Societies have been a core part of human interaction since the beginning of mankind. But what is society? A shared geography? A shared culture? Coming together to work towards a shared goal? Do they even exist?
Society is a shared territory
Societies evolved around geospatial territories. They are influenced by and depend on, the connection between people and the space they occupy.
Societies have a sense of spatial belonging
It is impossible to separate a society from the space it controls or occupies. The social and the geographical are entwined.
Societies emerge around a shared culture, value system and language.
A society shares its cultural values, beliefs, and tenets
Societies form around those with common values. Values are a culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in society. Values are deeply embedded and critical for transmitting and teaching a culture’s beliefs. Beliefs are the tenets or convictions that people hold to be true. Individuals in a society have specific beliefs, but they also share collective values.
Societies are organized around a common parlance like language that allows communication and social ties. Without language there is no society. Is language really constituting society or is society constituting a language?
