Collective

The term collective (lat: colligere " gather together ", "together read " ) describes non-specific social structures, their related are grouped by very different points of view - it can be about a people, a class, a workforce to be.

• 7.1 Criticism of collective forms of organization
• 7.2 concept review

• 8.1 General
• 8.2 Literature on Collective in the alternative economy

The term in sociology

In sociology, the distinction between unorganized and organized collectives.

Unorganized Collective

The term collective, a plurality in sociology by Robert King Merton and others, a general definition of persons who develop feelings of togetherness based on a system of shared norms and values. It differs here from the concept of social class that assigns demographically people and from the notion of social group whose members, unlike the collective interaction with each other.

Comparable Ferdinand Tönnies defines the term as a collective Samtschaft and highlights the feature of the lack of organizational cohesion forth. Joint Commitment decisions and joint actions therefore come about only under special conditions.

As abstract collectives of meadow called social structures such as church and state, in contrast to the mass and social groups of Leopold, who received due to " time values ​​" a " personal in character ."

Organized Collective

As a political collective, a social structure with advanced and common objectives is called, whose volunteer organizing members are connected to each other by working together and to the principles of equality and equal rights - often on the principle of consensus - to make decisions and act.

Modeled after similar structures and the concept of the Soviet Republic, Anton Semenovich Makarenko defined the principle of Marxist communist collective. Here, each collective is also a member of the total group a total of socialist society.

The term in cultural studies

Introduced in the cultural studies defines collective is larger and feature more open than that applied sociology. Under the collective agreement or any synopsis of persons is understood to have one or more common.

Collectives in the alternative economy

In the " alternative economy " refers to a collective hierarchy -free project or a self-managed operation. Since the late 1970s in the alternative movement in Western Europe and North America resulted in a large number of these collectives, in which often the decision-making structure and remuneration based on the following principles:

Especially with it the living or working group is referred to, in which the group tasks to be tackled jointly and what " to the whole hand " has the goods. See also the common good.

Special forms of this type of collectivity are the communities in which also is still used together, which is then understood as an additional principle of the common life and work. Since the legal forms are explicitly tailored to these collectives and their principles in Germany, are often created legal problems.

In the countries of the South ( the "Third World"), the collective movement was often hope a self-liberation in the sense of political and social emancipation. This could in many cases forms of traditional - build economy, as in the case of the ejidos in Ecuador, or Ujamaa in Tanzania - collective.

A - very successful - Form of Collective provide the kibbutzim in Israel because, as here interact collectively three - promoting factors:

The collective as a form of economy based on the notion of homo collectivus ' which - in contrast to the homo economicus ' - his individual interests resets aware of the benefit of the community.

Collectives in socialism

In the GDR, the term " collective" corresponded approximately to what is called " working group " in the Federal Republic of Germany. In the state-owned enterprises, the agricultural production cooperatives and the cooperatives of the craft, the collective has been called " Brigade".

There were also cited large collectives in pronouncements and agitprop, as the working class. It was more about unite the entire population cooperative.

Collective behavior

Collective behavior refers to the unstructured responses and behaviors of a large number of people in a problem-solving process, which is not intended as opposed to the social group in this process through interaction and in contrast to the mass or mob is not purely random, but being developed take place. The development and course of the process are different, for example in the formation of public opinion, in revolutions or social movements.

Collective consciousness

Collective consciousness (French collective conscience ou commune) is a sociological concept of Durkheim school for the intellectual properties and values ​​of a society, manifested inter alia in systems such as morals, law, customs, language, belief, knowledge. It is the " totality of beliefs and feelings that are all members of the same society together." General is also talk of people's soul, collective soul, collective mentality, group soul, and other sets of spiritual qualities of a social structure. The collective consciousness is that of " objectivity of social action " against the individual motivations of the people expressed. The above-mentioned, the culture, people familiar intellectual properties have been described in a similar manner by Lucien Lévy -Bruhl, who with the " mystical collective representations " ( collective representations ) of primitive compared, (see a participation mystique ), as well as by Carl Gustav Jung who developed the concept of a collective unconscious ( cf. also the archetype ).

After Alfred Vierkandt the affairs of a social group form the collective consciousness content that formulated the collective subject in the form of "we " in relation to the individual "I ".

Criticism

Criticism of collective forms of organization

The model of the " tragedy of the commons " suggests that collective ownership leads to increased exploitation of resources by the individual members. However, this is controversial (see tragedy of anti - commons ).

Term review

Insinuate critics of the formation of " collectives " that thereby the consciousness of individuals will be driven out by the consciousness of the group as a whole ( or sharper that the " consciousness of the group" an ideological fiction for Knutung the individual is ). In the place of personal responsibility, the responsibility of the group kick (see also collectivism and sociology).