Introduction to Sociology BBA 1st Semester

Chapter # 3
Society
Meaning of Society:

This term has been derived from a Latin word 'socious' that means association
(‫)شیک ہونا‬‫ ر‬or companionship (‫مستقل رفاقت‬, ‫ہم سفر‬, ‫)ساتیھ‬. Thus society means 'A
larger group of individuals, who are associative with each other'.

Definition of Society:

1. Prof. Wright: It is a system of relationships that exists among the individuals of

the groups.
2. A.W. Green: It is the largest group in which individual have relationships.
3. Maclver: It is a web (‫جاال‬. ‫ )وہ رش جو ُبن کر تیار یک جاۓ‬of social relationship, which is
always changing.
Conclusion: On the basis of above definition, we can conclude that society is a
larger group of individuals who are living together, having common interest,
culture, social system and common need of life.

Characteristics of Society: Following are some characteristics of Society.

1. It is a largest human group.

2. It satisfies the need of its members.
3. It is having sense (‫ )شعور‬of belonging (‫)تعلق‬, cooperation (‫& )تعاون کرنا‬
association (‫)ساتھ دینا‬.
4. It is abstract. (Because social relationships can be felt and imagined and cannot
be seen).
5. Everyone in society is dependent (‫ )انحصار کرنا‬upon every other member.
ّ
6. It is organized (‫ترتیب دینا‬, ‫ )منظم کرنا‬having division of labor.
7. It is having likeness and differences.
8. It is having consciousness (‫آگایہ‬, ‫شعور‬, ‫ )جان کاری‬of kind among the member of
society.
9. It is always changing.
‫)زندہ رہنا ی‬.
10. It has its own mean to survive (‫بقا‬, ‫باق رہنا‬,
11. It is self-sufficient (‫ )خود کفیل‬social system.
12. It last for a longer period of time than groups and communities ( ‫ماج میل‬ ‫َس ی‬
‫)جول‬.
13. It forms a social structure through social institutions.
14. It has its own culture.

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Types of Societies

Sociologists have classified the different types of societies into six categories, each
of which possesses their own unique characteristics:

1. Hunting and Gathering Societies:

 Hunting and gathering societies are the earliest form of society.

َ fishing,
 The members survive primarily by hunting, trapping (‫)پھندا ۔ جال ۔ دام‬,
‫)کھا ے‬.
and gathering edible plants (‫ن ےک قابل‬
 The majority of the members' time is spent looking for and gathering food.

Hunting and gathering society has five characteristics:

a. Family is the primary institution this type of society. Family determines the
‫ی‬
distribution of food and how to socialize (‫)سماج بنانا۔‬ children.
b. These societies are small as compared to the others. They generally have less
than 50 members.
c. Hunting and gathering societies are nomadic (‫)خانہ بدوش‬, which means that
they move constantly in order to find food and water.
d. Members of hunting and gathering societies are mutually (‫ )باہیم‬dependent
upon each other.
e. Although there is an equal division of labor among the members of hunting
and gathering societies, there is a division of labor based on gender. Men are
typically responsible for hunting, and women are typically gatherers.

2. Pastoral Societies: ‫چرواہ‬,

‫ے‬ ‫گڈری‬
 Pastoral societies began around 12,000 years ago.
 These societies rely on products obtained through the domestication (‫)گھریلو‬
and breeding (‫ائش نسل‬ِ ‫ )افز‬of animals for transportation and food.
 Pastoral societies are common in areas where crops cannot be supported, for
example in North Africa. Unlike hunting and gathering societies, pastoral
societies only have to move when the land in which the animals graze (‫)چراہ گاہ‬
is no longer usable.

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 Pastoral societies also allow for job specialization, since not everyone is
needed to gather or hunt for food. For example, while some people breed
animals, others are able to produce tools or clothing, which allows for
specialization in these areas.

‫ے‬
3. Horticultural (‫باغبان‬ ‫ )فن‬Societies:

 Horticultural societies emerged (‫ظہور پذیر ہونا‬, ‫ )نکلنا‬between 10,000 and 12,000
years ago in Latin America, Asia, and parts of the Middle East.
 These societies rely on the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and plants in order
to survive.
 Horticultural societies are often forced to relocate when the resources of the
land are depleted ‫ختم‬or when the water supplies decrease.

4. Agricultural societies:

 Agricultural societies rely on the use of technology in order to cultivate crops

in large areas, including wheat, rice, and corn.
 The technological advancement led to an increase in food supplies, an increase
in population, and the development of trade centers.
 This period of technological changes is referred to as the Agricultural
Revolution and began around 8,500 years ago.
Agricultural societies developed roughly in this order:

a. Animals are used to pull plows (‫ہل چالنا‬, ‫)قلبہ ر ےان کرنا‬.
b. Plowing allows for the cultivation of larger areas of land.
c. Soil aeration (‫ )گیس بھرنا‬caused by plowing leads to higher crop yields over
longer periods of time.
d. High volumes of food production allow people to build permanent homes in a
single location.
e. Towns develop, which eventually grow into cities.

5. Industrial Societies
 Industrial revolution process began in Britain and then spread through Europe
and to the rest of the world, industrial societies started to develop.

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 With usage of the steam ‫ بھاپ‬power, human beings started to use machines
and advanced technologies to produce and distribute goods and services.

 The growth of technologies led to advances in farming techniques, so slavery

(‫ )غالیم‬lost its significance (‫)اہمیت‬, economy developed quickly and
understanding of social charity and governments’ aids grew up.

 Feudal (‫)جاگیداری‬
‫ر‬ social classes removed but then societies divided into two
parts as workers and non-workers.

 Karl Marx explained that non-workers are composed of capitalist (‫)شمايہ دار‬
class and they hold all money and also set up rules.

 Thus, the industrial revolution brought only the slavery extinction and there is
only worker class.

 Learning from previous mistakes rulers gave more opportunities for social
‫ی‬
mobility (‫)سماج نقل و حرکت‬ and also gave more rights than they gave to the
slaves.

 With changes in social inequalities (‫ )عدم مساوات‬people started to want their

rights and freedom as citizens and then kingdoms (‫مملکت‬, ‫بادشاہت‬, ‫ )سلطنت‬and
autocracy (: ‫ حکومت آمرانہ‬- ‫ شخیص حکومت‬:) lost their power on citizens.

 Democracy seemed more beneficial (‫ )مفید‬with French and American

Revolutions (‫)انقالب‬, nationality became more important and so, citizens won
their rights.

 Politically everyone seemed equal but, of course, inequalities between money

owners and sellers of their own labors to survive, unstoppably increased.

 Villages lost their significance and towns became places where occupation
(‫ )پیشہ‬opportunities were supplied.

6. Postindustrial Societies:
 The countries that the industrial revolution began, -Britain, France, the USA
and Japan- now became the postindustrial countries.

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 These countries are users of advance technologies like developed computers,

satellites, microchips.
 In short, those societies are affected by the technologies at first hand.

Basis of Society:

There are three major factors, which form the basis of society. These are as
under.

I. Biological Factor:

This factor emphasizes that the people are grouped and associated with each
other due to biological needs. Some biological factors are as under.

 For Survival human need food, shelter, safety.

 Protection: Feeling protected from dangers and breach of integrity or pain.
 Social: Being part of a tribe or community.
 Abundance: Wealth in all aspects of our life.
 Love: Feeling of closeness and connection.
 Life Purpose: Finding meaning and purpose in life.

II. Geographical Factors:

This is one of the important factors. Geography changes the human behavior.
Behaviour represents the area. Geographical behavior gives limits for do’s and
don’ts. An individual is doing an activity or acting according to the geographical
structure. The behavior of an individual is shaping according to geographical
conditions.

III. Cultural Factor:

Changes in the knowledge, beliefs, values and modes of expression of a culture

can also alter a society. Scientific discoveries can give rise to new technologies,
which in turn can affect social organization. For example, communication and
transportation speeded up the pace (‫ )رفتار‬of trade both their volume and their
geographical scope. Contacts with other cultures also takes place, assimilation
َ َ
‫ ے‬acculturation ( ‫قافت کو ُق ُبول‬ ُ ‫ِکیس ایک َث ی‬
(‫یکساں کرنا‬, ‫)اپن اندر سمولینا‬, ‫قافت ِگروہ کا دوشے یک ث‬
َ
‫)کرنا‬, inventions (‫)ایجاد‬, discoveries (‫)دریافت‬, etc are sources of change. The speed
of change may be slow in some societies and may be fast in other.

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Chapter Four
The Culture
َ
Definition of Culture (‫ثقافت‬, ‫)تہذیب‬:

Horton and Hunt definition of culture, “Culture is everything which is socially

shared and learned by the members of a society.”

Tylor defined “It is that complex (‫ )پیچیدہ‬whole including beliefs (‫یقی‬, ‫عقیدہ ر ے‬, ‫)ایمان‬,
ّ
art (‫)فن‬, region (‫خطہ‬,ِ ‫)عالقہ‬, values (‫)اقدار‬, norms (‫)قاعدہ‬, ideas (‫)خیاالت‬, law, taught
‫سکھایا ہوا‬, knowledge, custom (‫رواج‬, ‫ )رسم‬and other capabilities (‫قابلیت‬, ‫)صالحیتوں‬
acquired by a man as a member of a society.

Man made culture and culture made man.

Rituals ‫رسومات‬, Faith ‫ایمان‬

Types of Culture: There are four types of Culture.

1. Real Culture:
Real culture is that which we observed in our social life. The culture in which we
act upon in our daily life is real culture. Real culture is a part of culture which is
adopted by the people in their social life.
For Instance: If a person/says that he/she is Muslim, will be, when followed all
the principles of Islam is the real & when doesn’t follow, is not a real one.

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2. Ideal Culture:
The culture which is presented as a pattern to the people is called ideal culture. It
is the goal of society & never achieved fully because some parts remain out of
practice. This culture is explained in books, speeches etc. We claim to be true
Muslims and this claim is our ideal culture but how far we are Muslims in practice
is our real culture. Both the real and ideal cultures are related together and
different from each other.

3. Material Culture
Material culture consists of man-made objects such as furniture, automobiles,
buildings, dams, bridges, roads and in fact, the physical matter converted and
used by man. It is closely related with the external, mechanical as well as useful
objects. It includes technical and material equipment like railways engines,
publication machines, a locomotive, a radio etc. It includes our financial
institutions, parliaments, insurance policies etc. and referred to as civilization.

4. Non-Material Culture
The term 'culture' when used in the ordinary sense, means non-material culture'.
This term when used in the ordinary sense, means non-material. It is something
nonphysical ideas which include values, beliefs, symbols, organization and
institutions etc. Nonmaterial culture includes words we use, the language we
speak, our belief held, values we cherish and all the ceremonies observed.

Material and Nonmaterial Culture Examples

Material means physical object (i.e. buildings, vehicles, transportation, clothes,
houses and schools). Non-Material means something you invisible, untouchable
(i.e. education, language, feelings, religion, beliefs, sports, and feelings).

Features & Characteristics of Culture

1. Culture is learned
Culture is not inherited (‫می مال‬
‫ )وراثت ر‬biologically but it is leant socially by man in a
society. It is not an inborn tendency (‫رغبت‬, ‫ )رجحان‬but acquired by man from the
association of others, e.g. drinking, eating, dressing, walking, behaving, reading
are all learnt by man.

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2. Culture is social
It is not an individual phenomenon (‫ )کرشمہ‬but it is the product of society. It
develops in the society through social interaction. It is shared by the man of
society No man can acquire it without the association of others. Man is man only
among men. It helps to develop qualities of human beings in a social
environment. Deprivation (‫محرویم‬, ‫ )معزول‬of a man from his company is the
deprivation of human qualities.

3. Culture is shared
Culture is something shared. It is nothing that an individual can passes but shared
by common people of a territory. For example, customs, traditions (‫)روایت‬, values,
beliefs are all shared by man in a social situation. These beliefs and practices are
adopted by all equally.

4. Culture is transmitted
Culture is capable of transmitted from one generation to the next. Parents pass
cultural traits to their children and in return they pass to their children and so on.
It is not transmitted through genes but through language. Language is means to
communication which passes cultural traits from one generation to another.

5. Culture is continuous
It is continuous process. It is like a stream which is flowing from one generation to
another through centuries. “Culture is the memory of human race.”

6. Culture is accumulative
Culture is not a matter of month or a year. It is the continuous process and adding
new cultural traits. Many cultural traits are borrowed from outside and these
absorbed in that culture which adopt it, as culture is accumulative and combines
the suitable cultural traits.

7. Culture is integrated (‫)مکمل‬

All the cultural aspects are inter-connected with each other. The development of
culture is the integration of its various parts. For example, values system is
interlinked with morality, customs, beliefs and religion.

8. Culture is changing

It remains changing but not static. Cultural process undergoes changes. But with
different speeds from society to society and generation to generation.

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9. Culture varies from society to society

Every society has its own culture and ways of behaving. It is not uniform every
where but occurs differently in various societies. Every culture is unique in itself is
a specific society. For example, values, customs, traditions, ideologies, religion,
belief, practices are not similar but different in every society. However the ways
of eating, drinking, speaking, greeting, dressing etc are differs from one social
situation to another in the same time.
‫) ی‬
10. Culture is gratifying (‫اطمینان بخشنا‬, ‫خوش دینا‬
It is gratifying and provide all the opportunities for needs and desires satisfaction.
These needs may be biological or social but It is responsible to satisfy it. Our
needs are food, shelter, clothing and desires (‫ )خواہش‬are status, fame (‫)شہرت‬,
money, etc are all the examples which are fulfilled according to the cultural ways.
In fact it is defined as the process through which human beings satisfy their need.

11. Linked with society

Last but not the least one of the characteristics of culture is that culture and
society are one and the same. But if we say that these turn two are twin sister,
it would not be wrong. Society is a composite of people and they interact each
other through it. It is to bind the people within the society.

Society & Cultural Change

The difference between culture and society can be drawn clearly on the following
grounds:

1. Culture refers to the set of beliefs, practices, learned behaviour and moral
values that are passed on, from one generation to another. Society means an
interdependent group of people who live together in a particular region and
are associated to one another.
2. Culture is something that helps us to differentiate one society from the other.
On the other hand, society is a community of people, residing in a specific
area, sharing common culture over time.
3. Culture provides guidelines to people on how to live. Conversely ( ‫اس کے‬
‫)برعکس‬, society is a structure that provides the way people organize
themselves.

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4. Culture comprise of beliefs, values and practices of a group. In contrast,

society comprises of individuals who share common beliefs, practices,
customs, etc.
5. Culture is reflected in the fashion, lifestyle, tastes & preferences, music,
art, etc. As opposed to society, this is reflected in an economy.
Conclusion

As a way to greet people in different countries, the different cultural trait is

followed. For instance, in the United States people used to shake hands when
they meet someone, in India people join their hands, in Japan and China people
bow down from the waist, in Belgium kiss on one cheek is a way to greet
someone irrespective of the gender. This is how culture of one society differs
from that of another. So it is true to say that different societies have different
cultures.

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