A society including all human beings

Question

I want to refer to the society of all human beings. I can use the word "society," but I sense that a society is a term for a limited number of people. For example, by society we can refer to the people of a country or city. In this sense, we can use the word societies.

But I need the society to include all human beings. Is society an appropriate word for this case? or is there a better word?

Sample sentence: By studying human "society", we understand that ...

Answer 1

Yes, you can use human society to refer to all human beings:

• the body of human beings generally, associated or viewed as members of a community:
  • the evolution of human society.

(Dictionary.com)

From Man and Nature:

• While nature contrasts with human society and the outer world contrasts to the individual, the outer world includes both nature and human society. Thus, the relation between man and nature is actually that between human society and nature, not between an individual and one's ...

You can consider also the expression human population:

• the total of individuals occupying an area or making up a whole

(M-W)

From Human Population Dynamics:

• This chapter describes a formal demographic perspective on human population dynamics. It first attempts to summarise the way in which human population dynamics are treated in the more technical and theoretical demographic literature. The next section considers some demographic ...

Answer 2

Humankind or mankind

Humankind-human beings considered collectively (used as a neutral alternative to ‘mankind’).

Mankind - human beings considered collectively; the human race.