Portal:Society
The Society Portal
A society (/səˈsaɪəti/) 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 members.
Human social structures are complex and highly cooperative, featuring the specialization of labor via social roles. Societies construct roles and other patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or concepts acceptable or unacceptable—these expectations around behavior within a given society are known as societal norms. So far as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would otherwise be difficult on an individual basis.
Societies vary based on level of technology and type of economic activity. Larger societies with larger food surpluses often exhibit stratification or dominance patterns. Societies can have many different forms of government, various ways of understanding kinship, and different gender roles. Human behavior varies immensely between different societies: Humans shape society, but society in turn shapes human beings. (Full article...)
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A 1937 anti-Bolshevik Nazi propaganda poster. A man with a skeleton face stands over bloody corpses, wielding a whip. His hat and clothing are Bolshevik in style. Before World War II, Nazi propaganda strategy, officially promulgated by the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, stressed several themes. Their goals were to create external enemies (countries that allegedly inflicted the Treaty of Versailles on Germany) and internal enemies. Translated caption: "Bolshevism without a mask – large anti-Bolshevik exhibition of the NSDAP Gauleitung Berlin from November 6 to December 19, 1937, in the Reichstag building".
Did you know...
- ... that the "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" ad campaign established Honda's brand image in the US and helped the Super Cub (pictured) become the top-selling motor vehicle in history?
- ... that according to legend, Robert Kirk was taken to fairyland for revealing the secrets of the Good People?
- ... that Steven Gan took advantage of a loophole in Malaysian Internet law to create the country's first independent news source?
Anniversaries this month
- 10 January 1966 – Foundation of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, as a branch of the international Red Crescent Society
- 10 January 1990 – Nusantara Society was founded comprising research fellows, professors, lecturers, students and postgraduates of Moscow and St. Petersburg academic institutions, universities and higher schools, studying the vast region of Nusantara, populated by peoples speaking Austronesian languages
- 11 January 1902 – Formation of the Fiscal Philatelic Society (1908 advertisement pictured), an early twentieth century philatelic society that is seen as a predecessor to today's Cinderella Stamp Club and The Revenue Society
- 13 January 1873 – Death of Henry Venn, an Anglican clergyman who served as honorary secretary of the Church Missionary Society from 1841 to 1873
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20151030 Syrians and Iraq refugees arrive at Skala Sykamias Lesvos Greece 2
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Bertillon, Alphonse, fiche anthropométrique recto-verso
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Cicatrices de flagellation sur un esclave
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Daisy (1964)
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DurbanSign1989
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Frances Benjamin Johnston, Self-Portrait (as "New Woman"), 1896
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Jane Addams - Bain News Service
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Marine da nang
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Nanook of the North
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SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210651b
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United States President Barack Obama bends down to allow the son of a White House staff member to touch his head
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W.E.B. Du Bois by James E. Purdy, 1907
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Xiahe mandible
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Web resources
- 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.