SOCIETY

A. Meaning and Nature of Society

In the New World Encyclopaedia, SOCIETY is simply defined as a grouping of
individuals, which is characterized by common interest and may have distinctive culture
and institutions. It is definitely an organized group of people associated together for
religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes to obtain a
common goal.
Human beings are inherently and essentially social creatures, with the desire and
need to be in close contact with (others and environment). Beginning with the family,
human life is one medium for interdependence and sharing of physical, mental, and
spiritual items. While conflict both within and between societies has been the perennial
feature of human history, all societies strive to maintain harmony within (to ensure
the happiness and safety of their members) and, at least in more recent times, many now
seek harmony among diverse personalities in efforts to establish a more sensitive and
tolerant society.
Community
B. Origin of Society
The term society emerged in the fifteenth century and is derived from the
French société. The French word, in turn, had its origin in the Latin societas, a "friendly
association with others," from socius meaning "companion, associate, and comrade or
business partner." Essential in the meaning of society is that its members share some
mutual concern or interest, a common objective or common characteristics, often a
common culture (Encyclopaedia of Sociology).

However, society and culture are similar concepts, but their scopes are different.
A society is a complex whole with interdependent parts, while culture is an attribute
characteristic of a community, the complex web of shifting patterns that link individuals
together. For example, Clifford Geertz has suggested that "society" is the actual
arrangement of social relations while "culture" consists of beliefs and symbolic
forms. Edward Burnett Tylor wrote in 1871 that "culture or civilization, taken in its wide

NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORMS OR BY ANY MEANS.



ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,
law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of
society."

In the study of social sciences "society" has been used to mean a group of people
that form a semi-closed social system, in which most interactions are with other
individuals belonging to the group.

C. Types of Society

Social scientists differentiate societies based on a variety of factors. Gerhard

Lenski, a sociologist, differentiates societies into four levels based on their level
of technology, communication, and economy: (1) hunters and gatherers, (2) simple
agricultural, (3) advanced agricultural, and (4) industrial (Durkheim, 1982). This is
somewhat similar to the system earlier developed by anthropologists Morton H. Fried,
a conflict theorist, and Elman Service, an integration theorist, who produced a system of
classification for societies in all human cultures based on the evolution of social
inequality and the role of the state. This system of classification contains four categories:
• Hunter-gatherer bands, which are generally egalitarian (unrestricted/free).
• Tribal societies, in which there are some limited instances of social rank and
prestige.
• Chiefdoms, stratified structures led by chieftains.
• Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and organized, institutional
governments.
Societies consist minimally of a large extended family, and generally as groups of
families connected either by kinship or by geopolitical factors (location, resources,
common enemies, and so forth). Over time, some cultures progressed toward more
complex forms of organization and control. This cultural evolution has a profound effect
on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes settled around seasonal food supplies
eventually become agrarian villages. Villages grew to become towns and cities. Cities
turned into city-states and nation-states (Effland, 1998). Ultimately, there is the level of
all humanity, humankind.

NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORMS OR BY ANY MEANS.



The fundamental unit of human society is the family. Margaret Mead (1965),
based on her anthropological research, affirmed the centrality of the family in human
society. The following are prominent or COMMON TYPES of society:

1. Band

A band society is the simplest form of human society. A band generally consists
of a small kinship group, often no larger than an extended family or small clan. Bands
have very informal leadership; the older members of the band generally are looked to for
guidance and advice, but there are none of the written laws and law enforcement like that
seen in more complex societies. Band customs are almost always transmitted orally.
Formal social institutions are few or non-existent. Religion is generally based on family
tradition, individual experience, or counsel from a shaman. Bands are distinguished from
tribes in that tribes are generally larger, consisting of many families. Tribes have more
social institutions and clearly defined leadership such as a "chief," or "elder." Tribes are
also more permanent than bands; a band can cease to exist if only a small group walks
out. Many tribes are in fact sub-divided into bands, in the United States, for example,
many Native American tribes are made up of official bands living in specific locations.

2. Clan

A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by

perceived descent from a common ancestor. Even if actual lineage patterns are unknown,
clan members nonetheless recognize a founding member or "apical ancestor." As kinship
based bonds can be merely symbolic in nature, some clans share a "stipulated" common
ancestor, which is a symbol of the clan's unity. When this ancestor is not human, this is
referred to a totem. Generally speaking, kinship differs from biological relation, as it also
involves adoption, marriage, and fictive genealogical ties. Clans can be most easily
described as sub-groups of tribes and usually constitute groups of seven to ten thousand
people.

3. Tribe

A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing

before the development of, or outside of, states, though some modern theorists hold that

NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORMS OR BY ANY MEANS.



"contemporary" tribes can only be understood in terms of their relationship to states. The
term is often loosely used to refer to any non-Western or indigenous society.

In common understanding the word "tribe" is a social division within a traditional

society consisting of a group of interlinked families or communities sharing a
common culture and dialect. In the contemporary western mind the modern tribe is
typically associated with a seat of traditional authority (tribal leader) with whom the
representatives of external powers (the governing state or occupying government)
interact.

For various reasons, the term "tribe" fell into disfavor in the latter part of the
twentieth century. For many anthropologists, when the term was clearly defined it
became an "ideal" concept, with no basis in reality. Thus, it was replaced with the
designation "ethnic group," which defines a group of people of common ancestry and
language, shared cultural history, and an identifiable territory. Nevertheless, the term
tribe is still in common use and the term used for recognized Native
American governments in the United States.

4. Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a human population whose members identify with each other,
usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or lineage. Ethnic groups are also
usually united by common cultural, behavioural, linguistic, or religious practices. In this
sense, an ethnic group is also a cultural community. This term is preferred over tribe, as it
overcame the negative connotations that the term tribe had acquired under colonialism.

5. Chiefdom (e. g. Brazilian Indian chiefs)

Chiefdom is any community led by an individual known as a chief.

In anthropological theory, one model of human social development describes chiefdom as
a form of social organization more complex than a tribe, and less complex than a state or
a civilization. The most succinct (but still working) definition of chiefdom in
anthropology belongs to Robert Carneiro: "An autonomous political unit comprising a
number of villages or communities under the permanent control of a paramount chief”
(Mead & Heyman, 1965). Chiefdoms have been shown by anthropologists

NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORMS OR BY ANY MEANS.



and archaeologists to be a relatively unstable form of social organization. They are prone
to cycles of collapse and renewal, in which tribal units band together, expand in power,
fragment through some form of social stress, and band together again.

An example of this kind of social organization would be the Germanic Peoples

who conquered the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century C.E. Although commonly
referred to as tribes, the Germanic Peoples were by anthropological definition not tribes,
but chiefdoms. They had a complex social hierarchy consisting of kings, a
warrior aristocracy, common freemen, serfs, and slaves.

Chiefdoms are characterized by pervasive inequality of peoples and centralization

of authority. At least two inherited social classes (elite and commoner) are present,
although social class can often be changed by extraordinary behavior during an
individual's life. A single lineage/family of the elite class will be the ruling elite of the
chiefdom, with the greatest influence, power, and prestige. Kinship is typically an
organizing principle, while marriage, age, and gender can affect one's social status and
role.

6. State

A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. It

usually includes the set of institutions that claim the authority to make the rules that
govern the people of the society in that territory, though its status as a state often depends
in part on being recognized by a number of other states as having internal and external
sovereignty over it. In sociology, the state is normally identified with these institutions:
in Max Weber's influential definition, it is that organization that has a "monopoly on the
legitimate use of physical force within a given territory," which may include the armed
forces, civil service, or state bureaucracy, courts, and police.

A city-state on the other hand, is a region controlled exclusively by a city, usually

having sovereignty. Historically, city-states have often been part of larger cultural areas,
as in the city-states of ancient Greece (such as Athens, Sparta and Corinth), the central
Asian cities along the Silk Road (which included Samarkand and Bukhara), or the city-
states of Northern Italy (especially Florence and Venice). Among the most creative

NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORMS OR BY ANY MEANS.



periods in human history are those in which humanity organized itself in small
independent centers. However, these small creative groupings usually survived for only
short periods of time because they lacked the size and strength to defend themselves
against the onslaught of larger social entities. Thus, they inevitably gave way to larger
organizations of society, the empire and eventually the nation-state. Today,
only Singapore, Monaco, and Vatican City arguably remain autonomous city-states.

D. Society in Various Perspectives

1. Evolutionary

It is presumed that thousands of years ago people lived in isolation and their only
problems were the basic necessities to live such as food, water and shelter. Every person
then has neither companion nor friends which whom they can relate to and that their
existence is a mere survival.
Soon after, families have emerged as an isolated organization of people dependent
on each other for survival and subsistence. In order to live, they found certain roles to
fulfill and to accomplish. The family groups live together in a nomadic life, occupying
one place after the other to nurture their needs and wants. But later on, nomadic life
became a burden because the enlargement of the families slowed down their mobility,
and so a new way of life was introduced.
This new initiated way of life has later led families to settle down and learned the
value of having their own territory. Hence, bringing to the birth we called now a
SOCIETY.

2. Political
A system was established as necessary measure for their protection. Leaders were
selected and social norms were imposed, upon which division of roles, and
responsibilities were assigned.
With that, certain rules and norms of conduct were respected and upheld while
social hierarchies were modeled as well.

NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORMS OR BY ANY MEANS.



Politics is an inevitable activity of people which is also intertwined with other

social systems. Thus, it is from which the government is established to provide control
mechanisms necessary for a peaceful and progressive living. After all, human is really a
political being in nature.

3. Economical

People on the other hand are undeniably, must produce to address and sustain
essential needs of the now and next generation. This is to provide means and ways to
sustain man’s basic and material needs to live. Hence, the acceleration for production is
imperative to answer the increasing demand of man in society.

NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORMS OR BY ANY MEANS.