Structural functional perspective;

Emile Durkheim was a functional social analyst. He defined sociology as the study of social facts. He argues that, society is greater than the sum of its parts. He was of the view that society cannot be studied by simply analyzing an individual social behavior however, In order to understand society we have to examine collective behavior of individuals within a given society. Besides, collective behavior should be comprehended via, determining the development, maintenance and functions of social facts. “Social facts” refer to the social elements which regulate individual social behavior these include, moral values, social norms, customs and beliefs. Social norms and values are shared by individuals within a society.

Emile Durkheim believed that, individuals develop collective conscience via internalizing social facts. Individuals learn and internalize social facts through socialization process. Moreover, he refers to collective conscience as a glue which holds societies together. When Collective conscience is developed among individuals, they share similar sentiments and act in similar ways in different social situations. Collective sentiments bring people together as well as, arouse the feeling of unity among them. According to Durkheim, criminals are not punished in a given society because they have committed crimes however, they are punished because they have offended collective conscience. He writes that, if I do not act in accordance with social norms, values and customs, I will have to face social isolation, ridicule and punishment with in a society.

Furthermore, he wrote in his book “The division of labor”; collective conscience is stronger in traditional societies compare to modern society. As societies evolve from traditional to modern; people become more divided. Due to the division of labor social order transforms from mechanical to organic.

In preindustrial societies people have common line of work, norms, values and beliefs, which bring them together and arouse feeling of unity among them. Durkheim categorized such social integration as “mechanical solidarity”. Whereas, in industrial society people have different professions and they don’t have collective cultural norms and values. However, they are held together due to high division of labor and formal laws based on restitution. Everyone is expert in specific but distinct profession thus, they rely on one another to fulfill their different needs within a society. Durkheim labeled such social integration as “organic solidarity”.

During the transformation from mechanical to organic solidarity, societies become norm less due to which, chaos and confusion prevails within a societies. He called such outcome of social change or transition anomie. “Anomie” literally means without law. Collective conscience is weakened within a society therefore, people become alienated from one another. The process of transition is completed when norms are reestablished and shared by the people. Consequently, society achieve organic solidarity as well as, anomie diminishes from societies.

Conflict perspective;

Karl Marx was a conflict social analyst. He is one of the most eminent and influential social thinkers in recent history. His social theories have as well as had influenced the political and economic structure of many societies. His work has been criticized by many social thinkers. Yet, he is regarded as the father of sociology. Because His theories are still respected and studied in many formal disciplines including, political science, economics and sociology. He offered a new theoretical outlook to analyze society. He developed a theoretical framework of society. The framework was based on two elements these include, base and superstructure. It portrays the notion that economy is the base on which the structure of society rest upon. Superstructure refers to government, family, politics, religion and education.

Marx believed that, dominant class of society has always exploited the working class for their personal gain. History of societies affirms the domination of upper class over the working class. Marx explained history of class conflict via, analyzing the structure of preindustrial and industrial societies. The fundamental determinants of his analysis were, relationship between employer and employee, working conditions and modes of production.

In ancient societies the relationship between employer and employee was of master and slave. Lands and modes of production were owned by masters. Slaves were supposed to work in their master fields in order to produce surplus from their labor. Workers were not paid for their work in ancient societies because they were considered as a property rather than employees. In ancient societies masters were legally entitled to exploit their slaves for any purpose.

In feudal society’s kings, aristocrat, religious scholars, soldiers and liege lords owned the agriculture land. Kings grated the lands to people on the basis of their position. In feudal societies relationship between employer and employee was of a lord and peasant. In feudal societies peasants were exploited by the lords to obtain more power and wealth. Peasants were allowed to cultivate their land in return of place to live and little portion of produce. Peasants share of produce was not even enough for their basic survival. Surplus of agriculture produce was distributed among individuals on the basis of their position and ownership rather than their work and effort.

Karl Marx believed that, People within industrial societies are divided in to two social classes; based on acquisition of power and resources these include, bourgeoisie and proletariat. “Bourgeoisie” refers to the class of rich people who own means of production. Whereas, “Proletariat” refers to the class of poor people who work as labors in the factories which are owned by bourgeoisie. He argues that capitalist societies are in a state of conflict between bourgeoisie and proletariat. Bourgeoisie exploit the labor of proletariat in order to accumulate more wealth and power.

Social class conflict bring about social change as well. However, class conflict lead to rapid social change rather than gradual social change. Karl Marx argues that, when working class become aware of the exploitation they will overthrow capitalism and replace it with communism. Communism is a social system in which government owns the property and means of production. As well as, the profit which is generated from production of goods and services will be vested on the welfare of people. There will no disparities among the people in Communist society it will be a classless society.

Symbolic interactionist perspective;

Symbolic interactionist theory addresses that, individuals social behavior hold subjective meanings and people in a given society share these subjective meanings. Symbolic Interactionist comprehend society via, determining the process through which individuals develop and share subjective meanings.

Max weber was one of the greatest influential social thinker of is time. His social theories contributed a lot in the development of sociology as a formal discipline. Like Marx and Durkheim he was interested in analyzing the social changes transpired within western society due to the advent of industrialization. As well as, the effect of industrialization on people social behavior. However, his outlook of analysis was entirely different from Marx and Durkheim.

According to Weber, the foundation of social structure rest upon social class, status and power. He argues that, Society is divided between two social classes based on economic factors these include, owners and workers. Whereas, status is based on noneconomic components such as, education, religion and kinship. However, social class and status are the main components which identify an individual power or influence over ideas. Unlike Durkheim and Marx, Weber believed that the foundation of society is built upon ideas.

In his book “The protestant ethics and spirit of capitalism” Weber associated the conception of capitalism with Calvinism. He asserted that, unplanned influence of Calvinism was the force behind the formation and development of capitalism. However, Protestants belief system was based on the idea that, hard work and economic success are the signs of salvation. Protestants social ideas were inspired from their religious beliefs. Which led them to work hard and establish business ventures in order to achieve economic success. That explains, why Protestants owned most of the businesses and enterprises at the time. Calvinists social actions inspired many people of secular societies as well. Consequently, they established their own enterprises and engaged in trading; intended to obtain economic prosperity.

Weber explained social change through identifying types of legitimate authorities of pre modern and modern societies as well as, the influence of ideas on the development of legitimate authorities. Pre industrial societies were governed by traditional authority. Where Leaders obtained power through inheritance or higher power. For instance, people of pre industrial societies believed that God has granted the power to the king to lead and rule. As well as, only royal family members have rights to become head of state. Beside, when king reign is ended his son inherit the legitimate right to lead the people and rule over kingdom. However, charismatic authority rests on the idea that leaders possess extra ordinary intelligence whether religious, heroic or ethical. In simple words leaders inspire people from their personality. Whereas, modern societies are governed by legal rational authority, leaders are legally chosen on the basis of merit. Weber described the pure types of authorities however, most societies have mixture of authority.

Weber argues that, modern societies are based on rationalization. Rules and procedures of the business are based on the idea of merit and logic rather than tradition or customs. He believed that, rationalization is effective for industrial societies. However, it has negative effects on human social life. He assumed that, in modern society human is trapped in iron cage. In other words, people are trapped in bureaucratic system. Bureaucracy is a hierarchal system supported by norms, which regulate human social behavior. He argues that. Bureaucracy set limits on freedom and equality which reduce individual rational self-determination. As a result, individuals develop sense of disenchantment of the world.

Written by; Khushdil Khan Kasi

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The term society is derived from a Latin word “societas”. The literal meaning of societas is friend —ally or comrade. The term was used to define the bond between parties who were civil and friendly with one another. However, in sociology the term society refers to the group of people who live together in a defined geographical territory and share same culture. Society is sum of its total relationships among individuals. Individuals within a given society are continuously involved in social interaction. Pattern of such interactions and relationship describe the characteristics of a particular society. Each society has distinct characteristics for that reason, one society differ from another. Moreover, traditional societies are divided in to clans, tribes and subcultures therefore they have different political authorities. On the other hand, modern societies are subjected to similar political authority. Additionally, Societies which are progressive in technology have more control over their environment. Whereas, societies with rudimentary technology depend on the variability of environment.

Types of societies;

Social institutions are different parts of a given society. Societies are shaped and characterized on the basis of these institutions. Dominant institution in a given society influence societal culture. In some societies religion might be dominant institution whereas, in other it could be economic or political. However, it is important to analyze the framework of institutions in order to understand societies.

Traditional societies comprise of few social institutions whereas, modern societies have more compare to traditional societies. We can only find basic institution in traditional societies which include, family or kinship and religion. Modern or complex societies however, have dozen of them. The triggering factor of institutional expansion is economic change. Before industrialization or extensive use of heavy machinery; societies were very small and depended upon natural resources. In preindustrial societies division of labor was almost non-existent; the first job of men was to hunt and gather. Due to the advent of industrialization and technology division of labor amplified within societies. Therefore, sociologists have classified types of societies in accordance with their level of industrialization; preindustrial to industrial — industrial to postindustrial these include; hunter gatherer, pastoral, horticultural, agricultural, feudal, industrial and technological society.

Hunter-gatherer societies;

Hunter-gatherer societies are about ten to twelve thousand years old social structure as well as, such societies indicates the basic structure of human societies. Hunter-gatherer societies are those societies which are based on kinship and tribes. Societies such as these have subsistence economy therefore, Individuals depend upon nature for their basic survival. They hunt wild animals and look for the uncultivated plants or fruits since, they had no other means to satisfy their hunger need. Because of limited natural resources individual were not able to produce and store surplus. These societies are nomadic or semi-nomadic in nature as well as comprises of 50 to 60 members. Individuals have few belonging when the resources for survival became scares for survival they collect their belongings and move to another place.

Hunter-gatherer societies are simple societies. These societies have no institutions except family or kinship therefore, division of labor is merely based on age and sex. All individuals are supposed to take part in hunting and gathering except elders and children who are weak. The common pattern for male is to participate in deep sea diving and hunting whereas, female are supposed to take part in shore fishing and preserving. Every human society initiated as Hunter-gatherer society other evolved however, few societies such as these still remain. “Aborigines” the indigenous tribe of Australia and “Bambuti” the tribe of Congo are the contemporary examples of hunter-gatherer society.

Pastoral societies;

About seven thousand year ago, people learned how to tame and breed animals and cultivate plants. Pastoral society’s survival depend on the domestication of animals and cultivation of plant. Hunter-gatherers relied upon the existing resources, however, individuals within pastoral societies obtain the ability to bread animals and use them for different purposes such as, food, transportation and clothing. They are nomads as well, because they need fresh feeding ground to breed animals. Unlike hunter gatherer societies pastoral societies have specialized occupation. Because individuals have the ability to produce and store surplus. They cultivate small farms, breed animals as well as trade the surplus with other local groups. Which means labor within pastoral societies are divided in to three specialized occupations, peasants, breeders and traders.

Horticultural societies;

Pastoral and hunter gatherer were nomadic and semi nomadic societies. Members of these societies moved from one place to another due to depletion of resources. Whereas, Individuals within Horticultural societies had obtained the ability to cultivate and grow plants without moving from one place to another. Horticulture societies were established on the geographical location where environment allowed individuals to cultivate land constantly due to which they were able to produce more goods and surplus. Moreover, new social class emerged within horticultural society. Members of this class were more privileged than peasants. They were living of on the surplus produced by peasants which allowed them to take time off from production and turn to other pursuit such as, religion and warfare.

Moreover, structure of horticulture societies were complex compare to previous discussed societies. These societies consisted of more institutions other than family and kinship including, government, religion and revenue department. Societies such as these were governed by the leaders with hereditary authority (kings). Moreover, bureaucrats were authorized by king collect tax from peasants as well as, manage revenue department. On the other hand, religious institutions were managed by permanent priests.

Agriculture societies;

Former societies used inferior tools such as hoes and sticks for cultivating plants because of which lands were not fully utilized. However, individuals within agriculture societies obtained the ability to develop metal tools, wheels and better irrigation systems. This latest technology was accompanied by new techniques to cultivation. Peasants learned how to cultivate land in different seasons and save the byproduct such as fertilizers led to the production bigger surplus. Due to these developments small towns grew into big cities as well as less human resource was required for production. Those Individual who were not involved in production, moved to urban centers and started to find work in growing number of trades.

This was the epoch when people have leisure time on their hands, they utilized their time by engaging in thoughtful, innovative and creative activities, such as music, writing philosophy, poetry and crafting. Craftsman supported themselves by creating aesthetic objects and writing. This era was referred to as “dawn of civilization”.

Industrial societies;

In the history of societies the third major revolution in production was industrialization. Before the advent of industrialization production entirely depended on human, cattle and horse energy. Industrial revolution is considered special due to the invention of energy generation techniques. These new means of energy had positive influence on individuals’ daily lives within industrial societies. In 1972, James watt and Matthew Bolton invented steam engine which marked the beginning of industrial revolution. In former societies the work which was completed with the help of 12 horses could be performed through energy generated by steam engine. The task which was performed in months could be done in days.

Economy of Industrial societies is based on the production of non-agricultural goods. These Industrial good are produced through electrical, mechanical, fossil fuel and steam energy. Modern mass production methods gave rise to cities and transformed social institutions. Basic institution such as education expanded and new fields emerged as a result including, science, law and medicine.

Postindustrial society;

Postindustrial society is also known as information society or digital society. Industrial society focus was on the efficient production of material goods including, cloths cars and computers. However, information society focused on production of information and services. Steve jobs and Bill gates are the James watt and Matthew Bolton of digital society. Postindustrial societies has higher division of labor compare to industrial societies. New statuses emerged in digital societies such as, programmers, software developers, store clerks, Walmart greeters etc… Social class of individuals are based on education. Those individual who obtain four years professional degrees have good pay and life style compare to others within information society. Moreover, information technology have changed the social structures of societies. The ways of communication, participation in religion and obtaining knowledge have drastically changed within digital societies.

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