Introduction to Sociology for Business and Public Life - Understanding Societies
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University of Malta
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This document provides an introduction to the study of sociology, focusing on the transformations in societies from industrialization to post-industrialization. It covers key concepts like the industrial revolution, capitalism, and urbanization.
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**[Understanding Societies: from industrialization to post-industrialization]** 1. The industrial revolution 2. Industrialism 3. Capitalism 4. Urbanism 5. Liberal democracy 6. Post modernity **[The industrial revolution]** The industrial revolution is the massive and interrelated **[ec...
**[Understanding Societies: from industrialization to post-industrialization]** 1. The industrial revolution 2. Industrialism 3. Capitalism 4. Urbanism 5. Liberal democracy 6. Post modernity **[The industrial revolution]** The industrial revolution is the massive and interrelated **[economic + technological + social]** changes, in which the United Kingdom become a manufacturing economy, based on new machine technology and the factory system. In a *History of Civilizations* (1993), Fernand Braudel describes how such an organized type of economy flourished. Britain became the first country to hose the industrial revolution and the process of industrialization. \\ The industrial revolution occurred between the second half of the 18^th^ and the beginning of the 19^th^ century (**particularly 1760-1850**). Came about in 2 stages (Braudel): - The **cotton** industry stage - The **metal** production stage The basis of the industrial Revolution was the application of **steam power** to machinery, meaning using steam, instead of man or animal strength, to set tools in motion (horse mill for grinding grain or pumping water). The steam engine was improved by James Watt who adapted the piston to the rotary motion. The steam engine was the first used for production and then for transportation. Braudel says that "'the **textile industry**, more than any other, made possible relatively **large scale production** in a still traditional artisan world." - 1760 -- Raw cotton used = 2 million pounds - 1850 -- Raw cotton used = 366 million pounds **High rise in output** accompanied by high **plunge in costs** (higher production & lower costs). Between 1800-1850, foodstuff costs went down by 33% and cotton goods by 80%. **The second phase of the industrial revolution:** - **Railways**: with the coming of the railways between 1830/1840, Britain started with its 2^nd^ phase of industrialization. - **Iron**: Britain ended up producing more iron than France or Russia. **[The industrialization process]** Industrialization can be defined as the general process by which economies and societies, in which [agriculture] and the production of [handicrafts] predominate **[(pre-industrial societies),]** become transformed into economies and societies where [manufacturing] and related extractive industries are central (**[industrial societies)]**. The **process of industrialization** is closely linked with the overall **modernization of societies**, especially the process of capitalism, the development of science and technology, urbanization, and political modernization (liberal democracy). Each of these changes can be viewed as either a pre-requisite, a direct consequence, or ia requirement of industrialization. **[Industrial society]** An industrial society is that form of society in which **industrialization and modernization** have occurred. The industrial revolution which kick started the process of **industrialization** produced an **industrial society.** The term originates from Saint-Simon who chose it to **reflect the emerging central role of manufacturing** industry in 18^th^ century Europe in contrast with pre-industrial societies. An industrial society is a society committed to - The mechanism of production (machinery) - Technology modernization (innovation) - New modes of organization (bureaucracy) - Creation of efficiency (division of labor) - Mass production - Cheaper prices - Consumption (producers to consumers) Industrial revolution: features The decisive features of the industrial revolution: 1. Technological change: the invention of new machinery and application of steam power In mining, manufacturing (textiles, iron, steel) and transport (roads, canals, railways, sea), (Technological change) 2. economic change: increased capitalist control over the labor process and a greatly increased division of labor and conquest improvements in overall efficiency and productivity, in factories and workshops (economic change) 3. **[technological change + economic change = social change]** **the social change created by industrialization** - rapid urbanization: large numbers of people were attracted from the small villages of countryside to start living in large cities -- separation of the household from production -- vast majority now WORKS IN FACTORIES AND ONLY FEW IN AGRICULTURE (VERSUS PREINDUSTRIAL ERA). - division of labor: the pride of the old skills was lost to the tediousness of the assembly line -- no requirement of learning new skills -- techno structure of managers and experts. - Mass unemployment: due to machine work and economic depressions. - Bureaucracy: large bureaucracies (organizational systems) were introduced to service the growing industry. - Class conflict: wider gaps between haves and have nots: the free market system instigated Harsher Competition for scarce resources. - Secularization: undermining religion, the cement of society - Family: decline of extended family and kinship relationships as the basis of social organization. - Education: mass education and schooling - Political organization: liberal democracy **The birth of sociology** The new social problems created by the process of industrialization were thoroughly discussed by the 'fathers of sociology'. The background to the origins of sociology lies in the series of sweeping changes ushered in **the French revolution of 1789 and the industrial revolution in Europe.** The shattering of traditional ways of life these change brought with them, resulted in the attempts of thinks to **understand and explain** how these changes had come about, and **predict what their consequences** were likely to be. **[The fathers of sociology]** **Comte (1798-1857)** coined the term 'sociology' and his thought reflected the turbulent age in which he lived. - He sought to create a science of society that could **explain universal laws of social order** just as natural science explained the natural world. - So uncovering the laws that govern human society would help us **shape our destiny and improve the welfare of humanity.** **Marx's** analysis of the situation transformed '**alienation**' into a sociological concept (1844) -- alienation **a restraint to the individual's opportunity of self-fulfillment.** Workers in a capitalist system became **estranged** from - Their productive analysis - The final product - Their fellow workers - Their own human potential **Durkheim** discussed the matter in the division of labor in society (1893). While believing that the positive aspects of the division of labor outweighed the problems, he speaks of **[Anomie]**, meaning a social dislocation that is likely to occur when social change is too rapid. **Weber**, while avoiding a general evolutionary sequence studies '**rationalization'**. He is concerned with the '**iron cage'** created by the uncontested hegemony of the [rational legal system] -- as in bureaucracy. **[What is sociology?]** Sociology is a social science (others include economics, psychology, political science, and human geography). [What is the subject matter of sociology?] As a social science, sociology attempts to explain and understand the behavior of human beings in society. [How does sociology differ from other social sciences?] - Compared to [economics]: sociology tackles more than just one aspect of society, example, culture, politics, sports, family... - Compared to [anthropology]: sociology studies modern societies - Compared to [philosophy]: sociology is for empirical study. The difference between the OUGHT AND THE IS. - Compared to [psychology]: sociology is less concerned with the individual and more concerned with human groups - (varying size of [groups]; school class/family/education system/Maltese society as a whole) - Rather than explaining human behavior simply in terms of [individual mental states,] sociology sees [patterns of behavior] as related to the wider social context in which people live. - Suicide, depression, murder [Industrial revolution: using the sociological imagination to explain industrial society] **Theories of society:** the way sociologists explain human behavior **Sociological theory:** is a set of ideas that claims to explain how society or aspects of society work. Sociologists not only differ in subject matter but they also differ in their **theoretical approach:** - **Consensus perspectives:** (functionalism) emphasize shared interests - **Conflict perspectives:** (Marxism and feminism) emphasize conflict between social groups. - **Marco theories**: focus on society as a whole and its major institutions - **Micro theories**: (interactionism) focus on smaller groups and the construction of meaning. **The sociological imagination** - **Structural theories** of societies (functionalism, Marxism...) emphasize [the importance of society in shaping human behavior.] - **Interactionist theories:** emphasize the importance of human behavior in shaping society. the way people respond to external factors is a [subjective response,] shaped by the way the [individual interprets them] (feelings, meanings, motives) - Many sociologists (weber, Giddens) today believe that examining **both structures of society and social interaction** [provides a better understanding of social life. ] c\. wright mills (1959) argued that the '**sociological imagination'** allowed people to understand their [private troubles in terms of public issues], in the context of wider social forces. Sociology for mills is about [examining the biographies of individuals in the context of history of societies. ] Understanding this relationship between history and biography is what mills calls [the sociological imagination. ] **[Industrialism]** Industrialism is (industrialization is the process; industrialism is the system: industrial sociology is the study of that system). - A **social system based** on the development of large-scale industries. - An economic system whose organization is built largely on mechanized industry rather than agriculture, craftsmanship or commerce. - Typical characteristics include a: - [Factory system] and the concentration of employment in urban factories. - [Mechanization of production] and the production of large quantities of inexpensive manufactured goods. - [Specialized division of labor] (Specialist jobs and job mobility) - [Cultural rationalization] (application of scientific methods to problem solving) - [Bureaucracy] and administration by rules - [Urbanization:] geographically mobile labor-force living in large cities [The division of labor in economics and management] Various scholars have identified a close connection between **[specialization, skills, output, and profit. ]** **Division of labor** as used by early classical economists, the term, describes a specialization in workshops and the factory system, explains the advantages accruing in terms of the **increased efficiency and productivity** of these new arrangements. **Adam smith** (Wealth of nations 1776) uses the idea of **division of labor** to explain how **output** in a workshop might be **optimized** by the **minute division of tasks**. one person working in isolation produces 20 pins per day while ten specialized operators working collaboratively could produce 48,000 pins daily. **Taylorism** (1890s): the organization of production was further developed in the scientific management principles of **FW TAYLOR**. **Scientific management** advocated: - **Fragmentation of work** into simple, routine operations - Individual jobs reduced when possible to the performance of a **singe and repetitive operation.** - Thereby **minimizing the skills component**. - **Standardization of each operation** to eliminate idle times. - **Separation of conception from execution --** example, design and control being a management task. **Fordism** is applied and intensified Taylorism on the assembly lines of the **ford car plant in Detroit.** - It is **a method of organizing manufacturing production** in advanced industrial societies. - it proposes the **mass production** of a standardized product at a price that would generate **mass consumption**. It implies - capital intensive, large-scale plant - an inflexible production process - rigid hierarchal and bureaucratic managerial structures - use of semi-skilled labor performing repetitive and routine tasks - discipline of scientific management [The division of labor in society: technical and social] Sociology makes a distinction between **technical and social division of labor.** **Technical division of labor**: in sociology, specialization of productive tasks is seen as incorporating much more than simple economic efficiency. It refers to a labor market which is segmented and unequal. It is characterized by the **subdivision of work tasks,** Characterized by a **structure of power and authority** revealed in the relations between management and workers, characterized by job **skill hierarchies.** **Social division of labor** refers to: 1. occupational specialization in society as a whole 2. the separation of social life into societal institutions **social division of labor** refers to **occupational specialization:** **division within society,** examples; class, local, labor markets - **sectoral patterns of employment** example, agriculture, manufacturing, services - **international division of labor** example, concentration of particular occupations and productive tasks in third world countries, creating uneven development. **Social division of labor refers to the separation of social life into societal institutions** example, the family, state, economy In **evolutionary sociology** the concept of social division of labor is indistinguishable from **social differentiation.** **social differentiation** is the process occurring in societies increasing in size and complexity, whereby **to adapt to the new environment**, an institutional activity becomes more divided and specialized, into two or more separate institutional activities - **it takes from biology** to describe the specialization of functions in society in a process of **social evolution.** - **Example, separation and specialization** of the economic function of production, from the institution of the **family**, which retains the function of reproduction and infant socialization. **Durkheim's division of labor in society** Durkheim, like the other founders of sociology was [preoccupied with the changes transforming society] in his own lifetime. Three of the main themes he addressed were: - The importance of sociology as an empirical science - The rise of the individual and the formation of a new social order - The sources and character of moral authority in society **[Individual and society -- Durkheim]** For Durkheim, **society** **is a structure that exists beyond ourselves**, hence, it is more than the simple sum of the individuals who compose it, and **social structure is a social fact,** that has [an objective reality beyond the lives and perceptions] of particular individuals -- hence, it **has a life of its own**, stretching beyond individual personal experiences. **Society existed long before us** and will remain long after we are gone. It has the power to **shape individual thoughts and actions,** because it looms larger than individual lives. Society and societal structures are formed and established through **patterns of human behavior.** Society, **once created by this behavior**, takes a momentum of its own, confronting its creators and **demanding a measure of obedience. Cultural norms, values, religious** beliefs all endure as social facts. Durkheim argues that the **individual** members of society, build a personality by **internalizing social facts.** The way we act, think and feel; our essential humanity is drawn from the society that nurtures us. Moreover, **society regulates human beings** through moral discipline; human beings are naturally insatiable and in constant danger of being overpowered by their own desires. *'the more one has, the more one wants, since satisfactions received only stimulate instead of filling needs'.* The least regulated suffer the highest rates of suicide. So individuals experience society's influence when they see the order in their lives or as they face temptation and feel **the tug of morality.** **[Durkheim's dilemma]** If the increased **technological power and personal freedom** of modern society come only at the cost of **receding morality**, how does society hold together? **So Durkheim asks...** *Why does the individual, while becoming more autonomous, depend more upon society?* ***How can he be more individual and more socially integrated?*** *Certainly, these two movements, contradictory as they appear, develop in parallel fashion... (1893)* **Durkheim answers...** *What resolves this apparent antimony is a transformation of social solidarity due to the steadily growing development of the division of labor (1893).* Functional interdependence: modernity rests far less on **moral consensus** (foundation of traditional societies) and far more on **functional interdependence.** We **depend** more on complete **strangers** we trust less (to secure the goods and services they need). Why then should we put our faith in people we hardly know and whose beliefs may differ radically from our own? Durkheim says -- because **we need them --** interdependence. **[Social integration and social solidarity -- Durkheim]** Durkheim was particularly interested in **social and moral solidarity.** - What holds society together and keeps it from descending into chaos. - In Durkheim and in other evolutionary theorists **social differentiation** was accompanied by the functional **need for increased integration** and interdependence in more complex societies. - **Solidarity** is maintained when individuals are successfully integrated into social groups. - **Integration** (key concept in Durkheim) is the extent to which an individual experiences **a sense of belonging to a social group** or collectivity. - by virtue of sharing its norms, values, customs and beliefs. Durkheim, in his analysis of social change argued that industrialization brought about a new type of solidarity. In the division of labor in society 1893, Durkheim contrasts two types of **social** **solidarity: mechanical and organic.** **Mechanical solidarity** The form of solidarity predominantly in simple and **less advanced societies.** - Possessed little technology - Minimal division of labor - Populated by small numbers of individuals. It is based on **the similarity and the common experience** of individuals, for example, similarity of occupations, kinship. They are bound together by common and shared beliefs, [a strong collective conscience.] They are grounded in consensus and similarity of belief. These shared beliefs are repressive: community punishes anyone who challenges conventional ways of life. Durkheim argues that the forces of [industrialization and urbanization] led to a growing division of labor which leads to - The specialization of tasks and the increasing social differentiation in advanced societies, leads to the - **Breakdown of mechanical solidarity** (characteristics of premodern societies) - **Emergence of organic solidarity** (a new social order for modern societies) **Organic solidarity** It is the form of solidarity ideally occurring in **modern advanced societies**. - Possessed advanced technology - Complex and highly specialized division of labor to make best use of scarce resources. - Large populations living in cities. It is based on the **complementarities** (rather than similarities) of individuals. People are held together by their economic interdependence and their recognition of the importance of the other's contributions (each person needs goods and services that those in other occupations produce). **Functional interdependence**; relationship of **economic reciprocity and mutual dependency** comes to [replace shared beliefs] in creating **social consensus.** Durkheim believed that the positive aspects of the division of labor outweighed the problems. But he speaks of '**anomie'**, meaning a social dislocation, that is likely to occur when social change is too rapid. **[Anomie -- Durkheim]** Anomie is a condition of society (or of personal relation to society), in which - There exists little consensus - There is a lack of certainty on values and goals - There is a loss of effectiveness in the normative and moral framework which regulates collective and individual life. Durkheim's view of **human nature** lies in the tradition of Thomas Hobbes; there is **no limit to the desires, ambitions, or needs of individuals.** Hobbes believed that **self-preservation** was everyone's fundamental natural **instinct**. - **No society = state of war** Natural law commanded people to seek peace as the readiest way to personal security. However, until civil society was created, the state of nature was a state of war. - **Conflict was inevitable** "During that time, men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a **war as is of every man against every man."** - **No law = no justice** "The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice, have there no place. Where There is no common power, there is no law; where there is no law, no injustice. **Force and fraud are in war, the two cardinal virtues."** - **Life is short and British** "In such condition, there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently, no culture of the Earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving and removing such things as require so much force; no knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and **danger of violent death;** and the **life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short".** Durkheim's view of **human nature** lies in the tradition of Thomas **hobbes.** For Durkheim, **the required limits to desires and ambitions must be socially produced.** When society fails to provide this limiting framework of social norms -- - Anomie exists - And unhappiness and social disorder result Anomie can arise both from - An upward spiraling of social expectations (Example, from new wealth opportunities) - As well as from more obviously adverse conditions How does anomie come about? The process of **rapid and intense social change** brought about by industrialization. - **Disruption of everyday patterns of behavior:** has disruptive effects on traditional lifestyles, morals, religious beliefs, and everyday patterns. - **Breakdown of normative framework:** traditional moral control and standards, which used to be supplied by religion, are largely broken down. - **Lack of clear goals and values:** without providing clear new values. - **Anomie:** these unsettling conditions lead to anomie: feelings of aimlessness (lives lacking meaning), dread and despair provoked by modern social life. Anomie is an abnormal social form, resulting from the failure of the modern societies to fully move from the mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity. **[Urbanism]** Urbanism describes the distinctive characteristics of urban social-life (such as the impersonality of the city). **The first urban revolution:** began with the appearance of **first human settlements** some **12,000 years ago.** - **Hunter gatherer societies:** prior to that, humans survived for tens of thousands of years without permanent settlements. - Living in **small, nomadic groups** moving as they depleted vegetation or searched for migratory game. - The **founding of the first cities** was made possible by **favorable ecology and by changing technology**; by domesticating animals and plants and yielding material surplus. **First cities: Jericho in Palestine** is identified as one of the first cities, **circa 8000BC it had 600 people**. By 4000BC cities were flourishing between Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Iraq) and the Nile. - The first cities in human history appeared in areas of **fertile land** where the production of **agricultural surplus** liberated part of the population from land work and **encouraged specialized activities and trades.** - The city depends upon a flow of goods from the country and therefore its development is structured by the availability of communication and transport technology. - Some cities reached **population of 50,000** and became centers of urban empires. - Priest-kings, nobles, administrators, artisans, soldiers, farmers, slaves... **Pre-industrial European cities:** urbanization in Europe began circa 1800BC. - **Crete =** the first recorded pre-industrial city (1800BC) - **Athens** made major contributions to Western way of life in philosophy, arts and politics. Population = 30,000; 33% of which were slaves (500BC) - **Rome** spreads its language, arts and technology to Europe, Northern Africa, and the middle east. (**Population = 1,000,000 circa 1 century Ad**) they founded cities (like the Greeks) across Europe (509BC Republic). - **fall of Roman Empire** (480BC Western Empire fell -- eastern roman empire 1453 fell to Turks) initiated an era of **Urban decline in Europe.** Cities became smaller as **People drew back within defensive walls.** - **End of Dark Ages:** (1100 AD circa) prompted **cities to tear down walls allowing for more trade.** - Amsterdam, London, brussels, Florence -- saw growth in merchants, artisans, priests, nobles, servants -- 1400s **Paris largest city 250,000 people**. - Occupational groups as bakers and carpenters clustered in distinct quarters -- Ethnic groups inhabited ghettos (borgettho outside the city walls) like jews in medieval Venice. **The second urban revolution was well underway in Europe by 1750s.** the process of industrialization generated Rapid urbanization: - Large numbers of people were attracted from the countryside to start living in cities, to **factory work**. - The pull of work in factories was accentuated by a push of landowners to fence off more land **to turn it into grazing land for sheep -- a source of wool for textile industry.** - **Population increased:** London, the largest city, by 1700 with 550,000 people grew to 6.5 million by 1900, due to migration from rural areas (Weber 1899). - **Changed shape:** cities not only grew but changed in shape. Industrial cities replaced older irregular streets with broader ones which accommodated flow of commercial traffic, steam and electric trams. - **Regular size land:** developers divided cities into regular sized lots, making it easier to be bought and sold. - **Cathedrals** which guided the life in Medieval cities were dwarfed by towering business centers. **The city: development timeline** - **10,000BC -- EARLIEST PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS** - **8,000BC -- FIRST CITIES** - **JERICHO (600 PEOPLE)** - **4,000BC -- VARIOUS CITIES FLOURISHING TIGRIS/EUPHRATES/NILE (SOME REACHING 50,000 PEOPLE)** - **2500BC -- COMPLEX SETTLEMENTS AT INDUS RIVER (PAKISTAN)** - **2000BC -- CHINESE CITIES** - **1500BC -- LATIN AMERICA URBAN CENTERS** - **1,800BC -- PRE-INDUSTRIAL EUROPEAN CITIES** - **STARTED FROM CRETE AND SPREAD TO 100 CITY-STATES** - **500BC ATHENS = 300,000 PEOPLE** - **100AD ROME = 1,000,000 PEOPLE** - **1100AD END DARK AGES. FALL OF ROMAN EMPIRE. CITIES SHRINKED.** - **1,750AD -- INDUSTRIAL EUROPEAN CITIES** **Urbanization; the movement of masses of people to cities** - **Influences societal development:** has a growing influence on how society works - **Is a recent development:** is quite a recent development in world history (even if cities are not new to the world scene) - Year 1800 = 3% lived in cities - Year 2008 = more people lived in cities than rural areas - Year 2050 = 66% of world's population will live in cities - **Uneven pattern:** is happening around the globe even if an uneven pattern - Least industrialized nations = 27% urbanized - Industrializing nations = 44% urbanized - Most industrialized nations = 75% urbanized - Has a **growing influence on society and dramatic change follows** - **Work:** many people left agricultural work behind to work on the assembly line. - **Crowded neighborhoods:** cities (vs village) are impersonal and crowded - **Social problems:** poverty, homelessness, crime, pollution and disease. **[Urban sociology]** Urban sociology is the study of social relationships and structures in the city. - Early sociologists like Tonnies, Simmel, and Weber (1890s) Located the urban dimension of the city **within the broader compass** of sociological theorizing. - Chicago school (1920s) - Marxist Theorists: Lefebvre (1967). [**Gemeinschaft und gesellschaft:** Ferdinand tonnies (1855-1936)] Like other classical sociologists such as Durkheim and Marx, he tries to **delineate stages of Societal development.** He was interested in the **social relationships and social order** of the emerging urban and industrial societies. He argues that **urbanization** (which occurred with the industrial revolution) and **city life were affecting social bonds and solidarity.** He saw the modern world as the progressive loss of **Gemeinschaft** **(human community)** which was being replaced by **Gesellschaft** **(society).** **Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft** refer to **contrasting types of social relationships and by extension, society.** **Gemeinschaft (community)** refers to relationships within **traditional** small-scale and mostly **pre-modern towns and villages.** These communities were: - Built on kinship, **family**, neighborhood - Occurred within a **shared territory** - Nourished **collective sentiments**, virtue and honor. These relationships: - Were Spontaneous, affective, **intimate** - Were Repeated or long **enduring** - Related to a person's overall **ascribed status** - Occur within a shared **homogenous culture** The industrial revolution which brought about urbanization (important features of modernization) - **Undermines the strong social fabric of family and tradition** - **Erodes human community** - By unleashing **rampant individualism** and fostering business like emphasis on **facts and efficiency** **Consequential change: societies** became gradually **rootless and impersonal** as people come to **associate mostly on the basis of self-interest.** **Gesellschaft (association/society)** refers to relationships characteristics of **modern urban industrial societies** in which the **division of labor is advanced.** These associations - Are **individualistic, competitive, calculative** - Nourish explicit conceptions of **rationality and efficiency** These relationships: - **Impersonal, instrumental, contractual, superficial** - **Temporary and transitory,** specific to a particular setting and purpose. - Related to an **achieved status** (based on merit) - Occur in a **heterogeneous culture** Tonnies views urbanization as destructive of community. In traditional ties of Gemeinschaft, people of a community are bound together, they are '**essentially united in spite of all separating factors'** In modern ties of Gesellschaft, people are '**essentially separated in spite of uniting factors'.** - **Social life** changed from one based on '**community bonds'** to one based on **individualistic** 'associational bonds. - Bonds which are more instrumental, transitory and superficial in character. - Relationships tend to be more specific to a particular setting and purpose. - Involved loss of mutuality of earlier Gemeinschaft relationships. - City people **live among strangers** ignoring those they pass on the street. - **Trust** is hard to come by in such a mobile and anonymous society - **Personal needs** are put ahead of group loyalty Acknowledging that there would be **no return to the past** he hopes for a social organization that would **combine modern rationality and collective responsibility.** **[Urbanism: urban sociology]** **Chicago school (1920s):** makes of urban studies a distinct sub-discipline, - Focusing upon issues of **social order** and organization within the city, and within different parts of the city. - Established a rich **empirical tradition** by researching the social characteristics of different areas within the city (Example, exploring incidence of social problems, such as crime, mental illness, alcoholism, and social cohesion). - Two streams -- **urban ecology + urbanism as a way of life** **Urban ecology:** an approach to the study of urban life, based on an **analogy**, of the adjustment **of plants and organisms** to the physical environment. - Cities do not grow up at random but in result to advantageous features of the environment (example, near rivers) - The various neighborhoods and zones within cities, are formed as a result of natural processes of **adjustment** on the part of urban population as they **compete for resources.** - **Social differentiation,** the specialization of groups and occupational roles - **is the main way in which human beings adapt to the environment.** **Urbanism as a way of life: Wirth (1938)** considered urbanism as the prevailing feature of modern society: - It is more salient than industrialization or capitalism, since the **development of large cities had created a break with society's natural situation.** - Urbanism cannot be reduced to measuring the size of urban populations but it has to be grasped as a form of **social existence** (way of life) "***for the city is not only increasingly the dwelling-place and the workshop of modern man, but it is the initiating and controlling center of economic, political, and cultural life, that has drawn the most remote communities of the world into its orbit and woven diverse areas, peoples and activities into a cosmos".*** The urban way of life weakens bonds of kinship -- eroding families, communities, and traditional social solidarity, - Replacing them **with relationships of an instrumental, transitory and superficial character** - for example, bus driver, florist, shop assistant... (specialized and impersonal) - for example, shoppers view grocers as source of goods and grocers see shoppers as source of income (self-interest) - on a positive note, he noticed that **modern cities were centers of freedom, tolerance and progress.** **Space as a commodity** Lefebvre (Marxist thinker) argued urban sociology was an apology for capitalism because, - it failed to examine the ways in which space is actually produced and distributed in capitalist societies. - Space itself is a commodity. **[Capitalism]** Capitalism is a system of economic enterprise based on **market exchange.** It involves the investment of **money to make more money.** **Capital** refers to any asset including money, property, and machinery, which can be used to produce commodities for sale, or invested in a market with the hope of achieving profit. **Capitalists** are those who own companies, land, or stocks and shares, using these to generate economic returns. A capitalist may or may not be directly involved in production. **Capitalist society** is a society based on capitalist economy or where capitalist ownership of the means of production plays a principal role. **Capitalist state** is the form of state in a capitalist society -- which according to some versions of Marxism, operates predominantly in the interests of capitalism, contributing directly to its reproduction. **Capitalist mode of production:** - **Means of production (capital):** are privately owned and privately controlled - **Capitalist labor contract:** the exchange of labor for wages between workers and capitalists - Production of **commodities**: sold in a competitive **free-market** with the goal of making profit. - **Profit** is appropriated by owners of capital (**surplus value)** - **Accumulation of capital (Marxism):** the process by which capitalism expands, by employing labor to create surplus value in order to create new capital, which is in turn used to create further surplus value and further new capital... leading to a continuous increase in the overall volume of capital. +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | **mercantilism** | **capitalism** | +===================================+===================================+ | 1. Dominant 16^th^ -- 18^th^ | 1. dominant 18^th^ century | | century | onwards | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | 2. Counterpart of political | 2. Counterparts of **liberal | | **absolutism** -- augmenting | democracy** -- promoting | | state power at expense of | individual freedom -- led to | | other states (reserves and | peace | | colonialist expansion) often | | | led to war. | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | 3. Believes that economic | 3. Views **wealth creation** as | | prosperity can be achieved | the key to economic growth | | through **the extraction of | | | wealth** (from taxation, | | | balance trade with other | | | countries and accumulation of | | | national reserves) | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | 4. Advocates **monopoly** | 4. Supports a **competitive | | (competition was | business environment** | | international; between | | | companies of different | | | states) | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | 5. **Discourages extravagance** | 5. Encourages **consumer | | of consumers to prevent | spending** and enjoyment of | | outflow of money from the | life to the fullest in order | | economy. | to make the economy grow | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | 6. **Profit** was made from | 6. **Profit** was made from | | **trading scarce products** | **rationalizing production** | | (Spices, copper, silk, | (Taylorism) | | sugar\...) | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | 7. Large **warehouses** (Dutch | 7. Large **factories** | | ones more expensive than | | | ships. As controlling stock | | | supplies gives power to | | | control price and flood | | | markets to break down | | | competition) example, stocks | | | of grain which could feed a | | | whole country for twelve | | | years. | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | 8. little impact on society | 8. Great impact on society | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | 9. is now extinct | 9. Enjoys world-wide acceptance | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ **Capitalism** as described by Adam Smith, in *the wealth of nations (1776),* considered by many as the *capitalist bible.* It revolved around a resource that was mobile and flexible and could command factories, raw materials, machinery, and labor, thereby **creating something of a higher value than these separate elements cost.** It was more dynamic than any preceding system of production. - In **traditional production system, output had merely to satisfy customary needs.** - **In capitalist production systems, had to be able to make goods as efficiently and cheaply in order to survive.** - The constant search for improvement in production meant that the degree of **technological innovation in capitalism was vastly greater** than had been the case in the past. Adam Smith in *the wealth of nations*, argued that the free market, - Where producers are **free to produce** as much as they want and **charge consumers the prices** they want, - Would result in the most efficient and desirable economic outcome for consumers and producers alike due to the **invisible hand.** The **rationale** for his proposal was that **each individual would try to maximize his own benefit.** In doing so, - **Consumers** would only pay as much or as less than they would value the benefit derived from a good, - **And producers** would only sell for as much as or higher than they would have spent on producing the good. - There would be a **limited role** for the government in such an economic system. [Capitalism: laissez-faire] Early industrial capitalism, as it developed in Britain and the USA, is generally regarded as capitalism in its pure, **Classical, Laissez-faire** form. - A large number of firms, directly managed by their owners, competed with other manufacturers in terms of the means of production (including labor costs) with **no governmental interference.** [Capitalism: Marx] In **das Kapital,** Marx's ideal economy would **produce,** according to the **directives from a central authority** (vs the invisible hand of the market), and **distribute resources according to the needs of the public.** - In contrast to Adam Smith's envisioned ideal society, which would: - Not distribute **resources** equitably - Concentrate **wealth in the hands of the few** - Not compensate worker's effort justly as **surplus value is extracted by the capitalist** as profit - Create different **classes in society** - Provide an **inherent advantage** to the already rich and a **disadvantage** to the already poor segments of society - **Would make rich richer and poor poorer** [Marx: a social conflict perspective] The key to Marxian thinking is the idea of **social conflict,** the struggle between segments of society over valued resources - The most significant form of social conflict is the **clash** between **social classes,** that arises from the **way a society produces material goods.** - he saw the industry's **wealth**, of his times, being increasingly **concentrated in the hands of the few.** - **Aristocrats and industrialists** enjoyed luxury and privileges - **Workers** labored long hours for low wages. Lived in slums. Poor nutrition. [Marx: the dialectic and the materialist conception of history] **The historical perspective:** - **People produce society and in turn people are shaped by the social relationships and the systems of thought (ideologies) that they create.** - People are both the producers and the product of history. - **Examines the process** whereby humanity both produces, and is produced by social reality. **Dialectical change** Hegel developed the idea of **dialectical change** (a struggle of opposites) and applied it to the history of human society. He saw historical change as a: - Dialectical movement of human ideas and thoughts - **Conflict between incompatible ideas** which produces the **basis for social change.** **Thesis vs antithesis = synthesis (a higher level of development)** - Following which the dialectical process starts again as other contradictions give rise to a new conflict -- synthesis becomes thesis... a new antithesis and new synthesis. - Dialectic change continues until final destination of **progress** is reached. [Marx: materialist conception of history] The **materialist conception of history** Marx's view of history is also **based on** Hegel's idea of the **dialectic.** Marx's view is often referred to as **dialectical materialism.** Marx opposed Hegel's idealism as he believed that **people's ideas are primarily a reflection of the social relationships of economic** production, thus, the **dynamic for social change lies** in the **contradictions** and the conflict inherent in the **capitalist society** (due to the capitalist mode of production). [Marx: conflict in history -- the stages of societal development] Marx saw **history** as divided into successive **epochs,** where human civilization manifests itself in a **series of organizational structures,** each determined and characterized, by a particular **mode of production**, particularly the **division of labor that dominated each stage** of societal development. The **engine of change** in history (the motor of history), is the result of **new forces of production,** partly because of **technological advancements,** more so because of **conflict between economic groups.** Marx identified **five stages** of societal development: 1. Primitive communism 2. Ancient civilization: **master and slave** 3. Feudalism: **landowner and peasant** 4. Capitalism: **bourgeoise and proletariat** 5. Socialism/communism [Marx: alienation] Marx's analysis of the situation transformed **alienation**, which refers to a **separation from one's essential nature, and a disconnection from the world and society** into a sociological concept. Alienation (unlike in Hegel) was not a contrast between **objectivity** of nature and **human consciousness.** Alienation was rather a **social and historical** phenomenon associated with the **material** conditions of existence. Alienation, in Marx is **caused by the end structures of capitalism;** an **objective** condition, which resulted from **oppression** in a social structure. **Rooted in social structure:** Marx's theory of alienation is rooted in social structure. - It is a social structure that acts to **break down the natural interconnections that characterize human nature** in an ideal sense. - The **social and economic relations of capitalism** produced an **alienated proletariat** from their work. **(structures of capitalism:** commodities, capital; private property; division of labor; social class**)** In Marx's view, **productive labor (work) is the most vital human activity.** In the production of objects, people 'objectify' themselves: they express and externalize their being... In a capitalist society, workers are - **Forced to work**; do not work to express themselves, or to develop their interests - **Subjected to demands and discipline of capitalists** - **Themselves a commodity;** a source of labor brought by capitalists and discarded when no longer needed. - **the product of their labor** is a commodity for sale in the marketplace by capitalists. Alienation **reaches** **its heights in capitalist societies**, where labor is dominated by the requirements of capital, the most important of which is the **demand for profit.** After which, the productive process and the product created through their labor starts to control their existence. Alienation, in Marx, ***is the experience of isolation resulting from powerlessness.*** **Workers,** - are dominated by capitalists - are dehumanized by their jobs (Especially monotonous and repetitive factory work) - find little satisfaction/fulfillment in the situation - feel powerless to improve their situation **A contradiction in capitalist society:** So as **humans devise technology to gain power** over the world -- the **productive process** increasingly **assumes power over human beings**. - ***The world, man has made,** confronts him as a stranger and enemy, **having power over him,** who has transferred his power to it* (Williams, 1976) - **The productive process and the product created** through the proletariat's labor starts to **control their very existence.** [Marx's four components of alienation] He argues that capitalism makes workers become estranged in four ways, from 1. **Their productive activity** 2. **The final product** 3. **Their fellow workers** 4. **Their own human potential** Alienation thus presents a restraint to the individual's opportunity of self-fulfillment. Alienation from **their productive activity** (from the act of working) - Capitalism denies workers a say in what they produce or how they produce it - Capitalist work is tedious and involving countless reputations of routine tasks - Capitalism turns human beings into machines Alienation from **the final product** (of workers work) - The final product of work belongs not to workers but to capitalists -- disposing of it for profit - The more workers invest of themselves in their work the more they may lose. Alienation from **fellow workers** (Marx saw work itself as the productive affirmation of human community) - Industrial capitalism transforms work from a **cooperative venture into a competitive one.** - Factory work often provides little chance for **companionship.** Alienation from **one human potential:** - Workers **does not fulfil himself** in his work but rather denies himself. - Worker **does not develop** his physical and mental energies but is physically exhausted and mentally debased. - Industrial capitalism distorts an activity that should express the best qualities in human beings into a **dull and dehumanizing experience.** [Marx: ideology and false consciousness] As **alienation, exploitation, and contradiction** are accepted as inherent features of capitalism, - **Ruling-class ideology** is essential to maintain **the status quo and suppress class antagonisms.** - According to Marx, the exploitative relations of **industrialism and capitalism** would inevitably result in **alienation and conflict.** - Unless hidden by **ideas and values** provided by a **dominant ideology.** **Ideology** in Marx is an integrated system of (Thought) that is **external to and coercive of** people (Lefebvre -- 1968). - Ideology is here used in a **pejorative sense.** It is opposed to fact, logic, reason and truth. It is **falsehood** which **masks reality.** - Ideology **operated through agents** (Example; law and religion), who carry out its dictates to **alter the thoughts and actions** of members of the oppressed class (masking reality). - *The **ideas of the ruling class** are in every epoch the ruling ideas; the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force... those who **lack the means of mental production** are **subject to it*** (Marx and Engels -- 1854). - So the cultural '**superstructure**' of ideas (state, legal system...) is determined by the **material (economic) infrastructure (base)** - And reflects domination, subordination in the social institutions. The dominant **ruling class (false) ideas will justify the power and privilege of the ruling class (False consciousness)** - So that beliefs and **values will reflect and legitimate** the relations of production. - **Concealing the** **basis of exploitation and oppression** on which this dominance rests. - Under feudalism, **loyalty and honor** were dominant values. Vassals owed loyalty to their lords and were bound by oath of allegiance. The feudal status quo, in terms of dominant values [appeared the natural order of things. ] - Under capitalism, **equality and freedom** are dominant values. Relationship between capitalist and wage laborer is defined as an **equal exchange, since the worker is free to sell his labor and choose his employer**. For Marx, this is [wage slavery], as workers are forced to work for capitalists to survive. **Camera Obscura:** the [Agents of Ideology,] like laws and religion, [conceal the true nature of the relationship and invert it to protect and reaffirm the capitalist mode. ] **Agents of ideology:** [suppress working class thought and action in the interest of the capitalist:] - **Inversion of reality:** *Christians believe that God created man in his own image... in fact it was man who created God in his own image.* - **Religion is the opium of the people:** when religion promotes the afterlife reward... it is just encouraging the underclass to accept the disadvantages and the injustices of capitalist society. Class consciousness will inevitably lead to polarization and conflict. - Ruling class ideology becomes the **false consciousness** of the working class, making people see the exploitative situation as natural and rightful. - A class in itself will become a **class for itself** when it becomes **conscious** of the real situation and conscious that a human-made solution can only be over-turned by human action. - **Polarization of the two major classes (there is no in between; two extremes)** (as the intermediate strata are submerged into the proletariat versus bourgeoisie) [Marx: communism and the end of history] **The contradiction in capitalism:** - Private property and the private ownership of the means of production provide, according to Marx, the fundamental contradiction of capitalist society. - A minority (Capitalists/bourgeoisie) is able to control and enjoy the fruits of the majority (workers/proletariat) - The conflict generated by this contradiction in capitalism is the major dynamic of social change. [Class struggle and revolution] "***the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle... the communists... openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.*** ***Working men of all countries, unite!"*** **Communism: the final destination of dialectical progress** - **Communal ownership:** abolishes private property and replaces it by communal ownership of the means of production. - **Classless societies:** abolition of strata - **Distribution of wealth:** from everyone according to ability... to everyone according to needs. - **The contradictions of society** have now been resolved. - **Final harmonious synthesis:** dialectic progress ceases to operate - **The end of the historical process.** [Capitalism: Weberian perspective] Max weber - Is one of Marx's earliest critics - **Opposed to Marx's one sided materialism:** but likely rejects also one-sided idealism - **Social class** is just one type of **inequality** (Example; gender inequalities, status...) - Rejects Marx's **economic determinism** and argues that **non-economic factors have played** a key role in modern social development. - **Capitalism is but one** among other major factors shaping social development in modern world. - Underlying the capitalist mode of production is the impact of **science and bureaucracy** - **Science**: has and will continue to shape technology in any society - **Bureaucracy**: is the only way of organizing large numbers effectively and therefore inevitably expands with economic and political growth. While **Marx and Weber agreed on many aspects of the definition of capitalism,** they differed considerably in the details of their characterized of capitalism. - While **Marx emphasized the exploitative nature** in the social relation between labor and capitalists: **weber**, notwithstanding its irrational features **takes capitalism's rational character** (in contrast with earlier economic forms) **as its central feature.** - **Rationalization and not capitalist mode of production is the main dynamic of modern development.** [The development of capitalism] **Capitalism evolved from mercantilism** and while both economic systems are geared towards profit, these systems have differences in the way this is achieved. - **Mercantilism** focuses on **wealth accumulation** through extraction of wealth which they believe is measured by the amount of gold bullions that the nation has in its possession. Wealth extraction efforts are augmented by colonization to gain more wealth. - **Capitalism** is an economic system that works around the concept of **wealth creation** in the pursuit of **economic growth for the nation.** **The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism (1930)** - While Marx emphasized the existence of inherent features **within economic relations of feudalism** as leading to the origins of capitalism (materialism). -... weber (in the protestant ethic) stressed the independent influence of **ideas** (idealism) - **Capitalism developed in the west and nowhere else because of religion (ideas)** - **The asceticism (severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence) by puritan elements within Protestantism** arose in Christianity because zealous believers realized that methodical life-planning, self-control, and self-denial, were the best defenses versus ethical inconsistencies offending God and the achievement of salvation. - **Post-reformation capitalists** were animated by a feeling of moral responsibility towards their resources: - to increase them without limit - by hard-work, moderate consumption and saving for investment - all the elements of asceticism were present in the resultant conduct. [Max Weber: Rationalization] **Rationalization** - Is the general tendency within modern industrial societies, for all **economic, political and legal institutions** (and most areas of life) - to be transformed by the application of **Rationality** - the collective development of **science, technology, and bureaucracy.** - Is the **organization of social and economic life** - According to principles of **efficiency** - On the basis of **technical knowledge** **Max Weber's (1864-1920)** social action theory, understood the **power of the economic and technological but** - **Departed** from Marx's **materialist analysis** - Argued that **ideas,** especially beliefs and values have a **transforming power** - Thus saw **modern society** as the product, not just of new technology and capitalism but of a **new way of thinking** - Growing out of changes in religious belief, the modern world can be characterized as **an increasingly rational world** So max Weber **rather than categorize societies** - **In terms of technology or productive systems** - Highlighted **differences in the way people view the world** - Members of **pre-industrial societies** cling to **tradition** - Members of **industrial-capitalist societies** endorse **rationality** **Traditional pre-industrial societies** are [guided by the past] and evaluate particular actions as right because their actions have been long accepted by tradition. - **Tradition**: sentiments and beliefs passed from generation to generation. **Modern Industrial societies** choose to think and [act on the basis of present and future consequences] (Example, evaluating jobs, schooling, relationships...) embracing rationality. - **Rationality**: deliberate, matter-of-fact calculation of the most efficient means to accomplish a particular goal. - Sentiment has no place in a rational world - Tradition is simply one kind of information **The rationalism of society** in Weber, denoted ***the historical change from tradition to rationality** as the dominant mode of human thought.* - So both **industrial revolution and capitalism** are evidence of a historical surge of **rationality.** - Willingness to **adopt latest technology** is one good **indicator** of how rationalized a society is. Weber contended that by unleashing the industrial revolution and the development of capitalism, - **Rationality has defined the character of society** **Rational social organization** confers the following seven traits on **modern social life:** 1. Distinctive social institutions 2. Large-scale organizations 3. Specialized tasks 4. Personal discipline 5. Awareness of time 6. Technical competence 7. Impersonality [Max Weber: Disenchantment and alienation] Lowith (1954 in Turner 1999) says that in respect of their **perceptions of the negative features** of bourgeois society there is a **'significant similarity and connection'** between - **Marx's concept of alienation** of workers from the experience and product of their work (As division, specialization, and separation) - **Weber's concept of rationalization** (as disenchantment, specialization and powerlessness) Weber, like Marx, recognized the - Unparalleled efficiency off industrial capitalism - Widespread alienation generated by modern society Weber, Unlike Marx, thought that the main cause of alienation Is not economic inequality, but - The stifling regulation and dehumanization that comes with expanding **bureaucracy** -- leading to **disenchantment with the world** - **Modern society** has been 'disenchanted' as scientific thinking and technology have **swept away sentimental ties to the past.** - Modern world is an **impersonal world** where **sentiment has no place** Bureaucracies, Weber warns, - Treat people as a **series of cases** rather than unique individuals. - Working for large organizations demands highly specialized and often **tedious routines.** - Modern society is a vast and growing system of **rules** seeking to regulate everything and threatening to **crush the human spirit.** - Rather than serving humanity, modern society turns on its creators and **enslaves them** (Marxist irony) - Rationalization would end up **reducing people to robots.** - The modern individual becomes *'**only a small cog in a ceaselessly moving mechanism that prescribes to him an endlessly fixed routine of march"*** (1921 -- echoing Marx) **[Liberal democracy]** [Democracy: a contested concept] What is democracy? The very popularity of democracy has threatened its use as a meaningful political term. - While democracy implies a system of rule by the people (demos Kratos -- people rule). - Liberals, conservatives, socialists, communists, anarchists and even fascists are eager to proclaim the virtue of democracy and to demonstrate their own democratic credentials. Debates about the nature of democracy tend to focus on three central issues: 1. **Who are the people** or how far should political power be distributed - Free man (woman?), property owners, all adult citizens (Age?)? - Does all people mean one cohesive body (**general will**) or **majority or collection** of free autonomous individuals. 2. **How** should the people rule? - Should the people in effect rule **themselves?** - Should government be left in the hands of **politicians and parties** that claim to represent them? - Should **the leader rule** (as he knows genuine interests of people) -- totalitarianism. 3. **What matters** is it appropriate to decide collectively through use of democratic process? - What issues is it right for people to discuss and what should be left to individual realm? **[Models of democracy]** - **[Classical democracy:]** based on the principle of popular self-government - **[Protective democracy:]** rooted in the individualist assumptions of liberalism - **[developmental democracy:]** concerned with broadening the scope of popular participation - **[people's democracy:]** pays attention to the distribution of class power (soviet/Chinese) the principal distinction is between classical democracy (direct) -- literally government by the people. Modern forms of democracy (indirect) in which professional politicians govern for the people. Liberal democracy is the form of representative democracy in modern western states. It embodies a hybrid nature of two distinct features: **liberalism and democratic rule.** [The central features of liberal democracy] **Representative democracy: indirect** form of democracy. (vs direct democracy of the small city state). Electing someone else to represent you in parliament. **Universal suffrage:** all citizens vote (city state only free persons voted, women and slaves did not vote) conducted on the basis of formal political equality. **One person = one vote and one vote = one value** **Electoral choice:** ensured by **political pluralism** (a tolerance of a wide range of contending beliefs, conflicting social philosophies and rival political movements and parties), **Competition:** political office is gained through success in **regular elections.** **Distinction between state and civil society:** maintained by internal and external **checks on government power** and the existence of **autonomous groups and interests and by market or capitalist organization of economic life.** **Citizen rights: majority rule + a safeguard of the right of the individuals and minorities.** Liberalism's concern has been that democracy can become the enemy of individual liberty as **liberals do not consider the people as a single entity but rather a collection of individuals** and groups possessing different opinions and opposing interests. Alexis the Tocqueville described democracy as the **'tyranny of the majority'.** Liberal democracy was established in Europe in the late 19^th^ and early 20^th^ century. Pre 18^th^ and 19^th^ century the monarch was believed to rule by **'divine right'** and his authority was therefore not open to question (with the exception of the glorious revolution in Britain) The **enlightenment and the French revolution** of 1789, overthrowing the French monarchy, changed all that: - **absolutism**: King Louis XIV, 'l'etat c'est moi', meaning 'I am the state', thus, making himself the personification of France and asserting that was the decision maker. He was the absolute monarch and had total control. - An end to the '**l'etat c'est moi'** concept meant an end to the '**ancient regime'** and the beginning of a modern era in politics. - The people (**nation**) living in the state (**nation-state**), **the citizens** now wanted a say on how their country was ruled. **Liberal democracy (centre of political spectrum)** faced the challenge of alternative systems (**political ideologies**) for most of the 20^th^ century, especially challenges from **communism (left) and fascism (right).** The **collapse of communism (1989)**, was interpreted by **Fukuyama** as a confirmation of the end of history/ideology (hegel/bell). This was the end of the second and last great rival of liberal democracy following the **defeat of fascism**. **The cold war,** following wwii, era practically separated the world in **two blocks** with an **iron curtain.** - **Western democracies: on one side there was the western democratic alliance, which revolved around the united states as its superpower.** - **Eastern socialists: on the other side there was the eastern socialist/communists block effectively controlled by the soviet union, which at the time was the other superpower.** [The collapse of communism: from Stalin's totalitarianism to Gorbachev's perestroika] Prior to the Gorbachev era, any **threat to the hegemony of the soviet union (Ussr), was met by massive acts of repression.** - **Stalinism's dissent in the Ussr met by repression:** dissent in Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Poland in 1981 are but prime examples. - **Gorbachev's Perestroika led to disintegration of USSR:** the effect of Gorbachev's policy to **refrain from coercion** against its satellite states, culminated in the **fall of the berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany and the disintegration of the USSR itself.** Calvocoressi argues that Gorbachev's perestroika "Was not the only begetter of the revolutions in central and eastern Europe". The overthrow of the Stalinist empire in Europe/Communist Regime to: - **Economic failure** - **Persistent intellectual and popular protest** - **Lack of a plausible claim to legitimacy.** Citing Gorbachev's admissions to the twenty-seventh communist party congress, Paul Kennedy notes that, "**given the emphasis in Marxian philosophy upon the material basis of existence, it may seem doubly ironic that the chief difficulties facing the USSR today are located in its economic substructure."** The arms race of the Cold War had in fact, been proven to be **too costly for the soviet economy.** Soviet economy's **lack of integration in the global economy** and its centralized administration, was already failing. The economy's shortcomings were being manifested in a variety of ways, including the **deterioration in life expectancy, infant mortality rates and poor healthcare services.** This poor performance **contrasted sharply** with the soviet union's **declared aims of world peace and material abundance.** **Nationalism:** the 1989 revolutions contained a trace of **nationalistic sentiment,** especially in satellite states such as Poland... **Democracy:** **trade union** solidarnosc (the Polish trade union) was constantly increasing pressure in favor of democracy. **Catholicism:** SOCIAL Movements in civil society were supported by the Catholic Church (headed by the polish pope John Paul the II. the year 1989 (fall of the berlin wall...) witnessed revolutions in the grand tradition -- - The assertion of civic rights and human values. - But, like the French Revolution of two hundred years earlier, they were grounded in economic collapse. **Fukuyama and the triumph of liberal democracy** What we may be witnessing now - Is not just the end of the cold war, or the passing of a particular period of post war history, but the end of history, that is' the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government. So, in Fukuyama, history has not ended because it has collapsed, (vs postmodernism's sense of things), but rather it has arrived to its final purpose (vs Marx's communism). **The concept of new history in Fukuyama** A universal history of mankind is not the same things as a history of the universe. That is, it is not **an encyclopedic catalogue of everything** that is known about humanity, but rather an attempt to find a **meaningful pattern** in the overall development of human societies generally. He traces the first of **universal histories** in western tradition to **Christianity**, which had introduced the concept of equality for all people and had conceived a **shared final destiny for all people;** and to **German idealist tradition -- Immanuel Kant had proposed the idea of an endpoint,** that is the **realization of human freedom.** Hegel defined this **history as the progress of men to higher levels of rationality and freedom.** Following Hegel, Fukuyama, argues that **history** can be understood as a **sequence of stages of consciousness or ideology,** which has a logical terminal point in the achievement of self-consciousness. When Hegel declared that history had ended after the battle of **Jena in 1806,** he was not saying that the liberal state emerged victorious throughout the world, but rather that there was **no alternative to the principles of liberty and equality** underlying the liberal state. Put in another way, there was no political or social arrangement, which was superior to liberalism as **liberal societies were free from the internal contradictions.** Like Hegel, Marx also believed in a **dialectical process** but the end point he foresaw was **communism not liberalism. A communist society is for Marx the final stage** in history because it is free from internal contradictions, whereas the liberal state produced only bourgeois freedom. "yet, the **monumental failure of Marxism** as a basis for real world societies -- plainly evident 140 years after the communist manifesto -- raises the question of whether **Hegel's universal history was not in the end the more prophetic one" --** Fukuyama. Fukuyama's theory is based on two arguments. - The first being based on **economics** - The second being based on what he terms the **struggle for recognition** For most of his critics, Fukuyama's predictions of the triumph of liberal democracy and the exhaustion of its alternatives sound over-ambitious. In his, *second thoughts: the last man in a bottle* (1999) published on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the original article, **Fukuyama admits to one weakness in his thesis.** - **"history cannot come to an end as long as modern natural science has no end:** and we are on the brink of new developments in science that will, in essence, abolish what Alexander Kojeve called "Mankind as such". **[Post modernity]** Post modernity is the **cultural and ideological** configuration taken to have **replaced** or to be replacing **modernity.** **Post modernity** is a new epoch, or at least a higher stage of modernity, which experienced significant change differentiating it from the modern world: - Globalized: economics, politics, culture - Post industrial -- or is it a 4^th^ revolution? - Post capitalist -- different economic organization; technocratic power - Post structuralist -- fragmented. Different type of solidarity. - Post enlightenment -- relativist. Different morality. - Post history -- end of meta narratives? End of history? - Post human? [The development of human societies] Sociologists (most of them) believe that human societies have passed through certain **broad phases of development:** - **Premodern society --** these were non-industrial, non-capitalists, non-urban, non-democratic, non-rational/non-scientific: religion, superstition and tradition formed on the basis of social life. **Slow social change:** change was slow but not necessary static. - Hunting and gathering societies: tribal - Pastoral societies - Agrarian societies - Ancient civilizations - Feudal societies - **Modern society** - **Post-modern societies** **The profound transformations changing pre-modern societies into modern societies.** Lee and Newby (1983) argued that in the 18^th^ and 19^th^ century societies were passing through the most profound transformation of society in the history of mankind. The identified **four main transformations:** 1. **Industrialism** 2. **Capitalism** 3. **Urbanism** 4. **Liberal democracy** **Modernization:** the overall societal transformation from a premodern to a modern society. Underlying the modernization process: - **Enlightenment:** the development of the rational scientific thought and technology to solve human problems. - **Industrial revolution and process of industrialization (mass manufacturing, mass consumption, urbanization).** - **French revolution:** political and social modernization (liberty, equality, fraternity). **The enlightenment** **Modern ways of thinking are usually seen as having their origins in the 18^th^ century enlightenment (age of reason).** - Primarily a European movement with France and Scotland being the main centers of discussion. - Produced a **decisive break** between the **traditional and the modern modes of thinking.** - Was an age **of optimism**, characterized by a **belief in reason and progress.** - In contrast to the pre-modern age, which advocated a submissive reliance on religion for solutions. - Applied 17^th^ century **rationalism and empiricism to formulate scientific, political and social solutions.** - **Challenging the traditional outlook** about religion, society and culture. - Quest was to **liberate human reason from superstition.** **The paradigm of the enlightenment:** produced **ten key elements** upon which all the philosophies would have agreed: 1. **Reason** 2. **Empiricism** 3. **Science** 4. **Universalism** 5. **Progress** 6. **Individualism** 7. **Toleration** 8. **Freedom** 9. **Uniformity of human nature** 10. **Secularism** [Societal phases of development] The hopes of **enlightenment** thinkers were reflected in the **French revolution:** - **The French revolution** is often referred to as 'the revolution' because 1. **Internally, it was more consequently radical than the British Revolution (Glorious Revolution).** 2. **Internationally, it was more influentially far reaching that the American Revolution,** which, for some was more appropriately considered as a 'War of Independence". - **Napoleon spread the ideals of revolution:** it was in its name that he pursued his conquests: - and, everywhere that the regime was established, **laws, customs, and feelings were permanently affected,** despite the resentment or hatred that the occupation aroused. - **Goethe and Hegel** supported Napoleon. In the face of a **reactionary Europe** far reached the political and social stage that France has reached, they saw him as what Hegel called the **'soul of the world on horseback."'** **The great revolution gains its significance because it entails radical, political, and social reforms.** **The pre-modern definition** of revolution implied a **reactionary process.** - in fact, the leaders of the French revolution (1789) believed that they were **revolving the situation to the 'natural order' by the restoration of liberty and equality.** The modern definition of the term however, acquired a **more radical progressive meaning.** - In the French case, the **uprooting** was clearer in men's minds than the replacement - **the old nobility was to be abolished** - **the power of the church destroyed, and the lands both confiscated and redistributed.** - **The monarchy** was to be put under popular control, and, when it resisted, **destroyed.** To the study of **political ideology,** the French revolution becomes particularly important because of various reasons: - It changed the way of doing politics. As Napoleon stated, 'the politics of the future was to become the art of **stirring the masses'** - It converted the idea of **nationalism** into reality for the French, and into an envied possibility for the conquered Europeans. - It had sown the seeds for an early form of **communism** through Babeuf. - It instigated the reactions of **conservatism.** - It '**made the belief in progress, indeed in universal reason and the rights of man, a matter of public policy, and if not in a fully democratic manner,** at least in a manner radically more democratic than suited either the old autocrats." The industrial revolution is the massive and interrelated economic, technological, and social changes, in which the United Kingdom, became a manufacturing factory system. As a result of these changes -- industrialization, the United Kingdom, became the first industrial society. Modernity is the modern age, and the ideas and styles associated with this age. In historical terms it refers to the period since the Middle Ages and the Renaissance -- the replacement of Traditional society by modern social forms, modernization. Cultural concepts underlying modernity (underlying industrial capitalism's reliance on technology and machinery and new political dimension of nation-state and democracy) - Belief in the possibility of **human progress** - Belief in the ability and rights of **humans shaping their own lives** - Belief in **rationality (vs emotion)** and the triumph of truth and science (enlightenment) Post modernity is the cultural and ideological configuration taken to have replaced modernity. A postindustrial society: A conception of late 20^th^ and 21^st^ century society which highlights the declining dependence of societies on manufacturing industry, the rise of new industries, and the role of knowledge in production, consumption and leisure. Postindustrial societies are increasingly seen as **information societies**; societies centered around knowledge and the production of new knowledge, and **knowledge based economies;** where knowledge, professional, and occupational groups are seen as increasingly achieving dominance within the class structures of these societies. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, speaks of coming of a fourth industrial revolution. It is another technological revolution and will fundamentally alter the way we live, work and relate to one another. Its scale, scope, and complexity will be unlike any previous transformation humankind has experienced before. The response to it must be integrated and **comprehensive**, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society. - **The 1^st^ industrial revolution:** used water and steam power to mechanize production and transport - **The 2^nd^ industrial revolution:** used electric power to create **mass production** - **The 3^rd^ industrial revolution:** used electronics and information technology to **automate production** - **the 4^th^ industrial revolution:** is using the **fusion** of technologies, **artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology...** that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres to create **cyber-physical systems.** The impact on people: the 4^th^ industrial revolution, finally,. Will change not only what we do, but also who we are. - **Identity:** biotechnology and AI are redefining what it means to be human by pushing back the current thresholds of life span, health, cognition, and capabilities. This will compel us to redefine our moral and ethnical boundaries. - **Notions of ownership** - **Consumption patterns** - **Work and leisure balance** (cleaning robots, humanoids...) - Our way of **learning how to cultivate our skills** - **Our health** which is leading to a quantified self, and sooner than we think it may lead to **human augmentation.** - Our way of meeting people and **nurturing relationships**... (the inevitable integration of technology in our lives could **diminish** some of our quintessential human capabilities, such as **compassion and cooperation (humanoids).** - Our relationship with our smartphone is a case in point. Constant connection may deprive us of one of life's most important assets: the time to pause, reflect, and engage in meaningful conversation. This revolution will also bring about a number of opportunities: - **Efficiency and productivity through automation and robotics** - **Economic growth through efficiency and production** - **Transportation and communication costs will fall** - **Consumables will become more affordable** - **Efficiency in personal lives:** ordering a cab, booking a flight, buying a product, watching a movie, making a payment, listening to music, playing a game... any of these can now be done remotely. - **Quality of life:** better health care - **Citizen communication and democracy:** new technologies and platforms will increasingly enable citizens to engage with governments and voice their opinions. But it will bring with it threats too... - **Greater inequality as automation substitutes labor, widening the gap between returns to labor and returns to capital** - **Government control:** governments will gain new technological powers to increase their control over populations, based on pervasive surveillance systems and the ability to control digital infrastructure. - **Privacy:** the tracking and sharing of information about us is a crucial part of the new connectivity. - **Terrorism:** fear will arise as individuals and small groups join states in being capable of causing mass harm, as autonomous and biological weapons become easier to use. - **Human augmentation:** biotechnology and ai are redefining what it means to be human by pushing back the current thresholds of life span, health, cognition, and capabilities, will compel us to redefine our moral and ethical boundaries) - **Robotize humanity:** 4^th^ industrial revolution may **have the potential to robotize humanity** and deprive us of out heart and soul. Post modern societies are postindustrial and post capitalist: Post capitalist societies in which owners of capital have conceded power to professional managers. **Postmodern theorists** tend to argue that the **'enlightenment project'** has been **abandoned** in contemporary societies. People no longer believe in: - The inevitability of progress - The power of science to solve all problems - The possibility of running societies in a rational way - One set of ideas which provides for the absolute truth: are for diversity and a wider variety of beliefs. - optimism -- they are more pessimistic about the future - grand theories and ideologies of modernity. Post modernity is seen as involving such features as: - a world of flux - fragmentation... society/META narratives - the replacement of empiricist theories of representation and truth... end of dominance of science. - Without absolute values and with a plurality of viewpoints. - An increased emphasis on the importance of free floating signs and images. The shifts experienced in the postmodern world, have been greatly aided by the twentieth century **communications revolution**. The mass media of communications, particularly television and the internet exposed people to a bombardment of images, **Affecting both economy and democracy.** **The postmodern economy is now characterized by the autonomy of representation where:** - Communications media **incessantly bombard people (**media make profits by selling advertising spaces**)** - **Money becomes an end in itself** - **Money subsequently becomes as subjective power** - **Money is a power which dominates, not only the global economy, but also the material lives of human beings.** The communications revolution and the era of the image had their effects on the political world. On the one hand, they pushed towards a more **informed society;** on the other hand, **the image started to replace the debate on substantive issues of politics.** **Postmodernity for Bauman, is a state of mind,** marked by all-deriding, all-eroding, all-dissolving destructiveness. It is a critique caught at the moment of its ultimate triumph: a critique that finds it difficult to go on being critical because it has destroyed everything. Nothing is left to be opposed. In the end, a universal dismantling of power supported structures has been the result. Postmodernity, in contrast to modernity, **does not seek to substitute one truth for another, one standard of beauty for another... it braces itself for a life without truths, standards and ideals. It seems to condemn everything and propose nothing. Demolition is the only job that the postmodern mind is good at. Destruction is the only construction it recognizes.** Liquid life in liquid times cannot stay on course because liquid society cannot keep its shape for long. It is a precarious life lived in **endemic uncertainty. It creates fears of failing to catch up with fast moving events and being left behind. Liquid life is a fragmented life, which requires individuals to be flexible and adaptable -- to be constantly ready and willing to change tactics at short notice, abandon commitments and loyalties without regrets, and pursue opportunities according to current availability.** **In liquid times, togetherness is dismantled.** **Resolving of quandaries generated by volatile and constantly changing circumstances is shifted onto the shoulders of individuals.**