Types of social communities	Criteria for singling out social communities	Signs of communities
Classes (strata): workers, peasants, intelligentsia, employees, entrepreneurs, business owners	Place in the system of social production	Attitude to property, income, power factor, etc.
Professional communities: workers of specific professions, mental and physical labor	Position in the division of labor system	The nature of work
Industry communities: workers in certain industries, labor collectives, tenants, farmers, etc.	Sphere of application of labor	Direction of production activities
Ethno-social communities: nations, nationalities, national, ethnic, ethnographic groups	Ethnicity and nationality	Common origin, language, territory, economic life, features of culture and psychology
Regional entities	Interethnic, interethnic and interstate relations	Various levels of international relations in all areas of public life
Demographic communities: men, women, children, youth, elderly citizens	Morphological and physical features	Gender and age characteristics of individuals
Territorial communities: citizens of the country, residents of the republic, region, locality, state, etc.	Place of residence (city, village, district, region, etc.)	State administrative formations

End of Table 5.3

The social structure of society is a historical concept. Each type of society, depending on the nature and method of reproduction, has a certain social structure. So, the primitive communal system had a tribal organization, in which the clan simultaneously acted as a labor and family collective, as well as a form of socio-ethnic community.

In a slave-owning society, classes of slave owners and slaves arise, professional groups appear, a nationality is formed as a form of an ethnic community, a monogamous family is established, etc.

Under feudalism, classes of feudal lords and peasants are formed, which, as economic relations are transformed, give way to new social communities: under capitalism - the class of hired workers (working class) and the bourgeoisie, and under socialism - the working class, the peasantry and the intelligentsia.

At the stage of industrial society, the formation and development of nations takes place, the diversity of industry and professional groups grows, the structure of territorial communities changes.

However, by the end of the 20th century, it becomes obvious that the industrial society, which schematically corresponded to the capitalist and socialist formations, has exhausted the possibilities for further development. In recent decades, there have been significant changes in the content of social groups and strata, the nature of their interaction. New signs appear in the identification of social communities, social mobility increases, a ruling class, a class of production and non-production workers, a new middle class are formed. The processes of social differentiation are actively taking place, new intermediate groups are emerging, large regional supranational and supranational formations are emerging.

The history of society shows that the trend in the development of the social structure is its constant complication, the emergence of new communities, depending on the level of technical and technological basis and the type of civilization. The social structure largely depends on the economic basis of society, but it has a relative independence and influences economic relations, political, spiritual and other spheres of public life in various ways.

Throughout the historical development of society, the most representative link in the social structure are classes as large social communities. Each type of society, depending on the nature and technical and technological level of production, has its own specific classes.

objective prerequisites for the emergence of classes were:

1) the emergence of private ownership of the means of production;

2) the appearance of a surplus product;

3) development of productive forces;

4) social division of labor.

As a result of the impact of these prerequisites, the attitude of certain groups of people to property was formed and consolidated, their position and social status were determined. The main criterion for differentiating class communities is their relation to property(possession, use, disposal).

Classes are large groups of people that differ in:

1) according to their place in the historically determined system of social production,

2) in their relation (for the most part fixed and formalized in laws) to the means of production,

3) according to their role in the social organization of labor,

4) according to the methods of obtaining and the size of the share of social wealth that they have (Lenin V.I.).

Characteristics of a class as a social community:

A specific role, a peculiar function in the total labor activity of society;

A certain development of the economic interest of the class and the degree of subordination of the entire life activity of the members of this class to this interest;

Development of a way of life common to all members of the class;

Certain features of the socio-psychological appearance of these people, their attitudes, value orientations.

For the first time, classes arise during the formation of a slave-owning society, when, as a result of the growth of productive forces, it became possible to obtain a surplus product, the formation of private property and a system of economic inequality between people. The class that owned the means of production and a greater share of the national wealth, occupied a monopoly position in the system of organization and management of society and production, was not only economically but also politically the dominant class. The community of interests and the corporate solidarity of classes are always relative and manifest themselves most widely in critical periods of history (wars, revolutions).

The second half of the 20th century introduces its own adjustments to the system of criteria for determining the social composition of classes. The ongoing shifts in the technological and organizational foundations of the information society also cause corresponding changes in the ownership structure. If earlier, as a rule, the relations of ownership, use and disposal of the means of production characterized the social status of one person, then at present there is a division of these powers of the owner between different individuals. This is one of the reasons why the property factor is defined as a necessary but not yet sufficient condition for identifying class boundaries.

The factors of power and control, professional affiliation, income level, the position of individuals in the labor market, the specifics of their political and cultural orientation, and others are becoming increasingly important. So, for example, in economically developed countries, the top layer of managers, although formally not the owner of the means of production, but in terms of their professional status and income level, this social group is considered an integral part of the modern ruling class.

On the other hand, many workers at present have higher education, own a certain amount of capital in the form of stocks, bonds, etc., but this, however, does not serve as a basis for enrolling them in other classes. This indicates the need to use other criteria of class identification along with the property factor. Among them, the factors of power and control are of decisive importance. Only a comprehensive use of the above criteria makes it possible to correctly determine the social composition of modern classes.

Classes as large social communities are not homogeneous, but include many socially and functionally complex and interconnected groups of people who occupy a certain place in the historically established system of social production. This means that social-class differentiation in modern society includes its division not only into classes, but also into intra-class layers, as well as inter-class groups, distinguished in accordance with socio-economic, cultural, behavioral and other characteristics. The variety of elements that form the social structure of modern society makes it possible to speak of its complexity, comparative dynamism and novelty in comparison with the social structure of the previous social system.

It is the diversity of the structural elements that form the social structure of the information society that was the reason for the existence in sociology of its many theoretical models, the authors of which use the most diverse categories to designate classes. The most famous are the following models of social differentiation :

ü M. Weber's class-status model: the class of owners, the working class, the petty bourgeoisie, the intelligentsia and white-collar employees, and classes are called groups that have access to the market and offer certain services on it. Status groups are not related to the market situation and differ in lifestyle.

ü Dichotomous class model of K. Marx: the bourgeoisie - the proletariat, between which is the petty bourgeoisie, the differentiating peasantry, the intelligentsia. Moreover, the evolution of the class structure goes in the direction of strengthening the antagonism between the two main classes and ultimately leads to a socialist revolution that destroys the division of society into classes.

ü R. Dahrendorf's class model: ruling class, subordinate class, classless groups differentiated on the basis of power relations. Class relations invariably involve conflicting interests.

ü E. Giddens class model: upper class, middle class, lower or working class. Differentiation criteria - differences in the market opportunities of individuals, determined by property relations, educational and technical qualifications, position in power structures.

ü E. Wright's class model: bourgeoisie, petty bourgeoisie, working class, differentiated on the basis of property relations, exchange and power. Along with classes, E. Wright singles out the so-called contradictory social formations that occupy an intermediate position in the social structure, namely: small entrepreneurs, semi-independent workers, managers and controlling persons.

ü Class identification by J. Goldorp: a class of services that brings together professionals, managers and administrative workers; the working class, which includes workers of manual labor of various qualifications; an intermediate class comprising employees, small entrepreneurs and self-employed workers, as well as technical personnel.

ü D. Davis class model: upper class, middle class, working class and lower class, the criteria for identifying which are the level of education, professional prestige, property and income.

Today, the complex use of all criteria of social identification and, accordingly, the convergence of various methodologies is increasingly becoming the leading direction in the study of classes. At present, the social affiliation of individuals is determined both by their property status and their position in the labor market, factors of control, power, income, etc. Considering classes as large social groups identified on the basis of these criteria, one can propose their definition and comparative characteristics in relation to modern conditions. Therefore, the class analysis of the social structure today is to a large extent supplemented by the analysis of the layered structure (stratification).

What is the social stratum and stratification?

Social layer- a commonality allocated on the basis of certain criteria (features). Various signs characterizing the position of the layers on the stratification scale can be summarized in system of mathematically calculated indices, which allow you to determine the position of a particular layer in the system of social hierarchy, not by one attribute, but by a sufficiently large set of them. It turns out to be possible to reveal the mutual connection of features, the degree of closeness of this connection.

Speaking about the stratification approach, it is necessary to consider the very concept of "stratification", as well as "social mobility".

Stratification is a structured differentiation and inequality between different layers (groups) of people according to the calculable signs of the differentiation of society. (Table 5.4)

Social mobility was originally understood as a change by an individual, a family of a place in the social structure of society, as well as any change in their social position. A refined understanding of this process is transitions, movements of individuals (or social groups) from one social stratum to another. Thus, theories of social mobility turn out to be closely related to theories of social stratification.

Table 5.4

Types of stratification systems*

In general, it is advisable to describe the structure of society with the help of a class-layer model, which makes it possible to combine the theoretical depth of class analysis with the richness of the possibilities and methods of the stratification approach.

In the social structure, an important place is occupied by ethnic communities such as clan, tribe, nationality, nation.

Genus- a form of community of people based on blood ties that arose in primitive communities on the basis of economic relations.

The genus served as the core of the communities, rallied their members together, ensured the reproduction of offspring capable of labor and social relations, through the regulation of marriage and family relations, joint upbringing and material support for children.

The clan and the clan community were a social structure, defined as a clan system, public ownership of land dominated here, there was no property and social differentiation, participation in public affairs was the right and duty of all adult members of the community.

Tribe- a form of community of people, characteristic of the primitive communal system. The tribe is based on tribal relations that determine the disunity of the tribes in terms of territory, language, and culture. Only the belonging of an individual to a tribe made him a co-owner of common property, provided him with a certain share of the produced product, the right to participate in public life. The displacement of tribal relations by commodity relations led to the disintegration of tribes and their unification into nationalities.

Nationality- one of the forms of a community of people that historically follows a tribal community and is formed in the process of merging, consolidating various tribes in the conditions of a change in the primitive communal system by private property relations, the emergence and development of classes. The nationality is characterized by a territorial community, a single language, along with the existence of a number of dialects.

One of the most important socio-ethnic communities is the nation. What does she represent?

Like any other community, a nation is formed on the basis of the action of certain social factors. Among them, an important role is played by material and production factors.

Here it is important to pay attention to the fact that material and production activity is realized in every society in the form of a certain material and economic mechanism, all parts of which are connected by diverse and complex economic ties. So, at a certain stage - at the end of feudalism and the beginning of capitalism - a unified system of industrial and agricultural enterprises and other production units developed in society, between which a variety of economic relations were formed. On the basis of these ties, a common market, a single system of currency, transport communications, means of communication, taxes, etc. have developed. This whole complex economic mechanism has connected millions of people with thousands of threads, forced them to communicate daily and constantly, to enter into various contacts with each other. It was, as it were, a huge material and production engine that constantly "mixed" the entire population of a certain society. And since such contacts along various lines constantly connected people and this was repeated from generation to generation, this led to the formation of a special community of people - a nation.

Nation- a historically established form of a community of people that comes to replace the nationality. Nation is characterized primarily by the common material conditions of life; territory and economic life; common language, well-known features of the national character, manifested in the national identity of its culture.

One of the most important factors in the formation and functioning of a nation (at the same time, its essential feature) is territory . It seems to us that this term does not accurately reflect the reality that is meant. It is more accurate, in our opinion, to speak of a certain natural-territorial complex, understanding by it not only the spatial and geographical boundaries of the community's habitat, but also the entire set of natural conditions, including climate, landscape features, flora and fauna, the nature of the soil, and much more. other.

The ethno-integrating role of this natural-territorial complex is expressed in many aspects.

1. It appears as a general environment for economic activity.

2. This complex significantly determined the life of people, the nature of housing, the characteristics of food, clothing, the whole way of everyday life.

3. The natural complex was a receptacle for spatial communications - roads, and rivers were also used as such.

4. With the advent of state institutions, the territorial division of society, the natural complex acquired the features of state borders, it turned into a state territory.

Thus, the natural-territorial complex of a nation is not so much geographical, natural-biological, etc. phenomenon, how much the social characteristic of these natural factors, the social quality that they acquire in certain social conditions. And it is in this form that this complex is both an objective prerequisite and a real feature of the nation.

In addition to the objective factors of the unification of the nation, there are also factors of a subjective order.

First of all, this mutual language . A common economic life, a common territory that pushes people against each other, inevitably forced people to develop a common language. In this case, it acts as a natural product of the community of economic life, the community of territory. The national community is formed in a certain respect as a result of the functioning of a common language.

The next factor in the formation of a nation - also a subjective plan - is community of psychological make-up, spiritual culture , certain traditions, etc. On the basis of a common economic life, territory, a common language, people who are constantly connected with each other develop and develop a certain commonality of socio-psychological image, cultural traditions. And this commonality of psychological make-up, culture, traditions also integrates and unites people. Much attention is paid by researchers - I think this is fair - to the analysis of the self-consciousness of the nation.

Subjective-conscious factors play an important role in the consolidation of the national community.

For a more concrete understanding of the essence of the national community, let us dwell on some comparisons of nation and class.

The nation as a macro-social community is based on such characteristics that embody the deep laws of social life that develop and function on the scale of the entire social organism. Among these characteristics one should, first of all, include certain transformations in the material and production life of society, the degree of development of classes, their relations, the social development of the space occupied by the nation, and some other transformations.

At the same time, the nation as a community is also connected with a very specific, empirically fixed layer of social values. These include specific features of work activity, lifestyle, clothing, food, direct communication, intra-family relations, etc., in short, everything that is usually associated with the ethnic features of the life of society. A nation, viewed from the point of view of an ethnic differential, acts as an ethnic community that manifests itself and consolidates itself in a very specific level of social life.

A class community, like a national community, is formed on the basis of deeply regular, essential features, for example, the unity of economic interests. These features, of course, are embodied in the concrete empirical features of the life of local class groups. But the degree of development of the moments of unity, the commonality of the vital activity of classes in the concrete-empirical layer is not essential for ascertaining the class community itself. Representatives of the same class may speak different languages, celebrate their children's birthdays in different ways, prefer different cuisines, etc., but this does not in the least prevent them from belonging to the same class community.

Another thing is the national community. If the deep characteristics that unite the nation are not fixed, are not supplemented by commonality in the field of specific ethnic values, then there is no point in talking about the nation as a community. As a community, it exists and functions only when two levels of the mechanisms that unite it operate in unity and interconnection: deep-essential and empirical-ethnic. The elimination of any of them removes the question of the nation in general.

Another facet of the features of the structure of the national community is manifested in the relationship between the objectively universal features of the nation, on the one hand, and the degree of awareness of belonging to the nation of each representative of the nation, on the other. To explain this point, let us again resort to the analogy with class community. Thus, the objective commonality of the class position is reflected in the commonality of the ideological and psychological makeup of the representatives of a given class, including in a certain awareness by each of them of their belonging to this class. At the same time, the individual may not identify himself with the class to which he objectively belongs. This circumstance, however, does not affect the class position of the individual. Whatever he himself thinks about this, denying even his belonging to any class, he is still a member of the class with which he is connected by a common economic position and economic interests.

At the heart of the same national community are also objective factors. At the same time, a national community is impossible without conscious correlation, attribution of individuals to this community. The degree of development of this correlation can be very different, ranging from a simple awareness of ethnicity to a deeply felt and meaningful understanding of the essence of one's nation, the indissolubility of one's individual destiny and the destiny of one's nation. But in any case, the very awareness of one's belonging to a nation is mandatory. These features of the internal architectonics of the nation, its peculiar multi-storey structure, must certainly be methodologically taken into account when assessing the place of the nation in the social life of society as a whole. Ignoring, underestimating these features can not only distort the picture of these connections, but generally lead the consideration of nations into a dead end.

So, on the basis of the long historical action of the factors listed above, a national community is formed. It finds its expression in a certain stable association of people, in the community of their economic life, territory, language, psychological make-up, traditions, culture.

The existence and development of any society is impossible without the full functioning of institution of marriage and family .

Marriage- based on love (see Appendix 1), “a historically determined, sanctioned and regulated by society form of relations between a man and a woman, establishing their rights and obligations in relation to each other, children and society. The nature of marital relations largely determines the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the reproduction of the population, the physical and spiritual condition of new generations. The social essence of marriage is ultimately determined by the prevailing social relations and is influenced by politics, law, morality, and religion. By sanctioning marriage, society assumes certain obligations to protect it and imposes on the people who have entered into marriage the responsibility for the material support and upbringing of children, and, consequently, for the future of the family.

Marriage from an economic institution is increasingly turning into a moral and legal union of a man and a woman, based on love and personal choice. There is a certain redistribution of duties of husband and wife in the family, in housekeeping and raising children. In the family, the role of intra-family relations in ensuring its stability and strength is increasing. The weakening of the control of public opinion, as well as the economic, legal and religious ties that held the former family together, dramatically increases the "load" on moral ties.

A family- the social mechanism of human reproduction, the relationship between husband and wife, parents and children, a small group based on these relationships, whose members are connected by a common life, mutual moral responsibility and mutual assistance. The specificity of the socio-philosophical analysis of the family is due to the fact that the family is considered as one of the most important subsystems of society, reproducing the members of society, and also being the first stage of their socialization and inculturation.

Interacting with all spheres of social life (economics, politics, law, spiritual culture), the family changes and develops, primarily under the influence of the socio-economic process. At the same time, its development has a relative independence.

The family institution, being included in the structural, functional and regulatory systems of society, regulates the behavior of family members, determining their social roles and status, and also performs a whole range of additional functions. The functions of the family are related to the needs of society and the individual (see Table 5.5).

Table 5.5

Family Functions

Sphere of family activity	Function types
Public	Individual
1. Reproductive	Biological - population reproduction	Meeting the needs of children
2. Educational	Socialization of the younger generation. Maintaining the cultural reproduction of society	Satisfying the needs for parenthood, contacts with children, their upbringing, self-realization in children
3. Household	Maintaining the physical health of members of society, caring for children	Provision of household services by family members to each other
4. Economic	Economic support for minors and disabled members of society	Receipt of material resources by some family members from others (in case of disability or in exchange of services)
5. Sphere of primary social control	Moral and legal regulation of the behavior of family members in various spheres of life	Formation and maintenance of legal and moral sanctions in case of violation of moral standards by family members
6. Spiritual fellowship	Personal development of family members	Spiritual enrichment. Maintaining friendly relationships in marriage
7. Social status	Reproduction of the social structure. Granting certain status to family members	Satisfying social promotion needs
8. Leisure	Organization of rational leisure. social control	Meeting the needs for joint leisure activities, mutual enrichment of interests
9. Emotional	Emotional stabilization of individuals and their psychological therapy	Getting psychological protection, emotional support in the family. Satisfaction of the individual's needs for personal happiness and love
10. Sexy	sexual control	Satisfaction of sexual needs

As can be seen from the presented table, the most important functions of the family are reproductive and educational . These are the functions of a normal traditional family - a family based on an officially registered, heterosexual marriage, with two parents, in which there are necessarily children. In such a family, the father is the “head”, spiritually and economically determining the beginning of its development, and the mother is the “keeper of the hearth”, whose main task is to take care of the children and husband that appear and maintain the existing order in the family. Such a family presupposes monogamy and the kinship-family principle of organizing life.

Many researchers of family and marriage believe that changes in family and marriage attitudes and orientations in modern society are associated with historical changes in the institution of the family, the transition from the traditional form of the family to the modern one.

Distinctive features of modern family models are the following:

1) the primacy of the economic goals of the individual;

2) the values ​​of individualism, independence, personal achievement, "egocentrism";

3) transition to decentralized nuclear families;

4) transition from a divorce initiated by the husband to a divorce caused by the interpersonal incompatibility of the spouses;

5) the transition from a "closed" to an "open" system of choosing a spouse based on interpersonal selectivity by young people of each other, regardless of prescriptions;

6) the transition from a culture of large families with a strict taboo on the use of contraception to individual intervention in the reproductive cycle (ie, to the prevention and termination of pregnancy);

7) there is a transition from the era of a stable system of norms for families with many children to the era of the continuous disappearance of families with many children from the historical scene. Real changes in family structures in the 20th century. on all continents allow us to talk about the transition to the era of a spontaneous decrease in the number of children in the family, divorce and a decline in marriage.

It should be noted here that the decline in the birth rate in Russia began at the end of the 19th century due to the destruction of the peasant community - people changed the agrarian sector to an industrial one, where the way of life was fundamentally different from the rural one. The birth rate continued to decline throughout the 20th century, especially after the revolution. This was facilitated by famine and war. For many decades, the birth rate has been below the level required to keep the population from declining. After all, if the number of families that are limited to one child increases, then it is clear that they do not even reproduce their parents. The decline in the birth rate has led to a steady decrease in the proportion of young people among the population, and the age composition of the population has changed. In terms of numbers, each new generation turned out to be smaller than the previous one, and the age structure of Soviet society became more and more “old”. Sooner or later, the number of deaths was bound to exceed the number of births. This phenomenon is now called "depopulation".

Negative population growth in Russia was first recorded in 1992. The death rate exceeded the birth rate. If you imagine a graph, it turns out that their curves intersected - this phenomenon was called "Russian cross".

To a large extent, the depopulation of the population was facilitated and continues to be done by legalized abortions (see Appendix 2) not only for medical reasons, but also at the woman's own request. According to the Ministry of Health, about 1.6-1.7 million children are killed by abortion every year in modern Russia.

“From the point of view of modern biology (genetics and embryology), the life of a person as a biological individual begins from the moment of the fusion of the nuclei of the male and female germ cells and the formation of a single nucleus containing a unique genetic material.

Throughout fetal development, the new human organism cannot be considered part of the mother's body. It cannot be likened to an organ or part of an organ of the mother's body. Therefore, it is obvious that abortion at any stage of pregnancy is the intentional termination of a person's life as a biological individual. And “intentional termination of life” is murder.

Therefore, abortion is the murder of a full-fledged person by a mother, father, doctor, society, for which one will have to answer for sure.

In addition, today there is an intensification of such processes as: the degradation of the family lifestyle, the spread of alternative forms of marriage and family relations, the decrease in the prestige of the family, the increase in the number of neglected children, and the increase in the number of social orphans. Researchers in their opinions agree that these processes testify, first of all, to the devaluation of family values ​​and the crisis of the social institution of the family.

test questions

1. What are the main elements of the social structure of society?

2. What is a social community?

3. List the main characteristics of the class as a social community.

4. What is the main criterion for the division of society into classes?

5. What are strata? On what grounds are they formed? Name the types of stratification systems.

6. What are the features of social stratification of modern Russian society?

7. Describe the features of the social structure of Russian society and the trends in its development.

8. Is the role of the family increasing or decreasing in modern society?

9. What are the main functions of the family?

10. What are the prospects for the development of the institution of family and marriage
in modern Russia?

11. What facts testify to the crisis state of the family institution in modern Russian society?

Types of social communities

At the root of the typology of social communities are various criteria:

1. According to the qualitative and quantitative composition:

I. Bulk . Mass community - it is a type of social community that includes many individuals. MO are characterized by the following signs:

1) a situational mode of existence, since the community is unstable due to random occurrence (example: a crowd at a rally);

2) Heterogeneous (heterogeneous) composition of MO, ᴛ.ᴇ. it includes people belonging to different social, ethnic, demographic, professional groups;

3) MO has blurred (open) boundaries, it is not closed, anyone can connect to it;

4) MO is characterized by an amorphous position within broader social communities and is not able to act as their structural formations.

Samples of mass communities are broad social, political, cultural movements- ʼʼgreenʼʼ, female, against the threat of nuclear war, etc.; associations and associations for cultural, sports and other interests- clubs of supporters of sports teams. Also, mass communities should include quasigroups, whose distinguishing features are:

1) spontaneity of education;

2) instability of relationships;

3) lack of diversity in interactions (this is either the reception or transmission of information, or only an expression of protest or delight, etc.);

4) short duration of joint actions. Most often, quasi-groups exist for a short time, after which they either completely disintegrate, or, under the influence of the situation, turn into stable social groups.

To quasigroups include the following social communities:

· the audience;

social circles.

The audience - a social community of people united by interaction with a communicator. Individuals and groups can act as communicators, owning some information and bringing it to this community. The audience can carry out both direct interaction with the communicator (listening to a street speaker, announcements of the manager in a store or other public places), and indirect, anonymous (for example, media exposure). A characteristic feature of the audience is one-way interaction, weak feedback from the communicator. Any audience tends to divide into separate communities, in which mutual communication and exchange of opinions about the information received begin. This allows each of the identified communities to form a common opinion regarding any event.

Crowd - it is a temporary gathering of people united in a closed physical space by a common interest. The social structure of the crowd is simple - the leader and everyone else. But, a crowd is something more than a mere collection of individuals. Physically limited space leads to social interaction. Crowds have the following characteristics:

1) suggestibility; 2) anonymity; 3) spontaneity and 4) invulnerability.

Crowd types:

1. according to the method of formation:

a) random crowd has the most uncertain structure due to spontaneous occurrence (for example, an accident). In this type of crowd, people are united by an insignificant goal, or a completely aimless pastime, and also weakly emotionally included and can freely separate themselves from it.

B) conditioned crowd- a pre-planned and structured meeting of people. The behavior of crowd members is influenced by pre-established social norms (for example, a crowd in a stadium, in a theater, at a performance behaves differently.

B) expressive crowd usually organized for the personal pleasure of its members and the activity of people is the goal and result (for example, dances, music festivals, etc.).

2. according to the way of behavior:

a) acting crowd- ϶ᴛᴏ a raging bunch or other forms of communities with extreme types of behavior. In the study of social processes, this type of crowd is given more importance than all other types of crowds.

forms of the acting crowd:

- gathering - an emotionally excited crowd, gravitating towards violent actions. Actions are directed to some object and are short-lived;

- revolting crowd differs from a gathering in that the behavior of crowd members is less structured, less purposeful, and more erratic. The actions of the crowd in most cases are unpredictable. The mechanisms of crowd formation, the irrational and often destructive behavior of a person in an acting crowd, have always interested sociologists, in particular the French scientist Gustav Lebon, who proposed in 1895 ᴦ. version of the "collective aspiration" and the American sociologist Ralph Turner, who developed the theory of "emerging norms".

social circles closest to stable social groups. SC - ϶ᴛᴏ social communities created for the purpose of exchanging information between their members. The main function of social circles is to exchange views, news, comments, arguments.

The main criteria specific to social circles:

1) general interest in the topic of discussion (for example, hobby groups, football fans discussing the results of a match, a meeting of people discussing political events, etc.);

2) belonging to a certain subculture (circles of businessmen, professionals discussing narrowly professional issues).

There are the following types of social circles:

contact circles- communities of people who constantly meet at sports competitions, in transport or in queues. Contact circles are easily created, but also easily disintegrated (for example, newly created student groups, when their members begin to look for common topics, interests).

Professional circles- ϶ᴛᴏ soc. Communities, whose members gather to exchange information solely on a professional basis, arise within the framework of formalized groups at enterprises, meetings, conferences. More often, professional circles move into stable social groups.

Friendly circles- ϶ᴛᴏ social communities for the exchange of information that arise among individuals united by friendship relations. Usually these are companies that meet from time to time and discuss pressing issues.

Status social circles- ϶ᴛᴏ communities that are formed about the exchange of information among individuals who have the same or similar statuses (for example, the circle of aristocrats, women's or men's circles, the circle of pensioners, etc.). This type of social circles is formed according to the principle of belonging to one subculture and is relatively difficult to access for individuals with a different status.

The study of social circles is of not only scientific but also practical interest for two reasons. First of all, they are such social formations in which public opinion is born and formed. Secondly, social circles are the basis for the formation of active social groups (for example, the formation of political parties (Frolov).

II. Group communities include a certain set of individuals (at least two people). GO are characterized by the following signs:

1) GOs have stable and definite spatio-temporal boundaries of their existence (for example, a group community of students);

2) They are determined by a clearly expressed homogeneity (homogeneity) of the composition. (Example: all individuals belonging to a student group have signs of belonging to it);

3) Ability to perform joint activities to achieve common goals and objectives;

4) GO can be part of wider social communities (for example, students are part of the social community of youth).

Mass and group communities should not be opposed to each other. Οʜᴎ interact with each other at various levels within society, intergroup relations, at the level of the individual.

Within the framework of the typology of social communities, the following criteria that unite people will acquire significant significance: property, income, prestige, power, status.

For this reason, classes, estates, castes, social groups and strata are varieties of social communities.

2. On the basis of residence in a certain economically developed territory, the following are distinguished:

I. Socio-territorial and II. demographic communities.

These communities are characterized by the presence of economic, social and political ties between people within the framework of spatially limited social structures (population of a village, city and region.

The main reason for the occurrence socio-territorial community is the division of labor and the distribution of people according to one or another type of activity, which ultimately means the assignment of people to a given settlement. Socio-territorial communities retain the ability for sustainable existence due to the socio-demographic reproduction of the population. Socio-territorial and socio-demographic communities are closely interconnected.

Socio-demographic communities considered on the basis of the criterion gender and age(It is possible to single out such communities as men, women, children, youth, pensioners.

3. On the basis of belonging to a certain ethnic group, the following are distinguished:

Types of social communities - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Types of social communities" 2017, 2018.

social community- it is a real-life, empirically fixed set of people, characterized by relative integrity and acting as an independent subject of historical and social action.

Therefore:

Firstly, this is not a nominal (conditional), but a real social formation, which can be empirically fixed and verified at any moment;

Secondly, this is not a simple collection of individuals, but a certain community, suggesting all the characteristics of an integral system;

Thirdly, it is the subject of social interaction, which contains the source of self-movement, the development of social processes and relations.

Social communities are distinguished by an unusual variety of specific forms and types. They may vary by quantitative composition: from a few individuals to numerous masses; by duration of existence: from minutes and hours (train passengers, theater audience) to centuries and millennia (ethnic groups, nations); according to the degree of connection between individuals: from relatively stable associations to very amorphous, random formations (queue, crowd, fans of football teams). Therefore, in order to classify social communities, it is important to single out one or another systemic feature:

Ethnicity (tribe, nationality, nation);

Belonging to historically established territorial associations (city, village, township);

Socio-demographic factors (gender, age), etc.

In addition, in everyday life there are often situationally arisen communities (crowd, audience, audience of listeners, social circles, etc.), which are characterized by instability, short duration, and fragility of relationships between people in contact. Such communities are also called "quasi-groups" or "social aggregations". In some cases, they can act as some kind of transitional formations in their interactions - from chaotic and random to more or less stable.

In general, the whole set of real social communities can be divided into two broad subclasses - mass communities and group communities (social groups).

Mass communities are characterized by the following features: 1) they are structurally undivided amorphous formations with rather extended boundaries, with an indefinite qualitative and quantitative composition, and do not have a clearly defined principle of entering them; 2) they are characterized by a situational mode of existence, they are formed and function on the basis and within the boundaries of a particular activity, are impossible outside of it and therefore turn out to be unstable; 3) they are inherent in the heterogeneity of the composition, intergroup nature, i.e. they are torn apart by class, group, ethnic and other boundaries; 4) due to their amorphous formation, they are not able to act as part of broader communities, as their structural units. A typical example of mass communities are members of political or environmental movements (for peace, against the nuclear threat, against environmental pollution, etc.), fans of pop stars, fans of sports teams, members of amateur associations of interest (philatelists, etc.) .

Unlike mass communities social groups are characterized by:

A stable interaction that contributes to the strength and stability of their existence;

Relatively high degree of unity and cohesion;

Homogeneity of the composition, suggesting the presence of signs common to all members of the group;

The ability to enter into broader social formations as structural units.

There are many definitions of the term "social group". According to some Russian sociologists, a social group is an association of people who have common social characteristics and perform jointly necessary functions in the social structure of the division of labor and activity. Other sociologists define a social group as a set of people who interact with each other in a certain way, are aware of their belonging to this group and are considered members of it from the point of view of other people.

All social groups can be subdivided:

By the nature of the interaction - into primary and secondary;

By quantitative composition - into small and large;

According to the method of organizing and regulating interaction - into formal and informal.

Under primary is understood as such a group in which the interaction is direct, interpersonal in nature and involves mutual support. The concept of "primary group" was introduced into scientific circulation by the American sociologist and social psychologist C. Cooley in relation to the family, where the individual receives the first experience of social communication. Later, this term was used by sociologists in the study of any group in which close personal relationships have developed (a group of friends, peers, neighbors, etc.). The primary group is a kind of initial link between the individual and society.

As secondary a group acts, the interaction in which is due to the achievement of a specific goal and is of a formal business nature. In such groups, the main importance is attached not to the personal qualities of the members of the group, but to their ability to perform certain roles and functions. Secondary groups have an institutionalized system of relations, and their activities are regulated on the basis of formalized rules. Examples of such groups are industrial and economic organizations, trade unions, political parties, etc.

At the same time, one should not assume that all secondary groups are absolutely impersonal and devoid of any originality. Within these groups, people enter into friendly relations and often form, in fact, primary social formations. When leading a secondary group, it is necessary to take into account these informal connections and relationships that have a significant impact on the functioning of everything.

MalayaGroup- this is a small number of directly contacting individuals who carry out joint activities. Small groups are characterized by the following features:

Small and stable composition (from three to thirty people);

Spatial proximity of group members;

Stability and duration of operation;

Intensity of interpersonal interactions;

High degree of coincidence of group values, norms of behavior;

Developed sense of belonging to a group;

Informal control and information saturation of communication.

Sometimes small groups are identified with primary ones. This is not entirely fair, because not every small group is primary. There are highly formalized small groups, relations in which are regulated by strict official regulations (for example, the crew of an aircraft, a space crew, a sabotage group - "commandos"). When studying a small group, two main aspects are distinguished: leadership and group dynamics.

Bigsocial group- This is a large group in its composition, which is created for a specific purpose and interactions in which are mainly indirect. Large enterprises, labor collectives, management organizations, etc. can serve as examples of such a group. A large social group is also understood as a large collection (non-contact, non-target, non-psychological) of people occupying the same position in the structure of society and having, as a result, common interests. This includes social-class, professional, political, religious and other groups.

FormalGroup- it is a group with a legal status, interaction in which is determined by a system of formalized norms and rules. These groups have a normatively fixed hierarchical structure and act in accordance with the established administrative and legal order.

informalGroup -- it is a non-legal group that arises on the basis of interpersonal interactions. Such groups are deprived of official regulation and are held together by a commonality of views and interests of individuals. These groups are usually led by informal leaders. Examples of informal groups are friendly companies, associations of “informals” among young people, rock music lovers, etc.

social community is a collection of individuals united by the same conditions and lifestyle, values, interests.

signssocial community:

similarity of living conditions.

Generality of needs.

Availability of joint activities.

Formation of own culture.

Social identification of community members, their self-assignment to this community.

Kindssocial communities:

• According to the degree of stability, there are:

1.short-term, unstable groups that differ mainly in their random nature and weak interaction between people and therefore are often called quasi-groups (“imaginary”, not real. Such are, say, theatrical spectators at a performance, passengers in a train car, a tourist group, a rally crowd, etc. .).

2. Groups of medium stability(work collective of the plant, a team of builders, a school class, a student group).

3. sustainable communities (such as nations or classes).

• Three main groups are also distinguished by size:

1. Large social communities, i.e. groups existing throughout the country as a whole (these are nations, classes, social strata, professional associations, etc.)

2. Medium social communities - say, residents of Cheboksary or the whole of Chuvashia; employees of such a giant automobile plant as KamAZ, etc.)

3. Small social communities, or small (primary) groups, which include, for example, a family, another space crew on the Mir orbital station, a team of employees of a small cafe or shop, a training group in a technical school.

Distinctive features of small groups are not only their small number, but also the immediacy, strength and intensity of contacts between group members, a noticeable similarity of goals, norms and rules of their behavior. There are two main types of groups here:

A) formal groups that are created specifically and act in accordance with a certain administrative and legal order - the charter, regulations, instructions, etc. (for example, a student group as a whole);

b) informal groups that naturally unite individuals in the process of their free communication and under the influence of common interests and mutual sympathy (this may be part of the representatives of the same student group, united, say, by classes in a sports section or by a passion for music).

• According to the content, social communities can be divided into five groups:

1. Socio-economic (castes, estates, classes);

2. Socio-ethnic (kinds, tribes, nationalities, nations);

3. Socio-demographic (youth, elderly, children, women);

4. Socio-professional (miners, teachers, doctors, etc.);

5. Socio-territorial (residents of certain territories, regions, districts, cities, etc.)

• Depending on the level of solidarity:

1) sets in which imaginary solidarity is embodied (in the absence of mutual social actions, there are coinciding goals, interests, etc.). Set forms: a) categories(statistical aggregates of individuals with similar social characteristics): students, teenagers, women, "new Russians", etc.; b) aggregations(associations of people spatially located in one place): passengers of one train, visitors of one supermarket, etc.; c) masses (characterized by similar (homogeneous), but not social actions): people fleeing from a real or imaginary threat (a similar action is panic); people striving to wear the same clothes (a similar action - following fashion), etc .;

2) contact communities in which real, but, as a rule, short-term solidarity is embodied. Their forms: a ) audience- one-time, relatively short-term (from several minutes to several hours) interactions between a lecturer (singer, actor, etc.) and listeners; b ) crowds- communities of people united by the momentary present (types of crowds: random (onlookers at the fire), conditioned (queuing for tickets), acting (rebels)); in) social circles- communities of people of the same social status who have come together to satisfy their social needs (in communication, caring for others, recognition, prestige, etc.): a meeting of friends, a conference of scientists, a school ball, etc. (social circles often become the basis for the formation of group communities);

3) group communities in which institutionalized (long-term, stable, determined by norms, customs, etc.) solidarity is embodied.

• According to the density of connections between individuals:

1) closely knit (organizations); 2) amorphous education (football club fans, beer lovers).

ethnic community. People of a certain nation or nationality with habits, traditions and way of life characteristic of this nation or nationality. Ethnic communities can play a significant role in the historical development of society, for example, the conquest of lands.

Various approaches (theory) to understanding the essence of ethnic groups, their origin:

1) Natural-biological or racial-anthropological approach - recognizes the inequality of human races, the cultural superiority of the Caucasoid race. The imperfection of racial characteristics is the basis of the cultural backwardness of nations and nationalities.

2) Marxist theory - proclaims economic relations as the main basis for the formation of a nation. Recognizes the right of nations to self-determination up to secession, the idea of ​​their complete equality, proletarian internationalism.

3) Sociocultural approach - considers ethnic communities as components of the social structure of society, revealing their close relationship with social groups and various social institutions. Ethnic community is an important source of self-promotion and self-development.

4) Passionary theory of ethnogenesis (origin, development of the ethnos) - considers the ethnos as a natural, biological, geographical phenomenon, as a result of the adaptation of the human group to the natural and climatic conditions of habitat.

Types of ethnic communities:

A clan is a group of blood relatives leading their origin along the same line (maternal or paternal).

A tribe is a collection of clans, interconnected by common features of culture, awareness of a common origin, as well as a common dialect, the unity of religious ideas and rituals.

A nationality is a historically formed community of people united by a common territory, language, mental makeup, and culture.

A nation is a historically formed community of people, characterized by developed economic ties, a common territory and a common language, culture, and ethnic identity.

In sociology, the concept is widely used ethnic minorities, which includes more than just quantitative data.

The features of an ethnic minority are as follows:

Its representatives are at a disadvantage compared to other ethnic groups due to discrimination (belittling, belittling, infringement) on the part of other ethnic groups;

Its members experience a certain sense of group solidarity, "belonging to a single whole";

It is usually to some extent physically and socially isolated from the rest of society.

The ethnos was formed by the common language and common territory. A more stable sign of an ethnic community is the unity of such components of spiritual culture as values, norms and patterns of behavior, as well as the socio-psychological characteristics of people's consciousness and behavior associated with them.

Territorial communities - a set of people permanently residing in a certain territory and connected by ties of joint relations to this economically developed territory. Territorial communities include the population of a city, a village, a township, a village, a separate district of a large city. As well as more complex territorial-administrative formations - district, region, territory, state, province, republic, federation, etc.

In territorial communities, people unite, despite class, professional, demographic and other differences, on the basis of some common social and cultural features acquired by them under the influence of the peculiar circumstances of their formation and development, as well as on the basis of common interests.

social group - this is an association of people based on their common participation in some activity, connected by a system of relations that are regulated by formal or informal social institutions.

For the emergence of a group, an internal organization, purpose, specific forms of social control, patterns of activity are necessary.

Kinds:

• Real and nominal groups.

nominal groups. They are singled out only for statistical accounting of the population, and therefore they have a second name - social categories.

Example:

Commuter bus passengers

Registered by the police

Childless, large and small families

Temporary or permanent residents

Dual citizenship

Living in separate or communal apartments

Social categories are groups of the population artificially constructed for the purposes of statistical analysis, and therefore they are called nominal, or conditional. They are essential in business practice. For example, in order to properly organize suburban train traffic, you need to know what the total or seasonal number of passengers is.

real groups. They are called so because the criterion for their selection are really significant features:

Gender - men and women

Nationality - Russians, British, Turks

Income - rich, poor and wealthy

Age - children, teenagers, youth, adults, old people

Kinship and marriage - single, married, parents, widows

Profession - drivers, teachers, military personnel

Place of residence - townspeople, rural residents.

Since these are real signs, they exist objectively and are perceived subjectively. Thus, young people feel their group affiliation and solidarity in the same way that pensioners feel theirs. Representatives of the same real group have similar stereotypes of behavior, lifestyle, value orientations.

• primary and secondary groups.

Primary group - one whose members have direct, personal, close relationships with each other, for example, family, sports team, etc.

The essence of the primary group is revealed in the following points:

1. The individual reveals himself in an intimate trusting relationship.

2. Communication with people close in spirit and outlook.

3. Relieves stress and tension, anxiety and anxiety.

4. Self-esteem of the individual is determined by the opinion of the group.

5. The real status of the individual was determined by the opinion of the group.

secondary group - an association of individuals involved in impersonal relationships and gathered together to achieve some specific practical goal.

Among mass communities, sociologists share crowd and mass.

Crowd- a set of people who are in direct contact, due to physical proximity. The characteristic of the crowd is given in the works of N. Mikhailovsky “Psychology of the crowd”, “Heroes and the crowd”.

The mass differs from the crowd by mediated contact.

If some significant needs of people are not realized, and they realize ϶ᴛᴏ as a threat to their existence, the mechanisms of protective behavior are activated. There is a community of interest based on anxiety or even fear - a crowd is formed. A person ceases to feel ϲʙᴏ and role masks, removes behavioral restrictions from himself, he, as it were, regresses into the world of primitive passions.

A feeling of special power is formed in the crowd, a multiple increase in their own efforts. A person feels carried away by a common impulse, turns into a part of a single, living organism. At the head of the ϶ᴛᴏth freshly melted community standing leader, and the crowd completely, unquestioningly obeys his will.

There are four main types of crowds:

• random;
• conventional;
• expressive;
• active

Random called such an accumulation, where everyone pursues momentary goals. Such are the queue in the store or at the bus stop, passengers in the same train, plane, bus, walking along the embankment, onlookers watching a traffic accident.

Convention crowd consists of people gathered in a given place and at a given time not by chance, but with pre-set goal.

Participants in a religious service, spectators of a theatrical performance, listeners of a symphony concert or a scientific lecture, football fans observe certain norms and rules that regulate their behavior, make it orderly and predictable. They have a lot in common with the public.

It should be noted that theater audiences know that during the performance it is forbidden to talk and comment on what is happening, engage in polemics with actors, sing songs, etc. On the contrary, football fans are allowed to shout loudly, talk, sing songs, get up, dance, hug and etc. This is an informal agreement (convention) about proper behavior in specific situations, which has become a custom. When in the 1980s sports officials decided to break the ϶ᴛᴏt custom and forbade fans to express ϲʙᴏ loudly and emotions, the stadiums plunged into mournful silence. Football ceased to be a celebratory spectacle, attendance plummeted.

expressive crowd, unlike the conventional one, it is collected not in order to be enriched with new knowledge, impressions, ideas, but in order to express ϲʙᴏand feelings and interests.

Urban dance floors, youth discos, rock festivals, holiday festivities and folk festivals (the brightest take place in Latin American countries) are examples of expressive crowds.

active crowd- any of the previous types of the crowd, which manifests itself in action. It is worth noting that she gathers in order to take part in the action, and not only to observe events or express ϲʙᴏ and feelings.

A prominent place among mass social communities is occupied by ethnic communities(ethnos), which can be represented by various social formations: tribe, nationality, nation. Ethnos- ϶ᴛᴏ a stable collection of people, historically formed in a certain territory, possessing common features and stable features of culture and psychological make-up, as well as the consciousness of ϲʙᴏ its unity and difference from other similar formations (self-awareness)

Natural a prerequisite for the formation of or another ethnic group will have a common territory, since it is she who creates the conditions for close communication and uniting people. Subsequently, when the ethnos was formed, the ϶ᴛᴏt attribute acquires secondary importance and may be completely absent.

Another important condition for the formation of an ethnos will be common language, although the ϶ᴛᴏt sign of an ethnic group does not have an absolute value.

The greatest influence in ethnic community has the unity of such components of spiritual culture as values, norms and patterns of behavior, as well as related socio-psychological characteristics consciousness and behavior of people.

Integrative an indicator of the formed ethnic community is ethnic identity — feeling of belonging to a certain ethnic group. plays a prominent role in ethnic identity notion of common origin and historical destinies of people included in the ethnic group, based on genealogical legends, participation in historical events, on communication with their native land, native language.

Formed ethnos functions as an integral social mechanism and is gradually reproduced through internal marriages and through the system of socialization. It is worth saying, for a more sustainable existence ethnos strives to the creation of its socio-territorial organizations tribal or state type. Over time, separate parts of the formed ethnos can be separated by political and state borders. But even under these conditions, they can retain their ethnic identity as belonging to the same social community.

As an example, we can consider the formation and development of the Russian ethnos. The premise of its formation is the territory of the Northern Black Sea region, where a significant part of the Slavic tribes moved as a result of migration. The formation of the Russian ethnos is subject to all the laws described above.

A radical shift in the formation of the Russian ethnos occurred in the middle of the ninth century. From the ϶ᴛᴏth time, the researchers believe, the highest form of the Russian ethnos begins to form - the Russian nation. The original concept of the main features and conditions for the formation of the Russian nation was proposed by P. A. Sorokin. According to Sorokin, the nation will be a diverse (multifunctional) solidary, organized, semi-closed socio-cultural group, at least partially aware of the fact of its existence and development. By the way, this group consists of individuals who: will be citizens of one state; have a common or similar language and a common set of cultural values ​​derived from a common past history of these individuals and their predecessors; occupy the common territory on which they live or their ancestors lived. P. A. Sorokin emphasizes that only when a group of individuals belongs to a single state, is connected by a common language, culture and territory, does it really form a nation.

The Russian nation in the indicated sense arose as a nation from the moment the Russian state was formed in the middle of the ninth century. The totality of the main features of the Russian nation includes its relatively long existence, enormous vitality, perseverance, the outstanding willingness of its representatives to make sacrifices, as well as the extraordinary territorial, demographic, political, social and cultural development during its historical life.

The formation of the Russian nation was greatly influenced by the adoption at the end of the 10th century. Orthodoxy as the state religion of Kievan Rus (the famous baptism on the Dnieper in 998 by Prince Vladimir ϲʙᴏ of their subjects) According to P. A. Sorokin, the main features of Russian consciousness and all components of Russian culture and social organization were Orthodoxy from the end of the 9th to the 18th century. Later, the formation of the Russian nation began to be influenced by various aspects of the secular sphere of life, incl. and Western culture.

The fundamental idea of ​​the national spiritual Russian nation for many centuries of its existence was the idea of ​​the unity of the Russian lands. Initially, it was considered as the idea of ​​raising the national-state principle, overcoming feudal fragmentation. By the way, this idea merged with the idea of ​​confrontation with foreign invaders, the Tatar-Mongol conquerors, weakening the economy, trade, ruining Russian cities and villages, taking away relatives and friends into captivity, insulting the moral dignity of Russian people. The subsequent development of the spiritual and moral foundations of the Russian nation is closely connected with the gathering of Russian lands around Moscow, overcoming dependence on the yoke of the Golden Horde, and the formation of a powerful independent state.

History shows that the formation and development of the Russian nation was not smooth. There were ups and downs. There were periods when it temporarily lost its state independence (Tatar-Mongol conquest), experienced a deep spiritual and moral crisis, a decline in morals, general confusion and vacillation (as in the troubled times of the 16th century or during the revolution and civil war of the early 20th century). .) At the end of the 20th century. it was divided for political reasons into Russia, Belarus, Ukraine within the framework of the CIS. But the advantages of a community of people who are close in blood and spirit will inevitably force the political leadership of these countries to seek and find forms of unification. The creation of the Union of Russia and Belarus, its expansion and deepening is convincing evidence of the expediency of this process.