21.2: Sources of Social Change

21.2.1: Sources of Social Change

Learning Objective

Analyze the similarities and differences in the various social movement theories – deprivation, mass-society, structural-strain, resource-mobilization, political process and culture

Key Points

• Famous social movement theories include deprivation theory, mass-society theory, structural-strain theory, resource-mobilization theory, political process theory and culture theory.
• Deprivation theory posits that social movements emerge among people who believe themselves to be deprived of certain goods or resources.
• Mass-society theory posits that social movements are comprised of people who feel marginalized from the rest of society.
• Structural-strain theory posits that social movements arise as a result of six factors: structural conduciveness, structural strain, growth and spread of a solution, precipating factors, lack of social control, and mobilization.
• Resource-mobilization theory places resources at the center of the emergence and success of social movements. In this case, resources include knowledge, money, media, labor, solidarity, legitimacy, and internal and external support from a powerful elite.
• Cultural theory underscores the importance of culture and addresses the free-rider problem. This theory also emphasizes the critical role of injustice in movement formation, stating that successful movements have to create injustice frames to mobilize people.

Key Terms

free rider

The free-rider problem refers to the idea that people will not be motivated to participate in a social movement that will use up their personal resources like time or money if they can still receive the benefits without participating.

injustice frame

An injustice frame is a collection of ideas and symbols that illustrate both how significant the problem the movement is concerned with is as well as what the movement can do to alleviate it.

cultural theory

Cultural theory underscores the importance of culture and addresses the free-rider problem. This theory also emphasizes the critical role of injustice in movement formation, stating that successful movements have to create injustice frames to mobilize people.

A variety of theories have attempted to explain how social movements develop. Some of the better-known approaches include deprivation theory, mass-society theory, structural-strain theory, resource-mobilization theory, political process theory and culture theory. Deprivation theory and resource-mobilization have been discussed in detail in this chapter’s section entitled “Social Movements. “

This particular section will thus pay attention to structural-strain theory and culture theory, while mass-society theory and political process theory will be discussed in greater detail later in “International Sources of Social Change” and “External Sources of Social Change,” respectively.

Structural-Strain Theory

Structural-strain theory proposes six factors that encourage social movement development:

1. Structural conduciveness: people come to believe their society has problems
2. Structural strain: people experience deprivation
3. Growth and spread of a solution: a solution to the problems people are experiencing is proposed and disseminates
4. Precipitating factors: discontent usually requires a catalyst (often a specific event) to turn it into a social movement
5. Lack of social control: the entity to be changed must be at least somewhat open to the change; if the social movement is quickly and powerfully repressed, it may never materialize
6. Mobilization: this is the actual organizing and active component of the movement; people do what needs to be done in order to further their cause.

Here is a case in point to illustrate the example of structural-strain theory. Structural conduciveness would occur when a group of people become disgruntled by a change in society. Structural strain is when these people feel a sense of displeasure due to the change, such as being upset or angry. These people propose a solution, such as a demonstration. Precipitating factors, such as being provoked by a non-protester, prompt a negative reaction (such as yelling or throwing something). If the movement is not strong enough, there will be no change; however, if there is enough influence, change is possible. Mobilization occurs when people work together in order to enact social change, such as meeting with government officials in order to change a law or policy.

This theory is subject to circular reasoning since it claims that social/structural strain is the underlying motivation of social movement activism, even though social movement activism is often the only indication that there was strain or deprivation. This kind of circular reasoning is also evident in deprivation theory (people form movements because they lack a certain good or resource), which structural-strain theory partially incorporates and relies upon.

Culture Theory

Culture theory builds upon both the theories of political process (the existence of political opportunities is crucial for movement development) and resource-mobilization (the mobilization of sufficient resources is central to movement formation and success), but it also extends them in two ways. First, it emphasizes the importance of movement culture. Second, it attempts to address the free-rider problem.

Injustice Frames

Both resource-mobilization theory and political process theory incorporate the concept of injustice into their approaches. Culture theory brings this notion of injustice to the forefront of movement creation, arguing that in order for social movements to successfully mobilize individuals, they must develop an injustice frame. An injustice frame is a collection of ideas and symbols that illustrates how significant the problem is and what the movement can do to alleviate it.

Injustice frames have the following characteristics:

• Facts take on their meaning by being embedded in frames, which can render them either relevant and significant or irrelevant and trivial.
• People carry around multiple frames in their heads.
• Successful reframing involves the ability to enter into the worldview of our adversaries.
• All frames contain implicit or explicit appeals to moral principles.

Free-Rider Problem

In emphasizing the injustice frame, culture theory also addresses the free-rider problem. The free-rider problem refers to the idea that people will not be motivated to participate in a social movement that will use up their personal resources (e.g., time, money, etc.) if they can still receive the benefits without participating. In other words, if person X knows that movement Y is working to improve environmental conditions in his neighborhood, he is presented with a choice: to join or not join the movement. If X believes the movement will succeed without her, she can avoid participation in the movement, save her resources, and still reap the benefits—this is free-riding. A significant problem for social movement theory has been to explain why people join movements if they believe the movement can/will succeed without their contribution. Culture theory argues that, in conjunction with social networks being an important contact tool, the injustice frame will provide the motivation for people to contribute to the movement.

Framing processes includes three separate components:

• Diagnostic frame: the movement organization frames the problem—what they are critiquing
• Prognostic frame: the movement organization frames the desirable solution to the problem
• Motivational frame: the movement organization frames a “call to arms” by suggesting and encouraging that people take action

Diagnostic framing of the problem involves an understanding what the problem actually is – what specifically needs to be solved. The prognostic frame is the desired solution – what people think will work to change the situation. Motivational framing is when others are inspired to take action without an actual law or policy in place – such as making a suggestion about how to improve and appealing to people’s morals and values.

21.2.2: External Sources of Social Change

Learning Objective

Discuss the factors that contribute to social change

Key Points

• Social change is said to come from two sources: random or unique factors (such as climate, weather, or the presence of specific groups of people) and systematic factors (such as government, available resources, and the social organization of society).
• The political-process theory emphasizes the existence of political opportunities as essential to the formation of social movements.
• According to this theory, the three vital elements of movement formation are insurgent consciousness (collective sense of injustice), organizational strength (in leadership and resources), and political opportunities (the receptivity or vulnerability of the existing political system).
• While this theory has been criticized for not paying enough attention to movement culture, it is also beneficial as it addresses the issue of timing for the emergence of movements.
• Political opportunities refer to the receptivity or susceptibility of the existing political system to challenge and change.
• Since this theory argues that all three components – insurgent consciousness, organizational strength, and political opportunities – are important for movement formation, it is able to address the issue of timing in the emergence of movements (i.e. why do movements form when they do).
• An extension of this theory, known as the political mediation model, considers how the political context facing a movement intersects with the strategic choices that the movement makes.

Key Terms

resource-mobilization theory

Resource-mobilization theory places resources at the center of the emergence and success of social movements. In this case, resources include knowledge, money, media, labor, solidarity, legitimacy, and internal and external support from a powerful elite.

pluralism

A social system based on mutual respect for each other’s cultures among various groups that make up a society, wherein subordinate groups do not have to forsake their lifestyle and traditions but, rather, can express their culture and participate in the larger society free of prejudice.

Basically, social change comes from two sources. One source is random or unique factors such as climate, weather, or the presence of specific groups of people. Another source is systematic factors, such as government, available resources, and the social organization of society. On the whole, social change is usually a combination of systematic factors along with some random or unique factors.

There are many theories of social change. Generally, a theory of change should include elements such as structural aspects of change (like population shifts), processes and mechanisms of social change, and directions of change.

Political Process Theory

Political Process Theory, sometimes also known as the Political Opportunity Theory,is an approach to social movements heavily influenced by political sociology. It argues that the success or failure of social movements is primarily affected by political opportunities. Social theorists Peter Eisinger, Sidney Tarrow, David Meyer, and Doug McAdam are considered among the most prominent supporters of this theory. Political Process Theory is similar to resource mobilization theory (which considers the mobilization of resources to be the key ingredient of a successful movement) in many regards, and emphasizes political opportunities as the social structure that is important for social movement development. Political Process Theory argues that there are three vital components for movement formation: insurgent consciousness, organizational strength, and political opportunities.

“Insurgent consciousness” refers back to the notions of deprivation and grievances. In this case, the idea is that certain members of society feel like they are being mistreated or that somehow the system they are a part of is unjust . The insurgent consciousness is the collective sense of injustice that movement members (or potential movement members) feel and serves as the motivation for movement organization.

“Organizational strength” falls in line with resource-mobilization theory, arguing that in order for a social movement to organize it must have strong leadership and sufficient resources.

Finally, “political opportunity” refers to the receptivity or vulnerability of the existing political system to challenge. This vulnerability can be the result of any of the following (or a combination thereof):

• growth of political pluralism
• decline in effectiveness of repression
• elite disunity; the leading factions are internally fragmented
• a broadening of access to institutional participation in political processes
• support of organized opposition by elites

One of the advantages of the political process theory is that it addresses the issue of timing of the emergence of social movements. Some groups may have the insurgent consciousness and resources to mobilize, but because political opportunities are closed, they will not have any success. The theory, argues that all three of these components are important for the successful creation of a movement.

Critics of the political process theory and resource-mobilization theory point out that neither theory discusses the culture of movements to any great degree. This has presented culture theorists an opportunity to expound on the importance of culture.

21.2.3: The Four Social Revolutions

Learning Objective

Analyze the various social revolutions in terms of how each contributes to the development of the next stage, for example, moving from horticulturist to agrarian

Key Points

• The development of a society in terms of its primary means of subsistence can be divided into the following stages: hunter-gatherer, pastoral, horticultural, agrarian, industrial, and post-industrial.
• For hunter-gatherer societies, the primary means of subsistence are wild plants and animals. Hunter-gatherers are nomadic and non-hierarchical. Archeological data suggests that all humans were hunter gatherers prior to 13,000 BCE.
• For pastoral societies, the primary means of subsistence are domesticated livestock. Pastoralists are nomadic. They can develop surplus food, which leads to higher population densities than hunter-gatherers, along with social hierarchies and more complicated divisions of labor.
• In horticultural societies, the primary means of subsistence is the cultivation of crops using hand tools.
• In agrarian societies, the primary means of subsistence is the cultivation of crops through a combination of human and non-human means, such as animals and/or machinery.
• In industrial societies, the primary means of subsistence is industry, which is a system of production based on the mechanized manufacturing of goods. In post-industrial societies, the primary means of subsistence is service-oriented work, rather than agriculture or industry.
• For horticultural societies, the primary means of subsistence is the cultivation of crops using hand tools.
• For agrarian societies, the primary means of subsistence is the cultivation of crops through a combination of human and non-human means, such as animals and/or machinery.
• In industrial societies, the primary means of subsistence is industry, which is a system of production that is based on the manufacturing of goods.
• In post-industrial societies, the primary means of subsistence is based on service-oriented work, rather than agriculture or industry.
• Changes in the primary means of subsistence can have implications for other aspects of society, leading to developments, such as an increasing degree of specializiation, a greater use of technology and a higher prevalence of inequality.

Key Terms

agriculture

the art or science of cultivating the ground, including the harvesting of crops, and the rearing and management of livestock; tillage; husbandry; farming

Hunter-gatherer

a member of a group of people who live by hunting animals and gathering edible plants for their main food sources, and who do not domesticate animals or farm crops

subsistence

that which furnishes support to animal life; means of support; provisions, or that which produces provisions; livelihood

The Four Social Revolutions

Most societies develop along a similar historical trajectory. Human groups begin as hunter-gatherers, after which they develop pastoralism and/or horticulturalism. After this, an agrarian society typically develops, followed finally by a period of industrialization (sometimes a service industry follows this final stage). Not all societies pass through every stage, and some societies remain at a particular stage for long periods of time, even while others become more complex. Still other societies may jump stages as a result of technological advancements from other societies .

Hunter-Gatherers

The hunter-gatherer way of life is based on the consumption of wild plants and wild animals. Consequently, hunter-gatherers are often mobile, and groups of hunter-gatherers tend to have fluid boundaries and compositions. Typically, in hunter-gatherer societies, men hunt wild animals while women gather fruits, nuts, roots, and other vegetation. Women also hunt smaller wild animals.

The majority of hunter-gatherer societies are nomadic. Because the wild resources of a particular region can be quickly depleted, it is difficult for hunter-gatherers to remain rooted in a place for long. Because of their subsistence system, these societies tend to have very low population densities.

Hunter-gatherer societies are characterized by non-hierarchical social structures, though this is not always the case. Given that hunter-gatherers tend to be nomadic, they generally cannot store surplus food. As a result, full-time leaders, bureaucrats, or artisans are almost never supported by hunter-gatherer societies. The egalitarianism in hunter-gatherer societies tends to extend to gender relations as well.

Pastoralism

In a pastoralist society, the primary means of subsistence are domesticated animals (livestock). Like hunter-gatherers, pastoralists are often nomadic, moving seasonally in search of fresh pastures and water for their animals. In a pastoralist society, there is an increased likelihood of surplus food, which, in turn, often results in greater population densities and the development of both social hierarchies and divisions of labor.

Pastoralist societies still exist. For example, in Australia, the vast, semi-arid interior of the country contains huge pastoral runs called sheep stations. These areas may be thousands of square kilometers in size. The number of livestock allowed in these areas is regulated in order to sustain the land and to ensure that livestock have enough access to food and water.

Horticulturalist Societies

In horticulturalist societies, the primary means of subsistence is the cultivation of crops using hand tools. Like pastoral societies, the cultivation of crops increases population densities and, as a result of food surpluses, allows for an even more complex division of labor. Horticulture differs from agriculture in that agriculture employs animals, machinery, or other non-human means to facilitate the cultivation of crops. Horticulture relies solely on human labor for crop cultivation. Horticultural societies were among the first to establish permanent places of residence. This was due to the fact they no longer had to search for food; rather, they cultivated their own.

Agrarian Societies

In agrarian societies, the primary means of subsistence is the cultivation of crops using a mixture of human and non-human means, like animals and machinery. In agriculture, through the cultivation of plants and the raising of domesticated animals, food, feed, fiber and other desired commodities are produced.

In comparison with the previously mentioned societal types, agriculture supports a much greater population density and allows for the accumulation of excess product. This excess product can either be sold for profit or used during winter months. Because in agricultural societies, farmers are able to feed large numbers of people whose daily activity has nothing to do with food production, a number of important developments occur. These include improved methods of food stores, labor specialization, advanced technology, hierarchical social structures, inequality, and standing armies.

Industrialization

In an industrial society, the primary means of subsistence is industry, which is a system of production based on the mechanized manufacture of goods. Like agrarian societies, industrial societies lead to even greater food surpluses, resulting in even more developed social hierarchies and an even more complex division of labor.

The industrial division of labor, one of the most notable characteristics of this societal type, in many cases leads to a restructuring of social relations. Whereas in pre-industrial societies, relationships would typically develop at one’s place of worship, or through kinship and housing, in industrial societies, relationships and friendships can occur at work.

Post-Industrial

In a post-industrial society, the primary means of subsistence is derived from service-oriented work, as opposed to agriculture or industry. Importantly, the term post-industrial is still debated, in part because it is the current state of society. Generally, in social science, it is difficult to accurately name a phenomenon while it is occurring.

Most highly developed countries are now post-industrial. This means the majority of their workforce works in service-oriented industries, like finance, healthcare, education, or sales, rather than in industry or agriculture. This is the case in the United States .

21.2.4: Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

Learning Objective

Examine the similarities and differences between Ferdinand Tonnies’s concepts of gemeinschaft and gesellschaft in relation to human interactions in society

Key Points

• Gemeinschaft and gesellschaft, which can be generally translated as “community” and “society” respectively, are two sociological categories introduced by German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies.
• Gemeinschaft describes groups in which the members attach as much, if not more, importance to the groups itself as they do to their own needs. Gemeinschaft can be based on shared space and beliefs, as well as kinship. Gemeinschaft is characterized by ascribed status.
• Gesellschaft refers to groups in which associations never take precedence over the interests of the individual.
• Gesellschaft, unlike gemeinschaft, places more emphasis on secondary relationships rather than familial or community bonds, and it entails achieved, rather than ascribed, status.
• A normal type is a purely conceptual tool that makes use of logic and deduction, as opposed to Max Weber’s ideal type, which is a framework used to understand reality that draws on elements from history and society.

Key Terms

community

A group sharing a common understanding and often the same language, manners, tradition and law. See civilization.

normal type

A normal type is a purely conceptual tool that makes use of logic and deduction, as opposed to Max Weber’s ideal type, which is a framework used to understand reality that draws on elements from history and society.

ideal type

An ideal type is not a particular person or thing that exists in the world, but an extreme form of a concept used by sociologists in theories. For example, although there is not a perfectly “modern” society, the term “modern” is used as an ideal type in certain theories to make large-scale points.

Gemeinschaft and gesellschaft are sociological categories for two normal types of human association introduced by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies. A normal type, as coined by Tönnies, is a purely conceptual tool to be built up logically, whereas an ideal type, as coined by Max Weber, is a concept formed by accentuating main elements of a historic/social process. Tönnies’ 1887 book Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft sparked a major revival of corporatist thinking, including an increase in the support for guild socialism, and caused major changes in the field of sociology.

Gemeinschaft

Gemeinschaft (often translated as community) is a group in which individuals take into account the needs and interests of the group as much as, if not more than, their own self interest. Furthermore, individuals in gemeinschaft are regulated by common mores, or beliefs, about the appropriate behavior and responsibilities of members with respect to each other and to the group at large.

Gemeinschaft is thus marked by “unity of will. ” Tönnies saw the family as the most perfect expression of gemeinschaft; however, he expected that gemeinschaft could be based on shared place and shared belief as well as kinship, and he included globally dispersed religious communities as possible examples of gemeinschaft. Gemeinschaft involves ascribed status, which refers to cases in which an individual is assigned a particular status at birth. For example, an individual born to a farmer will come to occupy the parent’s role for the rest of his or her life.

Gemeinschaften are broadly characterized by a moderate division of labour, strong personal relationships, strong families, and relatively simple social institutions. In such communities there is seldom a need to enforce social control externally, due to a collective sense of loyalty individuals feel for society.

Gesellschaft

In contrast, gesellschaft (often translated as society, civil society or association) describes associations in which, for the individual, the larger association never takes precedence over the individual’s self interest, and these associations lack the same level of shared mores. Gesellschaft is maintained through individuals acting in their own self interest. A modern business is a good example of gesellschaft: the workers, managers, and owners may have very little in terms of shared orientations or beliefs—they may not care deeply for the product they are making—but it is in all their self interest to come to work to make money, and thus the business continues. Gesellschaft society involves achieved status where people reach their status through their education and work.

Unlike gemeinschaften, gesellschaften emphasize secondary relationships rather than familial or community ties, and there is generally less individual loyalty to society. Social cohesion in gesellschaften typically derives from a more elaborate division of labor. An example of gemeinschaft in the world today would be an Amish community. The United States would be considered a gesellschaft society. Such societies are considered more susceptible to class conflict as well as racial and ethnic conflicts. The social upheavals during the Reconstruction era of the United States complicated the sociological category of gemeinschaft because former slaves, whose kinship ties were complicated under slavery, forged new communities that shared aspects of both gemeinschaft and gesellschaft.

Talcott Parsons considered gemeinschaft to represent a community of fate, whose members share both good and bad fortune, as opposed to the pursuit of rational self-interest that characterized gesellschaft.

Eric Hobsbawm has argued that as globalisation turns the entire planet into an increasingly remote kind of gesellschaft, similarly collective identity politics seek a factitious remaking of the qualities of gemeinschaft by reforging artificial group bonds and identities.

Fredric Jameson highlights the ambivalent envy felt by members of gesellschaft for remaining enclaves of gemeinschaft, even as the former inevitably corrode the existence of the latter.

21.2.5: Capitalism, Modernization, and Industrialization

Learning Objective

Compare the similarities and differences between Weber’s Rationalization, Marx’s Alienation and Durkheim’s Solidarity In relation to the Industrial Revolution

Key Points

• Weber imagined that an increasing rationalization of society would lead to man being trapped in a iron cage of rationality and bureaucracy.
• Marx believed that capitalism resulted in the alienation of workers from their own labor and from one another, preventing them from achieving self-realization (species being).
• Finally, Durkheim believed that industrialization would lead to decreasing social solidarity.
• Bureaucracy is a type of organizational or institutional management that is based upon legal-rational authority. Weber believed that industrialization was leading to a growing influence of rational ideas and thought in culture, which, in turn, led to the bureaucratization of society.
• Karl Marx understood species being to be the original or intrinsic essence of the species. A simplified understanding of species being is that it is a form of self-realization or self-actualization resulting from fulfilling or meaningful work.
• Durkheim imagined that industrialization would lead to a decrease in social solidarity, which can be defined as a sense of community. He referred to this decrease in social solidarity as anomie, a French word for chaos.
• Durkheim imagined that industrialization would lead to a decrease in social solidarity, which can be defined as a sense of community.
• Durkheim referred to the decrease in social solidarity resulting from industrialization as anomie, a French word for chaos.
• Industrializing societies would be characterized by specialization in that individuals would occupy different roles and occupations in a given society. According to Durkheim, specialization would lead to interdependence between the various components of society. He referred to this interdependence as organic solidarity.
• Societies exhibit mechanical solidarity when the source of its cohesion is the homogeneity of its individuals in terms of their work, educational and religious training and lifestyles.

Key Terms

species being

Karl Marx understood species being to be the original or intrinsic essence of the species, which is characterized by pluralism and dynamism: all beings possess the tendency and desire to engage in multiple activities to promote their mutual survival, comfort and sense of inter-action. A simplified understanding of species being is that it is a form of self-realization or self-actualization resulting from fulfilling or meaningful work.

anomie

Alienation or social instability caused by erosion of standards and values.

alienation

Emotional isolation or dissociation.

As Western societies transitioned from pre-industrial economies based primarily on agriculture to industrialized societies in the 19^th century, some people worried about the impacts such changes would have on society and individuals. Three early sociologists, Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Emile Durkheim, envisioned different outcomes of the Industrial Revolution on both the individual and society and described these effects in their work.

Weber and Rationalization

Max Weber was particularly concerned about the rationalization of society due to the Industrial Revolution and how this change would affect humanity’s agency and happiness. Weber’s understanding of rationalization was three-fold: firstly, as individual cost-benefit calculations; secondly, as the transformation of society into a bureaucratic entity; lastly, and on a much wider scale, as the opposite of perceiving reality through the lens of mystery and magic (disenchantment). Since Weber viewed rationalization as the driving force of society and given that bureaucracy was the most rational form of institutional governance, Weber believed bureaucracy would spread until it ruled society.

As Weber did not see any alternative to bureaucracy, he believed it would ultimately lead to an iron cage : there would be no way to escape it. Weber viewed this as a bleak outcome that would affect individuals’ happiness as they would be forced to function in a society with rigid rules and norms without the possibility of change.

Related to rationalization is the process of disenchantment , in which the world is becoming more explained and less mystical, moving from polytheistic religions to monotheistic ones and finally to the Godless science of modernity. Those processes affect all of society, removing “sublime values… from public life” and making art less creative.

Marx and Alienation

Karl Marx took a different perspective on the Industrial Revolution. According to Marx, a capitalist system results in the alienation (or estrangement) of people from their “species being.” Species being is a concept that Marx deploys to refer to what he sees as the original or intrinsic essence of the species, which is characterized both by plurality and dynamism: all beings possess the tendency and desire to engage in multiple activities to promote their mutual survival, comfort and sense of inter-connection

In a capitalist society (which co-evolved with the Industrial Revolution), the proletariat, or working class, own only their labor power and not the fruits of their labor (i.e. the results of production). The capitalists, or bourgeoisie, employ the proletariat for a living wage, and, in turn, they keep the products of the labor. A major implication of this system is that workers lose the ability to determine their lives and destinies by being deprived of the right to conceive of themselves as the director of their actions, to determine the character of their actions, to define their relationship to other actors, and to use or own the value of what is produced by their actions. This is what Marx refers to as alienation.

Durkheim and Solidarity

Similar to Weber and Marx, Durkheim also believed that the societal changes brought upon by industrialzation could eventually lead to unhappiness. According to Durkheim, an important component of social life was social solidarity, which can be understood as a sense of community. For example, in his classic study, Suicide, Durkheim argued that one of the root causes of suicide was a decrease in social solidarity, a phenomenon which Durkheim referred to as anomie (French for chaos). Durkheim also argued that the increasing emphasis on individualism in Protestant religions – in contrast to Catholicism – contributed to a corresponding rise in anomie, which resulted in higher suicide rates among Protestants than among Catholics.

According to Durkheim, the types of social solidarity correlate with types of society. Durkheim introduced the terms “mechanical” and “organic solidarity” as part of his theory of the development of societies in The Division of Labour in Society (1893). In a society exhibiting mechanical solidarity, its cohesion and integration comes from the homogeneity of individuals—people feel connected through similar work, educational and religious training, and lifestyle. Mechanical solidarity normally operates in “traditional” and small scale societies. Organic solidarity comes from the interdependence that arises from specialization of work and the complementarities between people—a development which occurs in “modern” and “industrial” societies. Thus, organic solidarity is social cohesion based upon the dependence individuals have on each other in more advanced societies. Although individuals perform different tasks and often have different values and interest, the order and very solidarity of society depends on their reliance on each other to perform their specified tasks.

21.2.6: Cultural Evolution

Learning Objective

Outline ways the concept of culture has changed over time, from evaluative to inclusive

Key Points

• Although biological evolution may have originally resulted in culture, research suggests that culture is not only a supplement to evolution, but can also influence it.
• Ultimately, the category of “culture” is, like all classifications, an artificial distinction.
• The fact that all human beings have cultures must, at some level, be a consequence of human evolution. However, evolution cannot be used as a way of distinguishing between different cultures, as this is a form of, or can legitimize forms of, racism.
• Since culture is dynamic and can be taught and learned, it can facilitate the adaptation of humans to different physical environments and changes in environmental conditions. In this way, culture acts as a supplement to evolution.
• Cultural relativism posits that cultures are to be considered as bounded wholes and have to be understood in their own terms. Cultures are not better or worse than each other, just different.
• Recent research suggests that culture can influence human evolution.
• When studying culture, it is important to bear in mind that the notion of culture can have multiple levels of meaning, or, in other words, levels of abstraction.

Key Terms

evolution

gradual directional change, especially one leading to a more advanced or complex form; growth; development

cultural relativism

Cultural relativism is a principle that was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the twentieth century, and later popularized by his students. Boas first articulated the idea in 1887: “…civilization is not something absolute, but … is relative, and … our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes. “

symbol

Any object, typically material, which is meant to represent another (usually abstract), even if there is no meaningful relationship.

During the Romantic Era, scholars in Germany, especially those concerned with nationalism, developed a more inclusive notion of culture as a worldview. That is, each ethnic group is characterized by a distinct and incommensurable worldview. Although more inclusive, this approach to culture still allowes for distinctions between civilized and primitive, or tribal, cultures.

By the late 19^th century, anthropologists changed the concept of culture to include a wider variety of societies. This resulted in the concept of culture as objects and symbols; the meaning given to those objects and symbols; and the norms, values, and beliefs that pervade social life.

This new perspective removed the evaluative element of the concept of culture, and instead proposed distinctions rather than rankings between different cultures. For instance, the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture. In this sense, high culture no longer refers to the idea of being cultured, as all people are cultured. High culture simply refers to the objects, symbols, norms, values, and beliefs of a particular group of people; popular culture refers to the same.

Most social scientists today reject the cultured vs. uncultured concept of culture. Instead, social scientists accept and advocate the definition of culture outlined above as being the “nurture” component of human social life. Social scientists recognize that non-elites are as cultured as elites, and that non-Westerners are just as civilized; they simply have a different culture .

The understanding of culture as a symbolic system with adaptive functions that vary from place to place led anthropologists to define different cultures by distinct patterns or structures of enduring, conventional sets of meaning. These took concrete form in a variety of artifacts, both symbolic, such as myths and rituals, and material, including tools, the design of housing, and the planning of villages. Anthropologists distinguish between material culture and symbolic culture, not only because each reflects different kinds of human activity, but also because each constitutes different kinds of data that require different methodologies to study.

Cultural Relativism

This view of culture, which came to dominate anthropology between World War I and World War II, implies that each culture is bounded and has to be understood as a whole, on its own terms. The result is a belief in cultural relativism, which suggests that there are no “better” or “worse” cultures, just different cultures.

Culture as a Product of Biology

Biology and nature are deeply connected and share a complex relationship. Early studies of this relationship revealed that culture is actually a product of biology. More recent research, however, suggests that human culture has reversed this particular causal direction and, culture can actually influence human evolution. One well-known example of this is the rapid spread of a gene that produces a protein that allows humans to digest lactose. This adaptation spread quickly in Europe around 4,000 BCE with the domestication of mammals and the consumption of animal milk by humans. Prior to this adaptation, this gene was switched off after children were weaned. Thus, the change in culture (drinking milk from other mammals) eventually led to changes in human genetics. Genetics, therefore, resulted in culture, which is now affecting genetics.

Another important element in the understanding of culture is level of abstraction. Culture ranges from the concrete, cultural object (e.g., the understanding of a work of art) to micro-level interpersonal interactions (e.g., the socialization of a child by his/her parents) to a macro-level influence on entire societies (e.g., the Puritanical roots of the U.S. that can be used to justify the exportation of democracy, as was the case with the Iraq War). When trying to understand the concept of culture, it is important to remember that the concept can have multiple levels of meaning.

21.2.7: Natural Cycles

Learning Objective

Examine the change in social cycle theories throughout history, ranging from ideas of “life cycles” to political-demographic cycles

Key Points

• Precursors to social cycle theories can be found in the works of Polybius, Ibn Khaldun, and Giambattista Vico, who all argued that history can be defined as repeating cycles of events..
• Classical social cycle theories include the idea that civilizations have “life cycles,” as was proposed by Nikolai Danilewski and Oswald Spengler.
• The first true social cycle theory was introduced by Vilfredo Pareto, who divided the elite social class into cunning foxes and violent lions and claimed that power constantly passes from one group to the other.
• Classical social cycle theorist, Petrim A. Sorokin, viewed societies as moving between three cultural mentalities: ideational, sensate and idealistic.
• An important development in modern social cycle theories is the discovery that political-demographic cycles are a basic feature of the long-term dynamic social processes of complex agrarian systems. Theories of long-term political-demographic cycles take into account social progress.
• Thomas Malthus proposed that limited resources will act as a check on population growth among humans. A Malthusian catastrophe (also known by other names) refers to the forced return to subsistence-level conditions when population growth has outstripped agricultural production.
• An important development in modern social cycle theories is the discovery that political-demographic cycles are a basic feature of the long-term dynamic social processes of complex agrarian systems. Theories of long-term political-demographic cycles take into account social progress.
• Thomas Malthus proposed that limited resources will act as a check on population growth among humans. A Malthusian catastrophe (also known by other names) refers to the forced return to subsistence-level conditions when population growth has outstripped agricultural production.
• P.R. Sarkar also accounts for social progress in his Law of Social Cycle by considering human spiritual development. Social stasis and the subsequent collapse of regimes occurs when the ruling class treats other members of society poorly in order to advance its own selfish interests.

Key Terms

Polybius

Polybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece.

political-demographic cycles

One of the most important recent findings in the study of the long-term dynamic social processes was the discovery of the political-demographic cycles as a basic feature of the dynamics of complex agrarian systems.

Malthusian catastrophe

A Malthusian catastrophe (also known as Malthusian check) was originally foreseen to be a forced return to subsistence-level conditions once population growth had outpaced agricultural production.

Social cycle theories are among the earliest social theories in sociology. Unlike the theory of social evolutionism, which views the evolution of society and human history as progressing in some new, unique direction(s), sociological cycle theory argues that events and stages of society and history generally repeat themselves in cycles. Such a theory does not necessarily imply that there cannot be any social progress. In fact, the early theory of Sima Qian, a Chinese historiographer of the Han Dynasty and typically considered to be the father of Chinese historiography, the more recent theories of long-term (“secular”) political-demographic cycles as well as the Varnic theory of P.R. Sarkar all make an explicit accounting of social progress.

Predecessors

The interpretation of history as repeating cycles of Dark and Golden Ages was a common belief among ancient cultures. The more limited cyclical view of history defined as repeating cycles of events was put forward in the academic world in the 19^th century in historiography (the study of the history and methodology of the discipline of history) and is a concept that falls under the category of sociology. However, the precursors to this analysis include Polybius, a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period, Ibn Khaldun, a Muslim historiographer and historian, who saw the rise and fall of Asabiyyah (the sense of community among humans) as the reason behind the emergence and decline of civilizations, and, finally, Giambattista Vico, an Italian philosopher, who argued that civilizations occur in recurring cycles consisting of three ages: the divine, the heroic and the human. The Saeculum, which refers to the period of time during which the renewal of a human population would occur, was identified in Roman times. More recently, P. R. Sarkar in his Social Cycle Theory has used this idea to elaborate his interpretation of history.

Classical Theories

Among the prominent historiosophers, Russian philosopher Nikolai Danilewski (1822–1885) is notable. In Rossiia i Europa (1869), he differentiated between various smaller civilizations (Egyptian, Chinese, Persian, Greek, Roman, German, and Slav, among others) and asserted that each civilization has a life cycle. To illustrate this claim, he pointed out that by the end of the 19^th century the Roman-German civilization was in decline, while the Slav civilization was approaching its Golden Age . A similar theory was put forward by Oswald Spengler (1880–1936) who in his Der Untergang des Abendlandes (1918) predicted that the Western civilization was about to collapse.

The first social cycle theory in sociology was created by Italian sociologist and economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923) in his Trattato di Sociologia Generale (1916). He centered his theory on the concept of an elite social class, which he divided into cunning “foxes” and violent “lions. ” In his view of society, the power constantly passes from the “foxes” to the “lions” and vice versa.

Sociological cycle theory was also developed by Pitirim A. Sorokin (1889–1968) in his Social and Cultural Dynamics (1937, 1943). He classified societies according to their “cultural mentality. ” which can be ideational (reality is spiritual), sensate (reality is material), or idealistic (a synthesis of the two). He interpreted the contemporary West as a sensate civilization dedicated to technological progress and prophesied its fall into decadence and the emergence of a new ideational or idealistic era.

Modern Theories

One of the most important recent findings in the study of the long-term dynamic social processes was the discovery of the political-demographic cycles as a basic feature of the dynamics of complex agrarian systems. The presence of political-demographic cycles in the pre-modern history of Europe and China , and in chiefdom level societies worldwide has been known for quite a long time, and already in the 1980s more or less developed mathematical models of demographic cycles started to be produced.

Recently the most important contributions to the development of the mathematical models of long-term (“secular”) sociodemographic cycles have been made by Sergey Nefedov, Peter Turchin, Andrey Korotayev, and Sergey Malkov. What is important is that on the basis of their models Nefedov, Turchin and Malkov have managed to demonstrate that sociodemographic cycles were a basic feature of complex agrarian systems (and not a specifically Chinese or European phenomenon).

It has become possible to model these dynamics mathematically in a rather effective way. Modern social scientists from different fields have introduced cycle theories to predict civilizational collapses in approaches that apply contemporary methods, which update the approach of Spengler, such as the work of Joseph Tainter suggesting a civilizational life-cycle.

21.2.8: Ogburn’s Theory

Learning Objective

Summarize the main points of Ogburn’s theory of social change, in terms of its four main stages

Key Points

• Ogburn’s four stages of technical development are invention, accumulation, diffusion and adjustment.
• Although his theory is associated with technological determinism, the two are far from perfectly aligned.
• Technological determinism is a theory that argues technology is responsible for determining a society’s structure and values.
• Cultural lag is the period during which non-material culture strives to adjust to new technology and inventions.
• Cultural lag is the period during which non-material culture strives to adjust to new technology and inventions.
• Ogburn’s four stages of technical development are invention, accumulation, diffusion and adjustment.
• Invention is the process by which new kinds of technology are produced.
• Accumulation is the growth of technology as a result of new inventions outpacing the decline of old technology.
• Diffusion is the spread of new ideas from one culture to another, or from one field of activity to another, which leads to the convergence of different technologies that then combine to form new inventions.
• Adjustment is the process by which non-material aspects of society adjust to new technology.

Key Terms

hard determinism

Hard determinism is the idea that technology governs social structures and activities.

soft determinism

Soft determinism posits that, although technology drives progress, people still may have the chance to make decisions regarding social outcomes.

cultural lag

The term cultural lag refers to the notion that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations, and that social problems and conflicts are caused by this lag.

William Fielding Ogburn (June 29, 1886 – April 27, 1959) was an American sociologist, statistician, and educator. Perhaps Ogburn’s most enduring intellectual legacy is the theory of social change he offered in 1922. He suggested that technology is the primary engine of progress, but it is also tempered by social responses to it. Thus, his theory is often associated with technological determinism, a reductionist theory that presumes a society’s technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values.

Hard Determinism versus Soft Determinism

Hard determinists view technology as developing independent from social concerns. They believe that technology creates a set of powerful forces acting to regulate our social activity and its meaning.

Soft determinism, as the name suggests, is a more passive view of the way technology interacts with socio-political situations. Soft determinists still subscribe to the fact that technology is the guiding force in our evolution, but maintain that we have a chance to make decisions regarding the outcomes of a situation. Ogburn, in fact, proposed a slightly different variant of soft determinism, in which society must adjust to the consequences of major inventions, but often does so only after a period of cultural lag. Cultural lag, a term coined by Ogburn, refers to a period of maladjustment, which occurs when the non-material culture is struggling to adapt to new material conditions.

Stages of Technological Development

Ogburn posited four stages of technical development: invention, accumulation, diffusion, and adjustment.

Invention is the process by which new forms of technology are created. Inventions are collective contributions to an existing cultural base that cannot occur unless the society has already gained a certain level of knowledge and expertise in the particular area.

Accumulation is the growth of technology due to the fact that the invention of new things outpaces the process by which old inventions become obsolete or are forgotten—some inventions (such as writing) promote this accumulation process.

Diffusion is the spread of an idea from one cultural group to another, or from one field of activity to another. As diffusion brings inventions together, they combine to form new inventions.

Adjustment is the process by which the non-technical aspects of a culture respond to invention. Any retardation of this adjustment process causes cultural lag.

19.2: Sociological Perspectives on Health and Illness

19.2.1: The Functionalist Perspective

Learning Objective

Discuss the functionalist perspective on illness in society, specifically the role the sick play in a specific society and how that role affects others

Key Points

• Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements (namely norms, customs, traditions, and institutions), much like the interacting organs within the human body.
• Prominent functionalist theorists include Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Talcott Parsons, Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore, Robert Merton, and Gabriel Almond and Bingham Powell.
• Functionalism is a framework that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.
• Functionalists argue that a sick individual is not a productive member of society; therefore this deviance needs to be policed. This is the role of the medical profession.
• Structural functionalism reached the peak of its influence in the 1940s and 1950s, and by the 1960s was in rapid decline, replaced by conflict-oriented approaches in Europe and more recently by structuralism.

Key Terms

structuralism

A theory of sociology that views elements of society as part of a cohesive, self-supporting structure.

deviance

Actions or behaviors that violate formal and informal cultural norms, such as laws or the norm that discourages public nose-picking.

Example

• Alzheimer’s disease is considered to affect most of the elderly population. In their Sick Role, people with this disease are not at fault for their sickness and are remove from responsibility of their social roles and need to be taken care of in the daily basis.

Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole. This approach looks at both social structure and social functions. Prominent functionalist theorists include Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer , Talcott Parsons, Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore, Robert Merton, and Gabriel Almond and Bingham Powell.

Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions, and institutions. A common analogy, popularized by Herbert Spencer, presents these parts of society as “organs” that work toward the proper functioning of the “body” as a whole. For Talcott Parsons (1902–1979), an American sociologist, “structural-functionalism” came to describe a particular stage in the methodological development of social science, rather than a specific school of thought.

The Sick Role

Sick role is a term used in medical sociology regarding sickness and the rights and obligations of the affected. It is a concept created by the American sociologist Talcott Parsons in 1951. Parsons was a functionalist sociologist who argued that being sick means that the sufferer enters a role of “sanctioned deviance”. This is because, from a functionalist perspective, a sick individual is not a productive member of society. Therefore this deviance needs to be policed, which is the role of the medical profession.

In the functionalist model, Parsons argued that the best way to understand illness sociologically is to view it as a form of deviance that disturbs the social function of the society. The general idea is that the individual who has fallen ill is not only physically sick, but now adheres to the specifically patterned social role of being sick. “Being Sick” is not simply a “condition”; it contains within itself customary rights and obligations based on the social norms that surround it.

The theory outlined two rights of a sick person and two obligations. The sick person’s rights are twofold: the first one is being exempt from normal social roles; the second one is not being responsible for their condition. Conversely, the sick person’s obligations included trying to get well and cooperating with the medical professionals. Parsons concluded that there are three versions of the sick role: conditional, unconditional legitimate, and illegitimate (a condition stigmatized by others).

Critics of the Functionalist Perspective

Critics of Parsons and the functionalist perspective point to different flaws they see with his argument. The model assumes that the individual voluntarily accepts the sick role. It also assumes that the individual may not comply with expectations of the sick role, may not give up social obligations, may resist dependency, and may avoid the public sick role if their illness is stigmatized. The model also blames the sick, where “rights” do not always apply.

Structural functionalism reached the peak of its influence in the 1940s and 1950s, and by the 1960s was in rapid decline. By the 1980s, its place was taken in Europe by more conflict-oriented approaches, and more recently by “structuralism”. While some of the critical approaches also gained popularity in the United States, the mainstream of the discipline has instead shifted to a myriad of empirically-oriented middle-range theories with no overarching theoretical orientation. To most sociologists, functionalism is now obsolete.

19.2.2: The Conflict Perspective

Learning Objective

Examine the differing views on conflict theory from various sociologists, such as Karl Marx and C. Wright Mills

Key Points

• Conflict theories are perspectives in social science that emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group.
• Of the classical founders of social science, conflict theory is most commonly associated with Karl Marx, who posited that capitalism would inevitably produce internal tensions leading to its own destruction.
• Marx advocated for the rejection of false consciousness (explanations of social problems as the shortcomings of individuals rather than the flaws of society) and the claiming of class consciousness (workers’ recognition of themselves as a class unified in opposition to the capitalist system).
• The Polish-Austrian sociologist Ludwig Gumplowicz and the American sociologist Lester F. Ward approached conflict from a comprehensive anthropological and evolutionary point-of-view.
• C. Wright Mills has been called the founder of modern conflict theory. In Mills’s view, social structures are created through conflict between people with differing interests and resources.
• Conflict theory is most often associated with Marxism, but may also be associated with other perspectives such as critical theory, feminist theory, postmodern theory, queer theory, and race-conflict theory.

Key Terms

functionalism

Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.

military-industrial complex

The armed forces of a nation together with the industries that supply their weapons and materiel.

capitalism

A socio-economic system based on private property rights, including the private ownership of resources or capital, with economic decisions made largely through the operation of a market unregulated by the state.

Example

• In the United States people within the upper and middle class have access to private and full healthcare coverage whereas, for the most part, most of the Americans have no healthcare. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2007, 45.7 million people in the U.S. (15.3% of the population) were without health insurance for at least part of the year. This number was down slightly from the previous year, with nearly 3 million more people receiving government coverage and a slightly lower percentage covered under private plans than the year previous. There is a class conflict and within access to healthcare.

Conflict theories are perspectives in social science that emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservatism. Sociologists in the tradition of conflict theory argue that the economic and political structures of a society create social divisions, classes, hierarchies, antagonisms and conflicts that produce and reproduce inequalities. Certain conflict theories set out to highlight the ideological aspects inherent in traditional thought. While many of these perspectives hold parallels, conflict theory does not refer to a unified school of thought, and should not be confused with, for instance, peace and conflict studies.

Of the classical founders of social science, conflict theory is most commonly associated with Karl Marx (1818–1883) . Based on a dialectical materialist account of history, Marxism posited that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions leading to its own destruction. Marx ushered in radical change, advocating proletarian revolution and freedom from the ruling classes. At the same time, Karl Marx was aware that most of the people living in capitalist societies did not see how the system shaped the entire operation of society. Just like how we see private property, or the right to pass that property onto our children as natural, many of members in capitalistic societies see the rich as having earned their wealth through hard work and education, while seeing the poor as lacking in skill and initiative. Marx rejected this type of thinking and termed it false consciousness, which involves explanations of social problems as the shortcomings of individuals rather than the flaws of society. Marx wanted to replace this kind of thinking with something Engels termed class consciousness, which is when workers recognize themselves as a class unified in opposition to capitalists and ultimately to the capitalist system itself. In general, Marx wanted the working class to rise up against the capitalists and overthrow the capitalist system .

Two early conflict theorists were the Polish-Austrian sociologist and political theorist Ludwig Gumplowicz (1838–1909) and the American sociologist and paleontologist Lester F. Ward (1841–1913). Although Ward and Gumplowicz developed their theories independently, they had much in common and approached conflict from a comprehensive anthropological and evolutionary point-of-view as opposed to Marx’s rather exclusive focus on economic factors.

C. Wright Mills has been called the founder of modern conflict theory. In Mills’s view, social structures are created through conflict between people with differing interests and resources. Individuals and resources, in turn, are influenced by these structures and by the “unequal distribution of power and resources in the society. ” Mills argued that the interests of the power elite of American society (for example, the military-industrial complex) were opposed to those of the people. He theorized that the policies of the power elite would result in the “increased escalation of conflict, production of weapons of mass destruction, and possibly the annihilation of the human race. “

Conflict theory is most commonly associated with Marxism, but as a reaction to functionalism and the positivist method, it may also be associated with a number of other perspectives, including critical theory, feminist theory, postmodern theory, post-structural theory, postcolonial theory, queer theory, world systems theory, and race-conflict theory.

19.2.3: The Interactionist Perspective

Learning Objective

Explain and give examples of social constructions of health according to the symbolic interactionist perspective

Key Points

• Symbolic interactionist researchers investigate how people create meaning during social interaction, how they present and construct the self, and how they define situations of co-presence with others.
• Constructivist grounded theory emphasizes the development of an interactive relationship and mutual construction of knowledge between researcher and participants.
• Medicalization of deviance refers to the process that changes “bad” behavior into “sick” behavior.
• Demedicalization refers to the process when “sick” behavior is normalized again.

Key Terms

symbolic interactionist

Symbolic interactionist researchers investigate how people create meaning during social interaction, how they present and construct the self, and how they define situations of co-presence with others.

medicalization of deviance

The medicalization of deviance refers to the process that changes “bad” behavior into “sick” behavior.

demedicalization

Demedicalization refers to the process when “sick” behavior is normalized again.

Example

• An example of medicalization is illustrated by the history of how our society views alcohol and alcoholism. During the 19th century, people who drank too much were considered bad, lazy people. They were called drunks, and it was not uncommon for them to be arrested or run out of a town.

According to theorists working in the symbolic interactionist perspective, health and illness are socially constructed. Symbolic interactionist researchers investigate how people create meaning during social interaction, how they present and construct the self (or “identity”), and how they define situations of co-presence with others. One of the perspective’s central ideas is that people act as they do because of how they define situations.

Constructivist grounded theory emphasizes the development of an interactive relationship and mutual construction of knowledge between researcher and participants. Symbolic interactionists believe that objects have meaning only through people’s interactions with them in the environment, that the meanings people have for things develops through social interaction and that those meanings are handled and modified by a constant and ongoing interpretive process by individuals.

An example of the social construction of health the the Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE. This scale measures the intensity of a person’s workout on a scale of 0 to 10. This scale was developed by Gunnar Borg, and it is used by medical professionals to assess a person’s health in a variety of ways.

In essence, interactionists focus on the specific meanings and causes people attribute to illness. The term “medicalization” of deviance” refers to the process that changes “bad” behavior into “sick” behavior. A related process is “demedicalization”, in which “sick” behavior is normalized again. Medicalization and demedicalization affect who responds to the patient, how people respond to the patient, and how people view the personal responsibility of the patient.

An example of medicalization is illustrated by the history of how our society views alcohol and alcoholism. During the 19^th century, people who drank too much were considered “bad, lazy people. ” They were called drunks, and it was not uncommon for them to be arrested or run out of a town. Drunks were not treated in a sympathetic way because, at that time, it was thought that it was their own fault that they could not stop drinking . During the latter half of the 20^th century, however, people who drank too much were increasingly defined as people with a disease or a genetic predisposition to addiction. With alcoholism defined as a disease and not a personal choice, alcoholics came to be viewed with more compassion and understanding. Thus, “badness” was transformed into “sickness”.

While interactionism does acknowledge the subjective nature of diagnosis, it is important to remember who benefits the most when a behavior becomes defined as illness. Pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars treating illnesses such as fatigue, insomnia, and hyperactivity that may not actually be illnesses in need of treatment, but opportunities for companies to make more money.

19.2.4: The Labeling Approach

Learning Objective

Analyze the pros and cons of labeling theory, especially the implications it has for the “mentally ill” and HIV/AIDS patients

Key Points

• Developed by sociologists during the 1960s, labeling theory holds that deviance is not inherent to an act. The theory focuses on the tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms.
• The social construction of deviant behavior plays an important role in the labeling process that occurs in society.
• Labeling theory was first applied to the term “mentally ill” in 1966 when Thomas J. Scheff published Being Mentally Ill. Scheff challenged common perceptions of mental illness by claiming that mental illness is manifested solely as a result of societal influence.
• Hard labeling refers to those who argue that mental illness does not exist. They note the slight deviance from the norms of society that cause people to believe in mental illness.
• Soft labeling refers to people who believe that mental illnesses do, in fact, exist. Unlike the supporters of hard labeling, soft labeling supporters believe that mental illnesses are not entirely socially constructed.

Key Terms

deviance

Actions or behaviors that violate formal and informal cultural norms, such as laws or the norm that discourages public nose-picking.

social construction

A concept or practice that is the construct (or artifact) of a particular group, meaning that the concept or practice is understood differently by various groups and institutions.

self-fulfilling prophecy

a prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true

Example

• The label of “mentally ill” may help a person seek help, for example psychotherapy or medication. Labels, while they can be stigmatizing, can also lead those who bear them down the road to proper treatment and recovery.

Labeling Theory on Health and Illness

Labeling theory is closely related to social-construction and symbolic-interaction analysis. Developed by sociologists during the 1960s, labeling theory holds that deviance is not inherent to an act. The theory focuses on the tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms. The theory is concerned with how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. It is associated with the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping .

The social construction of deviant behavior plays an important role in the labeling process that occurs in society. This process involves not only the labeling of criminally deviant behavior—behavior that does not fit socially constructed norms—but also labeling that reflects stereotyped or stigmatized behavior of the “mentally ill.” Hard labeling refers to those who argue that mental illness does not exist; it is merely deviance from the norms of society that cause people to believe in mental illness. Mental illnesses are socially constructed illnesses and psychotic disorders do not exist. Soft labeling refers to people who believe that mental illnesses do, in fact, exist, and are not entirely socially constructed.

Labeling theory was first applied to the term “mentally ill” in 1966 when Thomas J. Scheff published Being Mentally Ill. Scheff challenged common perceptions of mental illness by claiming that mental illness is manifested solely as a result of societal influence. He argued that society views certain actions as deviant. In order to come to terms with and understand these actions, society often places the label of mental illness on those who exhibit them. Certain expectations are placed on these individuals and, over time, they unconsciously change their behavior to fulfill them. Criteria for different mental illnesses, he believed, are not consistently fulfilled by those who are diagnosed with them because all of these people suffer from the same disorder. Criteria are simply fulfilled because the “mentally ill” believe they are supposed to act a certain way—over time, they come to do so.

Another issue involving labeling was the rise of HIV/AIDS cases among gay men in the 1980s. HIV/AIDS was labeled a disease of the homosexual and further pushed people into believing homosexuality was deviant. Even today, some people believe contracting HIV/AIDS is punishment for deviant and inappropriate sexual behaviors.

Labels, while they can be stigmatizing, can also lead those who bear them down the road to proper treatment and recovery. The label of “mentally ill” may help a person seek help, such as psychotherapy or medication. If one believes that being “mentally ill” is more than just believing one should fulfill a set of diagnostic criteria, then one would probably also agree that there are some who are labeled “mentally ill” who need help. It has been claimed that this could not happen if society did not have a way to categorize them, although there are actually plenty of approaches to these phenomena that don’t use categorical classifications and diagnostic terms (for example, spectrum or continuum models). Here, people vary along different dimensions, and everyone falls at different points on each dimension.

18.2: A Global Perspective on Aging

18.2.1: The Social Construction of Aging

Learning Objective

Discuss the cultural treatment of aging in the U.S. versus Japan, employing Goffman’s argument in ”The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”

Key Points

• Age is socially constructed because notions of age vary around the world.
• Different cultures fix age with different meanings and different values.
• Eastern cultures tend to highly value age and wisdom, while Western cultures tend to highly value youth.
• In Western societies, people take pains to appear younger than their biological age. These measures follow Erving Goffman’s ideas of self-presentation in that people are trying to get others in society to perceive them as young.

Key Term

social construction

A concept or practice that is the construct (or artifact) of a particular group, meaning that the concept or practice is understood differently by various groups and institutions.

Example

• Representations of aging in the social life are determined by different social interactions like getting senior discounts. Society has predetermined who is socially able to obtain those discounts based on their age range. Senior citizens are considered old in most cases by the rest of the population in the United States.

Aging as a Social Construction

While aging itself is a biological process, what it means to be “young” or “old” is socially constructed. This means that there is no inherent cultural meaning to the biological process of aging. Rather, cultures imbue youth and age with meanings. Aging is perceived differently around the world, demonstrating its social construction.

Frequently, the average life expectancy in a given region bears on what age counts as “old.” For example, in the United States, where the average life expectancy is over 78 years, people are not considered “old” until they are in their sixties or seventies. However, in Chad the average life expectancy is less than 49 years. People in their thirties or forties are therefore already middle-aged or “old.” These variations in people’s perceptions of who should or should not be considered elderly indicates indicates that notions of youth and age are culturally constructed. There is thus no such thing as a universal age for being considered old .

Cultural Treatment of Aging

Cultures treat their elderly differently and place different values on old age. Many Eastern societies associate old age with wisdom, so they value old age much more than their Western counterparts. In Japan, adult children are expected to care for their aging parents in ways different than in the United States. Sixty five percent of Japanese elders live with their children and very few live in nursing homes. Japanese cultural norms suggest that caring for one’s parents by putting them in an assisted living home is tantamount to neglect. When unable to care for themselves, parents should ideally move in with their children. The Japanese celebration of old age is further illustrated by the existence of Respect for the Aged Day, which is a national holiday to celebrate elderly citizens.

Japanese perceptions of elders diverge markedly from public perceptions of old age in the United States. Western societies tend to place an increased value on youth such that many people take extreme measures to appear young. The desire to look younger than one’s biological years is frequently the impetus for cosmetic surgeries that can hide the physical effects of aging. These surgical practices, combined with the huge expenditures on makeup and clothing in younger fashions, incorporate a Goffmanian understanding of social presentation.

Erving Goffman was a sociologist writing in the mid-twentieth century. His most famous work, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959) argued that whenever individuals come into contact with other people, they will attempt to control or guide the impression that others might have of them by intentionally comporting themselves in different ways. Individuals thus take sometimes drastic action to control the appearance of their age so that others can perceive them to be younger. Significantly, these social interactions occur in a social milieu that values youth. In this light, people try to appear younger to increase their sense of social value. Of course, interactions involving the perception of age must then vary by culture, as different cultures ascribe the notion of age with different values.

18.2.2: Industrialization and the Graying of the Globe

Learning Objective

Produce a short debate which shows the pros and cons of industrialization

Key Points

• Industrialized nations are those that meet certain measures of economic growth and security, while non-industrialized nations are those that do not meet those measures.
• Industrialization increases life expectancy by creating better conditions, better government social supports, and better access to healthcare.
• There is currently a disparity in life expectancy between industrialized nations and non-industrialized nations.

Key Terms

Industrial Revolution

The major technological, socioeconomic, and cultural change in the late 18th and early 19th century, resulting from the replacement of an economy based on manual labor to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing.

industrialized countries

Industrialized countries are defined by measures of economic growth and security. Most commonly, the criteria for evaluating the degree of development is to look at the gross domestic product (GDP), the per capita income, the level of industrialization, the amount of widespread infrastructure, and the general standard of living.

infant mortality rate

In the field of public health, the infant mortality rate is a commonly used statistical measure that is defined as the ratio of infant deaths to live births.

Example

• As Malaysia has a life-expectancy of close to 76 years and a declining birth rate, the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) is encouraging a Minimum Retirement Age Bill in Congress. Since an aging population presents a financial burden, making workers work longer would allow them to be taxed longer. Other countries in the region, including Singapore, Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines already have a retirement age to address these same issues.

Across the globe, industrialization increases the average life span of people. Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a community from an agrarian society into an industrial one. It is a part of a wider modernization process, where social change and economic development are closely related with technological innovation. The United Kingdom began an Industrial Revolution in the mid-eighteenth century due to the availability of land, labor, and investment capital.

Most Western countries industrialized by the nineteenth century but the Industrial Revolution is still occurring around the world. One schematic by which one can divide the world is between industrialized and non-industrialized countries. Industrialized countries are defined by measures of economic growth and security. Most commonly, the criteria for evaluating the degree of development is to look at the gross domestic product (GDP), the per capita income, the level of industrialization, the amount of widespread infrastructure, and the general standard of living. Countries that score poorly on these scales are considered to be non-industrialized, though it should be noted that non-industrialized countries are undergoing the process of industrialization.

All over the world, people are living longer than ever before. However, while the trend of a growing older population appears the world over, people in industrialized nations are older than people in non-industrialized nations. Thus, while people in all countries are living longer than prior generations, people in industrialized nations live longer than people in non-industrialized nations. According to the Population Research Bureau, the average life expectancy in Africa is 53, in North America is 78, in Latin America is 73, in Asia is 68, in Europe is 75, and in Oceania is 75. Worldwide, about 8% of the total global population is over the age of 65, while about 12% of Americans are over the age of 65.

How can one explain this disparity? Industrialization brings money into an economy. With this influx of capital, countries are able to develop more robust social supports to assist a population. Further, development can create jobs, enabling people to better fend for themselves. Food and healthcare are more widely available. Better living conditions and healthcare both limit the infant mortality rate, which is the percentage of children who die before turning one year old, and extend the average life expectancy. Both of these trends encourage the growth of an older population.

18.2.3: The Graying of America

Learning Objective

Summarize how the situation in Pittsburgh illustrates the economic tensions produced by an aging population

Key Points

• About 12% of Americans are over the age of 65. The elderly are concentrated in the Midwest and the South.
• The higher concentration of older people in certain places has economic ramifications. These areas are called upon to support a population that has a greater need for social services, such as healthcare.
• As the aging population rises in Pittsburgh, industries such as healthcare have replaced the steel industry due to the shift to a more elderly population in that area.

Key Term

pension

A gratuity paid regularly as a benefit due to a person in consideration of past services; notably to one retired from service, on account of retirement age, disability or similar cause; especially a regular stipend paid by a government to retired public officers, disabled soldiers; sometimes passed on to the heirs, or even specifically for them, as to the families of soldiers killed in service.

According to the United States Census, about 12% of the American population is over the age of 65. However, the elderly are not evenly distributed throughout the United States . There are higher concentrations of the elderly in the Midwest and in the South, particularly in Florida. The high concentration of elderly in Florida is partially attributable to the fact that many retirees move to Florida for the good weather. In contrast, few elderly people move to the Midwest. Instead, the high concentration of elderly people in the Midwest is due to the fact that the young are moving out of there.

The city of Pittsburgh offers an intriguing case study of the effects of an aging population on a city. Since 2008, more people die annually in Pittsburgh than are born. Further, many members of the younger generation are moving away from Pittsburgh in an effort to find work. As such, Pittsburgh is both experiencing population decline and the aging of its existing population. This poses an economic conundrum in that the population is increasingly reliant on public services for assistance, such as healthcare, but there is a smaller workforce that can be taxed to support the demand. Additionally, changing demographics have influenced the comparative prominence of different economic sectors in Pittsburgh. Healthcare has replaced steel as Pittsburgh’s largest industry. This case study demonstrates how shifting population demographics can seriously impact an urban area’s economy.

While the effects of an increasingly aging population on society are complex, there is a specific concern about the impact on healthcare demand. Older people generally incur more health-related costs than do younger people, and in the workplace can also cost more in worker’s compensation and pension liabilities.

17.2: Population Growth

17.2.1: Implications of Different Rates of Growth

Learning Objective

Discuss the implications both overpopulation and underpopulation can have for society

Key Points

• When the fertility rate is at the replacement level, a population will remain stable, neither growing nor shrinking.
• Fertility rates above the replacement level will cause the population to grow; fertility rates below the replacement level will cause the population to shrink.
• Overpopulation is judged relative to carrying capacity and can have deleterious effects. When the population is too large for the available resources, famine, energy shortages, war, and disease can result.
• Recently, in some countries, sub-replacement fertility rates have led to underpopulation. This can lead to economic decline, the aging of the population, and poverty.

Key Terms

fertility rate

The average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if she followed the current average pattern of fertility among a given group of women and survived through her reproductive years; used as an indicator of strength of population growth.

Replacement level

Regarding fertility, refers to the number of children that a woman must have in order to replace the existing population.

gross domestic product

(GDP) The market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a year; often used as an indicator of a country’s material standard of living.

carrying capacity

The number of individuals of a particular species that an environment can support.

Examples

• Urban areas in developing countries, such as Mumbai, India, have developed massive slums as population growth has exceeded the amount of available land and housing.
• In countries such as Italy, slow population decline has worried policymakers as GDP growth depends upon a large, skilled labor pool and a strong consumer market.

Fertility rates refer to the rates of birth per 1,000 women of reproductive age in a given population. When the fertility rate is at the replacement level, a population will remain stable, neither growing nor shrinking. However, when the fertility rate deviates from the replacement level, the size of the population will change. Fertility rates above the replacement level will cause the population to grow; fertility rates below the replacement level will cause the population to shrink.

The population reached 6 billion people around 1999, and increased to around 7 billion by 2012. However, in some countries the birth rate is falling while the death rate is not, leading to a decline in the population growth rate. The population growth rate has been decreasing in higher income countries; however the number of people added to the global population each year continues to increase due to increasing growth rates in lower income countries.

Overpopulation

High fertility rates lead to population growth, which, under certain circumstances, can cause a condition known as “overpopulation. ” Overpopulation is not a function of the number or density of individuals, but rather the number of individuals compared to the resources they need to survive. In other words, it is a ratio: population to resources. Humans are not unique in their capacity for overpopulation; in general terms, overpopulation indicates a scenario in which the population of a living species exceeds the carrying capacity of its ecological niche.

When estimating whether an area is overpopulated, resources to be taken into account include clean water, food, shelter, arable land, and various social services (such as jobs, money, education, fuel, electricity, medicine, proper sewage and garbage management, and transportation).

Overpopulation can have deleterious effects. When population outstrips available resources, calamity can result, including famine, shortages of energy sources and other natural resources, rapid and uncontrolled spread of communicable diseases in dense populations, and war over scarce resources, such as land. Dense populations may also settle available land and crowd out other land uses, such as agriculture.

Different rates of growth

Presently, every year the world’s human population grows by approximately 80 million. However, that population growth is not distributed evenly across all countries. Most population growth comes from developing countries, where birthrates remain high. Meanwhile, about half the world lives in nations with sub-replacement fertility. In some of these countries, the population has actually begun to shrink (e.g., Russia). All of the nations of East Asia – with the exceptions of Mongolia, the Philippines, and Laos – have fertility rates below replacement level. Russia and Eastern Europe are dramatically below replacement fertility. Western Europe also is below replacement. In the Middle East Iran, Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey, and Lebanon are below replacement. Some countries still have growing populations due to high rates of immigration, but have native fertility rates below replacement: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are similar to Western Europe, while the United States is just barely below replacement with about 2.0 births per woman.

A new fear for many governments, particularly those in countries with very low fertility rates, is that a declining population will lead to underpopulation and will reduce the gross domestic product (GDP) and economic growth of the country, as population growth is often a driving force of economic expansion. To combat extremely low fertility rates, some of these governments have introduced pro-family policies that include incentives, such as payments to parents for having children and extensive parental leave for parents.

17.2.2: Three Demographic Variables

Learning Objective

Explain how population growth is calculated

Key Points

• Demography is the statistical study of human populations. It encompasses the study of the size, structure, and distribution of these populations, and spatial and/or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, aging, and death.
• Population change depends on the rate of natural increase and net migration.
• Natural increase is calculated by the fertility rate minus the mortality rate.
• Net migration depends on in-migration and out-migration.

Key Terms

mortality rate

The number of deaths per given unit of population over a given period of time.

demography

The study of human populations and how they change.

Net migration

The difference of immigrants and emigrants of an area in a period of time, divided (usually) per 1,000 inhabitants (considered on midterm population). A positive value represents more people entering the country than leaving it, while a negative value mean more people leaving than entering it.

Natural increase

Population growth that depends on the fertility rate and the mortality rate.

Example

• The United States illustrates how the rate of natural increase and net migration combine to create population change—the fertility rate in the U.S. is at almost exactly replacement level, but migration into the country is high enough to lead to population growth.

Demography is the statistical study of human populations. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic living population, or one that changes over time or space. It encompasses the study of the size, structure, and distribution of these populations, and spatial and/or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, aging, and death.

Human population growth depends on the rate of natural increase, or the fertility rate minus the mortality rate, and net migration. The basics of demography can be reduced to this formula:

(Births – Deaths) +/- ((In-Migration) – (Out Migration)) = Population Change.

As this equation shows, population change depends on three variables: (1) the natural increase changes seen in birth rates, (2) the natural decrease changes seen in death rates, and (3) the changes seen in migration. Changes in population size can be predicted based on changes in fertility, mortality, and migration rates.

Natural increase refers to the increase in population not due to migration, and it can be calculated with the fertility rate and the mortality rate. Net migration is the mathematical difference between those migrating into a country and those migrating out of a country.

This basic equation can be applied to populations and subpopulations. For example, the population size of ethnic groups or nationalities within a given society or country is subject to the same sources of change as the national population. However, when dealing with ethnic groups, “net migration” might have to be subdivided into physical migration and ethnic re-identification (assimilation). Individuals who change their ethnic self-labels or whose ethnic classification in government statistics changes over time may be thought of as migrating or moving from one population subcategory to another. More generally, while the basic demographic equation holds true by definition, the recording and counting of events (births, deaths, immigration, emigration) and the enumeration of the total population size are subject to error. Allowance needs to be made for error in the underlying statistics when any accounting of population size or change is made.

17.2.3: Problems in Forecasting Population Growth

Learning Objective

Explain the various ways sociologist try to estimate the rate of population growth, such as through fertility, birth and death rates

Key Points

• Population forecasts try to estimate the rate of population growth. However, unpredictable factors can change fertility rates, mortality rates, or migration rates, which can cause difficulty in forecasting.
• Certain government policies are making it easier and more socially acceptable to use contraception and abortion methods. Likewise, some countries are instituting pro-natalist policies to encourage fertility.
• Malthusian catastrophe refers to a scenario where overpopulation would compromise global food security, leading to mass starvation.
• In the future, food production be increased by innovations such as genetically modified crops, more efficiently employing agricultural technology, and aquaculture. This would raise the limit on the number of people the world can support.

Key Terms

forecast

An estimation of a future condition.

Birth rates

The birth rate is typically the rate of births in a population over time. The rate of births in a population is calculated in several ways: live births from a universal registration system for births, deaths, and marriages; population counts from a census, and estimation through specialized demographic techniques.

Green Revolution

Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production around the world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s

Examples

• The Green Revolution is an example of rapidly changing technology that lowered worldwide death rates, thus throwing off estimates of population change.
• Worldwide, nearly 40% of pregnancies are unintended (some 80 million unintended pregnancies each year). An estimated 350 million women in the poorest countries of the world either did not want their last child, do not want another child or want to space their pregnancies, but they lack access to information, affordable means and services to determine the size and spacing of their families.

Forecasts try to estimate the rate of population growth, but this is understandably difficult to predict. For example, the UN has issued multiple projections of future world population, based on different assumptions. From 2000 to 2005, the UN consistently revised these projections downward, until the 2006 revision, issued on March 14, 2007, revised the 2050 mid-range estimate upwards by 273 million. The UN now estimates that, by 2050, world population will reach 9 billion people. However, this forecast, like all population forecasts, is subject to change.

Population growth is difficult to predict because unforeseen events can alter birth rates, death rates, migration, or the resource limits on population growth. Birth rates may decline faster than predicted due to increased access to contraception, later ages of marriage, the growing desire of many women in such settings to seek careers outside of child rearing and domestic work, and the decreased economic “utility” of children in industrialized settings. Countries may also choose to undertake mitigation measures to reduce population growth. For example, in China, the government has put policies in place that regulate the number of children allowed to each couple. Other societies have already begun to implement social marketing strategies in order to educate the public on overpopulation effects. Certain government policies are making it easier and more socially acceptable to use contraception and abortion methods.

Such policies could have a significant effect on global fertility rates. Worldwide, nearly 40% of pregnancies are unintended (some 80 million unintended pregnancies each year). An estimated 350 million women in the poorest countries of the world either did not want their last child, do not want another child or want to space their pregnancies, but they lack access to information, affordable means and services to determine the size and spacing of their families. In the United States, in 2001, almost half of pregnancies were unintended. Fertility rates could be significantly reduced by providing education about overpopulation, family planning, and birth control methods, and by making birth-control devices like male/female condoms, pills, and intrauterine devices easily available. At the same time, other countries may roll back access to contraception, as has happened recently in Afghanistan. Or they may implement pro-natalist policies, like those seen in much of Europe where governments are concerned with sub-replacement fertility. Any of these changes could affect fertility rates and therefore alter forecasts of population growth.

At the same time, other factors could affect mortality rates, which would also alter population forecasts. Death rates could fall unexpectedly due to advances in medicine or innovations that stretch resources so population can continue to grow past what seemed like intractable resource limits. For example, in the mid-20^th century, the Green Revolution in agriculture dramatically increased available food by spreading farming technology like fertilizer and increasing efficiency in agriculture. In the future, production might be increased by innovations such as genetically modified crops, more efficiently employing agricultural technology, and aquaculture.

At the same time, death rates can also increase unexpectedly due to disease, wars, and other mass catastrophes. According to some scenarios, disasters triggered by the growing population’s demand for scarce resources will eventually lead to a sudden population crash, or even a Malthusian catastrophe, where overpopulation would compromise global food security and lead to mass starvation .

17.2.4: Malthus’ Theory of Population Growth

Learning Objective

Discuss Malthus’s controversial theory on population growth, in terms of the concept of “moral restraint”

Key Points

• Thomas Malthus warned that without any checks, population would theoretically grow at an exponential rate, rapidly exceeding its ability to produce resources to support itself.
• Malthus argued that an exponentially growing population will self-correct through war, famine, and disease.
• Malthus cautioned that in order to avoid catastrophe such as famine and war, people should enact deliberate population control, such as birth control and celibacy.
• Malthusian catastrophes refer to naturally occurring checks on population growth such as famine, disease, or war.
• These Malthusian catastrophes have not taken place on a global scale due to progress in agricultural technology. However, many argue that future pressures on food production, combined with threats such as global warming, make overpopulation a still more serious threat in the future.

Key Terms

Malthusian catastrophes

Malthusian catastrophes are naturally occurring checks on population growth such as famine, disease, or war.

exponential growth

The growth in the value of a quantity, in which the rate of growth is proportional to the instantaneous value of the quantity; for example, when the value has doubled, the rate of increase will also have doubled. The rate may be positive or negative.

carrying capacity

The number of individuals of a particular species that an environment can support.

Example

• Advocates of Malthusian theory point to epidemics that diminished urban populations after early periods of urbanization as evidence that Mathus’ predictions were correct. For example, from 1918-1922, an estimated 75,000,000 people worldwide are thought to have died from an influenza epidemic. Malthusians would cite this as a natural check on populations that were outpacing natural resource availability.

Early in the 19^th century, the English scholar Reverend Thomas Malthus published “An Essay on the Principle of Population.” He wrote that overpopulation was the root of many problems industrial European society suffered from—poverty, malnutrition, and disease could all be attributed to overpopulation. According to Malthus, this was a mathematical inevitability. Malthus observed that, while resources tended to grow arithmetically, populations exhibit exponential growth. Thus, if left unrestricted, human populations would continue to grow until they would become too large to be supported by the food grown on available agricultural land. In other words, humans would outpace their local carrying capacity, the capacity of ecosystems or societies to support the local population.

As a solution, Malthus urged “moral restraint. ” That is, he declared that people must practice abstinence before marriage, forced sterilization where necessary, and institute criminal punishments for so-called unprepared parents who had more children than they could support. Even in his time, this solution was controversial.

According to Malthus, the only alternative to moral restraint was certain disaster: if allowed to grow unchecked, population would outstrip available resources, resulting in what came to be known as Malthusian catastrophes: naturally occurring checks on population growth such as famine, disease, or war.

Over the two hundred years following Malthus’s projections, famine has overtaken numerous individual regions. Proponents of this theory, Neo-Malthusians, state that these famines were examples of Malthusian catastrophes. On a global scale, however, food production has grown faster than population due to transformational advances in agricultural technology. It has often been argued that future pressures on food production, combined with threats to other aspects of the earth’s habitat such as global warming, make overpopulation a still more serious threat in the future.

17.2.5: Demographic Transition Theory

Learning Objective

Break down the demographic transition model/theory into five recognizable stages based on how countries reach industrialization

Key Points

• Demographic transition theory suggests that populations grow along a predictable five-stage model.
• In stage 1, pre-industrial society, death rates and birth rates are high and roughly in balance, and population growth is typically very slow and constrained by the available food supply.
• In stage 2, that of a developing country, the death rates drop rapidly due to improvements in food supply and sanitation, which increase life spans and reduce disease.
• In stage 3, birth rates fall due to access to contraception, increases in wages, urbanization, increase in the status and education of women, and increase in investment in education. Population growth begins to level off.
• In stage 4, birth rates and death rates are both low. The large group born during stage two ages and creates an economic burden on the shrinking working population.
• In stage 5 (only some theorists acknowledge this stage—others recognize only four), fertility rates transition to either below-replacement or above-replacement.

Key Term

demographic transition theory

Describes four stages of population growth, following patterns that connect birth and death rates with stages of industrial development.

Whether you believe that we are headed for environmental disaster and the end of human existence as we know it, or you think people will always adapt to changing circumstances, we can see clear patterns in population growth. Societies develop along a predictable continuum as they evolve from unindustrialized to postindustrial. Demographic transition theory (Caldwell and Caldwell 2006) suggests that future population growth will develop along a predictable four- or five-stage model.

Stage 1

In stage one, pre-industrial society, death rates and birth rates are high and roughly in balance. An example of this stage is the United States in the 1800s. All human populations are believed to have had this balance until the late 18th century, when this balance ended in Western Europe. In fact, growth rates were less than 0.05% at least since the Agricultural Revolution over 10,000 years ago.

Population growth is typically very slow in this stage, because the society is constrained by the available food supply; therefore, unless the society develops new technologies to increase food production (e.g. discovers new sources of food or achieves higher crop yields), any fluctuations in birth rates are soon matched by death rates.

Stage 2

In stage two, that of a developing country, the death rates drop rapidly due to improvements in food supply and sanitation, which increase life spans and reduce disease. Afghanistan is currently in this stage.

The improvements specific to food supply typically include selective breeding and crop rotation and farming techniques. Other improvements generally include access to technology, basic healthcare, and education. For example, numerous improvements in public health reduce mortality, especially childhood mortality. Prior to the mid-20th century, these improvements in public health were primarily in the areas of food handling, water supply, sewage, and personal hygiene. Another variable often cited is the increase in female literacy combined with public health education programs which emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In Europe, the death rate decline started in the late 18th century in northwestern Europe and spread to the south and east over approximately the next 100 years. Without a corresponding fall in birth rates this produces an imbalance, and the countries in this stage experience a large increase in population.

Stage 3

In stage three, birth rates fall. Mexico’s population is at this stage. Birth rates decrease due to various fertility factors such as access to contraception, increases in wages, urbanization, a reduction in subsistence agriculture, an increase in the status and education of women, a reduction in the value of children’s work, an increase in parental investment in the education of children and other social changes. Population growth begins to level off. The birth rate decline in developed countries started in the late 19th century in northern Europe.

While improvements in contraception do play a role in birth rate decline, it should be noted that contraceptives were not generally available nor widely used in the 19th century and as a result likely did not play a significant role in the decline then.

It is important to note that birth rate decline is caused also by a transition in values; not just because of the availability of contraceptives.

Stage 4

During stage four there are both low birth rates and low death rates. Birth rates may drop to well below replacement level as has happened in countries like Germany, Italy, and Japan, leading to a shrinking population, a threat to many industries that rely on population growth. Sweden is considered to currently be in Stage 4.

As the large group born during stage two ages, it creates an economic burden on the shrinking working population. Death rates may remain consistently low or increase slightly due to increases in lifestyle diseases due to low exercise levels and high obesity and an aging population in developed countries. 

By the late 20th century, birth rates and death rates in developed countries leveled off at lower rates.

Stage 5 (Debated)

Some scholars delineate a separate fifth stage of below-replacement fertility levels. Others hypothesize a different stage five involving an increase in fertility.

The United Nations Population Fund (2008) categorizes nations as high-fertility, intermediate-fertility, or low-fertility. The United Nations (UN) anticipates the population growth will triple between 2011 and 2100 in high-fertility countries, which are currently concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. 

For countries with intermediate fertility rates (the United States, India, and Mexico all fall into this category), growth is expected to be about 26 percent. And low-fertility countries like China, Australia, and most of Europe will actually see population declines of approximately 20 percent.

Conclusions

As with all models, this is an idealized picture of population change in these countries. The model is a generalization that applies to these countries as a group and may not accurately describe all individual cases. The extent to which it applies to less-developed societies today remains to be seen. Many countries such as China, Brazil and Thailand have passed through the Demographic Transition Model (DTM) very quickly due to fast social and economic change. Some countries, particularly African countries, appear to be stalled in the second stage due to stagnant development and the effect of AIDS.

16.2: The Transformation of Economic Systems

16.2.1: Preindustrial Societies: The Birth of Inequality

Learning Objective

Discuss the different types of societies and economies that existed during the pre-Industrial age

Key Points

• A hunter-gatherer society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to an agricultural society that relies mainly on domesticated species.
• Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the ninth and fifteenth centuries, and, broadly defined, was a system for structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labor.
• Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire.

Key Terms

feudalism

A social system that is based on personal ownership of resources and personal fealty between a suzerain (lord) and a vassal (subject). Defining characteristics of feudalism are direct ownership of resources, personal loyalty, and a hierarchical social structure reinforced by religion.

manorialism

A political, economic, and social system in medieval and early modern Europe; originally a form of serfdom but later a looser system in which land was administered via the local manor.

pre-industrial society

Pre-industrial society refers to specific social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution. It is followed by the industrial society.

Example

• Medieval Europe was a pre-industrial feudal society. The economy was based mostly on agricultural production. Instead of producing crops for a market, workers exchanged the crops they grew for access to land, which was owned by a feudal lord. The economy was based on the exchange of labor for land instead of the exchange of wages for labor that is typical in industrial society.

Pre-industrial societies are societies that existed before the Industrial Revolution, which took place in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some remote societies today may share characteristics with these historical societies, and may, therefore, also be referred to as pre-industrial. In general, pre-industrial societies share certain social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization, including limited production, a predominantly agricultural economy, limited division of labor, limited variation of social class, and parochialism at large. While pre-industrial societies share these characteristics in common, they may otherwise take on very different forms. Two specific forms of pre-industrial society are hunter-gatherer societies and feudal societies.

A hunter-gatherer society is one in which most or all food is obtained by gathering wild plants and hunting wild animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunter-gatherer societies tend to be very mobile, following their food sources. They tend to have relatively non-hierarchical, egalitarian social structures, often including a high degree of gender equality. Full-time leaders, bureaucrats, or artisans are rarely supported by these societies. Hunter-gatherer group membership is often based on kinship and band (or tribe) membership. Following the invention of agriculture, hunter-gatherers in most parts of the world were displaced by farming or pastoral groups who staked out land and settled it, cultivating it or turning it into pasture for livestock. Only a few contemporary societies are classified as hunter-gatherers, and many supplement their foraging activity with farming or raising domesticated animals.

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the nineteenth and fifteenth centuries. Broadly speaking, feudalism structured society around relationships based on land ownership. Feudal lords were landowners; in exchange for access to land for living and farming, serfs offered lords their service or labor. This arrangement (land access in exchange for labor) is sometimes called “manorialism,” an organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire. Manorialism was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, until it was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market economy and new forms of agrarian contract.

16.2.2: Industrial Societies: The Birth of the Machine

Learning Objective

Analyze the shift from manual to machine based labor during the First and Second Industrial Revolutions

Key Points

• The First Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, merged into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850.
• Great Britain provided the legal and cultural foundations that enabled entrepreneurs to pioneer the Industrial Revolution.
• Starting in the latter part of the 18th century, there began a transition in parts of Great Britain’s previously manual labor and draft-animal-based economy towards machine-based manufacturing.
• The introduction of steam power fuelled primarily by coal, wider utilization of water wheels, and powered machinery—mainly in textile manufacturing—underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity.
• The effects spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the 19th century, eventually affecting most of the world, a process that continues as industrialization today.

Key Terms

industrialization

A process of social and economic change whereby a human society is transformed from a pre-industrial to an industrial state

Industrial Revolution

The major technological, socioeconomic, and cultural change in the late 18th and early 19th century, resulting from the replacement of an economy based on manual labor to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing.

steam power

Power derived from water heated into steam, usually converted to motive power by a reciprocating engine or turbine.

Example

• Examples of the technological innovation of the Industrial Revolution include the invention of steam and coal engines. These technologies enabled a reconfiguration of the economic system, as machines were now able to perform functions that previously had to be performed by people.

The Industrial Revolution was a period from 1750 to 1850 where changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times. It began in the United Kingdom, and then subsequently spread throughout Western Europe, North America, Japan, and eventually the rest of the world. The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Most notably, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. In the two centuries following 1800, the world’s average per capita income increased more than tenfold, while the world’s population increased over sixfold.

The First Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18^th century, merged into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850, when technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the 19^th century with the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation. The period of time covered by the Industrial Revolution varies with different historians. Eric Hobsbawm held that it “broke out” in Britain in the 1780s and was not fully felt until the 1830s or 1840s, while T. S. Ashton held that it occurred roughly between 1760 and 1830.

Great Britain provided the legal and cultural foundations that enabled entrepreneurs to pioneer the Industrial Revolution. Starting in the later part of the 18^th century, there began a transition in parts of Great Britain’s previously manual labor and draft-animal-based economy toward machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanization of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal. Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. With the transition away from an agricultural-based economy and toward machine-based manufacturing came a great influx of population from the countryside and into the towns and cities, which swelled in population.

The introduction of steam power fuelled primarily by coal, wider utilization of water wheels, and powered machinery—mainly in textile manufacturing —underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity. The development of all-metal machine tools in the first two decades of the 19^th century facilitated the manufacturing of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries. The effects spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the 19^th century, eventually affecting most of the world, a process that continues as industrialization today. The impact of this change on society was enormous.

16.2.3: Postindustrial Societies: The Birth of the Information Age

Learning Objective

Examine the impact the Information Age has on the accessibility and breadth of information available to society

Key Points

• The Information Age formed by capitalizing on the computer microminiaturization advances, with a transition spanning from the advent of the personal computer in the late 1970s to the Internet reaching a critical mass in the early 1990s.
• Though the Internet itself has existed since 1969, it was the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee and its implementation in 1991 that allowed the Internet to truly became a global network.
• In the latter decades of the 20^th century, the industrial world has been shifting into a service economy, where an increasing number of people hold jobs as clerks in stores, office workers, teachers, nurses, etc.

Key Terms

Information Age

The current era, characterized by the increasing importance and availability of information (especially by means of computers), as opposed to previous eras (such as the Industrial Age) in which most endeavors related to some physical, man-made process or product.

the internet

A global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard internet protocol suite (often called TCP/IP, although not all applications use TCP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies.

service economy

Service economy refers to the increased importance of the service sector compared to the manufacturing sector. The service economy in developing countries is mostly concentrated in financial services, hospitality, retail, health, human services, information technology, and education.

Example

• An example of the Information Age is how virtually every individual uses the Internet in some way at their place of work.

The Information Age is a concept that characterizes the current age by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely and have instant access to information that would have been difficult or impossible to access in the past. The idea is linked to the concept of a digital age or digital revolution, as most of this information is instantaneously available online. It carries with it the ramifications of a shift from an industrialized economy to an economy based on the manipulation of information, or an information society.

The Information Age formed by capitalizing on computer microminiaturization advances. The transition spans from the advent of the personal computer in the late 1970s to the Internet reaching a critical mass in the early 1990s, with the public’s adoption of the Internet in the two decades following 1990. The Information Age has allowed rapid global communications and networking to shape modern society due to the fast evolution of technology use in daily life.

Though the Internet itself has existed since 1969, it was the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee and its implementation in 1991 that allowed the Internet to truly became a global network. Today, the Internet has become the ultimate platform for accelerating the flow of information and is the fastest-growing form of media .

Concurrently, during the 1980s and 1990s in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Western Europe, there was a steady trend away from people holding Industrial Age manufacturing jobs. An increasing number of people held jobs as clerks in stores, office workers, teachers, nurses, etc. Many argue that jobs traditionally associated with the middle class (assembly line workers, data processors, foremen, and supervisors) are beginning to disappear, either through outsourcing or automation. Individuals who lose their jobs must either move up, joining a group of “mind workers” (engineers, attorneys, scientists, professors, executives, journalists, consultants, etc.), or settle for low-skill, low-wage service jobs.

16.2.4: Capitalism in a Global Economy

Learning Objective

Analyze the shift in the job market and increase in international trade due to an increase in globalization

Key Points

• The world economy generally refers to the economy based on the national economies of all of the world’s countries.
• Although international trade has been associated with the development of capitalism for over five hundred years, some thinkers argue that a number of trends associated with globalization have acted to increase the mobility of people and capital since the last quarter of the 20th century.
• The global financial system is the financial system consisting of institutions and regulators that act on the international level, as opposed to those that act on a national or regional level.
• Globalization refers to the increasing global relationships of culture, people, and economic activity.
• The establishment of the WTO in 1995 led to an anti-globalization movement that was primarily concerned with the negative impact of globalization in developing countries.
• Critiques of economic globalization typically look at both the damage to the planet as well as the human costs.

Key Terms

globalization

A common term for processes of international integration arising from increasing human connectivity and interchange of worldviews, products, ideas, and other cultural phenomena. In particular, advances in transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the Internet, represent major driving factors in globalization and precipitate the further interdependence of economic and cultural activities.

WTO

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. It officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948. It deals with regulation of trade between participating countries and provides a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements and for resolving disputes.

global financial system

The global financial system is the financial system consisting of institutions and regulators that act on the international level, as opposed to those that act on a national or regional level. The main players are the global institutions, such as International Monetary Fund and Bank for International Settlements, national agencies and government departments, e.g., central banks and finance ministries, private institutions acting on the global scale, e.g., banks and hedge funds, and regional institutions, e.g., the Eurozone.

Example

• Information, goods, ideas, and cultural norms are able to spread more quickly around the world than ever before, largely due to innovations and price drops in the telecommunications industry. For example, these innovations have allowed Coca Cola to spread its goods around the world. This is an example of globalization.

The term “world economy” refers to the economic situation of all of the world’s countries. It is common to limit discussion of world economy exclusively to human economic activity. World economy is typically judged in monetary terms, even in cases in which there is no efficient market to help valuate certain goods or services, or in cases in which a lack of independent research or government cooperation makes establishing figures difficult.

The global financial system is the financial system consisting of institutions and regulators that act on the international level, as opposed to those that act on a national or regional level. The main players are global institutions, such as International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the Bank for International Settlements; national agencies and government departments (e.g., central banks and finance ministries); private institutions acting on the global scale (e.g., banks, hedge funds), and regional institutions such as the Eurozone.

Although international trade has always existed, some thinkers argue that a number of trends associated with globalization have caused an increase in the mobility of people and capital since the last quarter of the 20^th century. Today, these trends have bolstered the argument that capitalism should now be viewed as a true world system, given that all national economies trade with capitalist states and are therefore influenced by capitalist policies.

Globalization refers to the increasing global relationships of culture, people, and economic activity. It is generally used to refer to economic globalization: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import quotas; and the reduction of restrictions on the movement of capital and on investment. Globalization may contribute to economic growth in developed and developing countries through increased specialization and the principle of comparative advantage.

16.2.5: Global Trade: Inequalities and Conflict

Learning Objective

Analyze the impact of global trade on society and industry, ranging from mercantilism to free trade orientation

Key Points

• While international trade has been present throughout much of history, its economic, social, and political importance has been on the rise in recent centuries as free trade has overtaken mercantilism and governments have reduced tariffs and other barriers to trade.
• Traditionally, trade was regulated through bilateral treaties between two nations, but it is increasingly regulated by multilateral agreements and international bodies, such as the World Trade Organization.
• Free trade is on the rise, but most countries maintain some level of protectionism in the form of subsidies or tariffs to protect industries considered essential to national security or national economies (e.g., food and steel production).
• Arguments against free trade criticize the assumptions of economic theories underlying it and its possible social and political effects, including inequality and cultural homogenization.
• In the last few decades, fair trade has been proposed as an alternative to free trade.
• Economic arguments against free trade criticize the assumptions or conclusions of economic theories.
• Sociopolitical arguments against free trade cite social and political effects that economic arguments do not capture.
• An alternative concept to free trade in the last decades has been become fair trade.

Key Terms

free trade

international trade free from government interference, especially trade free from tariffs or duties on imports

World Trade Organization

An international organization designed by its founders to supervise and liberalize international trade.

protectionism

A policy of protecting the domestic producers of a product by imposing tariffs, quotas, or other barriers on imports.

Example

• The United States is party to many trade agreements, but one of the best known is the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Like other free trade agreements, NAFTA promotes free trade among members, which include the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Global trade is the exchange of money, goods, and services across international borders. As transportation has improved, global trade has increased, and businesses have pressured governments to relax restrictions on trade. In most countries, global trade now accounts for many of the goods and services bought or sold, and many companies earn profits from global trade.

For centuries, governments restricted international trade based on the principles of mercantilism, which maintained that countries were all competing to maximize their stores of gold. Accordingly, governments imposed high tariffs to limit imports and promoted exports in order to sell their goods in exchange for more gold. But in the nineteenth century, especially in the United Kingdom, mercantilism gradually gave way to a belief in free trade.

Following a free trade orientation, governments do not discriminate against imports by imposing tariffs or promoting exports with subsides. Since the mid-twentieth century, nations have increasingly reduced tariff barriers and currency restrictions on international trade. But even though many countries have moved toward free trade, other trade barriers remain in place: import quotas, taxes, and diverse means of subsidizing domestic industries can all hinder trade.

As global trade has grown, governments have faced the problem of regulating trade that originates or ends outside their jurisdiction. Traditionally, governments regulated international trade through bilateral treaties that were negotiated between two nations. But as trade has become more global and more complex, trade negotiations have expanded to include more countries. Now, trade is regulated in part by worldwide agreements, such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a multilateral agreement that went into effect in 1948. In 1995, GATT was replaced by the World Trade Organization (WTO), an international body that supervises global trade.

Most countries in the world are members of the WTO, which limits in certain ways but does not eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers. Most countries are also members of regional free trade areas that lower trade barriers among participating countries. Trade agreements are negotiated by independent nations with their own interests and values in mind, which often include values and interests other than maximum global output. As a consequence, some level of protectionism is used by almost every nation, in the form of subsidies or tariffs to protect industries a nation considers essential, such as food and steel production.

Economic arguments against free trade criticize the assumptions or conclusions of economic theories. Critics note that free trade may exacerbate inequality among countries and within them. Free trade may favor developing nations in certain areas, may benefit only the wealthy within countries, may increase offshoring, and may destabilize financial markets. Sociopolitical arguments against free trade cite social and political effects that economic arguments do not capture, such as political stability, national security, human rights, and environmental protection. Critics note that free trade undermines cultural diversity, causes dislocation and pain, and undermines national security. In response, fair trade, or an economic system that emphasizes living wages for the producers of goods, has developed as an alternative to free trade in the last several years.

16.2.6: Microfinancing

Learning Objective

Examine the use of microfinance and microcredit for industry, including the benefits and criticisms

Key Points

• The modern use of the expression “microfinancing” has roots in the 1970s. At this time, organizations such as the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, led by Muhammad Yunus, were starting to shape the modern microfinance industry.
• Microfinance is a broad category of services, one of which is microcredit. Microcredit is the provision of credit services to poor clients. Although microcredit is only one of the aspects of microfinance, conflation of the two terms is endemic in public discourse.
• An important source of detailed data on selected microfinance institutions is the MicroBanking Bulletin, which is published by Microfinance Information Exchange.
• Most criticisms of microfinance are actually just criticisms of microcredit. Other microfinance services, like savings, remittances, payments, and insurance, are rarely criticized. For example, many have criticized the high interest rates microfinance charges to borrowers.

Key Terms

microfinance

finance that is provided to unemployed or low-income people or groups

microcredit

the practice of making very small loans, especially to poor people to promote self-employment; microlending

Grameen Bank

The Grameen Bank, a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh, makes small loans (known as microcredit or “grameencredit) to the impoverished without requiring collateral.

Example

• The Grameen Bank is an example of a microfinance institution. Operating primarily in Bangladesh, Grameen Bank extends loans to groups of people looking to start a local service or manufacturing company.

Microfinance

In microfinance, financial services are provided to micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses, many of whom lack access to banking services because of the high transaction costs associated with serving these types of clients. There are two main mechanisms for delivering microfinance services. Relationship-based banking deals with individual entrepreneurs and individual businesses. In group-based models, several entrepreneurs unite to apply for loans and services as a group.

Microcredit

Microfinance is a broad category of services that includes microcredit. Microcredit is the provision of credit services to poor clients. Although microcredit is only one type of microfinance, conflation of the two terms is endemic in public discourse. Critics often attack microcredit while referring to it indiscriminately as either ‘microcredit’ or ‘microfinance’. Due to the broad range of microfinance services, some argue that it is difficult to objectively assess its impact. Very few studies have tried to assess its full impact, although there have been several studies that examined particular cases.

The History of Microfinance

The history of microfinance dates back to the middle of the 19^th century, when Lysander Spooner, a theorist, argued that entrepreneurs and farmers could be raised out of poverty if they were given small credits. Independently of Spooner, around this time, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen established the first cooperative lending banks to support rural German farmers.

The modern use of the term “microfinancing” dates back to 1970s. At this time, organizations such as the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, led by Muhammad Yunus, were beginning to shape the modern microfinance industry.

An important source of detailed data on microfinance institutions is the MicroBanking Bulletin, which is published by the Microfinance Information Exchange. At the end of 2009, this organization was tracking 1,084 microfinance initiatives that were serving 74 million borrowers ($38 billion in outstanding loans) and 67 million savers ($23 billion in deposits).

Criticisms of Microfinance

Most criticisms of microfinance are actually just criticisms of microcredit. Other microfinance services, like savings, remittances, payments and insurance, are rarely criticized. For example, many people have criticized the high interest rates microfinance charges to borrowers. In 2006, in a sample of 704 microfinance institutions that voluntarily submitted reports to the MicroBanking Bulletin, the real average portfolio yield was 22.3% annually. That being said, the annual rates charged to clients were higher, because these rates included local inflation and the bad debt expenses of the microfinance institution. Recently, Muhammad Yunus has tried to react to this point. In his latest book, he argues that microfinance institutions should face penalties if they are found to be charging more than 15% above their long-term operating costs.

16.2.7: The Changing Face of the Workplace

Learning Objective

Examine the impact of the Information Age on the workforce, from automation to polarization

Key Points

• The Information Age has impacted the workforce in several ways. This poses problems for workers in industrial societies, which are still to be solved.
• Jobs traditionally associated with the middle class are beginning to disappear, either through outsourcing or automation.
• Individuals who lose their jobs due to automation or outsourcing must either move up, joining a group of “mind workers,” or settle for low-skill, low-wage service jobs.
• Another way the Information Age has impacted the workforce is that automation and computerization have resulted in higher productivity but that is coupled with net job loss.
• Industry is becoming more information-intensive and less labor and capital-intensive. This trend has important implications for the workforce; workers are becoming increasingly productive as the value of their labor decreases.

Key Terms

Information Age

The current era, characterized by the increasing importance and availability of information (especially by means of computers), as opposed to previous eras (such as the Industrial Age) in which most endeavors related to some physical, man-made process or product.

mind workers

A term for Information Age workers such as engineers, attorneys, scientists, professors, executives, journalists, and consultants.

automation

The act or process of converting the controlling of a machine or device to a more automatic system, such as computer or electronic controls.

The Information Age has impacted the workforce in several ways. First, it has created a situation in which workers who perform easily automated tasks are being forced to find work that is less automated. Secondly, workers are being forced to compete in a global job market. Thirdly, workers are being replaced by computers that can do the job more effectively and faster. This poses problems for workers in industrial societies which are still to be solved. Solutions that involve having the workers work less hours are usually met with high resistance from the workers.

Jobs traditionally associated with the middle class (assembly line workers, data processors, foremen, and supervisors) are beginning to disappear, either through outsourcing or automation. Individuals who lose their jobs must either move up— joining a group of “mind workers” (engineers, attorneys, scientists, professors, executives, journalists, consultants)— or settle for low-skill, low-wage service jobs. The “mind workers” form about 20 percent of the workforce. They are able to compete successfully in the world market and command higher wages. Conversely, production workers and service workers in industrialized nations are unable to compete with workers in developing countries. They either lose their jobs through outsourcing or are forced to accept wage cuts.

There is another way in which the Information Age has impacted the workforce: automation and computerization have resulted in higher productivity . In the United States for example, from Jan 1972 to August 2010, the number of people employed in manufacturing jobs fell from 17,500,000 to 11,500,000 but manufacturing value rose 270 percent. It initially appeared that job loss in the industrial sector might be partially offset by the rapid growth of jobs in the IT sector. However, after the recession of March 2001, the number of jobs in the IT sector dropped sharply and continued to drop until 2003. Even the IT sector is not immune to this problem.

Industry is becoming more information-intensive and less labor and capital-intensive. This trend has important implications for the workforce; workers are becoming increasingly productive as the value of their labor decreases. However, there are also important implications for capitalism itself. Not only is the value of labor decreased, the value of capital is also diminished. In the classical model, investments in human capital and financial capital are important predictors of the performance of a new venture.

The polarization of jobs into relatively high-skill, high wage jobs and low-skill, low-wage jobs has led to a growing disparity between incomes of the rich and poor. The United States seems to have been more impacted than most countries with income inequality beginning to rise in the late 1970s, and the rate of disparity continuing to rise sharply in the twenty-first century.

16.2.8: Deindustrialization

Learning Objective

Analyze the impact of deindustrialization on both a global and regional scale, as well as the role technology plays in deindustrialization

Key Points

• The term “deindustrialization crisis” has been used to describe the decline of manufacturing in a number of countries and the flight of jobs away from cities.
• Detroit and the American automobile industry are regarded as the prototypical examples of how deindustrialization can negatively impact an area and population. They are by no means the only examples of this phenomenon.
• In the U.S., the population of the great manufacturing cities of the Midwest and Northeast has declined significantly due to deindustrialization. Manufacturing jobs have been eliminated or relocated to the Southeast and Southwest, where labor is cheaper.
• Due to increasing efficiency and productivity, manufacturing today makes up a smaller share of the U.S. workforce than it has at any time in the past hundred years.
• The population of the great manufacturing cities of the northeast has declined significantly: Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Buffalo, NY, have all lost half their population or more in the past half-century.
• The widespread perception of deindustrialization in the United States is due to shifting patterns in the geography and political geography of production: from the heavily unionized Northeast and Midwest towards the right-to-work states of the Southeast and the high supply of workers willing to accept low wages in the Southwest.

Key Terms

deindustrialization

The loss or deprivation of industrial capacity or strength.

right-to-work states

Right-to-work states have passed laws that prohibit union security agreements, or agreements between labor unions and employers that govern the extent to which an established union can require employees’ membership, payment of union dues, or fees as a condition of employment, either before or after hiring. Right-to-work laws exist in twenty-three U.S. states, mostly in the southern and western United States.

Detroit

the largest city and former capital of Michigan, a major port on the Detroit River, known as the traditional automotive center of the U.S.

Example

• Before the 1980s, Detroit was a center of industrial production and a hot spot of American culture. Residents enjoyed a high standard of living and the city boasted a healthy rate of population growth. But after free-trade agreements were instituted with less developed nations in the 1980s and 1990s, Detroit-based manufacturers relocated their production facilities to countries where wages were lower. At the same time, technological innovation continued to increase the efficiency of manufacturing, which required less and less manual labor. As manufacturing jobs were eliminated, people moved away from the city, and those who stayed behind found themselves with lower paying, harder to find work. Today, Detroit is associated with a high concentration of poverty, unemployment, and noticeable racial isolation.

Deindustrialization

Deindustrialization occurs when a country or region loses industrial capacity, especially heavy industry or manufacturing industry. This process is often attributed to off-shoring, which is itself a consequence of increased global free trade. Deindustrialization is, in a sense, the opposite of industrialization, and, like industrialization, deindustrialization may have far-reaching economic and social consequences. The term “deindustrialization crisis” has been used to describe the decline of manufacturing in a number of countries, including the U.S., which have lost large numbers of urban manufacturing jobs since the 1970s.

American Deindustrialization

The city of Detroit, and the U.S. automobile industry, are regarded as the prototypical examples of deindustrialization’s negative effects, but Detroit is not an isolated example. The population of the United States has nearly doubled since the 1950s, adding approximately 150 million people. However, during this same period (1950–2007), the population of the great American manufacturing cities declined significantly. Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Buffalo have all lost half their population or more in the past half-century. Baltimore lost almost a third of its population, and Philadelphia lost nearly a quarter of its own.

Regional Deindustrialization

In the United States, the deindustrialization of Midwestern and Northeastern cities has occurred in response to shifting patterns in the geography of production. Just as many American companies have moved their manufacturing operations to developing nations, where they can hire workers for far lower wages, so too have manufacturers in the United States relocated from the heavily unionized Northeast and Midwest toward the Southeast and Southwest. In these areas, right-to-work states limit the power of unions to raise wages. Additionally, the high supply of workers forces those workers who are employed to accept low wages.

The Impact of Technology

In order to save costs, manufacturers have done more than merely relocate. They have also eliminated jobs, as technological innovation has reduced the demand for manual labor. Though total industrial employment has been relatively stable over the past forty years, the overall U.S. labor force has increased dramatically, resulting in a massive reduction in the percent of the labor force that is engaged in industry. While 35% of workers were involved in industry in the late 1960s, under 20% are today. Manufacturing is thus less prominent in American life and the American economy now than it has been at any other point for hundreds of years.

16.2.9: Corporations and Corporate Power

Learning Objective

Analyze the structure and function of corporations within society

Key Points

• Despite being unlike natural persons, corporations are recognized by the law to have rights and responsibilities like natural persons. For example, corporations can exercise or be responsible for human rights. They can even be convicted of criminal offenses, such as fraud and manslaughter.
• Multinational corporations are important factors in the processes of globalization. A Transnational Corporation (TNC) differs from a traditional MNC in that it does not identify itself with one national home.
• The rapid rise of multinational corporations has been a topic of concern among intellectuals, activists, and the public who perceive them as threatening basic civil rights like privacy.
• Methods for attracting foreign investment have be criticized as a race to the bottom. They have also been described as a push, by corporations, for greater autonomy.
• Because of their size, multinationals can have a significant impact on government policy, primarily through the threat of market withdrawal.

Key Terms

corporation

A group of individuals, created by law or under authority of law, having a continuous existence independent of the existences of its members, and powers and liabilities distinct from those of its members.

globalization

A common term for processes of international integration arising from increasing human connectivity and interchange of worldviews, products, ideas, and other cultural phenomena. In particular, advances in transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the Internet, represent major driving factors in globalization and precipitate the further interdependence of economic and cultural activities.

Multinational corporations

A multinational corporation (MNC) is a corporate enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country.

Example

• Coca-Cola is an example of a multinational corporation, with interests and markets all around the world.

Corporations

The word corporation is widely used to describe incorporated entities, especially those that have a large number of shareholders. Despite not being natural persons, the law recognizes corporations as having rights and responsibilities like natural persons. Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state, they can be responsible for human rights violations, and they can even be convicted of criminal offenses, such as fraud and manslaughter. Once incorporated, a corporation has artificial personhood everywhere it operates, until the corporation is dissolved. Often, a corporation is legally a citizen of the state (or other jurisdiction) in which it is incorporated.

Multinational and Transnational Corporations

A multinational corporation (MNC) is a corporation that either manages production or delivers services in more than one country . Some multinational corporations are very large, with revenues that exceed some nation’s national revenues. Multinational corporations can have a powerful influence on both local economies and the world economy. They play an important role in international relations and globalization. A transnational corporation (TNC) differs from a traditional MNC in that it does not identify itself with a single national home. While traditional MNCs are national companies with foreign subsidiaries, TNCs spread out their operations in many countries. This allows them to sustain high levels of local responsiveness.

The rapid rise of multinational corporations has been a topic of concern among intellectuals, activists and laymen, who perceive it as a threat to basic civil rights like privacy. Scholars have pointed out that multinationals have had a long history of interference in the policies of sovereign nation states. Anti-corporate advocates express the commonly held view that corporations answer only to shareholders, and give little consideration to human rights, environmental concerns, or other cultural issues.

Corporations and Governments

Multinational corporations are important factors in the processes of globalization . National and local governments often compete against one another to attract MNC facilities, with the expectation of increased tax revenue, employment, and economic activity. To compete, political entities may offer MNCs incentives such as tax breaks, governmental assistance, subsidies, or lax environmental and labor regulations. Because of their size, multinationals can have a significant impact on government policy, primarily through the threat of market withdrawal. Confrontations between corporations and governments have occurred when governments have tried to force MNCs to make their intellectual property public. This is a state effort to transfer technology to local entrepreneurs.

16.2.10: Ominous Trends in the U.S.

Learning Objective

Examine how the Information Age is leading to higher productivity but fewer jobs, which lead to polarization between incomes of the rich and poor

Key Points

• Industry is becoming more information-intensive, less labor-intensive, and less capital-intensive. Jobs traditionally associated with the middle class are beginning to disappear, either through outsourcing or automation.
• Automation and computerization have resulted in higher productivity, but they have also led to higher unemployment and a net job loss.
• Individuals who lose their jobs can respond in several ways. They can either specialize, and join a group of “mind workers,” or settle for low-skill, low-wage service jobs. The resulting polarization has led to a growing disparity between incomes of the rich and poor.
• Jobs traditionally associated with the middle class are beginning to disappear, either through outsourcing or automation.
• Individuals who lose their jobs must either move up, joining a group of “mind workers,” or settle for low-skill, low-wage service jobs.
• There is another way in which the Information Age has impacted the workforce: automation and computerization have resulted in higher productivity coupled with net job loss.

Key Terms

mind workers

A term for Information Age workers such as engineers, attorneys, scientists, professors, executives, journalists, and consultants.

automation

The act or process of converting the controlling of a machine or device to a more automatic system, such as computer or electronic controls.

Information Age

The current era, characterized by the increasing importance and availability of information (especially by means of computers), as opposed to previous eras (such as the Industrial Age) in which most endeavors related to some physical, man-made process or product.

Example

• As technology increases productivity, it tends to reduce the demand for labor, eliminating jobs and creating unemployment. This general tendency can be observed in many sectors of the economy, but one of the most stark examples is agriculture. In the 18th and 19th centuries, most farm labor was done by hand or with the help of draft animals. But in the 20th century, technological advances revolutionized agriculture. New machinery, new varieties of crops, and new chemicals made farmers more productive than ever. A single farmer could farm much more land than before, but this meant that agriculture required far fewer laborers than it had in the past. Many farmers went out of business and moved to cities. Until 1920, more than half the U.S. population had lived in rural areas. Today, less than 2% of the population is employed in farming.

Industry in the Information Age

In general, industry is becoming more information-intensive, less labor-intensive, and less capital-intensive. These trends have led observers to call the modern era the information age. The trend toward an information-based economy has important implications for the workforce. While productivity stands to increase dramatically, unemployment is also rising, and jobs are increasingly polarized into the following two categories: high-skill, high-wage jobs, and low-skill, low-wage jobs. Additionally, for the first time, workers are being forced to compete in a global job market, in which jobs tend to be attracted by countries with lower wages.

The Disappearance of Manufacturing Jobs

As technology advances, workers are becoming increasingly productive, but the value of labor, and the demand for labor, are both decreasing. Workers who perform easily automated tasks are being replaced by technology that can do the work faster, cheaper, and more efficiently. As a result, automation and computerization have led to both higher productivity and a net job loss. In the United States, from January, 1972 to August, 2010, the number of people employed in manufacturing jobs fell from 17,500,000 to 11,500,000. During the same time period, the value of production from manufacturing increased 270%.

In general, jobs that are traditionally associated with the middle class (assembly line workers, data processors, foremen, and supervisors) are beginning to disappear due to automation. They are also disappearing because of outsourcing, which has become more common in an era of global free trade. Production and service workers in industrialized nations are unable to compete with workers in developing countries, who are willing to tolerate much lower wages. As a result, in industrialized nations like the U.S., those working in production have either lost their jobs or been forced to accept wage cuts.

“Mind Workers”

Individuals who lose their jobs can respond in several ways. They can either settle for low-skill, low-wage jobs, or they can move up, joining a group called “mind workers. ” This category includes engineers, attorneys, scientists, professors, executives, journalists, and consultants. Currently, these “mind workers” form about 20% of the workforce. They are able to compete successfully in the world market and command high wages. Increasingly, jobs in countries like the United States are polarized into low-skill, low-wage jobs or the high-skill, high-wage jobs of these “mind workers. ” Because of this polarization, there is a growing disparity between the incomes of the rich and poor. In the United States, income inequality began to rise in the 1970s and has increased even more quickly during the 21^st century.

16.2.11: Colonialism, Decolonization, and Neo-Colonialism

Learning Objective

Explain the concepts of colonialism, decolonization and neocolonialism in terms of society and economic impact

Key Points

• Colonization was motivated by economics. European powers sought to expand their markets and acquire raw materials overseas.
• Decolonization occurred in response to independence movements in colonized territories when European powers determined that the benefits of maintaining colonies was not worth the costs.
• Neocolonialism is the practice of using capitalism, globalization, and cultural forces to control a country in lieu of direct military or political control.
• Neocolonialism is motivated by economics. Countries and corporations seek to achieve favorable economic policies overseas and do so by pinning loans to particular actions on the part of African states.
• The dependency principle refers to the claim that post-colonial states have no choice but to accept Western conditions for loans, because they desperately need the money to support their own domestic policies.

Key Terms

metropole

The parent-state of a colony.

colony

A territory under the immediate political control of a ruling state.

dependency principle

The notion that resources flow from a “periphery” of poor and underdeveloped states to a “core” of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former. It is a central contention of the dependency theory that poor states are impoverished and rich ones are enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the “world system. “

Example

• Many accuse the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund of being agents of neocolonialism. Both organizations extend loans to African countries, but do so only if the sovereign African nation-state accepts certain conditions which usually advance democratic and capitalist norms. That most African nations accept the offers and their conditions is an example of the dependency principle.

When speaking of colonialism, most people imagine the European colonization of Africa. Historically, the period of colonization tends to refer to the era from the sixteenth century until the mid-twentieth century, during which ships from Europe were actively seeking out new territories, new peoples, and new markets to acquire. However, colonialism has been practiced throughout history and all over the world. In general, colonialism occurs when people from one territory establish or acquire, maintain, and expand colonies in another territory. In colonialism, the metropole or colonizing power claims sovereignty over the colony.

Often, colonization is driven by a desire for economic expansion. In the sixteenth century, European colonization of Africa contributed significantly to European economic development. European colonization intensified because Europeans had just developed galleons or ships that could navigate more easily all the way to Africa. Easier access to foreign lands encouraged European nobles and merchants to seek out new territories in an effort to acquire raw materials and develop new markets. Extracting raw materials from foreign lands provided the fuel for the Industrial Revolution, and the practice of slavery provided Europeans with a new source of labor power.

At the same time that colonialism benefited European economies, it had devastating consequences for African economies. Colonized territories were forced to depend on colonizers for trade. Local institutions and political structures were dismantled and replaced with ones imposed by colonial powers.

After World War II, colonial systems were dismantled in a process referred to as decolonization. Decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism, or the claim of a formerly colonized people for independence and self-determination. In part, decolonization was the result of independence movements in colonized territories. In part, it was also the result of an calculated economic decision made by colonial powers. The cost of maintaining colonial empires had begun to exceed their value for the European powers.

Decolonization has had a significant impact on the economies of the newly formed states. First and foremost, newly independent African states had to develop an economic system. Moreover, even though the former colonies were now formally independent, they were still rather dependent on the West for assistance in developing economic and political structures. Thus, Western corporations still had a significant amount of control over the new states. Newly independent states borrowed money from the West in order to fund their own development, resulting in a new system of debt. For decades, this debt has been politically impossible for many countries to pay off and still exists.

Although decolonization ended formal colonialism, unequal economic relationships between the developed West and newly independent states had set up a system referred to as neocolonialism. Neocolonialism is the practice of using capitalism, globalization, and cultural forces to control a country in lieu of direct military or political control. External forces exert power in Africa in two ways. First, multinational corporations (MNCs), or companies with operations in multiple countries, apply pressure for certain political behaviors to suit their own interests. For example, if an American company wants to farm in Ethiopia, the company can apply pressure on the Ethiopian government to grant them certain conditions in exchange for the investment in the land. This function operates because of the dependency principle. In other words, many African countries are so desperate to bring in revenue to support their domestic agendas that it is in their interests to accept unsavory conditions from foreign companies. In this way, foreign companies exert significant influence over post-colonial states. The combination of the degree of the influence and the dependency principle creates a situation that in many ways mirrors colonialism. Second, foreign countries can exert influence over post-colonial states by only offering loans under certain conditions. This, again, invokes the dependency principle and mirrors colonialism.

16.2.12: Trade Blocs and Common Markets

Key Points

• Trade blocs can be stand-alone agreements between several states, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or part of a regional organization, such as the European Union.
• A single market is a type of trade bloc that is composed of a free trade area for goods, with common policies on product regulation, as well as freedom of movement on capital, labor, enterprise, and services.
• A common market is a first stage towards a single market, and may be limited initially to a free trade area with relatively free movement of capital and of services, but not so advanced in reduction of the rest of the trade barriers.

Key Terms

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

An agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. It came into force in 1994.

Common market

A common market is a first stage towards a single market, and may be limited initially to a free trade area with relatively free movement of capital and of services, but not so advanced in reduction of the rest of the trade barriers.

trade bloc

A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where regional barriers to trade, (tariffs and non-tariff barriers) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states.

Example

• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an example of a formal trade bloc. Canada, the United States, and Mexico grant each other special privileges by not imposing tariffs. Accordingly, the common market of which Canada, the United States, and Mexico are all members facilitates trade among the countries.

A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where regional barriers to trade are reduced or eliminated among the participating states. Trade blocs can be stand-alone agreements between several states, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or part of a regional organization, such as the European Union.

A single market is a type of trade bloc that is composed of a free trade area for goods, with common policies on product regulation, as well as freedom of movement on capital, labor, enterprise, and services. According to the principles of capitalism, a single market has many benefits. With full freedom of movement for all the factors of production between the member countries, the factors of production become more efficiently allocated, further increasing productivity. However, entering a trade bloc also strengthens ties between member parties. In so doing, member parties not only share each others’ strengths but also each others’ weaknesses.

Economist Jeffrey J. Scott argues that for a trade bloc to be successful, members must share four common traits: similar levels of per capita national income, geographic proximity, similar or compatible trading regimes, and a political commitment to regional organization. For better or for worse, trade blocs are prevalent. Since 1997, more than 50% of all world commerce was conducted under the auspices of regional trade blocs, such as NAFTA.

A common market is a first stage towards a single market, and may be limited initially to a free trade area with relatively free movement of capital and of services, but not so advanced in reduction of the rest of the trade barriers.

15.2: Government and the State

15.2.1: Functions of the State

Learning Objective

Classify the different political theories concerning the function of the state in society

Key Points

• Liberal and conservative theories of the state tend to see the state as a neutral entity separated from society and the economy. These theories treat the economic system of capitalism as a given.
• Marxist theories see the state as a partisan instrument that primarily serves the interests of the upper class. These theories emphasize the relationship between political power and economic power.
• Anarchists believe that the state apparatus should be completely dismantled and an alternative set of social relations created. These social relations would not be based on state power at all.
• Pluralists view the state as a neutral body that simply enacts the will of whichever groups dominate the electoral process.
• A polyarchy, a concept developed by Robert Dahl, refers to the idea that the modern democratic state’s acts in response to the pressures applied to it by a variety of organized interests.

Key Terms

anarchist

One who believes in or advocates the absence of hierarchy and authority in most forms (compare anarchism), especially one who works toward the realization of such.

pluralist

an advocate of pluralism (in all senses)

polyarchy

a government by many persons, of whatever order or class

Examples

• Many people consider the United States to be a pluralist state. Even our money reads “E Pluribus Unum,” which means out of many, one. Much of U.S. politics can be understood by looking at different special interest groups who compete to get their agendas passed. For example, in debates over education, the National Education Association, a union of teachers, might be considered one special interest group, while a group of parents could band together to form another interest group. The teachers union would likely support tenure for teachers, while the parents group might want stricter evaluation of teachers or stiffer requirements for pay raises. According to the pluralist view, whichever interest group was better able to recruit members to its cause, and to persuade policymakers, would prevail.
• Marxists explain political outcomes and policies not by reference to different interest groups, but by assuming that the state acts in a way that benefits capitalists and hurts workers. So, for example, Marxists would not be surprised to see government forces such as the police or national guard mobilized in order to put down strikers, nor would they be surprised when politicians continually give tax cuts to the rich. On an even more mundane level, Marxists might point out that many states have given capitalists extra privileges by treating corporations as people, affording them the same rights as human beings.

The State

A state is an organized political community acting under a government. States may be classified as sovereign if they are not dependent on, or subject to, any other power or state. States are considered to be subject to external sovereignty, or hegemony, if their ultimate sovereignty lies in another state. A federated state is a territorial, constitutional community that forms part of a federation. Such states differ from sovereign states, in that they have transferred a portion of their sovereign powers to a federal government .

Theories of the State

Most political theories of the state can roughly be classified into two categories. The first, which includes liberal or conservative theories, treats capitalism as a given, and concentrates on the function of states in a capitalist society. Theories of this variety view the state as a neutral entity distinct from both society and the economy.

Marxist Theory

Marxist theory, on the other hand, sees politics as intimately intermingled with economic relations, and emphasizes the relationship between economic power and political power. Marxists view the state as a partisan instrument that primarily serves the interests of the upper class. Marx and Engels were clear that communism’s goal was a classless society in which the state would have “withered away. ” For Marxist theorists, the role of the non-socialist state is determined by its function in the global capitalist order. Marx’s early writings portrayed the state as “parasitic,” built upon the superstructure of the economy and working against the public interest. He believed that the state mirrored societal class relations, that it regulated and repressed class struggle, and that it was a tool of political power and domination for the ruling class.

Anarchism

Anarchism is a political philosophy that considers states immoral and instead promotes a stateless society, anarchy. Anarchists believe that the state is inherently an instrument of domination and repression, no matter who is in control of it. Anarchists believe that the state apparatus should be completely dismantled and an alternative set of social relations created, which would be unrelated to state power.

Pluralism

Pluralists view society as a collection of individuals and groups competing for political power. They then view the state as a neutral body that simply enacts the will of whichever group dominates the electoral process. Within the pluralist tradition, Robert Dahl developed the theory of the state as a neutral arena for contending interests. He also viewed governmental agencies as simply another set of competing interest groups. The pluralist approach suggests that the modern democratic state acts in response to pressures that are applied by a variety of organized interests. Dahl called this kind of state a polyarchy. Pluralism has been challenged on the ground that it is not supported by empirical evidence.

15.2.2: Characteristics of the State

Learning Objective

Discuss the central characteristics that define the state

Key Points

• Federated states differ from sovereign states in that they have transferred a portion of their sovereign powers to a federal government.
• Under the rule of law, no one person can rule and even top government officials are bound by the law.
• The “nation” refers to a large geographical area and the people living there who perceive themselves as having a common identity.
• The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit.
• Civil society is the arena outside of the family, the state, and the market where people associate to advance common interests.

Key Terms

nation state

a political entity (a state) associated with a particular cultural entity (a nation)

civil society

All of the institutions, voluntary organizations, and corporate bodies that are less than the state but greater than the family.

Sovereign states

A sovereign state is a political organization with a centralized government that has supreme independent authority over a geographic area.

Example

• To understand the differences between state and nation, consider an example like Poland. The people of Poland have long formed a nation with a shared language and culture, but that nation has, through history, been cross-cut by various political borders. Thus, at times, members of the Polish nation have been governed by different states. Today, Poland’s boundaries roughly align with the geographical area where the people of the Polish nation live, and thus Poland can be thought of as a nation state.

States may be classified as sovereign if they are not dependent on, or subject to, any other power or state. Other states are subject to external sovereignty or hegemony where ultimate sovereignty lies in another state. A federated state is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation. Such states differ from sovereign states, in that they have transferred a portion of their sovereign powers to a federal government.

The concept of the state is different from the concept of government. A government is the particular group of people that controls the state apparatus at a given time. In other words, governments are the means through which state power is employed; for example, by applying the rule of law. The rule of law is a legal maxim whereby governmental decisions are made by applying known legal principles. The rule of law is rule not by one person, as in an absolute monarchy, but by laws, as in a democratic republic; no one person can rule and even top government officials are under and ruled by the law.

The concept of the state is also different from the concept of a nation, which refers to a large geographical area, and the people therein who perceive themselves as having a common identity. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural or ethnic entity. The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The term nation state implies that the two geographically coincide.

In classical thought, the state was identified with political society and civil society as a form of political community. In contrast, modern thought distinguishes the nation state as a political society from civil society as a form of economic society. Civil society is the arena outside of the family, the state, and the market where people associate to advance common interests. It is sometimes considered to include the family and the private sphere and then referred to as the third sector of society, distinct from government and business.

15.2.3: Citizenship Rights

Learning Objective

Discuss the rights and responsibilities of citizenship held by individuals

Key Points

• Citizenship is the state of being a member of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. The term describing all citizens as a whole is citizenry.
• Citizenship generally carries with it the right of political participation in a community, including voting, participating in government, and receiving state protection.
• A person who does not have citizenship in any state is stateless.
• Many people are presumed to be citizens of a nation if they were born within the physical geographic territory of the nation. This policy is called, by the Latin legal term. jus soli, meaning “right of soil. ” A jus sanguinis policy grants citizenship based on ancestry or ethnicity.
• Nationalization is the acquisition of citizenship by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth.
• The term “citizen of the world” has been applied to people who have fewer ties to a particular nation and more of a sense of belonging to the world in general.

Key Terms

jus sanguinis

Jus sanguinis (Latin: right of blood) is a social policy by which citizenship is not determined by place of birth, but rather by having one or both parent who are citizens of the nation. It contrasts with jus soli (Latin for “right of soil”).

jus soli

A right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognized to any individual born in the territory of the related state.

nationalization

Nationalization is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state

Examples

• In the United States, citizens have certain rights and responsibilities, as defined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Citizens have the right to free speech and freedom of assembly, for example, but they also have the responsibility to follow the laws of the land and to pay taxes.
• In the United States, citizens have certain rights and responsibilities, as defined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Citizens have the right to free speech and freedom of assembly, for example, but they also have the responsibility to follow the laws of the land and to pay taxes.

Legally, citizenship denotes a link between an individual and a state. Under international law, citizenship is synonymous to nationality, although the two may have different meanings under national law. A person who does not have citizenship in any state is stateless.

A person is generally presumed to be a citizen of a nation if one or both of their parents are also a citizen of said nation; this is often called jus sanguinis (Latin legal term), meaning “right of blood. ” A jus sanguinis policy means grants citizenship based on ancestry or ethnicity, and is related to the concept of a nation state common in Europe. Many people are presumed to be citizens of a nation if they were born within the physical geographic territory of the nation. This policy is called by jus soli (Latin legal term), meaning “right of soil. ” These first two factors are usually lumped together under the term birthright citizenship .

Nationalization is the acquisition of citizenship by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth. In general, basic requirements for nationalization are that the applicant hold a legal status as a full-time resident for a minimum period of time, and that the applicant promises to obey and uphold that country’s laws, to which an oath or pledge of allegiance is sometimes added. Citizenship can also be obtained by marrying a citizen, which is termed jure matrimonii.

Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities. In this sense, citizenship was described as “a bundle of rights — primarily, political participation in the life of the community, the right to vote, and the right to receive certain protection from the community, as well as obligations. ” Citizenship is a status in society. It generally describes a person with legal rights within a given political order. It almost always has an element of exclusion, meaning that some people are not citizens; this distinction can sometimes be very important, or not important, depending on a particular society.

More generally, citizenship is seen as the relation between an individual and a particular nation. Certain entities, however, cross national boundaries, such as trade organizations, non-governmental organizations, and multi-national corporations, and sometimes the term “citizen of the world” has been applied in to people who have fewer ties to a particular nation and more of a sense of belonging to the world in general.

15.2.4: State Formation

Learning Objective

Discuss the formation of states and centralization of authority in modern history

Key Points

• States first arose when agriculture and writing made centralized power possible.
• In hydraulic civilizations, water and irrigation were centrally controlled, which consequently led to the general centralization of power in a despotic state.
• According to the coercion theory of state formation, states formed in order to handle the burden of fighting and defending against wars.
• States have continued to grow more rational and bureaucratic, with expanding executive bureaucracies, such as the extensive cabinet system in the United States. Thus, states have evolved from relatively simple but powerful central powers to complex and highly organized institutions.

Key Terms

Centralization of power

Centralization of power occurs in governments in which power or legal authority is exerted or coordinated by a de facto political executive to which federal states, local authorities, and smaller units are considered subject. In a national context, centralization occurs in the transfer of power to a typically sovereign nation state.

Hydraulic civilization

A hydraulic empire (also known as a hydraulic despotism, or water monopoly empire) is a social or government structure which maintains power and control through exclusive control over access to water. It arises through the need for flood control and irrigation, which requires central coordination and a specialized bureaucracy.

State Formation and the Centralization of Power

Today we take it for granted that different societies are governed by different states, but this has not always been the case. Since the late nineteeth century, virtually the entirety of the world’s inhabitable land has been parceled up into areas with more or less definite borders claimed by various states. Earlier, quite large land areas had been either unclaimed or uninhabited, or inhabited by nomadic peoples who were not organized as states. In fact, for most of human history, people have lived in stateless societies, characterized by a lack of concentrated authority, and the absence of large inequalities in economic and political power.

The first known states were created in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, the Americas (e.g., Aztec civilization, Inca civilization). Most agree that the earliest states emerged when agriculture and writing made it possible to centralize power in a durable way. Agriculture allowed communities to settle and also led to class division: some people devoted all their time to food production, while others were freed to specialize in other activities, such as writing or ruling. Thus, states, as an institution, were a social invention. Political sociologists continue to debate the origins of the state and the processes of state formation.

Competing Theories of State Formation

Hydraulic Civilization

According to one early theory of state formation, the centralized state was developed to administer large public works systems (such as irrigation systems) and to regulate complex economies. This theory was articulated by German American historian Karl August Wittfogel in his book 1957 Oriental Despotis. Wittfogel argued that most of the earliest states were formed in hydraulic civilizations, by which he meant civilizations where leaders controlled people by controlling the water supply. Often, these civilizations relied on complex irrigation systems that had to be centrally managed. The people, therefore, had good reason to give control to a central state, but in giving up control over the irrigation system, they also gave up control over their own livelihoods and, thus, the central state gained immense control over people in general. Although Wittfogel’s theory is well known, it has also been criticized as inaccurate. Modern archaeological and anthropological evidence shows that many early societies were not as centralized, despotic, or unequal as the hydraulic theory would suggest.

Coercion, War, and the State

An alternative theory of state formation focuses on the rise of more modern nation-states and explains their rise by arguing they became necessary for leveraging the resources necessary to fight and defend against wars. Sociologist Charles Tilly is the best known theorist in this tradition. Tilly examined political, social, and technological change in Europe from the Middle Ages to the present and attempted to explain the unprecedented success of the nation-state as the dominant form of state on Earth. In other words, instead of asking (like Wittfogel) where the very first states came from, Tilly asked where the types of states with which we’re most familiar came from, and why they became so common.

According to Tilly’s theory, military innovation in pre-modern Europe (especially gunpowder and mass armies) made war extremely expensive. As a result, only states with a sufficient amount of capital and a large population could afford to pay for their security and ultimately survive in the hostile environment. Thus, the modern states and its institutions (such as taxes) were created to enable war making.

Rationalization and Bureaucracy

Yet another theory of state formation focuses on the long, slow, process of rationalization and bureaucratization that began with the invention of writing. The Greeks were the first people known to have explicitly formulated a political philosophy of the state, and to have rationally analyzed political institutions. In Medieval Europe, feudalism furthered the rationalization and formalization of the state. Feudalism was based on the relationship between lord and vassal, which became central to social organization and, indeed to state organization. The Medieval state was organized by Estates, or parliaments in which key social groups negotiated with the king about legal and economic matters. Since then, states have continued to grow more rational and bureaucratic, with expanding executive bureaucracies, such as the extensive cabinet system in the United States. Thus, states have evolved from relatively simple but powerful central powers to complex and highly organized institutions.