Understand the concept of Society
In the following article, you will understand the concept of society . Arther Britten has employed various strategies to conceptualize society, the most important of which are:
Understanding the concept of society
(1)- Society as Recurrence: In order to concretize society, mainstream sociologists have tended to define it as structure, that is a recognizable network of inter-relating institutions. The word 'recognizable' is crucial in its context because it suggests that the way in which societies differ from one another depends on the manner in which their particular institutions are interconnected.
(2) Society as Recurrence:
(2) Society as Recurrence:
The notion that societies are structured depends upon their reproduction over time. It this respect, the term 'Institution' is crucial. To speak of 'Institutionalized' forms of social conduct is to refer to modes of belief and behavior that occur and recur are socially reproduced.
(3) Society as Contradiction:
(3) Society as Contradiction:
While we may subscribe to the arguments, that society is both structured and reproduced, the Marxist account attempts to provide us with a basis for understanding how particular social formations arise and correspond with particular mode of production. Society is not a static or peace-fully evolving structure, but is conceived of as the tentative solution to the conflicts arising out of antagonistic social relation of production.
(4) Society as Culture:
(4) Society as Culture:
Frequently, social scientists emphasize the culture aspect of social relationships. In so doing they see society as being made possible by the shared understanding of its members. Because human beings exist in a linguistic and symbolic universe which they themselves have constructed, the temptation is to construe society as a highly complex symbolic and communication system. They stress on culture is associated with the notion that society is underpinned by ideas and values (Weber, 1930; Parsons, 1968).
(5) Society as Process: Here the emphasis is on the way in which people continuously interact with one another, the key terms are 'negotiation', 'self-other', reflexivity'- the implication being that 'society is constituted and reconstituted in social interaction. Society is not imposed upon people in the processual definition, rather it has to be accepted and confirmed by participants. Each interaction episode contains within it the possibility of innovation and change. So against the view of society which see it as a 'structure', the process view asserts that people 'make' structure (Mead, 1934; Goffman, 1959; Garfinkel,1967)
All of these strategies contain implicit or explicit assumptions about human nature and the individual. Some recent theories have completely rejected the individual as a datum for social analysis (Althusser, 1969). Nevertheless, the opposition between individual and society still remains a theme of popular and academic consciousness.
(5) Society as Process: Here the emphasis is on the way in which people continuously interact with one another, the key terms are 'negotiation', 'self-other', reflexivity'- the implication being that 'society is constituted and reconstituted in social interaction. Society is not imposed upon people in the processual definition, rather it has to be accepted and confirmed by participants. Each interaction episode contains within it the possibility of innovation and change. So against the view of society which see it as a 'structure', the process view asserts that people 'make' structure (Mead, 1934; Goffman, 1959; Garfinkel,1967)
All of these strategies contain implicit or explicit assumptions about human nature and the individual. Some recent theories have completely rejected the individual as a datum for social analysis (Althusser, 1969). Nevertheless, the opposition between individual and society still remains a theme of popular and academic consciousness.
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