What Are The Factors Bringing About Social Order?

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What are the factors bringing about social order? By: Aliaa Shafinas Binti Mohd Don (PB5) Social order is vital in the existence of society. It entails stable forms of social interaction and organization, and promoting orderly change. The absence of order results in chaos and conflict such as wars, crimes and even familial disputes. It is very likely to direct society into the state of anomie. The question is: how is social order derived in the society at large? This discussion focuses on the factors bringing about social order be it from the consensus perspective: value consensus and mechanical and organic solidarity or from the conflict perspective: economic pressure and false class consciousness. The argument that social order originates from shared meanings of symbols, ontological security and rational self-interest are also to be debated. “Humans in essence are selfish, competitive and driven by passion.” This is a statement by Thomas Hobbes, a seventeenth century philosopher, who argued that humans without any restrictions would result in a chaotic condition of “the war of all against all” or anarchy. Rational human beings fear these effects thus leading them to enter a social contract in which they agree to be ruled by a sovereign power, most dominantly a government. However, the situation nowadays has changed in the sense that people don’t leave every ruling power to the government. The democracy system gives people a voice to make the government acknowledge their needs so that any laws, regulations and policy implemented benefit them. The government whose interest is staying in power must care for the welfare of its people. From here, social order is derived. Hence, we see that the combination of rational self-interest and self-preservation bring about social order. But according to Emile Durkheim, the interest in oneself is not enough to result in

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