Humanities PDF

Session 2: Philosophy’s basic concept Basic concepts: ​ Ideology: set of interrelated ideas that seek to preserve/maintain or transform a system ​ System: a set of organised or structured parts related to each other to achieve any goal ○​ Legal system...

Session 2: Philosophy’s basic concept Basic concepts: ​ Ideology: set of interrelated ideas that seek to preserve/maintain or transform a system ​ System: a set of organised or structured parts related to each other to achieve any goal ○​ Legal system ○​ Economic system (parts could be the market for example) ○​ Educational system (parts could be teachers and students with the goal of educating the population) Feudalism: system based on land -> a system in which people were given land and protection by people of higher rank, and worked and fought for them in return ‘Feudom’- latin for land and ‘Ism’- system Fundamental system of the middle ages Rigid social structures (population pyramid) ○​ Church ○​ Monarchy ○​ Feudal lords ○​ Servants (commoners) This theory says that: If you have more money, you buy more land and you become more powerful in a cycle, however there is no upward mobility so there is in reality no way to come up from your social position The transformation of the Feudal Lord to bourgeois begins to transform the system.​ ​ How does the transformation occur? ○​ No upward mobility (people are stuck in their social position) ○​ Industrial Revolution (changes created the scene for a bigger change) Example: French Revolution Capitalism: Codified existing, happened organically System based on capital -> economic and political system where trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. This is a system that: ​ Seeks maximum profits ​ Breaks the rigid structures of feudalism ​ Allows maximum profits only by some having more than others ​ Capital is produced collectively but profits are privately owned Basic contradiction of capitalism: unequal exchange ​ Collective workforce vs private means of production This contradiction led to Karl Marx’s ‘communist manifesto’ Socialism: Started as a theory, did not exist yet and made its way System based on social needs-> economic and political system based on collective, common, or public ownership of the means of production Theorised as being the inevitable end of capitalism: workers rebellion due to contradictions and will seek for change (not true) This system presents: ​ More equal distribution of wealth ○​ From micro (company) to macro (state) ​ Centralised state (this is why most socialist only have one party) ​ Socialise assets and wealth (example: Gilberto Gil in Brazil-> the US suggested socialising the amazon as they are the lungs of the earth, however Gilberto suggested that in return the US share their wealth) ○​ It is possible only to some extent but cannot end in real socialism, this depends on the population’s trust Idealisation according to political systems: Criminalisation of different ideologies or systems -> in most capital countries communism/socialism is the worst that could happen and vice versa Cold war: USA (capitalism) vs USSR (socialism) ​ Leaving us in a bipolar global system ​ Outcomes: ○​ USSR dissolved in 1991 -> means a more unipolar world : capitalism and neoliberalism (global shift towards capitalism) ​ No antagonist country with equal power as capitalism ​ Anything different than this is seen as wrong however this is problematic because the world could always shift Since we are all born within a specific system, our way of thinking is mostly socialised because our freedom of thought has been actually biased by all the information that has always been given to us, so what we think we know and believe is actually reduced to what we have been taught Is the world still unipolar today? Why? -> the BRIC (brasil, india, china and russia) are preventing the USA to be the superpower which will likely create a change Is the global system we have now crumbling or still strong? -> crumbling as every developed country now has economic issues due to the system’s structure as the states often do not provide for their populations -> the rich get richer and the poorer get poorer which in a sense kill slowly social development which leads to an impact on economic development as the welfare of the population is degrading Session 3-4: social differentiation Society groups that share common norms, values and or cultural norms -> how are norms and values decided? ​ Powerful elites and history ​ Specific groups and religion ​ Educational standards through politics ​ Majorities usually follow norms and values that are given to them blindly from a certain age it is blind and sometimes it is questioned Social construct: an idea or practice that a group of people agree exists -> examples ​ Idea that races exist only because we are told so which leads to the possibility of ranking races leading to racism ​ Religion to some extent ​ Laws and constitutional law ​ Gender construction ​ Nations - passports, visas… ​ Ideologies ​ Money ​ Fashion codes Social structure: social common denominators designed by social constructions -> example: ​ Patriarchal society: women are taught that they need to obey their husbands ○​ Weddings: husband has to ask the father for the woman’s hand, the bride is handed from her father to her husband, women have to accept to follow and obey their husbands and men have to protect their wives Everything was created, but by who and why? Who designs the structure? The most powerful people can influence societies Belief: -> patriarchal society designed by males -> the belief that the white are better created by a white male Social differentiation: consequence of social fragmentation (gender, ethnicities, social class) Fragmentation occurs by the breakage of society into parts: class, race, gender Distinction between groups can promote inequality (gender, race…), social stratification (see individuals or groups within vertical ranks: 1)white male-> 2)white females-> 3)black, immigrant female, lesbian) How can groups that are in disadvantage be part of society’s decisions ? -> representation When people are represented by someone with similar educational, ethnic, gender, racial or religious background ​ Is this right? ​ Does this happen? ​ Do you feel represented by your government? -> usually people that win office are the ones that already have capital and funds -> nowadays there is no one that actually makes you feel identified but maybe less worse than the rest Principles of a democracy: -> government by and of the people Basic types 1)​ participatory democracy: systems of democracy in which all members of a group or community participates collectively in making major decisions 2)​ Indirect democracy: a form of participatory democracy that allows citizens to vote on their representatives to make decisions for them Does a democracy work? Why and why not ? What can people do when they don’t feel represented ? ​ Mobilize and protest (best option) or just go home and cry about it Mobilization types ​ Revolution: evolve again, create something new  ○​ Process of political change involving the mobilisation of masses that successfully overthrow an existing regime and forms a new government (has to be in groups or else does not work) ​ Social movement: large groups of people who seek to accomplish, or block, a process of social change ○​ Not just a parade or a march ○​ Less radical approach to social change (than revolution) ○​ May lead to revolution Why social change? Social movements are a great force for change, they have been the object of studies for years -> one of the most influential theories have been brought forward by: karl marx (marxism: theory that says that conflict is a catalyst for change and occurs because of a struggle between the ruling and working class, therefore the ruling that occurs pushes for socialism- revolution with the intention to create a classless society) 4 frameworks: ​ Economic deprivation ​ Resource mobilization ​ Structural change ​ Fields of action —---------missing stuff—----------- Resource mobilization Mobilizing group resources: ​ Which? ​ When: ○​ People have no institutionalized means of voicing their concerns ○​ The state authorities repress their needs Although collective action at some point involves direct confrontation with the political authorities, it is not likely to affect established patterns of power Structural strain: six conditions 1)​ Structural conduciveness The social conditions promoting or inhibiting the formation of social movements 2)​ Structural strain Tensions that produce conflicting interests within societies 3)​ Generalised beliefs Ideology (important because all social movements are linked to ideologies) -> social movements do not develop simply as responses to vaguely felt anxieties or hostilities. They are shaped by the influences of these generalised beliefs. 4)​ Precipitating factors Events that trigger direct action by those involved in the movement (death of jorge floyd and blm, amnesty for catalonia (right wing mobilised)) -> la personne qui s’est suicider en se mettant en feu car il n’avait plus de solutions pour réussir à vivre avec le peu qu’il a 5)​ Effective leadership Leadership and some means of regular communication among participants, together with funding and material resources, are necessary for a social movement to exist 6)​ Nature of social control directed against the social movement The response of the authorities -> a harsh response might spark further protest and help solidify the movement -> steps might be taken to reduce the ethnic inequality that generates resentment and conflict Sum up: ​ Some social structures promote social differentiation ​ Having no representation may lead to social constraints ​ Social constraints may lead to uneasiness and mobilizations ​ Mobilisations may lead to social movement and revolutions ​ It is crucial to understand these underlying characteristics of society for us all to live in harmony Session 6: intersectionality (on blackboard) Session 7: elements for mobilization New world order as a global block What is it, and since when? -> capitalism as a political and economic base -> neoliberalism as an ideological base -> consumer society: from homo sociologicus to homo economicus A crisis of the individual occurs when he/she is defined less and less by social roles and more by their own interests and their position in the market -> individual’s value is determined by the market -> individual as a product or as a consumer? ​ When we allow apps like tik tok to use our data and sell our information in order to be able to sell us more of their products which makes us both products and consumers in today’s system In 1991, the world ceased to be a bipolar world to a unipolar world led by the us’s system which led rise to the new world order with capitalism, neoliberalism and created the consumer society that we know today Today we can somewhat agree that we have a uni-multi power world system where we have a power however some smaller powers are not letting the superpower take control of the world The historical block Concept created by antonio gramsci to address relations of power that exist within the system and the global sphere -> he believed in socialist values and was detained by mussolini and while he was detained he wrote ‘los cuadernos de la carcel’ He says that the block is the result of the relationships between two fundamental concepts: -> structure -> superstructure Structure: the social, political, and relations on production that exists in a society (the set of relationships) Superstructure: the reflection of those relationships (representation of relationships as a whole) ​ This is why we vote for individuals that we feel represent us the most, since they are a reflection of us (we should not stand against them because they are like us, so if you change it you are just changing a structure that is like you) Hegemony -> a combination of consensus and coercion; where particularity assumes the universal significance, reaching supremacy over the particularities In other words- domination: intellectual, moral, cultural, political, economic…- of one group over another When the superstructure (political class and powerful class) manages to articulate itself as the referent of the structure, the latter begins to see itself reflected in the former, so that is does not feel the need to revolt because they see themselves to be part of the same superstructure -> this happens to be the context control They decide all aspects of education (such as the books, topics studied or not allowed to be studied), which will lead to a new generation that believes in their belief which creates a domination of a specific ideology Importance for social movements Why? -> it is extremely important to understand these sociological principles when articulating resistances -> by understanding the social behavior of individuals who assume these behaviors, we can approach them differently so that they understand these material realities so they might decide to join the movements Example: Latinos voting for trump, they are not dumb, they just do not have the tools to understand that their rights are going to be targeted as they are uninformed and unaware The collective: The moment where individuals decide to confine themselves to a group where they share similar interests and act in a coherent way with each other to achieve them in certainly a paradox from where individual and collective behavior juxtaposed when any action is taken This means: when and how is it exactly that individuals decide to join a process In this context it is necessary to make a distinction between two mechanisms of action that transcend the individual: 1)​ Collective action 2)​ Collective behavior Collective behavior -> spontaneous and isolated actions that channel the response of various social sectors to specific phenomena Is seen as a spontaneous action, somewhat more disorganised than other types of actions, carried out to address a particular situation immediately and does not necessarily require a collective identity, organisation or a benefit Examples: fashion (if rn people started wearing a specific hat ans you do too you're part of the collective behavior) , technological trends Collective action -> a connective behavior, it is a joint action of individuals but it is distinguished from collective behaviour by defending common or collective interests -> by being more specific and within common interests collective action results in a process that is often more organised and has some collective identity ​ Collective identity: common ground by which a group of people (and organisations) base their work, processes and actions, seen as a common denominator Example: ​ 1994 - the press obtained a film of the police brutally assaulting a drunk driver which led to a large movement which led both the policemen to trial, this sparked indignation within the us and people started to go in the streets and riots happened (collective action)-> rodney king riots (lasted a couple of days) ​ George Floyd These are not social movements, they do not last a long time and they are not as organised as social movements as they are very specific Social movements A collective action, they can be understood as some kind of organised collective behavior, but with a deeper level of organisation and bonding on the part of its members than that of collective action -> Presupposes organisation as longer existence in time: ​ Collective identity as a major factor ​ Continuity ○​ More complex and has different approaches Has specific checkboxes, if checks all then it's a social movement, if lacks some things, it's a collective action