The family is the first social group, followed by the clan, tribe, and nation

The social structure of modern society has not diminished the relevance of the family. It seems that in William Ronald Dodds Fairbairn&s;s depiction each successive stage of social grouping has the interest and potential of eliminating the previous level&s;s relevance. The clan and tribe erected a patriarchal order and attempted to claim the allegiance of its members to the chief as the embodiment of the clan and tribe. Fairbairn&s;s analysis of the communist movement was that its motive was not strictly an economic one, rather it was an effort to establish a social system that would supersede the nation. He reasoned that the trajectory of family, clan, tribe, nation, could lead to a world state that would require the same loyalty that the other levels of social organisation demanded from individuals. The social object is an internalisation of the identity group with which one is affiliated. These identity groups may be chosen, but often they are a circumstance of birth.