In sociology, attempts have been made more than once to give a final definition of society and highlight its essential features - the most typical, stable and repetitive moments of its life. Thus, Emile Durkheim sees the fundamental principle of the stability and unity of society in the signs of the presence of a collective consciousness, a common will that prevents the destructive power of human egoism. Neil Smelser defines the presence of geographical boundaries, a common legal system and a certain national identity as the hallmarks of a society as an association of people. The American sociologist Edward Shils believes that the basis of society is such a characteristic as the functioning of public authority, which ensures control over the entire territory and spreads a common culture.
E. Shils highlights the following signs societies:
- marriages are concluded between representatives of this association;
- it is replenished mainly at the expense of the children of those people who are already its recognized representatives;
- the association has a territory that it considers its own;
- the society has its own name and its own history;
- it has its own control system;
- association has been around for a long time medium duration the life of an individual;
- unites it general system values (customs, traditions, norms, laws, rules), which is called culture.
And yet, by what signs can one judge a society?
The first sign of a society is usually called the territory in which consolidation takes place. social connections. Our planet has provided an opportunity for many communities to find their ecological niche to ensure the satisfaction of the vital needs of people and to give the life of individuals their own unique features, due to the variety of climatic conditions and the natural landscape. The territory is the basis of the social space in which relations and interactions between individuals are formed and developed.
The second distinguishing feature of society is its ability to maintain and reproduce the high intensity of internal relationships. Noting stability as the most important characteristic of society, sociologists disagree in explaining its fundamental causes. E. Durkheim saw the fundamental basis for the stability and unity of society in the "collective consciousness", in the presence of a common will that prevents the development of the destructive power of human egoism. R. Merton believes that society is preserved thanks to the "fundamental values" assimilated by the majority of the population and orienting each individual towards the observance of the norms of joint life. E. Shils is convinced that society as such exists only under the influence of "general power", which ensures control over the entire territory and promotes a common culture.
The third distinguishing feature of society is its autonomy and high level of self-regulation. The autonomy of society is achieved by its multifunctionality, that is, the ability to create the necessary conditions to meet the various needs of individuals and provide the latter with ample opportunities for self-affirmation and self-regulation. Only in society can a person engage in narrow professional activities, knowing that he can always satisfy his needs for food and clothing. Only in society can he acquire the necessary skills and get acquainted with the achievements of culture and science. Only society can give him the opportunity to make a dizzying career and rise to the top of the social hierarchy. In other words, society has that self-sufficiency that allows it, without outside interference, to fulfill its main purpose - to provide people with such forms of life organization that make it easier for them to achieve their personal goals.
The autonomy and self-sufficiency of society are manifested precisely in the absence of external managerial impulses. Society is regulated and managed exclusively by those institutions and organizations and on the basis of those norms and principles that arise and are created within itself. Self-regulation is an important property of a society that ensures its independence, regardless of size.
Fourthly, society is distinguished by a great integrating force. It socializes each new generation of people, includes it in the existing system of relations, subordinates it to generally accepted norms and rules. Thanks to this quality, society is receptive to innovations, because it organically absorbs new social formations, institutions, norms, thereby ensuring renewal and continuity of development. And the people themselves, connected with society by invisible threads of common language, culture, origin, gravitate towards it. It gives them the opportunity to use the usual patterns of behavior, follow established principles, creates a unique atmosphere of spiritual unity.
The main feature of society is its organic integrity, systemicity, since people are united in it on the basis of the common mode of existence necessary for them. However, in the process historical development the secondary signs of society changed, which was analyzed by me in this paragraph.
Founder Auguste Comte considered it about society, the space in which people live. Without it, life is impossible, which explains the importance of studying this topic.
What does the term "society" mean? How does it differ from the concepts of "country", "state", used in everyday speech, often as identical?
A country- it geographical concept denoting a part of the world, a territory that has certain boundaries.
- the political organization of society with a certain type of power (monarchy, republic, councils, etc.), bodies and structure of government (authoritarian or democratic).
— social organization countries that ensure the joint life of people. It is a part isolated from nature material world, which is a historically developing form of connections and relationships of people in the process of their life.
Many scientists have tried to explore society, to determine its nature, essence. ancient greek philosopher and the scientist under society understood the totality of individuals who united to satisfy their social instincts. Epicurus believed that the main thing in society is social justice as a result of an agreement between people not to harm each other and not to endure harm.
In Western European social science XVII-XVIII centuries ideologues of the new rising strata of society ( T. Hobbes, J.-J. Rousseau), opposed to religious dogmas, was put forward social contract idea, i.e. contracts between people, each of which has sovereign rights to control its actions. This idea opposed the theological approach to the organization of society according to the will of God.
Attempts have been made to define society, based on the allocation of some primary cell of society. So, Jean Jacques Rousseau believed that the family is the most ancient of all societies. She is the likeness of a father, the people are like children, and all who are born equal and free, if they alienate their freedom, it is only for their own benefit.
Hegel tried to consider society as a complex system of relations, highlighting as the subject of consideration the so-called, that is, a society where there is a dependence of everyone on everyone.
Great value for scientific understanding societies had the work of one of the founders of scientific sociology O. Konta who believed that the structure of society is determined by the forms of human thinking ( theological, metaphysical and positive). He considered society itself as a system of elements that are the family, classes and the state, and the basis is the division of labor between people and their relationship with each other. We find a definition of society close to this in Western European sociology of the 20th century. Yes, at Max Weber, society is a product of the interaction of people as a result of their social action in the interests of one and all.
T. Parsons defined society as a system of relations between people, the connecting beginning of which are norms and values. From point of view K. Marx, society is a historically evolving set of relationships between people formed in the process of their joint activity.
Recognizing the approach to society as the relationship of individuals, K. Marx, after analyzing the connections and relationships between them, introduced the concepts of "social relations", "relations of production", "socio-economic formations" and a number of others. Relations of production shaping social relationships create a society at a particular stage of historical development. Consequently, according to Marx, production relations are the root cause of all human relations and create large social system called society.
According to K. Marx, society is the interaction of people. The form of social structure does not depend on their will (people). Each form of social organization is generated by a certain stage in the development of productive forces.
People cannot freely dispose of the productive forces, because these forces are the product of people's previous activity, their energy. But this energy itself is limited by the conditions in which people are placed by the already conquered productive forces, the form of social organization that existed before them and which is a product of the activity of the previous generation.
The American sociologist E. Shils identified the following signs of society:
- it is not an organic part of any other major system;
- marriages are concluded between members of a given community;
- it is replenished at the expense of the children of those people who are members of this community;
- it has its territory;
- it has a self-name and its own history;
- it has its own control system;
- it exists longer than the average life span of an individual;
- it is united by a common system of values, norms, laws, rules.
Obviously, in all the above definitions, to one degree or another, an approach is expressed to society as an integral system of elements that are in a state of close interconnection. This approach to society is called systemic. The main task of a systematic approach in the study of society is to combine various knowledge about society in complete system, which could become a unified theory of society.
played an important role in systemic studies of society A. Malinovsky. He believed that society can be viewed as a social system, the elements of which are associated with the basic needs of people for food, shelter, protection, and sexual satisfaction. People come together to meet their needs. In this process, secondary needs arise in connection, cooperation, control over conflicts, which contributes to the development of the language, norms, rules of the organization, and this, in turn, requires coordinating, managerial and integrative institutions.
Society life
The life of society is carried out in four main areas: economic, social, political and spiritual.
Economic sphere there is a unity of production, specialization and cooperation, consumption, exchange and distribution. It ensures the production of goods necessary to satisfy the material needs of individuals.
social sphere represent people (genus, tribe, nationality, nation, etc.), various classes(slaves, slave owners, peasants, proletariat, bourgeoisie) and other social groups that have different financial position and relation to existing social orders.
Political sphere covers power structures ( , political parties, political movements) that control people.
Spiritual (cultural) sphere includes philosophical, religious, artistic, legal, political and other views of people, as well as their moods, emotions, ideas about the world around them, traditions, customs, etc.
All these spheres of society and their elements continuously interact, change, vary, but in the main remain unchanged (invariant). So, for example, the epochs of slavery and our time differ sharply from each other, but at the same time, all spheres of society retain the functions assigned to them.
In sociology, there are various approaches to the search for foundations choice of priorities in the social life of people(problem of determinism).
Aristotle emphasized the importance state structure for the development of society. Identifying the political and social spheres, he considered man as a "political animal". Under certain conditions, politics can become a decisive factor that completely controls all other areas of society.
Supporters technological determinism determining factor public life see in material production, where the nature of labor, technique, technology determine not only the quantity and quality of material products produced, but also the level of consumption and even the cultural needs of people.
Supporters cultural determinism believe that the backbone of society is generally accepted values and norms, the observance of which will ensure the stability and uniqueness of society itself. The difference in cultures predetermines the difference in the actions of people, in the organization of material production, the choice of forms of political organization (in particular, this can be associated with famous expression"Every nation has the government it deserves."
K. Marx based his concept on determining role economic system , believing that it is the mode of production of material life that determines the social, political and spiritual processes in society.
In modern domestic sociological literature, there are opposite approaches to solving problems of primacy in the interaction of social spheres of society. Some authors tend to deny this very idea, believing that a society can function normally if each of the social spheres consistently fulfills its functional purpose. At the same time, they proceed from the fact that the hypertrophied "swelling" of one of the social spheres can adversely affect the fate of the whole society, just as, however, underestimation of the role of each of these spheres. For example, underestimation of the role of material production (the economic sphere) leads to a decrease in the level of consumption and an increase in crisis phenomena in society. The erosion of the norms and values that regulate the behavior of individuals (the social sphere) leads to social entropy, disorder and conflict. Acceptance of the idea of the primacy of politics over the economy and others social spheres(especially in a totalitarian society) can lead to the collapse of the entire social system. In a healthy social organism, the vital activity of all its spheres is in unity and interconnection.
If the unity weakens, the effectiveness of society's life activity will decrease, up to the change of its essence or even disintegration. As an example, let's take the events recent years XX century, which led to the defeat of the socialist public relations and the collapse of the USSR.
Society lives and develops according to objective laws unity (society) with; ensure social development; energy concentration; promising activity; unity and struggle of opposites; transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones; denials - denials; correspondence of production relations to the level of development of productive forces; the dialectical unity of the economic basis and the social superstructure; an increase in the role of the individual, etc. Violation of the laws of the development of society is fraught with major cataclysms and great losses.
Whatever goals the subject sets for himself social life while in the system public relations he must obey them. In the history of society, hundreds of wars are known that brought him huge losses, regardless of what goals were guided by the rulers who unleashed them. Suffice it to recall Napoleon, Hitler, former presidents The United States, which started the war in Vietnam, Iraq.
Society is an integral social organism and system
Society was likened to a social organism, all parts of which are interdependent, and their functioning is aimed at ensuring its life. All parts of society perform the functions assigned to them to ensure its life: procreation; security normal conditions for the life of its members; creating opportunities for production, distribution and consumption; success in all areas.
Distinctive features of society
An important distinguishing feature of society is its autonomy, which is based on its versatility, ability to create the necessary conditions to meet the varied needs of individuals. Only in society can a person engage in narrowly professional activities, achieve its high efficiency, relying on the division of labor existing in it.
Society has self-sufficiency, which allows him to perform main task- to provide people with conditions, opportunities, forms of life organization that facilitate the achievement of personal goals, self-realization of oneself as comprehensively developed individuals.
Society has a large integrating force. It provides its members with the opportunity to use habitual patterns of behavior, follow established principles, subordinate them to generally accepted norms and rules. It isolates those who do not want to follow them in various ways and means, from the Criminal Code, administrative law to public censure. Essential characteristic of society is the achieved level self-regulation, self-management that arise and form within him with the help of social institutions which, in turn, are at a historically determined level of maturity.
Society as an integral organism has the quality consistency, and all its elements, being closely interconnected, form a social system that makes stronger the attraction and cohesion between the elements of a given material structure.
Part and whole as components of a single system connected an inseparable bond between each other and support each other. At the same time, both elements have relative independence in relation to each other. The stronger the whole in comparison with its parts, the stronger the unification pressure. And vice versa, the stronger the parts in relation to the system, the weaker it is and the stronger the tendency to separate the whole into its component parts. Therefore, for education sustainable system selection of appropriate elements and their unity is necessary. At the same time, the greater the discrepancy, the stronger the bonds of adhesion should be.
The formation of a system is possible both on the natural foundations of attraction, and on the suppression and subordination of one part of the system to another, that is, on violence. In this regard, various organic systems are built on different principles. Some systems are based on the dominance of natural connections. Others are based on the dominance of force, still others seek to hide under the protection of strong structures or exist at their expense, the fourth unite on the basis of unity in the fight against external enemies in the name of the higher freedom of the whole, etc. There are also systems based on cooperation, where force is not plays a significant role. At the same time, there are certain limits beyond which both attraction and repulsion can lead to the death of this system. And this is natural, since excessive attraction and cohesion pose a threat to the preservation of the diversity of system qualities and thereby weaken the system's ability to self-develop. On the contrary, strong repulsion undermines the integrity of the system. At the same time, the greater the independence of the parts within the framework of the system, the higher their freedom of action in accordance with the potentials inherent in them, the less they have the desire to go beyond its framework and vice versa. That is why the system should be formed only by such elements that are more or less homogeneous among themselves, and where the tendency of the whole, although it dominates, does not contradict the interests of the parts.
The law of every social system is an hierarchy of its elements and ensuring optimal self-realization by the most rational construction of its structure in the given conditions, as well as the maximum use of the conditions environment to transform it in accordance with its qualities.
One of the important laws of the organic system — integrity law, or, in other words, vitality of all elements of the system. Therefore, ensuring the existence of all elements of the system is a condition for the vitality of the system as a whole.
fundamental law any material system , which ensures its optimal self-realization, is the law of priority of the whole over its constituent parts . Therefore, the greater the danger to the existence of the whole, the more victims from its parts.
Like any organic system in difficult conditions society sacrifices a part for the sake of the whole, the main and fundamental. In society as an integral social organism general interest under all conditions is in the foreground. However, social development can be carried out all the more successfully, the more the general interest and the interests of individuals are in harmonious correspondence with each other. Harmonious correspondence between common and individual interests can only be achieved at a relatively high level. community development. Until such a stage is reached, either public or private interest prevails. The more difficult the conditions and the greater the inadequacy of social and natural components, the stronger the general interest manifests itself, being realized at the expense and to the detriment of the interests of individuals.
At the same time, the more favorable conditions arising either on the basis of natural environment, or created in the process of production activity of the people themselves, so, other things being equal, the general interest is to a lesser extent carried out at the expense of the private one.
Like any system, society contains certain strategies for survival, existence and development. The strategy of survival comes to the fore in conditions of an extreme lack of material resources, when the system is forced to sacrifice its intensive development in the name of extensive, or more precisely, in the name of universal survival. In order to survive social system seizes material resources produced by the most active part of society in favor of those who cannot provide themselves with everything necessary for life.
Such a transition to extensive development and redistribution of material resources, if necessary, occurs not only on a global, but also on a local scale, i.e., within small social groups if they find themselves in an extreme situation, when the funds are extremely insufficient. In such conditions, both the interests of individuals and the interests of society as a whole suffer, since it is deprived of the opportunity to develop intensively.
Otherwise, the social system develops after leaving extreme situation, but under conditions inadequacy of social and natural components. In this case survival strategy is replaced by existence strategies. The strategy of existence is implemented in conditions when a certain minimum of means arises to provide for everyone and, in addition, there appears a certain surplus of them in excess of what is necessary for life. In order to develop the system as a whole, the surplus of funds produced is withdrawn, and they concentrate in decisive areas of social development in hands of the most powerful and enterprising. All other individuals are limited in consumption and are usually content with a minimum. Thus, under adverse conditions of existence the general interest makes its way at the expense of the interests of individuals, a clear example of which is the formation and development of Russian society.
Society is the social organization of the country, which ensures the joint life of people. This is a part of the material world isolated from nature, which is a historically developing form of connections and relations of people in the process of their life.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that it was the family that was the most ancient of all societies. She is the likeness of a father, the people are like children, and all who are born equal and free, if they alienate their freedom, it is only for their own benefit.
Hegel tried to consider society as a complex system of relations, highlighting as the subject of consideration the so-called civil society, that is, a society where there is dependence of everyone on everyone.
Of great importance for the scientific understanding of society were the works of one of the founders of scientific sociology, O. Comte, who believed that the structure of society is determined by the forms of human thinking (theological, metaphysical, and positive). He considered society itself as a system of elements that are the family, classes and the state, and the basis is the division of labor between people and their relationship with each other. We find a definition of society close to this in Western European sociology of the 20th century. So, according to Max Weber, society is a product of the interaction of people as a result of their social actions in the interests of everyone and everyone.
T. Parsons defined society as a system of relations between people, the connecting beginning of which are norms and values. From the point of view of K. Marx, society is a historically developing set of relations between people that develop in the process of their joint activities.
The American sociologist E. Shils identified the following signs of society:
§ it is not an organic part of any larger system;
§ marriages are concluded between members of a given community;
§ it is replenished by the children of those people who are members of this community;
§ it has its own territory;
§ it has a self-name and its own history;
§ it has its own control system;
§ it exists longer than the average life span of an individual;
§ it is united by a common system of values, norms, laws, rules.
According to a number domestic sociologists, the criteria for society include the following:
§ the presence of a single territory, which is the material basis of social ties arising within its boundaries;
§ universality (comprehensive character);
§ autonomy, the ability to exist independently and independently from other societies;
§ integrativeness: society is able to maintain and reproduce its structures in new generations, to include more and more new individuals in a single context of social life.
At the same time, a number of scientific theories emerged:
The instrumental concept puts human ingenuity first. Man invented special tools of labor - tools. Welfare increased, which led to a division of labor, a functional division of the community, as well as the emergence of economic differences between people living in the community.
The sexual concept is based on the physiological characteristics of a person. The establishment of birth control is associated with the emergence of families and the establishment of norms governing sexual, and with them other relations of community members.
The gender concept is based on distribution analysis social roles between the sexes. Men create an artificial counterbalance to the female monopoly of reproduction, in the form of a male monopoly on the establishment of order. Feminist theorists argue that social organization arose at the time of the agreement of men on the distribution of women.
The critical concept is based on general theory systems and derives the emergence of society from the development of control subsystems.
The personal qualities of a person (mind, strength, ingenuity, etc.) are unevenly distributed among people, therefore they turn into a monopoly. A person with these qualities takes a leadership position. Leaders (elite) form and maintain a system of rules (norms) that preserve inequality. These rules formed the basis of social organization.
The semantic concept is based on the recognition of the weakness of man as a biological being. The law of survival requires the unification of human efforts, which is associated with their coordination, division and combination of the functions of individuals. There is a need for prior approval and direct adjustment. This is only possible using the language. Developing symbols and signs, rules for their interpretation, actively using speech, people form the world of communications. It precedes, mediates and completes the cycles of people's material activities. As a result, a system of ordered collective interactions arises and special functions society is formed.
The use of the word "society" is ubiquitous, but not everyone can clearly articulate the essence of this concept. The definition of this phenomenon and the concept that denotes it is given by sociology, as well as social science. The latest science in this issue has the most significant weight, since it is society that is the subject of its study. Unlike all other sciences, it deliberately considers all possible aspects of society. The remaining sciences single out only one specific side of the phenomenon.
However, we will focus on the view that sociology gives us, since in our article we are going to consider the question: "What are the main features of society?" - as well as some related aspects. They will help us to more consciously operate with this concept and in general will be useful for expanding knowledge in this area.
A look at the concept of society
Here are some data from sociology that reflect the essence of society. So, this science considers the concept from two main sides, respectively, presenting diverse meanings. Let's talk about each separately, while touching distinctive features society.
Historical and economic aspect
The first side of the study is to consider society, taking into account historical, economic, geographical and political factors. According to this aspect, societies are identified as structures that are larger than just groups of people or communities.
Most often, such quite specific types are distinguished in this vein, such as primitive, slave-owning, feudal and others. They differ in the level of technological development,
When considering the same historical and economic aspect, the societies that have formed on the territory of a certain country or continent are singled out. This is both Russian and American, and western world in general, and oriental.
Based on the above facts, let's summarize this block of information with a definition: society is a system limited in time and territory. Any era with its values and level of technology development is such a society.
Main features
The scientist E. Shils gives us a number of features by which a society stands out, based on the shaping factors under consideration:
As a holistic functioning, it is not included in any major systems);
Has its own well-defined territory;
Has a name, history of formation and development;
The replenishment and growth of society occurs due to human resources who are its own representatives (with rare exceptions);
As a sign complementary with the previous one, representatives of one association enter into marriage;
There is a functioning own control system;
Characteristic is the presence of norms and traditions common to representatives that form culture;
The lifetime of a society is necessarily longer than the lifetime of an individual.
- territory - it also plays the role of the main material base for the existence and development of social relations;
- autonomy - self-sufficiency, allowing to exist without economic and other ties with other societies;
- integrativity - the unification of all individuals in the process of social life, the maintenance and reproduction of generations;
- universality - all-encompassing (for individual participants).
Sociological and philosophical aspect
So, we have already learned what are the main features of society in accordance with the economic-geographical aspect of the study. It is time to consider the second aspect of the study of this topic in sociology.
The second meaning of society is purely sociological and philosophical when considered as a whole. In research in this area, sociology relies on the results practical observations and experiments on smaller structures - small communities (families, clans, peoples). A kind of hierarchy of structures is built, from smallest to largest. As a result, we obtain the functional unity of the communities.
Considering the various institutions of society from this practical point of view, sociology touches on the problems of the universe - the origin of society, the single goal of its existence. Every society has its own history. Thus, the American theory of "the beginning of beginnings" takes as its basis certain founding fathers. Reflections on the subject of sociologists of the times Soviet Union turning around October revolution 1917
Let us briefly summarize what has been said within the framework of the sociological aspect: society is the largest, covering all the others, making them its part. We continue to consider further the question of what are the main features of society.
in a sociological context
The researcher of sociological issues R. Koenig ascribes the following features to society:
- a certain way of life of individuals;
- economic and ideological associations formed on the basis of agreements;
- the presence of social unities (different peoples);
- the integrity of social units, i.e. smaller structures;
- historical prerequisites for the formation and development of this particular society;
- social reality - the processes in which the relationships of individuals are tied.
Some fundamental properties
So far, we have already considered two aspects of the study of the society of sociology, mentioned some forms of society as examples. We also learned about the features inherent in society when studied from the economic and sociological sides. Now we consider it expedient to dwell in more detail on some of its most important properties. Sociology classifies autonomy and self-sufficiency as such.
Autonomy and self-sufficiency as properties
Earlier, we only briefly mentioned the autonomy property of the structure of society. Now more about this.
The ability of a society to exist separately from others, to support the functioning of smaller structures that make up its composition, is autonomy. This property, at first glance, somewhat fades into the background in the conditions of total globalization of absolutely all world processes at the moment. However, this impression is misleading: the strengthening of international contacts has some signs that autonomy is becoming less obvious, but this process is of a completely different kind.
A striking confirmation of the autonomy of societies, which include the population of the countries of the world, is the presence of their own systems of power in them. Within countries, there are smaller communities of people who, according to the principle of hierarchy, form part of society as a whole.
Studying further the institutions of society, let's say a few words about self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency is a property inherent in the people of a particular country that provides the ability to exist completely in isolation from all other societies. After the division of labor between the territories of the world (production specialization), self-sufficiency is not observed in any country. At modern societies a new inalienable quality appeared - complementarity for economic reasons.
Other properties
An important part of any society is its cultural array. This concept includes many phenomena, there is no need to consider them within the framework of our topic. Let's just say that based on common traditions, self-awareness, moral values of individuals is formed cultural society. Its formation is preceded by a rich history.
Smaller communities are able to perform their functions in unified system society of the country independently. This is the main manifestation of the property of self-regulation.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, let us conclude: society and its features are considered in sociology in various aspects. This takes into account economic, geographical, historical, cultural and other factors. Societies of modernity appear mainly in the form of countries and their populations. The most important properties their autonomy and self-sufficiency.
Thus, we figured out the question of what are the main features of society that form it as a phenomenon. We hope that the information received will be useful for a conscious look at modern society.
