Social consciousness (or social awareness) is
collective consciousness
Collective consciousness, collective conscience, or collective conscious () is the set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.''Collins Dictionary of Sociology'', p93. In general, it doe ...
shared by individuals within a
society
A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...
.
[Social Consciousness]
, 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
Social consciousness is linked to the collective self-awareness and experience of collectively shared
social identity
Identity is the set of qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance, or expressions that characterize a person or a group.
Identity emerges during childhood as children start to comprehend their self-concept, and it remains a consistent ...
.
From this viewpoint, social consciousness denotes conscious awareness of being part of an interrelated community of others. The “we feeling” or the “sense of us” may be experienced in members of various cultures and social groups. By the experience of collectively shared social identity, individuals may experience social unity. Social consciousness may also stimulate working towards a common goal.
According to
Karl Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
, human beings enter into certain productive, or economic, relations and these relations lead to a form of social consciousness.
Marx said:
See also
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References
Further reading
''Awakening to Race: Individualism and Social Consciousness in America''''Children's Social Consciousness and the Development of Social Responsibility''''Class Structure in the Social Consciousness, Volume 102''''Language, ideology and social consciousness: developing a sociohistorical approach''''Literature, social consciousness, and polity''''Theology and the social consciousness: a study of the relations of the social consciousness to theology''
Sociological terminology
Marxist terminology
Marxism
Historical materialism
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