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{{short description|Group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction}} {{Short description|Connected group of individuals}}
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{{Anthropology}}
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| image1 = Lao Mangkong family eats together (square).JPG
| alt1 = Two Southeast Asian women and five children sit on grass eating rice and vegetables
| image2 = Crowd in nagpur (square).jpg
| alt2 = A dense crowd of several hundred people on a street lined with shops and ads
| image3 = Fiesta nacional, parada militar en Madrid, 2016 (03).jpg
| alt3 = Several dozen male soldiers in formal steel blue uniforms carrying wooden rifles march down a wide street while a crowd looks on
| footer = ''Clockwise from top left'': A family in ], ]; a crowd shopping in ], India; a ] on a Spanish national holiday.
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A '''society''' is a ] of individuals involved in persistent ], or a large ] sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same ] authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (]s) between individuals who share a distinctive ] and ]; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent of members. In the ]s, a larger society often exhibits ] or ] patterns in subgroups. A '''society''' ({{IPAc-en| s|ə|ˈ|s|aɪ|ə|t|i}}) is a group of ]s involved in persistent social interaction or a large ] sharing the same spatial or ] ], typically subject to the same ] authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (]s) between individuals who share a distinctive ] and ]; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members.


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 ]. Societies, and their norms, undergo gradual and perpetual changes. Human ]s are complex and highly cooperative, featuring the ] via ]. Societies construct roles and other patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or concepts acceptable or unacceptable—these expectations around behavior within a given society are known as ]. So far as it is ], a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would otherwise be difficult on an individual basis.


Societies vary based on level of technology and type of economic activity. Larger societies with larger food surpluses often exhibit ] or ] patterns. Societies can have many different forms of government, various ways of understanding kinship, and different gender roles. Human behavior varies immensely between different societies; humans shape society, but society in turn shapes human beings.
Insofar as it is ], 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 ], a term used extensively within ], and also applied to distinctive subsections of a larger society.


== Etymology and usage ==
More broadly, and especially within ], a society may be illustrated as an ], social, ] or ] ], 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.
The term "society" often refers to a large group of people in an ordered community, in a country or several similar countries, or the 'state of being with other people', e.g. "they lived in medieval society."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/society |title=Meaning of society in English |website=] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326010448/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/society |archive-date=26 March 2023 |access-date=8 January 2024}}</ref>
The term dates back to at least 1513 and comes from the 12th-century French {{lang|fr|societe}} (modern French {{lang|fr|société}}) meaning 'company'.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/society#h2 |title=Society |website=] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507121611/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/society#h2 |archive-date=7 May 2021 |access-date=8 January 2024}}</ref> {{lang|fr|Societe}} was in turn derived from the ] word {{lang|la|]}} ('fellowship,' 'alliance', 'association'), which in turn was derived from the noun {{lang|la|socius}} ("], ], ally").<ref name=":0" />


== Conceptions ==
==Etymology and usage==
=== In biology ===
{{wide image|Gu Hongzhong's Night Revels 1.jpg|700px|A half-section of the 12th-century ] version of '']'', original by ] in the 10th century. 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.}}
{{Further|Sociality}}
]: Ants are ] insects. The social group enables its members to benefit in ways that would not otherwise be possible on an individual basis.]]
]s, along with their closest relatives ]s and ]s, are highly social animals. This biological context suggests that the underlying sociability required for the formation of societies is hardwired into human nature.<ref name=":5">{{cite book |last=Fukuyama |first=Francis |author-link=Francis Fukuyama |title=The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution |title-link=The Origins of Political Order |chapter=The State of Nature |year=2011 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |pages=26–48 |isbn=978-0-374-22734-0 |lccn=2010038534 |oclc=650212556 |edition=First |location=New York, NY}}</ref> Human society features high degrees of cooperation, and differs in important ways from groups of chimps and bonobos, including the parental role of males,<ref>{{cite book |last=Godelier |first=Maurice |author-link=Maurice Godelier |year=2004 |title=Métamorphoses de la parenté |publisher=Fayard |isbn=2-213-61490-3 |lccn=2004459773 |oclc=61137773 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Goody |first=Jack |author-link=Jack Goody |url=https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii36/articles/jack-goody-the-labyrinth-of-kinship |title=The Labyrinth of Kinship |journal=] |publication-place=London, UK |series=II |issue=36 |issn=0028-6060 |lccn=63028333 |oclc=1605213 |date=November–December 2005 |pages=127–139 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106221836/http://newleftreview.org/II/36/jack-goody-the-labyrinth-of-kinship |archive-date=6 November 2018 |access-date=8 January 2024}}</ref> the use of language to communicate,<ref name=":5" /> the specialization of labor,<ref name=":6" /> and the tendency to build "nests" (multigenerational camps, town, or cities).<ref name=":6">{{Cite magazine |last=Angier |first=Natalie |author-link=Natalie Angier |date=April 2012 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/edward-o-wilsons-new-take-on-human-nature-160810520/ |title=Edward O. Wilson's New Take on Human Nature |magazine=] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221202723/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/edward-o-wilsons-new-take-on-human-nature-160810520/ |archive-date=21 December 2023 |access-date=8 January 2024}}</ref>


Some biologists, including entomologist ], categorize humans as ], placing humans with ]s in the highest level of sociability on the spectrum of ], although others disagree.<ref name=":6" /> Social group living may have evolved in humans due to ] in physical environments that made survival difficult.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=David Sloan |author-link=David Sloan Wilson |year=2007 |title=Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives |publisher=Delacorte |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-385-34092-2 |lccn=2006023685 |oclc=70775599}}</ref>
The term "society" came from the 12th Century French ''société'' (meaning 'company').<ref>{{cite web |title=Society |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/society#h2 |website=Merriam-webster dictionary |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref> This was in turn from the ] word '']'', which in turn was derived from the noun ''socius'' ("], 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". In the 1630s it was used in reference to "people bound by neighborhood and intercourse aware of living together in an ordered community".<ref>{{cite web |title=Society (n.) |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/society#etymonline_v_23814 |website=Online Etymological Dictionary |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref> However, in the 18th century the ] economist, ] taught that a society "may subsist among different men, as among different merchants, from a sense of its ] without any mutual love or affection, if only they refrain from doing injury to each other."<ref name=Briggs9/>


=== In sociology ===
Used in the sense of an ], a society is a body of individuals outlined by the bounds of functional ], possibly comprising characteristics such as ] or ], ], ], or ].
{{Further|Sociology}}
In Western sociology, there are three dominant paradigms for understanding society: ] (also known as structural functionalism), ], and ].{{Sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|pp=103-108}}


==== Functionalism ====
==Conceptions==
According to the functionalist school of thought, individuals in society work together like organs in the body to create ] behavior, sometimes referred to as ].{{Sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|pp=103-104}} 19th century sociologists ] and ], for example, believed that society constitutes a separate "level" of reality, distinct from both biological and inorganic matter. Explanations of ] had therefore to be constructed within this level, individuals being merely transient occupants of comparatively stable social roles.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last1=Macionis |first1=John J. |last2=Gerber |first2=Linda Marie |year=2011 |title=Sociology |publisher=] |edition=7th |location=Toronto, Canada |isbn=978-0-13-700161-3 |oclc=434559397}}</ref>
Society, in general, addresses the fact that an individual has rather limited means as an ]. The ] have always been more ('']'', '']'', '']'') or less ('']'', '']'') ]s, so ]-like situations are either fictions or unusual ]s to the ubiquity of social context for humans, who fall between ] and ] in the spectrum of ].


==== Conflict theory ====
] 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).
Conflict theorists take the opposite view, and posit that individuals and social groups or ]es within society interact on the basis of ] rather than agreement. One prominent conflict theorist is ] who conceived of society as operating on an economic ] of government, family, religion and culture. Marx argues that the economic base determines the superstructure, and that throughout history, societal change has been driven by conflict between ] and ] the ].{{Sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|pp=104-105}}


==== Symbolic interactionism ====
According to anthropologist ], 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.<ref>], Métamorphoses de la parenté, 2004</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://newleftreview.org/?view=2592|journal=New Left Review|author=Jack Goody|title=The Labyrinth of Kinship|access-date=24 July 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004209/http://newleftreview.org/?view=2592|archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref>
Symbolic interactionism is a ] theory that focuses on individuals and how the individual relates to society.{{Sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=21, 108}} Symbolic interactionists study humans' use of shared language to create common symbols and meanings,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Hall |first=Peter M. |editor1-last=Ritzer |editor1-first=George |year=2007 |title=Symbolic Interaction |encyclopedia=Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology |volume=10 |isbn=978-1-4051-2433-1 |lccn=2006004167 |oclc=63692691 |doi=10.1002/9781405165518.wbeoss310}}</ref> and use this frame of reference to understand how individuals interact to create symbolic worlds, and in turn, how these worlds ].<ref name=":12">{{cite book |last1=West |first1=Richard L. |last2=Turner |first2=Lynn H. |title=Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application |date=2018 |publisher=McGraw-Hill Education |isbn=978-1-259-87032-3 |lccn=2016059715 |oclc=967775008 |edition=6th}}</ref>


In the latter half of the 20th century, theorists began to view society as ].{{Sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|pp=109-110}} In this vein, sociologist ] describes society as "dialectic": Society is created by humans, but this creation turns in turn creates or molds humans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Berger |first=Peter L. |author-link=Peter L. Berger |year=1967 |title=The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion |publisher=Doubleday & Company, Inc. |location=Garden City, NYC |page=3 |isbn=978-0-385-07305-9 |lccn=90034844 |oclc=22736039}}</ref>
=== 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 === ==== Non-Western views ====
], a theorist of colonial societies]]
].]]
The sociologic emphasis placed on functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism, has been criticized as ].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=al-Attas |first=Syed Farid |author-link=Syed Farid al-Attas |date=March 2021 |title=Deparochialising the Canon: The Case of Sociological Theory |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/johs.12314 |journal=Journal of Historical Sociology |language=en |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=13–27 |doi=10.1111/johs.12314 |s2cid=235548680 |issn=0952-1909 |lccn=89656316 |oclc=18102209 |access-date=31 January 2024 |archive-date=31 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131131620/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/johs.12314 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Malaysian sociologist ], for example, argues that Western thinkers are particularly interested in the implications of ], and that their analysis of non-Western cultures is therefore limited in scope.<ref name=":1" /> As examples of nonwestern thinkers who took a systematic approach to understanding society, al-Attas mentions ] (1332–1406) and ] (1861–1896).<ref name=":1" />
] ] 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Scared Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion|last = Berger|first = Peter L.|publisher = Doubleday & Company, Inc.|year = 1967|location = Garden City, NYC|page = 3}}</ref>
]]]


Khaldun, an ] living in the 14th century, understood society, along with the rest of the universe, as having "meaningful configuration", with its perceived randomness attributable to hidden causes. Khaldun conceptualized social structures as having two fundamental forms: nomadic and sedentary. Nomadic life has high social cohesion (''asabijja''), which Khaldun argued arose from kinship, shared customs, and a shared need for defense. Sedentary life, in Khaldun's view, was marked by secularization, decreased social cohesion, and increased interest in luxury.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Becker |first1=Howard |author1-link=Howard P. Becker |last2=Barnes |first2=Harry Elmer |author2-link=Harry Elmer Barnes |year=1961 |title=Social Thought from Lore to Science |chapter=The Meeting of East and West and the Advance of Secularism |publisher=] |edition=3rd |volume=1 |location=New York, NY |pages=266–277 |lccn=61004323 |oclc=423043}}</ref> Rizal was a ] nationalist living toward the end of the ] who theorized about colonial societies. Rizal argued that ], which the Spanish used to justify their colonial occupation, was instead caused by the colonial occupation. Rizal compared the pre-colonial era, when the Filipinos controlled trade routes and had higher economic activity, to the period of colonial rule, and argued that exploitation, economic disorder, and colonial policies that discouraged farming led to a decreased interest in work.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Alatas |first1=Syed Farid |author1-link=Syed Farid al-Attas |last2=Sinha |first2=Vineeta |year=2017 |title=Sociological Theory Beyond the Canon |publisher=] |location=London, UK |chapter=Jose Rizal (1861-1896) |isbn=978-1-137-41133-4 |lccn=2017934880 |oclc=966921499}}</ref>
Sociologist ] 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 societies).<ref>Lenski, G. 1974. ''Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology.''{{page needed|date=January 2020}}</ref> This is similar to the system earlier developed by anthropologists Morton H. Fried, a conflict theorist, and ], an integration theorist, who have produced a system of classification for societies in all human cultures based on the evolution of ] and the role of the ]. This system of classification contains four categories:
* ] bands (categorization of duties and responsibilities). Then came the agricultural society.
* ] societies in which there are some limited instances of ] and prestige.
* ] structures led by ].
* ]s, with complex ] and organized, ].


==Types==
In addition to this there are:
Sociologists tend to classify societies based on their level of technology, and place societies in three broad categories: ], ], and ].{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=99}}
* ], humankind, upon which rest all the elements of society, including society's beliefs.
* ], a society based on online identity, which is evolving in the information age.


Subdivisions of these categories vary, and classifications are often based on level of technology, communication, and economy. One example of such a classification comes from sociologist ] who lists: (1) hunting and gathering; (2) horticultural; (3) agricultural; and (4) industrial; as well as specialized societies (e.g., fishing or herding).{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=96}}
Over time, some ] have progressed toward more complex forms of ] and control. This ] has a profound effect on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes settled around seasonal food stocks to become ]. Villages grew to become towns and cities. Cities turned into ]s and ]s.<ref>Effland, R. 1998. {{webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160515120848/http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/anthro2003/glues/model_complex.html |date=15 May 2016 }}.</ref>


Some cultures have developed over time toward more complex forms of organization and control. This ] has a profound effect on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes have, at times, settled around seasonal food stocks to become agrarian villages. Villages have grown to become towns and cities. Cities have turned into ]s and ]s. However, these processes are not unidirectional.<ref>{{cite book |last=Glassman |first=Ronald M. |date=20 June 2017 |title=The Origins of Democracy in Tribes, City-States and Nation-States |chapter=The Importance of City-States in the Evolution of Democratic Political Processes |page=1502 |publisher=] |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-51695-0_126 |isbn=978-3-319-51695-0 |lccn=2019746650 |oclc=1058216897}}</ref>
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 ] any members of the society who violate its ]. Mechanisms such as ], ]s and ], which may be seen in various types of human groupings, tend to be ]alized 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 ] 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 ] that differ according to ], 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: ], ], and ].


===Pre-industrial=== ===Pre-industrial===
{{Main article|Pre-industrial society}} {{Main article|Pre-industrial society}}
In a pre-industrial society, food production, which is carried out through the use of human and animal ], 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. In a pre-industrial society, food production, which is carried out through the use of human and animal ], 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, and agrarian.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=96}}


==== Hunting and gathering ==== ==== Hunting and gathering ====
{{Main article|Hunter-gatherer society}} {{Main article|Hunter-gatherer}}
] in Botswana start a fire by hand.]] ] in Botswana start a fire by hand.]]
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 ] or create a wide variety of ], and usually only form small groups such as ] and ]s. However, some hunting and gathering societies in areas with abundant resources (such as people of ]) lived in larger groups and formed complex hierarchical social structures such as chiefdom. The need for mobility also limits the size of these societies. They 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. ] is personal—charismatic—and used for special purposes only in tribal society. There are no political offices containing real power, and a ] is merely a person of influence, a sort of adviser; therefore, tribal consolidations for collective action are not governmental. The family forms the main ], with most members being related by birth or marriage. This type of organization requires the family to carry out most social functions, including ] and ]. The main form of food production in hunter-gatherer societies is the daily collection of wild plants and the hunting of wild animals. Hunter-gatherers move around constantly in search of food.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=135}} As a result, they do not build permanent ] or create a wide variety of ]. The need for mobility also limits the size of these societies, and they usually only form small groups such as ] and ]s,{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=134}} usually with fewer than 50 people per community.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Lee |first1=Richard B. |last2=Daly |first2=Richard H. |year=1999 |chapter=Introduction: Foragers & Others |encyclopedia=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers |publisher=] |page=3 |isbn=0-521-57109-X |lccn=98038671 |oclc=39654919}}</ref>{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=134}} Bands and tribes are relatively ], and decisions are reached through ]. There are no formal political offices containing real power in band societies, rather a ] is merely a person of influence, and ] is based on personal qualities.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=146}} The family forms the main ], with most members being related by birth or marriage.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=142}}

The anthropologist ] described hunter-gatherers as the "]" due to their extended leisure time: Sahlins estimated that adults in hunter gatherer societies work three to five hours per day.<ref name="sahlins">{{cite book |last=Sahlins |first=Marshall D. |author-link=Marshall Sahlins |editor-last1=Lee |editor-first1=Richard B. |editor-last2=DeVore |editor-first2=Irven |title=Man the Hunter |chapter=Discussions, Part II: Notes on the Original Affluent Society |publisher=Aldine Publishing Company |year=1968 |location=Chicago, Illinois |pages=85–89 |lccn=67017603 |oclc=490234}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sahlins |first=Marshall D. |author-link=Marshall Sahlins |year=1972 |chapter=The Original Affluent Society |title=Stone Age Economics |publisher=Aldine-Atherton, Inc. |publication-place=Chicago, Illinois |page=34 |isbn=0-202-01098-8 |lccn=75169506 |oclc=363958 |chapter-url=http://www.primitivism.com/original-affluent.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001191830/http://www.primitivism.com/original-affluent.htm |archive-date=1 October 2019 |access-date=9 January 2024 |quote=Reports on hunters and gatherers of the ethnological present—specifically on those in marginal environments—suggest a mean of three to five hours per adult worker per day in food production.}}</ref> This perspective has been challenged by other researchers, who have pointed out high mortality rates and perennial warfare in hunter-gatherer societies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hill |first1=Kim |last2=Hurtado |first2=A. M. |last3=Walker |first3=R. S. |title=High adult mortality among Hiwi hunter-gatherers: Implications for human evolution |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=443–454 |date=April 2007 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.11.003 |pmid=17289113 |bibcode=2007JHumE..52..443H |eissn=1095-8606 |issn=0047-2484 |lccn=72623558 |oclc=925940973}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Keeley |first=Lawrence H. |author-link=Lawrence H. Keeley |year=1996 |chapter=Crying Havoc: The Question of Causes |pages=113–126 |title=War Before Civilization |publisher=] |isbn=0-19-509112-4 |lccn=94008998 |oclc=30158105}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Kaplan |first=David |title=The Darker Side of the 'Original Affluent Society' |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=56 |number=3 |pages=287–484 |date=Autumn 2000 |publisher=] |doi=10.1086/jar.56.3.3631086 |s2cid=140333399 |eissn=2153-3806 |issn=0091-7710 |lccn=2006237061 |oclc=60616192}}</ref> Proponents of Sahlins' view argue that the general well-being of humans in hunter gatherer societies challenges the purported relationship between technological advancement and ].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Gowdy |first=John |editor-last1=Lee |editor-first1=Richard B. |editor-last2=Daly |editor-first2=Richard H. |year=2005 |title=Hunter-Gatherers and the Mythology of the Market |encyclopedia=Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers |publisher=] |pages=391–398 |isbn=0-521-57109-X |lccn=98038671 |oclc=39654919 |url=http://libcom.org/history/hunter-gatherers-mythology-market-john-gowdy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224174603/http://libcom.org/history/hunter-gatherers-mythology-market-john-gowdy |archive-date=24 February 2021 |access-date=9 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Jerome |editor-last1=Watkins |editor-first1=Stuart |date=September 2008 |title=Managing abundance, not chasing scarcity: the real challenge for the 21st century |issue=2 |journal=Radical Anthropology |url=http://www.radicalanthropologygroup.org/new/Journal_files/journal_02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513015838/http://www.radicalanthropologygroup.org/new/Journal_files/journal_02.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2013 |access-date=9 January 2024}}</ref>


==== Pastoral ==== ==== Pastoral ====
{{Main article|Pastoral society}} {{Main article|Pastoral society}}
] men perform ], the traditional jumping dance.]]
] 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 ], ], and ], 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 ]. 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 ] in pastoral societies.
Rather than searching for food on a daily basis, members of a ] society rely on domesticated herd animals to meet their food needs. Pastoralists typically live a nomadic life, moving their herds from one pasture to another.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=267}} Community size in pastoral societies is similar to hunter-gatherers (about 50 individuals), but unlike hunter gatherers, pastoral societies usually consist of multiple communities—the average pastoral society contains thousands of people. This is because pastoral groups tend to live in open areas where movement is easy, which enables political integration.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|pp=268-269}} Pastoral societies tend to create a food surplus, and have ]{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=99}} and high levels of inequality.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|pp=268-269}}


==== Horticultural ==== ==== Horticultural ====
{{Further|Horticulture|Subsistence pattern}}
{{Main article|Horticulturalist society}}
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 ] 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. 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 similar level of technology and complexity to pastoral societies.<ref name="Bulliet">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/earthitspeoplesg0000unse_v2p3/mode/2up |first1=Richard W. |last1=Bulliet |author-link=Richard Bulliet |first2=Pamela Kyle |last2=Crossley |author2-link=Pamela Kyle Crossley |first3=Daniel R. |last3=Headrick |author3-link=Daniel R. Headrick |first4=Steven W. |last4=Hirsch |first5=Lyman L. |last5=Johnson |first6=David |last6=Northrup |year=2015 |title=The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History |page=14 |edition=6th |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-285-44563-2 |lccn=2014932005 |oclc=891574574 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Along with pastoral societies, horticultural societies emerged about 10,000 years ago, after technological changes of the ] made it possible to cultivate crops and raise animals.<ref name="Bulliet"/> 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 long period of time. This allows them to build permanent or semi-permanent villages.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=165}}


As with pastoral societies, surplus food leads to a more complex division of labor. Specialized roles in horticultural societies include craftspeople, ] (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. As with pastoral societies, surplus food leads to a more complex division of labor. Specialized roles in horticultural societies include craftspeople, ] (religious leaders), and traders.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=165}} This role specialization allows horticultural societies to create a variety of artifacts. Scarce, defensible resources can lead to wealth inequalities in horticultural political systems.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/7607/1/7607.pdf|title=Domestication Alone Does Not Lead to Inequality: Intergenerational Wealth Transmission among Horticulturalists|first1=Michael|last1=Gurven|first2=Monique|last2=Borgerhoff Mulder|first3=Paul L.|last3=Hooper|first4=Hillard|last4=Kaplan|first5=Robert|last5=Quinlan|first6=Rebecca|last6=Sear|first7=Eric|last7=Schniter|first8=Christopher|last8=von Rueden|first9=Samuel|last9=Bowles|first10=Tom|last10=Hertz|first11=Adrian|last11=Bell|date=19 February 2010|journal=Current Anthropology|volume=51|issue=1|pages=49–64|via=CrossRef|doi=10.1086/648587|s2cid=12364888|access-date=19 December 2023|archive-date=1 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701161903/http://dro.dur.ac.uk/7607/1/7607.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>


==== Agrarian ==== ==== Agrarian ====
{{Main article|Agrarian society}} {{Main|Agrarian society}}
] ]
Agrarian societies use agricultural ] advances to cultivate crops over a large area. Sociologists use the phrase ] 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 religious leaders who did not have to worry about locating nourishment. Agrarian societies use agricultural ] advances to cultivate crops over a large area. Lenski differentiates between horticultural and agrarian societies by the use of the ].{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1987|pp=164-166}} Larger food supplies due to improved technology mean agrarian communities are larger than horticultural communities. A greater food surplus results in towns that become centers of trade. Economic trade in turn leads to increased specialization, including a ruling class, as well as educators, craftspeople, merchants, and religious figures, who do not directly participate in the production of food.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1987|pp=166-172}}


Agrarian societies are especially noted for their extremes of social classes and rigid social mobility.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Langlois |first=Simon |editor-last1=Smelser |editor-first1=Neil J. |editor1-link=Neil Smelser |editor-last2=Baltes |editor-first2=Paul B. |editor2-link=Paul Baltes |year=2001 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292447431 |title=Traditions: Social |encyclopedia=] |edition=1st |volume=23 |publisher=] |page=15830 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/02028-3 |isbn=0-08-043076-7 |lccn=2001044791 |oclc=47869490 |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429035948/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292447431_Traditions_Social |url-status=live }}</ref> As land is the major source of wealth, social hierarchy develops based on ] and not labor. The system of ] is characterized by three coinciding contrasts: governing class versus the ], urban minority versus peasant majority, and literate minority versus illiterate majority. This results in two distinct subcultures; the urban elite versus the peasant masses. Moreover, this means cultural differences within agrarian societies are greater than differences between them.{{Sfn|Brown|1988|pages=78-82}}
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 ] 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.


The landowning strata typically combine government, religious, and military institutions to justify and enforce their ownership, and support elaborate patterns of consumption, ], ], or ] is commonly the lot of the primary producer. Rulers of agrarian societies often do not manage their empire for the ] or in the name of the ], but as property they own.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenski |first1=Gerhard |author1-link=Gerhard Lenski |last2=Nolan |first2=Patrick |year=2010 |chapter=The Agricultural Economy |title=Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology |edition=11th |pages=35–37 |publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated |isbn=978-0-19-994602-0}}</ref> ], as historically found in South Asia, are associated with agrarian societies, where lifelong agricultural routines depend upon a rigid sense of duty and discipline. The scholar Donald Brown suggests that an emphasis in the modern West on personal liberties and freedoms was in large part a reaction to the steep and rigid stratification of agrarian societies.{{Sfn|Brown|1988|page=112}}
]

==== Feudal ====
{{Main article|Feudal society}}
] 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 ] system of feudalism was often multigenerational; the families of peasants may have cultivated their lord's land for generations.


===Industrial=== ===Industrial===
{{main article|Industrial societies}} {{main article|Industrial society}}
]s, can stabilize the economy, leading to population growth.]]
Between the 15th and 16th centuries, a new economic system emerged that began to replace feudalism. ] is marked by open competition in a 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, which emerged in the 18th century in the ], rely heavily on machines powered by external sources for the mass production of goods.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=315}}{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=101}} Whereas in pre-industrial societies the majority of labor takes place in primary industries focused on extracting raw materials (farming, fishing, mining, etc.), in industrial societies, labor is mostly focused on processing raw materials into finished products.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009|page=221}} Present-day societies vary in their degree of industrialization, with some using mostly newer energy sources (e.g. ], and ]), and others continuing to rely on human and animal power.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009|page=208}}


Industrialization is associated with population booms and the growth of cities. Increased productivity, as well as the stability caused by improved transportation, leads to decreased mortality and resulting population growth.{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=319}} Centralized production of goods in factories and a decreased need for agricultural labor leads to ].{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=101}}{{sfn|Lenski|Lenski|1974|p=328}} Industrial societies are often ], and have high degrees of inequality along with high ], as ] use the market to amass large amounts of wealth.{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=101}} Working conditions in factories are generally restrictive and harsh.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009}} Workers, who have common interests, may organize into ] to advance those interests.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009|p=223}}
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.


On the whole, industrial societies are marked by the increased power of human beings. Technological advancements mean that industrial societies have increased potential for deadly warfare. Governments use ] to exert greater control over the populace. Industrial societies also have an increased ] impact.{{Sfn|Nolan|Lenski|2009|page=205}}
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===
{{main article|Post-industrial society}} {{main article|Post-industrial society}}
{{see also|Information revolution}} {{see also|Information revolution}}
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. Post-industrial societies are societies dominated by information and services, rather than the production of goods.{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=102}} Advanced industrial societies see a shift toward an increase in service sectors, over manufacturing. Service industries include education, health and finance.{{sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=528}}


==== Information ====
==Contemporary usage==
{{Main article|Information society}}
The term "society" is currently used to cover both a number of political and scientific connotations as well as a variety of associations.
]


An information society is a society where the usage, ], ], manipulation and ] of information is a significant activity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beniger |first=James Ralph |author-link=James R. Beniger |year=1986 |title=The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society |publisher=] |isbn=0-674-16986-7 |lccn=85031743 |oclc=13064782 |pages=21–22}}</ref> Proponents of the idea that modern-day global society is an information society posit that information technologies are impacting most important forms of social organization, including education, economy, health, government, ], and levels of democracy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mattelart |first=Armand |author-link=Armand Mattelart |translator-last1=Taponier |translator-first1=Susan G. |translator-last2=Cohen |translator-first2=James A. |language=en |year=2003 |title=Histoire de la Société de l'information |trans-title=The Information Society: An Introduction |publisher=] |isbn=0-7619-4948-8 |lccn=2002114570 |oclc=52391229 |pages=99–158}}</ref> Although the concept of information society has been discussed since the 1930s, in the present day, it is almost always applied to ways that information technologies impact 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lyon |first=David |author-link=David Lyon (sociologist) |editor-last1=Armitage |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=Roberts |editor-first2=Joanne |year=2002 |chapter=Cyberspace: Beyond the Information Society? |title=Living with Cyberspace: Technology & Society in the 21st Century |publisher=] |isbn=0-8264-6035-6 |lccn=2002071646 |oclc=824653965 |pages=21–33 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324224249 |access-date=10 January 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429040244/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324224249_Living_With_Cyberspace_Technology_and_Society_in_the_21st_Century |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Western===
{{Main article|Western world}}
The development of the ] has brought with it the emerging concepts of ], 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.


==== Knowledge ====
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 ], and have some form of political and military alliance or cooperation.<ref>. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101112339/http://www.palgrave.com/Products/title.aspx?pid=355705 |date=1 January 2011 }}</ref>
{{Main|Knowledge society}}
] control room]]
As the 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. A knowledge society generates, shares, and makes available to all members of the society knowledge that may be used to improve the ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Phillips |first1=Fred |last2=Yu |first2=Ching-Ying |last3=Hameed |first3=Tahir |last4=El Akhdary |first4=Mahmoud Abdullah |date=2017 |title=The knowledge society's origins and current trajectory |journal=International Journal of Innovation Studies |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=175–191 |doi=10.1016/j.ijis.2017.08.001 |doi-access=free}}</ref> A knowledge society differs from an information society in that it transforms information into resources that allow society to take effective action, rather than only creating and disseminating ].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Castelfranchi |first=Cristiano |date=December 2007 |title=Six critical remarks on science and the construction of the knowledge society |journal=Journal of Science Communication |publisher=] |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=C03 |doi=10.22323/2.06040303 |doi-access=free |issn=1824-2049 |oclc=56474936 }}</ref>


===Information=== ==Characteristics==
=== Norms and roles ===
]
]s are shared standards of ] behavior by groups.<ref name="lapinski & rimal">{{cite journal |last1=Lapinski |first1=Maria Knight |last2=Rimal |first2=Rajiv N. |date=May 2005 |title=An Explication of Social Norms |journal=Communication Theory |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=127–147 |doi=10.1093/ct/15.2.127 |issn=1050-3293 |lccn=91660236 |oclc=49374452}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Finnemore |first=Martha |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt1rv61rh |title=National Interests in International Society |date=1996 |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=22–24, 26–27 |isbn=978-0-8014-8323-3 |jstor=10.7591/j.ctt1rv61rh |lccn=96013991 |oclc=34473682 |access-date=22 December 2023 |archive-date=1 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601221422/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt1rv61rh |url-status=live }}</ref> Social norms, which can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into ] and laws,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pristl |first1=Ann-Catrin |last2=Kilian |first2=Sven |last3=Mann |first3=Andreas |date=8 November 2020 |title=When does a social norm catch the worm? Disentangling social normative influences on sustainable consumption behaviour |journal=Journal of Consumer Behaviour |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=635–654 |doi=10.1002/cb.1890 |doi-access=free |issn=1472-0817 |lccn=2005206515 |oclc=49883766 |s2cid=228807152 |s2cid-access=free |url=https://kobra.uni-kassel.de/bitstream/123456789/13036/1/cb_1890.pdf |access-date=10 January 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429040049/https://kobra.uni-kassel.de/bitstream/123456789/13036/1/cb_1890.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> are powerful drivers of human behavior.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Legro |first=Jeffrey W. |author-link=Jeffrey W. Legro|date=Winter 1997 |title=Which Norms Matter? Revisiting the "Failure" of Internationalism |journal=International Organization |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=31–63 |doi=10.1162/002081897550294 |issn=0020-8183 |jstor=2703951 |lccn=49001752 |s2cid=154368865}}</ref>
{{Main article|Information society}}
Although the concept of ] 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.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007160838/http://www.indiana.edu/~tisj/ |date=7 October 2009 }} Retrieved 20 October 2009.</ref>


] are norms, ], and patterns of behavior that relate to an individual's social status.{{Sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=111}} In functionalist thought, individuals form the structure of society by occupying social roles.<ref name=":4" /> According to symbolic interactionism, individuals use symbols to navigate and communicate roles.{{Sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=112}} ] used the metaphor of a theater to develop the ], which argues that roles provide scripts that govern social interactions.{{Sfn|Conerly|Holmes|Tamang|2021|p=112}}
One of the ]'s areas of interest is the information society. Here policies are directed towards promoting an open and competitive ], research into ], as well as their application to improve ], ], and ].<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324134651/http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/tl/policy/index_en.htm |date=24 March 2010 }} Retrieved 20 October 2009.</ref>


=== Gender and kinship ===
The ]'s ] in Geneva and Tunis (2003 and 2005) has led to a number of policy and application areas where action is envisaged.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326203825/http://www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/index.html |date=26 March 2012 }} Retrieved 20 October 2009.</ref>
{{main|Gender|Gender role|Kinship}}
]
The division of humans into male and female gender roles has been marked culturally by a corresponding division of norms, ], ], ], rights, duties, ], ], and ]. Some argue that gender roles arise naturally from ], which lead to a division of labor where women take on ] and other domestic roles.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Ridgeway |first=Cecilia L. |author-link=Cecilia L. Ridgeway |editor-last1=Smelser |editor-first1=Neil J. |editor1-link=Neil Smelser |editor-last2=Baltes |editor-first2=Paul B. |editor2-link=Paul Baltes |title=Small Group Interaction and Gender |encyclopedia=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |year=2001 |volume=21 |edition=1st |publisher=] |pages=14185–14189 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03999-1 |isbn=0-08-043076-7 |lccn=2001044791 |oclc=47869490}}</ref> Gender roles have varied historically, and challenges to predominant gender norms have recurred in many societies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alters |first1=Sandra |last2=Schiff |first2=Wendy |year=2011 |title=Essential Concepts for Healthy Living |publisher=] |edition=Updated 5th |page=143 |isbn=978-0-7637-8975-6 |lccn=2009053267 |oclc=496282269}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Fortin |first=Nicole M. |author-link1=Nicole Fortin |year=2005 |title=Gender Role Attitudes and the Labour-market Outcomes of Women across OECD Countries |journal=Oxford Review of Economic Policy |publisher=] |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=416–438 |doi=10.1093/oxrep/gri024 |lccn=92648878 |oclc=39193155}}</ref>


All human societies organize, recognize and classify types of social relationships based on relations between parents, children and other descendants (]), and relations through marriage (]). There is also a third type of familial relationship applied to godparents or ] (]). These culturally defined relationships are referred to as kinship. In many societies, it is one of the most important social organizing principles and plays a role in transmitting status and ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gillespie |first=Susan D. |author-link=Susan D. Gillespie |editor-last1=Joyce |editor-first1=Rosemary A. |editor-last2=Gillespie |editor-first2=Susan D. |year=2000 |chapter=Beyond Kinship: An Introduction |title=Beyond Kinship: Social and Material Reproduction in House Societies |publisher=] |isbn=0-8122-3547-9 |lccn=00021501 |oclc=43434760 |pages=1–21}}</ref>&nbsp;All societies have rules of ], according to which marriage between certain kinds of kin relations are prohibited; and some societies also have rules of preferential marriage with certain other kin relations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Itao |first1=Kenji |last2=Kaneko |first2=Kunihiko |date=4 February 2020 |title=Evolution of kinship structures driven by marriage tie and competition |journal=] |volume=117 |issue=5 |pages=2378–2384 |pmc=7007516 |pmid=31964846 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1917716117 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2020PNAS..117.2378I}}</ref>
===Knowledge===
{{Main article|Knowledge society}}
] control room]]
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 percent of economic growth is now said to be due to new and better knowledge."<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121152730/http://www.isc.ie/downloads/know.pdf |date=21 November 2007 }}. Retrieved 20 October 2009.</ref>


===Other uses=== ===Ethnicity===
{{main|Ethnicity}}
{{Pillars of sustainability|width=350px|Scheme of sustainable development: <br />at the confluence of three constituent parts. (2006)}}
Human ethnic groups are a social category that ] together as a group based on shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. These shared attributes can be a common set of traditions, ], ], history, society, culture, nation, religion, or social treatment within their residing area.<ref name=":04">{{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Kanchan |author-link=Kanchan Chandra |year=2012 |chapter=What is Ethnic Identity? A Minimalist Definition |title=Constructivist Theories of Ethnic Politics |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=69–70 |isbn=978-0-19-989315-7 |lccn=2012006989 |oclc=779097212}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Peoples |first1=James |last2=Bailey |first2=Garrick |year=2012 |title=Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology |publisher=Wadsworth, Cengage Learning |edition=9th |page=389 |isbn=978-1-111-34956-1 |lccn=2010936947 |oclc=698482450 |quote="In essence, an ethnic group is a named social category of people based on perceptions of shared social experience or one's ancestors' experiences. Members of the ethnic group see themselves as sharing cultural traditions and history that distinguish them from other groups."}}</ref> There is no generally accepted definition of what constitutes an ethnic group,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Chandra |first=Kanchan |author-link=Kanchan Chandra |date=15 June 2006 |title=What is Ethnic Identity and Does It Matter? |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |language=en |volume=9 |pages=397–424 |doi=10.1146/annurev.polisci.9.062404.170715 |doi-access=free |issn=1094-2939 |lccn=98643699 |oclc=37047805}}</ref> and humans have evolved the ability to change affiliation with social groups relatively easily, including leaving groups with previously strong alliances, if doing so is seen as providing personal advantages.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cronk |first1=Lee |last2=Leech |first2=Beth L. |url=https://www.sapiens.org/evolution/human-evolution-politics/ |date=20 September 2017 |title=How Did Humans Get So Good at Politics? |website=Sapiens Anthropology Magazine |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807003627/https://www.sapiens.org/evolution/human-evolution-politics/ |archive-date=7 August 2020 |access-date=11 January 2024}}</ref> Ethnicity is separate from the concept of ], which is based on physical characteristics, although both are ].<ref>{{cite web |last=Blackmore |first=Erin |date=22 February 2019 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/race-ethnicity/ |title=Race and ethnicity: How are they different? |website=] |language=en |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022013516/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/race-ethnicity/ |archive-date=22 October 2020 |access-date=7 January 2024}}</ref> Assigning ethnicity to a certain population is complicated, as even within common ethnic designations there can be a diverse range of subgroups, and the makeup of these ethnic groups can change over time at both the collective and individual level.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=((Race, Ethnicity, and Genetics Working Group)) |title=The Use of Racial, Ethnic, and Ancestral Categories in Human Genetics Research |journal=] |volume=77 |issue=4 |pages=519–532 |date=October 2005 |doi=10.1086/491747 |pmc=1275602 |pmid=16175499}}</ref> Ethnic groupings can play a powerful role in the ] and ] of ethnopolitical units. Ethnic identity has been closely tied to the rise of the ] as the predominant form of political organization in the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Anthony D. |year=1999 |title=Myths and Memories of the Nation |publisher=] |pages=4–7 |isbn=978-0-19-829534-1 |oclc=41641377}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Banton |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Banton |date=24 January 2007 |title=Max Weber on 'ethnic communities': a critique |journal=] |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=19–35 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8129.2007.00271.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Anthony D. |editor-last1=Delanty |editor-first1=Gerard |editor1-link=Gerard Delanty |editor-last2=Kumar |editor-first2=Krishan |editor2-link=Krishan Kumar (sociologist) |year=2006 |chapter=Ethnicity and Nationalism |title=The SAGE Handbook of Nations and Nationalism |publisher=] |publication-place=London |page=171 |isbn=1-4129-0101-4 |lccn=2005936296 |oclc=64555613}}</ref>
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.


=== Government and politics ===
Some ], professional, and ] ] describe themselves as ''societies'' (for example, the ], the ], or the ]).
{{Main|Government|Politics}}
] in New York City, which houses one of the world's largest political organizations]]
Governments create laws and ] that affect the people that they govern. There have been ] throughout human history, with various ways of allocating power, and with different levels and means of control over the population.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=J. Frank |editor-last1=Sekiguchi |editor-last2=Masashi |date=2010 |orig-date=2009 |chapter=Forms and Models of Government |title=Government and Politics |volume=1 |publisher=Eolss Publishers |publication-place=United Kingdom |pages=30–48 |isbn=978-1-84826-969-9 |oclc=938309332}}</ref> In early history, distribution of political power was determined by the availability of ], ], and ] of different locations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Holslag |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Holslag |year=2018 |title=A Political History of the World: Three Thousand Years of War and Peace |pages=24–25|publisher=Penguin Books, Limited |isbn=978-0-241-35204-5 |lccn=2018487155 |oclc=1066747142}}</ref> As farming populations gathered in larger and denser communities, interactions between different groups increased, leading to the further development of governance within and between communities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Christian |first=David |year=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/mapsoftimeintrod00chri |title=Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History |publisher=] |page=284 |isbn=978-0-520-24476-4 |lccn=2003012764 |oclc=52458844 |url-access=registration |quote=Where productivity increased and populations grew, farming communities and technologies spread into regions that had been only thinly populated before, thereby laying the foundations for new regions of agrarian civilization.}}</ref>


{{As of|2022}}, according to '']'', 43% of national governments were ], 35% ], and 22% containing elements of both.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Democracy Index 2022: Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine |url=https://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/DI-final-version-report.pdf |website=] |page=3 |url-status=live |archive-date=30 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330123307/https://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/DI-final-version-report.pdf |access-date=11 January 2024}}</ref> Many countries have formed ] and alliances, the largest being the United Nations with 193 member states.<ref>{{cite web |editor-last1=Evers |editor-first1=Jeanne |date=19 October 2023 |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/international-organization/ |title=International Organization |website=] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211044654/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/international-organization/ |archive-date=11 December 2023 |access-date=11 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mingst |first1=Karen A. |last2=Karns |first2=Margaret P. |last3=Lyon |first3=Alynna J. |year=2022 |chapter=The United Nations in World Politics |pages=1–20 |title=The United Nations in the 21st Century |edition=6th |publisher=] |doi=10.4324/9781003038269-1 |isbn=978-1-003-03826-9 |lccn=2021042389 |oclc=1284920072}}</ref>
In some countries, e.g. the United States, France, and Latin America, the term "society' is used in ] to denote a partnership between ]s or the start of a ]. In the ], partnerships are not called societies, but ] or ] are often known as societies (such as ] and ]).

===Trade and economics===
{{Main|Trade|Economics}}
] (green) and other routes (red) circa 1st century AD]]
Trade, the voluntary exchange of goods and services, has long been an aspect of human societies, and it is seen as a characteristic that differentiates humans from other animals.<ref name="JEBO">{{cite journal |last1=Horan |first1=Richard D. |last2=Bulte |first2=Erwin |last3=Shogren |first3=Jason F. |date=September 2005 |title=How trade saved humanity from biological exclusion: an economic theory of Neanderthal extinction |journal=] |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=1–29 |doi=10.1016/j.jebo.2004.03.009 |issn=0167-2681 |lccn=81644042 |oclc=6974696}}</ref> Trade has even been cited as a practice that gave ''Homo sapiens'' a major advantage over other hominids; evidence suggests early ''H. sapiens'' made use of long-distance trade routes to exchange goods and ideas, leading to ]s and providing additional food sources when hunting was sparse. Such trade networks did not exist for the now-extinct ]s.<ref name="JEBO"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Gibbons |first=John |date=11 August 2015 |url=https://insider.si.edu/2015/08/why-did-neanderthals-go-extinct/ |title=Why did Neanderthals go extinct? |website=] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112021755/https://insider.si.edu/2015/08/why-did-neanderthals-go-extinct/ |archive-date=12 November 2020 |access-date=13 January 2024 }}</ref> Early trade involved materials for creating tools, like ], exchanged over short distances.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Gosch |editor-first1=Stephen S. |editor-last2=Stearns |editor-first2=Peter N. |editor2-link=Peter Stearns |year=2008 |chapter=Beginnings to 1000 BCE |title=Premodern Travel in World History |publisher=] |pages=7–9 |isbn=978-0-415-22940-1 |lccn=2007004687 |oclc=82286698}}</ref> In contrast, throughout antiquity and the medieval period, some of the most influential long-distance routes carried food and luxury goods, such as the ].<ref>{{cite web |last=Henriques |first=Martha |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/made-on-earth/the-flavours-that-shaped-the-world/ |title=How spices changed the ancient world |website=] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125075428/https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/made-on-earth/the-flavours-that-shaped-the-world/ |archive-date=25 January 2021 |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref>

Early human ] were more likely to be based around ] than a ]ing system.<ref>{{cite web |last=Strauss |first=Ilana E. |date=26 February 2016 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/barter-society-myth/471051/ |title=The Myth of the Barter Economy |website=The Atlantic |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215153209/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/barter-society-myth/471051/ |archive-date=15 February 2021 |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref> Early money consisted of ]; the oldest being in the form of cattle and the most widely used being ].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Semenova |first=Alla |date=14 April 2011 |title=Would You Barter with God? Why Holy Debts and Not Profane Markets Created Money |journal=] |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=376–400 |doi=10.1111/j.1536-7150.2011.00779.x |issn=0002-9246 |eissn=1536-7150 |lccn=45042294 |oclc=1480136}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Yang |first=Bin |date=March 2011 |title=The Rise and Fall of Cowrie Shells: The Asian Story |journal=] |publisher=] |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |issn=1045-6007 |eissn=1527-8050 |jstor=23011676 |lccn=90640778 |oclc=20155374}}</ref> Money has since evolved into governmental issued ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Chown |first=John F. |author-link=John Chown |year=1994 |title=A History of Money: From AD 800 |publisher=] |isbn=0-415-10279-0 |lccn=93031293 |oclc=28708022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Evans |first=David S. |date=24 January 2005 |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=653382 |title=The Growth and Diffusion of Credit Cards in Society |journal=Payment Card Economics Review |volume=2 |pages=59–76 |ssrn=653382 |issn=1946-4983 |lccn=2004240967 |oclc=54674679 |access-date=14 January 2024 |archive-date=14 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114070303/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=653382 |url-status=live }}</ref> Human study of economics is a ] that looks at how societies distribute scarce resources among different people.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 2000 |url=https://www.frbsf.org/education/publications/doctor-econ/2000/july/economics-economists/ |title=Why do we need economists and the study of economics? |website=] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112023941/https://www.frbsf.org/education/publications/doctor-econ/2000/july/economics-economists/ |archive-date=12 November 2020 |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref> There are massive ] in the division of wealth among humans; as of 2018 in China, Europe, and the United States, the richest tenth of humans hold more than seven-tenths of those regions' total wealth.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zucman |first=Gabriel |author-link=Gabriel Zucman |year=2019 |title=Global Wealth Inequality |journal=Annual Review of Economics |volume=11 |pages=124–128 |doi=10.1146/annurev-economics-080218-025852 |eissn=1941-1391 |lccn=2008214322 |oclc=190859329}}</ref>

===Conflict===
{{See also|War|Violence}}
]'s retreat after ] in 1812 (oil painting by ], 1851)]]
The willingness of humans to kill other members of their species ''en masse'' through organized conflict (i.e. war) has long been the subject of debate. One school of thought is that war evolved as a means to eliminate competitors, and that violence is an innate human characteristic. Humans commit violence against other humans at a rate comparable to other primates (although humans kill adults at a relatively high rate and have a relatively low rate of ]).<ref>{{cite web |last=Yong |first=Ed |date=28 September 2016 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/09/humans-are-unusually-violent-mammals-but-averagely-violent-primates/501935/ |title=Humans: Unusually Murderous Mammals, Typically Murderous Primates |website=The Atlantic |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507121602/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/09/humans-are-unusually-violent-mammals-but-averagely-violent-primates/501935/ |archive-date=7 May 2021 |access-date=12 January 2024}}</ref>

Another school of thought suggests that war is a relatively recent phenomenon and appeared due to changing social conditions.<ref name="Ferguson">{{cite web |last=Ferguson |first=R. Brian |date=1 September 2018 |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/war-is-not-part-of-human-nature/ |title=War Is Not Part of Human Nature |website=Scientific American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130124940/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/war-is-not-part-of-human-nature/ |archive-date=30 January 2021 |access-date=12 January 2024}}</ref> While not settled, the current evidence suggests warlike behavior only became common about 10,000 years ago, and in many regions even more recently.<ref name="Ferguson"/>

Phylogenetic analysis predicts 2% of human deaths to be caused by homicide, which approximately matches the rate of homicide in band societies.<ref name="Gomez">{{cite journal |last1=Gómez |first1=José María |last2=Verdú |first2=Miguel |last3=González-Megías |first3=Adela |last4=Méndez |first4=Marcos |date=October 2016 |title=The phylogenetic roots of human lethal violence |journal=Nature |volume=538 |issue=7624 |pages=233–237 |bibcode=2016Natur.538..233G |doi=10.1038/nature19758 |issn=1476-4687 |lccn=2005233250 |oclc=47076528 |pmid=27680701 |s2cid=4454927}}</ref> However, rates of violence vary widely according to societal norms,<ref name="Gomez" /><ref name="Pagel">{{cite journal |last=Pagel |first=Mark |date=October 2016 |url=https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/67361/1/Pagel%20N%26V%20on%20Gomez%20et%20al.pdf |title=Animal behaviour: Lethal violence deep in the human lineage |journal=Nature |volume=538 |issue=7624 |pages=180–181 |bibcode=2016Natur.538..180P |doi=10.1038/nature19474 |issn=1476-4687 |lccn=2005233250 |oclc=47076528 |pmid=27680700 |s2cid=4459560 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520203015/https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/67361/1/Pagel%20N%26V%20on%20Gomez%20et%20al.pdf |archive-date=20 May 2022 |access-date=12 January 2024}}</ref> and rates of homicide in societies that have ] and strong cultural attitudes against violence stand at about 0.01%.<ref name="Pagel"/>


==See also== ==See also==
{{Portal|Society}} {{Portal|Society}}
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==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=Briggs9>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Briggs|2000|p=9}}</ref>
}}


==References== ==References==
===Citations===
*{{cite journal |last1=Boyd |first1=Robert |last2=Richerson |first2=Peter J. |title=Culture and the evolution of human cooperation |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=12 November 2009 |volume=364 |issue=1533 |pages=3281–3288 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2009.0134 |pmid=19805434 |pmc=2781880 }}
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite web |last1=Bicchieri |first1=Cristina |last2=Muldoon |first2=Ryan |last3=Sontuoso |first3=Alessandro |title=Social Norms |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/social-norms/ |date=1 March 2011 }}

*{{cite journal |last1=Clutton-Brock |first1=T. |last2=West |first2=S. |last3=Ratnieks |first3=F. |last4=Foley |first4=R. |title=The evolution of society |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=12 November 2009 |volume=364 |issue=1533 |pages=3127–3133 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2009.0207 |pmid=19805421 |pmc=2781882 }}
===Sources===
*{{cite book |first1=R.J. |last1=Rummel |year=1976 |chapter=The State, Political System and Society |title=Understanding Conflict and War, Vol. 2: The Conflict Helix |chapter-url=http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/TCH.CHAP31.HTM }}
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite web |first1=Theo Spanos |last1=Dunfey |date=29 May 2019 |title=What is Social Change and Why Should We Care? |url=https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/2017/11/what-is-social-change. |website=Southern New Hampshire University }}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Donald E. |year=1988 |title=Hierarchy, History, and Human Nature: The Social Origins of Historical Consciousness |publisher=] |isbn=0-8165-1060-1 |lccn=88015287 |oclc=17954611}}
* {{cite book |last1=Conerly | first1=Tanja |last2=Holmes |first2=Kathleen |last3=Tamang |first3=Asha Lal |year=2021 |title=Introduction to Sociology |isbn=978-1-711493-98-5 |oclc=1269073174 |edition=3rd |publisher=] |publication-place=Houston, TX |url=https://assets.openstax.org/oscms-prodcms/media/documents/IntroductiontoSociology3e-WEB_9QTqRGQ.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://assets.openstax.org/oscms-prodcms/media/documents/IntroductiontoSociology3e-WEB_9QTqRGQ.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |access-date=9 January 2024}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lenski |first1=Gerhard E. |author1-link=Gerhard Lenski |last2=Lenski |first2=Jean |year=1974 |title=Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology |edition=2nd |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill, Inc |isbn=978-0-07-037172-9 |lccn=73008956 |oclc=650644 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/humansocietiesin00lens}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lenski |first1=Gerhard E. |author1-link=Gerhard Lenski |last2=Lenski |first2=Jean |year=1987 |title=Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology |edition=5th |publisher=] |isbn=0-07-037181-4 |lccn=86010586 |oclc=13703170}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Nolan |first1=Patrick |last2=Lenski |first2=Gerhard Emmanuel |author2-link=Gerhard Lenski |title=Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology |date=2009 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-59451-578-1 |lccn=2008026843 |oclc=226355644 |edition=Rev. and Updated 11th |location=Boulder}}
{{Refend}}


==Further reading== ==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}} {{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Bicchieri |first1=Cristina |author1-link=Cristina Bicchieri |last2=Muldoon |first2=Ryan |last3=Sontuoso |first3=Alessandro |editor-last1=Zalta |editor-first1=Edward N. |date=24 September 2018 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/social-norms/ |title=Social Norms |encyclopedia=] |edition=Winter 2018 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |issn=1095-5054 |lccn=sn97004494 |oclc=37550526 |access-date=12 January 2024 |archive-date=22 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322042537/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/social-norms/ |url-status=live }}
* Effland, R. 1998. Mesa Community College.
* {{cite journal |last1=Boyd |first1=Robert |last2=Richerson |first2=Peter J. |title=Culture and the evolution of human cooperation |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=12 November 2009 |volume=364 |issue=1533 |pages=3281–3288 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2009.0134 |lccn=86645785 |oclc=1403239 |pmid=19805434 |pmc=2781880}}
* {{cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Richard|year=2002|title=Foundations of Sociology|location=London|publisher=Palgrave MacMillan|isbn=978-0-333-96050-9}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Calhoun |editor-first=Craig |editor-link=Craig Calhoun |year=2002 |title=Dictionary of the Social Sciences |publisher=] |publication-place=New York, NY |isbn=0-19-512371-9 |lccn=00068151 |oclc=45505995}}
* {{cite book|last=Lenski|first=Gerhard E.|year=1974|title=Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology|location=New York|publisher=McGraw-Hill, Inc|isbn=978-0-07-037172-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/humansocietiesin00lens}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Clutton-Brock |first1=T. |last2=West |first2=S. |last3=Ratnieks |first3=F. |last4=Foley |first4=R. |title=The evolution of society |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=12 November 2009 |volume=364 |issue=1533 |pages=3127–3133 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2009.0207 |lccn=86645785 |oclc=1403239 |pmid=19805421 |pmc=2781882}}
* Raymond Williams, ''Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society''. Fontana, 1976.
* {{cite journal |last=Griffen |first=Leonid |year=2021 |url=http://www.scientific-heritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-scientific-heritage-No-67-67-2021-Vol-5.pdf |title=The Society as a Superorganism |journal=The Scientific Heritage |volume=5 |number=67 |pages=51–60 |issn=9215-0365 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921164951/http://www.scientific-heritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-scientific-heritage-No-67-67-2021-Vol-5.pdf |archive-date=21 September 2021 |access-date=12 January 2024 }}
* ] and ]. ''Reading Capital''. London: Verso, 2009.
* {{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Jenkins (sociologist) |year=2002 |title=Foundations of Sociology: Towards a Better Understanding of the Human World |location=London, UK |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |isbn=978-0-333-96050-9 |lccn=2002071539 |oclc=49859950}}
* ] (ed). ''A Dictionary of Marxist Thought'', 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1991. 45–48.
* {{cite book |last=Lenski |first=Gerhard |author-link=Gerhard Lenski |year=1966 |chapter=Agrarian Societies |title=Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification |publisher=] |pages=189–296 |isbn=0-07-037165-2 |lccn=65028594 |oclc=262063}}
* ] (ed), ''Dictionary of the Social Sciences'' Oxford University Press (2002)
* {{cite book |last=Postone |first=Moishe |author-link=Moishe Postone |year=1993 |title=Time, Labour, and Social Domination: A Reinterpretation of Marx's Critical Theory |location=United Kingdom |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-521-56540-0 |lccn=92035758 |oclc=26853972}}
* ]. "Rethinking the Base and Superstructure Metaphor". ''Papers on Class, Hegemony and Party''. Bloomfield, J., ed. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1977.
* {{cite book |last=Rummel |first=Ruldolph Joseph |author-link=Rudolph Rummel |year=1976 |chapter=The State, Political System and Society |title=Understanding Conflict and War, Vol. 2: The Conflict Helix |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-470-15123-5 |lccn=74078565 |oclc=59238703 |chapter-url=http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/TCH.CHAP31.HTM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321060614/https://hawaii.edu/powerkills/TCH.CHAP31.HTM |archive-date=21 March 2022 |access-date=12 January 2024 }}
* ]. "". ''International Socialism'' 2:32, Summer 1986, pp.&nbsp;3–44.
* {{cite book |last=Williams |first=Raymond |author-link=Raymond Williams |year=1976 |title=Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society |publisher=Fontana/] |publication-place=London, UK |isbn=0-85664-289-4 |lccn=76377757 |oclc=2176518}}
* ]. ''A Companion to Marx's Capital''. London: Verso, 2010.
{{Refend}}
* Larrain, Jorge. ''Marxism and Ideology''. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1983.
* ]. ''History and Class Consciousness''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1972.
* ]. ''Time, Labour, and Social Domination: A Reinterpretation of Marx's Critical Theory''. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1993.
* ]. ''Marxism and Literature''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.
* {{cite book|last=Briggs|first=Asa|title=The Age of Improvement|year=2000|edition=2nd|publisher=Longman|isbn=978-0-582-36959-7}}
{{refend}}


{{Political philosophy}}
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{{Wiktionary|Society}}
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Connected group of individuals For other uses, see Society (disambiguation).

Two Southeast Asian women and five children sit on grass eating rice and vegetablesA dense crowd of several hundred people on a street lined with shops and adsSeveral dozen male soldiers in formal steel blue uniforms carrying wooden rifles march down a wide street while a crowd looks onClockwise from top left: A family in Savannakhet, Laos; a crowd shopping in Maharashtra, India; a military parade on a Spanish national holiday.

A society (/səˈsaɪəti/) 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 members.

Human social structures are complex and highly cooperative, featuring the specialization of labor via social roles. Societies construct roles and other patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or concepts acceptable or unacceptable—these expectations around behavior within a given society are known as societal norms. So far as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would otherwise be difficult on an individual basis.

Societies vary based on level of technology and type of economic activity. Larger societies with larger food surpluses often exhibit stratification or dominance patterns. Societies can have many different forms of government, various ways of understanding kinship, and different gender roles. Human behavior varies immensely between different societies; humans shape society, but society in turn shapes human beings.

Etymology and usage

The term "society" often refers to a large group of people in an ordered community, in a country or several similar countries, or the 'state of being with other people', e.g. "they lived in medieval society." The term dates back to at least 1513 and comes from the 12th-century French societe (modern French société) meaning 'company'. Societe was in turn derived from the Latin word societas ('fellowship,' 'alliance', 'association'), which in turn was derived from the noun socius ("comrade, friend, ally").

Conceptions

In biology

Further information: Sociality
Multiple black ants surrounding and crawling on a dead mantis
Ant social ethology: Ants are eusocial insects. The social group enables its members to benefit in ways that would not otherwise be possible on an individual basis.

Humans, along with their closest relatives bonobos and chimpanzees, are highly social animals. This biological context suggests that the underlying sociability required for the formation of societies is hardwired into human nature. Human society features high degrees of cooperation, and differs in important ways from groups of chimps and bonobos, including the parental role of males, the use of language to communicate, the specialization of labor, and the tendency to build "nests" (multigenerational camps, town, or cities).

Some biologists, including entomologist E.O. Wilson, categorize humans as eusocial, placing humans with ants in the highest level of sociability on the spectrum of animal ethology, although others disagree. Social group living may have evolved in humans due to group selection in physical environments that made survival difficult.

In sociology

Further information: Sociology

In Western sociology, there are three dominant paradigms for understanding society: functionalism (also known as structural functionalism), conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.

Functionalism

According to the functionalist school of thought, individuals in society work together like organs in the body to create emergent behavior, sometimes referred to as collective consciousness. 19th century sociologists Auguste Comte and Émile Durkheim, for example, believed that society constitutes a separate "level" of reality, distinct from both biological and inorganic matter. Explanations of social phenomena had therefore to be constructed within this level, individuals being merely transient occupants of comparatively stable social roles.

Conflict theory

Conflict theorists take the opposite view, and posit that individuals and social groups or social classes within society interact on the basis of conflict rather than agreement. One prominent conflict theorist is Karl Marx who conceived of society as operating on an economic "base" with a "superstructure" of government, family, religion and culture. Marx argues that the economic base determines the superstructure, and that throughout history, societal change has been driven by conflict between laborers and those who own the means of production.

Symbolic interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is a microsociological theory that focuses on individuals and how the individual relates to society. Symbolic interactionists study humans' use of shared language to create common symbols and meanings, and use this frame of reference to understand how individuals interact to create symbolic worlds, and in turn, how these worlds shape individual behaviors.

In the latter half of the 20th century, theorists began to view society as socially constructed. In this vein, sociologist Peter L. Berger describes society as "dialectic": Society is created by humans, but this creation turns in turn creates or molds humans.

Non-Western views

Black and white portrait of José Rizal
José Rizal, a theorist of colonial societies

The sociologic emphasis placed on functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism, has been criticized as Eurocentric. The Malaysian sociologist Syed Farid al-Attas, for example, argues that Western thinkers are particularly interested in the implications of modernity, and that their analysis of non-Western cultures is therefore limited in scope. As examples of nonwestern thinkers who took a systematic approach to understanding society, al-Attas mentions Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) and José Rizal (1861–1896).

Khaldun, an Arab living in the 14th century, understood society, along with the rest of the universe, as having "meaningful configuration", with its perceived randomness attributable to hidden causes. Khaldun conceptualized social structures as having two fundamental forms: nomadic and sedentary. Nomadic life has high social cohesion (asabijja), which Khaldun argued arose from kinship, shared customs, and a shared need for defense. Sedentary life, in Khaldun's view, was marked by secularization, decreased social cohesion, and increased interest in luxury. Rizal was a Filipino nationalist living toward the end of the Spanish Colonial Period who theorized about colonial societies. Rizal argued that indolence, which the Spanish used to justify their colonial occupation, was instead caused by the colonial occupation. Rizal compared the pre-colonial era, when the Filipinos controlled trade routes and had higher economic activity, to the period of colonial rule, and argued that exploitation, economic disorder, and colonial policies that discouraged farming led to a decreased interest in work.

Types

Sociologists tend to classify societies based on their level of technology, and place societies in three broad categories: pre-industrial, industrial, and postindustrial.

Subdivisions of these categories vary, and classifications are often based on level of technology, communication, and economy. One example of such a classification comes from sociologist Gerhard Lenski who lists: (1) hunting and gathering; (2) horticultural; (3) agricultural; and (4) industrial; as well as specialized societies (e.g., fishing or herding).

Some cultures have developed over time toward more complex forms of organization and control. This cultural evolution has a profound effect on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes have, at times, settled around seasonal food stocks to become agrarian villages. Villages have grown to become towns and cities. Cities have turned into city-states and nation-states. However, these processes are not unidirectional.

Pre-industrial

Main article: Pre-industrial society

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, and agrarian.

Hunting and gathering

Main article: Hunter-gatherer
refer to caption
San people in Botswana start a fire by hand.

The main form of food production in hunter-gatherer 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. The need for mobility also limits the size of these societies, and they usually only form small groups such as bands and tribes, usually with fewer than 50 people per community. Bands and tribes are relatively egalitarian, and decisions are reached through consensus. There are no formal political offices containing real power in band societies, rather a chief is merely a person of influence, and leadership is based on personal qualities. The family forms the main social unit, with most members being related by birth or marriage.

The anthropologist Marshall Sahlins described hunter-gatherers as the "original affluent society" due to their extended leisure time: Sahlins estimated that adults in hunter gatherer societies work three to five hours per day. This perspective has been challenged by other researchers, who have pointed out high mortality rates and perennial warfare in hunter-gatherer societies. Proponents of Sahlins' view argue that the general well-being of humans in hunter gatherer societies challenges the purported relationship between technological advancement and human progress.

Pastoral

Main article: Pastoral society
refer to caption
Maasai men perform adumu, the traditional jumping dance.

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 typically live a nomadic life, moving their herds from one pasture to another. Community size in pastoral societies is similar to hunter-gatherers (about 50 individuals), but unlike hunter gatherers, pastoral societies usually consist of multiple communities—the average pastoral society contains thousands of people. This is because pastoral groups tend to live in open areas where movement is easy, which enables political integration. Pastoral societies tend to create a food surplus, and have specialized labor and high levels of inequality.

Horticultural

Further information: Horticulture and Subsistence pattern

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 similar level of technology and complexity to pastoral societies. Along with pastoral societies, horticultural societies emerged about 10,000 years ago, after technological changes of the Agricultural Revolution made it possible to cultivate crops and raise animals. 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 long period of time. This allows them to build permanent or semi-permanent villages.

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 horticultural societies to create a variety of artifacts. Scarce, defensible resources can lead to wealth inequalities in horticultural political systems.

Agrarian

Main article: Agrarian society
Painting of farmers, with one plouging with two oxen
Ploughing with oxen in the 15th century

Agrarian societies use agricultural technological advances to cultivate crops over a large area. Lenski differentiates between horticultural and agrarian societies by the use of the plow. Larger food supplies due to improved technology mean agrarian communities are larger than horticultural communities. A greater food surplus results in towns that become centers of trade. Economic trade in turn leads to increased specialization, including a ruling class, as well as educators, craftspeople, merchants, and religious figures, who do not directly participate in the production of food.

Agrarian societies are especially noted for their extremes of social classes and rigid social mobility. As land is the major source of wealth, social hierarchy develops based on landownership and not labor. The system of stratification is characterized by three coinciding contrasts: governing class versus the masses, urban minority versus peasant majority, and literate minority versus illiterate majority. This results in two distinct subcultures; the urban elite versus the peasant masses. Moreover, this means cultural differences within agrarian societies are greater than differences between them.

The landowning strata typically combine government, religious, and military institutions to justify and enforce their ownership, and support elaborate patterns of consumption, slavery, serfdom, or peonage is commonly the lot of the primary producer. Rulers of agrarian societies often do not manage their empire for the common good or in the name of the public interest, but as property they own. Caste systems, as historically found in South Asia, are associated with agrarian societies, where lifelong agricultural routines depend upon a rigid sense of duty and discipline. The scholar Donald Brown suggests that an emphasis in the modern West on personal liberties and freedoms was in large part a reaction to the steep and rigid stratification of agrarian societies.

Industrial

Main article: Industrial society
An industrial train
Industrial transportation, including trains, can stabilize the economy, leading to population growth.

Industrial societies, which emerged in the 18th century in the Industrial Revolution, rely heavily on machines powered by external sources for the mass production of goods. Whereas in pre-industrial societies the majority of labor takes place in primary industries focused on extracting raw materials (farming, fishing, mining, etc.), in industrial societies, labor is mostly focused on processing raw materials into finished products. Present-day societies vary in their degree of industrialization, with some using mostly newer energy sources (e.g. coal, oil, and nuclear energy), and others continuing to rely on human and animal power.

Industrialization is associated with population booms and the growth of cities. Increased productivity, as well as the stability caused by improved transportation, leads to decreased mortality and resulting population growth. Centralized production of goods in factories and a decreased need for agricultural labor leads to urbanization. Industrial societies are often capitalist, and have high degrees of inequality along with high social mobility, as businesspeople use the market to amass large amounts of wealth. Working conditions in factories are generally restrictive and harsh. Workers, who have common interests, may organize into labor unions to advance those interests.

On the whole, industrial societies are marked by the increased power of human beings. Technological advancements mean that industrial societies have increased potential for deadly warfare. Governments use information technologies to exert greater control over the populace. Industrial societies also have an increased environmental impact.

Post-industrial

Main article: Post-industrial society See also: Information revolution

Post-industrial societies are societies dominated by information and services, rather than the production of goods. Advanced industrial societies see a shift toward an increase in service sectors, over manufacturing. Service industries include education, health and finance.

Information

Main article: Information society
Many people gathered in a large meeting room
World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva

An information society is a society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and integration of information is a significant activity. Proponents of the idea that modern-day global society is an information society posit that information technologies are impacting most important forms of social organization, including education, economy, health, government, warfare, and levels of democracy. Although the concept of information society has been discussed since the 1930s, in the present day, it is almost always applied to ways that information technologies impact 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.

Knowledge

Main article: Knowledge society
Three people working on computers in a control room
The Seoul Cyworld control room

As the 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. A knowledge society generates, shares, and makes available to all members of the society knowledge that may be used to improve the human condition. A knowledge society differs from an information society in that it transforms information into resources that allow society to take effective action, rather than only creating and disseminating raw data.

Characteristics

Norms and roles

Social norms are shared standards of acceptable behavior by groups. Social norms, which can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into rules and laws, are powerful drivers of human behavior.

Social roles are norms, duties, and patterns of behavior that relate to an individual's social status. In functionalist thought, individuals form the structure of society by occupying social roles. According to symbolic interactionism, individuals use symbols to navigate and communicate roles. Erving Goffman used the metaphor of a theater to develop the dramaturgical lens, which argues that roles provide scripts that govern social interactions.

Gender and kinship

Main articles: Gender, Gender role, and Kinship
refer to caption
Egyptian family riding on a donkey-drawn cart in 2019. Familial relationships are one of the most important organizing principles in many societies.

The division of humans into male and female gender roles has been marked culturally by a corresponding division of norms, practices, dress, behavior, rights, duties, privileges, status, and power. Some argue that gender roles arise naturally from sex differences, which lead to a division of labor where women take on reproductive labor and other domestic roles. Gender roles have varied historically, and challenges to predominant gender norms have recurred in many societies.

All human societies organize, recognize and classify types of social relationships based on relations between parents, children and other descendants (consanguinity), and relations through marriage (affinity). There is also a third type of familial relationship applied to godparents or adoptive children (fictive). These culturally defined relationships are referred to as kinship. In many societies, it is one of the most important social organizing principles and plays a role in transmitting status and inheritance. All societies have rules of incest taboo, according to which marriage between certain kinds of kin relations are prohibited; and some societies also have rules of preferential marriage with certain other kin relations.

Ethnicity

Main article: Ethnicity

Human ethnic groups are a social category that identify together as a group based on shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. These shared attributes can be a common set of traditions, ancestry, language, history, society, culture, nation, religion, or social treatment within their residing area. There is no generally accepted definition of what constitutes an ethnic group, and humans have evolved the ability to change affiliation with social groups relatively easily, including leaving groups with previously strong alliances, if doing so is seen as providing personal advantages. Ethnicity is separate from the concept of race, which is based on physical characteristics, although both are socially constructed. Assigning ethnicity to a certain population is complicated, as even within common ethnic designations there can be a diverse range of subgroups, and the makeup of these ethnic groups can change over time at both the collective and individual level. Ethnic groupings can play a powerful role in the social identity and solidarity of ethnopolitical units. Ethnic identity has been closely tied to the rise of the nation state as the predominant form of political organization in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Government and politics

Main articles: Government and Politics
refer to caption
The United Nations headquarters in New York City, which houses one of the world's largest political organizations

Governments create laws and policies that affect the people that they govern. There have been many forms of government throughout human history, with various ways of allocating power, and with different levels and means of control over the population. In early history, distribution of political power was determined by the availability of fresh water, fertile soil, and temperate climate of different locations. As farming populations gathered in larger and denser communities, interactions between different groups increased, leading to the further development of governance within and between communities.

As of 2022, according to The Economist, 43% of national governments were democracies, 35% autocracies, and 22% containing elements of both. Many countries have formed international political organizations and alliances, the largest being the United Nations with 193 member states.

Trade and economics

Main articles: Trade and Economics
A map depicting the Silk Road and relevant trade routes
Long-distance spice trade routes along the Silk Road (green) and other routes (red) circa 1st century AD

Trade, the voluntary exchange of goods and services, has long been an aspect of human societies, and it is seen as a characteristic that differentiates humans from other animals. Trade has even been cited as a practice that gave Homo sapiens a major advantage over other hominids; evidence suggests early H. sapiens made use of long-distance trade routes to exchange goods and ideas, leading to cultural explosions and providing additional food sources when hunting was sparse. Such trade networks did not exist for the now-extinct Neanderthals. Early trade involved materials for creating tools, like obsidian, exchanged over short distances. In contrast, throughout antiquity and the medieval period, some of the most influential long-distance routes carried food and luxury goods, such as the spice trade.

Early human economies were more likely to be based around gift giving than a bartering system. Early money consisted of commodities; the oldest being in the form of cattle and the most widely used being cowrie shells. Money has since evolved into governmental issued coins, paper and electronic money. Human study of economics is a social science that looks at how societies distribute scarce resources among different people. There are massive inequalities in the division of wealth among humans; as of 2018 in China, Europe, and the United States, the richest tenth of humans hold more than seven-tenths of those regions' total wealth.

Conflict

See also: War and Violence
refer to caption
Napoleon's retreat after his failed invasion of Russia in 1812 (oil painting by Adolph Northen, 1851)

The willingness of humans to kill other members of their species en masse through organized conflict (i.e. war) has long been the subject of debate. One school of thought is that war evolved as a means to eliminate competitors, and that violence is an innate human characteristic. Humans commit violence against other humans at a rate comparable to other primates (although humans kill adults at a relatively high rate and have a relatively low rate of infanticide).

Another school of thought suggests that war is a relatively recent phenomenon and appeared due to changing social conditions. While not settled, the current evidence suggests warlike behavior only became common about 10,000 years ago, and in many regions even more recently.

Phylogenetic analysis predicts 2% of human deaths to be caused by homicide, which approximately matches the rate of homicide in band societies. However, rates of violence vary widely according to societal norms, and rates of homicide in societies that have legal systems and strong cultural attitudes against violence stand at about 0.01%.

See also

References

Citations

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