Transcript HUMAN SOCIETIES SOCIETY PEOPLE WHO INTERACT WITHIN A DEFINED TERRITORY WHILE SHARING A COMMON CULTURE OR WAY OF LIFE.

HUMAN SOCIETIES
SOCIETY
PEOPLE WHO INTERACT
WITHIN A DEFINED TERRITORY
WHILE SHARING A COMMON
CULTURE OR WAY OF LIFE
VISIONS OF SOCIETY
FOUR DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES ON WHAT ACCOUNTS
FOR SOCIAL CHANGE AND SOCIETAL EVOLUTION
• GERHARD AND JEAN LENSKI
– SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY
• KARL MARX
– SOCIETY IN CONFLICT
• MAX WEBER
– SOCIETY AND “RATIONALITY”
• EMILE DURKHEIM
– SOCIETY AND FUNCTION
SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION
THE PROCESS OF CHANGE THAT RESULTS FROM
A SOCIETY’S GAINING NEW INFORMATION,
PARTICULARLY TECHNOLOGY
• SOCIETIES RANGE FROM SIMPLE TO
THE TECHNOLOGICALLY COMPLEX
• SOCIETIES SIMPLE IN TECHNOLOGY
TEND TO RESEMBLE ONE ANOTHER
• MORE COMPLEX SOCIETIES REVEAL
STRIKING CULTURAL DIVERSITY
THE WAY THE LENSKIS SEE THINGS
TECHNOLOGY SHAPES OTHER
CULTURAL PATTERNS. SIMPLE
TECHNOLOGY CAN ONLY SUPPORT
SMALL NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WHO
LIVE SIMPLE LIVES.
THE GREATER AMOUNT OF
TECHNOLOGY A SOCIETY HAS WITHIN
ITS GRASP, THE FASTER CULTURAL
CHANGE WILL TAKE PLACE.
HIGH-TECH SOCIETIES ARE CAPABLE
OF SUSTAINING LARGE NUMBERS OF
PEOPLE WHO ARE ENGAGED IN A
DIVERSE DIVISION OF LABOR.
TECHNOLOGY AND
SOCIETAL EVOLUTION
• TECHNOLOGY
– APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE TO THE
PRACTICAL TASKS OF LIVING
• HUNTING AND GATHERING
– SIMPLE TOOLS USED FOR EACH TASK
• HORTICULTURAL
– USE OF HAND TOOLS FOR CROP WORK
• PASTORALISM
– DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS
• AGRICULTURAL
– LARGE-SCALE CULTIVATION
• INDUSTRIAL
– USE OF SOPHISTICATED FUELS AND
MACHINERY
Culture
Ideas
Realities of Society
The ways in which we define problems will often limit the strategies and
technologies used to address them. (social construction of reality)
Realities of Society Culture
Ideas
The levels of technology available to a society will limit their ideas about
what are problems that they can address. (materialism)
The ideational superstructure, then, both shapes society, and, is also
shaped by the operations of society. Marx believed that the economic
relationships between peoples shaped their ideas about the world. Weber
believed that peoples beliefs about the world shape their economic
relationships. Durkheim believed that achieving an equilibrium in society
is the force that shapes the ideas, and the culture which then creates the
structure needed to sustain that equilibrium.
CAPITALISM AND ALIENATION
• FOUR SPECIFIC WAYS CAPITALISM
CAN ALIENATE WORKERS: “Marx”
– FROM THE ACT OF WORKING
• NO LONGER HAVING A SAY IN PRODUCTION
– FROM THE PRODUCTS OF WORK
• NO OWNERSHIP IN THE PRODUCT THAT IS
MERELY SOLD FOR PROFIT
– FROM OTHER WORKERS
• WORK HAS BECOME COMPETITIVE
RATHER THAN COOPERATIVE
– FROM HUMAN POTENTIAL
• BECOMING A STRANGER UNTO ONESELF
WEBER’S RATIONAL SOCIETY
BUREAUCRACIES WILL BECOME THE FAVORITE FORM OF
ORGANIZATION, AND SOCIAL LIFE WILL STRESS THE FOLLOWING:
HERE ARE SIX WAYS A
• DISTINCTIVE SOCIAL
PERSON CAN TELL
WHETHER OR NOT
INSTITUTIONS
ORGANIZATIONS ARE
• LARGE ORGANIZATIONS
MORE “RATIONAL”
THAN “TRADITIONAL.”
• VERY SPECIALIZED DIVISION
OF LABOR
• PERSONAL DISCIPLINE IS PART
OF VALUE SYSTEM
• AWARENESS OF TIME
• TECHNICAL COMPETENCE
• IMPERSONALITY
WHERE’S THE GLUE?
• WHAT HOLDS SOCIETIES
TOGETHER?
– LENSKIS
• A SHARED CULTURE
– KARL MARX
• ELITES FORCE AN ‘UNEASY PEACE’
– MAX WEBER
• RATIONAL THOUGHT, LARGE-SCALE
ORGANIZATIONS
– EMILE DURKHEIM
• SPECIALIZED DIVISIONS OF LABOR page 108
ARE SOCIETIES IMPROVING?
• THE LENSKIS:
– MODERN TECHNOLOGY OFFERS EXPANDED HUMAN CHOICE,
BUT LEAVES US WITH NEW SETS OF DANGERS
• KARL MARX:
– SOCIAL CONFLICT WOULD ONLY END ONCE PRODUCTION OF
GOODS AND SERVICES WERE TAKEN OUT OF THE HANDS OF
THE CAPITALISTS AND PLACED INTO THE HANDS OF ALL
PEOPLE
MAX WEBER:
– SAW SOCIALISM AS A GREATER EVIL THAN CAPITALISM, AS
LARGE, ALIENATING BUREAUCRACIES WOULD GAIN EVEN
MORE CONTROL OVER PEOPLE
• EMILE DURKHEIM:
– OPTIMISTIC ABOUT MODERNITY AND THE POSSIBILITY OF
MORE FREEDOM FOR INDIVIDUALS, BUT CONCERNED ABOUT
THE DANGERS OF ANOMIC FEELINGS
Modernity and Anomie
• Weak social bonds
• Waning social support
• Social control mechanisms that represent
society “inside” the individual no longer
provide guidance and restraint
• Functional interdependence
• Growth of external social control agents
Anomie and Alienation
• Anomie stresses conformity and adaptation
by the individual to the changes in society.
• Alienation stresses the realization of the
causes of one’s situation in life, and an
active attempt to change the conditions
which have led to that stress.