Social Sciences - Essay Example

?KEY CONCEPTS IN ICAL PERSPECTIVES: AN ESSAY This essay will discuss eight (8) concepts of the ical perspectives. These concepts are frequently encountered in field of social sciences especially in Sociology and History. This essay will be divided as follows: 1.The Enlightenment and Progress; 2.Stages of History and Revolution; 3.Rationalization and Bureaucracy; 4.The Division of Labour and Meritocracy. 5. Conclusion I. THE ENLIGHTENMENT and PROGRESS The Enlightenment according to Kant is man’s leaving his incapacity to utilize his own intelligence without the help of another person. He challenges the people of his time by these words ‘Dare to know’. The motto of the enlightenment is having the courage to use one’s intelligence (Kant, 1977). The enlightenment is characterized by social change especially in the increase in literacy and acquisition and exchange of knowledge. This intellectual exchange is usually done in debates and discussion in French salons. The concrete example of this search for freedom is exemplified in the age of reason among others is the Declaration of Independence in the United States. With the continuing search for truth through reason, the people believe that they will achieve a progress in acquiring knowledge, in technology and moral or ethics. The American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence may be seen as the consequences of the ideas in the Age of Enlightenment. Those enlightened ideas during the Age of Reason are simply put into action. II. STAGES OF HISTORY and REVOLUTION Revolutions are defined as “violent civil disturbances that cause the displacement of one ruling group by another that has a broader popular basis for support” (Davies, 1962, p. 3). Crane Brinton discovers some uniformities in revolutions such as economically-improving societies, abandonment of intellectuals, class antagonism, weak government, lost confident ruling class, financial failure of government, and incompetent use of force against rebels (as cited in (Davies, 1962) On the other hand, the ‘stages of history’ according to Adam Smith is a story of economic and social development of the people. He mentions a reference of these four stages in his Wealth of Nations, specifically on the contrast between the lifestyles in ‘savage nations of hunters and fishers’ and civilized and thriving nations’ (Brewer, 2008, p. 3). These four stages are: The Age of Hunters; The Age of Shepherds; The age of agriculture and; The growth of commerce. The first stage highlights hunting and gathering the first occupation of the earlier humans millions of years ago. Adam Smith puts it this way, the people wandered on an island with no choice but to be contented with what they could find in their environment. They pick fruits and hunt animals for their everyday needs. The second stage follows when the people learn to domesticate animals. The third stage is agriculture when people plant and cultivate the land not intended for foreign commerce but only for their own consumption. From this point, it is inferred that a more elaborate division of labor emerges and commerce consequently grow. This is known as the fourth stage or the growth of commerce, wherein the production is not just for one family’s consumption but there is a surplus to be offered to another group of people to be traded (Brewer, 2008). This theory of four stages of history has left some gray areas to debate upon. It may be said that Smith’s theory is very inclined with economic factors, living other factors less mentioned. On the other hand, understanding the revolution why and how does is occur is not only a question of economics but also of other interrelated aspects like politics and culture. Nevertheless, it may be inferred that these stages of history is in fact a revolution, since the people had undergone and searched for an improvement in their way of life. In the same way that these four stages is not an end but a continuing process, which until now is being subject to change as evidenced by the happening of these revolutions in different places and timeframe in the history of the world. A number of revolutions have been made into the pages of history books and still counting. The consequences of these revolutions are also numerous. The Industrial revolution has made its impact in the face of the world. The rise of commerce may be interpreted as the last stage of history is also a result of a revolution. The ever growing demands and surpluses in the market make way to socio-economic concepts in order to facilitate these changes. Among these theories are rationalization and bureaucracy. III. RATIONALIZATION and BUREAUCRACY Rationalization may be seen as a historical process which originates in the western world. Ritzer identifies five dimension of rationality namely: “efficiency, predictability, calculability, substitution of non human technology and control over uncertainty” (1983, p. 372). Efficiency means finding the best and ultimate way of reaching the desired end or result. Predictability means people ought to know what to expect in a given set-up or situation. In order to make certain predictability, order, discipline and consistency in procedure are highly emphasized. Calculability gives emphasis on quantity rather than quality; thus, the emergence of mass production in a given industry. Substitution of nonhuman technology highlights the replacement of human labor technological devices which makes the manufacture process fast, easy and less dependent on manual labor. Gaining control over the uncertainties of life such as life, birth, death, food production and consumption, is last dimension of rationality. In food business especially in fast-food chains, great control by supervisors over its subordinates is prevalent (Ritzer, 1983). On the other hand, the concept of bureaucracy refers also to terms of organization and management. It is characterized by the following features. 1. Management by rules or the presence of uniform and consistent rules that govern the organization. 2. Division of Labor which defines the authority and responsibility of each person in the bureau. 3. Formal hierarchical structure which follows an organized structure of authority and chain of command. This hierarchy clearly defines the difference between those in authority from those who are subordinates or lower in rank. 4. Technical competence is the basis of person’s appointment to a specific post. 5. Managers have salary and the bureau has its own defined roles and responsibilities where the management is done by trained specialist. 6. Decisions, actions and regulations are written and recorded. This is to ensure continuity and stability of the organization (Miller, 2006). The very distinct commonality between the two concepts is the structural hierarchy. In addition, both are process or theory involving groups and organizations. Nevertheless their application varies for rationalization is best applied in organizational structure of a business, for instance the fast-food chains that emerge in the economy. While bureaucracy are best shown in the set-up of a government or a public instrumentality. It is mentioned above that division of labor is only a characteristic of bureaucracy, but such concept is broad and distinct enough to be discussed separately. IV. DIVISION OF LABOUR and MERITOCRACY One of the forerunners of the concept of Division of Labor is a sociologist Emile Durkheim in his book entitled “The Division of Labor in Society in 1893”. Those who touch and mention the idea of division of labor among others are Karl Marx, Adam Smith and David Hume. Division of Labor is the specialization of the roles and functions in manufacturing a product. It is the standardization of production, the inclusion and perfection of machines which consequently resulted to the emergence of a large-scale industry. Separate process is carried out by different industrial group in producing a single product. It is to be compared to the making of bread by bakers, millers and farmers (Durkheim, 1947). On the other hand meritocracy is a concept also discussed by Durkheim. It is a rule in which a person is chosen to such post or job on the principle of merit. This principle of merit and fitness presupposes an opportunity for everybody to be promoted based on achievement rather than other ways like force or stealth or just by plain inheritance (Lave & McDermott, 2002). For Durkheim, the concepts of Division of Labor and Principle of Meritocracy are closely related. He acknowledged the presence of inequality in the labor force but that inequality must be based on merit (Kerbo, 2010). Although the application of division of labor has advantages such as efficiency and ability to produce in large quantity, yet there is also a chance when the full potential of a worker is not reached. The worker will be fixed in that specific work, where there is a little chance for the worker to try to enhance their ability in other work or trade. This is the time when meritocracy will set in. The manner of dividing the job among workers must be based on the ability of such person, evaluating each worker based on their fitness to do the job. CONCLUSION All these concepts, theories and ideas are not just related by the philosophers or thinkers who first introduced them but also by their consequences in the field of history, sociology, politics, economics, even psychology. The age of enlightenment or age or reason and with the happening of American Revolution, French Revolution, and Industrial Revolution, and other revolutions in the world are great bearers of change in the way the people think, act and believe. These changes are geared toward achieving a life in progress, either economically, intellectually or morally. Although these concepts have contradictions, yet they have a common goal of explaining how these events happened and how to be able to get over those traumatic experiences that may be encountered in the future. The thesis and antitheses of these concepts when combined and correlated give us the conclusion that the people of today are making their own history for tomorrow, and what these people experience today may happen again in the future. Life is a cycle and a learning process which is worth pondering. Bibliography Brewer, A. (2008). Adam Smith's four stages of history. Davies, J. (1962). Toward a Theory of Revolution. American Sociological Review , 27 (1), 5-19. Durkheim, E. (1947). Division of Labor in Society. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press. Kant, I. (1977). The Philosophy of Kant. Random House, Inc. Kerbo, H. (2010). Social Stratification. Lave, J., & McDermott, R. (2002). Estranged Learning. Outlines , 19-49. Miller, K. (2006). Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes. Belmont CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Ritzer, G. (1983). The McDonaldization of Society. Journal of Amercican Culture , 100-107. Read More