We Live in a Society – Society and Worldbuilding

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Society is the backbone of civilization. It is the framework our lives rest upon. Merriam-Webster defines society as “companionship or association with one's fellows”. More specifically, society can be defined as “an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another”. Society is cooperation, the manufacturer of the status quo—and the cornerstone to worldbuilding.

No matter how small or large your world is, society will play a part in it. Where people exist, rules and customs naturally follow. Let’s take a look at the different parts of a society and some of the questions you might want to ask yourself about your world as you create it.

Social

The social aspect, as I’m sure you can imagine, addresses the social structure of a society. This includes the structure of family units and social circles, class distinctions, living and working conditions, population and immigration/emigration, and birth and death rates. It informs how we connect with each other and build relationships.

Political

PHOTO COURTESY OF HAPPYMAG.TV

Officially or unofficially, a world must have someone (or multiple someone’s) to govern it. The codification of laws makes the prevailing sentiments society has official. Alternatively, laws can be used as a tool of oppression and control. You may wish to begin by choosing the structure(s) of government your society uses. These include:

  • Democracy

  • Oligarchy

  • Dictatorship

  • Monarchy

  • Republic

  • Federation

You can find definitions for these terms and more forms of government using this document from Scribd.

Next, deciding who holds the power means deciding how they’ll wield it. How laws are enforced and who does the enforcing are natural consequences of a lawful society. Consider both peace and wartime and how they might affect the way territory is divided, elections, and personal autonomy.

Geographical

Geography has informed how we settle as a species for thousands of years. People naturally gravitated towards and settled the banks of the Nile; towns sprung up around harbours; farmers went where the soil was good.

Try using history as a framework when deciding where in your world you want to settle your society. Fresh water/waterways, the climate, abundance (or lack of) of natural resources, and plant and animal life are all great places to start when making considerations. Generally, the more comfortable and plentiful the environment, the more people will settle there. You can take this into consideration when deciding population density/how people are distributed across your world.

Cultural

Looking again to Merriam-Webster, it defines culture as “the beliefs, customs, arts, etc. of a particular social group, place, or time”. The anthropological definition states culture is “the combined pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends on the transmission of knowledge to succeeding generations”.

Treating culture as something that’s been shaped by the needs and desires of the people living at the time, passed from generation to generation and forced to evolve piecemeal can be a lot to contend with. Instead of trying to start at the beginning of civilization and working forward, start with your society as it currently stands and work backwards. You don’t need a complete, comprehensive cultural accounting, but using logic to answer the question of “why” something might be done a certain way can enrich the cultural understanding of your world.

Scientific and Technological

Many people in Western culture have replaced their beliefs in the supernatural/spiritual with belief in empirical science. Especially in medicine, we rely heavily on the scientific knowledge and ability of others for help. This has been the case historically—the only difference is we have largely traded herbs and poultices for pharmaceuticals and surgery.

When deciding the level of tech in your world, keep in mind the social stratifications you’ve put in place. It’s likely that not all technology/advancements made will benefit everyone equally.

Economic

Now that you have an idea of the social, political, geographical, cultural, and scientific aspects of your world, you can begin building your economy. I’d suggest leaving this for the later stages of your world’s development as every previous category helps inform the structure of the economy. How people make money, taxes, trade, manufacturing, wealth distribution, and ownership have all been hinted at by the worldbuilding framework you’ve already put in place.

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

Building a society from scratch may seem like a daunting task. There are many more aspects to consider when crafting one than discussed here. This is meant to help guide you in the early stages of development and spur questions that will help leapfrog you to a fully fleshed-out, believable society for your audience. While you might not share every detail, thoroughly understanding your society and what makes it tick will prove invaluable when writing competent, immersive worlds.

Melanie Pledger is a second-year student of Professional Writing at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario. She is published in Heritage Matters magazine and has done extensive research on local soldiers from her hometown, Owen Sound, where she created a museum exhibit in 2015. Melanie received the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Youth Achievement the same year. Melanie lives on the water where she enjoys swimming and paddle boarding—weather permitting, of course.