This book is a brief introduction to the study of society, which
may be read without any previous knowledge of the social sciences.

Each chapter addresses a fundamental question about people in
their various arrangements. The book begins by asking: what do
people need from one another; what do they need to survive and how
do these needs make them dependent upon others? Subsequent chapters
deal with the ties that bind people, the expectations they
entertain of one another, their means of distinguishing themselves
from others, the ways they have of moulding and teaching the young,
and what they believe, know and invent. De Swaan also explores the
ways in which people organize their activities, from foraging bands
of only a few dozen members to contemporary societies that can
effectively co-ordinate a billion people or more. Human Societies
traces this huge increase in the scale of social life which
occurred as new forms of human co-ordination emerged: from
reciprocal obligation and collective action, to markets,
organizations, and states, and finally, the emerging global level
of interdependence.

This book will be essential reading for anyone who needs a brief
and clear introduction to sociology in its broadest sense; it will
be especially valuable to those studying the subject for the first
time.