Society is people who interact in a defined territory and share a culture. The concept of society...
If you can't read please download the document
Society is people who interact in a defined territory and share a culture. The concept of society is very simple however the dynamics that make society
Society is people who interact in a defined territory and share
a culture. The concept of society is very simple however the
dynamics that make society can be very complicated.
Slide 2
Lenski's theory begins from the insights of T. Robert Malthus.
From Malthus Lenski borrows the observation that human societies
are part of the world of nature. Human societies are subject to
natural law. Sociocultural systems can only be fully understood as
being responsive to the interactions of populations to their
environments. Lenski's perspective lies the relationship between
population and production. Like many life forms humans have a
reproductive capacity that substantially exceeds the necessary
subsistence resources in the environment.
Slide 3
Thus, Lenski concludes, human populations tend to grow until
they come up against the limits of food production, and then they
are checked. The capacity for population growth, Lenski asserts,
has been a profoundly destabilizing force throughout human history
and may well be the ultimate source of most social and cultural
change. Lenski's ecological-evolutionary theory successfully
integrates and synthesizes a variety of theoretical perspectives
and ideals.
Slide 4
Hunting and gathering societies use simple tools to hunt
animals and gather vegetation. Horticultural and pastoral societies
use technology that supports the development of tools to raise
crops, and domesticate animals. Agrarian societies are based on
agriculture and the use of technology for large scale cultivation,
plows harnessed to animals, and energy. These societies initiated
irrigation, the wheel, writing, and numbers. Industrial societies
based on the production of goods using advanced sources of energy.
Post industrial societies based on technology and information based
economy.
Slide 5
Slide 6
He highlights the importance of technology. It is the defining
character of any society. How has technology changed our way of
thinking and dealing with people on a day to day basis? Are we
better off than our parents or grandparents? When is technology and
the latest gadget all too much? Do you think the Amish might have
had a point?
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Marx understood that human societies are a complex and always
changing. The story of society spins around the idea of social
conflict. This conflict arises from how people produce material
goods, and who controls the distribution of those goods. Marx felt
that real change in society and culture comes from this
struggle/conflict.
Slide 13
The Mechanisms of Change, reproduces several parts of Marx's
analysis of the mechanisms by which contradictions develop in
capitalism and generate group conflicts. Included is an analysis of
competition and its effects on the various classes, a discussion of
economic crises and their effects on workers. Marx's perspective of
the historical specifics of the class struggle.
Slide 14
Society and production, profit-oriented capitalists, people who
own factories and other productive enterprises. The Proletarians,
people who provide labor needed to operate factories and other
productive enterprises. Marx believed that conflict between these
two classes was unavoidable, and this would only change when people
changed capitalism itself. All societies are composed of social
institutions which define major spheres of life.
Slide 15
Marxs approach is based on materialism, which asserts that the
production of material goods shapes all aspects of society. Also
according to Marx most people in modern societies do not pay much
attention to social conflict, because they are trapped in a false
consciousness, which is the explanations of social problems that
blame the shortcomings of individuals rather than on the flaws of
society.
Slide 16
Capitalism and alienation, was how Marx condemned capitalism
for promoting alienation, the experience of isolation resulting
from powerlessness. Marx argued that industrial capitalism
alienated workers in four ways; 1. Alienation from the act of
working. 2. Alienation from the products of work. 3. Alienation
from other workers. 4. Alienation from human potential. * Marx was
certain a socialist revolution would overthrow a capitalist
system.
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
This power or control of ideas can also shape society in a
tremendous way. Webers work reflects the idealist perspective that
human ideas shape society. Weber contrasted the traditional
thinking of simple societies with the concept of rational thought
which he argued dominates our modern way of life. The concept that
ideas can influence society was a very different way of analyzing
societies as a whole, and in contrast to Marx.
Slide 20
Two world views, Traditional and Rationality. Weber wrote that
members of preindustrial societies embrace tradition, beliefs
passed down from generation to generation. Meanwhile industrial
societies were characterized by rationality. Deliberate, matter of
fact calculation of the most efficient means to accomplish a
particular task.
Slide 21
The Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism both
reflect the rationalization of society, the historical change from
the tradition to rationality as the dominate mode of human thought.
Countries with traditional cultures cannot afford to ignore, or
resist technological innovation, nations with highly rationalized
ways of life quickly embrace such change.
Slide 22
Is Capitalism rational? Weber considered industrial capitalism
the essence of rationality. Since capitalists pursue profit in
whatever ways they can. Marx however believed capitalism was
irrational because it failed to meet the basic needs of most of the
people. Webers great thesis: Protestantism and capitalism- Weber
traced the roots of modern rationality to Calvinist Protestantism,
which preached the notion that success in ones calling testified to
ones place among the saved.
Slide 23
Weber identified seven characteristics of rational social
organizations: 1. Distinctive social institutions 2. Large scale
organizations 3. Specialized tasks 4. Personal discipline 5.
Awareness of time 6. Technical competence 7. Impersonality Final
note Weber feared that the rationalization of society carried with
it a tendency toward dehumanization or alienation. He felt that
this was unavoidable.
Slide 24
Slide 25
Society is a collective organism far more than the sum of its
parts. Society shapes individuals behaviors, thoughts, and
feelings. The concept of social fact, rather than the experience of
individuals. Social fact extends beyond it effect on individuals
and helps society itself function as a complex system. People build
personalities by internalizing social facts.
Slide 26
Durkheim warned of anomie, a societal condition in which
individuals receive little moral guidance. The division of labor,
or specialized economic activity, has increased throughout human
history. Traditional societies are characterized by a strong
collective or mechanical solidarity, social bonds, based on shared
moral sentiments that unite members of preindustrial societies. In
modern societies mechanical solidarity declines and is partially
replaced by organic solidarity, social bonds, based on
specialization that unite members of industrial societies. This
shift is accompanied by a decline in the level of trust between
members of the society.
Slide 27
Helped us to see the different ways that traditional and modern
societies hang together.
Slide 28
What do you think about the Information Revolution? What would
Durkheim have thought? How do you think Lenski, Marx, Weber, and
Durkheim influenced our thinking about societies today? What hold
societies together? How have societies changed? Why do you suppose
societies change over the course of time? Is society getting better
or worse? What societies gain through technological advances may
offset the loss of human community? Explain
Slide 29
Society-people who interact in a defined territory and share a
culture. Sociocultural evoluton-Lenskis termfor the changes that
occur as a society acquires new technology. Hunting and
gathering-use of simple tools to hunt and gather vegetation.
Horticulture-the use of hand tools to raise crops. Pastoralism-the
domestication of animals. Agriculture-large scale cultivation using
plows harsessed to animals or larger energy sources.
Industrialism-the production of goods using advanced sources of
energy to drive large machinery. Postindustrialism-technology that
supports an information-based economy. Social conflict-the struggle
between segments of society over valued resources.
Slide 30
Capitalists-people who own and operate factories and other
businesses in persuit of profits. Proletarians-people who sell
their productive labor for wages. Social institutions-the major
spheres of social life, or societal subsystems, organized to meet
human needs. Class conflict-conflict between entire classes over
the distribution of a societys wealth and power. Alienation-the
experience of isolation and misery resulting from powerlessness.
Tradition-sentiments and beliefs passed from generation to
generation.