McIver

(in his book Society an introduction analysis, 1950)

• Society is a web of relationship and is always changing.
• Society is a system of usages and procedures, authority and of many groupings and divisions of control of human behaviour and of liberty.

Giddings

Society is the union in itself, the organization, the sum of formal relation in which associating individual are bound together.

He also says society rests on consciousness of kind (structural and function)

T. Parsons:

Society may be defined as the total complex of human relationship in so far as they grow out of human actions.

1. Pattern of Relationship

2. Organization

3. Culture

Society is viewed by sociologists as a chain of social relationships. A relationship is social, when it is determined by mutual awareness, that is, the behaviour of one individual influences the behaviour of another. For example, when a teacher enters the classroom, students stop making noise and stand up as a mark of respect for the teacher. This behaviour signifies the social relationship between the teacher and the taught. Thus, social relationships exist only when individuals behave towards one another in ways determined by their recognition of each other. This is why society is called a relational concept.

In other words, society is not a substantial concept. It does not denote a concrete reality; rather it refers to social relationships which become institutionalized, when people relate to each other in well-established and familiar ways.

• Whether society is a deliberated formation? Individual has consciously formed the society.
• Society is having its own existence (sui-generis).

Theories

1. Social contracts theory: (Individual prime)

Society has come into existence as a result of a contract between individual in order to fulfill there desire to live peacefully. It is result of will of the individual.

a. Hobbes

b. Locke

c. Rousseau

He says that early man was nasty and British and did not know about the society?

In order to live peacefully people formulated collective laws and sacrificed their liberty.

He says that in order to solve the problems people entered into an agreement.

2. Patriarchal & Matriarchal theories:

Society came into existence out of the family. Some people say earlier family was patriarchal given by Henry Maine.

Also some people said Briffault (The Mothers) said earlier family was Matriarchal. Society is nothing but a briefed characterization of family.

3. Force Theory;

 Some powerful dominant people formed the society. But some say society came into existence by its own.

A. E. Durkheim: He says that society is sui-generis. A person takes birth in society. Society is having its own life. He says individual is having least control over the society. Society is becoming more complex in nature. (First true sociologist: E. Durkheim)

b. Marxian: Society is not the result of the will of individual. It came into existence in order to fulfill certain needs of the individual. Most basic needs are production of things (Food). In order to produce things they enter into relationship with other. This gives rise to society.

4.       Group Mind Theory:

Society is having its own mind, which may be different from individual mind. So they give priority to society over individual. Main proponent was McDougall. Group mind cannot delineate the individual mind.

COMMUNITY

McIver

• in 1917 (community an Sociological analysis)  
• He says whenever the members of any group small or large live together in such a way that they share not this or that particular interest, but the basic conditions of a common life, we call that group a Community.

McIver’s two characteristic (conditions)

1.  Locality: Group of people occupies particular localities.

2. Community sentiment: A sense of we feeling or collectivity a sense of identification with each other e.g. village. (Immigrant group may be community).

Bogardes

According to him community is a social group with some degree of we feeling and living in a given area.

Ogburn & Nimcoff:

Community is the total organisation or social life within a limited area.

Kinsley Davis

Community is the smallest territorial groups that can embrace all aspects of social life.

The most important ingredients for a community to exist is the community sentiment

other characteristics include:

3. Likeness: Likeness in language or they have common culture or we can say community is marked by Homogeneity.

4. Particular name: it’s a source self-identity of a community.

5. Wider Ends: No particular interest but a wider aim is there.

6. Informal relationship: Members of community have informal relationship.

Practice these………………….

Robert Redfield

He defined two type of community.

1. Little Community of size

2. Great Community of size

Four conditions of little community:

a. Smallness                                          b. Distinctiveness

c. Homogeneity                          d. Self sufficiency

Great Community :Large groups of people may become community     if they develop we feeling. He said even country can become a community; if they develop we feeling.

• Nation is a community .
• Small Tribe may be a community

Virtual community

(Howard Rhein gold 1993) It consist of members which are connected with each other thru information technology.

Community: Group of people we feeling locality wider ends likeness. Informal relation name.

Society: Group of people pattern of relation/structure organized. Institutional set-up.

* But today in the era of Globalization, the independence of society is being questioned. There is a trend towards growing interdependence.

+ E.g. Village = Accused = Law

** There can be unity in diversity within society also. In India with large diverse culture still we have some underlined commanlity/likeness/unity, which is prevailing in India i.e. Ramayana, Festivals.