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Genesis and evolution of the concept of societal in the social and human sciences. Part I. Historical-theoretical reconstruction

stmm. 2026 (1): 140–154

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2026.01.140

Full text: https://stmm.in.ua/archive/ukr/2026-1/10.pdf

OLENA SUSHYI, Doctor of Sciences in Public Administration, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Mass and Community Psychology, Institute for Social and Political Psychology of the NAES of Ukraine (15, Andriivska St., Kyiv, 04070)

olena.sushyi@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4364-7571

EDUARD AFONIN, Doctor of Sciences in Sociology, Professor, President of the NGO “Scientific Society ‘Ukrainian School of Archetypes’” (4/23, Kostia Hordienka Ln., Kyiv, 01024)

bpafonin@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7493-6907

The article presents a historical and theoretical reconstruction of the genesis and evolution of the concept of “societal” within the social and human sciences — from its early naturalistic and empirical origins to its contemporary systemic and socio-psychological interpretations. It outlines the prerequisites for the emergence of the term in late 19th–early 20th century American sociology (W.G. Sumner, A.G. Keller) and demonstrates its subsequent systematization and development within structural functionalism (T. Parsons). The study traces the critical transformations of the concept in the second half of the 20th century — from conflict theory approach (R. Dahrendorf, C. Mills) and post-structuralist (P. Bourdieu, M. Foucault) approaches to systemic-communicative ones (N. Luhmann, J. Habermas, M. Castells). Further theoretical elaboration of the societal concept is analyzed in the context of macrosociological research, highlighting its interpretive potential for explaining the structural integrity of society (P. Nolan, G. Lenski) and its capacity for revising Parsons’s model to conceptualize the societal community as a dynamic network of conflicting loyalties and normative orders (G. Sciortino). Particular attention is given to S. Moscovici’s integrative psychosocial approach, which reveals the deep, psychologically determined dimension of the societal — understood as a psychosocial process in which the conscious and the unconscious, the individual and the collective, the rational and the affective continuously interact. The article argues that the evolution of the idea of societality reflects a profound epistemological shift in the development of social and humanistic knowledge — from classical systemic models to contemporary integrative approaches that combine multiple levels of social reality. This transformation makes the concept of societality a key analytical instrument for studying the mechanisms of integration, solidarity, and transformation in modern societies — in all their cultural, systemic, and psychological complexity and interdependence.

Keywords: societal, societal community, social integration, structural functionalism, systems theory, macrosociology, social representations, psychosocial approach, social theory

Referenes:

  1. Afonin, E.A., Sushyi, O.V. (2015). Patterns and characteristics of Ukrainian social transformation. [In Ukrainian]. Strategic Panorama, 1, 94-108. Retrieved from: https://niss-panorama.com/index.php/journal/article/view/41/40

  2. Afonin, E.A., Sushyi, O.V., Usachenko, L.M. (2011). Regularities and peculiarities of public-transformation processes in Ukraine. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian Society, 4(39), 7-30. https://doi.org/10.15407/socium2011.04.007

  3. Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Prentice-Hall.

  4. Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Harvard University Press.

  5. Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Network Society. Blackwell.

  6. Cutler, J.E. (1916). Review of Societal Evolution. A Study of the Evolutionary Basis of the Science of Society, by A.G. Keller. The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, 13(15), 419-419. https://doi.org/10.2307/2012385

  7. Dahrendorf, R. (1959). Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. Stanford University Press.

  8. Foucault, M. (1975). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Gallimard.

  9. Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Doubleday.

  10. Habermas, J. (1981). The Theory of Communicative Action: Vol. 1. Reason and the Rationalization of Society. Beacon Press.

  11. Keller, A.G. (1915). Societal Evolution: a Study of the Evolutionary Basis of the Science of Society. New York: The Macmillan Company.

  12. Lenski, G.E. (1966). Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification. McGraw-Hill.

  13. Luhmann, N. (1995). Social Systems. Stanford University Press.

  14. Mills, C.W. (1956). The Power Elite. Oxford University Press.

  15. Moscovici, S. (1984). The phenomenon of social representations. In: R.M. Farr, S. Moscovici (Eds.), Social Representations (pp. 3-69). Cambridge University Press.

  16. Moscovici, S. (1988). La Machine a Faire des Dieux. Paris: Fayard.

  17. Moscovici, S. (2000). Social Representations : Explorations in Social Psychology / Ed. by G. Duveen. Polity Press.

  18. Moscovici, S. (2008). Psychoanalysis: Its Image and Its Public. Polity Press.

  19. Moscovici, S., Marková, I. (2000). Ideas and their development: A dialogue between Serge Moscovici and Ivana Marková. In: S. Moscovici, G. Duveen, Social Representations: Explorations in Social Psychology / Ed. by G. Duveen (pp. 224-286). Polity Press.

  20. Nolan, P., Lenski, G. (2015). Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. 12th edn. Oxford University Press.

  21. Parsons, T. (1951). The Social System. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

  22. Parsons, T. (1966). Societies: Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

  23. Sciortino, G. (2004, July). The Societal Community: Conceptual Foundations of a Key Action Theory Concept (An outline of the main argument). [Conference paper]. Parsons Conference, Kobe University, Japan. Retrieved from: https://da.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/da/kernel/80100041/80100041.pdf

  24. Societal (s.a.). [In Ukrainian]. Wikipedia. Retrieved from: https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%86%D1%96%D1%94%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%B5

  25. Sumner, W.G. (1906). Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals. Boston: Ginn & Company. https://doi.org/10.2307/1412602

  26. Sumner, W.G., Keller, A.G. (1927). The Science of Society. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Received 05.12.2025

Accepted for publication after review 05.01.2026

Genesis and evolution of the concept of societal in the social and human sciences. Part I. Historical-theoretical reconstruction

stmm. 2026 (1): 140–154

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2026.01.140

Full text: https://stmm.in.ua/archive/ukr/2026-1/10.pdf

OLENA SUSHYI, Doctor of Sciences in Public Administration, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Mass and Community Psychology, Institute for Social and Political Psychology of the NAES of Ukraine (15, Andriivska St., Kyiv, 04070)

olena.sushyi@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4364-7571

EDUARD AFONIN, Doctor of Sciences in Sociology, Professor, President of the NGO “Scientific Society ‘Ukrainian School of Archetypes’” (4/23, Kostia Hordienka Ln., Kyiv, 01024)

bpafonin@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7493-6907

The article presents a historical and theoretical reconstruction of the genesis and evolution of the concept of “societal” within the social and human sciences — from its early naturalistic and empirical origins to its contemporary systemic and socio-psychological interpretations. It outlines the prerequisites for the emergence of the term in late 19th–early 20th century American sociology (W.G. Sumner, A.G. Keller) and demonstrates its subsequent systematization and development within structural functionalism (T. Parsons). The study traces the critical transformations of the concept in the second half of the 20th century — from conflict theory approach (R. Dahrendorf, C. Mills) and post-structuralist (P. Bourdieu, M. Foucault) approaches to systemic-communicative ones (N. Luhmann, J. Habermas, M. Castells). Further theoretical elaboration of the societal concept is analyzed in the context of macrosociological research, highlighting its interpretive potential for explaining the structural integrity of society (P. Nolan, G. Lenski) and its capacity for revising Parsons’s model to conceptualize the societal community as a dynamic network of conflicting loyalties and normative orders (G. Sciortino). Particular attention is given to S. Moscovici’s integrative psychosocial approach, which reveals the deep, psychologically determined dimension of the societal — understood as a psychosocial process in which the conscious and the unconscious, the individual and the collective, the rational and the affective continuously interact. The article argues that the evolution of the idea of societality reflects a profound epistemological shift in the development of social and humanistic knowledge — from classical systemic models to contemporary integrative approaches that combine multiple levels of social reality. This transformation makes the concept of societality a key analytical instrument for studying the mechanisms of integration, solidarity, and transformation in modern societies — in all their cultural, systemic, and psychological complexity and interdependence.

Keywords: societal, societal community, social integration, structural functionalism, systems theory, macrosociology, social representations, psychosocial approach, social theory

Referenes:

  1. Afonin, E.A., Sushyi, O.V. (2015). Patterns and characteristics of Ukrainian social transformation. [In Ukrainian]. Strategic Panorama, 1, 94-108. Retrieved from: https://niss-panorama.com/index.php/journal/article/view/41/40

  2. Afonin, E.A., Sushyi, O.V., Usachenko, L.M. (2011). Regularities and peculiarities of public-transformation processes in Ukraine. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian Society, 4(39), 7-30. https://doi.org/10.15407/socium2011.04.007

  3. Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Prentice-Hall.

  4. Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Harvard University Press.

  5. Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Network Society. Blackwell.

  6. Cutler, J.E. (1916). Review of Societal Evolution. A Study of the Evolutionary Basis of the Science of Society, by A.G. Keller. The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, 13(15), 419-419. https://doi.org/10.2307/2012385

  7. Dahrendorf, R. (1959). Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. Stanford University Press.

  8. Foucault, M. (1975). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Gallimard.

  9. Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Doubleday.

  10. Habermas, J. (1981). The Theory of Communicative Action: Vol. 1. Reason and the Rationalization of Society. Beacon Press.

  11. Keller, A.G. (1915). Societal Evolution: a Study of the Evolutionary Basis of the Science of Society. New York: The Macmillan Company.

  12. Lenski, G.E. (1966). Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification. McGraw-Hill.

  13. Luhmann, N. (1995). Social Systems. Stanford University Press.

  14. Mills, C.W. (1956). The Power Elite. Oxford University Press.

  15. Moscovici, S. (1984). The phenomenon of social representations. In: R.M. Farr, S. Moscovici (Eds.), Social Representations (pp. 3-69). Cambridge University Press.

  16. Moscovici, S. (1988). La Machine a Faire des Dieux. Paris: Fayard.

  17. Moscovici, S. (2000). Social Representations : Explorations in Social Psychology / Ed. by G. Duveen. Polity Press.

  18. Moscovici, S. (2008). Psychoanalysis: Its Image and Its Public. Polity Press.

  19. Moscovici, S., Marková, I. (2000). Ideas and their development: A dialogue between Serge Moscovici and Ivana Marková. In: S. Moscovici, G. Duveen, Social Representations: Explorations in Social Psychology / Ed. by G. Duveen (pp. 224-286). Polity Press.

  20. Nolan, P., Lenski, G. (2015). Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. 12th edn. Oxford University Press.

  21. Parsons, T. (1951). The Social System. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

  22. Parsons, T. (1966). Societies: Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

  23. Sciortino, G. (2004, July). The Societal Community: Conceptual Foundations of a Key Action Theory Concept (An outline of the main argument). [Conference paper]. Parsons Conference, Kobe University, Japan. Retrieved from: https://da.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/da/kernel/80100041/80100041.pdf

  24. Societal (s.a.). [In Ukrainian]. Wikipedia. Retrieved from: https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%86%D1%96%D1%94%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%B5

  25. Sumner, W.G. (1906). Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals. Boston: Ginn & Company. https://doi.org/10.2307/1412602

  26. Sumner, W.G., Keller, A.G. (1927). The Science of Society. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Received 05.12.2025

Accepted for publication after review 05.01.2026

LATEST PRINTED ISSUE

LATEST FREELY ACCESSIBLE MATERIALS

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