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Interrelationship Between Individual and Society

According to Peter Berger society not only controls our movements but shapes our identity, our thought and our emotions. The structures of society become the structures of our own consciousness. Society does not stop at the surface of our skins. We are entrapped by our own social nature.

Peter Berger says the walls of our imprisonment were there before we appeared on the scene but they are ever rebuilt by ourselves. We are betrayed into the captivity ourselves. We are betrayed into the captivity with our own co-operation.

Durkheim says society confronts us as an objective fact. Society is external to ourselves. It encompasses our entire life. The institutions of society pattern our actions and even shape our expectations.

We are located in society not only in space but also in time. Our society is an historical entity that extends beyond the temporary life of any individual.

Peter Berger says it was there before we were born and it will be there after we are dead. Our lives are but episodes in its majestic march through time. In sum society is the walls of our imprisonment in history.