Society
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said "This is mine," and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this impostor; you are lost if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody!" — Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality [[Image:Limestone rock formation in the White Desert, Egypt.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Limestone rock formation in the White Desert, Egypt "There are times when I wonder whether nature isn't really the one to hold responsible. It seems a lot easier to blame nature than to blame men (although blaming society runs a close second)." --Combat in the Erogenous Zone (1972) by Ingrid Bengis |
[[Image:Eugène Delacroix - La liberté guidant le peuple.jpg|thumb|200px|This page Society is part of the politics series.
Illustration:Liberty Leading the People (1831, detail) by Eugène Delacroix.]]
Illustration: Antichita Romanae (1748) by Piranesi
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A society is a grouping of individuals, which is characterized by common interests and may have distinctive culture and institutions. In a society, members can be from a different ethnic group. A "Society" may refer to a particular people, such as the Yoruba people, to a nation state, such as Switzerland, or to a broader cultural group, such as a Western society. Society can also refer to an organized group of people associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.
Western society
The development of the Western world has brought with it the emerging concepts of Western culture, politics and ideas, often referred to simply as Western society. Geographically, it covers at the very least the countries of Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand and sometimes also includes South America and Israel. The cultures and lifestyles of all of these stem from Western Europe. They all enjoy relatively strong economies and stable governments, allow freedom of religion, have chosen democracy as a form of governance, favor capitalism and international trade, are heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian values, and have some form of political and military alliance or cooperation.
See also
- Civil society
- Community
- Culture
- Low-life, demimonde and high society
- Mass society
- Religion
- Secret society
- Sick society
- Social cohesion
- Societal collapse
- Sociality
- Social contract
- Social disintegration
- Social solidarity
- Social structure
- Structure and agency
- Stratification
