Generality definition. The people as a social community

Classification of social communities

What are the criteria for identifying and classifying social communities?

Systematization of the views of modern sociologists on this issue allows us to identify a number of potential and real, necessary and sufficient grounds for identifying a community:

similarity, proximity of people's living conditions (as a potential prerequisite for the emergence of an association);

community people's needs, their subjective awareness of the similarity of their interests (a real prerequisite for the emergence of solidarity);

the presence of interaction, joint activity, interconnected exchange of activities (direct in the community, indirect in modern society);

formation of ϲʙᴏs own culture: systems of internal norms of relationships, ideas about the goals of the community, morality, etc.;

strengthening community organization, creating a system of management and self-government;

social identification of members of a community, their self-ascription to this community.

Social community - ϶ᴛᴏ a collection of individuals unitedidenticalliving conditions, values, interests, norms, social connectionand awareness of social identity, acting inas a subject of social life

How do social communities arise?

There are various concepts of creating social communities. It is important to note that one of them was proposed by the American sociologist George Homans kᴏᴛᴏᴩy thought that people, in interaction with each other, try to achieve the good, and the more significant the good, the more people undertakes efforts to unite with other people.

Looking at collective behavior from the perspective presets(predispositions), sociologist Gordon Allport put forward a theory according to which a new social subject is formed through convergence of predispositions, i.e. unity of assessments, values, assigned meanings, stereotypes, which members of the emerging community possess. It is worth noting that he theoretically proved that the origin of a new community is based on similarity of emotions, and rational preferences of people.

The famous American sociologist Neil Smelser structured Allport's theory of convergence in his book “Mass Behavior” (1964-1967). It is worth noting that he quite clearly linked this explanatory concept of the emergence of a new community not with emotional grounds, but with rational ones.

Let us note that N. Smelser’s theory of rational value-oriented behavior made it possible not only to reflect and interpret stages formation of communities, but also to reproduce (scientifically model) logical stages of this process:

formation of the most generalized ideas regarding the ideals, goals, and objectives of the future association;

escalating a certain tension on the basis of a common vision of the problem, primarily through exaggerating threats and identifying a “common enemy”;

cultivation of an implicit, preliminary, rather vague belief about the principles of action of the community, cultivation of preferences regarding the future model of activity (legal, illegal, violent, peaceful, etc.);

turning to history in search of models to borrow (this is what the Cossacks, nobles and other revivalist communities do in the new Russia);

mobilizing forces for action: expanding the number of supporters and preparing them for organization;

the introduction of internal social control, i.e. rights and responsibilities that allow demanding, punishing, encouraging, expelling, wearing symbols;

entry of a new mass organization (embedding, infusion, adoption public opinion, legitimation) into existing social structures.

The last stage marks the emergence of a new community into the system of existing social relations - the formation of a public or legally fixed organization, institutionalization, promotion of “them” to the power elite, etc.

Types of social communities

Social communities are distinguished by a huge variety of specific historical and situationally determined types and forms.

Yes, according to quantitative composition they range from interactions between two people (dyads) to numerous international political and economic movements.

By lifetime time- from lasting minutes and hours (the audience of a particular entertainment event) to ethnic groups and nations living for centuries and millennia.

According to the density of connections between individuals- from closely knit groups and organizations to very vague, amorphous entities (for example, fans of some football team) etc.

By size There are three main groups:

1. Large social communities, i.e. groups existing throughout the country as a whole (nations, classes, social strata, professional associations).

2. Average social communities, for example, residents of Arkhangelsk or the entire Arkhangelsk region.

3. Small social communities, or small (primary) groups, which can include, for example, a family, a team of workers in a small store, etc.

1. Socio-economic (castes, estates, classes);

2. Socio-ethnic (clans, tribes, nationalities, nations);

3. Socio-demographic (youth, elderly, children, parents, women, men, etc.)

4. Social-professional, or corporate, communities (miners, teachers, accountants, financiers, doctors, etc.);

5. Social-territorial (residents of individual territories, regions, districts, cities, villages, hamlets, etc.).

Primary and secondary social groups

From the point of view of the nature of interaction within the human community, primary and secondary social groups are distinguished. A primary social group is a collection of people who know each other well and enter into direct interaction and interpersonal relationships. The connections between members of the primary group are very close, involve mutual support, and the group itself has a significant influence on the people within it. Examples of primary social groups: family, group of friends, neighbors on the landing. A secondary social group is a set of people who enter into formal business relationships to achieve a specific common goal. Relationships between group members are often impersonal and do not involve close emotional connections. Examples of secondary social groups: creative union, political party, production and economic association. Representatives of one social group are aware of their belonging to it, regardless of whether there are close connections between them (primary social group) or whether these connections are superficial (secondary social group).

A complex set of features allows divide all communities into the two broadest subclasses, types: mass and group communities, which are divided into large and small social groups. (According to Marx and Tönnies)

Mass social communities

Our life is comprehensively permeated with concepts that constitute the main content of such a sociological category as “mass social community.”

Mass communities are characterized by the following features:

are structurally undivided amorphous formations with rather expanded boundaries with an uncertain qualitative and quantitative composition, do not have a clearly defined principle of inclusion in them;

for such communities characterized by a situational way of existence, i.e. they are formed and function on the basis and within the boundaries of a particular other specific activities are impossible outside of it, and therefore they turn out to be unstable, changing from time to time formations;

them inherent heterogeneity of composition, intergroup nature, i.e. these communities break class, group and other boundaries;

due to its amorphous formation, they are not able to act as part of broader communities as their structural units.

A typical example of mass communities will be participants in broad political or environmental movements(for peace, against nuclear threat, against pollution environment etc.), fans pop stars, fans sports teams, members of amateur interest associations (philatelists, etc.).Their same type of behavior is often dictated not by reason, but by feelings, general emotions.

Mass social communities include:

ethnic communities (races, nations, nationalities, tribes);

socio-territorial communities - ϶ᴛᴏ collections of people permanently residing in a certain territory, formed on the basis of socio-territorial differences, having a similar way of life,

social classes and social strata(϶ᴛᴏ a collection of people who have common social signs and performing similar functions in the system of social division of labor).Classes are distinguished in connection with the attitude towards ownership of the means of production and the nature of the receipt of benefits.

Social connections

The functioning and development of a social community occurs on the basis of social connections and the interaction of its individual elements.

In the very general view a connection is an expression of the compatibility of the functioning or development of two or more elements of an object or two (several) objects. Connection is the most profound manifestation of such compatibility. In social research, various types of connections are distinguished: connections of functioning, development, or genetic, causal connections, structural connections, etc. In epistemological terms, it is important to distinguish between connections of an object and formal connections, i.e. connections established only in the plane of knowledge and having no direct analogue in the sphere of the object itself, mixing these connections inevitably leads to errors both in the methodology and in the results of the study.

By “social” connection we usually understand a set of factors that determine the joint activities of people in specific communities, at a certain time, to achieve certain goals. Social connections are established for a long period of time, regardless of the personal qualities of individuals. These are the connections of individuals with each other, as well as their connections with the phenomena and processes of the surrounding world, which develop in the course of their practical activities. The essence of social connections is manifested in the content and nature of the actions of the people who make up a given social community. It is possible to distinguish connections of interaction, control, relationships, as well as institutional connections.

Features of social communities

A characteristic feature of a social community (city, village, work collective, family, etc.) is that social systems develop precisely on its basis. Social community is a set of people that is characterized by the conditions of their life (economic, socio-status, level of professional training and education, interests and needs, etc.) common to a given group of interacting individuals (nation classes, socio-professional groups, work collectives and so on.); belonging to historically established territorial entities (city, village, region), belonging of the studied group of interacting individuals to certain social institutions (family, education, science, politics, religion, etc.).

Causes of disorganization of social communities

Social processes (demographic, migration, urbanization, industrialization) as an undesirable result can have a destructive, disorganizing impact on social communities. The phenomena of disorganization are reflected both in the external (formal) structure of communities and in their internal, functional characteristics. So, if, on the external side, processes such as migration, urban development, industry, etc. lead to the disintegration of large families that previously consisted of two or three generations, in production groups - to staff turnover, etc., in territorial communities - to an increase in the number of migrants in the indigenous population, to a violation of the natural gender and age structure, then the disorganization of the functions of such communities is expressed in the weakening of values, the increase in inconsistency of standards and patterns of behavior, the weakening of the normative structure of the community, which in turn leads to an increase in deviations in the behavior of its members.

Among the social reasons that disorganize a person, one can include his participation either in several social communities that impose contradictory social values ​​and patterns of behavior on him, or in those that are characterized by uncertainty of social roles, i.e., requirements placed on the individual, the absence of social control, unclear criteria for assessing behavior. As a rule, this kind of phenomenon is associated with a weakening of the socio-psychological effect of community, which serves as a means of intra-group cohesion and mutual understanding.

Under these conditions, the so-called normal social communities are not in all cases able to ensure the fulfillment of a number of their essential functions, that is, to provide the individual with a consistent, internally non-contradictory system of standards of behavior, to stimulate a sense of solidarity and belonging to it, to provide an orderly system of levels of social prestige and recognition, etc.

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Social communities.

Social community – this is a really existing, empirically fixed set of individuals, distinguished by relative integrity and acting as an independent subject historical process. Social communities are relatively stable collections of people, distinguished by more or less identical features (in all or some aspects of life), conditions and lifestyle, mass consciousness, to one degree or another by commonality social norms, value systems and interests. Commonalities different types and types are forms of joint life activity of people, forms of human community.

Social communities are not created by people consciously, but are formed solely under the influence of the objective course of social development, the joint nature of human life. Different types of communities are formed on different objective grounds. Some types of communities are directly caused by social production, for example, a production team, a social class, a socio-professional group. Others arise on an ethnic basis: nationalities, nations (ethnic communities), and along with the economy, their nature and character are also determined by a number of other factors. The objective basis of the third communities - socio-demographic - are natural demographic factors: gender, age, etc.

Any community is formed on the basis of the same living conditions of the people from which it is formed. But a collection of people becomes a community only when they are able to realize this sameness of conditions and show their attitude towards them. In this regard, they develop a clear understanding of who is “us” and who is “stranger.” Accordingly, an understanding of the unity of their interests in comparison with other communities arises. Awareness of this manifested itself in tribal societies of the primitive communal system. This awareness is inherent in any nationality and nation.

Nationality is a term denoting belonging to a people or the presence of some of its qualities. The people are large group people connected mainly by their place of residence. In the ethnic sense, this term refers to all historically established types of ethnic communities: tribes, nationalities, nations. Translated from Greek, ethnos means people. Since the beginning of the 50s of our century, people began to be called different kinds ethnic groups at the stage of development between tribe and nation. Thus, nationality - it is an ethnic and social community that historically follows the tribe and precedes the nation.

Another ethnic community is a nation. Nation(from Latin natio - people) - a type of ethnos, historically formed and reproduced on the basis of common territory, economic ties, language, cultural characteristics, mental make-up and consciousness of unity and difference from similar formations (self-awareness). This definition is dominant in modern literature. However, at present, when defining a nation, they often focus not on ethnic characteristics, but on stage-specific and ethnosocial characteristics that distinguish a nation from the nationality that historically preceded it. These features include: unification of the language, mainly in the process of spreading it literary form through the education system, literature and means mass media; development of professional culture and art; formation of class and social composition corresponding to the level of industrial development, etc.

Nationality – it is belonging to a particular nation. At the same time, in Western European languages ​​this concept is used mainly to denote the state affiliation of people (citizenship), and the expression “ethnic nationality” is often used to denote ethnicity.

The problem of ethnic communities is dealt with by ethnosociology, which has its own category apparatus. Its focus is on interethnic relations related to the problem of ethnic minorities, assimilation, etc. Ethnic minority – it is a collection of people who are treated differently from other members of society because of their characteristic physical and cultural characteristics. Under assimilation refers to the complete destruction of ethnic minorities by force or through their gradual mixing with the main (titular) ethnic group.

It should be noted that despite the presence of different points of view, it is not a variety ethnic community race. Race – This is a historically established group of humanity, characterized by common hereditary characteristics determined by the unity of origin and area of ​​​​settlement. These characteristics include: skin color, eyes, hair, skull shape, height, etc. Modern humanity are divided into three main races: Negroid, Caucasoid and Mongoloid.

Features races are of secondary importance. All races are absolutely equal in biological and psychological respects, are on the same level evolutionary development. However, throughout human history attempts were made to elevate one race and degrade another. They are most clearly manifested in the theory and practice of racism. Racism – it is discrimination, exploitation or cruel oppression of a community belonging to a different race.

how an integral sociocultural system consists of many subsystems with various system-forming integral qualities. One of the most important types of social subsystems are social communities. As a rule, in general people unite having similar interests, goals, functions and statuses determined by them, social roles, cultural needs.

Classification of social communities

What are criteria for identifying and classifying social communities?

• similarity, proximity of living conditions people (as a potential prerequisite for the emergence of an association);
• community of people's needs, their subjective awareness similarities their interests (the real prerequisite for the emergence of solidarity);
• the presence of interaction, joint activity, interconnected exchange of activities (direct in the community, indirect in modern society);
• formation of one’s own culture: a system of internal norms of relationships, ideas about the goals of the community, morality, etc.;
• strengthening community organization, creating a system of management and self-government;
• social identification of members of a community, their self-ascription to this community.

Social community — is a collection of individuals united identical living conditions, values, interests, norms, social connection and awareness of social identity, acting in as a subject of social life.

How do social communities arise?

There are various concepts of creating social communities. One of them was proposed by the American sociologist George Homans, which thought that people, in interaction with each other, try to achieve the good, and the more significant the good, the more a person undertakes efforts to unite with other people.

Looking at collective behavior from the point of view presets(predispositions), sociologist Gordon Allport put forward a theory according to which a new social subject is formed through convergence of predispositions, i.e. unity of assessments, values, assigned meanings, stereotypes, which members of the emerging community possess. He theoretically proved that the origin of a new community is based on similarity of emotions, and rational preferences of people.

The famous American sociologist Neil Smelser structured Allport's theory of convergence in his book “Mass Behavior” (1964-1967). He quite clearly linked his explanatory concept of the emergence of a new community not with emotional reasons, but with rational ones.

N. Smelser’s theory of rational value-oriented behavior made it possible not only to reflect and interpret stages formation of communities, but also to reproduce (scientifically model) logical stages of this process:

1. formation of the most generalized ideas regarding the ideals, goals, and objectives of the future association;
2. escalating certain tensions based on a common vision of the problem, primarily through exaggerating threats and identifying a “common enemy”;
3. cultivation of an implicit, preliminary, rather vague belief about the principles of action of the community, cultivation of preferences regarding the future model of activity (legal, illegal, violent, peaceful, etc.);
4. turning to history in search of models to borrow (this is what the Cossacks, nobles and other revivalist communities do in the new Russia);
5. mobilizing forces for action: expanding the number of supporters and preparing them for organization;
6. the introduction of internal social control, i.e. rights and responsibilities that allow demanding, punishing, encouraging, expelling, wearing symbols;
7. the entry of a new mass organization (embedding, infusion, acceptance by public opinion, legitimation) into existing social structures.

Final stage marks the emergence of a new community into the system of existing social relations- formation of a public or legally fixed organization, institutionalization, promotion of “our own” to the power elite, etc.

Types of social communities

Social communities differ greatly diversity specific historical and situationally determined types and forms.

Yes, according to quantitative composition they range from interactions between two people (dyads) to numerous international political and economic movements.

By lifetime time- from lasting minutes and hours (the audience of a particular entertainment event) to ethnic groups and nations living for centuries and millennia.

According to the density of connections between individuals- from closely knit groups and organizations to very vague, amorphous entities (for example, fans of a football team), etc.

A complex set of features allows divide all communities into the two broadest subclasses, types: mass and group communities, which are divided into large and small social groups.

Mass social communities

Our life is comprehensively permeated with concepts that constitute the main content of such a sociological category as “mass social community.”

Mass communities are characterized by the following features:

1. are structurally undivided amorphous formations with rather expanded boundaries with an uncertain qualitative and quantitative composition, do not have a clearly defined principle of inclusion in them;
2. for such communities characterized by a situational way of existence, i.e. they are formed and function on the basis and within the boundaries of a particular other specific activities are impossible outside of it, and therefore turn out to be unstable, changing from time to time formations;
3. them inherent heterogeneity of composition, intergroup nature, i.e. these communities break class, group and other boundaries;
4. due to their amorphous formation, they are not able to act as part of broader communities as their structural units.

A typical example of mass communities are participants in broad political or environmental movements(for peace, against the nuclear threat, against environmental pollution, etc.), fans pop stars, fans sports teams, members of amateur interest associations (philatelists, etc.). Their same type of behavior is often dictated not by reason, but by feelings, general emotions.

Mass social communities include:

• (races, nations, nationalities, tribes);
• socio-territorial communities are collections of people permanently residing in a certain territory, formed on the basis of socio-territorial differences, having a similar way of life,
• social classes and social strata(these are collections of people who have common social characteristics and perform similar functions in the system of social division of labor). Classes are distinguished in connection with the attitude towards ownership of the means of production and the nature of the appropriation of goods.

Social layers (or strata) are distinguished on the basis of differences in the nature of work and lifestyle (differences in lifestyle are most obvious).

Among mass communities, sociologists share crowd and mass.

Crowd- a set of people who are in direct contact due to physical proximity. The characteristics of the crowd are given in the works of N. Mikhailovsky “Psychology of the Crowd”, “Heroes and the Crowd”.

The mass differs from the crowd through indirect contact.

If some significant needs of people are not met, and they perceive this as a threat to their existence, mechanisms of protective behavior are activated. A community of interest arises, based on anxiety or even fear - a crowd is formed. A person ceases to feel his role masks, removes restrictions on behavior, he seems to regress into the world of primitive passions.

A feeling of special power is formed in the crowd, a manifold increase in their own efforts. A person feels carried away by a common impulse and becomes part of a single, living organism. At the head of this freshly melted community the leader is standing, and the crowd completely, unquestioningly submits to his will.

There are four main types of crowds:

• random;
• conventional;
• expressive;
• active

Random This is called a cluster where everyone pursues immediate goals. These include a queue in a store or at a bus stop, passengers on the same train, plane, bus, walking along the embankment, onlookers watching a transport incident.

Conventional crowd consists of people gathered in a given place and in given time not by chance, but with a pre-set goal.

Participants in a religious service, spectators of a theater performance, listeners symphony concert or an academic lecture, football fans adhere to certain norms and rules that regulate their behavior, making it orderly and predictable. They have a lot in common with the public.

Theater audiences know that during a performance they are not allowed to talk or comment on what is happening, enter into polemics with the actors, sing songs, etc. On the contrary, football fans are allowed to shout loudly, talk, sing songs, get up, dance, hug, etc. This is an informal agreement (convention) about appropriate behavior in specific situations that has become a custom. When in the 1980s Sports officials decided to break this custom and forbade fans to loudly express their emotions; the stadiums plunged into mournful silence. Football has ceased to be a festive spectacle, and attendance has plummeted.

Expressive crowd unlike the conventional one, it gathers not in order to enrich itself with new knowledge, impressions, ideas, but in order to express your feelings and interests.

City dance floors, youth discos, rock festivals, holiday celebrations and folk festivals(the brightest ones take place in Latin American countries) are examples of expressive crowds.

Active crowd- any of the previous types of crowd that manifests itself in action. She gathers to take part in the action, and not just to observe events or express her feelings.

A prominent place among mass social communities is occupied by ethnic communities(ethnic group), which can be represented by different social entities: tribe, nationality, nation. Ethnos- this is a stable set of people, historically formed in a certain territory, possessing common features and stable characteristics of culture and psychological make-up, as well as awareness of their unity and difference from other similar entities (self-awareness).

Natural prerequisite for the formation of that or another ethnic group is a community of territory, since it is she who creates the conditions for close communication and unification of people. Subsequently, when the ethnic group has formed, this feature acquires secondary importance and may be completely absent.

Another important condition for the formation of an ethnic group is community of language, although this feature of the ethnic group does not have absolute significance.

Greatest influence in ethnic community has the unity of such components of spiritual culture as values, norms and behavior patterns, as well as related socio-psychological characteristics consciousness and behavior of people.

Integrative an indicator of a formed ethnic community is ethnic identity — feeling of belonging to a certain ethnic group. Plays a prominent role in ethnic self-awareness idea of ​​common origin And historical destinies included in the ethnic group of people, based on genealogical legends, participation in historical events, to connect with the native land, native language.

Formed ethnos functions as an integral social mechanism and is gradually reproduced through internal marriages and through the socialization system. For a more sustainable existence ethnicity strives to create your own socio-territorial organizations tribal or state type. Over time, individual parts of a formed ethnic group can be separated by political and state borders. But even under these conditions they can maintain ethnic identity as belonging to the same social community.

As an example, we can consider the formation and development of the Russian ethnic group. The basis for its formation is the territory of the Northern Black Sea region, where a significant part of the Slavic tribes moved as a result of migration. The formation of the Russian ethnic group is subject to all the laws described above.

A fundamental shift in the formation of the Russian ethnic group occurred in the middle of the 9th century. From this time on, researchers believe, the highest form of the Russian ethnos—the Russian nation—began to take shape. The original concept of the main features and conditions for the formation of the Russian nation was proposed by P. A. Sorokin. According to Sorokin, a nation is a diverse (multifunctional), solidary, organized, semi-closed socio-cultural group that is at least partially aware of the fact of its existence and development. This group consists of individuals who: are citizens of one state; have a common or similar language and a common population cultural values, originating from the general past history these individuals and their predecessors; occupy the common territory in which they live or their ancestors lived. P. A. Sorokin emphasizes that only when a group of individuals belongs to one state, bound by a common language, culture and territory, it truly constitutes a nation.

The Russian nation in this sense arose as a nation from the moment of the formation of the Russian state in the middle of the 9th century. The totality of the main features of the Russian nation includes its relatively long existence, enormous vitality, perseverance, the outstanding willingness of its representatives to make sacrifices, as well as extraordinary territorial, demographic, political, social and cultural development during her historical life.

The adoption at the end of the 10th century had a huge impact on the formation of the Russian nation. Orthodoxy as the state religion of Kievan Rus (the famous baptism on the Dnieper in 998 by Prince Vladimir of his subjects). According to P. A. Sorokin, the main features of Russian consciousness and all components of Russian culture and social organization represented the ideological, behavioral and material embodiment of the principles of Orthodoxy from the end of the 9th to the 18th centuries. Later, various aspects of the secular sphere of life, including Western culture, began to influence the formation of the Russian nation.

The fundamental idea of ​​the national spiritual Russian nation for many centuries of its existence was the idea of ​​unity of Russian lands. Initially, it was viewed as the idea of ​​​​raising the national-state principle, overcoming feudal fragmentation. This idea merged with the idea of ​​confrontation with foreign invaders, the Tatar-Mongol conquerors, who weakened the economy and trade, ruined Russian cities and villages, took relatives and friends into captivity, and offended the moral dignity of the Russian people. The subsequent development of the spiritual and moral foundations of the Russian nation is closely connected with the gathering of Russian lands around Moscow, overcoming dependence on the yoke of the Golden Horde, and the formation of a powerful independent state.

History shows that the formation and development of the Russian nation was not smooth. There were ups and downs. There were periods when it temporarily lost its state independence ( Tatar-Mongol conquest), experienced a deep spiritual and moral crisis, a decline in morals, general confusion and vacillation (as in Time of Troubles XVI century or during the revolution and civil war beginning of the 20th century). At the end of the 20th century. It was divided for political reasons into Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine within the CIS. But the advantages of a community of people close in blood and spirit will inevitably force the political leadership of these countries to seek and find forms of unification. The creation of the Union of Russia and Belarus, its expansion and deepening is convincing evidence of the expediency of this process.

Philosophy: lecture notes Shevchuk Denis Aleksandrovich

4. Ethnic communities of people

4. Ethnic communities of people

Social communities of people were historically preceded by ethnic ones, on the basis of which they emerged in the process of development and complication of human relations. IN social philosophy The study of ethnic communities of people began to be carried out much later than many other things, but in terms of its importance and significance it occupies a leading place. To date, there is no common point of view among scientists on this issue. We will consider two of them - Marxist and Weberian.

Along with Marx and Engels, V.I. Lenin played a major role in developing the theory of ethnic and national communities, their emergence and development. Their ideas on this problem are fundamentally historical and economic in nature. According to the founders of Marxism, the first known forms of community of people in the pre-class period were the clan and tribe. Before the advent of the clan organization of people, humans were characterized by a herd form of existence. The emergence of the clan was facilitated by the emergence of a primitive community, the economic basis of which was communal property. Joint farming on the basis of communal property, natural-equal distribution of things, primarily food, common life and entertainment contributed to the formation of such a community as a clan. It can be said that genus acts as the very first production, social and ethnic group people, united into one joint whole labor activity, consanguineous origin, common language, common religious and mythological beliefs, customs and features of life. As it changes and develops economic activity tribal forms of human community evolved and became more complex.

The next larger form of ethnic community of people is tribe. Its appearance is explained by the need, first of all, to preserve and protect the habitat (territory of residence, hunting and fishing grounds) from encroachment by other human groups. More numerous composition population greatly facilitated the task of resettlement and establishment of life in new territories. Of no small importance was also the protection against the degeneration of the race, which threatened it due to sexual relations between consanguineous homo sapiens. The tribal form of social life becomes significantly more complicated; leaders, military commanders, priests, and new governing bodies appear, without which the clan previously managed. This is explained by the fact that along with tribal property and tribal organization of social life, tribal property appears, and all this required new forms of management. We can say that a tribe is a community of people larger than a clan, usually consisting of several hundred or even thousands of people. Each tribe included at least two clans. For its time tribal form of human existence was the most optimal social community that corresponded to and stimulated production activity. This, apparently, can explain the existence of such a form of community among almost all peoples of the world and its preservation in some regions of the world right up to the present day.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the tribal community in the formation cultural humanity in general and each individual individually. First of all, it contributed to a greater extent to the improvement of tools, the development of norms and rules of social behavior, the development primitive culture and language of communication. Essentially, society for the first time had the opportunity to preserve production experience, forms of social management, the beginnings of culture, achievements in the development of language, beliefs, traditions, and pass this on to subsequent generations in a more advanced form.

From the moment of its appearance, the tribal community acted as a socio-productive and at the same time ethnic community. With the formation of the social division of labor and, in particular, the separation of cattle breeding from agriculture, the emergence of various crafts, the emergence of exchange relations and property inequality, the need to create a more perfect community of people, bonded not only by blood ties, but also by other relationships that open up new opportunities for development of humanity. Nationality became such a form of community of people. The new aspects that determined its essence were closer territorial ties between people belonging to different clans and tribes and united with each other not by consanguinity, but by joint production, economic and cultural activities. At this stage of development, the political and legal aspect in human relations is noticeably strengthened, and further social and class differentiation between people occurs. With that said nationality can be defined as a community of people living in the same territory, united by a common language, mental characteristics, culture and way of life, enshrined in customs, morals, and traditions. At this stage, production and economic activity people, culture receives new development, social-class differentiation between people increases, prerequisites are created for the political isolation of peoples from each other, that is, the formation of independent states.

The next higher form of community of people, in which the ethnic moment begins to differentiate from the social-production one and acquire to a certain extent independent significance, is the nation. The formation of a nation is facilitated, first of all, by the need to expand and consolidate territory, the complication of economic and production relations, and the unification of peoples close in language, mental make-up and culture. The determining factor in uniting people into a nation is the development of production and economic relations. In socio-political terms, this leads to rapid education nation states. Today, the most common ethnic community of people is the nation. And this is not surprising, since it is the unification of people along national lines that creates the best preconditions for people to live, organize production, economic, socio-political and cultural life. Community economic life, a single language, a common territory, some features of the mental makeup of people, manifested in specific features Cultures are the main features of a nation. It can be said that A nation is a stable association of people connected by a common language, a common territory, a common economic life and certain characteristics of the mental makeup of people, expressed in the specific features of the culture of a given people.

As we see, ethnic communities of people have a historically transient nature, and this indicates that under certain conditions associated with changing economic conditions and the need to establish new relations between people, the emergence of new ethnic communities of people is possible.

Like many of his like-minded people who consider capitalism the most perfect form of socio-economic structure, Weber does not consider economic conditions as a fundamental prerequisite for the formation of nations. He is silent about the previous ethnic communities of people. A nation, according to Weber, cannot be defined based on the empirical properties that characterize it. Those who try to do this come to believe that certain groups of people have a specific sense of solidarity towards each other. In this case, we are talking more about an emotional assessment than a conceptual approach. Meanwhile, in society there is neither agreement nor consensus on how to limit the number of such groups of people, nor on the nature of public actions that could be considered a manifestation of solidarity. In addition, according to Weber, a nation cannot be identified with the people of a separate state belonging to a specific political community. Numerous political communities, for example, in Austria before 1918 (the year of the collapse of the Austrian Empire) included social groups that decisively separated their “nation” from the “nations” of other groups (here the concept of nation is identified with the concept of nationality, which is illegal because, although These concepts are very similar, but there are significant differences between them). A nation cannot also be defined by the linguistic affiliation of people, since people living in the same language can speak the same language. different countries(eg North Americans and British). On the other hand, such a community of people does not seem absolutely necessary, since in official documents used in interstate relations, along with the concept, for example, the Swiss nation, the concept of the Swiss people is used.

Some researchers consider cultural characteristics, inherent in one or another community speaking the same language. But this is not typical for everyone. This is acceptable for Austria, Russia and to a lesser extent for the USA and Canada. Moreover, even those who speak the same language, even within the same country, can reject national homogeneity and claim belonging to a different culture. And for this they have certain reasons - different religions, differences in habits, customs, social structure, lifestyle. In addition, the manifestation of the national is demonstrated differently among different peoples. All this, according to Weber, gives reason to believe that, apart from emotional feelings and elements of prestige, there are no other convincing arguments that would justify the existence of nations. Judging by Weber's works, he prefers to analyze the life of society without taking into account the existence of ethnic communities, but only through the analysis of its socio-economic communities.

In general, Weber's views on ethnic communities of people and, in particular, on the nation reflect the situation that has developed in Western sociology on the issue of the essence and role of the nation in modern social life. Essentially, even among those who recognize the existence of this problem, there is no consensus on how it should be interpreted, and besides them, there are those who deny the need to deal with this issue at all, since it is allegedly created artificially.

Control questions

1. What is social stratification And social mobility in society?

2. The teaching of Marxism about classes, social groups and the causes of class confrontation.

3. M. Weber on the social structure of society.

4. Clan, tribe, family, community - the original forms of community of people.

5. Nationality and nation, ways of their formation.

6. Forms of social relations and their essence (economic, legal, political, religious, etc.).