Chapter 1 - Private Troubles and Social Problems.pdf

Chapter 1 - Private Troubles and Social Problems Friday, September 13, 2024 2:26 PM Finding Solutions: Tarun Bharat Sangh (Young India Organization) Building from the Grassroots Villagers in Rajasthan area of India discovered that affecting change in one problem may trigger a cascade o...

Chapter 1 - Private Troubles and Social Problems Friday, September 13, 2024 2:26 PM Finding Solutions: Tarun Bharat Sangh (Young India Organization) Building from the Grassroots Villagers in Rajasthan area of India discovered that affecting change in one problem may trigger a cascade of improvements ○ Facing problems such as poverty, water scarcity, hunger, forest degradation, pollution from mining, and little education and health care. ○ Villagers partnered with Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) ○ They started with water management Rajasthan is harsh territory in northwest India ○ Arid and semi-arid lands, mountains, and desert ○ India is extremely vulnerable to climate change The key to success in Rajasthan is the local community involvement in and control of every phase of development TBS energized the local communities to restore traditional water and resource management The Sociological Imagination C. Wright Mills described this type of creative thinking as the ability to view one’s own society as an outsider. It allows us to look beyond a limited understanding of things and people in the world, and allows for a broader vision of society Private Troubles, Public Issues A sociological imagination helps one to see the social dimensions of problems in the global system Personal problems. ○ Causes and solutions lie within the individual and his or her own environment. Social problems. ○ Causes and solutions lie outside the individual and the immediate environment. People victimized by social problems feel a sense of inadequacy. ○ Sense of inadequacy: Blaming or downgrading oneself. ○ Employ individual strategies to cope with problems defined as personal. ○ Sometimes, solution is found in an escape mechanism.  ○ Causes and solutions lie outside the individual and the immediate environment. People victimized by social problems feel a sense of inadequacy. ○ Sense of inadequacy: Blaming or downgrading oneself. ○ Employ individual strategies to cope with problems defined as personal. ○ Sometimes, solution is found in an escape mechanism. Defining a problem as a personal problem either blames the victim or castigates the offender. Defining a problem as a social problem recognizes the need for collective action that attacks factors outside the individual. Multiple Levels of Social Problems ○ Individual level ○ Group levels ○ Societal levels ○ Global levels Vulnerability to Global Problems ○ Global vulnerability § Many challenges confront the modern world □ We face uncertainty in regards to disease, conflict, and more □ We must consider how many of these challenges are of our own doing § Manufactured risks and systematic risks □ What is an example of a manufactured risk in U.S. society? ○ Individual vulnerability § Not everyone is equally vulnerable to global risks □ Much depends on one’s life chances □ Life chances depend heavily on your social location ○ Individuals from developing and developed countries have very different life chances § Developed societies are generally wealthier § Poorer societies are generally still developing ○ Individual vulnerability: developed and developing § The income and wealth of a country is related to life chances □ Income and wealth are not interchangeable □ Some countries do better at providing life chances than countries that have higher income Victims of Circumstance: The Lost Boys An Example: Suicide  that have higher income Victims of Circumstance: The Lost Boys An Example: Suicide Perspectives for Studying Problems Conflict Theory ○ Focuses on contradictory interests of groups, inequalities in society, and the resulting conflict and change. ○ Based on the work of Marx, conflict theorists center their analyses on competition for and differences in Power ○ The bourgeoisie and the proletariats § The bourgeoisie control all institutions in society ○ Laws and policies are written to benefit the elite classes Structural Functionalism ○ Focuses on social systems and the way in which their interdependent parts maintain order. ○ Structural functionalists view societies as living organisms § Viewing society as an organism focuses attention on structurally different systems § Each system has a different function but is related to and depends upon others § Manifest and latent functions ○ The importance of solidarity grew out of the work of Durkheim Symbolic Interactionism ○ Focuses on the interaction between individuals, the individual's perception of situations, and the ways in which social life is constructed through interaction. ○ Weber maintains that to understand social action, it is necessary to understand the context in which it occurred ○ Economic class is not the only source of power in social interactions Understanding the Global Order Theories of the global economy ○ The global economy is what most people associate with globalization and the world system § The globalization of capitalism □ Benefits of the global economy are not shared equally □ Where a country is located along the value-added chain determines how wealthy it can become ○ Inspired by Marxist analysis, World Systems Analysis and Global Systems  world system § The globalization of capitalism □ Benefits of the global economy are not shared equally □ Where a country is located along the value-added chain determines how wealthy it can become ○ Inspired by Marxist analysis, World Systems Analysis and Global Systems Analysis focus on economic relations and the expansion of capitalism at the global level as the source of inequality among countries ○ The production or commodity chain begins at the periphery § The poorest and politically and economically weakest societies ○ These societies are a step up on the commodity chain from the periphery § Mix of core and periphery characteristics □ Social systems are relatively more developed than the periphery but less than the core Theories of the global economy: Core ○ These are the richest and most powerful countries § They have economic and political clout to negotiate favorably with other countries □ They control the highest levels of technology Appadurai’s global scapes: a theory of global culture ○ Five global scapes § Ethnoscapes § Mediascapes § Ideoscapes § Technoscapes § Financescapes The global community: global civil society ○ Our neighborhoods, our cities, our country, and the world are all physical communities that we inhabit ○ Our clubs, organizations, our friendship groups, and the places we volunteer are the social communities that we inhabit ○ Strong ties and weak ties are the basis of civil society ○ Capital is a thing of value that can be put to use to obtain a goal § Human capital is the total resources inherent in the population of a community § Economic capital refers to financial resources § Bridging capital is built among people who differ in characteristics § Bonding capital is the capital built up among people who are alike in characteristics ○ World society theory (Meyer et al. 2000) is the counterpoint to global systems theory § Global systems theory centers on the global economy as the driver of global relations § World society theory argues that the global economy grew out of ○ World society theory (Meyer et al. 2000) is the counterpoint to global systems theory § Global systems theory centers on the global economy as the driver of global relations § World society theory argues that the global economy grew out of relationships among people