Society as a system is distinguished by the close interconnection and interdependence of all its elements and subsystems. Just like in nature, everything is part of a single complex. Such that, by affecting or destroying one of its components, the very existence of the natural world can be threatened.
A complex system of social connections and interactions permeates all spheres of society from top to bottom. Taking any political decision, we will be able to trace its consequences in all spheres. Let's take an example from our recent past. The implementation of privatization and denationalization in the economy, the introduction of market relations led to the destruction of the old one-party political system, a change in the entire system of legislation. Significant changes have also taken place in the sphere of spiritual culture.
Let us consider in more detail the basic concepts and definitions related to the characteristics of social ties and relationships.
The main types of social connections are functional and causal. Cause-and-effect relationships are distinguished in the case when one of the phenomena brings the other to life, is its basis. The easiest way to illustrate such connections is by examples of the interaction of the main spheres of society.
Functional connections can be traced in the interdependence of the goals and objectives carried out by the society and its individual elements. For example, the task of producing vital goods is inseparable from the distribution of the results of labor, the reproduction and socialization of a person, the implementation of management, and so on.
Both causal and functional relationships are always realized in unity. The first can be represented as a vertical, since one phenomenon precedes another in time. The latter are formed at the same moment in time.
To achieve its goals and objectives, society constructs a system of social relations - communications and corresponding structures - social institutions. Under public relations refers to the relationships that arise between groups of people and within them in the process of the life of society. In accordance with the division of society into subsystems - spheres, scientists distinguish economic, social, political, spiritual. For example, relations in the sphere of distribution of material goods are economic, relations in the sphere of social management, decision-making on the coordination of public interests can be called political.
By their nature, these relations can be solidary (partnership), based on the coordination of the interests of the parties, or conflict (competitive), when the interests of the participants are opposite. In addition, relations differ in terms of the level of interaction: interpersonal, intergroup and international. But a number of their elements remain always unchanged.
In the structure of any relations a number of elements can be distinguished:
participants (subjects) of relations;
an object of activity significant for the participants;
needs (subject-object relations);
interests (subject-subject relations);
values (relationships between the ideals of interacting subjects).
The nature of social ties and relations changes in the process of social evolution, as society changes.
Throughout their lives, on the basis of direct contacts in various fields of activity, people form social ties.
Social connection is a set of various kinds of dependencies between individuals, realized through social action; relations that unite people in social communities. social connection arises where and when there are subjects of communication (two or more people), the subject of communication (what relations, contacts arise about) and the mechanism for regulating relations (depending on the situation, this may be a tradition, a legal norm, etc.). P.).
Under social community is understood as a set of people united by common conditions of existence, regularly and steadily interacting with each other. The social community is characterized by relative integrity and can act as an independent subject of historical and social action.
In modern society, social communities are very diverse. They can be defined by the following indicators:
- quantitative composition - from a few people to millions;
- time of existence - from minutes and hours (bus passengers) to centuries (ethnic groups, nations);
- the quality and degree of relationships - from relatively stable social groups (family, stratum) to random formations (crowd).
And there are several types of communities.
Social community is distinguished by the following features:
- similarity of living conditions;
- commonality of needs;
- Team work;
- general culture; social identification.
Society as a system is distinguished by the close interconnection and interdependence of all its elements and subsystems. A complex system of social connections and relations permeates all spheres of society, which is determined by the nature of man as a social being. The main types of social connections are functional and causal. Cause-and-effect relationships are distinguished in the case when one of the phenomena brings the other to life, is its basis. Functional - can be traced in the interdependence of the goals and objectives carried out by the society and its individual elements. Causal and functional relationships are always implemented in unity. The first can be represented as a vertical, since one phenomenon precedes another in time. The latter are formed at the same moment in time.
To achieve its goals and objectives, society constructs a system of social relations - communications and forms the appropriate structures - social institutions.
Under public relations refers to the connections that arise between groups of people and within them in the process of the life of society. In accordance with the division of society into subsystems, there are economic, social, political and spiritual social relations. For example, relations in the sphere of distribution of material goods are economic; relations in the sphere of social management, decision-making on the coordination of public interests can be called political.
By their nature, these relations can be solidary (partnership), based on the coordination of the interests of the parties, or conflict (competitive), when the interests of the participants are opposite. In addition, relationships differ in terms of the level of interaction: they can be interpersonal, intergroup, international. The nature of social ties and public relations is changing in the process of development of society. At the same time, a number of their elements remain always unchanged.
In the structure of any relationship, one can distinguish:
- participants (subjects);
- significant object for them;
- needs (subject-object relations);
- interests (subject-subject relations);
- values (relationships between the ideals of interacting subjects).
Society as a system
Exercise 1
Which term corresponds to the following definition?
Separated from nature, but closely connected with it, part of the material world, which includes a set of individuals, social communities and forms of interaction between them.
Write down the answer:
Task #2
Write the word missing in the diagram.
Image:
Write down the answer:
__________________________________________
Task #3
Society as a complex, self-regulating system is the object of study of this science.
Make a word from letters:
EIKSNRTGAEI -> __________________________________________
Task #4
Read the text with some missing words. Choose from the proposed list of words that you want to insert in place of the gaps.
“Society as _____(A) is distinguished by the close interconnection and interdependence of all elements and subsystems. Just like in _____(B), they are all part of a single complex - such that by affecting or destroying one of the components, the very existence of the social world can be threatened.
A complex system of social ties and _____ (B) permeates all spheres of society from top to bottom. By accepting any political ____ (D), we will be able to trace its consequences in all areas. Let us give an example from the recent past of our country. The implementation of privatization and denationalization in the economy, the introduction of market relations led to the destruction of the old one-party political system, a change in the entire system of legislation. Significant changes have also taken place in the sphere of _____ (D) culture.
The main types of social connections are _____(E) and causal. The first can be traced in the interdependence of the goals and objectives carried out by society as a whole and its individual elements. Cause-and-effect relationships are distinguished in the case when one of the phenomena brings the other to life, is its basis.
Each word (phrase) can only be used once.
Note that there are more words in the list than is required to fill in the gaps.
Please indicate the correspondence for all 6 answer options:
1) interaction
2) spiritual
3) sociology
4) public
5) solution
6) system
7) nature
9) functional
Task #5
Find examples of the direct impact of the economy on the social sphere of public life in the list below.
1) construction of housing for workers by the factory
2) delayed salary due to the bankruptcy of the enterprise
3) creation of new jobs
4) state guarantee of bank deposits
5) adoption of state educational standards
6) introduction of censorship on state television
Task #6
Establish a correspondence between the components and spheres of society.
Please indicate the correspondence for all 7 answer options:
1) economic sphere
2) political sphere
3) spiritual sphere
4) social sphere
Relations in the process of material production
Activities of state bodies, political parties
Development and adoption of laws
Morality, religion, philosophy
Improving factors of production
Formation of public opinion
Interaction of classes, social strata and groups
Task #7
The influence of geopolitical factors on the development of society is an example of his...
Choose one of 4 answer options:
1) openness
2) difficulties
3) non-linear development
4) dynamism
Task #8
What provisions can serve as definitions of the concept of "society"?
Choose from 6 answer options:
1) a certain stage in the historical development of mankind
2) the entire material world as a whole
3) the results of the material-transforming activities of people
4) stable stereotypes of human behavior
5) the totality of all peoples inhabiting our planet
6) a group of people united for joint activities and communication
Task #9
What features characterize society as a dynamic system?
Choose from 6 answer options:
1) constant change
2) lack of interconnection of subsystems and public institutions
3) the ability for self-organization and self-development
4) the possibility of degradation of individual elements
5) isolation from the material world
6) isolation from nature
Task #10
Are the following statements true?
Indicate the truth or falsity of the answer options:
The system has only those properties that are inherent in its constituent elements.
One of the elements of society as a system is social relations.
Social development is always progressive.
All subsystems of society influence each other.
The nonlinearity of society is manifested in the fact that the processes that take place in it are determined by different reasons, are described by different laws and are not synchronized in time.
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* means of labor - all devices, devices, mechanisms, adaptations, energy systems, etc., with the help of which objects of labor are subjected to transformation;
* technologies used - techniques and methods used in the production process. To characterize labor activity, the following parameters are usually used: 1) labor productivity - the number of products produced per unit of time; 2) labor efficiency - the ratio of material and labor costs, on the one hand, and the results obtained, on the other; 3) the level of division of labor - the distribution of specific production functions between the participants in the labor process (on the scale of society and in specific labor processes).
The content of a person's labor activity can be judged by the functions that he performs, by the degree of their diversity and complexity, by the level of independence and creativity of the employee. The nature of the requirements for a participant in labor activity depends on many factors, primarily on the specific content of labor and place in the system of division of labor. The general requirements are:
1) the employee must master all the techniques and methods of production that make up the technological process (professionalism requirement);
2) the qualification of an employee cannot be lower than the level determined by the nature of the work. The more difficult the work, the higher the requirements for special training of a participant in the labor process (qualification requirement);
3) the employee is required to unconditionally comply with labor laws and internal labor regulations, comply with the specified parameters of the production process, fulfill obligations arising from the content of the employment contract (requirements of labor, technological, performance, contractual discipline).
Labor market is an integral part of the modern market infrastructure. Economists refer to it as one of the markets for factors of production.
Work (manpower) -- it is the physical and mental effort expended in the production process. The quality of labor resources is determined by health, education, qualifications, work skills and traditions. The main indicators of labor costs - the duration of the working week and labor productivity - are indirect. It is not possible to accurately measure the costs of labor, and not its result.
The price of "labor" is called " wages" and is interpreted more broadly than the usual concept of wages. The price of "labor" consists of the salary for the hours worked (time wages) and piecework earnings for the amount of work performed (piecework wages), from bonus and non-monetary income (these include, for example, a ticket to a sanatorium, part of the cost of which is paid by the enterprise) , as well as the costs of entrepreneurs for wages that go to the budget and other funds (the so-called payroll).
Wage is determined not only by the quantity and quality of labor, but primarily by the demand and supply of labor. Rising product prices and reduced labor supply can lead to higher wages. The salary here is interpreted broadly and includes all types of compensation received by the employee. In addition to the basic salary, vacation pay, pension contributions that will return to the employee in the future, social and medical insurance, bonuses, fees, and even the cash equivalent of various hidden forms of remuneration (gifts, vouchers, etc.) are taken into account.
There are two main forms of remuneration:piecework and time-based used depending on working conditions. In addition, when paying for the final result of a significant amount of work, the so-called chord system when a significant part of the salary is paid upon completion of the entire work. Various forms and methods of bonuses are widely used.
close to competitive labor market there will be a dockers market in a major port city. There are a lot of sellers if they are not united in a union. There are many buyers of labor in the event that ships arriving at the port hire dockers on their own. Entry and exit barriers are negligible, information is close to perfect, resources are quite mobile. Therefore, all enterprises hire the number of workers they want to hire for the equilibrium wage, and industry workers are willing to provide their labor at this price.
Competitive factors in the labor market are not dominant. The presence of stable unemployment indicates that there are non-competitive factors in the labor market that limit the market element. The strong influence of non-competitive factors is evidenced by the fact that rising unemployment in Western countries did not lead to lower wages and the establishment of fuller employment.
Non-competitive factors in the labor market- this is, first of all, the intervention of the state, which legally deprives wages of flexibility. Labor legislation restricts the effect of market factors in the labor market in order to achieve social justice. First, the minimum wage is set by law. If it is higher than the equilibrium price of labor, it increases unemployment. In our country, the minimum wage (SMIC) in the first 10 years of reforms was below the subsistence level. The minimum wage served as an index for administrative fines and was used to calculate the salaries of officials. Second, workers are often compensated for price increases. In Brazil, for example, wages were indexed for a long time. We carry out periodic compensation, the procedure and terms of which are not established. Thirdly, social policy has an impact on wages. For example, with the help of an enterprise, an employee can purchase an apartment at symbolic prices.
Differentiation in wages is an objective phenomenon, since the number of professions is increasing, and the costs of obtaining a profession are also growing. The less Mabundance of labor force, the lower wages due to the significant monopsony power of employers. The higher the mobility, the higher the opportunity cost of labor, as the worker will have more alternatives.
Compensatory pay difference arises from the different attractiveness of a particular profession. In particular, miners receive relatively large salaries because their work is dangerous and hard. Quality of work, qualifications and training are also universal causes of wage differentiation.
There are also objectively unjustified differences in wages, or in other words, discrimination in the labor market. It manifests itself when entrepreneurs pay different wages to equally productive workers. Another variant of its existence is restrictions on employment for certain groups of the population. Discrimination may be based on gender, race, nationality, age and other characteristics. The higher the discrimination in the labor market, the more profitable, as a rule, for employers due to the effect of price discrimination, and more profitable for workers who are not subjected to discrimination. But in general, for the economy, discrimination brings losses.
Wages in the long run cannot be lower than the subsistence minimum. Living wage- this is a level of income that is considered the minimum sufficient to meet the basic needs of a person in food, clothing, housing, personal hygiene items, transport services.
salary rigidity This is another non-competitive factor. It is easy for an entrepreneur to raise wages (if there is money and a decision has been made), but to reduce wages is very difficult. Wage rates are rigidly fixed and the entrepreneur does not have the opportunity to respond flexibly to changes in the labor productivity of an employee.
The costs of the entrepreneur for wages are higher than the wages that employees receive. He makes mandatory contributions to off-budget funds (pension, employment fund, compulsory medical insurance, and others).
Monopsony in the labor market a fairly common occurrence. A single buyer in the labor market, compared to a competitive labor market, may charge lower wages, and in doing so, employment may be reduced.
Monopoly in the labor market. It is unusual to hear that a single trade union of miners is a monopolist in this labor market. But that's just the way it is. True, the goal of this monopolist may not be profit, but the provision of working conditions and social guarantees. Compared to a competitive market, a union can charge higher wages while reducing employment. Examples are the guild organization in the late Middle Ages or the association of physicians in the United States.
Human capital - this is knowledge, skills, profession and qualifications, health and a healthy lifestyle, that is, everything that allows a person to count on a stream of income in the present and future. In the modern world, education is expensive, but it also brings much more income than unskilled labor. Gradually, in our society, a good education becomes profitable. The spread of paid education is evidence of this process, and the boom in business education at the beginning of the 21st century is a vivid confirmation of this. According to Western researchers, in Russia today the population pays more attention and a greater share of resources to education than in the US and the EU. Firms actively invest in human capital.
5.18 Unemployment
A feature of the development of the labor market is the presence of unemployment. It arises when not all people who are able and willing to work find their jobs. However, not everyone who does not have a job is unemployed. Along with the unemployed, economists also single out the unemployed. These are people who do not work and do not want to work. Unemployment is a socio-economic process that determines the proportion of the able-bodied population that temporarily experiences difficulties with employment.
Reasons for unemployment:
1) fluctuations in the demand and supply of labor in the labor market;
2) economic cycles, for example, seasonal. The agricultural work season covers the summer period and the beginning of autumn. At this time, there is the highest level of employment;
3) technological innovations. For example, the advent of computers led to the fact that a number of people were left without work, their functions began to be performed by machines;
4) imperfect competition in the labor market, limited mobility of labor resources;
5) the desire of enterprises wishing to minimize production costs, to get rid of excess labor.
Experts identify the following types of unemployment :
1) frictional(natural, voluntary) is associated with finding and changing jobs;
2) structural, as a rule, is associated with profound changes in the structure of the economy: the emergence of new industries and the decline of the former, transformations in the structure of demand and supply of labor. Often people who have worked for a long time in one place, have gained vast experience and have shown professionalism in a particular activity, find themselves out of work. The fact is that with the introduction of new technologies, the enterprise shows demand for new specialties. And since the former cadres turn out to be insufficiently trained in this regard, and retraining takes a lot of time, they are simply fired. Therefore, this unemployment is involuntary;
3) hidden unemployment takes place in the event that a person is registered at the enterprise as a labor force, but does not work and, accordingly, does not receive wages;
4) cyclic unemployment arises as a result of the crisis of the economy as a whole. This is the most dangerous type of unemployment, because, in addition to social contradictions, it also leads to a decrease in real GDP.
Of course, unemployment in the modern world is significantly different from what it was a hundred years ago. For example, today unemployment can be voluntary: a person does not want to get a job that is offered on the labor market (it is low-paid for him, too difficult, not prestigious, does not correspond to his interests, qualifications).
Structural unemployment, which is associated with the migration of people, their resettlement from one region to another, is the norm of modern society. The world has developed mechanisms for its regulation: the unemployed, who are registered with the relevant services, receive benefits that allow them to feed themselves and their families.
The normal level of unemployment, which the country's economy can cope with without any problems, is the unemployment of 6-7% of the able-bodied population. There are not so many officially registered unemployed in our country, but there are enterprises that send their employees on long unpaid vacations or do not provide them with full-time employment. Thus, the actual unemployment rate in our country is much higher than the official one. There are especially many unemployed in the modern Russian Federation among women and youth, among the rural population. The leaders of the enterprise would rather hire a person who already has some experience than a young beginner who should be taught everything. Young women are also reluctant to take them, they are afraid that they will go on maternity leave. There are no acute problems with unemployment in the city of Moscow. The city annually creates new jobs, organizes job fairs for graduates of schools, colleges, universities, where a young person can find an employer and conclude an employment contract. Services have been created that allow the unemployed to improve their skills and learn a new prestigious profession. But the fact that every person who wants to work does not sit idle should not only be taken care of by the state and city authorities. Much depends on the position of the worker himself. The city does not even have enough of its own workforce. Not all jobs where there are vacancies are of interest to Muscovites. For example, heavy physical labor in construction. Therefore, a number of construction companies invite to work the so-called "guest workers", or "guest workers" who come to the capital of Russia from other countries or from Russian regions. These people build new houses, build roads, help our capital to become more beautiful and majestic with their work.
In most economically developed countries, as soon as an unemployed person becomes a client of the labor exchange and begins to receive benefits (it is paid, as a rule, in the amount of 75% of the last salary), attention from the state increases. The tax and employment services are closely monitoring that those who receive unemployment benefits actually live on it and have no other income. In a number of countries, for example in the UK, special telephones have even been opened, by which anyone can anonymously inform about their acquaintances who are deceiving the state: receiving unemployment benefits and simultaneously working, and even in several places.
Consequences of unemployment serious for the individual and for society as a whole. The inability to find a job for a long period of time gives rise to a feeling of inferiority in a person, leads people to despair, illness, to the loss of friends, the collapse of the family. The loss of a stable source of income can push a person to commit a crime. Unemployment means the growth of social tension. Many military coups and revolutions are associated with high levels of social and economic instability. The social consequences of unemployment are an increase in the level of morbidity and mortality in the country, as well as the level of crime.
The economy is underproducing GDP, people are losing their skills, and society's costs are rising due to spending on education and professional retraining.
State employment policy . For different types of unemployment, because they are caused by different causes, different measures are used. Common measures for all types of unemployment are the payment of unemployment benefits and the creation of employment services. A specific measure to combat with frictional unemployment the improvement of the system for collecting and providing information on the availability of vacancies is advocated. To combat structural unemployment state institutions for retraining and retraining are being created, and assistance is provided to private firms of this type.
The main means of combating cyclical unemployment are the implementation of a stabilization policy aimed at smoothing out cyclical fluctuations in the economy, preventing deep declines in production and, consequently, mass unemployment, and stimulating the creation of additional jobs.
In the modern world, state support for employment has become universally recognized. The organization of labor markets inevitably has a national specificity. Russia is gaining experience in this area, focusing on the best examples.
Section 6. SOCIAL RELATIONS
6.1 Social interaction and public relations
Society as a system is distinguished by the close interconnection and interdependence of all its elements and subsystems. Just like in nature, everything is part of a single complex. By affecting or destroying one of its components, the very existence of the natural world can be threatened.
A complex system of social connections and interactions permeates all spheres of society from top to bottom. Taking any political decision, we will be able to trace its consequences in all spheres. Let's take an example from our recent past. The implementation of privatization and denationalization in the economy, the introduction of market relations led to the destruction of the old one-party political system, a change in the entire system of legislation. Significant changes have also taken place in the sphere of spiritual culture.
Let us consider in more detail the basic concepts and definitions related to the characteristics of social ties and relationships.
The main types of social connections are functional and causal. Causal relationships stand out in the case when one of the phenomena brings to life another, is its basis.
Functional links can be traced in the interdependence of goals and objectives carried out by society and its individual elements. For example, the task of producing vital goods is inseparable from the distribution of the results of labor, the reproduction and socialization of a person, the implementation of management, etc.
Both causal and functional relationships are always realized in unity. The first can be represented as a vertical, since one phenomenon precedes another in time. The latter are formed at the same moment in time.
To achieve its goals and objectives, society constructs a system of social relations - communications and corresponding structures -- social institutions. Social relations are understood as relations that arise between groups of people and within them in the process of the life of society. In accordance with the division of society into subsystems, scientists distinguish economic, social, political and spiritual spheres. For example, relations in the sphere of distribution of material goods are economic, relations in the sphere of social management, decision-making on the coordination of public interests can be called political.
By their nature, these relations can be solidary (partnership), based on the coordination of the interests of the parties, or conflict (competitive), when the interests of the participants are opposite. In addition, relations differ in terms of the level of interaction: interpersonal, intergroup and international. But a number of their elements remain always unchanged.
In the structure of any relationship, one can distinguish:
* participants (subjects);
* significant object for them;
* needs (relationship subject - object);
* interests (relations subject - subject);
* values (relationships between the ideals of interacting subjects).
The nature of social ties and relations changes in the process of social evolution, as society changes.
6.2 Social groups, their classification
The whole history of people's lives is the history of their relationships and interactions with other people. In the course of these interactions, social communities and groups are formed.
The most general concept is social community - a set of people united by common conditions of existence, regularly and steadily interacting with each other.
In modern sociology, several types of communities are distinguished.
Primarily, nominal communities- a set of people united by common social characteristics that a scientist-researcher establishes to solve his scientific problem. For example, people of the same hair color, skin color, sports lovers, stamp collectors, seaside vacationers can be united, and all these people may never come into contact with each other.
Mass communities - these are real-life collections of people who are accidentally united by common conditions of existence and do not have a stable goal of interaction. Fans of sports teams, fans of pop stars, and participants in mass political movements are typical examples of mass communities. The features of mass communities can be considered the randomness of their occurrence, the temporality and uncertainty of the composition. One type of mass community is crowd . The French sociologist G. Tarde defined a crowd as a multitude of persons gathered at the same time in a certain place and united by feeling, faith and action. In the structure of the crowd, leaders stand out on the one hand, and everyone else on the other.
According to the sociologist G. Lebon, the behavior of the crowd is due to a certain infection that provokes collective aspirations. People infected with this infection are capable of ill-conceived, sometimes destructive actions.
How to protect yourself from such an infection? First of all, people with a high culture, well-informed about political events, have immunity to it.
In addition to the crowd, sociologists operate with such concepts as the audience and social circles.
Under audience is understood as a set of people united by interaction with a certain individual or group (for example, people watching a performance in the theater, students listening to a lecture by a teacher, journalists attending a press conference of a statesman, etc.). The larger the audience, the weaker the connection with the unifying principle. Please note that during the broadcast of a meeting of any large group of people, the TV camera may snatch someone from the audience who has fallen asleep, someone who is reading a newspaper or drawing figures in his notebook. The same situation often occurs in the student audience. Therefore, it is important to remember the rule formulated by the ancient Romans: "Not the speaker is the measure of the listener, but the listener is the measure of the speaker."
social circles-- Communities created for the purpose of exchanging information between their members. These communities do not set any common goals, do not undertake joint efforts. Their function is to exchange information. For example, discuss the change in the dollar against other currencies, the performance of the national team in the qualifying round of the World Cup, the reforms planned by the government in the field of education, and so on. A variety of such social circles is a professional circle, for example, scientists, teachers, artists, artists. The most compact in composition is a friendly circle.
Social circles can nominate their leaders, form public opinion, and be the basis for the formation of social groups.
The most common concept in sociology is the social group.
Under social group is understood as a set of people united on the basis of joint activities, common goals and having an established system of norms, values, life guidelines. In science, several signs of a social group are distinguished:
* the stability of the composition;
* duration of existence;
* certainty of the composition and boundaries;
* common system of values and norms;
* awareness of their belonging to the group by each individual;
* voluntary nature of the association (for small groups);
* unification of individuals by external conditions of existence (for large social groups).
In sociology, there are a number of grounds for classifying groups. For example, by the nature of the bonds, groups can be formal and informal. According to the level of interaction within the group, groups are distinguished primary(family, company of friends, like-minded people, classmates), which are characterized by a high level of emotional ties, and groups secondary who have almost no emotional ties (work collective, political party).
Here is an example of the classification of social groups for various reasons in the form of a table:
Types of social groups
|
Foundationsgroup classifications |
Group type |
Examples |
|
|
By number of participants |
family, group of friends, sports team, company board of directors labor collective, residents of the microdistrict, university graduates ethnic groups, confessions, programmers |
||
|
By the nature of relationships and connections |
formal informal |
political party, labor collective cafe visitors |
|
|
At the place of residence |
settlement |
townspeople, villagers, residents of the metropolitan metropolis, provincials |
|
|
Depending on gender and age |
demographic |
men, women, children, old people, youth |
|
|
By ethnicity |
ethnic (ethnosocial) |
Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Vepsians, Mari |
|
|
By income level |
socio-economic |
rich (high income people), poor (low income people), middle class (middle income people) |
|
|
By nature and occupation |
professional |
programmers, operators, teachers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, turners |
This list could go on and on. It all depends on the basis of classification. For example, a certain social group can be considered all users of personal computers, mobile subscribers, the totality of subway passengers, and so on.
A rallying, group-forming factor is also citizenship - a person's belonging to the state, expressed in the totality of their mutual rights and obligations. Citizens of one state are subject to the same laws, have common state symbols. Belonging to certain political parties and organizations establishes ideological affinity. Communists, liberals, social democrats, nationalists imagine the future and the correct structure of society in different ways. In this regard, they are very similar to political communities and religious associations (confessions), only they pay more attention not to external changes, but to the inner world of people, their faith, good and evil deeds, and interpersonal relationships.
Special groups are formed by people with common interests. Sports fans from different cities and countries share a passion for their favorite sport; fishermen, hunters and mushroom pickers - search for prey; collectors - the desire to increase their collection; lovers of poetry - feelings about what they read; music lovers - impressions of music and so on. We can easily find all of them in the crowd of passersby - fans (fans) wear the colors of their favorite team, music lovers walk with players and are completely absorbed in music, etc. Finally, students from all over the world are united by the desire for knowledge and education.
We have listed quite large communities that unite thousands and even millions of people. But there are also countless smaller groups - people in line, passengers of one train compartment, vacationers in a sanatorium, museum visitors, neighbors on the porch, street comrades, party participants. Unfortunately, there are also socially dangerous groups - gangs of teenagers, mafia organizations, extortionate racketeers, drug addicts and substance addicts, alcoholics, beggars, homeless people (homeless people), street hooligans, gamblers. All of them are either directly related to the underworld, or are under its scrutiny. And the boundaries of the transition from one group to another are very invisible. A regular casino visitor can instantly lose all his fortune, get into debt, become a beggar, sell an apartment or join a criminal gang. The same threatens drug addicts and alcoholics, many of whom at first believe that they will give up this hobby at any moment if they wish. Getting into these groups is much easier than getting out of them, and the consequences are the same - prison, death or an incurable disease.
Almost all of the above social groups now exist in our country. The biggest problem in Russian society is the huge gulf between a small group of super-rich people and the main mass of the population living on the edge of poverty. Developed modern societies are characterized by the presence of the so-called middle class. It is made up of people who have private property, an average income level and a certain independence from the state. Such people are free to express their views, it is difficult to put pressure on them, they do not allow violations of their rights. The more representatives of this group, the more prosperous society as a whole. It is believed that in a stable society, the representatives of the middle class should be 85-90%. Unfortunately, this group is just being formed in our country, and ensuring its rapid growth is one of the main tasks of state policy.
6.3 Social status
In any society, regardless of its historical and geographical boundaries, a hierarchy is formed, the order in which groups of people are arranged. Somewhere this order is determined by birth, somewhere by education, somewhere by wealth. The position of each specific person in such a hierarchy can be called social status.
social status - the position of a person in society, occupied by him in accordance with age, gender, origin, profession, marital status, and a certain set of rights and obligations associated with this. All statuses are divided into two large groups - initial(prescribed, innate) and achieved. Among the former, gender, race and age are usually named. Sometimes this also includes nationality and religious affiliation (this is typical for traditional societies). Little girls play with dolls and help their mother with the housework, while boys are more on the street, prefer outdoor games and are afraid of being branded as “sissy”. With age, these differences move to another level. The achieved status is fixed only taking into account the individual qualities of a person, thanks to his choice, talent, activity, abilities, diligence or luck.
They used to play a huge role in society born (given) statuses. A person's life largely depended on the position of his parents in society, and his own talents, education and skills did not play a decisive role. For example, a member of the clergy or a nobleman in medieval France belonged to the privileged estates, and they were granted all the basic rights. And, on the contrary, the third estate - the absolute majority of the country's inhabitants - was deprived of civil rights.
In modern society, everyone can achieve a high status, much depends on the individual himself. To some extent, statuses and roles are similar to each other, but the main difference between them is that the status involves the assessment of others, and the role is performed by the person himself.
Allocate social scientists and other types of statuses. Among the most important of them: main(the most characteristic status for a given person, according to which others distinguish him or with which they identify him); social(the position of a person as a representative of a large social group); private(individual) (the position that a person occupies in a small group, depending on how he is assessed by his individual qualities (leader, outsider, etc.)).
6.4 Social role
One of the most significant concepts in modern sociology is the concept of a social role. In domestic science, it took root not so long ago, but in foreign, especially American, sociological thought, a similar concept was introduced more than half a century ago.
You probably have favorite actors. Why are they loved? Of course, not only for appearance. They make us worry, believe in what is happening on the screen or stage.
The ancient Greeks said that life is a theater, and the person in it is an actor. Let's look at ourselves in terms of the roles that are played on the stage called "everyday life." You wake up early in the morning, and your parents feed you breakfast, give you instructions and advice, and help you choose clothes. Here you play the role of a son or daughter. On the way, in the role of a friend, you can chat with a friend from a neighboring school. Then you turn into a high school student and study certain subjects, and at recess you become just a student of the school, because there is no division into classes. After staying in an educational institution, sometimes you have to become a buyer or a passenger, and on the street - a football player, fan, music lover, passer-by, and so on ad infinitum. Each person is simultaneously capable of performing a whole range of social roles: he can be a family member (son, grandson, father, grandfather), an employee of a large enterprise, a member of a political party, a fan of a football team, a member of the board of trustees of the school where his children study, a friend and etc. A number of roles are typical for young people and little typical for adults. For example, children often become regulars at discos, members of fan clubs of popular artists, clubs of computer game lovers. Only adults can be conscripts, voters elected to public office.
At the same time, there are a number of roles that teenagers and adults can play equally. Here are some examples: an Internet user, a football fan, a customer in a store, a visitor to a library or museum.
How is the social role interpreted in science? Under social role is understood as a way of behavior that corresponds to the norms accepted in a given society, expressed in the expectations of the surrounding people. Also, the role can be considered as a set of requirements that are put forward in relation to a person occupying a certain position.
Each of these roles involves certain behaviors - what is allowed to do in the role of a football player is not suitable for a passenger (playing ball even on an empty bus is indecent), and the behavior of a buyer cannot be transferred to school. For example, in the role of a car driver, the director of an enterprise cannot order other drivers, even if his subordinates are among them. Each role has its own rules, requirements, rights, expected behavior. Students have them too.
Of course, over time, the same social roles change. Historical and national features significantly affect the social structure of society, because the role, for example, of a husband today and the role of a husband in ancient China are completely different, as well as the roles of children, the elderly, soldiers, writers, etc.
An important problem is the correlation of the social role and personal "I". Sometimes a person is forced to go against his own aspirations in the name of following the generally accepted clichés and expectations that society imposes on him.
The situation of a person is further complicated by the fact that some of his roles may come into conflict. So, the criminal may well feel like a caring parent, but sooner or later he will have to make a choice: solving a crime entails punishment and excommunication from his own children, which means that one of the roles should crowd out the other in a conflict.
The social roles of the modern Russian teenager are also numerous. He simultaneously acts as a family member (grandson or granddaughter, son or daughter, brother or sister), a member of the school team, a member of a friendly company in the yard or in the country, a member of a football club fan association, a frequenter of an Internet cafe, etc. roles that can only be played by adults or only by children. For example, the role of a conscript soldier can only be played by a young man who has already reached the age of 18. Only from the age of 15 a teenager can apply for a temporary job under a contract, acquire the social role of a worker, an employee. Only an adult can drive the car. The role of a secondary school student is typical for a child, but it is extremely rare for adults to study in secondary school (evening).
And, on the contrary, there are roles that are equally performed by both children and adults. Football fans, visitors to an Internet cafe, a concert of a popular rock band, fans of a fashionable writer can be people of different sexes and ages.
6.5 Inequality and social stratification
Some of the examples that we have given are a reflection of the existing inequality in society. Social inequality characterizes the position in relation to each other of various people and their associations. Inequality existed in society at different stages of its development, but for each period there were certain traits and signs inherent in this particular era. People in society, as we know from history, were not equal in their position, there was always a division into rich and poor, respected and despised, successful and unsuccessful.
The estate structure was more characteristic of the ancient and medieval society, which are usually called traditional. estate -- is a group of people with certain rights and duties that are inherited. Some of the classes had privileges - special rights that elevated these people and allowed them to live at the expense of others. So, in the Russian Empire, the nobility was a privileged estate. And, on the contrary, the vast majority of people in the country were deprived of even elementary human rights. The serfs were the property of the landlords, they could be sold and bought, and the parents even separately from the children.
With the beginning of the industrial revolution, the structure of society changed, classes appeared instead of estates. Class division is carried out, first of all, according to the place of people in the economic system, in relation to property, according to the amount of income they receive. Belonging to a class is not inherited, the transition from one class to another is not regulated in any way, much depends on the person himself. In the 19th century, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat (wage workers) became the main classes in the leading countries of the world. It was then that the theory of K. Marx and F. Engels about the class division of society appeared. They believed that classes are always opposed to each other, are in a state of struggle, and this struggle between them is the driving force of history. At first the opposing classes were slaves and slave-owners, then feudal lords and dependent peasants, and finally workers and the bourgeoisie.
Modern social science interprets the concept of class somewhat differently. An important sign of class affiliation is considered to be a certain way of life, due to the profession and income level. In the structure of society today, it is customary to distinguish three main classes:
* higher, which includes bankers, employers who own and control production, top managers who perform leading management functions;
* average- employees and skilled workers, merchants with a certain level of income;
*lower- workers without special education, service personnel.
A special group also includes people working on the land - farmers, peasants. Of course, such a division is extremely arbitrary, and the actual distribution of people into social groups is much more complicated.
In every society in different historical periods there were people who did not belong to established groups and strata. They occupied, as it were, a borderline, intermediate position. Such a state in science is called marginal, and these people themselves are called marginal.
Outcasts are people who, for various reasons, have fallen out of their usual social environment and are unable to join new groups. For example, with the beginning of the industrial revolution in European countries and in Russia, part of the peasants was forced to move to cities, look for work there, and adapt to a new life. But not every peasant likes urban conditions, the rhythm of urban life. The migrants feel like strangers in this new environment. Soul and mind they are still peasants living in a small village, with their own way of life.
Another example can be given. Some representatives of the Russian intelligentsia, radically inclined and negatively related to the autocracy, state and social orders of the Russian Empire, renounced their belonging to the ruling strata in society and announced their transition to the positions of the oppressed people. They proclaimed themselves spokesmen for the interests of the peasants and workers. The position of such people can also be called marginal.
In modern Russia, there is also a problem of marginals. For example, a person who used to be an engineer, teacher, university professor, who does not fit into modern market relations, can become unemployed, work odd jobs, and engage in shuttle business. This person is marginalized. His self-doubt, in his future, can turn into destructive actions, dissatisfaction with the existing order.
Over time, the outcasts can form a new stable group of people. In the modern world, where the framework of social groups is very mobile and people can move from one to another, the emergence of marginal groups is an important source of change and development of the social structure.
The lumpen should be distinguished from the marginals. Lumpens are a group of people who have sunk to the social bottom, people without a fixed place of residence. Lumpenization is usually associated with periods of social upheaval, deepening the crisis state of social structures. Society, as it were, throws the lumpen out of social life, out of the normal circle of human relations.
6.6 Social mobility
Throughout life, a person often moves from one status to another. This process is called social mobility, which refers to the totality of social movements of people in society with a change in their status. Imagine that in our public high-rise building, or inside the pyramid, built-in elevators. He sat down in the cabin of such an elevator and went up several floors, or, on the contrary, went down. Such movements reflect the essence of social mobility. And as such lifts, the Russian philosopher P. Sorokin considered various public organizations - a school, an army, a church. Movements can be carried out not only vertically. This is only one kind of mobility - vertical, which, in turn, can be considered as ascending, if a person has risen up, or downward, if he has fallen down the social hierarchy. People can move from one group to another and at the same level. This type of mobility is called horizontal. An example of such mobility is the transfer of a doctor from one clinic to another, moving to a new district of the city due to a change of apartment, etc.
social mobility may imply a change in the status of children compared to their parents; such mobility is called intergenerational, or long-term (depending on whether children rise or fall on the social ladder, it can be called ascending or descending); in addition, the same person during his life can change his social position several times; such mobility will be called intragenerational, or short-term.
There are other classifications of mobility: geographical (does not imply a change in status or group, but moving from one place to another while maintaining the same status), individual (movement of a person that occurs independently of other persons, his career growth), group (collective movements, appearance new classes after revolutions or wars), organized (displacement of a person or groups of people under the control of the state - dispossession, ethnic cleansing, forced resettlement), structural (caused by changes in the organization of production and occurs against the will of people, for example, the reduction or closure of an enterprise).
There are several ways that a person can resort to in the process of social mobility:
1)Lifestyle change. To assimilate a new status level, it is necessary to arrange an apartment, books, a car and other things that must correspond to the new status. Material culture is the most common way of accession to a higher status level.
2)Development of typical status behavior. A person will not be accepted into a new status until he has assimilated the patterns of behavior of this layer to the extent that he effortlessly follows them. Clothing patterns, verbal expressions, leisure activities, manner of communication - everything should become habitual and the only possible type of behavior. Children are often specifically trained to adopt high-class behavior by teaching them music, dance, and good manners.
3)Changing social environment. Establishing contacts with individuals and groups of that status layer into which a person integrates.
4)Marriage to a higher status stratum. Provides the ability to quickly lift. Such a marriage can be useful only if a person from a lower status stratum is prepared to quickly assimilate patterns of behavior and lifestyle in a new social environment for him.
In different times and eras, the level of mobility in society was different. For example, in medieval society it was extremely low. The man was as if squeezed into the framework of his estate, community. A classic example of restricting social mobility in Russia is serfdom. The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of the Russian state, both peasants and townspeople, were attached to the “Cathedral Code” of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to their place of residence. Moreover, there was also a personal dependence of the peasants on the landowners. During the time of Peter the Great, a peasant could not travel more than 30 kilometers from his home without a passport. They attached Peter's decrees and priests to parishes, and monks to monasteries. Many medieval societies were characterized by such restrictions on mobility.
But even in past times there were examples of people moving up the social ladder. Let us recall at least the story of Patriarch Nikon. The son of a Mordovian peasant, Nikita Minov, made a successful career within the church organization, rose to the rank of patriarch - the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Or A. D. Menshikov - the all-powerful favorite and associate of Peter the Great. A commoner, in his youth selling pies from a stall, reached the highest positions in the state, gained a gigantic fortune, measured in terms of modern prices by 500 million dollars. But such examples are still the exception to the rule.
Modern society is considered a society with a high level of social mobility. Indeed, people not only move from one region of their country to another, but also calmly cross borders and receive education abroad. The growth of social mobility is an integral feature of today's life of young Russians. If in former times people could live all their lives in their village or small town, work at the same enterprise as their parents, now such phenomena are a rarity. The introduction of the unified state exam into the Russian education system has significantly increased the level of mobility. A graduate who graduated from a school in a remote area from the capital can send the results of his exam to any metropolitan university and be enrolled as a student. Facilitates the movement of people and military service. Therefore, you need to be prepared in advance for the fact that you will have to change jobs, be mobile, easy-going.
It is impossible not to mention such a factor in the development of social mobility as labor migration. People move from those regions where it is difficult to find a job to dynamically developing regions where there is a traditional demand for labor.
6.7 Social norms
An important role in society is played by the rules of conduct that have developed over the course of its development and streamline diverse social relations. In sociology under social norms refers to prescriptions, requirements, recommendations and expectations, patterns of behavior to which people's behavior must comply. Norms determine what is due, socially approved, permissible, and also what should be abstained from.
Norms represent a kind of ideal, and are often in conflict, contradiction with reality. Genuine actions of people do not always correspond to accepted norms, and, on the contrary, the norm does not always correspond to a typical picture of behavior.
The value of norms in society is very high. They unite, coordinate the activities of people, help the new generation to master life in society, that is, they contribute to socialization. Sometimes norms can become a hallmark of certain groups. For example, pumped up biceps, shaved heads distinguish the so-called "skinheads". Social norms can be universal, or they can be distributed only among a certain circle of people. Such norms can be called "group habits". For example, norms can exist within the same family, firm, friendly circle.
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