Groups R Us
is a site devoted to the study of the role of groups in human
evolution and social development. The site is fully open to
visitors and completely free.
The propensity
for humans to belong to groups developed very early on and
is a pronounced feature of the human psyche. There are countless
groups in human society, ranging from very large ones like
nations ('we Russians . . .') to small ones like families
('we Micawbers of Sleepy Hollow . . .').
Each
individual human being belongs to many different groups; and
people don't have to know each other to belong to the same
group. Thus, a lawyer in Bucharest could have much in common
with a milk herd in Botswana - both could be mothers, pacifists,
chess players, animal lovers or……
Much
human behaviour, good and bad, is linked to group membership,
which often expresses itself unconsciously as well as consciously.
In
a general way, the growth of the State as an institution has
tended to vitiate the role of groupishness in human affairs,
with mostly poor consequences. The decay of the family in
Western societies is just one, obvious example.
A better understanding
of our 'groupish' nature could help to build a more inclusive
society and lessen the isolation felt by minorities. The purposes
of the Groups R Us site are:
to present
information on the evolution of 'groupishness' and its expression
in human affairs,
to encourage
discussion of and research into the role of groups in society;
to develop
prescriptions for social and public policies which will
appeal to the human groupish instinct and will counter the
anti-social tendencies that are so marked in modern civilization.
Relevant information
is presented under a number of headings:
News:
news stories drawn from current research and publications
in relevant fields such as evolutionary biology, anthropology,
economics and cognitive psychology will build up into a
searchable, classified resource. Outside news contributors
are welcome: please submit stories to editor@groupsrus.com
with the word 'groups' in the subject line. All submissions
will be acknowledged.
Resources:
feature-length essays on various aspects of the group. Outside
contributors are welcome: please submit proposed features
to editor@groupsrus.com
with the word 'groups' in the subject line. All submissions
will be acknowledged.
Glossology:
we have identified more than 50 academic disciplines which
are relevant to the study of groups. The 'glossology' lists
and briefly characterizes some of these disciplines, to
aid newcomers to this very cross-disciplinary field.
References:
there are many hundreds of relevant sources; the references
section of the site lists references adduced in Resources
essays plus additional sources.
Profiles:
we have made an experimental classification of about 700
human groups under sixteen category headings such as 'Lifestyle'
and 'Politics'. It is possible for a user to compile a private
and anonymous group profile by selecting among the groups
that are listed. Users are encouraged to add new groups.
Once you have a profile, you can always return to it in
future to view or change it. At a later stage it is planned
to encourage wide, popular use of this profiling facility,
generating sufficient data to allow robust conclusions about
the role of group memberships in the expression of individuality
in social situations.
The
Groups Forum: the GroupsRus site is meant as a
serious contribution towards humans' understanding of themselves.
By registering you will have
access to the Groups Forum, which invites participants to
contribute their personal experience of groups to a co-operative
vision of the meaning of groups in our society and to inform
its future development. The Forum will be available shortly.
Registered users will also receive a newsletter with information
about developments on the GroupsRus site and relevant news
stories from academia.