ABSTRACT
Society has a centre and there is a central zone in the structure of society. This central zone impinges in various ways on those who live within the ecological domain in which the society exists. Membership in the society, in more than the ecological sense of being located in a bounded territory and of adapting to an environment affected or made up by other persons located in the same territory, is constituted by relationship to this central zone. The central zone is the centre of the order of symbols of values and beliefs, which govern the society. It is central because it is espoused by the ruling authorities of the society. As one move from the centre of society, the centre in which authority is possessed, to the hinterland or the periphery, over which authority is exercised; attachment to the central value system becomes attenuated.
