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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Social (disambiguation).
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction
is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary
or not.
Etymology[edit]
The word "social" derives from the Latin word socii ("allies"). It is particularly derived from the
Italian Socii states, historical allies of the Roman Republic (although they rebelled against Rome
in the Social War of 91–87 BC).
Social theorists[edit]
In the view of Karl Marx[1], human beings are intrinsically, necessarily and by definition social
beings who, beyond being "gregarious creatures", cannot survive and meet their needs other
than through social co-operation and association. Their social characteristics are therefore to a
large extent an objectively given fact, stamped on them from birth and affirmed
by socialization processes; and, according to Marx, in producing and reproducing their material
life, people must necessarily enter into relations of production which are "independent of their
will".
By contrast, the sociologist Max Weber[1] for example defines human action as "social" if, by
virtue of the subjective meanings attached to the action by individuals, it "takes account of the
behavior of others, and is thereby oriented in its course".
In socialism[edit]
The term "socialism", used from the 1830s onwards in France and the United Kingdom, was
directly related to what was called the social question. In essence, early socialists contended that
the emergence of competitive market societies did not create "liberty, equality and fraternity"
for all citizens, requiring the intervention of politics and social reform to tackle social problems,
injustices and grievances (a topic on which Jean-Jacques Rousseau discourses at length in his
classic work The Social Contract). Originally the term "socialist" was often used interchangeably
with "co-operative", "mutualist", "associationist" and "collectivist" in reference to the
organization of economic enterprise socialists advocated, in contrast to the private
enterprise and corporate organizational structures inherent to capitalism.
The modern concept of socialism evolved in response to the development of industrial

capitalism. The "social" in modern "socialism" came to refer to the specific perspective and
understanding socialists had of the development of material, economic forces and determinants
of human behavior in society. Specifically, it denoted the perspective that human behavior is
largely determined by a person's immediate social environment, that modes of social
organization were not supernatural or metaphysical constructs but products of the social system
and social environment, which were in turn products of the level of technology/mode of
production (the material world), and were therefore constantly changing. Social and economic
systems were thus not the product of innate human nature, but of the underlying form of
economic organization and level of technology in a given society, implying that human social
relations and incentive-structures would also change as social relations and social organization
changes in response to improvements in technology and evolving material forces (relations of
production). This perspective formed the bulk of the foundation for Karl Marx's materialist
conception of history.
Modern uses[edit]
In contemporary society, "social" often refers to the redistributive policies of the government
which aim to apply resources in the public interest, for example, social security. Policy concerns
then include the problems of social exclusion and social cohesion. Here, "social" contrasts with
"private" and to the distinction between the public and the private (or privatised) spheres,
where ownership relations define access to resources and attention.
The social domain is often also contrasted with that of physical nature, but
in sociobiology analogies are drawn between humans and other living species in order to
explain social behavior in terms of biological factors.
See also[edit]
 Social media
 Sociology
 Social issues
 Social networking service
 Social network
 Social neuroscience
 Social psychology
 Social skills
 Social support
 Social studies
 Social undermining
 Social work
 Social cue
References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b Morrison, Ken. Marx, Durkheim, Weber. Formations of modern

social thought
External links[edit]
Look up social in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
 Dolwick, JS. 2009. The 'Social' and Beyond: Introducing Actor Network Theory , article
examining different meanings of the concept 'social'
uthority control databases:

 Germany
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Categories:
 Sociological terminology
 Social sciences terminology

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Social

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Social (disambiguation).

The modern concept of socialism evolved in response to the development of industrial

 Social networking service

1. ^ Jump up to:a b Morrison, Ken. Marx, Durkheim, Weber. Formations of modern

Look up social in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

uthority control databases:

 Social sciences terminology

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