Society

A society 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 of members. In the social sciences, a larger society often exhibits
stratification or dominance patterns in subgroups.

Societies construct patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or speech as acceptable or unacceptable.
These patterns of behavior within a given society are known as societal norms. Societies, and their norms,
undergo gradual and perpetual changes.

Insofar as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would otherwise be
difficult on an individual basis; both individual and social (common) benefits can thus be distinguished, or
in many cases found to overlap. A society can also consist of like-minded people governed by their own
norms and values within a dominant, larger society. This is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a term
used extensively within criminology.

More broadly, and especially within structuralist thought, a society may be illustrated as an economic,
social, industrial or cultural infrastructure, made up of, yet distinct from, a varied collection of individuals.
In this regard society can mean the objective relationships people have with the material world and with
other people, rather than "other people" beyond the individual and their familiar social environment.

Contents
Etymology and usage
Conceptions
In political science
In sociology
Types
Pre-industrial
Hunting and gathering
Pastoral
Horticultural
Agrarian
Feudal
Industrial
Post-industrial
Contemporary usage
Western
Information
Knowledge
Other uses
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Etymology and usage

A half-section of the 12th-century South Tang Dynasty version of Night Revels of Han Xizai, original by Gu
Hongzhong. The painting portrays servants, musicians, monks, children, guests, and hosts all in a single social
environment. It serves as an in-depth look into the Chinese social structure of the time.

The term "society" came from the Latin word societas, which in turn was derived from the noun socius
("comrade, friend, ally"; adjectival form socialis) used to describe a bond or interaction between parties that
are friendly, or at least civil. Without an article, the term can refer to the entirety of humanity (also: "society
in general", "society at large", etc.), although those who are unfriendly or uncivil to the remainder of society
in this sense may be deemed to be "antisocial". However, the Scottish economist, Adam Smith taught
instead that a society "may subsist among different men, as among different merchants, from a sense of its
utility without any mutual love or affection, if only they refrain from doing injury to each other."[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 structure.

Conceptions
Society, in general, addresses the fact that an individual has rather limited means as an autonomous unit. The
great apes have always been more (Bonobo, Homo, Pan) or less (Gorilla, Pongo) social animals, so
Robinson Crusoe-like situations are either fictions or unusual corner cases to the ubiquity of social context
for humans, who fall between presocial and eusocial in the spectrum of animal ethology.

Cultural relativism as a widespread approach or ethic has largely replaced notions of "primitive",
better/worse, or "progress" in relation to cultures (including their material culture/technology and social
organization).

According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, one critical novelty in society, in contrast to humanity's
closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobos), is the parental role assumed by the males, which
supposedly would be absent in our nearest relatives for whom paternity is not generally determinable.[2][3]

In political science
Societies may also be structured politically. 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 close proximity to others that may encroach on their resources. 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.

In sociology

Sociologist Peter L. Berger defines society as "...a human product,

and nothing but a human product, that yet continuously acts upon its
producers." According to him, society was created by humans, but
this creation turns back and creates or molds humans every day.[4]

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
The social group enables its
societies).[5] This is similar to the system earlier developed by
members to benefit in ways that
anthropologists Morton H. Fried, a conflict theorist, and Elman
would not otherwise be possible on
Service, an integration theorist, who have produced a system of
an individual basis. Both individual
classification for societies in all human cultures based on the
and social (common) goals can thus
evolution of social inequality and the role of the state. This system be distinguished and considered. Ant
of classification contains four categories: (formicidae) social ethology.

Hunter-gatherer bands (categorization of duties and

responsibilities). Then came the agricultural society.
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, humankind, upon which rest all the elements of

society, including society's beliefs. Canis lupus social ethology
Virtual society, 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.[6]

Many societies 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 any members of the society who
violate its norms. Mechanisms such as gift-giving, joking relationships 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 it certain elements that could be detrimental to the population it serves.
Some societies 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 in the form of a name, title, manner of dress,
or monetary reward. In many societies, adult male or female status is subject to a ritual or process of this
type. Altruistic action in the interests of the larger group is seen in virtually all societies. The phenomena of
community action, shunning, scapegoating, generosity, shared risk, and reward are common to many forms
of society.

Types
Societies are social groups that differ according to subsistence strategies, the ways that humans use
technology to provide needs for themselves. Although humans have established many types of societies
throughout history, anthropologists tend to classify different societies according to the degree to which
different groups within a society have unequal access to advantages such as resources, prestige, or power.
Virtually all societies have developed some degree of inequality among their people through the process of
social stratification, the division of members of a society into levels with unequal wealth, prestige, or power.
Sociologists place societies in three broad categories: pre-industrial, industrial, and postindustrial.

Pre-industrial

In a pre-industrial society, food production, which is carried out through the use of human and animal labor,
is the main economic activity. These societies can be subdivided according to their level of technology and
their method of producing food. These subdivisions are hunting and gathering, pastoral, horticultural,
agricultural, and feudal.

Hunting and gathering

The main form of food production in such societies is the daily

collection of wild plants and the hunting of wild animals. Hunter-
gatherers move around constantly in search of food. As a result, they
do not build permanent villages or create a wide variety of artifacts,
and usually only form small groups such as bands and tribes.
However, some hunting and gathering societies in areas with
abundant resources (such as people of tlingit) lived in larger groups
and formed complex hierarchical social structures such as chiefdom.
San people in Botswana start a fire
The need for mobility also limits the size of these societies. They by hand.
generally consist of fewer than 60 people and rarely exceed 100.
Statuses within the tribe are relatively equal, and decisions are
reached through general agreement. The ties that bind the tribe are more complex than those of the bands.
Leadership is personal—charismatic—and used for special purposes only in tribal society. There are no
political offices containing real power, and a chief is merely a person of influence, a sort of adviser;
therefore, tribal consolidations for collective action are not governmental. The family forms the main social
unit, with most members being related by birth or marriage. This type of organization requires the family to
carry out most social functions, including production and education.

Pastoral

Pastoralism is a slightly more efficient form of subsistence. Rather than searching for food on a daily basis,
members of a pastoral society rely on domesticated herd animals to meet their food needs. Pastoralists live a
nomadic life, moving their herds from one pasture to another. Because their food supply is far more reliable,
pastoral societies can support larger populations. Since there are food surpluses, fewer people are needed to
produce food. As a result, the division of labor (the specialization by individuals or groups in the
performance of specific economic activities) becomes more complex. For example, some people become
craftworkers, producing tools, weapons, and jewelry, among other items of value. The production of goods
encourages trade. This trade helps to create inequality, as some families acquire more goods than others do.
These families often gain power through their increased wealth. The passing on of property from one
generation to another helps to centralize wealth and power. Over time emerge hereditary chieftainships, the
typical form of government in pastoral societies.

Horticultural

Fruits and vegetables grown in garden plots that have been cleared from the jungle or forest provide the
main source of food in a horticultural society. These societies have a level of technology and complexity
similar to pastoral societies. Some horticultural groups use the slash-and-burn method to raise crops. The
wild vegetation is cut and burned, and ashes are used as fertilizers. Horticulturists use human labor and
simple tools to cultivate the land for one or more seasons. When the land becomes barren, horticulturists
clear a new plot and leave the old plot to revert to its natural state. They may return to the original land
several years later and begin the process again. By rotating their garden plots, horticulturists can stay in one
area for a fairly long period of time. This allows them to build semipermanent or permanent villages. The
size of a village's population depends on the amount of land available for farming; thus villages can range
from as few as 30 people to as many as 2000.

As with pastoral societies, surplus food leads to a more complex division of labor. Specialized roles in
horticultural societies include craftspeople, shamans (religious leaders), and traders. This role specialization
allows people to create a wide variety of artifacts. As in pastoral societies, surplus food can lead to
inequalities in wealth and power within horticultural political systems, developed because of the settled
nature of horticultural life.

Agrarian

Agrarian societies use agricultural technological advances to

cultivate crops over a large area. Sociologists use the phrase
agricultural revolution to refer to the technological changes that
occurred as long as 8,500 years ago that led to cultivating crops and
raising farm animals. Increases in food supplies then led to larger
populations than in earlier communities. This meant a greater
surplus, which resulted in towns that became centers of trade
supporting various rulers, educators, craftspeople, merchants, and Ploughing with oxen in the 15th
religious leaders who did not have to worry about locating century
nourishment.

Greater degrees of social stratification appeared in agrarian societies.

For example, women previously had higher social status because they shared labor more equally with men.
In hunting and gathering societies, women even gathered more food than men. However, as food stores
improved and women took on lesser roles in providing food for the family, they increasingly became
subordinate to men. As villages and towns expanded into neighboring areas, conflicts with other
communities inevitably occurred. Farmers provided warriors with food in exchange for protection against
invasion by enemies. A system of rulers with high social status also appeared. This nobility organized
warriors to protect the society from invasion. In this way, the nobility managed to extract goods from
"lesser" members of society.

Feudal
 Feudalism was a form of society based on ownership of land. Unlike today's
farmers, vassals under feudalism were bound to cultivating their lord's land.
In exchange for military protection, the lords exploited the peasants into
providing food, crops, crafts, homage, and other services to the landowner.
The estates of the realm system of feudalism was often multigenerational;
the families of peasants may have cultivated their lord's land for generations.

Industrial

Cleric, knight and peasant; Between the 15th and 16th centuries, a new economic system emerged that
an example of feudal began to replace feudalism. Capitalism is marked by open competition in a
societies free market, in which the means of production are privately owned. Europe's
exploration of the Americas served as one impetus for the development of
capitalism. The introduction of foreign metals, silks, and spices stimulated
great commercial activity in European societies.

Industrial societies rely heavily on machines powered by fuels for the production of goods. This produced
further dramatic increases in efficiency. The increased efficiency of production of the industrial revolution
produced an even greater surplus than before. Now the surplus was not just agricultural goods, but also
manufactured goods. This larger surplus caused all of the changes discussed earlier in the domestication
revolution to become even more pronounced.

Once again, the population boomed. Increased productivity made more goods available to everyone.
However, inequality became even greater than before. The breakup of agricultural-based feudal societies
caused many people to leave the land and seek employment in cities. This created a great surplus of labor
and gave capitalists plenty of laborers who could be hired for extremely low wages.

Post-industrial

Post-industrial societies are societies dominated by information, services, and high technology more than the
production of goods. Advanced industrial societies are now seeing a shift toward an increase in service
sectors over manufacturing and production. The United States is the first country to have over half of its
work force employed in service industries. Service industries include government, research, education,
health, sales, law, and banking.

Contemporary usage
The term "society" is currently used to cover both a number of political and scientific connotations as well
as a variety of associations.

Western

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. It sometimes also includes
Eastern Europe, 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, are heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian values, and
have some form of political and military alliance or cooperation.[7]

Information

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.[8]

One of the European Union's areas of interest is the information society. World Summit on the Information
Here policies are directed towards promoting an open and competitive Society, Geneva
digital economy, research into information and communication
technologies, as well as their application to improve social inclusion,
public services, and quality of life.[9]

The International Telecommunications Union's World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva and
Tunis (2003 and 2005) has led to a number of policy and application areas where action is envisaged.[10]

Knowledge

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. An analysis by the Irish government
stated, "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 The Seoul Cyworld control room
percent of economic growth is now said to be due to new and better
knowledge."[11]

Other uses

People of many nations united by common political

and cultural traditions, beliefs, or values are sometimes
also said to form 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.

Some academic, professional, and scientific Scheme of sustainable development:

associations describe themselves as societies (for at the confluence of three constituent parts. (2006)
example, the American Mathematical Society, the
American Society of Civil Engineers, or the Royal Society).

In some countries, e.g. 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 co-operatives or mutuals are often known as societies (such as friendly societies and
building societies).

See also
Civil society Secret societies
Consumer society Sociobiology
Community (outline) Social actions
Culture (outline) Social capital
Eusociality Social cohesion
High society (group) Societal collapse
Mass society Social contract
Open society Social disintegration
Outline of society Social order
Presociality Social solidarity
Professional society Social structure
Religion (outline) Social work
Scientific society Structure and agency

Notes
1. Briggs 2000, p. 9
2. Maurice Godelier, Métamorphoses de la parenté, 2004
3. Jack Goody. "The Labyrinth of Kinship" (http://newleftreview.org/?view=2592). New Left
Review. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004209/http://newleftreview.org/?view
=2592) from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
4. Berger, Peter L. (1967). The Scared Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion.
Garden City, NYC: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 3.
5. Lenski, G. 1974. Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology.
6. Effland, R. 1998. The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations (http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/
asb/anthro2003/glues/model_complex.html) Archived (http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160515120
848/http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/anthro2003/glues/model_complex.html) 15 May
2016 at the Portuguese Web Archive.
7. John P McKay, Bennett D Hill, John Buckler, Clare Haru Crowston and Merry E Wiesner-
Hanks: Western Society: A Brief History. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009 (http://www.palgrave.com/
Products/title.aspx?pid=355705). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110101112339/htt
p://www.palgrave.com/Products/title.aspx?pid=355705) 1 January 2011 at the Wayback
Machine
8. The Information Society. Indiana University. (http://www.indiana.edu/~tisj/) Archived (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20091007160838/http://www.indiana.edu/~tisj/) 7 October 2009 at the
Wayback Machine Retrieved 20 October 2009.
9. Information Society Policies at a Glance. From Europa.eu. (http://ec.europa.eu/information_so
ciety/tl/policy/index_en.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20100324134651/http://ec.
europa.eu/information_society/tl/policy/index_en.htm) 24 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
Retrieved 20 October 2009.
10. WSIS Implementation by Action Line. From ITU.int. (http://www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/inde
x.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20120326203825/http://www.itu.int/wsis/impleme
ntation/index.html) 26 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 20 October 2009.
11. Building the Knowledge Society. Report to Government, December 2002. Information Society
Commission, Ireland (http://www.isc.ie/downloads/know.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/
web/20071121152730/http://www.isc.ie/downloads/know.pdf) 21 November 2007 at the
Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 October 2009.

References
Boyd, Robert; Richerson, Peter J. (12 November 2009). "Culture and the evolution of human
cooperation" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781880). Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 364 (1533): 3281–3288.
doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0134 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frstb.2009.0134). PMC 2781880 (http
s://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781880). PMID 19805434 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nl
m.nih.gov/19805434).
Bicchieri, Cristina; Muldoon, Ryan; Sontuoso, Alessandro (1 March 2011). "Social Norms" (http
s://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/social-norms/).
Clutton-Brock, T.; West, S.; Ratnieks, F.; Foley, R. (12 November 2009). "The evolution of
society" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781882). Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 364 (1533): 3127–3133.
doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0207 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frstb.2009.0207). PMC 2781882 (http
s://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781882). PMID 19805421 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nl
m.nih.gov/19805421).
Rummel, R.J. (1976). "The State, Political System and Society" (http://www.hawaii.edu/powerki
lls/TCH.CHAP31.HTM). Understanding Conflict and War, Vol. 2: The Conflict Helix.
Dunfey, Theo Spanos (29 May 2019). "What is Social Change and Why Should We Care?" (htt
ps://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/2017/11/what-is-social-change.). Southern New
Hampshire University.

Further reading
Effland, R. 1998. The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations (http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/
asb/anthro2003/glues/model_complex.html) Mesa Community College.
Jenkins, Richard (2002). Foundations of Sociology. London: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 978-0-
333-96050-9.
Lenski, Gerhard E. (1974). Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology (https://archiv
e.org/details/humansocietiesin00lens). New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. ISBN 978-0-07-037172-9.
Raymond Williams, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Fontana, 1976.
Althusser, Louis and Balibar, Étienne. Reading Capital. London: Verso, 2009.
Bottomore, Tom (ed). A Dictionary of Marxist Thought, 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishing, 1991. 45–48.
Calhoun, Craig (ed), Dictionary of the Social Sciences Oxford University Press (2002)
Hall, Stuart. "Rethinking the Base and Superstructure Metaphor". Papers on Class, Hegemony
and Party. Bloomfield, J., ed. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1977.
Chris Harman. "Base and Superstructure (https://www.marxists.org/archive/harman/1986/xx/ba
se-super.html)". International Socialism 2:32, Summer 1986, pp. 3–44.
Harvey, David. A Companion to Marx's Capital. London: Verso, 2010.
Larrain, Jorge. Marxism and Ideology. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1983.
Lukács, Georg. History and Class Consciousness. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1972.
 Postone, Moishe. Time, Labour, and Social Domination: A Reinterpretation of Marx's Critical
Theory. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Williams, Raymond. Marxism and Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Briggs, Asa (2000). The Age of Improvement (2nd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-36959-7.

External links
What Is Society? (https://mises.org/library/what-society)
Lecture notes on "Defining Society" (http://core.ecu.edu/soci/juskaa/SOCI2110/Lectures/Lect1.
htm) from East Carolina University.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Revolution (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mo
d/modsbook14.html)
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." (http://www.dspace.c
am.ac.uk/handle/1810/270)
BBC History Home Page: Industrial Revolution (https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/e
nlightenment/features_enlightenment_industry.shtml)
National Museum of Science and Industry website: machines and personalities (http://www.ma
kingthemodernworld.org.uk/)
Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living (http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/IndustrialR
evolutionandtheStandardofLiving.html) by Clark Nardinelli – the debate over whether
standards of living rose or fell.
Perceptions of Knowledge, Knowledge Society, and Knowledge Management (http://www.kno
wledge-experts.com/knowledgemanagement.htm)

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