Working together, bringing together a certain amount, helps to develop a similar attitude towards life values and traditions for each person. At the same time, sociology in this case understands labor not as the production of something or processing, but as a global process.
Before the Renaissance, the concept of "people" was associated exclusively with the idea of a community of people, there was even a descriptive concept of "Christ's flock", synonymous with the category of "people". Obviously, the ontological interpretation does not have a sociological basis, with such an understanding there is no internal gradation (everyone is equal in the herd, everything is interspersed), functionality. Meanwhile, with the development philosophical thought and development of a number social concepts understanding of the individual and the community, it became obvious that the “people”, even as a tribe, is heterogeneous, there are groups, micro- and macro-, there are collectives that have a role in the formation of the people, nationality, the formation of the historical process.
The historical role of the people and the definition of community in the key to the development of history
The role of the people in historical change varies depending on the era. For example, revolutionary upheavals, of course, became an incentive for development, but wars destroyed some communities, causing regression. Similarly in production area, which more defines the essence of the “people” as a social one: the formation of an economic balance and satisfaction of the consumption rate led to stagnation, but the growth of needs against the background of low level production - to progressive development (mechanization, technical revolutions, scientific discoveries). It is logical to assume that joint work and the struggle for progress are related characteristics, giving the people as a social community. The unity of the people is increasingly approaching the human essence and manifests itself with the development of society.
It is curious that, for example, such a unifying category as "language", "linguistic communication" loses to the "labor" unifying factor. The language of the people, not being a determining factor in the community of the people, is a support for creating a connection between people, while labor determines the specifics of development and the very possibility of unity.
After considering the factors of creating a community of the people, I would like to determine whether these factors mean something in rallying the people, whether it is worth defining the spiritual culture, psychological and social characteristics. Even specialized literature, unfortunately, will not provide an exact answer to this question. Little attention is paid to spiritual factors, priority is given to objective material and production factors.
Drawing conclusions, we can say with confidence that the people's community, being a union, a connection of people, can be built not only on material, but also on subjective-conscious factors, moreover, without them, a normal social society almost impossible.
Classification of social communities
What are the criteria for identifying and classifying social communities?
Systematization of the views of modern sociologists on this issue allows us to identify a number of potential and real, necessary and sufficient grounds for identifying commonality:
similarity, closeness of living conditions of people (as a potential prerequisite for the emergence of an association);
commonality people's needs, their subjective awareness of the similarity of their interests (a real prerequisite for the emergence of solidarity);
the presence of interaction joint activities, interconnected exchange of activities (direct in the community, mediated in modern society);
the formation of her own culture: a system of internal norms of relationships, ideas about the goals of community, morality, etc.;
strengthening the organization of the community, creating a system of governance and self-government;
social identification of members of the community, their self-assignment to the ϶ᴛᴏth community.
social community - ϶ᴛᴏ set of individuals unitedthe sameliving conditions, values, interests, norms, social connectionand awareness of social identity, acting inas a subject of social life
How do social communities emerge?
There are various concepts of creating social communities. It is important to note that one of them was proposed by an American sociologist George Homans, kᴏᴛᴏᴩy thought that people in interaction with each other try to achieve good, and the more significant the good, the more a person undertakes efforts to unite with other people.
Considering collective behavior from the position presets(predispositions), sociologist Gordon Allport put forward a theory according to which a new social subject is formed through convergence of predispositions, i.e. unity of assessments, values, assigned values, stereotypes, which members of the emerging community possess. It is worth noting that he theoretically proved that the emergence of a new community is based on similarity of emotions, and rational preferences of people.
The famous American sociologist Neil Smelser in his book "Mass Behavior" (1964-1967) structured Allport's theory of convergence. It is worth noting that he quite unambiguously linked the ϲʙᴏu explanatory concept of the emergence of a new community not with emotional grounds, but with rational ones.
Note that the theory of rational value-oriented behavior by N. Smelzer made it possible not only to reflect and interpret stages formation of communities, but also to reproduce (scientifically model) logical stages of the ϶ᴛᴏth process:
the formation of the most generalized ideas about the ideals, goals, objectives of the future association;
forcing on the basis of a common vision of the problem a certain tension, primarily due to the exaggeration of threats and the identification of a “common enemy”;
cultivating an implicit, preliminary, rather vague belief about the principles of action of the community, cultivating preferences regarding the future model of activity (legal, illegal, violent, peaceful, etc.);
turning to history in search of models for borrowing (this is what the Cossacks, nobles and other revivalist communities do in the new Russia);
mobilizing forces for action: expanding the number of supporters and preparing them to organize;
introduction of internal social control, i.e., rights and obligations that allow you to demand, punish, encourage, expel, wear symbols;
entry of a new mass organization (embedding, infusion, adoption public opinion, legalization) into existing social structures.
The last stage marks the incorporation of a new community into the system of established social relations - the formation of a public or legally fixed organization, institutionalization, promotion of "ϲʙᴏ" into the power elites, etc.
Types of social communities
Social communities are distinguished by a huge variety of specific historical and situationally determined types and forms.
Yes, by quantitative composition they range from the interaction of two people (dyads) to numerous international political and economic movements.
By lifetime duration- from lasting minutes and hours (the audience of a particular spectacular event) to living centuries and millennia of ethnic groups, nations.
According to the density of communication between individuals- from closely knit teams and organizations to very vague, amorphous formations (for example, fans of some football team) etc.
By size there are three main groups:
1. Large social communities, i.e. groups that exist throughout the country as a whole (nations, classes, social strata, professional associations).
2. Average social communities, for example, residents of Arkhangelsk or the entire Arkhangelsk region.
3. Small social communities, or small (primary) groups, which include, for example, a family, a team of workers in a small store, etc.
1. Socio-economic (castes, estates, classes);
2. Socio-ethnic (kinds, tribes, nationalities, nations);
3. Socio-demographic (youth, elderly, children, parents, women, men, etc.)
4. Socio-professional, or corporate, communities (miners, teachers, accountants, financiers, doctors, etc.);
5. Socio-territorial (inhabitants of certain territories, regions, districts, cities, villages, villages, etc.).
Primary and secondary social groups
From the point of view of the nature of interaction within the human community, primary and secondary social groups are distinguished. The primary social group is a set of people who know each other well and enter into direct interaction, interpersonal relationships. The ties between the members of the primary group are very close, suggest mutual support, and the group itself has a significant influence on the people included in it. Examples of primary social groups: family, group of friends, stairwell neighbors. Secondary social group - a set of people who enter into formal business relations to achieve a specific common goal. Relations between group members are often impersonal and do not imply a close emotional connection. Examples of secondary social groups: creative union, political party, industrial and economic association. Representatives of one social group are aware of their belonging to it, regardless of whether there are close ties between them (primary social group) or whether these ties are superficial (secondary social group).
A complex set of features allows divide all communities into two broadest subclasses, types: mass and group communities, which are divided into large and small social groups. (According to Marx and Tönnies)
Mass social communities
Our life is comprehensively permeated with concepts, which constitute the main content of such sociological category as a "mass social community".
Mass communities are characterized by the following features:
are structurally undivided amorphous formations with rather extended boundaries with an indefinite qualitative and quantitative composition, do not have a clearly defined principle of entering them;
for such communities characterized by a situational mode of existence, i.e. they are formed and function on the basis and within the boundaries of one or other specific activity are impossible outside of it, and therefore turn out to be unstable, changing from case to case formations;
them inherent heterogeneity of the composition, intergroup nature, i.e. these commonalities break class, group and other boundaries;
due to its amorphous formation, they are not able to act as part of wider communities as their structural units.
A typical example of mass communities will be participants in broad political or environmental movements(for peace, against the nuclear threat, against pollution environment etc.), fans pop stars, fans sports teams, members of amateur associations of interest (philatelists, etc.). the same type of behavior is often dictated not by reason, but by feelings, general emotions.
To mass social communities ᴏᴛʜᴏϲᴙ are:
ethnic communities (races, nations, nationalities, tribes);
socio-territorial communities - ϶ᴛᴏ aggregates of people permanently residing in a certain territory, formed on the basis of socio-territorial differences, having a similar way of life,
social classes and social strata(϶ᴛᴏ sets of people who have common social signs and performing similar functions in the system of social division of labor). Classes are distinguished in connection with the attitude towards ownership of the means of production and the nature of the acquisition of goods.
Social connections
The functioning and development of the social community occur on the basis of social ties and the interaction of its elements-individuals.
In the very general view a relationship is an expression of the compatibility of the functioning or development of two or more elements of an object or two (several) objects. Communication is the most profound manifestation of such compatibility. In social studies, various types of connections are distinguished: connections of functioning, development, or genetic, causality, structural connections, etc. In the epistemological sense, it is important to distinguish between the connections of an object and formal connections, i.e., connections that are established only in the plane of knowledge and do not have a direct analogue in the sphere of the object itself, the confusion of these connections inevitably leads to errors, both in methodology, as well as in the results of the study.
Under the "social" connection is usually understood a set of factors that determine the joint activities of people in specific communities, at a certain time, to achieve certain goals. Social ties are established for a long period of time, regardless of the personal qualities of individuals. These are the connections of individuals with each other, as well as their connections with the phenomena and processes of the surrounding world, which are formed in the course of their practical activities. The essence of social ties is manifested in the content and nature of the actions of people who make up this social community. It is possible to single out connections of interaction, control, relations, as well as institutional connections.
Features of social communities
A characteristic feature of a social community (city, village, labor collective, family, etc.) is that social systems are formed precisely on its basis. A social community is a set of people that is characterized by the conditions of their life (economic, social status, level of professional training and education, interests and needs, etc.), common to a given group of interacting individuals (nations, classes, socio-professional groups, labor collectives, etc.); belonging to historically formed territorial entities (city, village, region), belonging of the studied group of interacting individuals to certain social institutions (family, education, science, politics, religion, etc.).
Reasons for the disorganization of social communities
Social processes (demographic, migration, urbanization, industrialization) as an undesirable result can have a destructive, disorganizational impact on social communities. The phenomena of disorganization are reflected both in the external (formal) structure of communities and in their internal, functional characteristics. So, if with outside processes such as migration, urban development, industry, etc. Lead to the disintegration of large families that previously consisted of two or three generations, in production groups - to staff turnover, etc., in territorial communities - to an increase in the number of migrants in the composition of the indigenous population, to a violation of the natural age and sex structure, then the disorganization of the functions of such communities is expressed in the loosening of values, the increase in the inconsistency of standards and patterns of behavior, the weakening of the normative structure of the community, which in turn leads to an increase in deviations in the behavior of its members.
To the number social causes, disorganizing the personality, one can attribute its participation either in several social communities that impose on it conflicting social values and patterns of behavior, or in those that are characterized by uncertainty social roles, i.e., the requirements for the individual, the lack of social control, the ambiguity of the criteria for evaluating behavior. As a rule, such phenomena are associated with a weakening of the socio-psychological effect of community, which serves as a means of intra-group cohesion and mutual understanding.
Under these conditions, the so-called normal social communities are not in all cases able to ensure the fulfillment of a number of their essential functions, i.e., to provide the individual with a consistent, internally consistent system of behavior standards, to stimulate a sense of solidarity and belonging to it, to provide an ordered system of social levels. prestige and recognition, etc.
Thus, a community is a collection of individuals who are united similar interests, values, living conditions. In addition, these individuals as part of the community are aware of their social identity. Some sociologists believe that commonalities do not appear by chance. The American scientist D. Homans believes that people in a community strive to achieve a certain good. Moreover, the more important this benefit is, the more forces a person exerts to interact with other people. It turns out that communities are formed only to achieve a common goal.
Types and structure of communities
The classification of communities is usually carried out according to various criteria. This may be a temporary sign, ie. the time of existence of a community can take several minutes (for example, the audience of a rally), or maybe several centuries (here we are talking about whole nations). By quantitative attribute communities are graded from two people (for example, a stage team) to several thousand (members of the same party). Another sign is the density of ties between members of the community: it can be a closely knit team (such as a team of employees of a single office) or an amorphous formation in which people hardly interact with each other (football fans).
There is also the concept of mass social community. Such a community is unstable and heterogeneous in composition, and it is impossible to accurately determine the number of people included in it. A mass social community functions on the basis of some kind of activity - there is no existence of a community for it. To such social formations include rock star fans and sports fans. A single nation or race is also considered a mass community. This also includes the crowd of protesters.
A special place is occupied by the unification of people in a community of ethnicity. People with the same ethnic background a common territory of residence, a solid history, its own culture and its own identity, which puts members ethnic community somewhat apart from other nations and nationalities, making them aware of their differences from them. At the beginning of the formation of an ethnic community, the fundamental feature is living on a common territory. In the future, this feature ceases to be the main one. For example, people who consider themselves Russians live all over the world and at the same time do not forget the traditions of their ethnic group.
Historical communities of people: clan, tribe, nationality and nation. First historical form community of people is genus- organization primitive society based on consanguinity, collective ownership of the means of production, community of elements primitive culture, language, traditions, etc.
The form of a wider ethnic community, characteristic of the primitive communal system, is tribe, which, as a rule, consisted of several genera. Tribes were also based on tribal relations, blood relations of people. A person's belonging to a tribe made him a co-owner of common property and ensured participation in public life.
Nation- it's so historical community of people, which has common territory, language, culture and, most importantly, the overall economy. Nations are formed from many or several peoples
Nationality how a community of people is formed with the emergence of private property relations. Development private property, exchange, trade destroyed the former tribal ties, gave rise to a new division of labor and class stratification. The nationality consists of tribes close in origin and language. Nationality as a historically formed community of people is characterized by such features as common territory, economic ties, common language and culture, etc. Having arisen in a slave-owning and feudal society, nationalities are preserved and even formed up to the present day.
5. Family in the social structure of society. Problems seven and marriage.
A family is a small social group whose members are connected by marriage or kinship, common life and mutual moral responsibility, certain legal norms. The social necessity of the family is determined by the needs of society. As a necessary component social structure any society and performing various social functions, the family is playing important role in social development, performing a number of important social functions. With the development of society, there were certain changes in marriage and family relations.
Family life and its social functions are multifaceted. They are associated with intimate life of spouses, procreation, raising children. All this is based on the observance of certain moral and legal norms: love, respect, duty, fidelity, etc.
The family is such a foundation of society and such a microenvironment, the climate of which contributes or hinders the development of moral and physical strength man, his development as a social being. It is in the family that the moral foundations are laid that contribute to the development of the individual.
The family has the greatest influence on a child's personality. In the sphere of influence of the family, the intellect and emotions of the child, his views and tastes, skills and habits are simultaneously affected.
6. Politics as a social phenomenon. Power. Types of Power
Translated from Greek policy means the art of government, certain way accomplishment of the purposes of the state inside and outside its territory. All philosophers, starting with Aristotle, emphasized the most characteristic of politics as a social phenomenon - its direct or indirect connection with power.
Thus, politics is a special sphere of the life of society, associated with the relations between classes and social groups about power.
The concept of "power" correlates, as a rule, with political power, although in reality there are varieties of public power that arose long before the emergence of the state. IN general plan power is the ability and ability to exercise one's will by a class, group, party or individual, to influence people's behavior, relying on force, authority, law or any other means of coercion and persuasion. So, in the primitive communal system, power was of a public nature, exercised by all members of the clan, who elected an authoritative elder. There are several types of power - economic, political, class, the power of a group or an individual. In history, there were also family types of power, such as matriarchy and patriarchy. Power performs a number of functions: domination, leadership, management and organization, control, which are inherent in any of its types.
the political system is a complex, multi-level dynamic formation. It has three components: 1) subsystem political ideas, theories, views, emotions, feelings that make up the political consciousness; 2) a subsystem of political relations between society and the state, different classes and social groups, states, etc. about power; 3) a subsystem of political institutions that form the political organization of society: the state, parties, trade unions and other public organizations
a set of people united by historically established stable social connections and relationships and possessing a number common features(damn), giving it a unique identity.
Unlike other organizations and institutions, consciously created by people Societies arise naturally and historically, that is, independently of the will and consciousness of people under the influence of objective necessity in the process of societies. production The way of production ultimately determines the nature of O. In the early stages of history, poor development produces. forces determined the existence of numerically small O., which, however, were very stable and ensured the functioning and development of the production of means of subsistence, reproduction of the person himself, joint opposition to the hostile forces of nature, etc. Such O. were the genus, tribe, family, community. They allowed humanity not only to survive, but also to lay the foundations for further progress, the development of civilization. A more developed state produces. forces in pre-capitalist conditions. antagonistic social economy, formations brought to life a new historical. O. - nationality. As a rule, nationalities are more numerous than previous O., and provide more opportunities for development as a producer. forces and societies. life in general. Societies develop within the framework of nationalities. division of labor, including the separation of minds. labor from the physical, there is a political. sphere as a consequence of the split of society into classes. The formation of nationalities is associated with the decomposition of tribal O., the remains of which are sometimes preserved as a relic. There is also a decomposition and modification of the community, but in many ways. cases, it continues to exist within the nationality. Changes and receives further development family.
Capitalist the way of production generates modern. form of historical O. people - a nation. All former forms of clothing, with the exception of the family, are being decomposed and destroyed under the influence of capitalism. commodity-den. relations. But these forms of O. continue to exist on the periphery of capitalism, where remnants of the former structures remain.
Socialism creates a qualitatively new economic system. And social basis for human development. O. Receives further development nat. O.'s form by overcoming social antagonisms within the nation, asserting their actual. equality and relations of friendship and cooperation among nations. Conditions are created for transformation large nationalities in independent nation, for the development of small nationalities, introducing them to a full-fledged socio-economic. And cultural life socialist. society. Established democratic and truly humanistic. basics family relations. Together with so goes struggle against outdated traditions and mores, views and attitudes alien to the nature of the new society, which are remnants of the past. Economical And social development socialism generates a need and will create conditions for the emergence of new, broader than the nation, historical. O. The first such new historical. O. is Soviet people, which is an international O., welded together by a single socialist. x-va system, socio-political. and the ideological unity of society, the unity of culture, having mutual language international communication - Russian language.
