Difference Between Society and Community
There are different types of social organizations in which man develops and interacts with his peers. Since ancient times, man has grouped with others to respond to their needs for housing, food, clothing and also with the intention of carrying out activities that help them develop socially.
This is how societies and communities arise, which have as a similarity the integration of groups of individuals but in reality they are terms that differ from each other. Therefore, in this article we will highlight the differences between society and community starting with their definitions.
Society
A society is a group of individuals, peoples or nations that coexist and relate under common laws that regulate the processes of adaptation, behavior, participation, authority, bureaucracy, etc. Among the main characteristics of the society we have that:
- They are a presence of groups with varied interests.
- It exists within a common geographic area.
- It is made up of groups of people who share a similar culture but who differ from each other based on their social role, that is, there are variations of social position and job functions.
- It is relatively larger in number than the communities.
- There is greater rigidity in the public order maintenance system.
On the other hand, a society is formed for rational reasons that obey common goals and union of interests. Likewise, the name of society is also known as the natural or agreed group of people in order to fulfill, through mutual cooperation, all or some of the purposes of life. They can be groups of merchants, businessmen or shareholders of some company or enterprise.
The word society comes from the Latin -societas- which refers to partner. Therefore, in short, a society is the set of people who share purposes, preferences, concerns and customs and who interact with each other constituting an organized way of life.
Community
It can be said that a community is a group of individuals who share ties of affinity and common interests and establish personal relationships. Among the main characteristics of a community we have that:
- They have frequent kinship ties.
- They present little social stratification, since most of their members are part of the same social group.
- It tends to run according to traditional values and ways of behaving inherited from the past.
- It is relatively small in terms of number of members.
- Coexistence is based on affective, moral and lasting bonds over time.
According to the above, the main differences between society and community can be summarized as:
- In society there is affective neutrality, rationality and union for diverse interests prevail, while in the community affective ties and union for common interests prevail.
- In society, cohesion is based on principles and interests, while in the community, cohesion is based on custom and values.
- In society there is a presence of social stratification based on social roles while in the community there is little social stratification, since most of its members belong to the same social group.
- The society is relatively large in terms of the number of members while the community is relatively small in terms of the number of members.
