Patterns Of Social Organization Research Articles

Environmental Sociology Approach From A Social Risk Perspective

Environmental problems are a problem for society and are problems that threaten the patterns of social organization that exist in society because environmental problems are human creations, so humans must also find a solution. Social risk is related to uncertainty. This uncertainty occurs due to the lack or unavailability of sufficient information about what will happen. The sociological perspective is part of environmental analysis and is very important because society and the environment cannot be separated. Humans are the worst environmental risk due to their inability to recognize environmental problems and their lack of effort to tackle them. However, humans are also the key to solving environmental problems. It is not impossible for humans to prepare for good environmental risk management from now on. Environmental problems are a reality that must be faced by all humans on earth today. For this reason, a critical analysis of the social risks to society is required. Based on a literature review, modernization through the mastery of technology and science has created a technocratic society where the risk of environmental damage becomes a disaster for mankind.

Spatial and social organization of the burrowing rodent Clyomys laticeps (Thomas, 1909)

Abstract Burrowing rodents display diverse patterns of social organization, ranging from solitary to group living. Differences in social organization are often inferred from patterns of space use, particularly differences in the degree to which individual home ranges overlap. Here, we characterize patterns of space use in a poorly studied species of burrow-dwelling echimyid rodent, the Broad-headed Spiny Rat (Clyomys laticeps). Specifically, we use radiotelemetry studies of a free-living population in Parque Estadual da Serra de Caldas Novas (Goiás, Brazil) to evaluate previous, apparently contradictory reports suggesting that this species is both solitary and social. A total of 20 adult (12 females, 8 males) C. laticeps were monitored via telemetry during two consecutive cycles of annual wet and dry seasons. The resulting data indicate that although overlap of individual home ranges was common, co-occurrence of adults in time and space was rare and was limited to male–female pairs, a pattern that is most consistent with a solitary lifestyle in which individuals occupy distinct burrow systems. Neither sex nor season affected spatial overlap; this outcome is consistent with evidence suggesting that reproduction in this species occurs throughout the year. Although home ranges for males were larger than those for females, areas occupied by both males and females overlapped with multiple opposite-sex individuals, making it difficult to determine from spatial data whether the study population was polygynous or polygynandrous. While genetic data are needed to characterize fully the mating system of these animals, our analyses provide the first detailed information regarding spatial relationships in C. laticeps, thereby allowing more accurate placement of this species within a larger, comparative behavioral framework and facilitating efforts to identify factors contributing to social diversity among burrow-dwelling rodents.

Critical problems and pragmatist solutions

In this special issue, we draw on pragmatist political and social theory and philosophy to illustrate the creative potential of this intellectual tradition for thinking about the numerous crises that haunt liberal democratic societies today. The introduction identifies five overlapping problem constellations (demise of public power, lasting consequences of inequality, pluralization of society, return of authoritarian practices and globalization of the world) that have driven the recent rise of undemocratic or authoritarian patterns of social organization and political rule. Against this backdrop, we conclude that the revitalization of certain dimensions of liberal democracy will not suffice to overcome these problems, which means that democratic practices need radical rethinking and reconceptualization. For this intellectual and political endeavour, we argue, pragmatism provides a suitable framework to identify problems that require resolution and define and mobilize collective problem solving capacities from already existing practices. All eight contributions to this special issue draw on pragmatist political and social theory and philosophy to illustrate to what extent, and to what ends, this intellectual tradition can revitalize the political and social discourse on the past, present and future of democracy. The articles are organized in two sections : (1) Pragmatist critique and the critical potential of pragmatism, (2) pragmatist politics and theories of democratic practice.

Family ties in a neotropical cooperative breeder: within‐group relatedness and fine‐scale genetic structure in the greyish Baywing (Agelaioides badius)

Cooperative breeding is a reproductive system in which one or more adults (helpers) assist others in rearing their offspring. Cooperative breeding occurs in 9% of birds, encompassing remarkable variation in mating systems and patterns of social organization. Understanding how this diversity evolved requires assessing social and genetic relationships across a broad range of cooperative systems. Yet, for some geographical regions like the Neotropics, detailed genetic studies of cooperatively breeding birds are still comparatively scarce. We used double‐digest restriction‐site associated DNA sequencing to define the genetic relationships within and between cooperative groups in a Neotropical facultative cooperative breeder, the Greyish Baywing Agelaioides badius. Between 2015 and 2018, we banded and sampled adults and nestlings of 41 breeding groups from a population in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. We found that helpers were primarily males, the majority of which were genetically related to the individuals they assisted, either as previous offspring of the breeding pair or as first‐ or second‐order relatives of the breeding male. However, we also observed unrelated male and female helpers. Parentage analysis indicates that reproduction was strongly skewed towards the dominant pair and helpers never gained paternity within and only once outside their social group. This scenario is consistent with helping behaviour being driven primarily by kin selection rather than by direct genetic benefits to helpers. However, the occasional occurrence of helpers unrelated to the breeding pair suggests that non‐reproductive direct benefits such as increased access to resources or future breeding opportunities may also influence helping decisions in this species. We found weak evidence consistent with male natal philopatry, and fine‐scale genetic structure, as adult males in our population showed higher relatedness at close geographical distances than females. Future studies that further examine the mechanisms behind group formation and the fitness pay‐offs of helping behaviour will increase our understanding of the complex cooperative system of the Greyish Baywing.

Societal segmentation and early urbanism in Mesopotamia: Biological distance analysis from Tell Brak using dental morphology

The urbanization of Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BCE led to unprecedented social, economic, and political changes. Tell Brak, located in the Syrian Khabur basin, is one of the best-known early urban sites from this period. Surveys suggest that urban growth at Tell Brak resulted from peripheral expansion driven by the migration of several distinct groups; however, it is not known whether these groups remained recognizably distinct within the newly formed urban center.In the current study, the impact of early urbanization on social organization was explored using non-metric dental data from skeletons excavated from the main site at Tell Brak (n = 111) and its satellite mound Tell Majnuna (n = 179). The Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) was employed to examine biodistance between population subsets from the period of early urbanization in the Late Chalcolithic (LC) and the Early Bronze Age (EBA).The results demonstrate differences in dental morphology among the LC groups indicating segmentation within the early urban population at Tell Brak. Patterns of social organization associated with urbanization have thus framed the socio-cultural landscape of even the earliest cities, and bioarchaeological data can be a useful tool for understanding both ancient and modern urbanization.

Juvenile Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) form sibling subgroups during social integration.

The formation of social relationships in complex groups is critical in shaping patterns of social organization and behavioral development. In many birds, young individuals remain dependent on their parents for extended periods but must abruptly transition to navigating interactions in the wider group after independence. While lack of social relationships during this period is detrimental in the development of later social skills, little is known about the social relationships juveniles form after independence in many bird species. In this study, we describe patterns of social interactions in juvenile Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) during transitions from family groups into flocks of unfamiliar individuals. Twenty juveniles from four families were introduced into two flocks. After introductions, juveniles showed a gradient of approach rates with most approaches directed toward siblings, followed by juvenile peers, adult females, and lastly adult males. Significant preferences for siblings resulted in the emergence of sibling subgroups within the larger social network. This intentional self-assortment of siblings suggests that sibling subgroups are an important bridge linking social connections within the family and the wider group. Such findings suggests that sibling relationships have a critical role in the socialization after independence, as well as structuring the social organization of Gouldian finch flocks.

Do Western Sociological Concepts Apply Globally? Towards a Global Sociology

The post-colonial debate challenges the self-certainty of sociology and the suggested universality of its theoretical premises. This has led to calls to provincialize sociological theories and concepts and include perspectives from the South. Thus, we need to ask whether sociological concepts apply globally. Burawoy’s notion of a professional ‘global sociology’ offers a starting point for provincializing sociological concepts without giving up their global applicability. The problems involved in applying the core sociological category of class to Kenya show that classical sociological concepts may be inadequate for analysing societies outside the European and North American context. For the analysis of inequality, we need a more open and empirically founded concept in which the classical notion of class describes just a particular pattern of social structure. For the development of sociological concepts, we always require a broad empirical and intercultural basis in order not to be caught in the trap of Eurocentrism.

Medias and Electronic Medias as one of the Factors affecting Pre-School Education

Pre-school education is a very important step in preparing children for primary school by developing their linguistic, kinetic, sensory, emotional and social skills. As long as education is a social system and dynamic process aims at shaping human behavior so that it conforms to dominant patterns of social organization, it is also subject to various influences arising from the social change phenomenon which is the most important technological factor, for its impact on the various systems and social patterns, including the cultural and educational factor. The electronic media and mass media are one of the information revolution products narrated by the human societies in the last quarter of the twentieth century, which brought about deep structural transformations in socialization methods and particularly in educational methods, where the media has become a competitor to traditional methods of education, including pre-school. Thus, the child is now living in the world of power of image, sound and speech, influenced by the programs which may affect their behavior and perception of the world, as well as their intellectual growth and sense of movement, which creates a discrepancy between what he acquires from media and what he receives in the pre-school, which is supposed to be preparatory for the subsequent school stage. From these points of view, we wanted to approach the subject from a sociological-educational perspective.
 

IJTIHAD POLITIK KYAI: PERGESERAN OTORITAS KHR. ACH. FAWAID AS’AD SITUBONDO

This study found that the relationship between santri and kyai is a pattern of emotional relations such as the feudal system. Kyai has three pillars. They are the mass base as a pattern of social structure, the ulama base as a leadership structure and the cultural base as a scientific basis. However, these three pillars have experienced a shift due to the kyai's entry into practical politics due to his political ijtihad. This shift places the authority of the kyai from a spiritual teacher (central position) to a politician (peripheral position). In this case, the kyai is still obeyed when he is in a central position as a spiritual teacher and not obeyed when his position is marginal as a politician. Of course, this becomes an authority dilemma as experienced by kyai Fawaid who is directly involved in practical politics. The involvement of kyai Fawaid in politics does not belong to the opportunist category but is a form of concern for carrying out the commands of ma'ruf nahi munkar in social transformation. Kyai Fawaid's political ijtihad was strongly influenced by the habituation of Islamic boarding schools based on fiqh. Habituation here is to create a political situation and condition (persistence life situation) through a process of internalization and habituation in accordance with the values ​​of the pesantren, not to be carried away by the flow of political habituation which is always pragmatic and materialistic. The result of his Ijitihad that winning in politics by deception must be abandoned and losing in the right way must be maintained. Thus, the findings of this study can invalidate the theory from the results of research that has been carried out by Ernst Utrecht, Mochtar Naim, Daneli Lev, Justus van der Kroef, Arnold Brackman and Munir Mulkan, where they say that kyai or pesantren of Nahdlatul Ulama who participate politics are opportunists.

Understanding crop processing and its social meaning in the Xinzhai period (1850\u20131750\xa0cal bce): a case study on the Xinzhai site, China

Although the Xinzhai period (1850–1750 cal bce) has been widely regarded as a critical time for the development of urbanization in China, little is known about the labour and social organization of the time. In this paper, archaeobotanical assemblages have been used to explore evidence of crop processing and they have provided further insights into the organization of labour and society at the Xinzhai site on the Central Plain of China. This is the first case study linking agricultural activities and social organization in the Xinzhai period. By discussing macro-botanical and phytolith results together, we conclude that the hulled cereals Setaria italica (foxtail millet), Panicum miliaceum (common or broomcorn millet) and Oryza sativa (rice), and the free-threshing pulse Glycine max (soybean) were all partly processed before storage to reduce labour demand in the harvest period. Since these summer-sown crops are all harvested in autumn, the practice of partial processing might imply that less labour was needed before storage. Thus, the labour for crop processing appears to have been organized on the basis of small production units such as households. This pattern is different from the communal bulk processing of crops before storage by the contemporary inhabitants of Dongzhao. Different patterns of social organization in various settlements in the Xinzhai period can thus be suggested. This conclusion contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the social development of communities living on the Central Plain and indicates that a steady increase in social complexity was very likely in the period before urbanization.

Moscow Shi‘ite Communities in the Post-Soviet Period

This article is devoted to the study of Shi‘ite Muslims, natives of Transcaucasia, South Asia, and Southern Dagestan, settled in the Moscow region during the post-Soviet period. The study is based on the author’s field materials (2017–2021). There are three main stages of the formation of Shi‘ite communities in Moscow: activities individual activists in the 1990s; sustainable development in the 2000s; and full-fledged autonomous existence in the 2010s. The article shows that the Shi‘ites in Moscow are not united in the one whole community, moreover, communities representing different ethnic groups are independent of each other. They develop separately; at the same time, some neophytes stand apart. The structure and social relations in Shi‘ite communities largely reproduce patterns of social organization of their homeland. Ethnic, cultural and linguistic borders do not become transparent. Political events and upheavals in the exodus countries activate the national and ethnic feelings of the Moscow Shi‘ites. The Shi‘ite communities have built interstate religious networks, which allow them to continue their autonomous development in the Moscow region.

Social survival: Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) use social structure to partition ecological niches within proposed critical habitat.

Animal culture and social bonds are relevant to wildlife conservation because they influence patterns of geography, behavior, and strategies of survival. Numerous examples of socially-driven habitat partitioning and ecological-niche specialization can be found among vertebrates, including toothed whales. But such social-ecological dynamics, described here as ‘social niche partitioning’, are not known among baleen whales, whose societies—particularly on foraging grounds—are largely perceived as unstructured and incidental to matters of habitat use and conservation. However, through 16 years of behavioral observations and photo-identifications of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding within a fjord system in the Canadian Pacific (primarily within Gitga’at First Nation waters), we have documented long-term pair bonds (up to 12 years) as well as a complex societal structure, which corresponds closely to persistent patterns in feeding strategy, long-term site fidelity (extended occupancy and annual rate of return up to 75%), specific geographic preferences within the fjord system, and other forms of habitat use. Randomization tests of network congruency and clustering algorithms were used to test for overlap in patterns of social structure and habitat use, which confirmed the occurrence of social niche partitioning on the feeding grounds of this baleen whale species. In addition, we document the extensive practice of group bubble net feeding in Pacific Canada. This coordinated feeding behavior was found to strongly mediate the social structure and habitat use within this humpback whale society. Additionally, during our 2004–2019 study, we observed a shift in social network structure in 2010–2012, which corresponded with environmental and demographic shifts including a sudden decline in the population’s calving rate. Our findings indicate that the social lives of humpback whales, and perhaps baleen whales generally, are more complex than previously supposed and should be a primary consideration in the assessment of potential impacts to important habitat.

Multi-year assessment of variability in spatial and social relationships in a subterranean rodent, the highland tuco-tuco (Ctenomys opimus)

In some species, populations routinely contain a mixture of lone and group-living individuals. Such facultative sociality may reflect individual differences in behavior as well as adaptive responses to variation in local environmental conditions. To explore interactions between individual- and population-level variabilities in behavior in a species provisionally described as facultatively social, we examined spatial and social relationships within a population of highland tuco-tucos (Ctenomys opimus) at Laguna de los Pozuelos, Jujuy Province, Argentina. Using data collected over 5 consecutive years, we sought to (1) confirm the regular occurrence of both lone and group-living individuals and (2) characterize the temporal consistency of individual social relationships. Our analyses revealed that although the study population typically contained lone as well as group-living animals, individual spatial and social relationships varied markedly over time. Specifically, the extent to which individuals remained resident in the same location across years varied, as did the number of conspecifics with which an animal lived, with an overall tendency for individuals to live in larger groups over successive years. Collectively, these analyses indicate that population-level patterns of behavior in C. opimus are consistent with facultative sociality but that this variation does not arise due to persistent differences in individual behavior (i.e., living alone versus with conspecifics). Instead, based on changes in spatial and social relationships across years, we suggest that variation in the tendency to live in groups is shaped primarily by local ecological and demographic conditions.Significance statementCharacterizing variation in conspecific relationships is critical to understanding the adaptive bases for social behavior. Using data collected over 5 successive years, we examined temporal variation in spatial and social relationships within a population of highland tuco-tucos (C. opimus) from northern Argentina. In addition to providing the first multi-year assessment of the behavior and demography of this species, our analyses generate important insights into relationships between individual behavior and population-level patterns of social organization. The behavioral variability evident in our study population suggests that C. opimus is an ideal system in which to explore the causes and consequences of individual differences in social behavior.

Lingjiatan early complex societies and social organization in the Yuxi Valley, China

The social differentiation of the Lingjiatan site in middle Neolithic China has long been recognized by archaeologists based on discoveries of a plethora of exquisite jades and ceremonial works. The symbolic and ritual meanings of the elaborate jades have been the main focus of archaeological research, while the social organization and the natures of communities of Lingjiatan societies have received little attention. These aspects, however, provide an excellent context for understanding the various pathways taken by early complex societies. Analysis of a large sample of remains from a systematic complete-coverage survey in the Yuxi River valley of Anhui, China complements the current knowledge of the Lingjiatan site through reconstructing the trajectory of social changes and documenting patterns of social organization as well as the nature and population of communities at local and supra-local scales in this region from the middle Neolithic to historical Zhou (c. 5700–2500 BP). Results suggest that while ritual and ceremonial power seem to be the principal centripetal forces in creating a strong centralized Lingjiatan chiefly polity, the Yuxi survey region is characterized by numerous, relatively autonomous supra-local communities and lacked sociopolitical integration at the larger regional scale.

Moving Forward: A Bioarchaeology of Mobility and Migration

Growing interest in bioarchaeology and its ability to address complex questions tied to social and biological identities in the past has led to the development of nuanced methods for evaluating mobility and migration using human skeletal remains. Improving our ability to identify both short- and long-term migration through observations of body modification, analyses of biological distance, and applications of biogeochemical and aDNA techniques has enabled us to move beyond the simple dichotomous classification of past individuals as either local or nonlocal. These approaches have elucidated the complexity of migration processes while also revealing the heterogeneous ways in which individual agents and social groups incorporate, instigate, experience, and adapt to movement. These data have likewise demonstrated the potential of bioarchaeology to reveal broader patterns of social organization, social and ethnic identities, fictive kinship, postmarital residence, gender roles and relations, detailed life courses, responses to climate stress, and pathways of disease transmission. As bioarchaeology continues to contribute to mobility and migration studies, human skeletal data should be further contextualized by the archaeological record and linked to anthropological, archaeological, and bioarchaeological theoretical frameworks as part of more holistic attempts to explain the diversity and dynamics of human movement, interaction, and identity construction among communities in the past.

Effect of ecological factors on fine-scale patterns of social structure in African lions.

Environmental variations can influence the extent to which individuals interact with other individuals by changing the value of grouping. It is well known that many species can form and disband groups, often in response to the distribution and abundance of resources. While previous studies showed that resources influence the broad-scale structure of animal groups, knowledge gaps remain on whether they affect fine-scale patterns of association among individuals within groups. We quantify association patterns in African lions while simultaneously monitoring the abundance and distribution of prey. We test how social and ecological factors, including individual trait (age, sex, reproductive state) similarity and prey availability (prey abundance, dispersion, herd size and body size) affect within-pride social structure in African lions. We found that individual decisions about associates depended on resource availability with individuals associating equally across all members of the pride when prey herds were scarce, aggregated or large bodied, and associating more exclusively (in subgroups of preferred associates) when prey herds were abundant, dispersed or small bodied. Individuals within lion prides seemed to be buffering against changes in prey availability by modulating their strength and density of connections with conspecifics when prides split into subgroups. The strength and density of connections among individuals within subgroups was greater when prey herds were large and lower when prey herds were dispersed or are large bodied. Our findings suggest that individual lions are making social decisions at both the subgroup level and the pride level, with decisions representing putatively fitness-enhancing strategies. Individuals were typically shifting between having few strong connections and having many weaker connections depending on prevailing ecological conditions, with prey abundance, dispersion and body size having the greatest impact on decisions about splitting into subgroups. The maintenance of connections within prides and subgroups in the face of ecological change suggests that the fission-fusion nature of lion prides might be essential for the long-term maintenance of social connections even when short-term conditions do not allow them. More broadly, our study reveals how fission-fusion dynamics and ecological factors can simultaneously have an effect on animals across multiple levels of sociality.

Multilevel structural evaluation of signed directed social networks based on balance theory

Balance theory explains how network structural configurations relate to tension in social systems, which are commonly modeled as static undirected signed graphs. We expand this modeling approach by incorporating directionality of edges and considering three levels of analysis for balance assessment: triads, subgroups, and the whole network. For triad-level balance, we develop a new measure by utilizing semicycles that satisfy the condition of transitivity. For subgroup-level balance, we propose measures of cohesiveness (intra-group solidarity) and divisiveness (inter-group antagonism) to capture balance within and among subgroups. For network-level balance, we re-purpose the normalized line index to incorporate directionality and assess balance based on the proportion of edges whose position suits balance. Through comprehensive computational analyses, we quantify, analyze, and compare patterns of social structure in triads, subgroups, and the whole network across a range of social settings. We then apply our multilevel framework to examine balance in temporal and multilayer networks to demonstrates the generalizability of our approach. In most cases, we find relatively high balance across the three levels; providing another confirmation of balance theory. We also deliver empirical evidence for the argument that balance at different levels is not the same social phenomenon measured at different scales, but represents different properties (triadic balance, internal cohesion and external division of subgroups, and overall network polarization), and should therefore be evaluated independently from one another. We propose a comprehensive yet parsimonious approach to address this need.

Stabilizing social structure via modifying local patterns

Study of social structure patterns and their dynamics has attracted more attentions in recent years. Structural measures like structural balance and status theory focus on patterns of signed links and the frequency/popularity of them. Several recent works have tried to define some measures to study the instability of social structure. But these works do not present any idea about the links that changing their signs makes the network more stable. In this paper, we have introduced three algorithms for detecting and changing the sign of links of graph to make it more stable. The results of simulation for a number of scale-free and complete networks show that proposed algorithms have the ability to create more stable patterns. As the proposed algorithms focus on components of the social network to calculate localized measures, it is appropriate for agent based models to study other social phenomena.

A framework for conceptualizing dimensions of social organization in mammals.

Mammalian societies represent many different types of social systems. While some aspects of social systems have been extensively studied, there is little consensus on how to conceptualize social organization across species. Here, we present a framework describing eight dimensions of social organization to capture its diversity across mammalian societies. The framework uses simple information that is clearly separated from the three other aspects of social systems: social structure, care system, and mating system. By applying our framework across 208 species of all mammalian taxa, we find a rich multidimensional landscape of social organization. Correlation analysis reveals that the dimensions have relatively high independence, suggesting that social systems are able to evolve different aspects of social behavior without being tied to particular traits. Applying a clustering algorithm allows us to identify the relative importance of key dimensions on patterns of social organization. Finally, mapping mating system onto these clusters shows that social organization represents a distinct aspect of social systems. In the future, this framework will aid reporting on important aspects of natural history in species and facilitate comparative analyses, which ultimately will provide the ability to generate new insights into the primary drivers of social patterns and evolution of sociality.

High society: behavioral patterns as a feedback loop to social structure in Plains bison (Bison bison bison)

Social organization as a topic has wide application often conserved across lineages and can lead to complex cultures, yet it is still not well understood in many taxa. We observed American bison (Bison bison) to investigate the interactions of hierarchy and behavior to elucidate patterns of social organization. Bison are highly visible animals that live in relatively accessible grasslands, and most are in semi-wild conservation herds that allows for access to low-stress observation and physiological exams. We observed behaviors in a semi-wild, reintroduced herd of 53 bison in a 140-ha prairie from April to October 2015 (165 h of observation). After establishing a linear hierarchy, we categorized individuals of each sex as high, mid-, or low ranking and then evaluated behavioral trends across rank and sex. We found that high ranking males constantly defended their linear positions and focused breeding efforts on the females with the highest productivity, consistent with disruptive sex characteristics. Intra-rank conflict focused on linear positioning likely causes the volatility in male bison hierarchy and stress of domination. Female bison, however, tend to suppress the lowest class, which likely drives their hierarchy’s stability and stress of subordination. Our results show that male and female bison are impacted differently by their social rankings and show that individual aggressive actions may provide feedback loops to their social organization.