Sociology Unit 1

Microsociology

detailed study of what people do and say

• individual attitudes and behaviors

Macosociology

focused on large scale and long term social processes of organizations and institutions

• include broad social patterns

  • Ex: How social class, family structure and changes in teh economy affect culture anfd society

Marxist economy

• thought economy + social class would determine the conditions of human society

• economically deterministic

  • (theory that that societies economic system is the primary cause of the cultural, social and intellectual structures of human behavior)

The capitalist

one of the roles created in the society of perpetual growth

• sole purpose is to invest money and earn more

The Laborer

One of the roles created in the soictey of perpetual growth

• sole mean of support is through the sale of labor

The consumer

One of the roles in the society of perpetual growth

• sole purpose is to purchase and Consume EVER-INCREASING amounts of goods and services

Max Weber’s Authority Typology

Charasmatic Authority

Authority with exeptional personal characteristics

• These people “make” new law

• Ex: religious prophets

Traditional Authority

Authority of an organization, person or regime

• “because it has always been that way”

• Ex: fuedalism, patriarchy, institutionalized religious authority

Rational Legal Authority (Bureaucratic Authority)

The way that administrative execution of legal rules is socially organized

• legal rules that are associated with getting something done

• idea that people in the modern world are experts in their own respective feilds

Early Sociological Perspectives: Nature vs Nurture

1. Biological instinct, inherited from ancestors effects individual behavior with attitudes

2. Experiences, interactions with other people, effect attitudes and behavior

Charles Darwin

• Theory of social evolution

• idea some people are born with innate ability to succeed

• debunked in sociology

Herbert Spencer

• saw society as an organism believing that all societal organizations serve a purpose like organs in a body

• “social darwinism”

• supported “laizzez faire capitalism”

Emile Durkheim

• pro-social integration

• the “Anti-Marx”

  • differed from Marx → thought specialization in the workforce was GOOD

    • believed that more choice → stronger work place ties (Organic Solidarity)

      • Believed long term organic soilidarity would INCREASE and mechanical solidarity would DECREASE

• social integration and social density (suicide study)

• an advocate for social facts (sociology as a science)

“Structural” functionalism

• Dominant in American sociology in the early 1950s and 1960s

• Idea that society is a social system that “functions”

  • focuses on how social institutions affects how society functions

    • ex: of social institutions

      • The family

      • religion

      • education

  • stress tendancy towards “equilibrium” not good at describing conflict

Mechanical Solidarity

• Social cohesion in small traditional societies

  • Individuals bound by shared…

    • values, beleifs, and experiences

    • similar roles

    • collective conscience

Organic Solidarity

• Social cohesion in complex industrial societies

  • individuals bound by interdependance and specialized roles

  • inviduals bound by…

    • functional independance of diverdse specialists who rely on each other for survival

    • society is like a “human body”

      • institutions are like organs all are needed to survive

Symbolic Interactionalist

• Relality is constructed by individuals

• symbols are assigned meanings (language is symbolic)

  • social groups assign meaning of the world/abstact concepts using symbols

• Concentrates on individuals (not institutions) and what they think and feel (identity)

  • claims that there is a “reality” independant of human conciousness

Capitalism

• has been characterized as a “black box” that converts money into more money

• monetary investment → profit

How labor evolved in the modern capitalist economy

• occured historically through the displacement of people from land, or displacement of small-scale self sufficent industries

  • this displacement led to a dependance on WAGE WORK

    • labor force that is stratified (mix of high and low skilled jobs)

      • often divided along the lines of race, gender age and nationality

Capitalism maximizes efficency and control through…

1. factory system

2. redefined concepts of time

3. traditional institution (family and church)

Capitalism was resisted through…

1. cultural criticism

2. direct protest

3. union organization

consequences of our modern capitalist society

• widening inequality

• widespread poverty and hunger

• enviromental destruction

• inadequate healthcare for the poor

• political militraization

• reccuring economic crises

Capitalism in the modern world

• tons of opportunities for capitalists:

  • abundant cheap labor, resources advanced tech, and supportivfe governments

• these “investment machines” generate:

  • wealth and vast profits concentrated at the hands of few

    • → billionasres holding much of the worlds wealth

Finance

the art of making money through lendin, credit, and investment

Factors needed for a rise in finance …

• a relaxatio of religious prohibitions on interest

• abilitity to access risk

• the creation of institutions such as:

  • banks

  • stock markets

  • enforeable financial laws

What does finance depend on?

perpetual economical growth

• failure to maingtain perpetual economical growth can cause…

  • defaults

  • bank collapses

  • currency instability

finance enabled …l

• wars

• large scale trade

• infrastructure

• growth of Nation- States

Before the era of the Global Trader …

• For most of history → small isolated communities of hunter- gatherers

  • approx. 10,000 years ago → agriculture supported larger populations, trade, occupational specialization, political complexity

• 400-500 years ago → Europe dominated global trade, not just by conquest but by economic means

  • distinction:

    • earlier empires (Maya,Rome, Islam) = POLITICAL CONQUEST

      Versus ….

    • Europe = CAPITALIST EXPANSION VIA TRADE

Era of the Global Trader: World economy in 1400

• China: wealthiest, advanced tech and porcelian trade

• Trade routes:

  • Silk Road → Dangerous

  • Sea routes via Malacca → Safer

• Malacca: spice hub, very busy, cosmopolitan

• India: cotton/textile powerhouse; major trade goods

• East Africa: slaves, ivory, gold

  • linked to Asia/Middle East

• Middle East: advanced finance (credit, gold coins, bankers)

• West Africa: 2/3 of world’s gold suppply

  • textiles

  • slaves

• Europe: recovering from plauge

  • Venice/Genoa dominate med

  • wool textiles

  • fudal rural economies

• Americas: Aztec, India, Mississippians

  • rich agriculture (maize, beans, squash)

• unknown to Europe atp

Era of the Global Trader: Limits to the expansion of Capitalism during the 1400s

• rulers taxed trade

• geography slower routes

• minimal economies

• weak consumer demand

Europe’s Rise in the Global Economy (1400-1600s):

• China: withdraws from ocean trade → power vaccum

• Portugal: strong navy, cannons, atlantic trade shift

• Japan: expands trade (swords, copper, books)

• Africa/Slavery:

  • wars for people not land

  • use of slaves for sugar plantations

• Americas:

  • conquests bring gold and silver

  • crops (corn, potatos, cacao) reshape diets

  • Indigenous collapse (95%+ from disease/violence)

  • slave labor demand shifts to Africa

What were the consequences of Europe’s rise in the global economy (1400-1600s)

• With Europe enriched it became an Economic Center

• Africa weakened

• America’s devastated

• BIRTH OF GLOBAL INEQUALITY

Netherlands in the 16th and 17th Centuries

• Was the FIRST modern economy to DEPLOY FINANCE on a LARGE SCALE

• Because they were a small nation with few natural resources → relied on trade and finance

Innovations form the Netherlands (16th abd 17th centuries)

• Fluitschip (cheap, light cargo ship)

• large - scale PUBLIC INVESTMENT in canals farmland, and energy

• PUBLIC DEBT market: citizens bought bonds, earning 8-16% interest

Speculation and Tulip Mania (1630s)

• Dutch pioneered Futures Contracts

• mainly congtracts purly speculative

  • buyers;/sellers betting on price changes

• Tulips → luxary item

  • therefore contracts boomed

  • one bulb sold for insane prices

• 1637: prices collapsed →

  • bankruptcies

  • unpaid depts

  • economic disarray

Lesson: profits and debt repayment depend on growth (trade or asset values)

VOC (Dutch East India Company):

• First multinational and first stock-issuing company

• exclusive Asian Trade rights;

  • buit forts

  • armies

  • treaties

• creation of STOCK MARKET (Amsterdam Exchange)

Amsterdam Bank (1609)

• Linked stock market and credit

• econmomy tied to VOC success → trade + war expansion

What is the legacy of the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th century global economy?

• Dutch innovations → foundation of mondern finance

  • ( invedstment, speculation, stock market and credit)

• Also birth financial bubbles and collapses

  • tulip mania → parallels with 2007 housing crash

• but a problem remained:

  • shortage of money to match production → later solved by monetary “alchemy”

Industrial Revolution

• develolopment of better technology led to increased efficency in production

• ealry innovations that contributed to the industrial revolution:

  • Ironbridge

  • Iron boat

  • Steam engine

  • Mechanized factories

Reasons for industrial revolution in England

• increased demand for goods

• increase in capital → largly due to the development of debt money

• growth in population

• expansion of agriculture

• “prodestant (work) ethic”

• emergent merchant class

• revolution of consumption

How do we get a capitalist mode of production?

• state is central to development of a capitalist mode of production

  • state maintains ownership of the means of production

• state must provide the infrastructure

  • transportation

  • communication

  • judicial system

  • education

    … which are all needed for capitalist production

• state must regulate conflicts between competing capitalists

Rise of the factory system

• To improve efficency, merchants centralized production in factories

  • controlling quality, tools and labor

  • → required large capital investments but ENABLED MECHANIZATION

• Advancements in tech increased production

  • but also…

    • rasied questions about raw material supply and markets for surplus goods

Industrial Revolution and Imperialism

• 19th century: production and wealth soared due to mechanization, steam power, coal and railroads

• order of industrialization:

  • England → U.S. → France → Germany

• Expansion in shipping → lowered transport costs, expanded global markets

• Industrialization relied on colonial control of raw materials and markets

Challenges of Industrial Capitalism:

• worker resitance to poor wages and conditions

• risk of OVERPRODUCTION (goods exceeding demand)

• speculative bubbles

• Global economic crises: notably the Great Depression hof 1873-1895

The idea of the “Free- Market” (Market Liberalism)

• Adam Smith (1723-1790) : The Wealth of Nations

• was primarily an argument against Mercantalism

• Argued that the free exchange of goods created greater wealth for everyone (and every nation)

Market Liberalism (definition)

The belief that the economy works best when people and businesses are free to make their own choice with little government interference

• Based on two main ideas:

  1. Free Markets: prices, production and trade are mostly decided by supply and demand NOT government rules

  2. Individual Freedom: people should be free to own property, start businesses, trade and compete

IN SHORT:

BELIEF IN TRUSTING MARKTES AND INDIVIDUAL CHOICE RATHER THAN GOVERNMENT TO CREATE PROSPERITY

Basic tenets of Market Liberalism:

1. Individual self-interest is good because it makes individuals pursue profit by providing a serviuce that is needed in society (AKA: Greed is Good)

2. People (and nations) possess a “comparative advantage “ in their ability to produce certain goods and services

3. The open exhnage of these “goods” and “services” makes people (and nations) wealthier

4. Competition (the free-market) insures that wages for jobs are fair

5. Competiton insures that services are cheap and abundant

6. The “Invisible Hand” of the market eliminates access, maintains wages and protects consumers