Outline of society

What type of thing is a society?

A society can be described as all of the following:

System –

Social system –

People –

Social group –

Community –

Types of societies

Humanity – the entire human race. As a whole, it can be viewed as one great big society.

In anthropology: by methods of subsistence

Pre-industrial society

Hunter-gatherer society –

Pastoral society –

Horticultural society –

Agrarian society –

Feudal society –

Industrial society –

Post-industrial society –

In sociology and political science

by political structure:

Band society –

Tribe –

Chiefdom –

Civilization

State –

International community –

World community –

by modernity:

Pre-modern –

Modern –

Post-modern –

Aspects or features of societies

Communities (outline) – while a society is a type of community, it can itself comprise smaller communities.

Structure and agency

Socialization

Sense of community

Communitarianism

Social capital

Community development

Culture (outline) – Shared culture can create sub communities of people within a society due to their shared attitudes, values, goals and practices (ref: Woodward, K., (2004) Questioning Identity: gender, class, ethnicity, Milton Keynes, The Open University).

Cultural heritage –

Economy (outline) –

Economic system –

Education (outline) –

Government –

Identity – Interaction with others within our society helps shape our identity, (along with our gender, class & cultural origins), and a shared society can promote a sense of shared identity(ref: Woodward, K., (2004) Questioning Identity: gender, class, ethnicity, Milton Keynes, The Open University).

Infrastructure – see Infrastructure section, below

Institutions – see Social institutions section, below

Land –

Natural resources –

People –

Politics (outline) –

Social control –

Guilt society –

Shame society –

Social institution – see Social institutions section, below

Social structure

Social order –

Social stratification –

Technology and society (outline) –

Wealth –

Infrastructure

Infrastructure

Public infrastructure

Transportation systems

Road systems

Roads

Highways

Streets

Bridges

Tunnels

Mass transit

Airports and Airways 

Water supply and Water resources

Wastewater management

Solid-waste treatment and disposal

Electric power

Private infrastructure

Personal property

Automobiles

Personal computers

Real estate

Homes

Social institutions

Social institution – any persistent structure or mechanism of social order governing the behaviour of a set of individuals within a given community. The term "institution" is commonly applied to customs and behavior patterns important to a society, as well as to particular formal organizations of government and public services.

Family

Family members – families are composed of:

Offspring

Daughter

Son

Parent

Father

Mother

Grandparent

Types of families

Nuclear family

Extended family

Family related topics

Home

Human bonding

Sociology of the family

Government –

Marriage and the family –

Religion (outline) and religious institutions – see sociology of religion; civil religion

Educational institutions – schools (preschool, primary/elementary, secondary, and post-secondary/higher – see Sociology of education)

Research community – Academia and universities; research institutes – see sociology of science

Medicine – hospitals and other health care institutions – see sociology of health and illness, medical sociology

Psychiatric hospitals (history)

Law (outline) and legal system – courts; judges; the legal profession (bar) – see jurisprudence, philosophy of law, sociology of law

Law enforcement and society –

Criminal justice or penal systems – prisons – see sociology of punishment

Military (outline) – (See also military sociology).

Paramilitary –

Police forces

Mass media – including the news media (television, newspapers) and the popular media – see media studies

Industry – businesses, including corporations – see financial institution, factory, capitalism, division of labour, social class, industrial sociology

Civil society or NGOs – Charitable organizations; advocacy groups; political parties; think tanks; virtual communities

Societal change

Social change

Decadence

Social development

Social progress

Technological evolution

Sociocultural evolution

Stages of sociocultural evolution

Sociocultural evolution – below are listed some typical and some potential stages of progression in the evolution of cultures and societies:

Pre-civilization

Hunter-gatherer bands

Social rank

Tribes

Social stratification

Chiefdoms

Neolithic Revolution

Civilization

Pre-industrial society

Agrarian society

Agrarian villages

Towns

Cities

City-states

Nation-states

Industrial Revolution

Modernity

Industrial society

Postmodernity

Post-industrial society

Informational Revolution

Information society

Digital Revolution

Knowledge society

Globalization – process by which the world is becoming more interconnected, being integrated into a unified global community, through the interchange — of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture — made possible by technological advancements in communication and transportation and the dissemination of knowledge those bring.

World government? – notion of a single common political authority (global state) for all of humanity. Currently there is no worldwide executive, legislature, judiciary, military, or constitution with jurisdiction over the entire planet. The United Nations is limited to a mostly advisory role, and its stated purpose is to foster cooperation between existing national governments rather than exert authority over them.

Space colonization? – hypothetical expansion of the human race into outer space: to the moon, to other planets or moons, or in space stations.

Technological singularity? (TS) – hypothetical result that may occur if and when strong AI (artificial intelligence at least as smart as a human) is developed. Such AIs would be recursive, and therefore able to improve themselves (or each other) at an increasingly rapid rate to super intelligence. Technological advancements implemented by such entities would probably be so profound and come so quickly that it seems unlikely anyone could reliably forecast what such a future would be like — like a black hole, a singularity we cannot see.

Forces of societal change

Climate change, industry and society –

Connections – James Burke presented in this TV series his hypothesis that the entire gestalt of the modern world is the result of a web of interconnected events, each one consisting of a person or group acting for reasons of their own motivations (e.g., profit, curiosity, religious) with no concept of the final, modern result to which the actions of either them or their contemporaries would lead. The interplay of the results of these isolated events is what drives history and innovation.

Conquest –

Cooperation –

Deviance –

Disaster –

Economic forces –

Economic growth –

Exploration –

Human migration – Migration can impact on our identity since it may be difficult to feel a sense of belonging in a new society. Human migration can also introduce new cultural values to a society, (ref: Held, D.,(2004) A globilizing world? Culture, economics and politics,London Routeledge/The Open University)

Population change

Population decline –

Population growth –

Revolution –

Social conflict –

Social disintegration –

Social movement –

Societal collapse –

Technological change –

Urbanization –

Trade –

War –

History of society

History of civilization

Society-related history

Rural history –

Social history –

Urban history –

Sociocultural evolution –

Study of society: sociology

Sociology – scientific study of society. This social science directs methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis upon human social activity, focusing on the influence of relationships and how they affect attitudes and behaviours. Sociologists conduct research to refine the theoretical understanding of social processes, or for application to social policy and welfare.

Branches of sociology

History of sociology