Lecture 3 Flashcards
sociocultural evolution
the process of change that results from a society gaining new information, particularly technology
- societies with a greater amount of technological information change at a faster rate
5 general types of society distinguished by their technology
- hunting and gathering societies
- roticultural and pastoral societies
- agrarian societies
- industrial societies
- post-industrial societies
hunting and gathering societies
simple technology for hunting animals and gathering vegetation which is still common among indigenous people
- nomadic societies in which the social organization is relatively egalitarian, with members of the society often cooperating to ensure survival against natural forces
- kinship-based societies where the family is supposed to obtain and distribute the food, protect its members, and teach necessary skills to their children
horticultural and pastoral societies
- horticultural societies are societies that use technology based on using hand tools to cultivate plants
- pastoral societies use technology based on the domestication of animals
- pastoralists remained nomadic while horticulturalists formed settlements
- domestication led to material surplus, meaning that more specialized and complex social arrangements were formed (led to social inequality, as those with more resources came into positions of power)
agrarian societies
made use of technology for large-scale farming, usage of ploughs that were harnessed to animals, or more powerful sources of energy (agriculture)
- allowed agrarian societies to expand in land and population
- increased specialization led to a barter system and a growing economy
- increased the power of the elites, and religion reinforced the power of these elites
- agrarian societies differ way more from one another because of the advancing technology that could increase human control over the natural world
industrial societies
technology that powers sophisticated machinery with advanced sources of energy
- some changes were electric communication urbanization, increased life expectancy, and more political participation
- because of industrial technology the family as the center of social life gradually diminished
post-industrial societies
computer-linked technology that supports an information-based economy
- the focus on computers required less physical work and fostered globalization
- this is also a society of postmodernism, an era in which thinking stresses a plurality of perspectives
social conflict
a struggle between segments of society over valued resources
social institutions
the major spheres of social life, or society’s subsystems, organized to meet basic human needs
- make up all societies
- in a capitalist society, these institutions reinforce the domination of the capitalists (one such social institution is the economy)
economics according to Marx
the value of a product is determined by the labor required to make it
- profit comes through the exploitation of labor
historical materialism
asserts that how humans produce material goods shapes the rest of society and all other major social institutions
factors of classical historical materialism
- in capitalist societies
- wages of workers fall and profits of capitalists rise (due to coercion)
- resistance arises against this coercion and inequality
- if all workers are aware and unite, they win the conflict and private ownership will disappear
- when the means of production are collective property, everyone will receive products according to their needs
core historical materialism
whatever mode of production in a society prevails, every inequality within that society is based on some sort of coercion which can lead to some sort of conflict
- can lead to the abolition of old means of coercion and the disappearance of old inequalities
- can lead to equality in some circumstances
social infrastructure
the economy is the foundation for other social institutions
- these other social institutions, for example family, political systems, and religion, are called society’s superstructure
false consciousness
is the explanation of social problems grounded in the shortcomings of individuals rather than the flaws of society
- false consciousness victimizes people by obscuring the real cause of their problems
introduction of horticulture
was the start of significant social inequality
skewness
refers to the inequality between groups through absolute deviations or relative deviations
openness
refers to the possibility of moving to a higher class than the one you were born in, as defined through mobility and social distance
class conflict
refers to the antagonism between entire classes over the distribution of wealth and power in society
4 ways in which capitalism alienates workers
- alienation from the act of working: capitalism denies workers a say in what or how they produce it
- alienation from the products of work: the products of the work belong to the capitalists, not to the workers
- alienation from other workers: capitalism transforms work into a competitive field rather than a cooperative one
- alienation from human potential: because of their work the workers feel physically exhauseted and mentally beaten (industrial capitalism turns work into a dull and dehumanizing experience
Weber on alienation
he states that alienation is a negative consequence of rationalization
rationality
a deliberate, matter-of-fact calculation of the most efficient means to accomplish a particular goal
motivations for societies to act
- traditional
- affective
- ‘wert-rational’ (value rational and more important in traditional societies)
- ‘Zweck’-rational (goal rational action which is calculated and goal-oriented; dominant in the modern era)
dimensions of rationalization
- rise of science
- collective action, formalization of the state
- individual action , arts are more based on technique
