Sociology is a popular subject because it deals with society of human beings. In the words of Auguste Comte, sociology means “the study of society”. A society is where a group of people live as a community; and this group of people may or may not be related to each other, but share the geographical or virtual territory with the same political authority.
Society has its own boundaries. It is of three kinds – a family, a community (a local or larger community) and a larger nation. Family is the smallest society. It is bounded by a number of families. Panchayat is a local community. It is bounded by wards on all the four sides- north, south, east, west. Under this come a village, a school, a college, a university etc. India is a nation bounded mainly by the Himalayas in the north and the oceans on the other three sides. The boundaries of family, community and the nation are important because they determine the area of activity of the man.
The three aspects of society are interrelated. In other words, the family, the community and the nation are interrelated. The family contributes to the community as much as the community contributes to the family. Similarly the nation contributes to the community as much as the community contributes to the nation. Further the relationship between the nation and the family exists in an intricate manner.
Sociologically, man has three characteristics- social participation, social leadership and social dynamics.
Every individual desires to act in a society whether it is the family, community or nation. In the family he desires to get married, get children, and educate them and so on. Other than that, the life of the family is related to the division of labour according to sex and age, mutual assistance among the family members in everyday life, the upbringing of their children, attending family functions and also various moral, legal and psychological relationships. The family is very crucial for the development of personality. It is here that the individual first becomes involved in social life, absorbs its values and behaviour, its ways of thought, language and certain value orientations. It is this primary group that bears the major responsibility to society. As the child grows, it enters the society.
In the community, one desires to become a panchayat or legislative member and engage themselves in activities. Personally he desires to go to institutions, work in organisations to earn money and so on. Here it is imperative that a person should feel himself a part of the group. Everybody performs certain functions in a community. For instance, take the production team. They exchange certain moral, political, aesthetic, scientific and other values. Working in the group as such makes him a great personality; and he creates history by working in the group. Thus besides the family, an individual is shaped by a group which in turn is shaped by the society.
In the nation, one desires to act himself in the nation building activities like trade, commerce, transport, communications etc. Thus he contributes to the nation as much as the nation, which in turn helps him develop his personality.
The desire of man does not stop with participation only. He desires to become a leader. Even though he is a leader, he is a part of the society and that society should voluntarily accept him. Sometimes leadership is thrust upon him. One desires to become the leader of communal or social activities, chairman of the panchayat or leader of legislature etc. One strives to acquire leadership position.
The desire of man does not stop with partnership or leadership. He desires to become a dynamic individual in society and thus achieve unique or at least novel things in society. He desires to achieve solution to the social problems. The activities and expressions of an individual bears the imprint of the social practice of the community in which he lives. Thus the individual development is an indicator of the level of development of the society and vice versa. Just as society shapes human beings, human beings shape the society by retaining his uniqueness and individuality. While contributing to the society, one also considers what has already been achieved. Thus an individual being a link in the chain of generation absorbs certain essence of the society in which he lives, to solve his problems and also of the society. Thus one’s affairs are regulated not only by himself but also by the social standards too.
The key to any problems of an individual lies in society. Talents remain dormant among people unless they are triggered by someone or by the society. Similarly, the social events do not occur by themselves, but they are manmade. For example, histories are made by people by shedding their blood and not by any forces beyond human beings.
Society is the human being in his social relations and a product of not only the existing social system but also of the past history, which are passed on through traditions and also of his individuality. An individual’s personality to a great extent depends on various strata of culture. He is not only influenced by the family, but also by the writings of all times and every nation. Thus society by and large nourishes an individual. Similarly an individual also contributes to the society as much as the society to an individual. Society exists in the form of social environment such as history and spiritual culture around a person. But society is also made of different individuals. Society cannot exist apart from the activities of its members. History cannot do anything by itself without individuals. It is not the society that creates History but man does everything. He creates and also fights for everything. It is the daily activities of individuals who pursue their aims. Thus in a dynamic society man desires to be dynamic to achieve prizes, awards, titles etc.
Thus, we saw the three different aspects of human beings such as social participation, social leadership and social dynamics and these three elements are interrelated. Partnership contributes to leadership as much as leadership contributes to partnership. In the same way leadership and dynamism are related. Leadership contributes to dynamism as much as dynamism contributes to leadership. Further, dynamism and partnership are interrelated. Thus constituents of society and the characteristics of man as well as their interrelationships make the ‘Sociology of man’.