Significant Elements of Societies

Michael Mann begins his analysis of power relations by providing the reader with meticulous argument of how societies are organized as power networks. His main argument revolves around the fact that societies are not to be seen as a unitary totality, but instead as overlapping networks of power which promote the social nature of human-beings. He introduces an intriguing question at the beginning of his section on ultimate primacy, asking whether we can specify a “most important element” in human society. He claims that many consider that it is impossible to denote a most significant part of a society, but I believe that there are certain aspects of a society that are integral to its subsistence.
One of these elements is the cohesiveness of human interaction within a society. I agree with Mann that are no various dimensions of totality within a society, but I believe that the social networks that replace these dimensions rely heavily on the dynamics behind the presence of social interaction in a society. If interaction is encouraged, an environment is created that is conducive to the formation of social power. This formation is related to Marx’s claim that man is a social animal that is able to achieve goals only through cooperation. It is this cooperation that serves as the cornerstone in the development of economics and politics in ancient near eastern civilization. Thus, we have a foundation for two very important element for creating societies—the promotion of social interaction and the promotion of cooperation between members of a society.