Learn English – Differences between ABIDE and OBEY

From Wikipedia

Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals sharing a distinctive culture and institutions. Without an article, the term refers either to the entirety of humanity or a contextually specific subset of people.

I would restate one part of the original question as
'"society" (without "the") refers to human society in general'

and, the example should read
"socialization is the process of learning to live in society"

The phrase "the society" is used in areas of study such as anthropology, political science and sociology when referring to specific groups.

Again from the Wikipedia article, discussing a particular group

This nobility organized warriors to protect the society from invasion.

In this case, "the society" is used to limit the scope to the group under discussion, and not all of humanity.

Edited to respond to OP's edit of original question

In "Soldiers protect society" the lack of an article preceding "society" makes it a statement about human society in general. As such it can stand alone without other context.

"Soldiers protect the society" seems taken out of context. It begs the question which society?

(Note: The following example statements are not meant to be historically accurate.)

In general, soldiers protect (human) society.
In ancient Rome, soldiers called centurions protected the (Roman) society.
In ancient Japan, soldiers called samurai protected the (Japanese) society.

I think the difference here boils down to the differences between these words:

• need (require)
• want (desire but do not need)
• whim (sudden or random desire)

The original quote is saying that context is a need, not just a want. When discussing requirements it is normal to prioritize according to needs and wants. That is the distinction that the author is making here.

A whim, on the other hand, is not as strong a desire as a want, and using the word "whim" softens the nature of the desire for context. Thus, the author wanted to keep the word "want" for its specific purpose in this context.