scholarly journals Network scaling reveals consistent fractal pattern in hierarchical mammalian societies

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 748-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell A Hill ◽  
R. Alexander Bentley ◽  
Robin I.M Dunbar
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Papio Hamadryas ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Orcinus Orca ◽  
Aquatic Environments ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Papio Hamadryas Hamadryas ◽  
The Social ◽  
Consistent Feature ◽  
Multi Level

Recent studies have demonstrated that human societies are hierarchically structured with a consistent scaling ratio across successive layers of the social network; each layer of the network is between three and four times the size of the preceding (smaller) grouping level. Here we show that similar relationships hold for four mammalian taxa living in multi-level social systems. For elephant ( Loxodonta africana ), gelada ( Theropithecus gelada ) and hamadryas ( Papio hamadryas hamadryas ) baboon, successive layers of social organization have a scaling ratio of almost exactly 3, indicating that such branching ratios may be a consistent feature of all hierarchically structured societies. Interestingly, the scaling ratio for orca ( Orcinus orca ) was 3.8, which might mean that aquatic environments place different constraints on the organization of social hierarchies. However, circumstantial evidence from a range of other species suggests that scaling ratios close to 3 may apply widely, even in species where hierarchical social structures have not traditionally been identified. These results identify the origin of the hierarchical, fractal-like organization of mammalian social systems as a fundamental question.

Social ranking in animal and human societies

Ranking ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 42-64
Author(s):  
Péter Érdi
Keyword(s):  
Social Rank ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Social Ranking ◽  
Pecking Order ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Physical Size ◽  
The Social ◽  
Network Organizations ◽  
Group Members

This chapter studies how social ranking in humans emerged as the result of an evolutionary process. It starts with the story of the discovery of pecking order among chickens by a Norwegian boy. Both animals and humans need a healthy balance between cooperation and competition to ensure evolutionarily efficient strategies. The biological machinery behind social ranking is discussed. There are two distinct mechanisms for navigating the social ladder: dominance and prestige. Dominance, an evolutionarily older strategy, is based on the ability to intimidate other members in the group by physical size and strength. The group members don’t accept dominance-based social rank freely, only by coercion. Members of a colony fight, and the winners of these fights will be accepted as “dominants” and the losers as “subordinates.” The naturally formed hierarchy serves as a way to prevent superfluous fighting and injuries within a colony. Prestige, as a strategy, is evolutionarily younger and is based on skills and knowledge as appraised by the community. Prestige hierarchies are maintained by the consent of the community, without pressure being applied by particular members. The mechanisms of forming and maintaining social hierarchies are described. Social structures, both hierarchies and network organizations, are reviewed. Discussion of these structures is carried over to social and political history and the tension between democracy and authoritarianism.

On the Social Origins of Agrarian Fascism in Italy

1972 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank M. Snowden
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Po River ◽  
Industrial Enterprises ◽  
Italian Peninsula ◽  
The North ◽  
Commercial Farming ◽  
The Social ◽  
Traditional Societies

Before turning directly to fascism, we should recall certain facts that form the background to all that follows. In 1919, Italy, a country of about 35 million people, should be characterized neither as industrialized nor as underdeveloped, but as slowly and very unevenly industrializing. Still predominantly agricultural, the Italian peninsula can be divided into three distinct areas with markedly different social structures, each undergoing in very contrasting ways the twin transformations of the rise of industry and of intensive commercialized farming. The North was the most developed of the three areas, with the peninsula's most modern industrial enterprises heavily concentrated in the Milan-Genoa-Turin triangle, while commercial farming was centered in the fertile valley of the Po River. It is important to note, however, that even the North was still in a state of transition and that in the northern countryside more traditional systems of land tenure and cultivation still existed alongside some of the most mechanized farms in Europe. The other two areas of Italy—Center and South—were alike in being traditional societies less affected by modernization, though the Center of the peninsula and the South were very different social systems (1).

scholarly journals Social Inversions and Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 39-49
Author(s):  
D. A. Sevost’yanov
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Hierarchical System ◽  
Mutual Position ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
Organizational Principle ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Organizational Principles

The article focuses on hierarchical and inverse relations in social systems. Hierarchy is the basic form of organization in social systems. Complex hierarchies have the ability to form inverse relationships. Inverse relationships occur when the lower element in social hierarchy becomes the dominant, but formally remains in a subordinate position. In a hierarchical system, there are certain organizational principles that determine the mutual position of the elements. There are several such principles in complex hierarchies. Inversions arise when two or more organizational principles collide in social hierarchy. The developed inversions are a manifestation of internal contradictions in the hierarchical system. The accumulation of these contradictions can lead to the collapse of the hierarchical system. For example, the development of social inversions can cause a revolution in which certain organizational principles in the social system are abolished. But in some cases, resolving of these contradictions leads to another step in the progressive development of the system. Thus, the resolution of contradictions occurs when the subject actually moves to a higher position in the social hierarchy. One of the most important organizational principles that determine the position of the subject in the social hierarchy is based on the educational level of this subject. Increasing the level of education entails the increase of the subject’s social status. However, the position of the subject in the social hierarchy is also determined by other organizational principles. These principles may conflict with the educational organizational principle. As a result, there is a social inversion. Education is a factor that can both generate inversions in the social hierarchy and eliminate them. The development of society is closely connected with the manifestations of the educational organizational principle, with its interaction with other organizational principles in the social hierarchy. The analysis of inverse relations in social hierarchies is an effective research tool that allows to predict and prevent social tension in society.

scholarly journals Bats are able to maintain long-term social relationships despite the high fission–fusion dynamics of their groups

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1719) ◽  
pp. 2761-2767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Kerth ◽  
Nicolas Perony ◽  
Frank Schweitzer
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Large Datasets ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
High Importance ◽  
Wild Mammals ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Weighted Network Analysis ◽  
Term Data

Elephants, dolphins, as well as some carnivores and primates maintain social links despite their frequent splitting and merging in groups of variable composition, a phenomenon known as fission–fusion. Information on the dynamics of social links and interactions among individuals is of high importance to the understanding of the evolution of animal sociality, including that of humans. However, detailed long-term data on such dynamics in wild mammals with fully known demography and kin structures are scarce. Applying a weighted network analysis on 20 500 individual roosting observations over 5 years, we show that in two wild Bechstein's bat colonies with high fission–fusion dynamics, individuals of different age, size, reproductive status and relatedness maintain long-term social relationships. In the larger colony, we detected two stable subunits, each comprising bats from several family lineages. Links between these subunits were mainly maintained by older bats and persisted over all years. Moreover, we show that the full details of the social structure become apparent only when large datasets are used. The stable multi-level social structures in Bechstein's bat colonies resemble that of elephants, dolphins and some primates. Our findings thus may shed new light on the link between social complexity and social cognition in mammals.

scholarly journals Disembedded or Deeply Embedded? A Multi-Level Network Analysis of Online Labour Platforms

Sociology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003803852098608
Author(s):  
Paola Tubaro
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Economic Networks ◽  
Economic Action ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Economic Ties ◽  
And Control ◽  
Kinship Ties

This article extends the economic-sociological concept of embeddedness to encompass not only social networks of, for example, friendship or kinship ties, but also economic networks of ownership and control relationships. Applying these ideas to the case of digital platform labour pinpoints two possible scenarios. When platforms take the role of market intermediaries, economic ties are thin and workers are left to their own devices, in a form of ‘disembeddedness’. When platforms partake in intricate inter-firm outsourcing structures, economic ties envelop workers in a ‘deep embeddedness’ which involves both stronger constraints and higher rewards. With this added dimension, the notion of embeddedness becomes a compelling tool to describe the social structures that frame economic action, including the power imbalances that characterize digital labour in the global economy.

scholarly journals Coloniality and Mental Health, Neurological and Substance Abuse (MNS) Disorders in Guyana’s Prisons Today

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Queenela Cameron ◽  
Dylan Kerrigan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Population Management ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
British Guiana ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
The Social ◽  
British Colony

There is a relationship between the social actions and social structures laid down during colonialism, and the social hierarchies and inequalities that developed as British Guiana moved slowly from British colony to Independent Guyana. From slavery and indigenous marginalisation, to indentureship and colonial social relations, modern Guyana emerges from the legacies of an Imperial project, and most notably “enslavement, immigration, and population management” (Anderson 2019). In the context of Guyana’s prisons today, the echoes and ghosts of this Imperial project can be said to still haunt the grounds and insides of these decaying buildings, as well as stalking the lives and minds of inmates themselves.

scholarly journals Activating Design Social

Cubic Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 152-171
Author(s):  
Peter Hasdell
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Service Design ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Social Design ◽  
Incremental Change ◽  
The Social

Does the social turn in design enable transformative change in design and society? Or is it incremental change, where design confirms existing social systems with little impact? Many claims for design social have been made, often underpinned by the altruism of doing good and social engagement. The recent popularity of social design, design activism, service design, co-design, and commoning, show design as conjoined to other disciplines, but to what end? What role does design play within dialogical pairings? Does the socialising of design diffuse the agency of design to the social sciences? As we interrogate and define, conceptually and in praxis, the hybridisation of two different domains, there is a need to critically engage the question of how to define ways in which design social can become an impactful, rather simply than a consensual, confirmation. In addition this enquiry is to seek out how design social can lead to transformative moments within design practice that impacts design methodologies, social structures and its agencies.

scholarly journals Medicalización, riesgo y demandas al sistema de la medicina Una observación desde la teoría de los sistemas sociales / Medicalization, risk and demands to the medicine system An observation from the theory of social systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 48-61
Author(s):  
Raúl Zamorano Farías
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Health System ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Law System ◽  
The Social ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
The Senses ◽  
Scientific System

En este trabajo, y sobre la base de la teoría general de los sistemas sociales, se problematiza el fenómeno comunicativo de la medicalización y sus acoplamientos con el riesgo y el incremento de las demandas al sistema de la medicina. Si el sistema de la medicina tiene un monopolio comunicativo en el tratamiento de la salud/enfermedad y de todo lo que esto produce, deviene importante señalar con claridad desde dónde se observa el fenómeno de la medicalización (desde el sistema de la salud, desde el sistema del derecho, desde la opinión pública, desde el sistema científico) y cuáles son que la estructuras sociales disponibles para observar estas interacciones y acoplamientos. Es decir, preguntarse por los sentidos que construyen el ‘concepto’ medicalización y que dan cabida al análisis de prácticas no especializadas que se apropian de elementos que son, al mismo tiempo tan normales como patológicos.   In this work, and on the basis of the general theory of social systems, the communicative phenomenon of medicalization and its links with the risk and increasing demands on the medicine system are problematized. If the medicine system has a communicative monopoly in the treatment of health / disease and everything that this produces, it becomes important to clearly indicate where the phenomenon of medicalization is observed (from the health system, from the law system, from public opinion, from the scientific system) and what are the social structures available to observe these interactions and links. That is, asking about the senses that build the ‘concept’ medicalization and that allow the analysis of non-specialized practices that appropriate elements that are, at the same time, as normal as pathological.  

scholarly journals The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1780) ◽  
pp. 20190007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siobhán M. Mattison ◽  
Mary K. Shenk ◽  
Melissa Emery Thompson ◽  
Monique Borgerhoff Mulder ◽  
Laura Fortunato
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Numerous Species ◽  
The Social ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Evolutionarily Stable

Female-biased kinship (FBK) arises in numerous species and in diverse human cultures, suggesting deep evolutionary roots to female-oriented social structures. The significance of FBK has been debated for centuries in human studies, where it has often been described as difficult to explain. At the same time, studies of FBK in non-human animals point to its apparent benefits for longevity, social complexity and reproduction. Are female-biased social systems evolutionarily stable and under what circumstances? What are the causes and consequences of FBK? The purpose of this theme issue is to consolidate efforts towards understanding the evolutionary significance and stability of FBK in humans and other mammals. The issue includes broad theoretical and empirical reviews as well as specific case studies addressing the social and ecological correlates of FBK across taxa, time and space. It leverages a comparative approach to test existing hypotheses and presents novel arguments that aim to expand our understanding of how males and females negotiate kinship across diverse contexts in ways that lead to the expression of female biases in kinship behaviour and social structure. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals’.

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