The Sociological Perspective - Essay Example

Seminar 2: The Sociological Perspective Marx, K. Engels, F. (1848). The Communist Manifesto. http history.hanover.edu s/excerpts/111marx1.html (April 9, 2006) Writers describe the inevitable processes of modernisation with specific reference to the social class that is serving as the driving forces for that processes - the bourgeoisie. It is argued that constant innovation stimulated by a certain social group destroying all the conservative and stagnant traits of the society cannot be avoided. Authors illustrate the significant changes in the human history caused by the bourgeoisie in various aspects of the social life. Stating these changes one by one authors use them as a proof of bourgeoisie being responsible for movement towards civilised world. For instance, it is argued that transition to free trade, introduction of wage paid labour, globalisation and connection of different regions of the world, denationalisation of production, establishment of world intellectual exchange, urbanisation, political centralization, and the very strive for progress were caused by bourgeoisie. The main driving forces that lie behind these changes are the technological innovation and the aspiration for ever-increasing economic efficiency. These factors push the society to evolve and to develop new more effective forms. Interestingly, although The Communist Manifesto was written in 1848, all these principles of social evolution are urgent even now. Authors imply without stating directly that it is the core nature of modernisation to use the fruits of technological progress in order to build new more economically effective form of society. Prediction 1 [The bourgeoisie] compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image. Explanation: The worldwide spread of Western culture and Western way of life is caused the political and economic strength of Western countries. Britain while being the post-imperial Western power still has great influence over its former colonies, which makes it easier to continue the expansion of Western culture into them. Meanwhile, the image of strong Western power causes the population of less developed countries to immigrate to Britain. Thus, globalisation is one of the reasons underlying the wide ethnic variety of British population. Critical Evaluation: Fulcher, J. Scott, J. (2003). Sociology, 2nd edition, Oxford : Oxford University Press. Chapter 14: Globalisation. The expansion of Western way of life often causes damage to national riches. Fulcher and Scott (2003) describe a case study of trade in illegal mahogany as one of the examples of globalisation. Indeed, expensive furniture created from mahogany is highly valued in USA, UK, and Europe, which causes the Brazilian population to inflict serious damage to Amazonian rainforest exporting mahogany overseas. Halsey, A.H. (2000). "A Hundred Years of Social Change." In Social Trends 30 2000 edition by Jil Matheson (ed.) and Carol Summerfield (ed.). London, Stationery Office. While spreading its influence over the world, Britain changes itself. Immigration from former colonies comprises half the century's growth, leading to multi-ethnic population in Britain of the 21 century, as Halsey (2000, p. 18) states. Thus, the Britain transformed from population exporter to importer. Prediction 2 The bourgeoisie has subjected the country to the rule of the towns. It has created enormous cities, has greatly increased the urban population as compared with the rural, and has thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life. Explanation: More and more people of the world at large and in contemporary Britain in particular live in urban areas. However, overpopulation of metropolises such as London increases the reverse flow of population into rural areas, which are being urbanised. Critical Evaluation: Fulcher, J. Scott, J. (2003). Sociology, 2nd edition, Oxford : Oxford University Press. Chapter 13: City and Community. The Stevenage illustrated as a case study (Fulcher and Scott, 2003) was built after the second World War as a London satellite city. Its current population is about 75,000. Such a rapid growth for just fifty years is caused by population from overcrowded London. Located in the midst of an active transport network, Stevenage became one of the first cities suited for modern urban way of life. Seminar 3: Social Class, Life and Death Matheson, J. (ed.) Summerfield, C. (ed.) (2000). Social Trends 30. London, Stationery Office, Chapter 7: Health, pp.115-130. Moore, S. (1987). Sociology Alive. Cheltenham, Stanley Thornes, p. 31 Fulcher, J. Scott, J. (2003). Sociology, 2nd edition, Oxford : Oxford University Press. Chapter 8: Body Health and Medicine. The statistics shown by Moore (1987) indicate a clear inequality between infant mortality rates by social classes of parents: parents occupied in unskilled manual labour experience infant deaths more frequently than parents occupied in professional labour. There may be two differences underlying this inequality. Since people occupied in unskilled manual labour have significantly lower wages than non-manual workers, they usually spend less on healthcare of themselves and their children. The second reason arises from the same root: manual workers have to work more to earn their living. Devoting less time to their family, they have less chances of indicating illness of their children timely. Although the number of manual workers have significantly decreased over the last decades and the life expectancy at birth have increased, there is a general trend of infant mortality decreasing, but at the same time no evidence of class differential decreasing over the last years (Matheson and Summerfield, 2000, p. 117). As can be seen from Social Trends 30 (2000) smoking varies greatly from class to class. While lower classes have higher percentage of smoking workers, the upper ones have significantly smaller number of smoking men and women. Percentage of smokers have decreased in all classes throughout the years (Matheson, Summerfield, 2000, p. 125) but the differentiation has remained. This may be explained with the fact that due to lower wages unskilled manual workers experience more stresses during their lifetime and use smoking as a relief. Additionally, upper classes have higher personal culture which rejects smoking as a publicly condemned habit. Wright, E.O. (2005). "Conclusion" in Approaches to Class Analysis, Cambridge University Press. Sociologists agree that socioeconomic class is a decent indicator of life chances. However different schools of thought vary in specifying determinants for life chances. According to Marx life chances are determined only by capital and labour power. Weber argues that along with financial capital assets, knowledge and skills, called 'human capital', also determines life chances. Alternatively, Bourdieu adds one more determining factor - cultural capital. The last theory in my opinion is the most promising, because as can be seen on the example with smoking it is the culture that infuences the motives of non-smokers and increases their life expectancy. Thus it would be reasonable to assume that higher culture leads to better life chances. Seminar 4: Religion in Contemporary British Society http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4251458-103690,00.html (April 9, 2006) This article states that consumer society has replaced religious beliefs at large extent in modern Britain. Christianity is no longer a backdrop for moral decisions for most of the people. Statistics shows significant fall in church attendances: although 43% claim to be Anglicans, only 24% attend services regularly. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtmlxml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F02%2F24%2Fnchurch24.xml (April 9, 2006) Another article indicating a decline of the Church of England. It is stated that attendance among children has almost disappeared, and funds used for parish support have fallen by three quarters. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/wtwtgod/3518375.stm (April 9, 2006) The results of BBC poll show that levels of belief and religious activity in the UK are consistently lower than in most of the other countries polled. There is only 67% of British population believe in God, while the average percentage for 10 countries polled is 88%. http://www.socresonline.org.uk/7/4/walliss.html (April 9, 2006) Still despite the decline of Anglican Church, many people that do not attend churches choose a religious marriage service as a tradition and ritual strengthening their marriage. From this perspective weddings cannot be seen as a display of secularisation. http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4205780-103690,00.html (April 9, 2006) This article also serves as a proof that there is no decline in spirituality. It indicates that membership in alternative religious groups is rising fast. Many alternative spirituality groups both strict and traditional and liberal are doing well and even indicate a rapid growth of followers. It can be argued that people have simply changed their attitude to religion. They no longer look for eternal life, or paradise but perceive religion as a more practical tool, turning more to thoughts of their personal lives with emphasis on body and healing. Seminar 5: Citizen's Jury: The Case of Genetically Modified Food. http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/gm-food/ (April 9, 2006) http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000002D40E.htm (April 9, 2006) http://www.i-sis.org.uk/MRC-pr.php (April 9, 2006) http://www.opendemocracy.net/ecology-foodwithoutfrontiers/article_1411.jsp (April 9, 2006) GM food is not still determined to be safe. If the Royal Society indicates that some risks need to be kept in mind and monitored and UK Medical Research Council proposes human studies of GM food before approval there are no reasons to bypass these recommendations. Of course, advocates of GM products reasonably state that there are no evidences of harm from transgenic food. However, there are still no evidences of GM food safety as well. Meanwhile the potential damage that may be inflicted by the food approved and then found out to be harmful (even if this risk is low) cannot be taken out of consideration. The economic benefits presented by the supporters of GM food are too doubtful, because of the power GM producers receive. Of course, it may be more economically efficient but the ability itself of biotech industry to create a monopoly through the use of own-brand herbicide-resistant plants is a serious threat. Meanwhile, only the countries suffering from famine require urgent large shipments of food. Providing those countries with GM food can be their salvation, but it also can lead to greater disasters because of the lack of testing. There are no evidences of famine in the UK - quite opposite, analysts indicate the increased levels of obesity. Therefore, if there is no urgent need in GM food in Britain, then it is better to spend some more time on further testing and safety trials before approving GM food. It can wait. Seminar 6: Rich and Poor http://www.elissetche.org/dico/U.htm (April 9, 2006) http://www.phillyvip.org/The%20Undeserving%20Poor.htm (April 9, 2006) Jencks, C.. (1992). Rethinking Social Policy: Race, Poverty, and the Underclass Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, p. 88. http://www.unc.edu/depts/econ/byrns_web/Economicae/Essays/Poverty_RelAbs.htm (April 9, 2006) The absolute poverty does not depend on the standards of living in any particular country. People are behind the line of absolute poverty if their income is completely absorbed by minimum amounts of food, cloth, and shelter necessary survival. In other words, absolutely impoverished people live on the edge of survival. Meanwhile, relative poverty is a concept determining the people with income insufficient to afford the average standard of living. For example, relatively impoverished people who live in countries with high living standards, such as Sweden, will not be counted as poor in countries with low living standards, such as India. Underclass is a class of individuals in mature industrial societies situated at the bottom of the class system who have been systematically excluded from participation in economic life. (http://www.elissetche.org/dico/U.htm, 2003) Poverty is not the lot of a handful of woebegotten social misfits and unfortunates: it is the fate of a majority of Americans for at least one year of their adult lives. (http://www.phillyvip.org/The%20Undeserving%20Poor.htm, 2005) In fact the article presents that the majority of Americans - 58.5% people that live in a country with rather high living standards - experience poverty during their lifetimes. That means judging the poor is judging most of the people in the world. If we can afford such a judgment, then we are passing rich and in human capital and have forgotten to appreciate that riches. If you set out to help people who are in trouble, you almost always find that most of them are to some extent responsible for their present troubles. Few victims are completely innocent. Helping those who are not doing their best to help themselves poses extraordinarily difficult moral and political problems. (Jencks, 1992, p. 88) Indeed, it is sometimes impossible to make someone rich if he/she makes everything to be poor. Of course, poor are always a social problem, but this problem was never resolved during the human history. Meanwhile, funds spent on those who chose to be poor could be spent on those who works hard to become rich. Seminar 7: Feedback on Part 1 of the Reading Log Seminar 8: Race and Ethnicity UK Census (2001). http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/census2001.asp (April 9, 2006) http://www.usinfo.pl/aboutusa/society/demographics.htm (April 9, 2006) According UK Census 2001 92.1% of population in Britain are White. There is also 1.2% of population of mixed ethnicity, 4% of Asian population, 2% of Blacks, and 0.4% of Chinese. Ethnic composition in the USA in 1999 was as follows: 82% of the population were White, 13% were Black, Asian and Pacific Islanders numbered 4%, and American Indian and Alaska Native population was about 1%. Comparing these two countries, one can easily see that ethnic diversity in the USA is much greater than in the UK. On the one hand ethnically uniform countries experience less cases of ethnical hostility, but on the other hand smaller percentage of ethnical minorities gives them less power to defend their rights. http://www.immi.se/ir/ir2001/yassine.htm (April 9, 2006) http://www.childrens-express.org/dynamic/public/d678218.htm (April 9, 2006) Although the main reasons of racism in Britain are the same as everywhere - misunderstanding and fear sometimes turned into hatred -there are special unique features of British racism. For a long time Britain was an imperial country with colonies. In the 20th century a lot of immigrants from former British colonies came to Britain. Ethnical composition diversified rapidly along with post-imperial attitude to foreigners from colonies as to people of second chop caused racism flashes for decades. Of course, today black babies are not separated from white at hospitals as it was fifty years ago. But still racism exists: "When I walk into a shop, the assistants look more closely at me because of my colour. If black children are having problems at home and play up at school, teachers see them as disruptive. There's no understanding." (http://www.childrens-express.org/dynamic/public/d678218.htm, 1999) Seminar 9: Crime http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/301/301lect12.htm (April 9, 2006) Labeling theories in criminology were developed since 1938. The core concept that underlies those theories is that reacting to offenders as 'criminals' always has unanticipated negative consequences, which deepen the criminal behaviour and make the crime problem even worse. Labeling theorists are concerned with preliminary judgments of crime. For instance, they agree that certain acts, like murder, are reprehensible. However, it is argued that not the harm makes the act criminal, but the label that is conferred on the act. "The audience, not the actor, determines when certain behavior becomes defined as crime." (http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/301/301lect12.htm, 2005) each crime varies from situation to situation, across time and place. And placing the same labels on crimes makes them equal, even if the story behind them is completely different. http://www.999today.com/society/news/story/2391.html (April 9, 2006) Crime statistics often used by sociologists present unreliable data. In fact, police records represent not a reliable measure of trends in violence, but show the police activity. A large number of crimes remain undetected and unreported. For instance, if a crime is a petty theft and 1 pound is stolen while the victim had 50 in a pocket, most likely this crime will be left undetected. If the crime is still detected, there is no guarantee that a victim will report about it to police. Thus, crime statistics should be used to predict underlying trends in violence. Seminar 10: The Sociology of Family and Intimate Relationships http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,930437,00.html (April 9, 2006) Scott, J. (1998) "Changing Attitudes to Sexual Morality: A Cross-National Comparison." Sociology, 32, 4 (Nov): 815-845. Young, R.J.C. (1995) Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture & Race. London: Routledge. Today Britain has one of the fastest-growing populations in the world. One in 20 pre-school children in the country is thought to be mixed-race. Interracial relations are so common that even to notice them is bad manners. Meanwhile, the past couple decades have seen a militant pro-black position that has led to mixed-race children being labeled black willy-nilly, especially for the purposes of adoption. Mixed marriages is the most natural way for Britain to forget about its colonial past and treat immigrants from former colonies as equals. With a population growth through a large number of foreigners coming to Britain, hybridity is the only way for the country to assimilate other cultures. "Hybridity becomes the moment in which the discourse of colonial authority loses its univocal grip on meaning and finds itself open to the trace of the language of the other" (Young, 1995, p. 22). Therefore, ethnically mixed marriages can be seen as the future of the British population. Nevertheless, the past always tries to fight before letting go the time. Hence, there is some strange form of racism towards children from mixed marriages. Mixed marriages not only bring new colours of the skin but also new cultures, and new understandings of a family. Current culture tries to fight: "The present day conservative still wants to conserve - to protect the traditional family, traditional symbols of state legitimacy, religion and the identity of the nation" (Scott, 1998). However, the current trend for the increase of mixed population is obvious, and with this increase, notions of marriage, family, kinship and the culture itself will change. Read More