PURPOSE OF UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY
The wider community is all human beings who live together somewhere at a time, such
as the community in Jakarta and in other cities, in which there are groups, and other groups called
families, classes, there may also be a little caste, where there are actions and awareness of the
existence of other members that cause those people to be careful of the interests of their fellow
citizens in their respective groups and to the the wider community. Both for their own interests,
for the interests of groups, and so on, people in general live according to what is expected by that
group, namely following or obeying the customs, customs and official laws that apply. The whole
society is indeed a place where culture is created and grows as a whole and at the same time
limits the individuality of its members. The groups which are small parts of the whole society,
whether they are in the villages, in the cities or all over the world, according to the way they arise
and the way they grow can be divided into two kinds and among them there are mixed variations.
One arises and grows by itself or normally, which according to Ferdinand Fonnics' term is called
Gemeinschaft in its nature, the other is formed by man consciously pursuing an object or profit
such as a trade association.
sports, ethnicity, descent in the village, learning together, which is called Gesellschaft, is
formally formed deliberately to achieve a purpose. Characteristics of groups such as ethnic
groups or smaller groups when they have lived for some time always have. a. a sense of
comradeship and a sense of belonging to that group, which is called group consciousness or
group counsciousness b. in-group feeling, which is a feeling that always defends the truth of that
group, hates and suspects everything that comes from outside groups, this feeling that brings
prejudice or prejudice that is not easily lost against other groups that are usually negative and
detrimental. Example: Sundanese assessment and feelings towards the Javanese and vice versa.
There is also the collection or grouping of people according to income, expertise, piety, wealth,
descent and so on called social shatification. Before it can be called a group if there is no nature
of the action-reaction process group, because there is no close relationship between the
members. Examples: workers, peasants, intellectuals, technocrats, nobles, scholars, rich
people, poor people. After knowing the forms of human classification, as described above, which
are considered to be social processes, then what is important for us is to study the process itself
and the role explained by humans in that society. It is also seen what the influence of Islam,
Christianity, Buddhism on the process, formal government, and so on, will be elaborated more
in the next module.
Community Life Furthermore, here it is necessary to add why humans will always be
interested in living together in society. a. Instinct-based desires or biologs. To find a life partner,
first to meet sexual needs that are biological in nature. b. Human weakness is always urgent to
seek common strength, which is contained in union with others so that they can meet the needs
of daily life with joint efforts. Since his birth as a human being, he has been seen in his weakness.
The need for protection as received from the mother, father is always expected. c. Aristotle
argued that humans are Zoon Politicons, social beings who only like to live in groups. d. Bergson
argues that these human beings live together not because of similarities, but because of the
differences that exist in the nature of position and so on. According to Bersou, the reality of life is
only felt with the difference between the salty humans in the life of the class. Aristotle's archaic
opinion does not contradict Bergeou's modern opinion, both of which can be recognized as the
basic truth of his thought, if we know that the social class is moved by the process of association,
integration and differentiation or, in short, the process of binding and separation.
Example: For the sake of national unity and unity, we must eliminate strong tribal
understandings (extreme), if the sense of nationality is stronger (tolerance), it can weaken the
sense of tribalism. It is also noted that this bond of solidarity is different in nature inward and
outward, which is inward is a bond between its members, while outward bond, meaning that for
other groups, there is often hostility towards other groups. The national bond that covers all
groups, weakens the bond of each group, but on the other hand, it also eliminates the hostility
between each group, and even binds them together into a wider unity against outsiders. Example:
With the birth of the Republic of Indonesia based on the same fate, suffering due to colonialism,
the Indonesian people consisting of various regional tribes, embraced various religions, had
different cultures, felt that they were one bound in one country. As a result, it can eliminate the
hostility between regional tribes that during the colonial period was used by the colonizer for the
politics of division. Likewise, a religion that encompasses nations can unite people of all nations
for the security of the whole world if each human being really pays attention to the
recommendation of unity of opinion in that religion, and does not always put forward his own
interests and the interests of his own nation and religion.
Example: Indonesians are pious religious believers, so people of different religions have
always coexisted peacefully, their tolerance is strong. Because any religion teaches that human
beings are equal by God's side. The thin sense of nationality will be replaced by the thickness of
the world brotherhood which, in theory and consideration, will automatically eliminate the
divisions that exist among nations. But because human beings are full of all shortcomings, in
reality it is difficult to realize brotherhood or friendly relations between nations in the United
Nations because in reality wars are still raging everywhere. After World Wars I and II and the
dreaded nuclear war, it is being tried to be avoided, even though nuclear weapons continue to be
proliferated in Russia and in the United States. Even the last politics of the American President
who is famous by the name "Star Wars", the war in space or the star wars. The occurrence of
Iraqi-Iranian people under the leadership of Saddam Hussein and Khomeini proves that fellow
followers of Islam can attack each other in a struggle for political power over a region. The same
religion is not a guarantee to bring peace.
Cultural Elements The culture of each nation or society consists of both large and small
elements that are part of a unity of unity. Example: Art is a culture that tastes the main (large)
culture while music, painting and so on, small elements and flute lutes are even smaller
elements than music. In this regard there are several kinds of opinions of sociologists, as well as
anthropologists who have tried to formulate the main elements of culture, but the opinions of
these experts later, collected by C. Kluckhohn an anthropologist, his work entitled Universal
Categories of Culture has elaborated the reviews of scholars on the matter of universal culture,
that is, the pokk (large) element of culture that is universal. That is, it can be found in every
culture anywhere in the world. It is found that there are 7 cultural elements that are considered
as universal culture, namely
Human life equipment and equipment (clothing, households, weapons, means of
production, transportation, and so on). Koentjaraningrat mentioned; Equipment and technology
systems. b. livelihoods and economic systems (agriculture, livestock, production systems,
distribution systems and so on); Livelihood system. c. Social system (kinship system, political
organization, legal system, marriage system); Social Organizations d. Language (oral and
written), e. Arts (fine arts, sound arts, movement) f. Knowledge systems. g. Religion (Belief
System), Each element of universal culture can be broken down into smaller elements up to
several times. By following the method of detailing from an anthropologist named R. Linton, the
detailing will be done up to four times. Because it is similar to culture in the whole of each
element of universal culture also has three forms, namely the form of a cultural system, the form
of a social system, and the form of physical culture. The form of a cultural system of a universal
cultural element is in the form of customs, and in the first stage it can be detailed into several
cultural complexes. Each cultural complex can be further detailed into several cultural themes
and can be further refined into the idea of a social system of a universal cultural element in the
form of social activities, we can detail in the first stage into various social complexes, then into
various social patterns and, more specifically into various actions. Each of the seven elements
of universal culture also has a physical form, although there is no one physical form for the whole
of the elements
universal culture. Physical cultural elements specifically consist of cultural objects.
Society is an important component in culture, because culture is the result of thoughts and
habits that exist in people's lives. The rich cultural diversity in Indonesia is the forerunner of local
wisdom and also a characteristic of a nation. Each society will produce its own culture that is a
characteristic of the society, then this is what causes multiculturalism. The process of
multiculturalism is based on an inseparable relationship between society and culture.
Soemardjan (Setiadi and Kolip, 2011) interprets society as people who live together and produce
culture. The description directly reveals that the community has a role as a creator as well as a
cultural actor. Related to the understanding of society, subculture is defined as part of culture,
which is a branch of the realization of the culture. Subculture comes from the English language,
namely subculture which means branch of culture (Echols and Sadily, 2000). Sociologically, a
subculture is a group of people who have different behaviors and beliefs from their parent
culture, Horton said that society is a human organization that is interconnected with each other.
This explanation is in line with the disclosure that society is both the creator and the actor of
culture. Every society has certain rules that are agreed upon in living together.
live in a certain way. The way of life of the community is a guideline and has become a
habit called culture. Geographically, communities are divided into two types, namely: rural
communities and urban communities. Setiadi and Kolip (2011) explain that rural communities
are a group of people who live together, cooperate and are closely related with almost the same
characteristics. The life of rural people tends to still be based on old ordinances or customs
inherited from their ancestors. The culture that exists in rural communities is the result of
adaptation to the surrounding natural and social environment without receiving outside
influences. The state of rural society today has changed and tends to be more advanced towards
a modern society. The people's mindset is no longer outdated and rigid. One of the factors
underlying these changes is the progress of the times, the ease of accessing the internet allows
people to see and get to know the modern world in the style of urban society. The impact of
changing people's mindsets can affect people's culture and life patterns. D. Cultural concept
The word "culture" comes from Sanskrit, culture means everything related to reason. In addition,
the word culture also means "cultivation and power" or the power of cultivation. So culture is all
the power of the mind, namely creation, taste and karsa (Ary H. Gunawan, 2000). Another
meaning of culture is thoughts, intellect, the result of customs or something that has become a
habit that is difficult to change. Based on this opinion, culture is a life value that is inherited from
one generation to another which is a way of value
view of a life that develops and is shared by members of the community that can be
inherited. In terms of development, human culture is formed from various elements of human
life itself, such as; belief systems, customs, language, clothing, artworks, and buildings. The
elements of human culture will form a coherent network and framework to organize previous
human activities in the study of science that is the need for humans to solve people's life
problems. So culture needs heritage because in terms of value this has great meaning and
significance for human development. One of the cultures that exists in society is mutual
cooperation, a cultural value that is so widely owned by the Indonesian people needs to be
maintained and preserved and its value can be instilled in the wider community. The preservation
of cultural heritage requires efforts and efforts in preserving cultural values in every generation
of society. So that the values that we believe are true become cultural traditions that are
descended and can be maintained. In terms of human belief, culture has a good benefit to
answer people's life problems. Therefore, we need a joint effort in an effort to preserve cultural
values because this will be inevitable that cultural values will be inherited by the next generation.
Culture is a complex that includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs and customs
carried out by a group of community members (Soekanto, 2009:). Formulate as all the works,
tastes, and creations of the community. The work of the community produces technology and
material culture or material culture that is needed by humans to master the surrounding nature
so that their strength and results can be devoted to the needs of society (Soemardjan and
Soemardi, 1964).
