YMAY Chapter 14 - 16 Flashcards
capitalism
an economic system in which property and goods are primarily privately owned; investments are determined by private decisions; and prices, production, and the distribution of goods are determined primarily by competition in an unfettered marketplace.
feudalism
a pre-capitalistic economic system characterized by the presence of lord, vassals, serfs, and fiefs.
agricultural revolution
the period around 1700 marked by the introduction of new farming technologies that increased food output in farm production
corporation
a legal entity unto itself that has legal personhood distinct from that of its members - namely, its owners and shareholders.
Adam Smith
great advocate of capitalism, positive perspectives on using money over bartering.
Goerg Simmel
talks about the benefits of different types of wage labor. The includes salary, civil service salary and honorarium. He says these forms of payment are increasingly depersonalized thus you have a distinct sphere of public economy and private socialization.
alienation
a condition in which people are dominated by forces of their own creation that then confront them as alien powers; according to Marx, the basic state of being in a capitalist society.
Marx
believes that capitalism will undermine it’s own existence. He argues that efficiency will increase continually with an overproduction of goods, competition will become stiff, and wages will be driven so low that people won’t be able to afford the goods.
socialism
an economic system in which most or all of the needs of the population are met through non-market methods of distribution.
communism
a political ideology of classless society in which the means of production are shared through state ownership and in which rewards are tied not to productivity but to need.
family wage
a wage paid to male workers sufficient to support a dependent wife and children.
service sector
the section of the economy that involves providing intangible services.
globalization
this period of globalization is different than the past because of new markets, new means of exchange, new transnational players such as WTO. Globalization highlights the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’.
corporations as individuals
they have sociopathic (or maybe just rational - self interested) personalities, they have all the rights and responsibilities of an individual.
monopoly
the form of business that occurs when one seller of a good or service dominates the market to the exclusion of others, potentially leading to zero competition.
oligopoly
the economic condition that exists when a handful of firms effectively control a particular market.
productivity enhancing
economic activities that increase the total economic value available to society
rent seeking
economic activities that aim to move value from one person or company to another without increasing value.
offshoring
a business decision to move all or part of a company’s operations abroad to minimize costs.
union
an organization of workers designed to facilitate collective bargaining with an employer.
union busting
a company’s assault on its workers’ union with the hope of dissolving it.
As we saw at the beginning of the chapter, robots are taking over jobs that used to be held by people. How might this trend impact the growth in income inequality?
Working class will have less job options which means lower income and then the upper class who are using these robots instead of people benefit financially. Making the income gap that much worse
How are guest worker programs (temporary work visas for migrants) and offshoring labor potentially related? In your own words, provide two arguments for and against guest worker programs in the United States.
offshoring-a business decision to move all or part of a companies operations abroad to minimize costs. This relates to the guest worker program bc it offers migrants the opportunity to work
- opportunity to work/sustain family
- owners save money
- not fair wages
- temporary job/no stability
How do Arlie Hochschild’s findings in The Time Bind differ from our understanding of the substitution effect? How do Jacobs and Gerson build on Hochschild’s work?
His findings were that peoples lives center around work resulting with the family to suffer and found that workers ended up taking on more hours/work place became second home, preferred going to work. This differs from the substitution effect because instead of avoiding their families they should be staying at work longer for financial benefits.
Jacob and Gerson found that people do not take advantage of family-friendly policies bc they are afraid of losing their jobs and don’t want to send the wrong message to their employers by taking time off
How has the internet and mobile phone technlogy changed our relationship between home and work?
There is not as much of a physical demand to come to work because most of it now a days can be done through technology at home. People can spend more time with their families but it could also be mixing up home and work where there isn’t a big distinction between the two.
What is capitalism? How were the “enclosure movement” and “monetization” related to the advent of capitalism?
Capitalism: economic system in which property and goods are primarily privately owned, decisions based off private individuals. The enclosure movement led to the eviction of people working on that once public land, they had no choice but to migrate in search of work. These changes eventually led to the rise of cities and the wage system. Monetization is the establishment of legal currency which led to corporations which led to capitalism
How does Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations, suggest that capitalism helps to keep societies together? How do monopolies deviate from Smith’s ideal view of capitalism?
He believed that individual self interest in an environment where others act the same, will lead to competition and as long as the basic laws and contracts are honored, then it works out. Everyone works together. Monopolies would deviate from capitalism because no one would be competing and working together, one person would have all the power
Describe the concept of “alienation” as described by Karl Marx and illustrate two of its forms with examples. How does Weber’s negative view of capitalism differ from Marx’s?
alienation: condition in which people are dominated by forces of their own creation and then confront them as alien powers. A shoe worker only knows the skill they are specialized for, this alienate them from other opportunities. Weber thinks that technology and ideas create social change-iron cage -confined to bureaucracy
How did the $5 per day wage at Ford Motor Company shine a light on judgments about families and the role of women in society?
Fords wage policy was created so men could work and make money and the women would be provided for and could work in the home. This made women dependent on men which “put them in their place”
politics
power relations among people or other social actors
authority
the justifiable right to exercise power
charismatic authority
authority that rests on the personal appeal of an individual leader.
traditional authority
authority that rests on appeals to the past or traditions.
Legal rational authority
authority based on legal, impersonal rules; the rules rule
routinization
the clear, rule-governed procedures used repeatedly for decision making.
rationalization
an ever expanding process of ordering or organizing
bureaucracy
a legal rational organization or mode of administration that governs with reference to formal rules and roles and emphasizes meritocracy.
specialization
the process of breaking up work into specific, delimited tasks
Taylorism
the methods of labor management in troduced by FW Taylor to streamline the processes of mass production in which each worker repeatedly performs one specific task.
meritocracy
a society that assigns social status, power, and economic rewards on achievement, not ascribed, personal attributes or favoritism.
Milgram experiment
devised by Sanley Milgram in 1961 to see how far ordinary people would go to obey a scientific authority figure.
power
the ability to carry out one’s own will despite resistance.
domination
the probability that a command with specific content will be obeyed by a given group of people.
state
as defined by Max Weber, “a human community that (successful) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.
coercion
the use of force to get others to do what you want.
paradox of authority
although the state’s authority derives from the implicit threat of physical force, restoring to physical coercion strips the state of all legitimate authority.
international state system
a system in which each state is recognized as territoriality sovereign by fellow states.
welfare state
a system in which the state is responsible for the well-being of its citizens.
citizenship rights
the rights guaranteed to each law abiding citizen in a nation state
civil rights
the rights guaranteeing a citizen’s personal freedom from interference, including freedom of speech and the right to travel freely.
political rights
the rights guaranteeing a citizen’s ability to participate in politics, including the right to vote and the right to hold an elected office.
social rights
the rights guaranteeing a citizen’s protection by the state.
soft power
power attained through the use of cultural attractiveness rather than the threat of coercive action (hard power).
democracy
a system of government wherein power theoretically lies with the people; citizens are allowed to vote in elections, speak freely, and participate as legal equals in social life.
dictatorship
a form of government that restricts the right to political participation to a small group or even to a single individual.
game theory
the study of strategic decisions made under conditions of uncertainty and interdependence.
collective action problem
the difficulty in organizing large groups because of the tendency of some individuals to freeload or slack off.
altruism
an action that benefits a group but does not directly benefit the individual performing the action.
iron law of oligarchy
in large and complex organization, like a state, the power structure begins to resemble an oligarchy, a form of government in which power lies with a small group of leaders.
political party
an organization that seeks to gain power in a government, generally by backing candidates for office who subscribe (to the extent possible) to the organization’s political ideals.
interest group
an organization that seeks to gain power in government and influence policy without campaigning for direct election or appointment to office.
political participation
any activity that has the intent or effect of influencing government action.
religion
a system of beliefs, traditions, and practices around sacred things; a set of shared “stores” that guide belief and action.
sacred
holy things put to special use for worship and kept separate from the profane; the sacred realm is unknowable and mystical, so it inspires us with feelings of awe and wonder.
profane
the things of mundane, everyday life.
theism
the worship of a god or gods,
ethicalism
the adherence to certain principles to lead a moral life, as in Buddhism and Taoism.
animism
the belief that spirits are part of the natural world, as in totemism.
denominatoin
a big group of congregations that share the same faith and are governed under one administrative umbrella
congregation
a group of people who gather together, especially for worship.
pluralism
the presence and engaged coexistence of numerous distinct groups in one society.
sacred canopy
Peter Berger’s term to describe the entire set of religious norms, symbols, and beliefs that express the most important thing in life - namely, the feeling that life is worth living and that reality is meaningful and ordered, not just random chaos.
Evangelicals
members of any denomination distinguished by four main beliefs: the Bible is without error, salvation comes only through belief in Jesus Christ, personal conversation is the only path to salvation (the “born again” experience), and others must also be converted. They proselytize by engaging with wider society.
fundamentalists
religious adherents who follow a scripture (such asa the Bible or Qur’an) using a literal interpretation of its meaning.
Karl Marx’s beliefs
religion was used to keep workers from questioning their oppressed position in everyday life by promising them riches in the after life
Max Weber’s beliefs
- protestantism was necessary for capitalism because it states that a person fulfilled the duty to God through hard work
- making money was not frowned upon, although spending that money on pleasure and personal enjoyments was
Durkheim’s beliefs
- not our role to make judgement
- try to find what people have in common
- promotes pluralism = the presence of numerous distinct religious groups in one society
pluralism positives
diverse religions can engage one another to build a community
pluralism negatives
having too many choices weakens the credibility of any one church
micro sociologists beliefs
look at religion in terms of its meaning and uses in peoples everyday lives
reflexive spirituality
a contemporary religious movement that encourages followers to look to religion for meaning, wisdom, and profound thought and feeling rather than for absolute truths on how the world works.
megachurch
typically Protestant, attracts more than 2,000 visitors per week.
supernatural compensators
promises of future rewards, such as salvation or eternity in heaven.
sects or sectarian group
high tension organizations that don’t fit well within the existing social environment. They are usually most attractive to society’s least privileged - outcasts, minorities, or the poor - because they downplay worldly pleasure by stressing otherworldly promises.
cult
religious movement that makes some new claim about the supernatural and therefore does not easily fit within the sect - church cycle.
sect-church cycle
churches are world-affirming and peacefully coexist with society around them. A sect is high tension and doesn’t fit so well. Sect’s normally splinter off of a church when leaders focus too much on the secular.
