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Social order

The term social order can be used in two senses: In the first sense, it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions. Examples are the ancient, the feudal, and the capitalist social order. In the second sense, social order is contrasted to social chaos or disorder and refers to a stable state of society in which the existing social structure is accepted and maintained by its members. The problem of order or Hobbesian problem, which is central to much of sociology, political science and political philosophy, is the question of how and why it is that social orders exist at all.

Sociology

Thomas Hobbes is recognized as the first to clearly formulate the problem, to answer which he conceived the notion of a social contract. Social theorists (such as Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Jürgen Habermas) have proposed different explanations for what a social order consists of, and what its real basis is. For Marx, it is the relations of production or economic structure which is the basis of social order. For Durkheim, it is a set of shared social norms. For Parsons, it is a set of social institutions regulating the pattern of action-orientation, which again are based on a frame of cultural values. For Habermas, it is all of these, as well as communicative action.

Principle of extensiveness

Another key factor concerning social order is the principle of extensiveness. This states the more norms and the more important the norms are to a society, the better these norms tie and hold together the group as a whole.

A good example of this is smaller religions based in the U.S., such as the Amish. Many Amish live together in communities and because they share the same religion and values, it is easier for them to succeed in upholding their religion and views because their way of life is the norm for their community.[1]

Groups and networks

In every society, people belong to groups, such as businesses, families, churches, athletic groups, or neighborhoods. The structure inside of these groups mirrors that of the whole society. There are networks and ties between groups, as well as inside of each of the groups, which create social order.

Some people belong to more than one group, and this can sometimes cause conflict. The individual may encounter a situation in which they have to choose one group over another. Many who have studied these groups believe that it is necessary to have ties between groups to strengthen the society as a whole, and to promote pride within each group. Others believe that it is best to have stronger ties to a group, enabling social norms and values to be reinforced.

Status groups

"Status groups" can be based on a person's characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, caste, region, occupation, physical attractiveness, gender, education, age, etc. They are defined as "a subculture having a rather specific rank (or status) within the stratification system. That is, societies tend to include a hierarchy of status groups, some enjoying high ranking and some low."[2] One example of this hierarchy is the prestige of a university professor compared to that of a garbage man.

A certain lifestyle usually distinguishes the members of different status groups. For example, around the holidays a Jewish family may celebrate Hanukkah while a Christian family may celebrate Christmas. Other cultural differences such as language and cultural rituals identify members of different status groups.

Smaller groups exist inside of one status group. For instance, one can belong to a status group based on one's race and a social class based on financial ranking. This may cause strife for the individual in this situation when they feel they must choose to side with either their status group or their social class. For example, a wealthy African American man who feels he has to take a side on an issue on which the opinions of poor African Americans and wealthy white Americans are divided and finds his class and status group opposed.

Values and norms

Values can be defined as "internal criteria for evaluation". Values are also split into two categories, there are individual values, which pertains to something that we think has worth and then there are social values. Social values are our desires modified according to ethical principles or according to the group, we associate with: friends, family, or co-workers. Norms tell us what people ought to do in a given situation. Unlike values, norms are enforced externally – or outside of oneself. A society as a whole determines norms, and they can be passed down from generation to generation.

Power and authority

An exception to the idea of values and norms as social order-keepers is deviant behavior. Not everyone in a society abides by a set of personal values or the group's norms all the time. For this reason, it is generally deemed necessary for a society to have authority. The adverse opinion holds that the need for authority stems from social inequality.

In a class society, those who hold positions of power and authority are among the upper class. Norms differ for each class because the members of each class were raised differently and hold different sets of values. Tension can form, therefore, between the upper class and lower class when laws and rules are put in place that do not conform to the values of both classes.

Spontaneous order

The order does not necessarily need to be controlled by the government. Individuals pursuing self-interest can make predictable systems. These systems, being planned by more than one person, may actually be preferable to those planned by a single person. This means that predictability may be possible to achieve without a central government's control. These stable expectations do not necessarily lead to individuals behaving in ways that are considered beneficial to group welfare. Considering this, Thomas Schelling studied neighborhood racial segregation. His findings suggest that interaction can produce predictability, but it does not always increase social order. In his researching, he found that "when all individuals pursue their own preferences, the outcome is segregation rather than integration," as stated in "Theories of Social Order", edited by Michael Hechter and Christine Horne.[citation needed]

Social honor

Social honor can also be referred to as social status. It is considered the distribution of prestige or "the approval, respect, admiration, or deference a person or group is able to command by virtue of his or its imputed qualities or performances". The case most often is that people associate social honor with the place a person occupies with material systems of wealth and power. Since most of the society finds wealth and power desirable, they respect or envy people that have more than they do. When social honor is referred to as social status, it deals with the rank of a person within the stratification system. Status can be achieved, which is when a person position is gained on the basis of merit or in other words by achievement and hard work or it can be ascribed, which is when a person position is assigned to individuals or groups without regard for merit but because of certain traits beyond their control, such as race, sex, or parental social standing. An example of ascribed status is Kate Middleton who married a prince. An example of achieved status is Oprah Winfrey, an African American woman from poverty who worked her way to being a billionaire.[3]

Attainment

Two different theories exist that explain and attempt to account for social order. The first theory is "order results from a large number of independent decisions to transfer individual rights and liberties to a coercive state in return for its guarantee of security for persons and their property, as well as its establishment of mechanisms to resolve disputes," as stated in Theories of Social Order by Hechter and Horne. The next theory is that "the ultimate source of social order as residing not in external controls but in a concordance of specific values and norms that individuals somehow have managed to internalize." also stated in Theories of Social Order by Hechter and Horne. Both arguments for how social order is attained are very different. One argues that it is achieved through outside influence and control, and the other argues that it can only be attained when the individual willingly follows norms and values that they have grown accustomed to and internalized. Weber's insistence on the importance of domination and symbolic systems in social life was retained by Pierre Bourdieu, who developed the idea of social orders, ultimately transforming it into a theory of fields.

See also

References

  1. ^ Deji, Olanike F. (2011). Gender and Rural Development: Introduction. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3643901033 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Sociology: Tenth Edition by Rodney Stark, 114
  3. ^ Joseph R. Gusfield (1986). Symbolic crusade: status politics and the American temperance movement. University of Illinois Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0252013126 – via Google Books.

Further reading

social, order, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, november, 20. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Social order news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message The term social order can be used in two senses In the first sense it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions Examples are the ancient the feudal and the capitalist social order In the second sense social order is contrasted to social chaos or disorder and refers to a stable state of society in which the existing social structure is accepted and maintained by its members The problem of order or Hobbesian problem which is central to much of sociology political science and political philosophy is the question of how and why it is that social orders exist at all Contents 1 Sociology 2 Principle of extensiveness 3 Groups and networks 4 Status groups 5 Values and norms 6 Power and authority 7 Spontaneous order 8 Social honor 9 Attainment 10 See also 11 References 12 Further readingSociology EditThomas Hobbes is recognized as the first to clearly formulate the problem to answer which he conceived the notion of a social contract Social theorists such as Karl Marx Emile Durkheim Talcott Parsons and Jurgen Habermas have proposed different explanations for what a social order consists of and what its real basis is For Marx it is the relations of production or economic structure which is the basis of social order For Durkheim it is a set of shared social norms For Parsons it is a set of social institutions regulating the pattern of action orientation which again are based on a frame of cultural values For Habermas it is all of these as well as communicative action Principle of extensiveness EditAnother key factor concerning social order is the principle of extensiveness This states the more norms and the more important the norms are to a society the better these norms tie and hold together the group as a whole A good example of this is smaller religions based in the U S such as the Amish Many Amish live together in communities and because they share the same religion and values it is easier for them to succeed in upholding their religion and views because their way of life is the norm for their community 1 Groups and networks EditIn every society people belong to groups such as businesses families churches athletic groups or neighborhoods The structure inside of these groups mirrors that of the whole society There are networks and ties between groups as well as inside of each of the groups which create social order Some people belong to more than one group and this can sometimes cause conflict The individual may encounter a situation in which they have to choose one group over another Many who have studied these groups believe that it is necessary to have ties between groups to strengthen the society as a whole and to promote pride within each group Others believe that it is best to have stronger ties to a group enabling social norms and values to be reinforced Status groups Edit Status groups can be based on a person s characteristics such as race ethnicity sexual orientation religion caste region occupation physical attractiveness gender education age etc They are defined as a subculture having a rather specific rank or status within the stratification system That is societies tend to include a hierarchy of status groups some enjoying high ranking and some low 2 One example of this hierarchy is the prestige of a university professor compared to that of a garbage man A certain lifestyle usually distinguishes the members of different status groups For example around the holidays a Jewish family may celebrate Hanukkah while a Christian family may celebrate Christmas Other cultural differences such as language and cultural rituals identify members of different status groups Smaller groups exist inside of one status group For instance one can belong to a status group based on one s race and a social class based on financial ranking This may cause strife for the individual in this situation when they feel they must choose to side with either their status group or their social class For example a wealthy African American man who feels he has to take a side on an issue on which the opinions of poor African Americans and wealthy white Americans are divided and finds his class and status group opposed Values and norms EditValues can be defined as internal criteria for evaluation Values are also split into two categories there are individual values which pertains to something that we think has worth and then there are social values Social values are our desires modified according to ethical principles or according to the group we associate with friends family or co workers Norms tell us what people ought to do in a given situation Unlike values norms are enforced externally or outside of oneself A society as a whole determines norms and they can be passed down from generation to generation Power and authority EditAn exception to the idea of values and norms as social order keepers is deviant behavior Not everyone in a society abides by a set of personal values or the group s norms all the time For this reason it is generally deemed necessary for a society to have authority The adverse opinion holds that the need for authority stems from social inequality In a class society those who hold positions of power and authority are among the upper class Norms differ for each class because the members of each class were raised differently and hold different sets of values Tension can form therefore between the upper class and lower class when laws and rules are put in place that do not conform to the values of both classes Spontaneous order EditThe order does not necessarily need to be controlled by the government Individuals pursuing self interest can make predictable systems These systems being planned by more than one person may actually be preferable to those planned by a single person This means that predictability may be possible to achieve without a central government s control These stable expectations do not necessarily lead to individuals behaving in ways that are considered beneficial to group welfare Considering this Thomas Schelling studied neighborhood racial segregation His findings suggest that interaction can produce predictability but it does not always increase social order In his researching he found that when all individuals pursue their own preferences the outcome is segregation rather than integration as stated in Theories of Social Order edited by Michael Hechter and Christine Horne citation needed Social honor EditSocial honor can also be referred to as social status It is considered the distribution of prestige or the approval respect admiration or deference a person or group is able to command by virtue of his or its imputed qualities or performances The case most often is that people associate social honor with the place a person occupies with material systems of wealth and power Since most of the society finds wealth and power desirable they respect or envy people that have more than they do When social honor is referred to as social status it deals with the rank of a person within the stratification system Status can be achieved which is when a person position is gained on the basis of merit or in other words by achievement and hard work or it can be ascribed which is when a person position is assigned to individuals or groups without regard for merit but because of certain traits beyond their control such as race sex or parental social standing An example of ascribed status is Kate Middleton who married a prince An example of achieved status is Oprah Winfrey an African American woman from poverty who worked her way to being a billionaire 3 Attainment EditTwo different theories exist that explain and attempt to account for social order The first theory is order results from a large number of independent decisions to transfer individual rights and liberties to a coercive state in return for its guarantee of security for persons and their property as well as its establishment of mechanisms to resolve disputes as stated in Theories of Social Order by Hechter and Horne The next theory is that the ultimate source of social order as residing not in external controls but in a concordance of specific values and norms that individuals somehow have managed to internalize also stated in Theories of Social Order by Hechter and Horne Both arguments for how social order is attained are very different One argues that it is achieved through outside influence and control and the other argues that it can only be attained when the individual willingly follows norms and values that they have grown accustomed to and internalized Weber s insistence on the importance of domination and symbolic systems in social life was retained by Pierre Bourdieu who developed the idea of social orders ultimately transforming it into a theory of fields See also Edit Society portal Conservatism portalAnti social behaviour Antinomianism Conformity Marx s theory of history Norm sociology Social hierarchyReferences Edit Deji Olanike F 2011 Gender and Rural Development Introduction LIT Verlag Munster ISBN 978 3643901033 via Google Books Sociology Tenth Edition by Rodney Stark 114 Joseph R Gusfield 1986 Symbolic crusade status politics and the American temperance movement University of Illinois Press p 14 ISBN 978 0252013126 via Google Books Further reading EditHechter M Horne C 2003 Theories of Social Order A Reader Stanford University Press ISBN 9780804746113 Hobbes T Leviathan or The Matter Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil Stark Rodney 2006 Sociology 10th ed Cengage Learning ISBN 978 0495093442 Weber Max 1968 Economy and Society Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Social order amp oldid 1139537947, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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