Lecture 3 - Environmental Problems II Flashcards
(Review) What are the 3 types of discrimination?
- Overt discrimination –> clear, direct, prejudiced beliefs are clearly the motivation
- Subtle discrimination –> unclear/indirect discrimination/motivation
- Systemic discrimination –> part of an organization’s structure, perpetuates disadvantages for marginalized groups
What are Weber’s ideal types?
Observing things of the same type and trying to find common elements, forming an ideal construct based on commonalities (basics of something, not detailed)
(Review) What is conflict theory and its 4 tenets?
- Society is made up of groups competing for power + resources (class struggle)
- Karl Marx –> bourgeoisie + proletariat classes
- Macro-level issues (Ex. Relationships regarding socio-economic class)
- Patterns of inequality (+ how they produce social stability/change)
- Members of privileged groups trying to maintain their advantage (while subordinates try to increase theirs, ongoing power struggle)
- Decrease in privilege = less conflict (+ increase of human welfare)
(Conflict theory) How do corporations gain access to as many resources as possible without causing war? (3 things)
- Buying private property
- Consuming resources on that property is usually up to the owner
- Doing so in the form of resource rights (buying rights to the land w/o making someone move, surface land rights vs sub-surface/mineral rights [which is held by provincial gov’t in Canada) - Dealing w/ governments
- The gov’t can set regulations/ limit what can be done w/ land
- W/ vulnerable/concentrated power gov’ts –> appeal to person in power (for concentrated/dictatorships), negotiate w/ current gov’t (funds for natural resources) OR fund other groups to destabilize gov’t (for vulnerable gov’t)
- W/ wealthy democratic gov’ts –> talking to political groups that align w/ interests, shift media focus to issues other than natural resource consumption, create international competition - Dealing w/ citizen resistance
- Concentrated gov’t –> bribe community leaders, discrete murder/disappearing people OR legitimate means of force (police, military)
- Wealthy democratic gov’t –> police to control protests, delegitimize protests in the media, fund research studies w/ own scientists
(Dealing w/ citizen resistance) What are para-military groups?
Resemble military, but aren’t part of the state’s formal armed forces (paid mercs)
(CT) What 2 sociological principles help us to understand corporations?
- (Marx) Competition as “external coercive law”
- Capitalism is a competition (priority is making enough profit to outlast the competition, not prioritizing it = bankruptcy) - (Weber) Bureaucracy (State-made decisions)
- Structure is such that everyone has a specific role in the system (less judgement, more choices based on obligations, focus on corporation goals) and people can be replaced if they don’t follow their obligations
What is the conflict theorist solution to environmental problems?
- Boycotting (since corporations are limited by supply + demands, so boycotts = changes need to be made to make a profit)
What are the 2 general levels of analysis in sociology?
- Macro-sociology –> “big picture”, how social problems are affected at a structural scale
- Micro-sociology –> social-psychological dynamics, meanings + interaction
(Review) What are the 4 principles of symbolic interactionism?
- Face-to-face communication (micro-level setting)
- Emphasis on understanding the subjective (meanings attached)
- People create their social circumstances (not just react to them)
- Validates unpopular opinion (increases tolerance of different opinions)
(Symbolic interactionism) What is labelling theory?
The idea that how we label things is linked to how we view them
(Ex. Gun laws, marijuana legalization, living at home, etc.)
(Symbolic interactionism) What is social constructionism?
The idea that reality is constructed through social relationships
(Ex. Perception of Trump on new stations)
(SI) What are the 2 main issues with environmental problems being international (+ the world being divided into nations)?
- Tragedy of the Commons –> if something isn’t owned and everyone has access to it, people will exploit it (once one person does it, more people are likely to follow suit, since inequality is a strong motivator)
- Social contract –> agreements that everyone knows + abides by, for everyone’s benefit, if one party doesn’t agree to work together then everyone loses (Prisoner’s dilemma –> if both keep quiet then neither of them goes to jail)
(SI) What are the 3 solutions to the tragedy of the commons?
- Unfair share solution –> rest of the group picks up the slack + continues to respect the public good
- Everyone loses solution –> nobody picks up the slack so commons get destroyed/depleted
- Violent enforcement –> enforcing of punishment/violence
