What is the Society?

The English word "society" is derived from the Latin word "socius". The meaning of living from collective social relations is embedded in it. 

Mac Iver's definition

"A network of social connections."

Mac Web's definition 

"It is the total collection of the network of institutions, societies, companies and organizations that have been built by one ethnic group or several ethnic groups permanently residing in a certain territory to satisfy their desires, needs, and wants."

Some of the basic points found in the concept of society.

1. Existence of a definite territory.

2. Presence of one ethnic group or several groups in a ward.

3. Having a sexual reproductive process.

4. The existence of a common culture.

5. Existence of political independence.

6. Behavioral social interactions and interconnectedness through interdependent situations and tasks.

7. Contribution of social institutions to the cohesion of the society.

Sociologists classify society in different ways.

 

There, they present the social stages seen in the development of human society as well as show the social forms that can be seen in modern society. All the classical sociologists have mentioned such social types while presenting ideas about social evolution. 

1. Simple traditional society

2. Modern complex society

Furthermore,

1. village society

2. Farming society

3. Aboriginal society

etc. society can be classified into different types.

What is the Community?

A specific population living in a particular area is called a community. Members living in a community have certain rules to govern and share their relationships. They are not written rules. A prominent feature of its focus on community is its sense of community. (Community Sentiment) Because of the sense of community, distinctive characteristics are formed in the group of people living in the community based on culture. A number of other communities may also be represented in a community. 

 

Example : When the Sri Lankan community is taken, the Sinhalese community, the Dravidian community, the Muslim community, etc. can be classified according to the ethnic basis. 

Example : According to the geographical basis, the upland community can be classified as the lowland community and so on.

Difference between Society & Community

Society	Community
A network of social relations is called society.	A group of people working together with a sense of belonging is called a community.
A society does not necessarily have a geographical limit. Example: Universal society	A community needs geographical or provincial boundaries.
A society may or may not have a sense of community.	A sense of community is a fundamental principle of a community.
Society is a physical unit and within a society there are different communities.	A community is a smaller unit than a society A community can also be divided into sub-communities.
The society changes quickly, which means there is a lot of room for dynamism in the society.	A community is relatively less likely to change quickly i.e. a community is slow to change.

 

References:

කුමාර, එන්. වී. ජී. ඒ. හේමන්ත, 2020. සමාජ විද්‍යාව මූලික සංකල්ප න්‍යාය හා ක්‍රමවේදය. පුංචි බොරැල්ල: විජේසූරිය ග්‍රන්ථ කේන්ද්‍රය.

පෙරේරා, බී. ඒ. ටෙනිසන්., 2013. මානව විද්‍යාව හා සමාජ විද්‍යා ප්‍රවේශය. කොළඹ: ඇස්. ගොඩගේ සහ සහෝදරයෝ (පුද්) සමාගම.