Chapter 6- Lecture Flashcards
What is the economy?
Social arrangements that organize the production, distribution, and consumption of goods
What has a tremendous influence on both society as a whole and personal relationships?
How a group chooses to exploit their environment
How does economy have an impact on society and relationships?
- Providing water, two homes, two sets of everyone
- Today we are having more and more people who live alone
What do we build economies around?
Our basic needs
What do economies refer to?
The ways things are managed
What are goods?
things we do not need
What are commodities?
goods produced for sale on the market place
What happens when there is not enough stuff for people to do?
- higher crime rates
- suicide
- etc.
What is one of the earliest social structures? What did it develop? Why?
- Economies
- Developed language, writing
- To look after and record economy
Economies__and__
grow and change
What is horticulturalism?
domestication of various species of animals and plants
What did Lenski classify?
simple and complex horticultural societies
When did growing crops begin?
Horticulturalism
What was hunting and gathering?
lightly exploit food resources for immediate consumption
Why was there little or not social inequality in hunting and gathering societies?
Because people moved around and didn’t have a lot of stuff, also there was limited specialization
What was pastoralism?
people make their living by tending herds of large animals
Why was there specialization in pastoralism and horticulturalism?
society will develop the type of worker and knowledge it needs to survive
Why was there social inequality in pastoralisM?
Society’s change with what they see as valuable…own more than their neighbour
What were agricultural societies?
use of animals to pull plow
What did the agricultural revolution lead to? Why?
Led to dramatic increase in population
-develop more food, caloric wealth
What was the biggest change our society underwent?
agricultural revolution
What was used as a means of trade in agricultural societies?
money
What was industrialization?
Use of non-animate sources of energy to produce goods.
What were the 5 major changes that came alone with industrialization?
1) harness ing of new sources of power
2) centralization of work: labourers, left to go to work rather than going outside
3) mass production: motivation for exploration, need for raw materials
4) specialization
5) wage labour: emergence of capitalism, unsafe labour
What was post-industrialization?
reorganization of society resulting from the growth of information technology, global consumerism, integrated financial markets, and cultural pluralism
When was the growth of information technology?
1960s
What is cultural pluralism in Canada?
Quebec –> desperate to hold onto their cultural uniqueness
What does part-time work result in?
lower wages, fewer benefits
How many occupation specialities are there in Canada?
more than 30 000
What are the three sectors of the economy?
Primary, secondary, and tertiary
What is the primary sector? How much of the Canadian work force?
- exploiting raw materials from natural environment (logging, farming, mining, fishing, etc.)
- less than 2% are farmers
What is the secondary sector? How much of the Canadian work force?
- Transform raw materials into consumer goods (cars, furniture, etc.)
- 10% of labour force
- continue to decline as we become technologically and intellectually based
What is the tertiary securer? What percent of the Canadian labour force does it take up?
- provide services (waiters, salespeople, police officers, etc.)
- 75% of all jobs
What is the primary labour market?
- often requires post-secondary training or education
- stable and comfortable salary, fringe benefits
What is a profession?
Prestigious occupations that require a specialized body of knowledge
What are the 6 characteristics of a profession?
1) common body of specialized knowledge
2) set of regulated performance standards
3) representative professional organization
4) external perception in the public as a profession
5) code of ethics
6) formal program of training and ongoing professional developments
What is the secondary labour market?
insecure and temporary, offer minimal pay, few occupations advance
Why are jobs in the secondary labour market referred to as McJobs?
- Make all these jobs the same, predictable outcome
- like McDonalds
- workers become part of the machinery
- like the person behind the counter is a machine
The secondary labour market ___, ___, and ___ workers.
- devalue
- demean
- oppress
What are labour unions?
represent workers to improve wages and working conditions
-collective bargaining, strikes
how many Canadian workers belonged to a union in 2011? 1981?
- 30%
- 38%
What is the decline in union membership due to?
- sharper decline among younger workers
- lower unionization rates in the private sector
How many Canadian workers are self-employed?
16%
What is the benefit of self-employment?
autonomous
What has the Canadian workforce seen an increase in?
self-employment
Which group of workers had the greatest employment? What is the increase every year since 1990?
- university educated workers
- 4% increase every year
What do functionalists believe about work?
- Integral part of the social structure
- people need to connect to work
- we want a meaningful job–the jobs we have fulfill the functions of society
What are Durkheim’s occupation groups supposed to do?
promote the integration of workers
What do conflict theorists believe about work?
alienation workers
- disconnect between what workers do and create and what is given back to them
- de-skilling of workers is the trend
- exploitation of workers
- workers achieve meaningful lives relative to employment
What do symbolic interactionists believe about work?
- Social drama of work (how people act at work)
- work defines sense of self-worth and acceptance
- Why we are at university–we don’t want a job that is viewed as “not worthy”
- how we create meaning our of our work
What do feminist theorists believe about work?
- separate lives for working women, women’s unpaid work
- we need a broader definition of labour
Why do feminists believe that women are oppressed in the labour force/
- patriarchal society
- the glass ceiling–there is a maximum success that women can reach
Why is there a difference between women’s unpaid work and men’s unpaid work?
- men come home and only mow the lawn
- women come home and cook, clean, take care of kids, do laundry, etc. Doing many things at once
How do post-structuralists view work?
- How power is exerted through discourse
- Bad employee vs. good employee
- It’s about labelling
- Dissects organizations and its workers and what is labelled
What doe post-structuralism challenge?
How societies shape themselves by the dominant discourse
-How do we talk about work?
What are some questions that post-structuralists would ask?
- How do you respond to those that have power over you?
- How might people modify their behaviour?
- How is knowledge produced relative to power?
What is Capitalism grounded in?
Private ownership of the means of production
What are the three defining features of capitalism?
1) private ownership
2) *ability to pursue personal gain and profit
3) competition among businesses
What do capitalists believe?
hard work will pay off
What is state/welfare capitalism?
political and economic system combining free-market principles with social welfare programs
Who doe state/welfare capitalists compensate?
those who aren’t successful or fall through the cracks
Why is there involvement in the economy is state/welfare capitalism?
inorder to assure that all citizens have access to health care, education, etc.
What is the problem with state/welfare capitalism?
difficult to compete with countries who are able to exploit resources
Describe state/welfare capitalism from a post-structuralist POV about SK.
- If Saskatchewan becomes a ‘have-not- province
- immigration will stop
- effects us immediately
- as change and wages tighten up, you may not have the same benefits
What is socialism?
raw materials and the means of production are collectively owned
What are the 3 defining features of socialism?
1) collective ownership
2) centralized state-administered planning agency
3) production and distribution of goods without profit motive
What does socialism attempt to address?
the needs of the majority
What is the ideological problem with socialism?
- in order to redistribute, there has to be money coming in
- you cannot generate the funds we need without business
What is politics?
endeavour to gain and maintain control of the state apparatus
What is the state?
institutions that maintain a monopoly over the legitimate use of force in a given territory
What is a nation’s society defined by?
how its leaders seek to shape its economy
What is the political economy?
interactions of politics, government and governing, and the social and cultural constitution of markets, institutions, and actors
What did Wallace Clement believe about Canadian sociology?
- interest in political economy
- influence politics has on society and economy
What is Harold Innes’ the staples thesis?
Canadian development based on exploitation of raw materials for export
How does the staple thesis apply to Saskatchewan today?
In Saskatchewan, we need to balance out our economy so we don’t fall when things tank. We can’t just be based on exploiting raw materials
Who discussed power, domination, and authority?
Weber
What is power acc. to Weber?
The ability to achieve one’s desires in the face of resistance
What is domination acc. to Weber?
situation in which an entire group of people could be directed to comply with commands
-hierarchical power
What is authority acc. to Weber?
Describes the situation in which subordinates consider the domination by leaders to be legitimate
-have others believe what you say
What are the three types of authority?
1) traditional authority
2) rational-legal authority
3) charismatic authority
What is traditional authority?
is present when power is legitimated by respecting long-established cultural patterns and traditions
-hierarchical, monarchs
What is rational-legal authority?
is present when power is legitimated through laws, rules, and regulations
- achieved, trained, credentials
- vested in the office or position
- those who fill position come and go, but the position stays the same
What is charismatic authority?
Based on the personal magnetism of individuals who compel people to believe in them and grant them their support
- compels people
- revolves around the charisma of the person
What are some examples of people who have charismatic authority?
donald trump, ghandi, hitler, stalin, martin luther king, joan of arc, princess diana, mother theresa
What is a bureaucracy?
A rational organization designed to complete many routine tasks as efficiently as possible
What are Max Weber’s 5 defining characteristic of bureaucracies?
1) an extensive division of labour
2) written policies and procedures for workers and customers/ clients (rules)
3) ongoing written records (attempt to control behaviour)
4) a hierarchy of authority (know who the bosses and minions are)
5) performance-based hiring and promotion (you need the credentials0
What is a corporation?
Legal entity that has rights and liabilities that go beyond those of its individual members
-legally separate
Do corporations have to pay taxes?
yes, but at a lower rate
What do those who belong to corporations have flexibility in?
flexibility to sell interests
What is the problem with corporations?
richest Canadians control the larger corporations, possess disproportionate share of the country’s wealth
What are monarchies?
power and legitimacy resides in a single person or single family, passed down generationally
What is an absolute monarchy?
Monarchs are defined through family membership or divine connection
What is a constitutional monarchy?
Symbolic in that true leadership is held by elected body
What are authoritarian regimes?
controlled by rulers who do not allow citizens to participate
What is a dictatorship?
Leader relies on personal loyalties and threats of force
What is totalitarianism?
No limits on leaders use of force, state apparatus attempts to regulate virtually every area of people’s lives
-more prone to violence and harsh living conditions
What is a democracy?
Political system in which individual adult citizens select their representative leaders through an electoral process
What are the two types of democracy?
Participatory democracy
Representative democracy
What is a participatory democracy?
citizens involved personally in decision making
- town hall
- no longer exists on large scale
What is representative democracy?
Citizens elect representatives to act on their behalf
-accountable to citizens who elected them
What is the political system in Canada?
- Parliamentary democracy
- Governance of the country is shared between federal and provincial or territorial governments
What are the 3 parts to the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples?
1) Aboriginal people have the inherent right to govern themselves
2) Right to self-government should be preserved in Canada’s Constitution
3) Agreements negotiated between Aboriginals and federal and provincial governments
What is the problem with giving Aboriginal people sovereignty?
If Canada allows this, Quebec will want it too along with other minority groups who are new to the county.
What is an improvement hat cam with the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples?
Establishment of Nunavut in 1999
