The social system is a combination of social phenomena and processes that are in relationships and relationships among themselves and form a certain social object .
This object acts as a unity of interrelated parts (elements, components, subsystems), the interaction of which among themselves and with the environment determines its existence, functioning and development as a whole. Any system assumes the presence of internal ordering and the establishment of boundaries that separate it from other objects.
Structure - provides an internal order of connection of system elements.
Environment - sets the outer limits of the system.
Social system - a holistic unity , the main element of which are people, their interactions, relationships and relationships. These connections, interactions and relationships are sustainable and are reproduced in the historical process based on the joint activities of people, passing from generation to generation .
Content
History
Understanding of society as a system was preceded by its understanding of a social order - maintaining and regulating life by a certain set of rules, initially existing or established between people. The foundations of this order were sought either in the natural law inherent in the very nature of things, or in its supernatural (divine) establishment. People to some extent are aware of the existence of this order, support it with the help of custom, tradition, ritual (morally) or fix it legally. But in any case, the justification by the society of this order, its justice was based on the procedure for recognizing its legality (legitimacy). The behavior of people became thus comprehensible (understandable, predictable) and manageable.
With the development of a systems approach in science, the concept of “social system” was formalized. Alexis was obviously the first to use the term "social structure." One of the earliest and most comprehensive analyzes of the social structure was carried out by Marx , who showed the existence of a political, cultural, and religious side of life depending on the mode of production - this is the basis of the theory of historical materialism . Subsequently, some theorists who adhere to neo-Marxist views, such as L. Althusser , considered that cultural and political institutions are relatively autonomous and not in everything and always dependent on economic factors, but only “in an extreme situation”. Moreover, a purely Marxist view of the social structure of society was not the only one. In parallel, this concept in their works was developed by such various theorists as Herbert Spencer and Max Weber , Ferdinand Tönnis and E. Durkheim , G. Simmel and Tolkott Parsons , Peter Blau and Anthony Giddens , Pierre Burdieu and J. Derrida , Margaret Archer and I. Wallerstein , as well as Jacob Levi Moreno .
Social system structure
The structure of a social system is a way of interconnecting the subsystems interacting in it, components and elements, ensuring its integrity. The main elements (social units) of the social structure of society are social communities , social institutions , social groups and social organizations . The social system, according to T. Parsons, must meet certain requirements, namely:
- must be adapted to the environment (adaptation);
- she must have goals (goals);
- all its elements must be coordinated (integration);
- values in it must be preserved (maintaining the sample).
T. Parsons believes that society is a special type of social system with high specialization and self-sufficiency. Its functional unity is provided by social subsystems.
The social subsystems of society, as a system, T. Parsons includes the following: economics (adaptation), politics (goal achievement), culture (sample maintenance). The function of the integration of society is performed by the system of “societal community”, which contains mainly the structure of standards.
See also
- Social stratification
- Social structure
- Social class
- Social form
- Society
Literature
- Novikova S.S. Sociology: History, Foundations, Institutionalization in Russia . - M. Voronezh: Moscow Psychological and Social Institute , NPO MODEK Publishing House, 2000. - 464 p.
- Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. Edited by L. F. Il'ichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1983.