Society: Definition;

Characteristics
 A society is a population of humans
characterized by patterns of relationships
between individuals that may have
distinctive culture and institutions, or, more
broadly, an economic, social and industrial
infrastructure in which a varied multitude of
people or peoples are a part. Members of a
society may be from different ethnic groups.
Elements of Society
 Likeness: Likeness is an essential pre-
requisite of society, as MacIver says,
“Society means likeness”. The sense of
likeness was focused in early society on
kinship (real or supposed blood
relationship). In modern societies the
conditions of social likeness have
broadened out in the principle of
nationality.
 Society is abstract: Society
embodies the social relationship
among the individuals. It means that it
is not something which can be seen,
observed, touched or scented, but an
abstract feeling which cements the
fellow human beings with one
another.
 A permanent organization: Society is
different from the temporary gatherings of
the people or the crowd. It is a coherent
organization. It is permanent. Society is not
born with any temporary objective to achieve
but its existence will remain till this planet is
inhabited by the human beings. It is a kind of
natural organization which has emerged out
of the natural instincts of human beings.
 Difference: Society also implies difference
and it depends on difference as much as on
likeness. A society based exclusively on
likeness and uniformity is bound to be loose
in social ties. All our social systems involve
relationship in which differences
complement one another, e.g. family rests
upon the biological differences between the
sexes.
 Interdependence: Interdependence is another
essential element to constitute society. Family,
is based on the biological interdependence of
the sexes. Today not only countries but also the
continents depend upon one another. This
interdependence is both extensive and
intensive, with the growth of of the area of
interdependence, its forms also multiply
manifold. The UNO testify to the growing
interdependence of the people of the world.
 Cooperation: Cooperation is also
essential to constitute society. Without
cooperation no society can exist.
Unless people cooperate with each
other, they cannot live a happy life.
 Sociability: Man cannot live without society.
Centuries ago Aristotle rightly said that man is
essentially a social animal. An individual cannot
construct society, because such society does not
posses all those qualities necessary for a real
society. A single individual living in a remote
place will not know about right and wrong, just
and unjust, proper and improper. Such man will
be awy from various human feelings like
sympathy, obligations etc. Thus sociability is
highly essential for the construction of society.
Characteristics of society
 Social networks: A social network is a
social structure made of individuals that
are tied by one or more specific types of
interdependency, such as values, visions,
ideas, financial exchange, friendship,
kinship, dislike, conflict or trade.
 Criteria for membership, and
 Characteristic patterns of organization
Evolution of society
1. hunters and gatherers
2. Pastoral
3. Horticultural
4. Agricultural
5. Industrial
6. Post-industrial
7. Biotech - New Type?
 Hunting and gathering
societies
 Hunting and gathering society is one relying
for its subsistence on such wild animals and
vegetation as its members can hunt or gather .
 Hunting and gathering societies usually consist
of very small, scattered groups. The groups
are based on kinship, with most members
being related by origin or marriage.
 Family is almost the only distinct
institution in these societies.
 Pastoral societies
 A pastoral society is one relying for its
subsistence primarily on domesticated herd
animals.
 Many pastoral societies still exist in the modern
world, particularly in Africa, Central Asia and the
Middle East.
 Pastoralism is a much more reliable and
productive strategy than hunting and gathering.
As a result societies can grow much larger.
 Horticultural Societies
 A horticultural society is one relying for its
subsistence primarily on the hoe cultivation of
domesticated plants.
 Unlike pastoralists, they live a relatively
settled life, although they must periodically
move their gardens or villages short distances.
 Many horticulture societies still exist in Africa,
Asia, South America, and Australia.
 Agricultural societies
 An agricultural society rely for its subsistence
primarily on the cultivation of crops through
the use of plows and draft animals.
 The same land can be cultivated almost
continuously, and fully permanent settlements
became possible.
 The potential size of agricultural societies is
much greater than that of horticultural or
pastoral communities.
 Industrial Societies
 An industrial society is one relying for its
subsistence primarily on mechanized
production.
 This mode of production proved so
successful that it has since spread all over
the world, absorbing, transforming, or
destroying other types of society in the
process.
 Post-industrial societies
 Post-industrial society rely for its subsistence on the
production of services and information.
 Postindustrial society produces knowledge –
particularly technological knowledge – that can be
leased, sold, or used to produce goods, services, or
still more knowledge.
 postindustrial society thrives by supplying advanced
theoretical knowledge and with products based on
this knowledge, such as computers, defense
systems, telecommunications, genetic engineering,
medical instruments, or aero-space vehicles.
 Biotech - New Type?
 Some social analysts believe that another new type of society,
called biotech society, is emerging.
 Its origins go back to either the identification of the double-
helix structure of DNA or the decoding of the human genome.
Its chief characteristic will be an economy that centers around
the application of genetic structures.
 It is not clear whether this is a society that will replace
postindustrial society or simply be another aspect of this
information-based society. Regardless, we can look forward to
revolutionary changes in health care and maybe even the
human species.
 Social Structure: Statuses; Roles;
Groups; Institutions
 Social structure is the pattern of
relationships among the basic
components in a social system.
 ‘Status’ is one’s position in society. A
person’s status determines where that
individual ‘fits’ in society and how he/
she should relate to other people.
 A role is a set of expected behavior patterns,
obligations, and privileges attached to a particular
social status.
 The distinction between status and role is a simple
one: you occupy a status, but you play a role.
 Role expectations, the generally accepted social
norms that prescribe how a role ought to be played.
 Role performance, the actual behavior of a person
playing a role.
 An ascribed status is one that is attached to
people on grounds over which they have no
control.e.g a person born in a wealthy family or
a poor family.
 An achieved status is one that depends to
some extent on characteristics over which the
individual has some control.e.g the
achievements of a person in his /her life.
 A social class is a category of people of
roughly equivalent status in an unequal society.
 Role strain(expectations) is a situation in which
contradictory expectations are built into a single role. For
example your a student (this is your status) and you have to
study for two test and both of them are on the same day.
 Role conflict(performance) is a situation in which two or
more of a person’s roles have contradictory requirements. For
example mother and a working women.
 Group is a collection of people interacting together in an
orderly way on the basis of shared expectations about each
other’s behavior.
 Groups can be classified into two main types, primary and
secondary.
 A primary group consists of a small number
of people who interact over a relatively long
period on a direct, intimate basis.
 A secondary group consists of a number of
people who interact on a relatively
temporary, anonymous, and impersonal
basis.
 An institution is a stable cluster of values,
norms, statuses, roles, and groups that
develops around a basic social need.
Society and Technology
 Technology and society refers to the
cyclical co-dependence, co-influence,
co-production of technology and society
upon one another.
Society and Conflict
 As a universal phenomenon conflict
exists in every sphere of human life.
 A conflict emerges whenever two or
more persons seek to possess the same
object, occupy the same space or same
exclusive position, play incompatible
roles or undertake mutually incompatible
means for achieving their purposes.
 Conflicts can be of several different types:
 Caste conflict
 Class conflict
 Linguistic conflict
 Racial conflict
 Communal conflict
 Industrial conflict
 Marital conflict
 Role-conflict
 Value conflict