Systems of social organization as an element of culture: An introduction

As societies become larger and more advanced, large-scale systems -- or "macro-systems" -- of social organization are usually developed. Necessity, in this case, is indeed the mother of invention:

• As larger and larger groups of people cluster into small, centralized geographic spaces of cities, the relationship of a person to her neighbor becomes increasingly important. In order to live harmoniously in proximity, rules governing peoplešs conduct toward one another become important. This need, among others, helps to provide support for the institution of government -- even governments which are established by invasion and conquest can help to meet this need.
• The progress of human civilization, regardless of how that progress is defined, depends crucially upon advancement beyond subsistence-level activity. Such advancement involves a number of factors: development of agricultural techniques, the improvement of technology (typically, although not essentially, through the development of metallurgical technologies), the ability to record knowledge in writing (literacy), etc. All of these factors benefit from the specialization of human productive efforts -- from the fact that one person can specialize in the spinning of cloth, another can specialize in making soap, another can invest the energy and time in becoming literate and recording important information in writing. Specialization, however, means that most members of society are primarily producing for other members -- rather than meeting their own needs for subsistence, they are creating products meant to be exchanged with their peers. This increased emphasis on exchange typically leads to development of increasingly complex economic systems, systems governing the way products are exchanged between members of society.
• With specialization and the interdependence it entails, a society incurs upon itself the necessity to produce specialized skills to meet the needs of the group. If, for example, there is a tremendous societal need for metal products but too few metal workers to meet that need, society as a whole suffers from the dearth. In order to produce the specialized abilities it needs to keep its interdependent system functional, a human society will typically organize an educational system of some sort. While the "universal" education systems found in many countries today are a comparatively recent development in human societies, organized education (often in the shape of apprenticeships and long professional mentoring relationships) is an important aspect of cultural development and reproduction.

Press here to move on to the first (model) exhibit, an exploration of the relationship between cultural meaning systems and systems of social organization.