Arthur Sullivan at the Little Menlo, London

A very early wax cylinder recording (October 5, 1888) of composer Arthur Sullivan. It was created in London by George Gouraud as an audio letter to be sent back to Edison.

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List of awards and nominations received by Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

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20151030 Syrians and Iraq refugees arrive at Skala Sykamias Lesvos Greece 2
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Daisy (1964)
DurbanSign1989
Frances Benjamin Johnston, Self-Portrait (as "New Woman"), 1896
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Nanook of the North
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United States President Barack Obama bends down to allow the son of a White House staff member to touch his head
W.E.B. Du Bois by James E. Purdy, 1907
Xiahe mandible

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Web resources

Definition of Society from the OED.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Revolution
"The Day the World Took Off" Six part video series from the University of Cambridge tracing the question "Why did the Industrial Revolution begin when and where it did."
BBC History Home Page – Industrial Revolution
National Museum of Science and Industry website – machines and personalities
Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living by Clark Nardinelli - the debate over whether standards of living rose or fell.

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