Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/870

 854 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

less the unity of these groups, though not so obvious, is as real as that of the family. Each group may, of course, be only a part of a larger unit, but the relations which its own factors sus- tain to each other are of such a nature that for purposes of study it also may be described as a unit. Take, for example, a city, town, or village community. In each case the people for indus- trial and social reasons have been brought together in one locality. They have taken advantage of the economy of division of labor, the miller grinding flour for the community, the grocer providing sundries, the merchant clothing, etc. This division of labor brought about a system of mutual dependence. They have estab- lished relationships manifested by the church, the school, the theater, etc., which have increased this dependency. They are thus held together by material bonds and by bonds of mutual self interest in a single group, a unit. If we take a society, the same relations of interdependence will be found. As members of a society we have only to consider the sources of our ideas, the influences physical and moral, by which these ideas are affected, or even so simple a matter as the various articles of food which enter into the composition of our bodies, to see how dependent we are upon each other. We can see too how the various parts of society represented by different groups, the agri- cultural, manufacturing, etc., cooperate in supplying our wants, and that completeness of social life varies with the degree of this cooperation. Now this interdependence and cooperation are the radical ideas in what is known as the organic conception of society, and this conception is, I take it, the initial step in all fruitful social study.

Having conceived our family, group, or society, as a unit, our first task is to analyze it into its constituent elements. This should be done in order that each part may be studied separately with a view of discovering its condition and its influence upon the whole. Let us take for the purpose of illustration a society, for by so doing we shall include the analysis of all smaller groups. A society then may be divided into three parts : first, the land, which may be conceived in its original state as a raw bit of nature ;