| |
| |
Society:
A society is a grouping of individuals,
which is characterized by common interests and may have distinctive
culture and institutions. In a society, members can be from
a different ethnic group. A "Society" may refer
to a particular people, such as the Nuer, to a nation state,
such as Switzerland, or to a broader cultural group, such
as a
Western society. Society can
also refer to an organized group of people associated together
for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political,
patriotic, or other purposes.
Societies may also be organized
according to their political structure. 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. |
|
 |
|
| |
| |
Organization
of society:
Human societies are often organized
according to their primary means of subsistence. As noted
in the section on "Evolution of societies", above,
social scientists identify hunter-gatherer societies, nomadic
pastoral societies, horticulturalist or simple farming societies,
and intensive agricultural societies, also called civilizations.
One common theme for societies
in general is that they serve to aid individuals in a time
of crisis. Traditionally, when an individual requires aid,
for example at birth, death, sickness, or disaster, members
of that society will rally others to render aid, in some form—symbolic,
linguistic, physical, mental, emotional, financial, medical,
or religious. Many societies will 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.
Some societies will bestow
status on an individual or group of people, when that individual
or group performs an admired or desired action. This type
of recognition is bestowed by members of that society on the
indi | | |