Sociology of Urbanization

Urbanization

• Urbanization is the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas, resulting in an increase in population in cities.
• From a functionalism perspective, cities are both good and bad for society, offering cultural diversity and centers of culture, but also crime.
• From a conflict theory perspective, cities are sources of inequality, where the elite use resources from the poor to enrich their own lives.
• People move to urban areas for various reasons, including jobs, better utilities, and easier access to hospitals and schools.
• The growth of cities leads to the creation of suburbs, which are areas where people can form communities with their neighbors while maintaining their own individual oasis.
• Suburbs can be further divided into exurbs, which are often prosperous and have their own economic centers.

Population Dynamics

• Population dynamics is the study of how population grows or shrinks over time, including fertility, migration, and mortality rates.
• Fertility measures the rate at which people are born in a population, and high fertility rates can increase the population.
• Migration consists of two factors: immigration (people moving into a country) and emigration (people moving out of a country), which can affect the population.
• Mortality measures the rate at which people die in a population, and high mortality rates can decrease the population.
• Population pyramids are used to visualize the population of a country, dividing it into different age groups and genders.
• Expansive pyramids indicate a high birth rate and low death rate, resulting in a young population.
• Stationary pyramids indicate a low birth rate and low death rate, resulting in a stable population.
• Constrictive pyramids indicate a low birth rate and low death rate, but with a skewed age distribution, resulting in an aging population.

Demographic Transition

• Demographic transition is the model of the changes in a country's population over time, from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates.
• The five stages of demographic transition are:
  1. High birth rates and high death rates, with a stable population.
  2. Death rates decline, and the population of older people increases.
  3. Birth rates decline, and the population stops growing as fast.
  4. Birth rates and death rates balance out, and the population stabilizes.
  5. The population could remain stable, increase, or decrease, depending on external and internal pressures.

Globalization

• Globalization is the sharing of ideas, cultures, services, and products across national borders, due to interdependence, technology, and communication.
• Theories of globalization include:
  • World systems theory: the world is a single social unit, divided into core, periphery, and semi-periphery countries.
  • Modernization theory: every country follows a similar path in development, from traditional to modern.
  • Dependency theory: third-world countries have their own unique structures and are poor due to their unfavorable economic position.
• Perspectives of globalization include:
  • Hyperglobalist: individual countries will become less important as countries become interdependent.
  • Skeptics: countries are still important, and the world is becoming regionalized.
  • Transformationalist: the importance of national governments is changing, but it's unclear what it's changing into.

Social Movements

• Social movements are groups of people with a shared idea, seeking to change or resist social change.
• Activist social movements seek to change something about society, while regressive or reactionary social movements resist social change.
• Examples of social movements include the environmental movement.
• Theories of social movements include:
  • Relative deprivation theory: people who perceive some sort of deprivation or inequality will band together to try and change that in society.
  • Resource mobilization theory: people must have the resources to fund the movement, publicize it, and recruit members.
  • Rational choice theory: people weigh different actions and choose the one that benefits them the most.
• Social movements can cause widespread effects, including panics and crazes, and can either fail and fade away or succeed and become integrated into society.

Urbanization

• Urbanization is the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas, resulting in an increase in population in cities.
• From a functionalism perspective, cities are both good and bad for society, offering cultural diversity and centers of culture, but also crime.
• From a conflict theory perspective, cities are sources of inequality, where the elite use resources from the poor to enrich their own lives.
• People move to urban areas for various reasons, including jobs, better utilities, and easier access to hospitals and schools.
• The growth of cities leads to the creation of suburbs, which are areas where people can form communities with their neighbors while maintaining their own individual oasis.
• Suburbs can be further divided into exurbs, which are often prosperous and have their own economic centers.

Population Dynamics

• Population dynamics is the study of how population grows or shrinks over time, including fertility, migration, and mortality rates.
• Fertility measures the rate at which people are born in a population, and high fertility rates can increase the population.
• Migration consists of two factors: immigration (people moving into a country) and emigration (people moving out of a country), which can affect the population.
• Mortality measures the rate at which people die in a population, and high mortality rates can decrease the population.
• Population pyramids are used to visualize the population of a country, dividing it into different age groups and genders.
• Expansive pyramids indicate a high birth rate and low death rate, resulting in a young population.
• Stationary pyramids indicate a low birth rate and low death rate, resulting in a stable population.
• Constrictive pyramids indicate a low birth rate and low death rate, but with a skewed age distribution, resulting in an aging population.

Demographic Transition

• Demographic transition is the model of the changes in a country's population over time, from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates.
• The five stages of demographic transition are:
  1. High birth rates and high death rates, with a stable population.
  2. Death rates decline, and the population of older people increases.
  3. Birth rates decline, and the population stops growing as fast.
  4. Birth rates and death rates balance out, and the population stabilizes.
  5. The population could remain stable, increase, or decrease, depending on external and internal pressures.

Globalization

• Globalization is the sharing of ideas, cultures, services, and products across national borders, due to interdependence, technology, and communication.
• Theories of globalization include:
  • World systems theory: the world is a single social unit, divided into core, periphery, and semi-periphery countries.
  • Modernization theory: every country follows a similar path in development, from traditional to modern.
  • Dependency theory: third-world countries have their own unique structures and are poor due to their unfavorable economic position.
• Perspectives of globalization include:
  • Hyperglobalist: individual countries will become less important as countries become interdependent.
  • Skeptics: countries are still important, and the world is becoming regionalized.
  • Transformationalist: the importance of national governments is changing, but it's unclear what it's changing into.

Social Movements

• Social movements are groups of people with a shared idea, seeking to change or resist social change.
• Activist social movements seek to change something about society, while regressive or reactionary social movements resist social change.
• Examples of social movements include the environmental movement.
• Theories of social movements include:
  • Relative deprivation theory: people who perceive some sort of deprivation or inequality will band together to try and change that in society.
  • Resource mobilization theory: people must have the resources to fund the movement, publicize it, and recruit members.
  • Rational choice theory: people weigh different actions and choose the one that benefits them the most.
• Social movements can cause widespread effects, including panics and crazes, and can either fail and fade away or succeed and become integrated into society.

Urbanization

• Urbanization is the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas, resulting in an increase in population in cities.
• From a functionalism perspective, cities are both good and bad for society, offering cultural diversity and centers of culture, but also crime.
• From a conflict theory perspective, cities are sources of inequality, where the elite use resources from the poor to enrich their own lives.
• People move to urban areas for various reasons, including jobs, better utilities, and easier access to hospitals and schools.
• The growth of cities leads to the creation of suburbs, which are areas where people can form communities with their neighbors while maintaining their own individual oasis.
• Suburbs can be further divided into exurbs, which are often prosperous and have their own economic centers.

Population Dynamics

• Population dynamics is the study of how population grows or shrinks over time, including fertility, migration, and mortality rates.
• Fertility measures the rate at which people are born in a population, and high fertility rates can increase the population.
• Migration consists of two factors: immigration (people moving into a country) and emigration (people moving out of a country), which can affect the population.
• Mortality measures the rate at which people die in a population, and high mortality rates can decrease the population.
• Population pyramids are used to visualize the population of a country, dividing it into different age groups and genders.
• Expansive pyramids indicate a high birth rate and low death rate, resulting in a young population.
• Stationary pyramids indicate a low birth rate and low death rate, resulting in a stable population.
• Constrictive pyramids indicate a low birth rate and low death rate, but with a skewed age distribution, resulting in an aging population.

Demographic Transition

• Demographic transition is the model of the changes in a country's population over time, from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates.
• The five stages of demographic transition are:
  1. High birth rates and high death rates, with a stable population.
  2. Death rates decline, and the population of older people increases.
  3. Birth rates decline, and the population stops growing as fast.
  4. Birth rates and death rates balance out, and the population stabilizes.
  5. The population could remain stable, increase, or decrease, depending on external and internal pressures.

Globalization

• Globalization is the sharing of ideas, cultures, services, and products across national borders, due to interdependence, technology, and communication.
• Theories of globalization include:
  • World systems theory: the world is a single social unit, divided into core, periphery, and semi-periphery countries.
  • Modernization theory: every country follows a similar path in development, from traditional to modern.
  • Dependency theory: third-world countries have their own unique structures and are poor due to their unfavorable economic position.
• Perspectives of globalization include:
  • Hyperglobalist: individual countries will become less important as countries become interdependent.
  • Skeptics: countries are still important, and the world is becoming regionalized.
  • Transformationalist: the importance of national governments is changing, but it's unclear what it's changing into.

Social Movements

• Social movements are groups of people with a shared idea, seeking to change or resist social change.
• Activist social movements seek to change something about society, while regressive or reactionary social movements resist social change.
• Examples of social movements include the environmental movement.
• Theories of social movements include:
  • Relative deprivation theory: people who perceive some sort of deprivation or inequality will band together to try and change that in society.
  • Resource mobilization theory: people must have the resources to fund the movement, publicize it, and recruit members.
  • Rational choice theory: people weigh different actions and choose the one that benefits them the most.
• Social movements can cause widespread effects, including panics and crazes, and can either fail and fade away or succeed and become integrated into society.