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 scene from Oscar Wilde's 1895 play An Ideal Husband, originally published in a 1901 collected edition of Wilde's works. The comedy, which opened January 3, 1896, at the Haymarket Theatre in London, revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It has been adapted into television, radio/audio, and three films. The published version differs slightly from the performed play, for Wilde added many passages and cut others. Prominent additions included written stage directions and character descriptions. Wilde was a leader in the effort to make plays accessible to the reading public.
Did you know...
- ... that combat medic David B. Bleak was awarded the Medal of Honor in the Korean War after killing five Chinese soldiers, four using only his hands?
- ... that Dražen Bogopenec was one of the most powerful people of Hum (pictured)?
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Anniversaries this month
- 14 October 1946 - Foundation of the American Immigration Lawyers Association
- 25 October 1955 - Installation of the first officers of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots
- 30 October 1913 - British Psychoanalytical Society was founded by the British psychiatrist Ernest Jones (pictured back middle) as the London Psychoanalytical Society
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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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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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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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- 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.