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secularization\ multi-religious societies
The Laity Model: a respectful laity involves: Consensus believers/non believers in fundamental democratic values Acknowledgement of the public relevance of certain moral and religious issues (tension rights/sacred value: death penalty, Abortion, education…) Deliberation and democratic regulation
The Laicist Model: Religion is an individual issue, without public importance/relevance.
The Integrist Model: religion dominates society. Fundamentalism.
In order for one to start acting, there must be an ethical energy that comes from inside, that drives you, and that goes beyond yourself. And this is what religion provides: this possibility to transcend beyond yourself and to be aware that you are part of the world.”
Beyond Science (art, music, poetry, literature, religious narratives) +Religions invite to a quest + Religions invite to a new attitude in front of reality: consume vs harmonize
Science is a discourse that tries to describe reality, but there are different levels of reality to which science has not yet accessed. God doesn’t appear in the discourse of science. From a scientific perspective, it is not possible to prove God’s existence, or inexistence
Sciences (Physics, Biology, Psychology, Medicine Economy) ➔Goal: understand/master nature, society... people ➔ Instruments: Science, logical reasoning, experimental method.
the practices: the scapegoat ritual to expel evil and disagreements from the community.
ethical practices: in society attitudes experienced in community shape attitudes to live in society . political \ eco, business \ culturtal action
symbolic practices: in community example of rituals > marriage: readings, vows, ring exchange, kiss , sign of peace.
Welfare State (unit 9)
A historical application: expansion and crisis
Social State of Law and Civil Society
o Social protection mechanisms (+) and (-) freedom Job market regulation Setting up a social security system o Social justice economic redistribution Expansion of public services (G) Progressive taxation (based on income brackets-T) Social policies subsidies/ aid for “at risk situations”
The cultural fundamentals of the welfare state
o Respect for individual’s liberties o Promoting economic efficiency o Meritocracy equal opportunities (public schooling) o Solidarity reduce inequalities o Competitiveness and co-operation at the same time (meritocracy & solidarity)
The political fundamentals of the welfare state
o Democracy deepening Representative democracy Civil and political rights (liberalism) Economic, social and cultural rights (socialism)
Subtopic
The economics fundamentals of the welfare state
Objective: to reduce the duration and impact of capitalist recessionary periods.
State intervention in the economy
de-commodification: certain strategic sectors are kept out of the market
low de-commodification (commodified system) sold on the market like other goods
high de-commodification: welfare is provided publicly, not related to income
high economic regulation
Countercyclical policies
Public policies to create demand such as fostering city hall public expenditures: GOVERNMENT WANTS YOU TO SPEND MORE
Direct policies to foster consumer spending such as cars
Monetary policies: interest rates
Fiscal policies: expansionary or restrictive taxation: where sometimes state has to decrease taxes and increase policies to help (or vice versa)
The origins of the Welfare State
In order to maintain social order and reduce inequalities brought by capitalism:
welfare was founded to offer assistance to those in society found on the periphery of market economy.
As manufacturing economy grew, welfare state grew to meet the needs of the working class and the economic elite who depended on a healthy workforce.
Welfare programs were designed behind the fact that men were the "bread-winners" (made the money) and women took care of the home.
after World War 2, rather than solely concentrating on ill, focus of welfare was broadened to encompass all members of society.
The crisis of Liberal Capitalism
Political challenge
social cohesion
conflict reduction
3rd way versus socialism
the third way was to: strengthen civil society, decentralize power from nation-state, and focus on social exclusion
Social challenge
redistribution
social justice
Economic challenge
productivity
efficiency
Socialism (unit 8)
A historical application: "Real Socialism"
Socialism has had positive and negative outcomes:
negative:
repressions
lack of democracy
economic inefficiency
Positive:
social conditions elevated to human rights
min living condition
initial reduction in inequalities
Cultural Fundamentals of Socialism
Co-operation
co-operation is the natural form of social organization
Internationalism
all humans are one race
Freedom
not the same freedom as in liberalism where freedom would be considered the fact to be able to make 'choices'
freedom to unfold and develop your potential
Work as unalienated labour
Work should be fulfilling because of it's 'social' nature
pleasures of work should exceed those of production
everyone should work at what he enjoys most.
Communal ownership of means of production
certain socialist disagree: because they consider communal means of production would reinstate a state to administrate them
eliminating private property of means of production to make them collective/communal means of production (factories, land, machinery,...)
class analysis
society is divided is different classes (oppressors and oppressed)(often economically determined). This classes should be eliminated so that status, privilege, material equality and gradations are eliminated
Poverty
reason of concern: property is the principal cause of social disorders
Human interdependence
"People are necessarily interdependent not only in the obvious material sense, but also in the cutural and spiritual sense..... man is totally unintelligable outside of society."
Popular Sovereignty
"The belief in the equal ablitiy of all humans to govern themselves"
Egalitarianism
Equality of treatment: equal opportunites > absolute equality
Marx: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"
Political Fundamentals of Socialism
Goals of Socialism: 1) distribute wealth equally among the people 2) government control of society 3) public ownership of most land.
"Socialism began as a revolt against capitalism and its conception of man and society was initially developed as an alternative to the one which in the socialist view underlay and reinforced capitalist society. - Bhikhu Parekh
"It really is impossible to understand either the French revolution or the early socialists unless one possesses some awarness of the challenge which the new liberal individualism represented to older ways of life" - George Lichtheim
Berki (pluralist approach): four basic tendencies in socialist ideology: eaglitarianism, moralism, rationalism and libertarianism.
Economic fundamentals of Socialism
Communal Ownership of the means of production
"It is not the conscience of human beings that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being which determines their conscience."
"means for attaining greater equality"
Durkheim: "the connection of all economic functions to the directing... centres of society"
Anarcho-communist view: "ownership by each local village producer group of land and factories."
Criticism of capitalism and the emergence of alternatives
The nucleus of Socialism
"Socialism began as a revolut against capitalism and its conception of man and society was initially developed as an alternative to the one which in the socialist view underlay and reinforced capitalist society." - Bhikhu Parekh
"It really is impossible to understand either the French revolution or the early socialists unless one possesses some awarness of the challenge which the new liberal individiualism represented to older ways of life." - Georg Lichtheim
Liberalism (unit 7)
A historical application: Classical Liberalism and Democratic Liberalism
democratic liberalism
Intervention in basic social rights
Welfare policy: “poor laws”
Creation of state-owned hospitals
Creation of state-owned schools
Start of labour laws
Labour safety legislation
Restrictions of working hours
Prohibition of child labour
Right to strike recognised
Freedom of expression and freedom of press
Legalisation of left wing parties and trade unions
classical liberalism
Practice
Monopolies, trusts...
5) Right to strike not recognised
4) Non universal suffrage
3) prohibition of trade unions
2) newspaper censorship
1) Persecution of worker activists and prohibition of leftwing parties
project
Bourgeois limited democracy
rule of law (formal equality)
civil and political rights
Free market
Cultural fundamentals of Liberalism
Sujet secondaire
Political fundamentals of Liberalism
- concept of negative freedom : no one is imposing you to be free
- rule of law : legal procedures which will best advance the goals of individual freedom and happiness is thus the fist time of a liberal system and the rule of law is one of its central tenets and proudest boats
monopoly of legitimate violence
- state as a guarantee of security
- the social contract ( Rousseau) - contract theory :is the paradigm way in which free rational knowledgeable individuals would deal with each other
- citizenship and equal rights
Economic fundamentals of Liberalism
theory of the invisible hand (A. Smith) : through their selfishness and self-interest, citizens contribute to the society
- free markets but laws in defense of competition
- anti-monopoly : to big to compete
- anti-cartel : price agreements
freedom of the contracting parties
the right to private property
The emergence and characteristics of capitalism
Model of Analysis
Techno-economic Area
Socio-political Area
Cultural Area
Status group
Cultural background
Gender
According to Weber
Aspirations
Meritocratic society
Blue-collar workers
White-collar workers
Petite bourgeoisie
Educated owners
Technical knowledge
According to Marx
Aspiration
Socialism
Classes
Capitalists
Proletariat
Criterion
Private ownership pf means of production
Class
Estate
Cast
Slavery
George Maed
Theory
Combination
TEAMWORK
Me
Object
I
Subject
Looking-Glass Self
Self-image
Who are we?
Society in
Post-modernity (unit 10)
Characterístics of post-modern society
The crisis of Modernity
Modernity (unit 5 & 10)
Problems
Crisis of meaning
Impersonalization
Romanticism and conservative resurgence
The change and innovation are not warmly welcomed. It threatens to break up the basis of intellectual order. Conservatism which characterizes traditional mentality is a. protection against everything that menaces tradition.
Bureaucratization (Weber): Weber believed bureaucracy was the most efficient way to set up an organization and administration. He thought that bureaucracy was better than traditional structures. In a bureaucratic organisation, everyone is treated equal and the division of labour is clearly described for each employee.
Normative relativism
Higher suicide rate
Anomie (Durkheim)
Anomie is a social condition in which there is a disintegration or disappearance of the norms and values that were previously common to the society. Durkheim discovered that anomie occurs during and follows periods of drastic and rapid changes to the social, economic, or political structures of society.
crisis of traditional authority
Guiding institutions weakened
Loss of community
Individuals are freer but
less sense of cohesion
Social isolation
Individuals release from community and tradition. This, resultes in despair and insupportable aloneness, which makes them melancholically and anxious.
weak social integration
For Durkheim, modernity has destroyed all the established social contexts, making people more individualistic and getting used to the fact of not needing to form part of a group.
Less sense of belonging
As society weakens in modernity, individuals feel less attached to others. This creates a sense of loneliness and of belonging. to a group.
solidarity: In modernity there is a devitalization of the sense of society, making people more individualistic and feeling alone.
more individualistic = selfishness: Instead of community, tribe and group we are more individualistic. We are free to move among social collectivities, we can choose our membership at will, we are self-determined and responsable for our own actions, successes as well as failures.
Characteristics of modern society
Diversity of beliefs and ideas Individualism: personal freedom Less social control Plurality (Durkheim) Rationalism
Politics
Human rights Equality Democracy Critical thinking Autonomy/independence Pluralism Social change Emancipation
People were enlightened through Science and reason
Separation of institutions:
Rational explanation
Science
Natural phenomena weren't explained by gods will anymore, but by scientific facts
Church and state Privatisation of religious morals
Sacred and secular Secularisation of world
Rationalism Science Progress Religion lost power
population learned to read and write --> bible published in common tongue (not only latin)
Society's structure
Tax regime
Based on privilege
bourgeoise as emerging class:
Educated bourgeoise developed in modernity
contractual societies
class society:
Industrial bourgeoise, farming nobility, petite bourgeoisie, proletariat (workers)
Economy
Expansion of markets
Accumulation & Reinvestment
Labor:
Factories
Wage labor
Mining
Industry
Tradition (unit 5)
Factors of social and cultural change
Cultural
Consequences - Sacralisation of work (Beruf = vocation & work) - Doctrine of predestination (Success as a sign of salvation)
Factors of change - Protestant revolution - Luther, Calvin
Economical
Consequences - Increased productivity - Surplus rural workforce - Rural-to-urban areas migration - Growth of cities - Birth of the proletariat
Factors of change Revolution in farming techniques
Technological
Consequences - Trade expansion - Accumulation of capital - Investment in technology - Birth of industry
Factors of change - Navigation developments - Discovery of the New World - First banks
Characteristics of traditional society
Culture
Values
Concept of community
strong social cohesion Deep social integration Mechanical solidarity (Durkheim) Based on moral and social homogeneity and reinforced by discipline of the small community - Tradition dominates - Individualism is lacking - Justice is directed to the subordination of the individual - Ties to kinship, localism and sacred give substance to the whole Uniformity and strong social control
Collective Mentality - Institutions as guides - Individual subject to the community - Induced biographies
Emotional bonds Strong sense of belonging Shared social imaginary
Outlook
Cult of traditions Sacred texts, Ancestral legends, Customs Meaning obtained from the past High cultural reproduction, Conservative mindset, Resistance to change --> Conservatism Change and innovation = NOT welcomed, may appear threatening and break up intellectual order BETTER: to trust in useful knowledge that has been proved over time
Beliefs
Enchantment of the world - Weber Ubiquity of the supernatural Magical thinking Magic consists of the manipulation by man of invisible forces or forms of energy - Magic has a practical applied goal - Magic does NOT replace technology or empirical science but COMPLETES them - Magic is to action what myth is to thought --> the integration of the invisible and the visible Great ritualization
Sacralized society Theocentrism Mythical Tales In traditional society, mythology takes the place of theoretical science (natural/social science and history). Myth links together incoherent fragments of knowledge, gives them meaning and coherence. Sacralization of everyday life Fusion of the sacred and the secular - Mircea Eliade In traditional societies, things and events refer back to something else: an “invisible order” that develops parallel to the visible order. The visible and invisible order are part of one total cosmos. Ad invisible order = sacred - It completes the visible order and gives it meaning - Events and things: not explanatory; truth must be revealed with reference to a sacred world --> Reason for traditional symbols
Society´s structure
+ Empiricism
Economy & Labour
Economy = subsistence Production base Agriculture, livestock, fishing, mining natural resources, craftsmanship and trade
two conflicting beliefs
Triviality
add more cognitions
change behaviour
alter one belief
To reduce options
Distinctive complex of social actions
Circles of social control
Self
Family
Informal groups (Peer group)
Organisations (work)
Community (morality)
State
Types of social control
self-control
morality, custom, manners
ridicule, gossip, descredit
various sanctions
social separation
violence
as last resort
foundation of political order
used when socialisation fails
Important figure
Types
Self-Identity
Social Identity
Social Roles
Nurture > Nature
Feral children
Nature - fixed, instinctive nature
Genetics
Nurture - conditioning in early childhood
Watson
Behaviourism
Inseparable
Literature
Pirandello
The Mask
Thomas Theorem
Self-fulfilling Profecies
Social Construction of Reality
Malleability of Reality
HOW?
Social interaction
Resocialisation
Replaces earlier socialisation
Secondary socialisation
Agents: School, Peers, Organisations, Media
Later childhood - maturity
Primary socialisation
Agent: Family
Early childhood
Ethnocentricity and (cultural) relativity
Theory: Glocalisation is the ways in which global phenomena are responded to differently in local cultures. e.g. karaoke has a different meaning and ritual in Japan verses London.
Theory: Cultural Relativism is the practice of judging a culture by its own standards. Interpretative perspective called Emic: The internal perspective
Theory: Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another culture by the standards of ones own culture. Interpretative perspective called Etic: interpretation according to the meanings and the symbolic universe of the observer (external perspective)
(Cultural) Change
Definition: Cultural Lag is the fact that cultural elements change at different rates, which may disrupt a cultural system. It is the maladjustment created by unequal patterns of evolution and change and causes frictions resulting from the dislocation of the parts of culture. It is resolved by gradual reintegration of the various maladjustment components.
Definition: Cultural Integration is the close relationship among various elements of a cultural system.
(Cultural) Diversity
A Global Culture?
Definition: A global culture is the spreading of culture to the point that the worlds cultures become united as one through the major components of culture (e.g. language, symbols).
Action Theory:
Conflict Theory: People from rural areas/poorer households left out? People might lose about due to the divide between groups.
Functionalist Perspective: good to have a global economy, language, etc.
Definition: A hegemonic culture is a culture that dominates by ideology and culture, through ideas and not force. E.g. Americans preserving hegemony (expecting you to speak English), by convincing the mainstream to stop speaking other languages such as Spanish in America.
Definition: A counterculture is a culture that goes against the fundamental principles of the hegemonic culture and society and thus cannot exist without a hegemonic culture. Every counterculture is a subculture but not vice versa.
Definition: A subculture is a culture that sets itself apart from mainstream culture and excludes itself from it, however it is know adapted by the mainstream. E.g. the Amish
Definition: Cultural Capital is the practices where people can wield power and status because of their educational credentials, general cultural awareness and aesthetic preferences.
These are learned from family, and school, helping one to prosper in society/climb the social ladder. This includes knowledge, skills, taste, style of talking, dressing to have an advantage in society, such as learning to speak Greek to be hired.
Definition: Language is a system of symbols that allows members of society to communicate with one another. These symbols take for I'm spoken and written words, which are culturally variable and composed of various alphabets and ideograms around the world.
Theory: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language.
Linguistic Relativism suggests that distinctions found in one language are not found in another. E.g. inuits having 20 different words for snow.
Linguistic Determinism suggests that language shapes the way we think.
Languages and cultural reproduction: language its he major means of cultural reproductions the process by which one generation passes culture to the next. Our symbols carry cultural heritage and language gives us the power to gain access to centuries of accumulated wisdom.
Definition: Popular culture designate cultural patterns that are widespread among a society's population. E.g. certain types of music.
Definition: High Culture are cultural patterns that distinguish societies elite. This includes things such as classical music, contemporary art, and a specific way of speaking English. Low culture is the opposite and is represented by football, etc.
Definition: A Stereotype is an exaggerated description applied to every person in a category of people.
Definition: Prejudice is a rigid and irrational generalisation about an entire category of people.
Definition: Diaspora refers to the dispersal of a population from its homeland and into other areas.
Definition: Ethnicity is a shared cultural and historical heritage.
Definition: Race refers to the category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of society deem socially significant.
Definition: Racism refers to the beliefs that one racial category is superior or inferior to another.
Definition: Material Culture includes the tangible things created by members of society, involving cultural practices. An example of this would be mobile phones or pottery.
Definition: Norms are the rules and expectations by which a society guides the behaviour of its members. Some norms are proscriptive, mandating what we should not do (e.g. Chinese couples holding hands in public) while other norms are prescriptive, spelling out what we should do (e.g. European schools teaching safe sex).
Folkways (William Graham Sumner) is the theory referring to society's customs for routine and casual interaction. This includes notions about proper dress, appropriate greeting and common courtesy. While mores distinguish between what is right and wrong, folkways distinguish between what is right and rude.
Mores (William Graham Sumner) is the theory referring to societies standards of proper moral conduct. This includes all mores essential to maintaining a way of life (e.g. prohibiting sexual relations between adults and minors).
Definition: Values are the standards people have about what is good and bad, which vary from culture to culture (ethics and morals).They are abstract standards of goodness. Beliefs are specific statements that people hold to be true and refer to particular matters.
We learn from families schools and religious organisations to think and act according to approved principles, to pursue worthy goals and to believe a host of cultural truths while rejecting alternatives as false.
Definition: Symbols are anything that carries a particular meaning recognised by a shared culture (e.g. a flashing red light, a fist in the air, a white dove). We can see the human capacity to create and manipulate symbols reflected in the very different meanings associated with simple things in different cultures (e.g. winking)
Symbols allow us to make sense of our lives, and without then human existence would be meaningless. Manipulating symbols correctly would allow us to engage others readily within our own cultural system.
A cultural shock is the inability to read meaning in ones surroundings and a consequence of being outside there symbolic web of culture that joins individuals in a meaningful social life.
Definition: Civilisations refer to the broadest most comprehensive cultural entities.
Contemporary civilisations are often defined as Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Hindu, Islamic, Orthodox, Western, Latin American and African. Religions are also one of the key defining features of civilisations.
Social action perspective, micro-level orientation
Critic : By focusing on day-to-day interactions, this theory can obscur larger social structure
Definition : Theory that focus on how actors assemble social meanings ; in other words, the structures of a society change because of the individuals and their actions.
Conflict perspective, macro-level orientation
Critic : Gloss over how shared values or interdependence generate unity among members of a society and also may relinquish any claim to scientific objectivity
Definition : Theory that envisages society as an area of inequality that generates conflict and change
Fonctionnaliste perspective, macro-level orientation
Critic : Gloss over inequalities based on social class, gender-divisions that may create tension and conflict.
Definition : Theory that envisages society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.
Herbert Spencer, the survival of the fittest
Herbert Spencer, Organism metaphor, human body and society are interdependent because they contribute to the survival of the entire organism
Development among the 19th-20th centuries thanks to scientific & technologies advances, revolutions (industrial, urban, liberal), rise of workers movement and secularization
Methodological approaches
Quantitative : statistics, try to assess representativity
Qualitative : narrative techniques, try to assess meanings of behavior
Sociology is the systematic study of human society as a critical way of seeing the social.
Benefits and issues with the sociological perspective
Issues
Sociological knowledge becomes a part of society : sociologists create ideas that can shape the ways in which societies work
Hard to distance ourselves from the world as sociologists are part of what they study
Sociology is a part of changing the world : society changes overtime and therefore sociology too
Benefits
C. Wright Mills, the sociological imagination, sociology shapes our lives ans we have to connect them to history and society
Recognize human differences and sufferings which help us to confront the challenges of living in a diverse word
Empowers us to be active participants in our society ; ex : Wright Mills, Great Depression = the more we learn about the system the more we want to change it
Development of a form of consciousness, challenges the "taken for granted"
Main concepts
Peter Berger, Invitation to sociology, sociology is about seeing the general in the particular
Zygmunt Bauman, Sociological Thinking, sociology is about seeing the strange in the familiar
