chapter 4 societies and nations. chapter outline the social order populations and societies ...
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CHAPTER 4
Societies and Nations
Chapter Outline
The Social Order Populations and Societies Society and the Individual Societies and Nation-States
Society and Social Structure
A society is a population of people organized in a cooperative manner to carry out the major functions of life.
Social structure refers to the patterns of behavior that people create through their interactions and relationships.
Elements of Social Structure
Element Example
GroupA discussion group; a Bible study class; a local union.
StatusOrderly, registered nurse, resident, chief resident.
RoleThe doctor diagnoses and treats illnesses; nurse cares for patients.
Elements of Social Structure
Element Example
Role Expectations
A major league center fielder is expected to have a batting average over .300, drive in more than 75 runs, and cover the field with minimum errors.
InstitutionThe military is the primary institution devoted to providing national defense.
Groups
A collection of people who interact on the basis of shared expectations regarding one another’s behavior.
Groups vary in how the statuses of their members are well or poorly defined.
Groups vary in the ways they are connected with other groups to form a larger structure known as an organization.
Social Institutions
Every social institution has a set of norms that controls the behavior of its members.
A structure of statuses and roles devoted to meeting the basic needs of people in a society.
New institutions are created through the process of differentiation.
Adaptability Of Social Structures
Social structure is never fixed or perfectly formed but is always changing and adapting to new conditions.
Often the process of change involves conflict and uncertainty, and often there is little consensus about how one should perform in a given status.
Roles and Role Expectations
A role is the way a society defines how an individual is to behave in a particular status.
Role expectations are society’s expectations about how a role should be performed, together with the individual’s perceptions of what is required in performing that role.
Groups in Organization
Groups vary in how they are connected with other groups into a larger structure known as an organization.
An army platoon includes the statuses of private, corporal, sergeant, and lieutenant, each with specific roles to play in training and combat.
How Institutions Change
The history of human societies is marked by the emergence of new institutions.
Differentiation refers to the processes whereby activities performed by one social institution are divided among different institutions.
New institutions are more likely to emerge when populations grow, the need for coordination of their activities increases, and new demands are placed on older institutions that they cannot fulfill.
Populations and Societies
At the end of the Neolithic period, about 8000B.C.E., there were an estimated 5 million to 10 million humans.
By the time of Jesus there were an estimated 200 million people on the earth, and by 1650 there were an estimated 500 million.
By 1945 the population had reached about 2.3 billion, and it is now more than 6 billion.
World Population Growth from 8000 B.C.E. to 2000 C.E.
The First Million Years: Hunting and Gathering
In hunting and gathering societies, population size was limited by availability of food.
Families and bands linked by kinship developed. Deviant behavior was punished by banishment (leading
to death). Survival of individuals was less important than survival
of the group.
The “Ice Man,” discovered in 1991 in the Italian Alps, is shown with the items he was carrying when he died.
These remains, among the oldest samples of human flesh and organs ever discovered, are providing knowledge about life in hunting-and-gathering societies 5,000 years ago.
The Ice Man
Transition to Agriculture
Food surpluses relieved people from the chore of constantly seeking food.
The need for land to support agriculture meant larger territories had to be sought and defended.
The need to store food and house the no agrarian classes led to the growth of villages and small cities.
Agricultural Origins
Industrial Revolution
Growth of societies around cities controlling limited territories set the stage for the shift from agriculture to trade and industry.
Capitalism organized production and led to the development of markets.
Changes in Social Structure in Industrial Societies
Fewer people work on farms, more live in towns or cities.
New institutions emerge as a result of scientific and technological advances.
Innovations in transportation and communication create a “global village” but also result in increased competition and conflict.
Types of Societies
Society Historical Period
Hunting and Gathering
Only type until 12,000 years ago.
Horticultural and Pastoral
From 12,000 years ago, with rapidly decreasing numbers after 4000 BC.
Types of Societies
Society Historical Period
AgrarianFrom about 7,000 years ago; large but
decreasing numbers today.
Industrial From about 1750 to present.
Post industrial From about 1960 to present.
Types of Societies
Society Energy/Technology
Hunting/Gathering Fire; crude weapons
Horticultural/Pastoral Fire; hand tools for planting
AgrarianFire; animal power for plowing;
irrigation systems
Types of Societies
Society Energy/Technology
Industrial Steam, electricity, gasoline power
Post industrialElectricity, gasoline power, nuclear energy; information technologies
Types of Societies
Society Populations Sustained
Hunting/Gathering Bands of 25-40 people
Horticultural/Pastoral
Settlements of a few hundred.
Agrarian Millions of people
Industrial Millions of people
Post industrial Millions of people
Types of Societies
Society Examples
Hunting/GatheringEskimo; Pygmies of Central Africa; Aborigines of Australia
Horticultural/ Pastoral
Societies of the Fertile Crescent (now Iraq); Laplanders; Maasai
AgrarianEgypt under the pharaohs; Medieval Europe; ancient China and India
Types of Societies
Society Examples
IndustrialChina; Brazil; Eastern European nations; Argentina; Philippines; South Korea
Post industrialUnited States; most nations of Western Europe; Japan
Society and the Individual
Gemeinschaft Close, personal relationships typical of small
groups and communities. Gesellschaft
Well-organized but impersonal relationships found in social structures such as factories and office bureaucracies.
Role Conflict and Role Strain
Much of the stress in modern societies is caused by balancing the conflicting demands of various roles.
Role conflict occurs when a person must violate one role to perform well in another.
Role strain occurs when people must reconcile conflicting demands within a single role.
Types of Status
Ascribed status Determined at birth. Role conflict is less likely to
occur. Achieved status
Acquired through the individual’s own efforts. Master status
Dominates all of a person’s other statuses.
The State and Nation-States
The state is a society’s set of political structures—those that control “who gets what, when, and how.”
The state has the power to influence the behavior of citizens.
The State and Nation-States
The state thus may be defined as a society’s set of political institutions—that is, the groups and organizations that deal with questions of “who gets what, when, and how”
The nation-state is the largest territory within which those institutions can operate without having to face challenges to their sovereignty
QUICK QUIZ
1. Being a service representative is your ________ in the social structure of the corporation, but showing up for work on time, obeying the reasonable orders of supervisors, and being productive constitute your ________.
a. status / role
b. role / status
c. role expectation / role
d. role / reasons for role conflict
Answer: a
Being a service representative is your status in the social structure of the corporation, but showing up for work on time, obeying the reasonable orders of supervisors, and being productive constitute your role.
2. Chronologically order these societies in terms of evolutionary development.
a. hunting and gathering, industrial, agricultural, pastoral or horticultural, postindustrial
b. industrial, postindustrial, agricultural, pastoral, hunting and gathering, manufacturing
c. hunting and gathering, pastoral or horticultural, agricultural, industrial, postindustrial
d. agricultural, hunting and gathering, pastoral or horticultural, industrial, postindustrial
Answer : c
Chronologically order these societies in terms of evolutionary development: hunting and gathering, pastoral or horticultural, agricultural, industrial, postindustrial.
3. A _____ is the way a society defines how an individual is to behave in a particular status.
a. Role expectation
b. Role
c. Role conflict
d. All of the above
Answer : b
A role is the way a society defines how an individual is to behave in a particular status.