Social cooperation and social structuresjuliohuato@gmail.com

Topics Social cooperation Social structures (organizations &

organisms) Development of social cooperation Trade, securities, money, capitalism The expansion of social cooperation,

productive power, and wealth under capitalism

Social cooperation Societies are more than a bunch of individuals The interaction among individuals

(cooperation) is the basis of all social life Individuals cooperate (one way or another) and

social structures result from cooperation Cooperating means helping others, sharing a

purpose and acting collectively to realize it Direct cooperation: noninstrumental helping Indirect cooperation (narrowly self-regarding,

e.g. trade)

Social structures Organizations:

Families/households (parent viewpoint) Proto-states (extended families, clans, tribes) &

states (city-states, nation-states, multi-national states), political and civic organizations

Firms, nonprofits Organisms:

Families/households (children viewpoint) Markets (indirect or self-regarding cooperation) Mobs, spontaneous crowds

Trade Trade is a form of social cooperation Trade is self-regarding cooperation

Upside: May unleash individual productivity & creativity

Downside: May weaken social bonds, especially in the presence of gaping inequality

Trade presupposes private ownership Private ownership

Economics Law Ideology

An economy with markets & government

Wealth (productive and consumptive)

Financial securities (bonds)

Gov’t & consensus making

Trade, markets & capitalism Trade is trade of financial securities

(legal claims of ownership over goods) Money Markets link other social structures

(state, firms, households) Use of private wealth for profit goes

back to ancient times Capitalism: markets + inequality (wage

labor)

Horizontal cooperation Simple cooperation Division of labor & specialization Mechanization & industrialization Automation & digital technology

Division of labor Labor is purposeful human activity To accomplish any purpose, labor has to be split:

At each point in time or for each period of time By individual

Yet, wealth is produced collectively and for wealth to be produced we need labor to unite

The labor of society is split by task, function, age, sex/gender, occupation, industry, sector, nation

However, for society to function, all those tasks, functions, etc. must be reconciled one way or the other

Division of labor Uniting the divided labor is cooperating Cooperation entails sharing (at least) a

purpose Cooperation requires that workers share

productive inputs (natural resources, means of production)

Divisibility of labor, specialization, reducing input/output = increasing output/input

Mechanization Machines have (1) a motor or engine, (2) a

transmission mechanism, and (3) a tool or set of tools attached to it that operates on the labor’s object

Simple tools: the motor or engine is human or animal. Advanced tools: the motive force is water, wind, steam, internal combustion, electricity, etc.

Mechanization builds on labor division and cooperation

Automation Automata have (1) a programmable

control system and (2) a machine or set of machines controlled or regulated by it

Advanced automata use modern information (digital) technology. Computers (programmable digital machines) are being used as universal control systems.

Vertical cooperation Methods of hierarchical cooperation:

Force or threat thereof Deprivation of basic necessities (land,

consumption goods) “Enlightened” self-interest Psychological manipulation Rational persuasion

Wrap up Societies are based on cooperation among individuals Social structures (organizations and organisms) result

from cooperation Trade is a form of social cooperation, with pluses and

minuses Trade requires other forms of social cooperation Productivity expanded as labor division led to

mechanization and automation Vertical cooperation has been the rule in the last few

thousand years of history Is it possible to have a completely flat society, with no

hierarchies?