Portal:Society

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A society is a group of people who form a semi-closed system. At its simplest, the term society refers to a large group of people sharing their own culture and institutions. A society, then, is a network of relationships between people. The English word society is derived from the French société, which, in turn, had its origin in the Latin societas, a "friendly association with others," from socius meaning "companion, associate, comrade or business partner." Thus, the meaning of society is closely related to what is considered to be social. Implicit in the meaning of society is that its members may share some mutual concern or interest, a common objective or common characteristics. The social sciences generally use the term society to mean a group of people who form a semi-closed social system, in which most interactions are with other individuals belonging to the group. More abstractly, a society is defined as a network of relationships between social entities. A society is also sometimes defined as an interdependent community, but the sociologist Tönnies sought to draw a contrast between society and community. An important feature of society is social structure, aspects of which include roles and social ranking.

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Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus PP. XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI), born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on April 16, 1927 in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany) is the 265th and reigning Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and as such, Sovereign of the Vatican City State.^[1] He was elected on April 19, 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on April 24, 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on May 7, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI has both German and Vatican citizenship. He succeeded Pope John Paul II, who died on April 2, 2005. (More...)

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Sydney New Year's Eve Fireworks 2005.

Photo credit: Kvasir

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Featured articles

Selected Featured articles about Society:

Gender role · Greco-Buddhism · David Helvarg · Kashrut · Kibbutz · Ku Klux Klan · Sociocultural evolution · Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

· Weber, Max

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Did you know...

...that bread and salt is a traditional greeting ceremony (pictured) symbolizing hospitality in Slavic countries?
...that economist Barbara Ward, an early advocate of sustainable development, was the first woman ever to address a synod of Roman Catholic bishops?
...that the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange is the second oldest stock exchange in India, and first functioned under a banyan tree?
...that in the Penguins' Rebellion, over 800,000 Chilean high school students demanded education reforms from the government of Michelle Bachelet?

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Related Portals


Business and Economics	Culture	Education

Law	Personal life	Politics

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Quotes

Society has its own nature, and consequently, its requirements are quite different from those of our nature as individuals: the interests of the whole are not necessarily those of the part. Therefore, society cannot be formed or maintained without our being required to make perpetual and costly sacrifices. Because society surpasses us, it obliges us to surpass ourselves; and to surpass itself, a being must, to some degree, depart from its nature—-a departure that does not take place without causing more or less painful tensions.

Emile Durkheim, The Dualism of Human Nature (1914).

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