Systemic structure of society elements and subsystems. What are the elements of society as a system. All components are connected to each other

1.8 Systemic structure of society elements and subsystems. Bogbaz10, §2, 18-21; Bogprof10, §10, 90-91, 99-101, 102-106.

In a narrow sense, society:

1) a group of people, united for communication and joint performance of any activity;

2) specific stage in historical development people or country.

Broadly speaking, society:

3) it is isolated from nature, but closely related to it part of the material world, which consists from individuals having will and consciousness, and includes waysinteractions people and forms their associations;

4) dynamic self-developingsystem, that is, such a system that is capable of seriously changing, at the same time retaining its essence and qualitative certainty.

society

System

Subsystem- an "intermediate" complex, more complex than the element, but less complex than the system itself.

The subsystems of society are called areas of public life:

    economic (its elements are material production and relations arising in the process of production, exchange and distribution of material goods);

    social (classes, social strata, nations, their relationships and interaction with each other);

    political (politics, law, state, their correlation and functioning);

    spiritual (covers the forms and levels of social consciousness that form the phenomenon of spiritual culture).

All areas are interconnected

Function(from lat

Public relations
Types of public relations:

:
1) social communities;

10.1. What distinguishes society from society?
10.2. What is a system?
10.2.1. Definitions: system, element, function, structure.
10.2.2. Classification of systems.
10.3. Features of the social system.
10.4. What is the social system made of?
10.4.1. spheres of public life.
10.4.2. Public relations.
10.4.3. Social communities; social institutions and organizations; social roles, norms and values.
10.5. Creators systems approach: Bogdanov, von Bertalanffy, Parsons.

10.1 . What distinguishes society from society?
1) Society(in the narrowest sense) - a group of people united for communication, joint activities, mutual assistance and support for each other (“book lovers society”, “noble society”).
2) Society - a certain country or a whole community of states (“Western European society”, “ Russian society»).
3) Society - a historical type of society ("feudal society", "industrial society").
4) Society(society in the broadest sense) - the totality of all ways of interaction and forms of unification of people.
5) society- sociality as such, non-natural reality, different from living and inanimate nature. In this sense, the social is one of the subsystems of the world as a whole.

Society- this is a part of the material world that is isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, which includes the ways of interaction between people and the forms of their unification.
10.2 . What is a system?
10.2.1. System(from Greek Systema) is a set or combination of parts and elements that are interconnected and interact in a certain way with each other.
Talk about solar system, river system, nervous system. A system is any set of phenomena that are interconnected and interact with each other. In this sense, the system is also that unity, the constituent parts of which are society and nature.
System is a complex of interacting elements.
Element(from lat. elementum - element, original substance) - 1) an integral part of a complex whole; 2) some further indecomposable component of the system, which is directly involved in its creation.
Structure(from lat. structura - location, structure) - 1) the location and connection of the parts that make up the whole; 2) the internal structure of something; 3) system, form, model, organization.
Function(from lat. functio - execution, implementation) - 1) activity, duty, work; outward manifestation properties of any object in a given system of relations (eg, the function of the sense organs, the function of money); 2) function in sociology - the role that a certain social institution or process performs in relation to the whole (for example, the function of the state, family, etc. in society).
What comes first, structure or function??
The traditional view of a system is that its properties and behavior are entirely determined by its structure, i.e. the functioning of the system is secondary to its structure. Recently, under the influence of synergetics, the function is put in the first place, then the structure (functioning process) and only after that - the material (element) that ensures the functioning.
10.2.2. System classification:
Relation of the system to the environment:
1) open (there is an exchange of resources with environment);
2) closed (no exchange of resources with the environment).
By the origin of the system (elements, connections, subsystems):
1) artificial (tools, mechanisms, machines, machine guns, robots, etc.);
2) natural (living, non-living, ecological, social, etc.);
3) virtual (imaginary and, although not really existing, but functioning in the same way as if they existed);
4) mixed (economic, biotechnical, organizational, etc.).
According to the description of system variables:
1) with qualitative variables (having only a meaningful description);
2) with quantitative variables (having discretely or continuously quantitatively described variables);
3) mixed (quantitative-qualitative) description.
According to the type of description of the law (laws) of the functioning of the system:
1) type "Black box" (the law of the system functioning is not completely known; only input and output messages are known);
2) not parametrized (the law is not described; we describe using at least unknown parameters; only some a priori properties of the law are known);
3) parameterized (the law is known up to parameters and it can be attributed to a certain class of dependencies);
4) type "White (transparent) box" (the law is fully known).
By system management method (in the system):
1) externally controlled systems (without feedback, regulated, managed structurally, informationally or functionally);
2) managed from within (self-managing or self-regulating - programmatically controlled, automatically regulated, adaptable - adaptable with the help of controlled changes in states, and self-organizing - changing their structure in time and space in the most optimal way, ordering their structure under the influence of internal and external factors);
3) with combined control (automatic, semi-automatic, automated, organizational).
By sphere of existence: material (physical, biological, chemical) and ideal (mental, cognitive, logical).
10.3 . Principles (features) of human society as a system:
1) complexity (there are extremely many elements that form it and the connections between them);
2) hierarchy (any of the existing spheres of society, being a subsystem in relation to society, at the same time acts as a complex system itself) = society - a complex system, a supersystem;
3) integrativity (none of the components of the system, considered separately, has the quality inherent in society as a whole);
Just as individual human organs (heart, stomach, liver, etc.) do not have the properties of a person, so the economy, the healthcare system, the state and other elements of society do not have the qualities that are inherent in society as a whole. And only thanks to the diverse links that exist between the components of the social system, it turns into a single whole, i.e. into society (both thanks to the interaction of various human organs there is a single human body).
4) self-sufficiency (the ability of society to create and reproduce the necessary conditions own existence)
5) self-governance (society changes and develops as a result of internal causes and mechanisms);
6) openness (interaction with the external environment);
The environment of the social system of any country is both nature and the world community.
7) the main element of society is a person who has the ability to set goals and choose the means to achieve them, a person is a universal element of all social systems;
« human-sized» systems are holistic complex open self-organizing dynamic systems, the most important element of which is a person. Such systems include biomedical morphogenesis, objects of ecology, including the biosphere as a whole (global ecology), objects of biotechnology (primarily genetic engineering), "man-machine" systems.
8) dynamism (society is in constant change);
9) unpredictability, non-linearity of development (the possibility of various options and models of future development).
Society is dynamic self-developing system, i.e. a system that is capable of retaining its essence and qualitative certainty in the process of change.
dynamic system is a mathematical object corresponding to real systems (physical, chemical, biological, etc.), the evolution of which is uniquely determined by the initial state.
10.4 . What is the social system?
Society is heterogeneous and has its own internal structure and composition, including big number different order of social phenomena and processes. The constituent elements of society are people, social ties and actions, social interactions and relationships, social institutions, social groups, communities, social norms, etc.
10.4.1. It is customary to consider the spheres of public life as subsystems of society:

1) economic (material production and relations that arise between people in the process of production of material goods, their exchange and distribution);

2) social (classes, social strata, nations);

3) political (politics, state, law);

4) spiritual (forms and levels of social consciousness, which in the process of social life form what is commonly called spiritual culture).
These subsystems (spheres), in turn, can be represented by a set of their constituent elements:
1) economic - production institutions (plants, factories), transport institutions, stock and commodity exchanges, banks, etc.,
2) political - the state, parties, trade unions, youth, women's and other organizations, etc.,
3) social - classes, strata, social groups and strata, nations, etc.,
4) spiritual - the church, educational institutions, scientific institutions, etc.
Why society consists of four spheres?
Talcott Parsons:
Any social system contains two fundamental "axes of orientation": 1) internal - external; 2) instrumental - consummatory.
The first axis means that this system is oriented either towards solving its own internal problems, or reacts to the influence of the external environment. The second - means that the system is striving to achieve situational goals or to meet basic strategic needs.
The imposition of these axes on each other gives four fundamental categories: 1) adaptation to the external environment (outside - ins); 2) achievement of the goal (outside - con); 3) integration (vnu - con); 4) preservation of order, maintenance of the sample, latency (vnu - ins). These four main functions, which are commonly referred to as the "Agil circuit" ( AGIL), correspond to special institutions (subsystems) of society.
Economic subsystem - adaptation ( A daptation); political subsystem – achievement of goals ( G oal); social sphere - integration ( I integration); spiritual sphere (family, school, religion) - maintaining order ( L atent).
Is there a determining factor among the spheres of social life??
1) Carl Marx:
Changes in production, property relations cause significant changes in other areas of life;
The mode of production of material life determines the social, political and spiritual processes of life in society.
2) Max Weber:
The spiritual values ​​of Protestantism played leading role in the birth of capitalism as an economic system;
Protestantism, which gave a moral justification to wealth, business success, became the reason for the rapid development entrepreneurial activity.
10.4.2. Public relations.
To characterize society as a system, it is not enough to single out its subsystems and elements. It is important to show that they are in mutual connection with each other. The term "public relations" is used to designate these connections.
Public relations- diverse connections between social groups, nations, as well as within them in the process of economic, social, political, cultural activities. They determine the existing aspects of personal relationships of people connected by direct contacts.
Types of public relations:
1) material: about the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods;
2) spiritual: political, ideological, legal, moral, etc.
10.4.3. In another connection, when the character, type of social ties comes to the fore, society as a social system includes the following subsystems:
1) social communities;
2) social institutions and organizations,
3) social roles, norms and values.
Each of them here is a fairly complex social. a system with its own subsystems.
10.5 . Creators of the systems approach:
10.5.1. Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov(1873 - 1928) - Russian philosopher, political figure, writer, doctor.
Belonged to the social democratic trend in Russian revolutionary movement. Rejected Lenin's doctrine of imperialism as the eve socialist revolution, believing that "the class consciousness of the proletariat has not matured" and an immediate revolution will only lead to the destruction of the productive forces of society.
Not accepted October revolution, but continued to cooperate with the Bolsheviks on the organization of medical affairs. He organized the country's first Institute of Blood Transfusion. He died as a result of a medical experiment put on himself.
Major philosophical work Tectology» (1912). It contains the basic ideas of modern systems theory.
10.5.2. Ludwig von Bertalanffy(1901 - 1972) - Austrian biologist and natural philosopher.
He applied the principles of open systems theory to describe and solve a number of problems in theoretical biology and genetics.
The main tasks of the program he proposed for constructing general theory systems considered: 1) formulation general principles and the laws of behavior of systems, regardless of their special form and the nature of their constituent elements; 2) creating the basis for synthesis scientific knowledge as a result of revealing isomorphism (similarity, similarity) of laws relating to different spheres of reality.
10.5.3. Talcott Parsons (1902 – 1979) – American sociologist.
Major works: "The Structure of Social Action" (1937), "The Social System" (1951).
Parsons tried to do in sociology what Einstein tried to do in physics - to create a comprehensive theory that would explain all levels of society and all forms of its movement. What he tried to create resembles not even a theory, but a sociological paradigm or a perspective that does not have a strict logic, but is striking in its encyclopedic and creative potential. Parsons, like Einstein, failed. However, he created a gigantic system abstract concepts covering human reality in all its diversity.

Lesson 25-26

Social studies, profile level

(Society as a developing system)

DZ: § 10, ?? (p.106), tasks (p.106-108)

© A.I. Kolmakov


  • consider the concept of "society" as a developing system, as a systemic structure;
  • develop in students the ability to carry out a comprehensive search, systematize social information on the topic, compare, analyze, draw conclusions, rationally solve cognitive and problem tasks;
  • carry out individual and group educational research on social issues;
  • contribute to the development of a scientific position of students.

Universal learning activities

  • Know the systemic structure of society, highlight the features of the social system, its subsystems and elements, analyze the processes of variability and stability of society; carry out a comprehensive search, systematize social information on the topic, compare, analyze, draw conclusions, rationally solve cognitive and problem tasks; to reveal by examples the most important theoretical provisions and concepts of the social sciences and humanities; participate in discussions, work with documents; work in a group, speak in public, formulate own judgments and arguments on certain issues based on the acquired social and humanitarian knowledge; contribute to the development of the civic position of students.
  • Be able to: analyze documents on, give a detailed answer to the question, participate in the discussion and formulate your opinion.

  • society as a system;
  • public institution;
  • sphere of society;
  • system;
  • self-developing system;
  • social revolution

Learning new material

  • System approach to society woo.
  • The systemic structure of society.
  • Spheres of public life as subsystems of society.
  • Variability and stability.

Remember. H What characterizes any mechanical system? What is the integrity of living organisms? What is the meaning of the concept of "development" in relation to living nature? What is the development of society? What is the role of social revolutions in the development of society?


1. SYSTEMIC APPROACH TO SOCIETY

Word " system ” of Greek origin, means “whole”, “made up of parts”, “totality”.

1. Have mechanism parts.

2. These parts only matter as part of the whole.

3. All components are connected to each other.

4. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.


SOCIETY IS A COMPLEX OPEN SYSTEM

  • The natural condition for existence natural environment.
  • In the course of social production, people constantly interact with nature, using the tools they have created.
  • Society includes many components.

2. SYSTEMIC STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY

The most important elements of society become clear from its definition: People and linking them public relationship . Some researchers distinguish such elements as things And signs (pictures, books, i.e., what is the fruits of spiritual culture in their material shell).


  • System It is a whole made up of parts, a totality.
  • Society- this is a type of social system that has the highest degree of self-sufficiency in relation to its environment.
  • self-sufficiency- the stability of interchange relations with the surrounding systems and the ability to control this interchange in the interests of its functioning.
  • Dynamic systems allow changes, development, the emergence of new and the withering away of old parts.

1. Complex nature. It has 4 subsystems: material and production, social, political, spiritual. Society appears as a set of systems, a supersystem.

2. The presence of different quality elements both material and ideal.

3. The basic element of society is the individual. , therefore social systems are changeable, mobile.

Human - This universal element all social systems.

Functions:

  • adaptations;
  • goal achievement;
  • Sample maintenance;
  • Integrations.

THE MAIN COMPONENT OF THE SOCIETY IS THE SOCIAL INSTITUTION

  • social institution- a stable set of people, groups, organizations whose activities are aimed at performing specific social functions and are based on certain norms, rules, standards of behavior.

- Institute of family and marriage;

- political institutions, especially the state;

- economic institutions, first of all, production;

- institutes of education, science and culture;

- institutions of religion.


2. Social institutions

Essential necessities of life

Main activities

Need in reproduction

Main social institutions

Family and household activities

Need in a safe and social order

Institute of Family and Marriage

Political, managerial, government activities

Need in livelihood

Need in obtaining knowledge, socialization the younger generation, training

Political institutions, especially the state

Economic activity

Economic institutions, first of all, production

Scientific, educational, educational activities

Need in solving spiritual problems the meaning of life

institutes of education, science and culture

Religious activities

institutions of religion




4 . VARIABILITY AND STABILITY OF SOCIETY

The idea of ​​the evolutionary development of society:

  • Gradual change.
  • Continuity in the development of various aspects of society.
  • society traditions.
  • irreversibility of development.

(the founder of the theory Charles Darwin)

The idea of ​​the revolutionary development of society:

  • Social revolutions are the "locomotives of history".
  • Irreconcilable class conflict - haves and have-nots
  • The overthrow of the reactionary class by the advanced classes and the taking of power into their own hands.
  • Implementation of overdue changes in all spheres of society.

(Founder of the theory Karl Marx)


SOCIETY IS A SELF DEVELOPING SYSTEM

community development is a process that can be reformist or revolutionary

REVOLUTION

REFORM

KINDS

KINDS

Progress

short-term

(February Revolution of 1917 in Russia)

Long-term (Neolithic revolution - 3 thousand years; industrial revolution - XVIII - XIX centuries

Regression


PREPARING FOR THE USE

  • Society, as a dynamic system, characterizes
  • Presence of elements and subsystems
  • The connection of the social system with nature
  • Communications within elements and subsystems
  • The emergence of new elements to replace those that have disappeared

2. The political sphere of society is directly related

  • Opposition candidate wins parliamentary elections
  • Slowdown in Industrial Growth
  • Population boom in certain regions of the country
  • New Year's Eve classical music concerts

PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF O.V. KISHENKOVA "SOCIAL STUDIES. THEMATIC TRAINING TASKS. 2011. MOSCOW, EKSMO

3. Are the following judgments about society correct?

A. Society is a universal form of interconnection and interaction between people.

B. On present stage society has completely concentrated control over natural resources in its hands

  • Only A is true
  • Only B is true
  • Both statements are correct
  • Both statements are wrong

PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF O.V. KISHENKOVA "SOCIAL STUDIES. THEMATIC TRAINING TASKS. 2011. MOSCOW, EKSMO

4. Young scientists held a conference on the prospects for the development of domestic science , voicing the danger that low incomes, lack of financial incentives to work contribute to the "brain drain", the mass departure of young professionals abroad.

This example can be used to illustrate the relationship between such areas of society as

  • Economic, political
  • Social, economic, spiritual
  • Spiritual, political, economic
  • Economic social

PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF O.V. KISHENKOVA "SOCIAL STUDIES. THEMATIC TRAINING TASKS. 2011. MOSCOW, EKSMO

5. Gradual transformations in society, involving an organic combination of the old with the new, are characteristic of

  • Evolution
  • revolutions
  • Leap
  • regressa

6. Are the following judgments about society correct?

A. Society is complex dynamic system, in which there are elements and subsystems that interact with each other

B. The development of society is influenced by the natural environment, natural conditions capable of promoting or hindering social development

  • Only A is true
  • Only B is true
  • Both statements are correct
  • Both statements are wrong

PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF O.V. KISHENKOVA "SOCIAL STUDIES. THEMATIC TRAINING TASKS. 2011. MOSCOW, EKSMO

7. Three of the statements below are objective FACTS and one is a subjective OPINION. Which statement is an OPINION?

  • leading trend modern world became globalization.
  • Countries and peoples are closely integrated with each other.
  • It should be noted, however, that globalization has both positive and negative consequences.
  • A single world market and common financial institutions have emerged, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF O.V. KISHENKOVA "SOCIAL STUDIES. THEMATIC TRAINING TASKS. 2011. MOSCOW, EKSMO

1. Indicate the features that distinguish SOCIETY from NATURE.

  • There are only objective laws that do not depend on the will of people
  • Represents a set of relationships between people
  • Is the natural habitat of man
  • Formed as a result of human activities
  • Represents all humanity as a whole

PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF O.V. KISHENKOVA "SOCIAL STUDIES. THEMATIC TRAINING TASKS. 2011. MOSCOW, EKSMO

2. Read the text below, each position of which is numbered. Determine what provisions of the text are:

A) actual character

B) the nature of value judgments

(1) Society is closely connected with nature, being influenced by it. (2) Society and man remake nature, adapting it to their needs. (3) But the power of people over nature, I think, is imaginary, doubtful. (4) Many people die each year due to natural disasters.

AABA


PREPARING FOR THE USE

3. What word is missing in the diagram?

Subsystems of society

social

political

spiritual

Answer: economic


PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF L.N. BOGOLYUBOV "WE ARE PREPARING FOR THE USE". 2011 MOSCOW, DROFA

4. Establish a correspondence between public spheres on the one hand and institutions on the other. For each position given in the first column, match the corresponding position from the second column. Write down the selected letters in the table.


PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF L.N. BOGOLYUBOV "WE ARE PREPARING FOR THE USE". 2011 MOSCOW, DROFA

PUBLIC SPHERES

SOCIAL PHENOMENA AND INSTITUTIONS

1) POLITICAL

A) RELIGION, ART, THEATER

2) ECONOMIC

B) TRADE, BANKS, EXCHANGE

3) SOCIAL

C) POWER, COURTS, PARLIAMENT

4) SPIRITUAL

D) CLASSES, NATIONS, ESTATES


PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF L.N. BOGOLYUBOV "WE ARE PREPARING FOR THE USE". 2011 MOSCOW, DROFA

5. Find in the list below the positions related to the spiritual sphere of society and write down the answer in the form of a series of numbers in ascending order.

  • Entertainment TV show
  • Scientific research
  • Promotion
  • Trial
  • Educational process
  • Class differences

PREPARING FOR THE USE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF L.N. BOGOLYUBOV "WE ARE PREPARING FOR THE USE". 2011 MOSCOW, DROFA

5. Find in the list below the positions related to the social sphere of society and write down the answer in the form of a series of numbers in ascending order.

  • Theory of social development
  • Unemployment benefit
  • The idea of ​​social justice
  • Social stratification of society
  • The social status of the individual
  • religious doctrine

check yourself

1) What makes it possible to assert that society is a system?

2) What are the most important components of society as a system?

3) What is a public institution? Name the main institutions of society.

4) Name and describe the main areas of society.

5) How are social relations, institutions and spheres of social life connected? Illustrate this connection with examples.

6) Give examples that reflect the relationship between various spheres of society.

7) What features of the development of society are distinguished by supporters of the evolutionary approach?

8) In what form is the spasmodicity of social development expressed?

9) How and why did assessments of the role of revolutions in the development of society change?

10) What testifies to the recent acceleration of the pace of social development?


reflection

  • What have you learned?
  • How?
  • What have you learned?
  • What difficulties did you experience?
  • Was the lesson interesting?

  • Sources
  • Sorokina E.N. Pourochnye developments in social science. Profile level: Grade 10. - M.: VAKO, 2008.
  • Baranov P.A. Social studies: a complete guide for preparing for the exam / P.A. Baranov, A.V. Vorontsov, S. V. Sheechsenko; ed. P.A. Baranov a. - M. : AST: Astrel, 2009.

The complexity of defining the concept of "society" is primarily due to its extreme generalization, and, in addition, to its enormous significance. This led to the existence of many definitions of this concept.

The concept of "society" in the broad sense of the word can be defined as a part of the material world that is isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, which includes: ways of human interaction; forms of association of people.

Society in the narrow sense of the word is:

- a circle of people united by a common goal, interests, origin (for example, a society of numismatists, a noble assembly);

- a separate specific society, country, state, region (for example, modern Russian society, French society);

– historical stage in the development of mankind (for example, feudal society, capitalist society);

- humanity as a whole.

Society is the product of the combined activities of many people. Human activity is a way of existence or existence of society. Society grows out of the life process itself, out of the ordinary and everyday activities of people. It is no coincidence that the Latin word socio means to unite, unite, start joint work. Society does not exist outside the direct and indirect interaction of people.

As a way of people's existence, society must fulfill a set certain functions:

– production of material goods and services;

– distribution of products of labor (activity);

– regulation and management of activities and behavior;

- reproduction and socialization of a person;

- spiritual production and regulation of people's activity.

The essence of society lies not in the people themselves, but in the relationships they enter into with each other in the course of their life. Consequently, society is a set of social relations.

Society is characterized as a dynamic self-developing system, that is, a system that is capable of seriously changing, at the same time retaining its essence and qualitative certainty.

The system is defined as a complex of interacting elements. In turn, an element is some further indecomposable component of the system that is directly involved in its creation.

The basic principles of the system: the whole is not reducible to the sum of the parts; the whole gives rise to traits, properties that go beyond the boundaries of individual elements; the structure of the system is formed by the interconnection of its individual elements, subsystems; elements, in turn, can have a complex structure and act as systems; there is a relationship between the system and the environment.



Accordingly, society is a complex self-developing open system that includes individuals and social communities united by cooperative, coordinated ties and processes of self-regulation, self-structuring and self-reproduction.

For the analysis of complex systems, similar to society, the concept of "subsystem" has been developed. Subsystems are called intermediate complexes, more complex than the elements, but less complex than the system itself.

Certain groups of social relations form subsystems. It is customary to consider the spheres of public life as the main spheres of public life as the main subsystems of society.

The basic human needs serve as the basis for delimiting the spheres of public life.

The division into four spheres of public life is conditional. You can name other areas: science, artistic and creative activity, racial, ethnic, national relations. However, these four areas are traditionally singled out as the most common and significant.

Society as a complex, self-developing system is characterized by the following specific features:

1. It is distinguished by a great variety of different social structures and subsystems. This is not a mechanical sum of individuals, but an integral system that has a super-complex and hierarchical character: various kinds of subsystems are connected by subordinate relationships.

2. Society is not reducible to the people who make it up, it is a system of extra- and supra-individual forms, connections and relationships that a person creates through his active activity together with other people. These "invisible" social connections and relations are given to people in their language, various actions, programs of activity, communication, etc., without which people cannot exist together. Society is integrated in its essence and should be considered as a whole, in the aggregate of its individual components.



3. Society is inherent in self-sufficiency, i.e. the ability of its active joint activities create and reproduce the necessary conditions for their own existence. Society is characterized in this case as an integral single organism in which various social groups are closely intertwined, a wide variety of activities that provide the vital conditions for existence.

4. Society is distinguished by exceptional dynamism, incompleteness and alternative development. The main actor in the choice of development options is a person.

5. Society allocates a special status to the subjects that determine its development. Man is a universal component of social systems included in each of them. Behind the confrontation of ideas in society, there is always a clash of corresponding needs, interests, goals, the impact of such social factors as public opinion, official ideology, political attitudes and traditions. Inevitable for social development is a sharp competition of interests and aspirations, in connection with which, a clash of alternative ideas often occurs in society, a sharp debate and struggle is carried out.

6. Society is characterized by unpredictability, non-linearity of development. The presence in society of a large number of subsystems, the constant clash of interests and goals various people creates the prerequisites for the implementation of various options and models for the future development of society. However, this does not mean that the development of society is absolutely arbitrary and uncontrollable. On the contrary, scientists create models social forecasting: options for the development of a social system in its most diverse areas, computer models of the world, etc.

A certain independence is inherent in each sphere of the life of society, they function and develop according to the laws of the whole, i.e. society. At the same time, all four main spheres not only interact, but also mutually determine each other. For example, the influence political sphere on culture is manifested in the fact that, firstly, each state pursues a certain policy in the field of culture, and secondly, cultural figures reflect certain political views and positions in their work.

The boundaries between all four spheres of society are easy to move, transparent. Each sphere is present one way or another in all the others, but at the same time it does not dissolve, does not lose its leading function. The question of the relationship between the main spheres of public life and the allocation of one priority is debatable. There are supporters of the defining role of the economic sphere. They proceed from the fact that material production, which is the core of economic relations, satisfies the most urgent, primary human needs, without which any other activity is impossible. There is a selection as a priority spiritual sphere of society. Proponents of this approach give the following argument: a person's thoughts, ideas, ideas are ahead of his practical actions. Major social changes are always preceded by changes in people's minds, a transition to other spiritual values. The most compromise of the above approaches is the approach, the adherents of which argue that each of the four spheres of social life can become decisive in different periods of historical development.

Contemporary American anthropologist Julian Steward in his book The Theory of Cultural Change departed from Spencer's classical social evolutionism based on the differentiation of labor. Each society, according to Steward, consists of several cultural fields:

  • technical and economic;
  • socio-political;
  • legislative;
  • artistic, etc.

Each cultural field has its own laws of evolution, and the whole society as a whole is in unique natural and social conditions. As a result, the development of each society is unique and is not subject to any economic-formational linearity. But most often the leading cause of the development of local societies is the technical and economic sphere.

Marsh (1967), in particular, pointed out signs in which a social community can be considered society:

  • a permanent territory with a state border;
  • replenishment of the community as a result of childbearing and immigration;
  • developed culture (concepts of experience, concepts of the connection of elements of experience, values-beliefs, norms of behavior corresponding to values, etc.);
  • political (state) independence.

As you can see, the economy is not among the listed features.

The structure of society in Parsons' sociology

The most famous, complex and used in modern sociology is the understanding of society proposed by . He considers society as a kind of social system, which in turn is a structural element of the action system. The result is a chain:

  • action system;
  • social system;
  • society as a form of social system.

The action system includes the following structural subsystems:

  • social a subsystem whose function is to integrate people into a social connection;
  • cultural a subsystem consisting in the preservation, reproduction and development of a pattern of people's behavior;
  • personal a subsystem that consists in the realization of goals and the execution of the process of action inherent in the cultural subsystem;
  • behavioral organism. the function of which is to carry out physical (practical) interactions with the external environment.

The external environment of the system of action is, on the one hand, the “higher reality”, the problem of the meaning of life and action, contained in the cultural subsystem, and on the other hand, the physical environment, nature. Social systems are open systems, which are in constant exchange with the external environment, “formed by the states and processes of social interaction between acting subjects”.

Society is "type of social system in the totality of social systems, which has reached the highest degree self-sufficiency in relation to one's environment. It consists of four subsystems - bodies that perform certain functions in the structure of society:

  • the societal subsystem is the subject of social action, it consists of a set of norms of behavior that serve to integrate people and groups into society;
  • a cultural subsystem for the preservation and reproduction of a model, consisting of a set of values ​​and serving for the reproduction by people of a model of typical social behavior;
  • a political subsystem that serves to set and achieve goals by a societal subsystem;
  • economic (adaptive) subsystem, which includes a set of people's roles, interaction with the material world (Table 1).

The core of society is the societal community - a kind of people, and the remaining subsystems act as tools for the preservation (stabilization) of this community. It is a complex network of interpenetrating collectives (families, businesses, churches, public institutions etc.), within which people have common values ​​and norms and are distributed between statuses and roles and. “Society,” writes Parsons, “is that type of social system in the totality of social systems that has reached the highest degree of self-sufficiency in relations with its environment.” Self-sufficiency includes the ability of a society to control both the interaction of its subsystems and external processes of interaction.

Table 1. The structure of society according to T. Parson

The main social problem, according to Parsons, is the problem of order, stability and adaptation of society to changing internal and external conditions. He pays special attention to the concept of "norm" as the most important element of social connection, institution, organization. In reality, not a single social system (including society) is in a state of complete integration and correlation with other systems, because destructive factors are constantly operating, as a result of which constant social control and other corrective mechanisms are needed.

Parsons' concept of social action, social system, society has been criticized from various sociological points of view. Firstly, his society turned out to be squeezed between the cultural and anthropological (personality and behavioral organism) subsystems, while the cultural subsystem remained outside of society. Secondly, the societal community is not part of the political, economic, cultural subsystems, so the societal statuses, values, norms turn out to be functionally undifferentiated in relation to social systems. Thirdly, the main element of society is the societal community, which is formed by values ​​and norms, and not the process of activity leading to a certain result.

In my opinion, the structure of society proposed by Parsons can be significantly changed. It makes sense to add to the subsystems of society demosocial, associated with the reproduction and socialization of people. It is not covered by the personal and behavioral subsystems, playing a fundamental role in society. Need to share cultural subsystem on spiritual And mental, since their mixing in the cultural subsystem interferes with Parsons himself in the analysis of individual cultural subsystems - for example, the church and the religious worldview. Should be included in all social systems of society societal parts (functional societal communities).

Modern ideas about the structure of society

From my point of view, society consists of the following main systems-spheres:

  • geographical (natural basis of existence and subject of production);
  • demosocial (demographic and social) — reproduction and socialization of people;
  • economic (production, distribution, exchange, consumption of material goods);
  • political (production, distribution, exchange, consumption of power-order, ensuring integration);
  • spiritual (artistic, legal, educational, scientific, religious, etc.) - production, distribution, exchange, consumption of spiritual values ​​(knowledge, artistic images, moral norms, etc.), spiritual integration;
  • mental, conscious, subjective (a set of instincts, feelings, attitudes, values, norms, beliefs inherent in a given society).

Each of the listed systems includes subsystems that can be considered as relatively independent parts society. These representations can be schematically shown as follows (Scheme 1).

Scheme 1. The main systems of society

The systems of society, firstly, are arranged in such a "ladder" primarily depending on the ratio of the material (objective) and mental (subjective) in them. If in the geographical sphere the subjective component (worldview, mentality, motivation) is absent, then in the conscious one it is fully present. When moving from the geographical (unconscious) to the mental (conscious) system, the role of meanings constructing society, i.e., the conscious component of people's life, increases. At the same time, amplification disagreements everyday (empirical) and scientific (theoretical) knowledge and beliefs. Secondly, demosocial, economic, political, spiritual systems are focused on meeting functional needs (demosocial, economic, etc.). Therefore, the concept of social connection (sociality) is methodological basis analysis of these systems of society. Thirdly, these systems are complementary, complement each other and build one on top of the other. Various causal, essential-phenomenal and functional-structural connections arise between them, so that the “end” of one social sphere is simultaneously the “beginning” of another. They form a hierarchy, where the result of the functioning of one system is the beginning of another. For example, the demosocial system is the starting point for the economic system, and the last one for the political one, etc.

One and the same person acts as the subject of different social systems, and hence societal communities, implements different motivational mechanisms in them (needs, values, norms, beliefs, experience, knowledge), performs different roles (husband, worker, citizen, believer and etc.), forms various social ties, institutions, organizations. This, on the one hand, enriches the status-role set of people, and on the other hand, preserves the unity of social systems and societies. The individual, his activities, motivation are ultimately one of the main integrators of the population in the society-people. In understanding sociology, the sociology of Parsons and
phenomenological sociology, individual social action is the main element of the social.

Public, social, societal being - it is a set of demo-social, economic, political, spiritual systems and connections between them. The above terms mean essentially the same thing. Systems of social connection, social life, social systems are processes of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of some social goods (goods, order, truths, etc.).

Society - it is the totality of social systems with the exception of the geographic one. In textbooks on sociology, as a rule, there is a section society culture, which in the narrow sense of the word is understood as a system of values, norms, thoughts, actions characteristic of a given society. In the broad sense of the word society and culture society - identical concepts, so in the present study guide I have excluded the section "culture": it is considered in different topics due to the great vagueness of the very concept of "culture". culture human has been reviewed before.

Society - it is the totality of all social systems and the connections between them, its main metasystems are people, formation and civilization. In social systems (social being), three main parts can be distinguished in order to simplify their understanding and role in society. First, this initial, subjective, societal part of social systems includes functional communities (demosocial, economic, etc.) that have functional subjectivity(needs, values, knowledge), abilities to act, and roles.

Secondly, this basic, active part - the process of production of some public goods - which is the coordinated actions of individuals with different roles, their mutual communication, the use of objects and tools (situation of activity). An example would be managers, engineers and workers along with the means of production in the activities of an industrial enterprise. This part is basic, because the given social system depends on it.

Thirdly, this efficient, supportive the part that includes produced social goods: for example, cars, their distribution, exchange and consumption (use) by other social systems. The productive part of the social system should also include reinforcement initial and basic parts, confirmation of their adequacy to their purpose. Such realistic, the point of view softens the extremes of subjectivist, understanding, positivist and Marxist sociology.

Unlike Parsons, the functional societal community in this interpretation is the initial element of each social system, and does not act as a separate system. It also includes the status and role structure that characterizes the given social system. It, and not a cultural subsystem, acts as a specific functional cultural part of the social system.

Further, not only the economic and political, but also the demo-social and spiritual systems are social, that is, they have their own functional societal communities, with their own needs, mentality, abilities, as well as actions, norms, institutions and results.

And, finally, in all social systems, the cultural, societal, personal, behavioral subsystems are in unity, and individual(elementary) action is included in the basic part of every social system, including: a) situation (objects, tools, conditions); b) orientation (needs, goals, norms); c) operations, results, benefits.

Thus, society can be defined as a natural-social organism, consisting of mental, social, geographical systems, as well as connections and relationships between them. Society has different levels: villages, cities, regions, countries, systems of countries. Humanity includes both the development of individual countries and the slow formation of a universal superorganism.

In this study guide, society is depicted as a hierarchical structure, which includes: 1) the basic elements of society; 2) systems (subsystems), spheres, bodies; 3) metasystems ( peoples characterizing the "metabolic" structure of society; formations characterizing the "social body" of society; civilization characterizing his "soul").

Saint-Simon, Comte, Hegel and others believed that driving force changes in societies is in the sphere of consciousness, in those ideas, methods of thinking and projects with the help of which Man tries to explain and predict his practical activity, manage it, and through it the world. Marxists saw the driving force of historical change in the sphere of the struggle between the poor and rich classes, the productive forces and economic relations, that is, in the economic system. In my opinion, driving force development of societies are also the contradictions of the mental, societal, objective within social systems, between social systems within society, between different societies.

Instruction

Society is a complex structure that is in constant motion. It consists of groups of persons who are united according to the territorial principle, according to the place of work (study) or profession. Within one society, there are many social positions and statuses, as well as social functions. In addition, society includes a wide variety of norms and values. The connections that arise between these elements determine social structure.

The organic theory considers society as a living organism and believes that it also includes various organs and systems (digestive, etc.). O. Comte distinguishes between regulatory (management), production (agriculture, industry), distribution (roads, trading system) as organs of a social organism. The key institution of the social organism is considered to be the administrative one, which includes the state, the church and the legal system.

According to supporters of Marxism, in the social system there are basic and superstructural components. The economic (basic) element was considered to be the defining element. The superstructure formation represented by the state, law, church was considered secondary. The understanding of the social structure by Marxists divided the material and production sphere (economy), social (people, economic classes and nations), political (state, parties and trade unions) and spiritual spheres (psychological, value, social component).

The most popular understanding of society, which is used by modern sociologists, was proposed by T. Parsons. He proposed to consider society as a kind of social system. The latter, in turn, is part of the action system. According to supporters of the systems approach, society consists of four subsystems, each of which performs its own functions. The societal system serves as a way of integrating people and social groups into society, it consists of behavioral norms. It is she who is the core of society. The cultural subsystem is responsible for the preservation of cultural identity and the reproduction of typical behavior and includes a set of values. The political system aims to achieve the goals of the societal subsystem. The economic subsystem provides interaction with the material world.

Some researchers understand society as a set of social relations that arise between people. Among them, two large groups can be distinguished: material (arising in the process of practical human activity) and spiritual relations (ideal relations that are determined by their spiritual values). The latter include political, moral, legal, artistic, religious, philosophical.

mob_info