Portal:Society
The Society Portal
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent of members. In the social sciences, a larger society often exhibits stratification or dominance patterns in subgroups.
Societies construct patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or concepts as acceptable or unacceptable. These patterns of behavior within a given society are known as societal norms. Societies, and their norms, undergo gradual and perpetual changes.
Insofar as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would otherwise be difficult on an individual basis; both individual and social (common) benefits can thus be distinguished, or in many cases found to overlap. A society can also consist of like-minded people governed by their own norms and values within a dominant, larger society. This is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a term used extensively within criminology, and also applied to distinctive subsections of a larger society.
More broadly, and especially within structuralist thought, a society may be illustrated as an economic, social, industrial or cultural infrastructure, made up of, yet distinct from, a varied collection of individuals. In this regard society can mean the objective relationships people have with the material world and with other people, rather than "other people" beyond the individual and their familiar social environment. (Full article...)
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![Megalith on Nias, Indonesia](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220503091949im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_%27Het_verslepen_van_de_steen_%27Darodaro%27_voor_de_gestorven_Saoenigeho_van_Bawamataloea_Nias_TMnr_1000095b.jpg/300px-COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_%27Het_verslepen_van_de_steen_%27Darodaro%27_voor_de_gestorven_Saoenigeho_van_Bawamataloea_Nias_TMnr_1000095b.jpg)
Megaliths, some decorated, were a part of the culture of the island of Nias off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Among the many uses of these large stones were statues, seats for the chieftains, and tables where justice was done. Additionally, some stones commemorated the deaths of important people. In this 1915 photo, such a stone is hauled upwards, reportedly taking 525 people three days to erect in the village of Bawemataloeo.
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Anniversaries this month
- 1 May 1776 - Foundation of the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society
- 1 May 1869 - New York Genealogical and Biographical Society elects its first woman member
- 7 May 1964 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson (pictured) first makes reference to the Great Society
- 10 May 1793 - Society of Revolutionary Republican Women officially registered at the Paris Commune
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- Definition of Society from the OED.
- Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Revolution
- "The Day the World Took Off" Six part video series from the University of Cambridge tracing the question "Why did the Industrial Revolution begin when and where it did."
- BBC History Home Page – Industrial Revolution
- National Museum of Science and Industry website – machines and personalities
- Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living by Clark Nardinelli - the debate over whether standards of living rose or fell.
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