Social: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Short description|Relating to society or its organization}}

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{{other uses}}

'''Social''' refers to human [[society]] or its [[organization]]. Although the term is a crucial category in [[social science]] and often used in [[Discourse|public discourse]], its meaning is at times vague, suggesting that it is a [[fuzzy concept]]. An added difficulty is that social attributes or relationships may not be directly observable and visible, and must be inferred by abstract thought.

'''Social''' organisms, including [[human]](s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.

==Etymology==

Thus the sociologist [[C. Wright Mills]] used the expression "the [[sociological imagination]]", which referred to the need to think imaginatively beyond what an individual can empirically observe in order to grasp the social domain in all its dimensions — connecting, for example, "private troubles" and "public issues".

The word "social" derives from the Latin word ''socii'' ("allies"). It is particularly derived from the Italian ''[[Socii]]'' states, historical allies of the [[Roman Republic]] (although they rebelled against Rome in the [[Social War (91–87 BC)|Social War of 91–87 BC]]).

A similar point is made in the context of architecture by Ole Bouman and Roemer van Toorn in ''The Invisible in Architecture''. General problems concerning the nature of social reality and what (or how) we can know about it are the object of [[social theory]].

Martin

==Social theorists==

In the view of [[Karl Marx]]<ref name=morrison>Morrison, Ken. ''Marx, Durkheim, Weber. Formations of modern social thought''</ref><references group="foo"/>, human beings are intrinsically, necessarily and by definition social beings who -, beyond being "gregarious creatures" -, cannot survive and meet their needs other than through social co-operation and association. Their social characteristics are therefore to a large extent an objectively given fact, stamped on them from birth and affirmed by [[socialization]] processes; and, according to Marx, in producing and reproducing their material life, people must necessarily enter into [[relations of production]] which are "independent of their will". ▼

By contrast, the sociologist [[Max Weber]]<ref name=morrison/> for example defines human action as "social" if, by virtue of the subjective [[meanings]] attached to the action by individuals, it "takes account of the behavior of others, and is thereby oriented in its course". In this case, the "social" domain really exists only in the [[intersubjective]] relations between individuals, but by implication the life of these individuals also exists in part outside the social domain. "Social" is thus implicitly also contrasted with "[[Privacy|private]]".▼

▲In the view of [[Karl Marx]], human beings are intrinsically, necessarily and by definition social beings who - beyond being "gregarious creatures" - cannot survive and meet their needs other than through social co-operation and association. Their social characteristics are therefore to a large extent an objectively given fact, stamped on them from birth and affirmed by [[socialization]] processes; and, according to Marx, in producing and reproducing their material life, people must necessarily enter into [[relations of production]] which are "independent of their will".

==In socialism==

▲By contrast, the sociologist [[Max Weber]] for example defines human action as "social" if, by virtue of the subjective [[meanings]] attached to the action by individuals, it "takes account of the behavior of others, and is thereby oriented in its course". In this case, the "social" domain really exists only in the [[intersubjective]] relations between individuals, but by implication the life of these individuals also exists in part outside the social domain. "Social" is thus implicitly also contrasted with "[[Privacy|private]]".

The term "[[socialism]]", used from the 1830s onwards in [[France]] and Englandthe [[United Kingdom]], was directly related to what was called the [[social question]],. inIn essence, the[[Utopian problemsocialism|early socialists]] contended that the emergence of competitive [[Market (economics)|market]] societies did not create "liberty, equality and fraternity" for all citizens, requiring the intervention of [[politics]] and [[social reform]] to tackle social problems, injustices and grievances (a topic on which [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] discourses at length in his classic work ''[[The Social Contract]]''). Originally the term "socialist" was often used interchangeably with "[[co-operative]]", "[[Mutualism (economic theory)|mutualist]]", "[[associationist]]" and "[[Collectivism and individualism|collectivist]]". in reference to the organization of economic enterprise socialists advocated, in contrast to the [[private enterprise]] and [[Corporation|corporate]] organizational structures inherent to [[capitalism]].▼

The modern concept of socialism evolved in response to the development of industrial capitalism. The "social" in modern "socialism" came to refer to the specific perspective and understanding socialists had of the development of material, economic forces and determinants of human behavior in society. Specifically, it denoted the perspective that [[Human nature|human behavior]] is largely determined by a person's immediate [[social environment]], that modes of social organization were not [[supernatural]] or [[metaphysical]] constructs but products of the social system and social environment, which were in turn products of the level of technology/mode of production (the material world), and were therefore constantly changing. Social and economic systems were thus not the product of innate human nature, but of the underlying form of economic organization and level of technology in a given society, implying that human social relations and incentive-structures would also change as social relations and social organization changes in response to improvements in technology and evolving material forces ([[relations of production]]). This perspective formed the bulk of the foundation for Karl Marx's [[Historical materialism|materialist conception of history]].

In the [[positivist]] sociology of [[Emile Durkheim]], a social fact is an abstraction external to the individual which constrains that individual's actions. In his 1895 work ''Rules of Sociological Method'', Durkheim writes: "A social fact is every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an influence, or an external constraint; or again, every way of acting which is general throughout a given society, while at the same time existing in its own right independent of its individual manifestations." In Durkheim's view, sociology is 'the science of social facts'.

==Modern uses==▼

==Socialism and social democracy==

In contemporary society, "social" often refers to the [[Redistribution (economics)|redistributive]] policies of the government which aim to apply resources in the [[public interest]], for example, [[social security]]. Policy concerns then include the problems of [[social exclusion]] and [[social cohesion]]. Here, "social" contrasts with "[[Privacy|private]]" and to the distinction between the public and the private (or privatised) spheres, where [[ownership relations]] define access to resources and attention.▼

▲The term "[[socialism]]", used from the 1830s onwards in France and England, was directly related to what was called the [[social question]], in essence the problem that the emergence of competitive [[market]] societies did not create "liberty, equality and fraternity" for all citizens, requiring the intervention of [[politics]] and [[social reform]] to tackle social problems, injustices and grievances (a topic on which [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] discourses at length in his classic work ''[[The Social Contract]]''). Originally the term "socialist" was often used interchangeably with "[[co-operative]]", "[[mutualist]]", "[[associationist]]" and "[[collectivist]]".

The term [[social democracy]] originally referred to the political project of extending [[democratic]] forms of association to the whole of society, substituting [[popular sovereignty]], the [[universal franchise]] and [[social ownership]] for the rule of a propertied class which had exclusive voting rights.

▲==Modern uses==

The social domain is often also contrasted with that of physical nature, but in [[sociobiology]] analogies are drawn between [[humans]] and other [[extant taxon|living]] species in order to explain [[social behavior]] in terms of [[biology|biological]] factors. The term "social" is also added in various other academic sub-disciplines such as [[social geography]], [[social psychology]], [[social anthropology]], [[social philosophy]], [[social ontology]], [[social statistics]] and [[social choice theory]] in mathematics.▼

▲In contemporary society, "social" often refers to the [[redistributive]] policies of the government which aim to apply resources in the [[public interest]], for example, [[social security]]. Policy concerns then include the problems of [[social exclusion]] and [[social cohesion]]. Here, "social" contrasts with "[[Privacy|private]]" and to the distinction between the public and the private (or privatised) spheres, where [[ownership relations]] define access to resources and attention.

==See also==

▲The social domain is often also contrasted with that of physical nature, but in [[sociobiology]] analogies are drawn between [[humans]] and other [[living]] species in order to explain [[social behavior]] in terms of [[biology|biological]] factors. The term "social" is also added in various other academic sub-disciplines such as [[social geography]], [[social psychology]], [[social anthropology]], [[social philosophy]], [[social ontology]], [[social statistics]] and [[social choice theory]] in mathematics.

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

*[[fr:Social construct]]▼

*[[Social cue]]

*[[Social issues]]

*[[Social media]]

*[[Social network]]

*[[Social networking service]]

*[[Social neuroscience]]

*[[Social pension]]

*[[Social psychology]]

*[[Social skills]]

*[[Social studies]]

*[[Social support]]

*[[Social undermining]]

*[[Social work]]

*[[Sociology]]

{{div col end}}

==Regional usesReferences==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

There is a peculiar use of "social" in some parts of the world. In the Canadian province of [[Manitoba]], a "social" is a fund raising party (for a wedding, non-profit organisation, charity, or some other worthy cause). It is also known as a [[Manitoba Social]]. Typically, they will include music (current popular music for the youth and "oldies" music for older adults), dancing, food, raffles (and other fund raising games). When held in support of a wedding, often they are used as a way to shake down some details of the wedding (e.g., letting the bride try a hair style, practicing dancing, etc.).

{{Wiktionary}}

* [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009JMarA...4...21D, Dolwick, JS. 2009. The 'Social' and Beyond: Introducing Actor Network Theory], article examining different meanings of the concept 'social'

{{Authority control}}

Another common meaning of a "social" in English-speaking countries such as [[United Kingdom|Britain]], [[New Zealand]] and [[Australia]] is that of a leisure-time gathering with food and drink, organised by an institution, association, or company.

A distinguishing feature is that it is deliberately organised at a venue at a predetermined time. Thus one might say, "are you going to the social?", meaning a social event by some organisation.

[[Category:Sociological terminology]]

▲[[fr:Social]]

[[Category:Social sciences terminology]]

[[id:Sosial]]

[[nl:Sociaal]]