Social space: definition, features and functions

As soon as primitive people began to unite, to make it easier to survive and safer to hunt, they began to create a social space. Society at that time as such was not, all people belonged to some tribe or clan, headed by a leader (the best hunter) or a shaman.

As humanity progresses and spreads on the planet, new social forms of relationships between people are formed.

Types of space

In the world there are two kinds of space:

• Physical, which is an objective form of real matter and can exist even in the absence of civilization;
• The social space is a product of people's relationships and the values they create, both material and spiritual.

Analyzing the second kind can only be from the position of the formation of the world history of mankind within the economic, material and temporal territory in which it occurred. For example, the development of social space in the period of the primitive system was extremely slow, although this kind of community existed for tens of thousands of years.

The study of the surrounding material world for people has always been associated with the gradual development of the terrain, and the impact on it was conducted through labor, for example, hunting, fishing, the construction of primitive dwellings, the taming of wild animals.

Everything that people have done throughout the history of mankind has had an impact on the physical space, improving and expanding the social space.

Social space in the slave society

Primitive people gathered in communities and tribes, which were based on related or other types of connections. Often they did not even suspect that apart from them there was still some physical space inhabited by other people.

It is because of their isolation and fear of leaving their territories that the social space of that system so slowly developed. With the appearance of class differences, the people's life zone began to expand, cities and towns began to be formed, wars for land and slaves were waged.

At the same time, all communities developed their own cultural and religious values, primitive technical devices appeared, for example, sewerage and water supply. People began to travel long distances, to adopt inventions seen in other cities and countries, to trade. Thus the slave system developed, based on class distinctions.

In this period, not only the social space, but also the political, and the economic developed rapidly. Peoples exchanged their cultural values, scientists shared scientific discoveries, traders paved new paths for the sale of goods - this was how the historical space was formed.

At the same time, people did not subordinate themselves to the world around them, and on its basis they formed a new environment, governed and subordinated to them.

Social space of the Middle Ages

When the feudal system replaced the slave system, all types of space expanded even more and began to interact more closely. If earlier some countries were isolated due to geographical or climatic conditions and did not participate in common historical and social events, interstate cooperation began in the Middle Ages. It was accepted not only to conduct trade between countries, but also to compete in the field of scientific discoveries and new lands. One of the ways to strengthen the historical space was the marriages between the ruling royal houses.

As can be seen from examples in the development of human civilization, in the most powerful countries the social space has the greatest boundaries and a high level of development of culture and economy. But even in the Middle Ages the general historical zone was not yet formed, however, the geographic boundaries were determined as the discovery of America, India and other countries. People realized that they are part of the common physical space for all.

Social space in our time

As technological progress grew, the formation of social space began to occur at the level of the planet through the unification of countries into a single global market. Production in various countries became dependent on the supply of raw materials and finished products to each other. The discovery of the New World, the settlement of Australia and other regions of the planet expanded the spread of civilization and its cultural values, which in turn led to a social space beyond Europe and Asia.

All these processes often passed painfully for other peoples, which is clearly visible from the history of the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards, when the ancient Inca civilization was destroyed. But, on the other hand, these countries have received numerous scientific and technological achievements that have accelerated their progress.

To date, the market has become even more integrated. In one country can grow raw materials, in another - to process, and in the third - to produce the final product. The countries became interdependent, especially for energy resources. In such conditions, the social space for the first time in the entire period of the development of mankind has acquired a single historical, geographical, economic, legal and cultural territory on the scale of the whole planet.

Classification of social space

Since social space is a product of the life activity of people and their being on the physical plane, it can be classified according to several indicators:

• First, on the perception of reality, which can be both subjective and objective. The main mechanism for studying the surrounding world is either an individual attitude toward it, or interactions of collectives, consisting of individuals united by a single glance at it.
• Secondly, by its duality. Social space exists simultaneously both on the physical and social level, which is manifested in the consumption of natural goods of the surrounding reality and at the same time the redistribution of them among the people who inhabited it.

Thus, reflection on the subjective and objective level are two sides of the same space. It also means that without using a physical plan, the social one can not exist.

The concept of socio-economic space

As the historical experience of the existence of human civilization shows, the world developed unevenly. Some countries quickly became rich or became huge empires, seizing foreign territories, others - disappeared from the face of the Earth or assimilated with an alien culture of conquerors.

At the same time, accordingly, the socio-economic space, which means a territory saturated with numerous economic, industrial and energy objects, is also unevenly developed.

Earlier, the difference in the level of development was noticeable more, whereas in the modern world many countries combined their natural, technical and human resources. The constant exchange of technologies and means of communication, the introduction of unified banking systems, the adoption of legal laws protecting people's rights, and much more have all contributed to the fact that the number of rich and highly developed countries prevails over the poor, which was not yet 200-300 years ago.

An excellent example is the European Union, which not only united the countries of Europe economically and geographically, but also successfully cooperates with such developed countries as China, Japan, the USA, Canada and others.

The concept of social time

Calendar time exists regardless of the presence of people in it. Before their appearance, the days were replaced at night, ebbs flowed, nature "died" and was reborn with the change of seasons, and it will be so, if humanity disappears.

Social space and time, on the contrary, are associated exclusively with people's activities in a different historical period. If primitive people had no concept of time, and the date of birth could be remembered only in connection with an event, for example a fire or a flood, then about 500 years BC. E. They begin to realize its transience and significance for their life.

It was during this period that for several centuries, so many philosophers, scientists, poets, artists and politicians were born, as there were not several tens of thousands of years before. Time began to acquire a social and historical character.

His speed also changed. What was previously considered to be long, for example, travel, delivery of goods or mail, in the modern world is swift. Today, people know the value of time and correlate it not only with the duration or transience of their lives, but also with its success, utility and significance.

"Inclusion" of a person in the social space

Those structures that a person creates in social space are considered to be his content. These can be groups of different types:

• Unstable, combined accidentally or intentionally for a short period, for example, the audience in the cinema.

• Medium-stable, interacting for quite a long time, for example, students of the same class.
• Stable communities are peoples and classes.

"Inclusion" of people in any category forms a social space in which they exist in a given period of time. A person can not avoid interaction with all social institutions (state, family, army, school and others), since it is a social being.

Culture and social space

Socio-cultural space is an environment in which people create, preserve and increase spiritual and material values. It is filled with objects of human activity created for the entire period of its existence.

Spiritual values include folk customs, folklore, religion and the relationships of people from different countries at the level of politics, culture and education.

Creating a social space

There are two ways to organize it:

• Unconscious, when a person influences him through his activities, for example, through creativity or work;
• A conscious way, when people, united in a collective or at the level of a whole people, create a new or modify the old social space, for example, during the revolution.

Since this kind of being is directly connected with human activity, it is in constant development, during which some of its forms can disappear, while others can arise. While there are people, the social space will be a part of their life activity.