Social collectivity

Sociologists have defined a collectivity as a social system, as an aggregate of organisms,^[1] or as a definable social order wherein the members have a sense of membership.^[2] Collectivities comprise a central element of much modern sociological theory.^[3]

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In terms of sociological categories, a community can seem like a sub-set of a social collectivity.^[4] In developmental views, a community can emerge out of a collectivity.^[5]

Origins

In the context of group formation and development, Norma C. Lang identifies four major types of collectivity:^[6]

proto-groups
abortive groups
superseded sub-groups
growth groups

Footnotes

[1]
Wallace, Walter L. (12 July 2017) [1983]. "Hierarchic Structure in Social Phenomena". Principles of Scientific Sociology (reprint ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. p. 175. ISBN 9781351496636. Retrieved 12 August 2025. [...] Parsons and Shils [...] declare a collectivity to be a 'social system' [...]. [...] In a later publication, Parsons drops the 'social system' interpretation of a collectivity and identifies it entirely with aggregates of organisms [...].
[2]
Haugaard, Mark; Malešević, Siniša (20 September 2002). "Introduction: The Idea of Collectivity". In Malešević, Siniša; Haugaard, Mark (eds.). Making Sense of Collectivity: Ethnicity, Nationalism and Globalisation. Social Sciences Research Centre. London: Pluto Books. p. 2. ISBN 9781849641586. Retrieved 12 August 2025. At the general level, a collectivity is a bounded area of social order which is reproduced and recreated by actors who have a sense of membership of that social order. What distinguishes collectivities from social systems in general is that the latter do not necessarily presuppose a conscious sense of membership.
[3]
Haugaard, Mark; Malešević, Siniša (20 September 2002). "Introduction: The Idea of Collectivity". In Malešević, Siniša; Haugaard, Mark (eds.). Making Sense of Collectivity: Ethnicity, Nationalism and Globalisation. Social Sciences Research Centre. London: Pluto Books. p. 1. ISBN 9781849641586. Retrieved 12 August 2025. The concept of collectivity is the basis for the sociological enterprise as defined by both Durkheim and Weber. This insight is premised upon the idea that society is more than the sum of its parts [...] once individuals are in interaction with each other (as they invariably are) they contribute to the creation of collectivities which both transcend and supersede the interacting agents.
[4]
Rydin, Yvonne (1 October 1999). "Public participation in planning: Public participation and collective decision making". In Cullingworth, J. Barry (ed.). British Planning: 50 Years of Urban and Regional Policy. London: The Athlone Press. p. 196. ISBN 9780485006049. Retrieved 6 September 2024. [...] planning decisions are a form of collective decision making. This is not the same thing as decision making by the local community since that represents only a subset of the broader social collectivity.
[5]
Howell, Signe (2002). "Community beyond place: Adoptive families in Norway". In Amit, Vered (ed.). Realizing Community: Concepts, Social Relationships and Sentiments. European Association of Social Anthropologists. London: Psychology Press. p. 98. ISBN 9780415229074. Retrieved 6 September 2024. [...] without [...] interaction [...], a category of collectivity is likely to remain a conceptual category rather than [...] become a community. It seems likely that some sort of social intimacy, particularly when this takes place at vulnerable times, must occur to serve as a paradigmatic vehicle for the wider sense of shared experience.
[6]
Lang, Norma C. (1987) [1986]. "Social Work Practice in Small Social Forms: Identifying Collectivity". In Lang, Norma C.; Sulman, Joanne (eds.). Collectivity in Social Group Work: Concept and Practice. Social work with groups, volume 9. New York: Psychology Press. pp. 15, 16. ISBN 9780866566612. Retrieved 30 May 2024. There appear to be four major types of small collectivity. The first is a limited social form structured in such a way that advancement to a group is precluded. The second is an aborted social form in which group was the intended social form but [...] the entity was unable to develop past collectivity. The third may be a stage in which the entity, having already achieved its purposes as a group, may continue to exist for its members as an ongoing supportive context or 'home base'. [...] A fourth type of collectivity may be seen in small groups which transform into larger collectivities with more complex organizational arrangements, sometimes escalating into enduring formal organizations.

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Social collectivity

Origins

See also

Footnotes

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