2: Human
Societies as sociocultural systems
In any other social species, despite some
variation caused by differences in their environments, one society is
remarkably like the next in size, complexity, and activities of its
members. Human societies, however,
which also have similar genetic heritages, are different in many ways. The explanation of the tremendous variations
among human societies is that their common genetic heritage enables them to
develop very different cultural heritages.
Because human societies, unlike those of other species, have both a
social and cultural dimension, sociologists and other social scientists often
refer to them as sociocultural systems (23).
Human Societies as Systems
The term system, which we have used in
conjunction with “sociocultural” and which appears frequently in sociological
analysis, is a simple world with profound meaning. System refers to an entity made up of interrelated parts or a
bundle of relations. More than the sum
of its parts, a system is the sum of is parts plus all of the relations among
them. Societies vary greatly in the
degree to which the functions of the parts are coordinated with one another and
with the functioning of the system as a whole.
In the societies of some species,
systemic qualities resemble a watch than they resemble human societies in that
the activities of the members are harmonious, interdependent, and function for
the system in which they exist. The
situation is quite different in human societies. Human societies are as much defined by conflicting elements as
they are by harmonious elements.
Although there must be enough cooperation for the system to exist and
function, coordination among parts is often poor and components do not always
function in ways conducive to the well-being of the system (24).[1]
The 5 Basic Components of Human
Societies: Population, Culture,
Material Products, Social Organization, & Social Institutions
I. Population
Population is the first basic component
of society. It refers to the members of
a society considered collectively. In
analyzing human societies there are 3 aspects of population: (a) the genetic constants, (b) the genetic
variables and (c) the demographic variables.
Genetic Constants
The genetic constants of a population are
those characteristics that reflect our species common genetic heritage. Specifying these traits is difficult because
scientists cannot examine genotype without cultural influences and the
complexity of genetics itself. It is
clear, however, that people and their societies are profoundly influenced by
the genetic heritage of our species as well as by their cultures. The unattractive aspects of human life, no
less than the attractive ones, inevitably reflect this ancient evolutionary
heritage and seem destined to remain a part of the human scene for a long time
to come. 9 things can be said about
genetic constants
1.
All humans
have the same basic needs.
2.
Members of
every society have the same basic physiological resources for satisfying their
needs and desires.
3.
Humans are
motivated to optimize pleasurable experiences and minimize painful and
unpleasant experiences.
4.
Humans
economize most of the time, seeing the optimal return for their expenditure of
resources.
5.
Humans have
an immense capacity for learning and modifying their behavior in response to
what they learn.
6.
Humans
develop a variety of derivative needs and desires that reflect their
experiences as members of society.
7.
Humans have
the capacity to create and use symbol systems and to develop cultures.
8.
Our
species’ heritage includes powerful emotions and appetites inherited from
distant prehuman ancestors.
9.
Humans have
a highly developed sense of self and are powerfully motivated to put their own
needs and desires ahead of those of others, especially when the stakes are high
(27-30).
B. Genetic
Variables
In addition to core traits which all
humans share, each of us also has thousands of genes that are absent or occur
in somewhat different form. Because
these genes are not distributed equally among societies and their populations,
there are variable aspects to the genetic heritage of societies. A race is simply a part of the human population
in which some combination of these highly visible traits occurs with a
frequency that is appreciably different from that of other parts of the human
population (e.g. sickle-cell anemia (31).
Most genetic variables are not as easy to
identify because our characteristics result from the action of more than one
gene and are not determined by genes alone.
Genes provide the potential, but the reality is determined by the
interaction of genes and environment.
Demographic Variables
The demographic properties of a
population include such things as its size, density, migration, composition,
and birth and death rates. These
characteristics vary among societies but, unlike most genetic variations, have
direct, demonstrable and far reaching consequences for human societies (33).
II. Culture
The second basic component of every
sociocultural system is culture, a society’s symbol systems and the information
they convey. The symbol systems and
store of information that comprise a society’s culture are like a foundation
laid down by previous generations.
Because each generation has this base on which to build, it can avoid
repeating many of the experiences of earlier generations.
Symbol Systems
1. spoken
language
The most basic symbol systems in any
society are its spoken languages. No
matter how many other symbol systems a society creates, these are the ones its
members use in their basic thought processes and the ones that bear the burden
of transmitting information. At the
heart of every spoken language is an enormous set of social conventions that
constitute its vocabulary and grammar.
In short, language reflects the needs, concerns ,and experiences of
those who use it. (34-35).
2. body
language
Supplementing its spoken language, every
society uses conventional gestures and facial expressions whose messages are
evident to members of the group. Not to
be confused with instinctive reactions, body language is symbolic, for the form
and meaning of the gestures and expressions are determined by those who use
them.
3. written
language
A relatively recent development in human
history, written language has expanded our ability to communicate information.
Over the course of history, the relative
importance of the 3 basic types of language has altered considerably, Body language may well have been the
dominant form of expression among our early ancestors, declining only when
speech evolved. Until recently spoken
symbols remained the primary means of transmitting information. With the invention of the printing press and
subsequent spread of literacy, written language steadily increased in relative
importance because it could overcome space and time (the historic barriers of
communication). During the last
century, because of devices such as the telephone, radio, and television,
spoken language has overcome those barriers altering the balance once
again. More important than these shifts
in relative importance of different types of language, however, is the
fundamental trend that has persisted from early prehistoric times: the continuing expansion of old symbol
systems and the creation of new ones have steadily increased the capacity of
human societies to handle information (37-38).
Information: Cultural, Ideological, & Technological
1. Cultural
Cultural information is knowledge
acquired through experience and conveyed through symbols. A society’s information is a product of its
experiences: its experiences in the remote
and recent past and its experiences with its environment and itself. Because every society has a unique past,
every culture is unique. Out of diverse
experiences, diverse information emerges.
Cultural experience includes everything humans are capable of
experiencing and able to convert into symbolic form (38).
Because all human societies have
fundamental kinds of experience in common and member and system needs, all
cultures include information on 7 basic subjects (38-39):
a. the
biophysical environment to which the society must adapt;
b. the
group’s social environment;
c. the
society itself, its origins, people and history;
d. the
ultimate causes of things and events;
e. problem
solving;
f. decision
making; and
g. to
satisfy culturally activated and intensified needs, such as the desire for
artistic expression and ritual.
2. Ideology
Much of the information in culture is
ideological and results from efforts to make sense out of human
experience. Ideology is information
used to interpret experience and help order societal life (40). There are 3 basic elements that comprise
every ideology (41):
a. a
system of beliefs about the kind of world we inhabit;
b. a
system of general moral values that emanate from, or justified by, those
beliefs; and
c. a
system of norms that apply those general values to specific situations and
spell out how the members of the group are to act in various
circumstances. There are two kinds of
norms to every society:
i. laws,
regulations and rules - the official or legal codes of conduct enforced by
authority (e.g. government, church); and
ii. customs
- the informal and unofficial norms which define acceptable and unacceptable
behavior (41).
Technology
Technology is information about how to
use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and
desires (42).
III. Material
Products
Material products consists of the things
human society produces or obtains through trade. These products of technology range from perishable food to
architecture. Energy is easily the most
vital product of societal activity (43).
IV. Social
Organization
Social organization refers to the network
of relationships among a society’s members.
These relationships make it possible for members to satisfy both their
individual needs and the needs of society as a whole. When we think of social organization we must think of it as a
product of the interaction of culture and people itself consisting of 5
elements: (1) individuals, (2) social
positions, roles & statuses, (3) groups, (4) classes, and (5)
stratification.
A. Individuals
Every society must cope with a constant
turnover in its membership and older members die and newer one are reborn. The means by which society copes with a
turnover of membership is socialization.
Socialization is a complex process that begins as soon as the infant is
capable of discerning that its actions generate reactions, and that some of
those interactions are pleasant while other are not. The socialization process is never entirely successful. The concern for self which is part of our
genetic heritage, together with the individuating nature of learning, combine
to limit the extent to which people are to subordinate their personal interests
to those of society (45). Most of the
time, however, most individuals conform to their society’s standards, partly
because of their desire to obtain the rewards and avoid the penalties that can
be expected, and partly because they have internalized society’s standards
(46).
B. Social
Positions, Roles, & Statuses
Individuals who occupy positions in a
social structure are expected to fulfill a number of social roles. These roles emerge and develop in response
to recurring needs and problems in societies.
Roles in societies, like roles in theaters, have distinctive behavioral
expectations and requirements attached to them. The behavior requirements and expectations that are attached to
real life roles are the norms discussed earlier. It is important to recognize that roles differ greatly with respect
to the prestige or social honor accorded them (46).
Groups
In most societies, individuals are
organized into a variety of units we call groups. These range from small family units to giant corporations. Sociologists limit the term “groups” to an
aggregation whose members (1) cooperate to satisfy common or complimentary
needs, (2) have shared norms, and (3) have a sense of common identity (47).
Classes
Inequality is a fact of life in every
human society. Some individuals always
control more of the society’s resources than other do and enjoy more than their
share of benefits. Human societies
differ greatly, however, in the amount of inequality present among their
members. Class or stratum is defined on
the basis of some important attribute that is the same for all members of the
class and that influences their access to power, privilege and prestige (48).
Stratification
Viewed as a whole, all of the statuses
and class systems of a society constitute its system of stratification. Stratification systems vary in a number of
important ways, such as wealth, power, prestige, and race. Stratification is one of the major sources
of conflict within societies. No system
of distribution can satisfy everyone, since there is no obviously right or fair
way to distribute society’s resources.
Social Institutions & Institutional
Systems
Social institutions and institutional
systems are the last of the 5 basic components of human societies. These differ from the other components we
have considered in one important respect:
they are combinations of the other four components. They bring together population, culture, the
material products of culture, and social organization.
Institutions are durable and persisting
elements of sociocultural systems. They
are durable answers to important and persistent problems. One reason for their durability is that
their value to society is impressed on individuals at an early age. We grow up thinking of them as natural and
inevitable. Another reason for their
durability is that the different elements of institutional systems are
intricately intertwined and it is often impossible to change one element
without being compelled to change countless others, making the cost of change
too great (49).
Sociologist are interested less in
specific social institutions than in institutional systems. Institutional systems are systems of
interrelated institutions. 5 such
systems are of major importance: (1)
kinship, (2) economy, (3) polity, (4) religion, and (5) education (51).
The World System of Societies
Before we conclude this discussion of
human societies as sociocultural systems, there is one more system that needs
to be considered. Every human society
is, itself, part of a larger and more inclusive sociocultural system that
sociologists call the world system of societies (51).
[1]I did an analysis and presentation of Simmel’s approach to conflict as a form that resolves “divergent dualisms.” If you like, I will send it to you.