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What causes existence. Social groups

A person participates in public life not as an isolated individual, but as a member of social communities - family, friendly company, work collective, nation, class, etc. His activities are largely determined by the activities of the groups in which he is included, as well as by the interaction within and between groups. Accordingly, in sociology, society appears not only as an abstraction, but also as a set of specific social groups that are in a certain dependence on each other.

The structure of the entire social system, the totality of interconnected and interacting social groups and social communities, as well as social institutions and relations between them, is the social structure of society.

In sociology, the problem of dividing society into groups (including nations, classes), their interaction is one of the cardinal ones and is characteristic of all levels of theory.

Concept of social group

Group is one of the main elements of the social structure of society and is a collection of people united by any significant feature - general activities, general economic, demographic, ethnographic, psychological characteristics. This concept is used in law, economics, history, ethnography, demography, and psychology. In sociology, the concept of “social group” is usually used.

Not every community of people is called a social group. If people are simply in a certain place (on a bus, at a stadium), then such a temporary community can be called an “aggregation.” A social community that unites people according to only one or several similar characteristics is also not called a group; The term “category” is used here. For example, a sociologist might classify students between 14 and 18 years old as youth; elderly people to whom the state pays benefits, provides benefits for utility bills - to the category of pensioners, etc.

Social group - it is an objectively existing stable community, a set of individuals interacting in a certain way based on several characteristics, in particular the shared expectations of each group member regarding others.

The concept of a group as independent, along with the concepts of personality (individual) and society, is already found in Aristotle. In modern times, T. Hobbes was the first to define a group as “a certain number of people united by a common interest or a common cause.”

Under social group it is necessary to understand any objectively existing stable set of people connected by a system of relations regulated by formal or informal social institutions. Society in sociology is viewed not as a monolithic entity, but as a collection of many social groups that interact and are in a certain dependence on each other. Each person during his life belongs to many such groups, including family, friendly group, student group, nation, etc. The creation of groups is facilitated by similar interests and goals of people, as well as by the awareness of the fact that by combining actions one can achieve significantly greater results than with individual action. At the same time social activities Each person is largely determined by the activities of the groups in which he is included, as well as by interactions within groups and between groups. It can be stated with complete confidence that only in a group a person becomes an individual and is able to find full self-expression.

Concept, formation and types of social groups

The most important elements of the social structure of society are social groups And . Being forms of social interaction, they represent associations of people whose joint, solidary actions are aimed at satisfying their needs.

There are many definitions of the concept “social group”. Thus, according to some Russian sociologists, a social group is a collection of people who have common social characteristics and perform social functions. required function in the structure of the social division of labor and activity. American sociologist R. Merton defines a social group as a set of individuals who interact with each other in a certain way, are aware of their belonging to a given group and are recognized as members of this group from the point of view of others. He identifies three main features in a social group: interaction, membership and unity.

Unlike mass communities, social groups are characterized by:

sustainable interaction that contributes to the strength and stability of their existence;
relatively high degree of unity and cohesion;
clearly expressed homogeneity of composition, suggesting the presence of characteristics inherent in all members of the group;
the possibility of joining broader social communities as structural units.

Since each person in the course of his life is a member of a wide variety of social groups that differ in size, nature of interaction, degree of organization and many other characteristics, there is a need to classify them according to certain criteria.

The following are distinguished: types of social groups:

1. Depending on the nature of the interaction - primary and secondary (Appendix, diagram 9).

Primary group according to C. Cooley’s definition, is a group in which the interaction between members is direct, interpersonal in nature and different high level emotionality (family, school class, peer group, etc.). Carrying out the socialization of the individual, the primary group acts as a connecting link between the individual and society.

Secondary group- this is a larger group in which interaction is subordinated to the achievement of a specific goal and is of a formal, impersonal nature. In these groups, the main attention is paid not to the personal, unique qualities of group members, but to their ability to perform certain functions. Examples of such groups are organizations (industrial, political, religious, etc.).

2. Depending on the method of organizing and regulating interaction - formal and informal.

Formal group is a group with legal status, interaction in which is regulated by a system of formalized norms, rules, and laws. These groups have a conscious target, normatively fixed hierarchical structure and act according to administrative established order(organizations, enterprises, etc.).

Informal grouparises spontaneously, based on common views, interests and interpersonal interactions. It is deprived of official regulation and legal status. Such groups are usually led by informal leaders. Examples include friendly companies, informal associations among young people, rock music fans, etc.

3. Depending on the individuals’ belonging to them - ingroups and outgroups.

Ingroup- this is a group to which an individual feels immediate belonging and identifies it as “mine”, “our” (for example, “my family”, “my class”, “my company”, etc.).

Outgroup - this is a group to which a given individual does not belong and therefore evaluates it as “alien”, not his own (other families, another religious group, another ethnic group, etc.). Each individual in an ingroup has their own scale for assessing outgroups: from indifferent to aggressive-hostile. Therefore, sociologists propose measuring the degree of acceptance or closedness in relation to other groups according to the so-called Bogardus's "social distance scale".

Reference group - this is a real or imaginary social group, the system of values, norms and assessments of which serves as a standard for the individual. The term was first proposed by the American social psychologist Hyman. The reference group in the system of relations “individual – society” performs two important functions: normative, being for the individual a source of norms of behavior, social attitudes and value orientations; comparative, acting as a standard for an individual, it allows him to determine his place in the social structure of society and evaluate himself and others.

4. Depending on quantitative composition and forms of communication - small and large.

- this is a small group of people in direct contact, united to carry out joint activities.

A small group can take many forms, but the initial ones are “dyad” and “triad”, they are called simplest molecules small group. Dyadconsists of two people and is considered an extremely fragile association, in triad actively interact three people it is more stable.

The characteristic features of a small group are:

small and stable composition (usually from 2 to 30 people);
spatial proximity of group members;
stability and duration of existence:
high degree of coincidence of group values, norms and patterns of behavior;
intensity of interpersonal relationships;
a developed sense of belonging to a group;
informal control and information saturation in the group.

Large group- this is a large group that is created for a specific purpose and the interaction in which is mainly indirect (work collectives, enterprises, etc.). This also includes numerous groups of people who have common interests and occupy the same position in the social structure of society. For example, social class, professional, political and other organizations.

A team (lat. collectivus) is a social group in which all vital connections between people are mediated through socially important goals.

Characteristic features of the team:

combination of interests of the individual and society;
a community of goals and principles that act for team members as value orientations and standards of activity. The team performs the following functions:
subject - solving the problem for which it is created;
social and educational - combination of interests of the individual and society.

5. Depending on socially significant characteristics - real and nominal.

Real groups are groups identified according to socially significant criteria:

floor - men and women;
age - children, youth, adults, elderly;
income - rich, poor, prosperous;
nationality - Russians, French, Americans;
marital status - married, single, divorced;
profession (occupation) - doctors, economists, managers;
place of residence - townspeople, rural residents.

Nominal (conditional) groups, sometimes called social categories, are identified for the purpose of conducting sociological research or statistical population accounting (for example, to find out the number of passengers on benefits, single mothers, students receiving personal scholarships, etc.).

Along with social groups, the concept of “quasi-group” is distinguished in sociology.

A quasi-group is an informal, spontaneous, unstable social community that does not have a specific structure and value system, and the interaction of people in which, as a rule, is external and short-term in nature.

The main types of quasigroups are:

Audienceis a social community united by interaction with a communicator and receiving information from him. Heterogeneity of this social education, due to the difference in personal qualities, as well as the cultural values and norms of the people included in it, determines the different degrees of perception and evaluation of the information received.

- a temporary, relatively unorganized, structureless accumulation of people, united in a closed physical space by a commonality of interests, but at the same time devoid of a clearly recognized goal and connected by a similarity in their emotional state. Highlight general characteristics crowds:

suggestibility - people in a crowd are usually more suggestible than people outside of it;
anonymity - an individual, being in a crowd, seems to merge with it, becoming unrecognizable, believing that it is difficult to “calculate” him;
spontaneity (infectivity) - people in a crowd are subject to rapid transfer and change of emotional state;
unconsciousness - the individual feels invulnerable in the crowd, outside of social control, so his actions are “saturated” with collective unconscious instincts and become unpredictable.

Depending on the method of crowd formation and the behavior of people in it, the following types are distinguished:

random crowd - an indefinite collection of individuals formed spontaneously without any purpose (to watch a celebrity suddenly appear or a traffic accident);
conventional crowd - a relatively structured gathering of people subject to planned, predetermined norms (spectators in a theater, fans in a stadium, etc.);
expressive crowd - a social quasi-group formed for the personal pleasure of its members, which in itself is already a goal and result (discos, rock festivals, etc.);
active (active) crowd - a group that performs some actions, which can take the form of: gatherings - an emotionally excited crowd tending towards violent actions, and the revolted crowd - a group characterized by particular aggressiveness and destructive actions.

In the history of the development of sociological science, various theories have emerged that explain the mechanisms of crowd formation (G. Le Bon, R. Turner, etc.). But despite all the dissimilarity of points of view, one thing is clear: to manage the command of the crowd, it is important: 1) to identify the sources of the emergence of norms; 2) identify their carriers by structuring the crowd; 3) purposefully influence their creators, offering the crowd meaningful goals and algorithms for further actions.

Among quasi-groups, the closest to social groups are social circles.

Social circles are social communities that are created for the purpose of exchanging information between their members.

Polish sociologist J. Szczepanski identifies the following types of social circles: contact - communities that constantly meet on the basis of certain conditions (interest in sports competitions, sports, etc.); professional - gathering to exchange information solely on a professional basis; status - formed regarding the exchange of information between people with the same social status (aristocratic circles, women's or men's circles, etc.); friendly - based on the joint holding of any events (companies, groups of friends).

In conclusion, we note that quasi-groups are some transitional formations, which, with the acquisition of such characteristics as organization, stability and structure, turn into a social group.

Modern society has become open. It removes previous restrictions leading to a person’s transition from one rung of the social ladder to another. For example, prohibitions on engaging in a particular profession, on marriage between representatives of different social, ethnic or religious groups. As a result, social movements of people have intensified (between city and countryside, between different sectors of the economy, between professions, between different regions of the country) and, consequently, the possibilities for individual choice of profession, place of residence, lifestyle, spouse have expanded significantly.

The transition of people from one social group to another is called social mobility.

Sociologists distinguish between horizontal and vertical mobility. Horizontal mobility includes processes of transition from group to group without changing social status. For example, a transition from one state enterprise to another, from one family to another, from one citizenship to another. This also sometimes includes the movement of people in geographic space without changing their status. For example, moving from one city to another, from place of residence to places of work, shopping, entertainment, recreation.

Processes of vertical mobility are associated with moving up or down the steps of the social ladder. There are upward (upward) and downward (downward) social mobility. Upward vertical mobility includes a person's promotion to a position, transition to a managerial job, mastering a more prestigious profession, etc. Downward vertical mobility includes, for example, the process of ruining an average entrepreneur and turning him into a hired worker.

The paths along which people move from one social group to another are called channels of social mobility or social elevators. These include military service, obtaining an education, mastering a profession, getting married, acquiring property, etc.

Social mobility is facilitated by turning points in the development of society: revolutions, wars, political upheavals, structural shifts in the economy.

Social interests

Each social group is characterized by common interests for all its members. People's interests are based on their needs. (Remember what you already know about human needs.) However, interests are directed not so much at the item of need as at the social conditions that make these items available. First of all, this concerns material and spiritual benefits that ensure the satisfaction of needs. Based on their focus, interests can be divided into economic, social, political, and spiritual.

The interests of people related to the position of a social group in society and a person in this group are called social interests. They consist in the preservation or transformation of those institutions, orders, norms of relationships on which the distribution of goods necessary for a given social group depends.

Social interests are embodied in activity - its direction, character, results. So, from your history course you know about the interest of peasants and farmers in the results of their labor. This interest forces them to improve production and grow higher yields. In multinational states, different nations are interested in preserving their language and their traditions. These interests contribute to the opening of national schools and classes, the publication of books by national authors, and the emergence of cultural-national societies that organize a variety of activities for children and adults. By competing with each other, various groups of entrepreneurs defend their economic interests. Representatives of certain professions periodically declare their professional needs.

A social group is capable of realizing its interests and consciously acting in their defense.

The pursuit of social interests may lead a group to influence policy. Using a variety of means, a social group can influence acceptance power structures decisions that suit her. Such means may be letters and personal appeals from group representatives to authorities, appearances in the media, demonstrations, marches, picketing and other social protests. Each country has laws that allow certain targeted actions of social groups in defense of their interests.

An important means of expressing social interests is the refusal to support people embodying opposing social interests when electing to government bodies. Evidence of the struggle and compromise of various social interests is the activity of parliamentary groups when adopting the country's laws and other decisions.

The desire of people to participate in the processes that determine their lives leads to the transformation of social group interests into a political factor in the development of society.

The similarity of social interests and activities in their defense lead various groups to unite. This is how social and socio-political movements arise, political parties. In an effort to satisfy their interests, various social forces often strive to gain power or gain the opportunity to participate in its implementation.

The activity of social groups related to the satisfaction of their interests is also manifested in interstate relations. A striking example of this phenomenon is the protection of the largest oil producers different countries their economic interests, manifested in joint decisions to increase or decrease oil production in connection with changes in oil prices.

Taking into account many features when identifying social groups and identifying their social interests allows us to create a multidimensional picture social life society and identify trends in its changes.

Practical conclusions

1 in the conditions of a modern open society, it depends on you what position you will occupy in society, in what social group you will be. Thanks to your own efforts, you can change this situation, move from one rung of the social ladder to another.

2 If you are not indifferent to the fate of your country, if you are trying to imagine its future development, it is important to know what the position and mood of a particular social group is, what its influence on public life and politics is.

3 When assessing the activities of the state, see whether it takes into account the interests of certain groups in its socio-economic policy, for example, when resolving issues such as the establishment or abolition of taxes, the determination of social assistance for the poor, etc.

Document

From the book of the Russian sociologist, founder of the Russian and American sociological schools P. A. Corokn “Man. Civilization. Society".

If the economic status of the members of a certain society is not the same, if among them there are both haves and have-nots, then such a society is characterized by the presence of economic stratification, regardless of whether it is organized on communist or capitalist principles, whether it is constitutionally defined as a “society of equals” or not . No labels, signs, or oral statements can change or obscure the reality of economic inequality, which is expressed in the difference in income, standard of living, in the existence of rich and poor segments of the population. If within a group there are hierarchically different ranks in the sense of authority and prestige, titles and honors, if there are managers and governed, then regardless of the terms (monarchs, bureaucrats, masters, bosses) this means that such a group is politically differentiated, that whatever it proclaims in its constitution or declaration. If the members of a society are divided into different groups according to the nature of their activities,
occupations, and some professions are considered more prestigious in comparison with others, and if members of a particular professional group are divided into managers of various ranks and subordinates, then such a group is professionally differentiated, regardless of whether the bosses are elected or appointed, whether they receive their leadership positions are by inheritance or due to their personal qualities.

Questions and tasks for the document

1. What types of social stratification are mentioned in the document?
2. What, according to the author, indicates the economic, political and professional differentiation of society? 3. Based on the document, can it be argued that social inequality manifests itself in different types of societies?
4. What conclusion can be drawn from the text read to understand the social structure of modern society?

Self-test questions

1. What causes the existence of social groups in society?
2. What social groups exist in modern Russian society? What is the objective basis for their emergence and existence?
h. How do the variety of forms of ownership and market relations affect the social structure of society?
4. Who, in your opinion, forms the Russian middle class?
5. What points of view exist on the possibility of achieving equality and justice in a society where social differentiation exists?
6. What does the concept of “social mobility” mean? What are its types?
7. Give examples of social mobility from various periods of world and domestic history.
8. Name the channels of social mobility known to you. Which ones do you think play especially? important role V modern society?
9. Open to specific examples social interests of various groups in society. How do these groups act to protect their interests?
10. What is it? practical significance knowledge about the social structure of society?

Homework

1. The US National Democratic Institute published a methodological manual “How to Win Elections?” It recommends that you begin planning an election campaign by studying the social structure of your electoral district. What do you think is the reason for this practical advice? How can the received data on the situation of various social groups in the district affect the election campaign?

2. Describe yourself and your family members as representatives of the social structure of society, choosing several different criteria for social stratification.

3. A former worker started his own business and became an entrepreneur. What social phenomenon does this example illustrate?

4. What are the reasons for the strikes of miners, teachers, and other professional groups? When formulating your answer, rely on the relevant concepts of the topic. Use material from newspapers and other means mass media.

Social structure and social relations

When you just started studying social science, you became familiar with the concept of society, and you should know that this is a rather complex organization in which people, groups, classes, strata, etc. interact with each other.

What is the structure of society? The structure of society is the collective and individual relationships that develop between different social groups of people.

But social structure refers to the stable relationship between the various elements that make up the internal structure of a given society.

As a rule, like this social elements in the structure of society we can consider persons who have a certain status and perform certain roles in society. These groups of people are united according to their status into social, territorial, ethnic and other communities.

Social groups, as a rule, include associations of people who have some similar characteristics. Such signs may include joint activities, common interests or certain values.

In addition, social groups can be formed depending on their position in society, level of education, profession or financial status.

That is, we can say that the social structure divides people's societies, depending on their different situations and according to different criteria.

While studying this topic, you may be wondering why we need to study different social groups. Well, let's try to find the answer to this question:

Firstly, the social groups existing in a certain society make certain efforts for social development and contribute to the ongoing changes in the society in which they are located;
Secondly, we can say that depending on the nature of a particular social group, the quality of activity of all social spheres in a certain period of history directly depends;
Thirdly, depending on which groups predominate in a particular society and what position they occupy in it, based on this, the type of society, its economic and political position is formed.

And if we know the answers to these questions, we will be able to understand why social institutions do not function the way we would like and why we did not get the type of society we wanted.

Did you know that in Rus', before the reign of Peter the Great, there was no such thing as an “estate”. And this very word “estate” initially meant a college or corporation, and only in the nineteenth century began to mean certain groups of people.

In Rus', only children of nobles and clergy could receive secondary or higher education, and even then, it was clearly divided by gender. For the male part of the population, doors were opened to various gymnasiums, colleges, cadet corps and theological seminaries. But for girls there were women's gymnasiums, institutes for noble maidens, diocesan schools, and even in them the amount of knowledge differed significantly from institutions for boys, since it was believed that it was not at all necessary for women to be educated.

Did you know that in Rus, men also pierced their ears? It turns out that by the presence of an earring in a Cossack’s ear, one could determine what place he occupied in the family. If a young man wore an earring in his left ear, then everyone knew that he was the only son of a single mother. The presence of an earring in the right ear indicated that this was a young man, the last born in the family, and before him there was no heir in the male line. If the young man had earrings in both ears, then this indicated that the child was the only one in the family.

DIVERSITY OF SOCIAL GROUPS

As you already know, people unite in the process of their life activities and human society represents many different social groups. Such groups, for example, include a nationality, a nation, a social class, a rural community, a work collective, and a family. Social groups, as can be seen from the examples given, are different in nature, scale, and the role they play in society. What gives grounds to unite such dissimilar communities into the category of “social groups”? The answer to this question is simple: all social groups objectively arise in the course of people’s life activities, regardless of their will and desire. Each social group is characterized by certain connections and general social significant signs. Such characteristics may be nationality, income, power, education, profession, place of residence, religious affiliation, lifestyle, etc.

What causes the existence of social groups? How do people interact in these groups and how do these groups interact with each other? Sociological researchers provide answers to these questions. They explain the emergence and existence of relatively stable social groups primarily by the social division of labor and specialization of activity. (Remember, for example, how in ancient times in connection with the separation of crafts from agriculture groups of artisans and peasants, urban and rural residents arose in society, how artisans of the same specialty began to unite into a special group - a workshop, how a workshop leadership appeared.) Sociologists believe that even today the division human activity into main types (economic, political, etc.) determines the diversity and number of social groups, their position in society. Thus, the existence of rich, poor and middle strata of the population is associated with economic activity, and with political activity - the existence in society of leaders and masses, governed and governing.

The existence of various social groups is also due to the historical diversity of living conditions, culture, social norms and values. This, in particular, explains the existence of ethnic and religious groups in modern society.

Is it possible to somehow classify all social groups existing in society?

Scientists have been trying to answer this question since ancient times. However, to this day there is no generally accepted typology of social groups. One of the principles of classification is the conditional division of social groups according to the number of participants into large and small. This is the classification you were introduced to in basic school.

As you remember, small groups are family, educational, labor associations, interest groups, etc. A small group is distinguished from a large group by the fact that all its participants are united by common activities and are in direct communication with each other.

Often, along with social groups, there are groups of people united by natural characteristics: race, gender, age. They are sometimes called biosocial groups. Such groups of people provide a natural background to their social life. Under certain conditions, natural differences between people can become social qualities. For example, in any society there are elderly people, but only at a certain level of social development does a social group of retirees arise.

Each person belongs to one of the social groups or occupies some intermediate, transitional position.

An intermediate, borderline state is characterized by marginal (from the Latin marginalis - located on the edge) groups. These include immigrants, the unemployed, the disabled, people without a fixed place of residence and certain occupations (homeless people). A sign indicating a transition to a marginal state is the severance of economic, social and cultural ties with the previous social community and attempts to establish them with a new one. However, having lost contact with their former social group, marginalized for a long time cannot accept new values and rules of behavior. A striking example of this condition is people who moved from rural areas to the city in search of work, who were cut off from the peasant environment, but who have not yet accepted the values and lifestyle of city dwellers. Finding themselves without roots (family, friendship, culture), they seem to be “hanging in the air.” They, as a rule, perform the simplest, unskilled, often temporary work, and the loss of it threatens them with turning into vagabonds and beggars.

The absence of certain stable connections and norms contributes to the manifestation of social activity and initiative by marginalized people in search of their new place in life. However, the state of uncertainty, “in-betweenness” from time to time causes tension, discomfort, anxiety and even aggressiveness. This is why marginalized individuals can become both the social support of progressive changes in society and the bearers of various anti-democratic tendencies.

The question Needs answers... plz given by the author Olenka the best answer is 1. Divisions into social groups in society are caused by such characteristics as: Position in the system of division of labor; Family relationships; Solving production problems; Place of residence; Ethnicity and nationality; Sex and age characteristics of individuals; Interethnic, international, interstate relations; Morphophysiological and physical features, etc.
2. Oligarchs, bureaucrats, the middle class and the lower strata of society (workers and peasants, the unemployed, pensioners, the homeless, the poor), arose in connection with the formation of capitalism, with the emergence of private property in Russia and with the stratification of society.
3. The presence of private property divides society into owners of the means of production and workers. Accordingly, whoever owns the means of production receives profit from their use, and workers receive their usual wages. Hence the social structure of the rich and ordinary workers.
Market relations divide society into producer and consumer. There is also a lot of competition between manufacturers. Which also divides society. There are goods that only certain groups of society can purchase; they are not available to lower strata of the population.
4. The Russian middle class are people who, thanks to their education and professional qualities were able to adapt to the conditions of a modern market economy and provide their families with an adequate level of consumption and lifestyle.
5. The concept of social differentiation, we can say that it means not just the identification of any groups, but also a certain inequality between them in terms of their social status, the scope and nature of rights, privileges and responsibilities, prestige and influence. Is this inequality removable? There are different answers to this question. For example, the Marxist doctrine of society is based on the necessity and possibility of eliminating this inequality as the most striking manifestation of social injustice. To solve this problem, it is necessary, first of all, to change the system of economic relations, to eliminate private ownership of the means of production. In other theories, social stratification is also regarded as evil, but it is irremovable. People must accept this situation as inevitable. According to another point of view, inequality is regarded as a positive phenomenon. It makes people strive to improve social relations. Social homogeneity will lead society to destruction. However, many researchers note that in most developed countries There is a decrease in social polarization, the middle strata are increasing and the groups belonging to the extreme social poles are decreasing.
6. Social mobility is the possibility of changing a social stratum. Social mobility can be high or low. An example of high social mobility is the United States of America, and an example of low social mobility is India. The concept of social mobility is close in meaning to the concept of a social elevator. There are such types of social mobility as: Horizontal mobility; Vertical mobility.
Horizontal mobility is the transition of an individual from one social group to another located at the same level (example: moving from an Orthodox to a Catholic religious group, from one citizenship to another).
Vertical mobility is the advancement of a person up or down the career ladder.

Detailed solution Paragraph § 13 in social studies for 11th grade students, authors L.N. Bogolyubov, N.I. Gorodetskaya, L.F. Ivanova 2014

Question 1. Are the highest rungs of the social ladder accessible to every person? What determines a person’s position in society?

The concept of the social ladder is relative. For officials - one thing, for businessmen - another, for artists - a third, etc. There is no single social ladder.

A person’s position in society depends on education, property, power, income, etc.

A person can change his social position with the help of social elevators - the army, the church, the school.

Additional social elevators are the media, party and social activities, accumulation of wealth, marriage with representatives of the upper class.

Position in society social status have always occupied an important place in the life of every person. So, what does the position in society depend on:

1. Kinship - status may depend on family lines; children of rich and influential parents undoubtedly have higher status than children born to less influential parents.

2. Personal qualities are one of the most important points on which one’s status in society depends. A person with a strong-willed character, who has the qualities of a leader, will certainly achieve more in life and achieve a higher position in society than a person with the opposite character.

3. Connections - the more friends, the more acquaintances who can really help you get somewhere, the greater the chances of achieving your goal, and therefore gaining a higher social status.

Questions and tasks for the document

Question 1. What types of social stratification is the author talking about?

Economic, political, professional differentiation of society.

If the economic status of the members of a certain society is not the same, if among them there are both haves and have-nots, then such a society is characterized by the presence of economic stratification, regardless of whether it is organized on communist or capitalist principles, whether it is constitutionally defined as a “society of equals” or not . No labels, signs, or oral statements can change or obscure the reality of economic inequality, which is expressed in the difference in income, standard of living, and in the existence of rich and poor segments of the population. If within a group there are hierarchically different ranks in terms of authority and prestige, titles and honors, if there are managers and governed, then regardless of the terms (monarchs, bureaucrats, masters, bosses) this means that such a group is politically differentiated, that whatever it proclaims in its constitution or declaration. If members of a society are divided into different groups according to their type of activity, occupation, and some professions are considered more prestigious than others, and if members of a particular professional group are divided into managers of various ranks and subordinates, then such a group is professionally differentiated regardless of whether bosses are elected or appointed, whether their leadership positions are inherited or due to their personal qualities.

Question 3. Based on the source, can it be argued that social inequality manifests itself in different types of societies?

Yes, you can. Since the phrase “regardless of whether bosses are elected or appointed, whether they get their leadership positions by inheritance or thanks to their personal qualities” indicates that, under a monarchical structure, such a situation could also arise.

SELF-TEST QUESTIONS

Question 1. What causes the existence of social groups in society?

Sociologists explain the emergence and existence of social groups primarily by the social division of labor and the specialization of people's activities. Sociologists believe that even today the division of human activity into main types determines the diversity and size of social groups and their position in society. Thus, the existence of layers of the population that differ in income levels is associated with economic activity, and with political activity - the existence in society of leaders and masses, managers and governed.

The existence of various social groups is also due to the historical diversity of living conditions, culture, social norms and values. This, in particular, explains the presence of ethnic and religious groups in modern society.

Question 2. What social groups exist in modern Russian society? What is the objective basis for their emergence and existence?

The structure of Russian society

Class A. Rich. They are mainly engaged in selling raw materials, accumulating personal capital and exporting it abroad. 5-10% of the population.

Class B1+B2. Middle class. 10-15% of the population. Engaged in class A services in all areas of economic activity (financial, legal, information technology, side-production, necessary for pumping out raw materials).

Subclass B1. Most in their Class. Salaried employees, office, on a good salary.

Subclass B2. Minority in its Class. Owners of their own medium-sized businesses and small private capital.

Class C. Small owners. As such, it is practically absent in Russia.

Class D. The rest of the people, workers, peasants, state employees, military, students, pensioners, the electorate, “men”, “Russians”, cattle, the crowd. 75-80% of the population.

National Subclass D1. Russian and essentially Russified peoples.

National Subclass D2. Tolerant nationalities.

Class E. Human resources of the CIS countries + China.

They arose in connection with the formation of capitalism, with the emergence of private property in Russia and with the stratification of society.

Question 3. How do the variety of forms of ownership and market relations affect the social structure of society?

The presence of private property divides society into owners of the means of production and workers. Accordingly, whoever owns the means of production receives profit from their use, and workers receive their usual wages. Hence the social structure of the rich and ordinary workers.

Market relations divide society into producer and consumer. There is also a lot of competition between manufacturers. Which also divides society. There are goods that only certain groups of society can purchase; they are not available to the lower strata of the population.

Question 4. Who, in your opinion, forms the Russian middle class?

According to the World Bank, the Russian middle class is defined as households whose level of consumption is one and a half times higher than the level of the national poverty scale (income below the subsistence level), but below the minimum level of consumption of the so-called “world-class middle class”, and amounted to 55.6% in 2008. However, according to calculations by the same World Bank, the average monthly income of a representative of the world-class middle class starts at $3,500 and only no more than 8% of the entire world population can be attributed to this class.

In 2009, the World Bank estimated that Russia's world-class middle class had shrunk by a quarter from its pre-crisis peak of 12.6% to 9.5%.

A very large part of the Russian middle class (approximately 40%) is the “old middle” class, that is, owner-entrepreneurs. As for intellectuals, they are largely relegated to a lower stratum.

Question 5. What points of view exist on the possibility of achieving equality and justice in a society where there is social differentiation?

In modern society, social equality is increasingly understood as equality before the law, as well as equality of rights and opportunities. The path to achieving such equality is through respect for the rights and human dignity of representatives of all social groups. In a society that proclaims social equality, equal opportunities are created for all people, regardless of gender, race, nationality, class, origin, place of residence in obtaining education, medical services, economic and political activity etc. Thus, representatives of all social groups have equal opportunities when entering higher education educational institutions, employment, promotion, nomination as a candidate in elections to central or local authorities. At the same time, ensuring equal opportunities does not necessarily imply obtaining the same results (for example, equal salary).

Modern UN documents set the task of ensuring equal opportunities for well-being for people belonging to both current and future generations. This means that meeting the needs of present generations should not compromise the ability left as a legacy for future generations to meet their needs.

Question 6. What does the concept of “social mobility” mean? What are its types?

Modern society has become open. There are no prohibitions on engaging in one profession or another, or on marriage between representatives of different social, ethnic or religious groups. As a result, social movements of people have intensified (between city and countryside, between different sectors of the economy, between professions, between different regions of the country) and, consequently, the possibilities for individual choice of profession, place of residence, lifestyle, spouse have expanded significantly.

The transition of people from one social group to another is called social mobility.

Sociologists distinguish between horizontal and vertical mobility. Horizontal mobility includes processes of transition from group to group without change social status. For example, moving from one state-owned enterprise to another, from one family to another, from one citizenship to another.

Processes of vertical mobility are associated with moving up or down the steps of the social ladder. There are upward (upward) and downward (downward) social mobility. Ascending vertical mobility includes a person's promotion to a position, transition to a managerial job, mastering a more prestigious profession, etc. Downward vertical mobility includes, for example, the process of ruining an average entrepreneur and turning him into a hired worker.

Social mobility is often facilitated by turning points in the development of society: revolutions, wars, political upheavals, structural changes in the economy.

Question 7. Give examples of social mobility from various periods of world and domestic history.

Menshikov - from a seller of pies to a “semi-sovereign ruler” of Russia under Peter I.

M. M. Speransky - from a peasant he turned into the right hand of the emperor, then became a governor.

Question 8. Name the channels of social mobility known to you. Which ones do you think play a particularly important role in modern society?

Those methods are considered as channels of social mobility - they are conventionally called “steps of the ladder”, “elevators” - using which people can move up and down in social hierarchy. For the most part, such channels in different times were: political authorities and socio-political organizations, economic structures and professional labor organizations (labor collectives, firms with a built-in system of production property, corporate institutions, etc.), as well as the army, church, school, family and clan ties.

These are channels for an individual’s transition from one social position to another within a social stratum. (marriage, career, education, family, etc.)

The choice of elevator (channel) for social mobility has great value when choosing a profession and recruiting personnel:

Religious organizations.

School and scientific organizations.

Political elevator, that is, government groups and parties.

Art.

Press, television, radio.

Economic organizations.

Family and marriage.

Question 9. Use specific examples to reveal the social interests of various groups in society. How do these groups act to protect their interests?

Each social group is characterized by common interests for all its members. People's interests are based on their needs. However, interests are directed not so much at the subject of needs, but at those social conditions that make this subject accessible. First of all, this concerns material and spiritual benefits that ensure the satisfaction of needs.

A social group is capable of realizing its interests and consciously acting in their defense.

The pursuit of social interests may lead a group to influence policy. Using a variety of means, a social group can influence the adoption by power structures of decisions that suit it. Such means may be letters and personal appeals from group representatives to authorities, appearances in the media, demonstrations, marches, rallies, picketing and other social protests. In every country there are laws that allow certain targeted actions of social groups in defense of their interests.

In an effort to satisfy their interests, various social forces often strive to gain power or gain the opportunity to participate in its implementation. Evidence of the struggle and compromise of various social interests is the activity of parliamentary groups when adopting the country's laws and other decisions.

Question 10. What is the practical significance of knowledge about the social structure of society?

The practical significance of knowledge about the social structure of society makes it possible to identify group diversity and determine the vertical sequence of the position of social layers, strata in society, and their hierarchy.

TASKS

Question 1. The US National Democratic Institute published methodological manual“How to win elections?” It recommends that you begin planning your election campaign by studying the social structure of your constituency. What do you think is the reason for this practical advice? How can the obtained data on the situation of various social groups in the district affect the election campaign?

Any campaign elected to a particular post through voting must first of all represent the interests of citizens. What interests should be represented? What worries, or conversely, pleases the population now, and what do they want in the future? Studying your target audience helps answer these questions. It will be easier to win elections because people will hear what they want to hear, but it will be fairer if they also see it in practice.

Question 2. A former worker started his own business and became an entrepreneur. What social phenomenon does this example illustrate?

This example illustrates the phenomenon of social mobility, i.e. the possibility of changing the social layer, in this case - from a lower to a higher one.