Human
societies are often organized according to their
primary means of subsistence. As noted in the section on "Evolution of
societies", above, social scientists identify hunter-gatherer societies,
nomadic pastoral societies, horticulturalist or simple farming societies, and
intensive agricultural societies, also called civilizations. Some consider
industrial and post-industrial societies to be qualitatively different from
traditional agricultural societies.
One common theme for societies in general is that they serve
to
aid individuals in a time of crisis. Traditionally, when an individual
requires aid, for example at birth, death, sickness, or disaster,
members of
that society will rally others to render aid, in some form—symbolic,
linguistic, physical, mental, emotional, financial, medical, or religious. Many
societies will distribute largess, at the behest of some individual or some
larger group of people. This
type of generosity can be
seen in all known
cultures; typically, prestige accrues to the generous individual or group.
Conversely, members of a society may also shun or scapegoat members of the
society who violate its norms. Mechanisms such as gift-giving and scapegoating,
which may be seen in various types of human groupings, tend to be
institutionalized within a society. Social evolution as a phenomena carrier
with itself certain elements that could be detrimental to the population it
serves.
Some societies will bestow status on an individual or group
of people, when that individual or group performs an admired or desired
action.
This type of recognition is bestowed by members of that society on the
individual or group in the form of a name, title, manner of dress, or monetary
reward. Males, in many societies, are particularly susceptible to this type of
action and subsequent reward, even at the risk of their lives. Action by an
individual or larger group in behalf of some cultural ideal is seen in all
societies. The phenomena of community action, shunning, scapegoating,
generosity, and shared risk and reward occur in subsistence-based societies and
in more technology-based civilizations.
Societies may also be organized according to their political
structure. In order of increasing size and complexity, there are bands, tribes,
chiefdoms, and state societies. These structures may have varying degrees of
political power, depending on the cultural geographical and historical
environments that these societies must contend with. Thus, a more isolated
society with the same level of technology and culture as other societies is
more likely to survive than one in closer proximity to others that may encroach
on their resources. A society that is unable to offer an effective response to
other societies it competes with will usually be subsumed into the culture of the
competing society.
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