Classification of social communities
What are the criteria for identifying and classifying social communities?
Systematization of the views of modern sociologists on this issue allows us to identify a number of potential and real, necessary and sufficient grounds for identifying commonality:
similarity, closeness of living conditions of people (as a potential prerequisite for the emergence of an association);
commonality people's needs, their subjective awareness of the similarity of their interests (a real prerequisite for the emergence of solidarity);
the presence of interaction, joint activities, interconnected exchange of activities (direct in the community, mediated in modern society);
the formation of her own culture: systems internal regulations relationships, ideas about the goals of community, morality, etc.;
strengthening the organization of the community, creating a system of governance and self-government;
social identification of members of the community, their self-assignment to the ϶ᴛᴏth community.
social community - ϶ᴛᴏ set of individuals unitedthe sameliving conditions, values, interests, norms, social connectionand awareness of social identity, acting inas a subject of social life
How do social communities emerge?
There are various concepts of creating social communities. It is important to note that one of them was proposed by an American sociologist George Homans, kᴏᴛᴏᴩy thought that people in interaction with each other try to achieve good, and the more significant the good, the more a person undertakes efforts to unite with other people.
Considering collective behavior from the position presets(predispositions), sociologist Gordon Allport put forward a theory according to which a new social subject is formed through convergence of predispositions, i.e. unity of assessments, values, assigned values, stereotypes, which members of the emerging community possess. It is worth noting that he theoretically proved that the emergence of a new community is based on similarity of emotions, and rational preferences of people.
The famous American sociologist Neil Smelser in his book "Mass Behavior" (1964-1967) structured Allport's theory of convergence. It is worth noting that he quite unambiguously connected the ϲʙᴏu explanatory concept of the emergence of a new community not with emotional grounds, but with rational ones.
Note that the theory of rational value-oriented behavior by N. Smelzer made it possible not only to reflect and interpret stages formation of communities, but also to reproduce (scientifically model) logical stages of the ϶ᴛᴏth process:
the formation of the most generalized ideas about the ideals, goals, objectives of the future association;
forcing on the basis of a common vision of the problem a certain tension, primarily due to the exaggeration of threats and the identification of a “common enemy”;
cultivating an implicit, preliminary, rather vague belief about the principles of action of the community, cultivating preferences regarding the future model of activity (legal, illegal, violent, peaceful, etc.);
turning to history in search of models for borrowing (this is what the Cossacks, nobles and other revivalist communities do in the new Russia);
mobilizing forces for action: expanding the number of supporters and preparing them to organize;
the introduction of internal social control, i.e., rights and obligations that allow demanding, punishing, encouraging, expelling, wearing symbols;
the entry of a new mass organization (embedding, infusion, acceptance by public opinion, legalization) into existing social structures.
The last stage marks the incorporation of a new community into the system of established social relations - the formation of a public or legally fixed organization, institutionalization, promotion of "ϲʙᴏ" into power elites, etc.
Types of social communities
Social communities are distinguished by a huge variety of specific historical and situationally determined types and forms.
Yes, by quantitative composition they range from the interaction of two people (dyads) to numerous international political and economic movements.
By lifetime duration- from lasting minutes and hours (the audience of a particular spectacular event) to living centuries and millennia of ethnic groups, nations.
According to the density of communication between individuals- from closely knit teams and organizations to very vague, amorphous formations (for example, fans of a football team), etc.
By size there are three main groups:
1. Large social communities, i.e. groups that exist throughout the country as a whole (nations, classes, social strata, professional associations).
2. Average social communities, for example, residents of Arkhangelsk or the entire Arkhangelsk region.
3. Small social communities, or small (primary) groups, which include, for example, a family, a team of workers in a small store, etc.
1. Socio-economic (castes, estates, classes);
2. Socio-ethnic (kinds, tribes, nationalities, nations);
3. Socio-demographic (youth, elderly, children, parents, women, men, etc.)
4. Socio-professional, or corporate, communities (miners, teachers, accountants, financiers, doctors, etc.);
5. Socio-territorial (inhabitants of certain territories, regions, districts, cities, villages, villages, etc.).
Primary and secondary social groups
From the point of view of the nature of interaction within the human community, primary and secondary social groups are distinguished. Primary social group- this is a set of people who know each other well and enter into direct interaction, interpersonal relationships. The ties between the members of the primary group are very close, suggest mutual support, and the group itself has a significant influence on the people included in it. Examples of primary social groups: family, group of friends, stairwell neighbors. Secondary social group - a set of people who enter into formal business relations to achieve a specific common goal. Relations between group members are often impersonal and do not imply a close emotional connection. Examples of secondary social groups: creative union, political party, production and economic association. Representatives of one social group are aware of their belonging to it, regardless of whether there are close ties between them (primary social group) or whether these ties are superficial (secondary social group).
A complex set of features allows divide all communities into two broadest subclasses, types: mass and group communities, which are divided into large and small social groups. (According to Marx and Tönnies)
Mass social communities
Our life is comprehensively permeated with concepts, which constitute the main content of such a sociological category as “mass social community”.
Mass communities are characterized by the following features:
are structurally undivided amorphous formations with rather extended boundaries with an indefinite qualitative and quantitative composition, do not have a clearly defined principle of entering them;
for such communities characterized by a situational mode of existence, i.e. they are formed and function on the basis and within the boundaries of one or other specific activity, are impossible outside of it, and therefore turn out to be unstable, changing from case to case formations;
them inherent heterogeneity of the composition, intergroup nature, i.e. these commonalities break class, group and other boundaries;
due to its amorphous formation, they are not able to act as part of wider communities as their structural units.
A typical example of mass communities will be participants in broad political or environmental movements(for peace, against the nuclear threat, against pollution environment etc.), fans pop stars, fans sports teams, members of amateur associations of interest (philatelists, etc.). the same type of behavior is often dictated not by reason, but by feelings, general emotions.
To mass social communities ᴏᴛʜᴏϲᴙ are:
ethnic communities (races, nations, nationalities, tribes);
socio-territorial communities - ϶ᴛᴏ aggregates of people permanently residing in a certain territory, formed on the basis of socio-territorial differences, having a similar way of life,
social classes and social strata(϶ᴛᴏ sets of people who have common social signs and performing similar functions in the system of social division of labor). Classes are distinguished in connection with the attitude towards ownership of the means of production and the nature of the acquisition of goods.
Social connections
The functioning and development of the social community occur on the basis of social connections and the interaction of its elements-individuals.
In the very general view a relationship is an expression of the compatibility of the functioning or development of two or more elements of an object or two (several) objects. Communication is the most profound manifestation of such compatibility. In social research, there are different types connections: connections of functioning, development, or genetic, causal connections, structural connections, etc. In the epistemological plan, it is important to distinguish between the connections of an object and formal connections, that is, connections that are established only in the plane of knowledge and do not have a direct analogue in the field the object itself, the confusion of these relationships inevitably leads to errors both in the methodology and in the results of the study.
Under the "social" connection is usually understood a set of factors that determine the joint activities of people in specific communities, at a certain time, to achieve certain goals. Social ties are established for a long period of time, regardless of the personal qualities of individuals. These are the connections of individuals with each other, as well as their connections with the phenomena and processes of the surrounding world, which are formed in the course of their practical activities. The essence of social ties is manifested in the content and nature of the actions of people who make up this social community. It is possible to single out connections of interaction, control, relations, as well as institutional connections.
Features of social communities
A characteristic feature of a social community (city, village, labor collective, family, etc.) is that social systems are formed precisely on its basis. A social community is a set of people that is characterized by the conditions of their life (economic, social status, level of professional training and education, interests and needs, etc.), common to a given group of interacting individuals (nations, classes, socio-professional groups, labor collectives, etc.); belonging to historically formed territorial entities (city, village, region), belonging of the studied group of interacting individuals to certain social institutions (family, education, science, politics, religion, etc.).
Reasons for the disorganization of social communities
Social processes (demographic, migration, urbanization, industrialization) as an undesirable result can have a destructive, disorganizational impact on social communities. The phenomena of disorganization are reflected both in the external (formal) structure of communities and in their internal, functional characteristics. So, if from the outside, processes such as migration, urban development, industry, etc. Lead to the disintegration of large families that previously consisted of two or three generations, in production groups - to staff turnover, etc., in territorial communities - to an increase in the number of migrants in the composition of the indigenous population, to a violation of the natural age and sex structure, then the disorganization of the functions of such communities is expressed in the loosening of values, the increase in the inconsistency of standards and patterns of behavior, the weakening of the normative structure of the community, which in turn leads to an increase in deviations in the behavior of its members.
To the number social causes, disorganizing the personality, one can attribute its participation either in several social communities that impose on it conflicting social values and patterns of behavior, or in those that are characterized by uncertainty social roles, i.e., the requirements for the individual, the lack of social control, the ambiguity of the criteria for evaluating behavior. As a rule, such phenomena are associated with a weakening of the socio-psychological effect of community, which serves as a means of intra-group cohesion and mutual understanding.
Under these conditions, the so-called normal social communities are not in all cases able to ensure the performance of a number of their essential functions, i.e., to provide the individual with a consistent, internally consistent system of behavior standards, to stimulate a sense of solidarity and belonging to it, to provide an ordered system of social levels. prestige and recognition, etc.
At present, Russia (Russian Federation) includes 89 regions - subjects of the federation. Among them are republics, territories, regions, autonomous regions, one Autonomous region and two cities federal significance(Moscow and St. Petersburg).
Settlement forms are divided into urban and rural. Urban settlements differ in terms of population. In Russia, the population of the city must be at least 10 thousand people, and other urban entities (urban-type settlements - at least 2 thousand people). So, according to the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation, super-large cities (over 3 million inhabitants), largest cities (from 1 to 3 million inhabitants), large cities (from 250 thousand to 1 million inhabitants), big cities(from 100 to 250 thousand inhabitants), medium-sized cities (from 50 to 100 thousand inhabitants), small towns (from 10 to 50 thousand inhabitants).
Urban settlements perform various functions in the spatial organization of the economy (these functions are called city-forming). Monofunctional cities concentrate any one branch of the economy or activity: industry
Urbanization and settlement systems. Interaction of social and spatial factors in the process of urbanization.
All fundamental changes in the general picture of settlement, changes in the way of life of people can be called urbanization. And we are talking not only about cities, but also the rural population.
Urbanization is a deep qualitative transformation of the entire system of settlement based on the development of industry, transport, means mass media, cultural and consumer services, the spread of urban lifestyle among various socio-demographic groups of the population.
It is noteworthy that the centers major cities, including London, New York, Washington, inhabited by the poor, the colored population. The higher the social status of a person or social group, the further housing is located from the central part of the city. True, the process of gentrification is now developing - the demolition of old buildings in the central regions and building them up with highly comfortable housing such as hotels.
The emerging trends of urbanization, the departure of the population from large cities, extensive suburban construction, and the development of small rural settlements await us in the very near future. These are the laws of the urban process, the laws of the development of modern civilization, which will lead to the formation of new settlement systems, a new, more perfect way of life.
Sociology of the city and sociology of the countryside. The specificity of the city and village as a human environment. Social functions of the settlement, its types. The level and quality of life of the urban and rural population.
The rural settlement community is the opposite of the city in all its main characteristics. Here, the territorial concentration of the population is relatively low, the predominant occupation of people is agricultural labor, the degree of socio-economic development is lower, a small set of types of labor activity, and a large professional and social homogeneity of the population.
The subject of the sociology of the village (village) is the main patterns of its functioning and development, its socio-economic nature, the problems of demographic and social reproduction of the population, the typology of rural settlements, the lifestyle of the population, and migration processes.
The main differences between the rural way of life and the urban way of life are well known: less developed and technically equipped labor, less variety of jobs and professions, strong dependence on natural and climatic conditions, as a rule, more difficult working conditions. Rural settlements are characterized by a large unity of work and life. Socially and nationally homogeneous families predominate, there is no urban anonymity of communication. Very strong public opinion social control, especially from the older generation, tradition. Here below the rhythm of life simpler form communication, less psychological stress Typology of rural settlements is more difficult because of the great diversity. Rural settlements are different: - - agrarian; industrial and agricultural; agrarian-administrative.
The most important feature for typology is the population density of the settlement. Allocate the smallest, small, medium, large rural settlements
transport services, health-improving institutions (resort town). Some cities serve the only city-forming enterprise (defense plant, mine, seaport, etc.). More common are multifunctional cities that simultaneously concentrate industry, construction, transport, trade, finance, educational institutions, healthcare, culture, science, management, etc. In sociology, 2 types of territorial communities are distinguished: regional (population of the region) and settlement (population of a city or village). Any regional community has its own characteristics: the structure of employment, professional and social. professional composition. We have regions with a predominance of miners, agrarian population, fishermen, etc.; the level of material well-being and social comfort, the difference in cultural level, the development of cultural infrastructure, the level of education, the presence and number of ethnic groups, because. this leaves an imprint on cultural life (linguistic culture - bilingualism occurs); difference in specific features, such as the level of criminalization. It is possible to improve people's lives locally or by migration, because of migration there are no such sharp differences between regions. Migrations perform not only economics. functions, but also social, the essence of which is not only to change the position of a person in the social division of labor, but also to change his status, social position. Intra-rural and intra-urban migration often leads to the movement of individuals from one social group to another. As a result of moving to the city, most of the rural population masters more complex specialties and moves to higher social strata. The purpose of the sociology of work is the study social phenomena processes, development of recommendations for their settlement and management, forecasting and planning aimed at creating favorable conditions for the functioning of society, a collective, a group, an individual in the sphere of labor and the achievement on this basis of the most complete realization and optimal combination their interests.
Tasks of the sociology of labor
Study and optimization of the social structure of society, labor organization (team).
Analysis of the labor market as a regulator of optimal and rational mobility of labor resources.
Search for ways to optimally realize the labor potential of a modern worker.
Finding ways to optimally combine moral and material incentives and improve attitudes towards work in market conditions.
Study of the causes and development of a system of measures to prevent and resolve labor disputes, conflicts.
Definition effective system social guarantees protecting workers.
On the whole, the sociology of labor is called upon, on the one hand, to expand knowledge about real-life activities, and on the other hand, to promote the establishment of new connections and processes taking place in the sphere of labor.
Labor activity is always woven into specific socio-economic conditions, associated with certain socio-professional groups, localized in time and space. So sociology studies social shape and working conditions, its social organization (collective, individual, family, forced, voluntary). It is extremely important to know the mechanisms of inclusion of a person in labor activity, that is, value orientations, motives, job satisfaction and much more
Sets of people permanently residing in a certain territory, formed on the basis of social-territorial differences in specific. social formations that act as carriers of locally manifested connections and relations that prevail in this society. The very fact of the connection between the resettlement of people and social. development recorded by sociology in the late XIX - first quarter of XX centuries. F. Tennis, K. Bucher, R. Mackenzie considered the territorial community of Ch. arr. through the prism of people living together in a particular territory. At the same time, the “locality” of the community, in contrast to the community, and “territoriality”, in contrast to the factors of formation of other social groups, turned out to be in the foreground. groups. O.s.-t. - one of the key categories of the sociology of settlement, because it expresses a certain section of the social. differentiation of people, emerging on the basis of historical. due to the territorial-settlement organization about-va. O.s.-t. - Historical category. Its emergence is associated with the transition from a primitive communal system based on personal blood ties to a class society, one of the signs of which is that it divided the people for societies. goals not by related groups, but by living in the same territory. Since that time, the place of residence of a person, as well as resettlement in general, has become a link in the social. determination and at the same time a factor and environment soc. development. The premise of O.S.-T. is a kind of attachment of the individual to the settlement, which finds its external expression in the phenomenon permanent place residence. This phenomenon is due to the division of labor. Integral part The latter is the distribution of people according to one or another of its types. Naturally, it also exists at the level of the settlement: firstly, the connection of the worker with the means of production presupposes a certain territorial "binding"; secondly, the nature of the development of technology and technology up to a certain time presupposes the direct inclusion of the individual in the production process, which is always territorially defined; Finally, the very attachment of the worker to the type of labor limits the possibility of his movement both in space and in the social. respect. Thus, the permanent nature of the place of residence means that the settlement of people is "tied" to production, and their resettlement as a whole follows the location of this production. Thus, the settlement becomes a direct environment for human activity. From the sociologist t. sp. this means that the society social-economic conditions that determine social the development of communities and the individual, perform their function not only at the level of the society as a whole, but also at the level of a certain settlement, because it is there that a person (and the population as a whole) acts as a subject of labor, a subject of consumption, etc. Conditions for the life of people , starting with the form of connection of the worker with the means of production, are specific in the settlement, determining the possibilities for the development of people and the satisfaction of their needs, i.e., they perform the function of the actual basis of their social. development. This means that the settlement plays a certain role in the socialization of the individual. But the mere attachment of people to a settlement and the transformation of the latter into the immediate environment of their life activity is still not enough for the formation of an OS-t. A community of this kind can be formed only on the basis of differences in the conditions of people's life in such and such a place from the conditions of another place and the formation of common interests on this basis. Differences in living conditions in the settlements - a manifestation of uneven economic. and social development of certain territories, regions. It is due to differences in the level of development of productive forces, the degree economic development territories. On this basis, differences in living conditions in settlements exist not only in economic terms. areas, but also in the field of social life. According to their societies. meaning they represent nothing more than social-territorial differences. A special case of such differences is the differences between the city and the countryside, but social-territorial differences can also be traced between the urban (as well as rural) settlements themselves. The social-territorial community is not only the population of a city, village, agglomeration. Due to the fact that the settlements are included in more complex territorial-administrative formations - district, region, republic - and the latter also differ in the specifics of economic. and social development. At the same time, in the hierarchy of O.S.-T. settlement plays a special role: in the basis of territorial differences in the context of any administrative units, there is always the state of living conditions in the places of settlement, where they become the direct basis for development. Therefore, the population of a separate settlement acts as the primary O.s.-t., and the totality of primary O.s.-t. objectively is the lower, primary level of the structure of the socio-territorial (see). Lit .: Staroverov V.I. Socio-demographic problems of the village. M., 1975; Baranov A.V. Socio-demographic development of the city. M., 1981; Lanno G.M. Cities on the way to the future. M, 1987; Big City: problems and development trends. L., 1988. M.N. Mezhevich.
Society, understood as a "product of people's interaction", as the integrity of people's social relations to nature and to each other, consists of many heterogeneous elements, among which the economic activity of people and their relations in the process of material production are the most significant, basic, but not the only ones. On the contrary, the life of society consists of many different activities, social relations, social institutions, ideas and other social elements. All these phenomena public life are mutually interconnected and always act in a certain interconnection and unity.
This unity is permeated by material and mental processes, and the integrity of social phenomena is in the process of constant change, taking various forms.
The study of society as the integrity of social relations in all its various manifestations requires grouping the heterogeneous elements of society into separate integrity in accordance with their common features and then identifying the relationships of such groups of phenomena.
One of important elements social structure of society is a social group. Importance has a socio-territorial group, which is an association of people that has a unity of relations to a certain territory they have mastered. An example of such communities can be: a city, a village, and in some aspects - a separate district of a city or state. In these groups there is their relationship with the environment.
Territorial groups have similar social and cultural features that have arisen under the influence certain situations. This happens even though the members of this group have differences: class, professional, etc. And if we take the characteristics of various categories of the population of a certain territory, we can judge the level of development of this territorial community in social terms.
Basically, territorial communities are divided into two groups: rural and urban population. Relations between these two groups developed differently at different times. Of course, the urban population prevails. Basically urban culture today with its patterns of behavior, activities penetrates more and more into the village, village.
The resettlement of people is also important, because regional differences affect the economic, cultural state, social appearance man - there is a lifestyle.
All this is influenced by the movement of migrants.
The highest level of development of the socio-territorial community is the people. The next step is national territorial communities. The initial is the primary territorial community, which is integral and indivisible.
An important function of this community is the socio-demographic reproduction of the population. It ensures the satisfaction of people's needs through the exchange certain types human activities. An important condition reproduction is the self-sufficiency of the elements of the artificial and natural environment.
It is also important to take into account the mobility of territorial communities. In some cases, the living environment for reproduction requires the formation of a combination of urban and rural environments, taking into account the natural environment (agglomeration).
A socio-territorial community is a collection of people permanently residing in a certain territory and carrying out joint activities to meet their economic and social needs.
Socio-territorial communities have system-forming features, the main of which are stable economic, social, political, spiritual and ideological ties and relations. This makes it possible to single out a socio-territorial community as independent system spatial organization of human life.
Socio-territorial communities include the population of a city, village, town, village, separate district big city. More complex territorial-administrative formations - district, region, territory, state, province, etc., also act as such communities.
In investigating socio-territorial communities, sociologists pay the main attention to the study of the city (sociology of the city) and the countryside (sociology of the countryside).
City - it's a big one locality whose inhabitants are engaged in non-agricultural work. The city is characterized by a variety of labor and non-production activities of the population, the specifics of its social composition and lifestyle.
The allocation of the city as a territorial unit in different countries has its own characteristics. Thus, in a number of countries, cities include settlements with a population of several hundred people, although the generally accepted figure is from 3 to 10 thousand inhabitants. AT Russian Federation a city is a settlement with a population of more than 12 thousand people, of which at least 85% are employed outside the sphere Agriculture. Cities are divided into small (with a population of up to 50 thousand people), medium (50-100 thousand people) and large (over 100 thousand people). Cities with a population of more than 1 million people stand out in particular. At the same time, cities with a population of more than 2 million people are considered to be megacities.
The development of cities is associated with urbanization, the main social content of which lies in special "urban relations" that cover the socio-professional and demographic structure of the population, its way of life, culture, distribution of productive forces, resettlement. Urbanization is characterized by an influx of the rural population into cities, an increase in the share of the urban population, an increase in the number of large cities, an increase in the accessibility of large cities for the entire population, etc.
An important moment in the development of urbanization was the transition from the "point" to the "areal" structure of settlement. This meant the expansion not of the city itself, but of its zone of influence to ever more distant territories. A complex complex of social space, including the city, suburbs, settlements, is called agglomeration. Agglomeration becomes the main element of "areal" settlement. On this basis, a new phenomenon arises in the socio-demographic structure of the area - pendulum migration of the population, associated with the increasing mobility of residents of the city and the peripheral environment.
The process of urbanization has both positive and Negative consequences. Among the first is the spread of new, more advanced forms of lifestyle and social organization; creation of favorable conditions for the development of science, technology, culture; choice various kinds education and professional activity; wide opportunities for more interesting spending of free time, etc.; among the second - exacerbation environmental issues; increase in morbidity; increase in social disorganization, crime, deviation, etc.
According to some experts, the growth of large cities requires the establishment of certain restrictions. This concerns the planning of residential development, the location of industrial enterprises, the expansion of park areas, attitudes towards nature, etc.
Village - This is a small settlement whose inhabitants are engaged in agricultural labor. This form of socio-territorial community is characterized by a direct connection between the inhabitants and the land, seasonal cyclical work, a small variety of occupations, relative social and professional homogeneity of the population, and a specific rural lifestyle.
Historically, the name "village" originated in the north-east of Russia, from where it spread to other regions of the country. Another typical type of settlement was the village, which was different from the village big size and the presence of a landowner's estate or church. Smaller settlements were called settlements, farms, repairs, zaimkas, etc. On the Don and Kuban, large rural settlements are called villages. AT Central Asia the main type of settlement is a village, and in mountainous areas North Caucasus- aul.
Currently, in accordance with the urban planning code to rural settlements include villages, villages, villages, farms, kishlaks, auls, camps, zaimkas and other similar socio-territorial communities. All these settlements can be generally defined by the concept of "village", which reflects a specific set of socio-economic, cultural, social and natural conditions of rural life.
Within the framework of the sociology of the countryside, the regularities of the emergence, development and functioning of rural socio-territorial communities are studied. Special attention paid to the study of such issues as the employment of the population, its professional and socio-demographic structure, the organization of leisure in the countryside, the way of life, culture and spiritual interests of rural residents.