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THREE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES hypotheses that make up systems WOUT ULTEE UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA NOVEMBER 11, 2012.

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Presentation on theme: "THREE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES hypotheses that make up systems WOUT ULTEE UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA NOVEMBER 11, 2012."— Presentation transcript:

1 THREE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES hypotheses that make up systems WOUT ULTEE UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA NOVEMBER 11, 2012

2 FOR AT LEAST FOUR REASONS CONTEMPORARY STUDENTS OF SOCIOLOGY STILL LIKE DURKHEIM’S SUICIDE FROM 1897 FIRSTLY, BECAUSE SUICIDE SEVERELY TESTS A THEORY AGAINST GOVERNMENTAL STATISTICS SECONDLY, BECAUSE SUICIDE TURNS A SEEMINGLY PHILOSOPHICAL, PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL QUESTION INTO A SOCIOLOGICAL QUESTION

3 THIRDLY, DURKHEIM’S SUICIDE IS LIKED BECAUSE ITS THEORY CONSISTS OF ABSTRACT HYPOTHESES AND CONCRETE HYPOTHESES BECAUSE OF THIS ‘MULTI- LAYERED THEORY’, DURKHEIM SURPASSES MARX’ AND WEBER’S WORK

4 MARX’ LAW OF CAPITALIST ACCUMULATION (THE MORE CAPITAL IN A FREE MARKET SOCIETY, THE LOWER THE WAGES) REMAINED A HYPOTHESIS NOT EXPLICITLY DERIVED FROM SOME THEORY WEBER DID NOT EVEN TRY TO FORMULATE HYPOTHESES, HE DEVELOPED A SPECIAL TYPE OF CONCEPTS HE CALLED IDEALTYPES EVERY HYPOTHESIS CONSISTS OF CONCEPTS, BUT MANY SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS NEVER WERE USED FOR HYPOTHESES

5 THE FOURTH REASON THAT DURKHEIM’S LE SUICIDE IS STILL LIKED IS THAT MULTI-LAYERED THEORIES SEEM RARE IN SOCIOLOGY HOWEVER, THIS REASON IS MISTAKEN TODAY I WILL PRESENT TWO OTHER MULTI-LAYERED THEORIES MULTI-LAYERED THEORIES OCCUR IN ANY THEORETICAL TRADITION OF SOCIOLOGY, AND EVEN WEBER WORKED WITH ONE

6 BUT WHY ARE MULTI-LAYERED THEORIES ATTRACTIVE? FIRSTLY, BECAUSE BUILDING A MULTI-LAYERED THEORY AMOUNTS TO SAYING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WITH A LIMITED NUMBER OF WORDS AS POSSIBLE SECONDLY, BECAUSE A HIGHER- LEVEL, ABSTRACT, HYPOTHESIS OF A MULTI-LAYERED THEORY SHOWS WHY LOWER-LEVEL, CONCRETE, HYPOTHESES ARE NOT ALWAYS TRUE

7 DURKHEIM’S THEORY OF SUICIDE WENT BEYOND THE THREE HYPOTHESES HE PRESENTED SUCCINTLY IN LE SUICIDE

8 DURKHEIM SOUGHT TO EXPLAIN AS MANY STATISTICAL REGULARITIES AS POSSIBLE WITH AS SMALL A NUMBER OF HYPOTHESES AS POSSIBLE THAT IS THE ART OF THEORY FORMATION: SAYING A LOT WITH A FEW WORDS

9 THE MORE STRONGLY INTEGRATED A RELIGIOUS GROUP, THE LOWER ITS SUICIDE RATE CATHOLICS ARE A MORE INTEGRATED RELIGIOUS GROUP THAN PROTESTANTS ----------------------------------- PROTESTANTS HAVE A HIGHER SUICIDE RATE THAN CATHOLICS EDUCATION LOWERS INTEGRATION IN RELIGIOUS GROUPS --------------------------------- IN ITALIAN PROVINCES WITH A HIGHER PERCENT OF ILLITERATE PERSONS, THE SUICIDE RATE IS LOWER

10 -------------------------------------------- STANDS FOR THE DERIVATION OF THE MORE CONCRETE HYPOTHESIS FROM THE MORE ABSTRACT HYPOTHESIS AND AN AUXILIARY ASSUMPTION IF THE AUXILIARY ASSUMPTION IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT, THE CONCRETE HYPOTHESIS CANNOT BE DERIVED

11 THE MORE INTEGRATED A HOUSEHOLD, THE LOWER ITS SUICIDE RATE SINGLE PERSONS HAVE FEWER HOUSEHOLD TIES THAN MARRIED PERSONS ------------------------------------- THE SUICIDE RATE FOR SINGLE PERSONS IS HIGHER THAN FOR MARRIED PERSONS A HOUSEHOLD WITH CHILDREN FORMS A MORE INTEGRATED GROUP THAN A HOUSEHOLD WITHOUT CHILDREN -------------------------------- MARRIED PERSONS WITHOUT CHILDREN HAVE A HIGHER SUICIDE RATE THAN MARRIED PERSONS WITH CHILDREN

12 THE MORE INTEGRATED A POLITICAL GROUP, THE LOWER ITS SUICIDE RATE IN TIMES OF WAR POLITICAL INTEGRATION RISES ------------------------------------- IN TIMES OF WAR THE SUICIDE RATE IS LOWER THAN IN TIMES OF PEACE SOME WARS HAVE LESS PUBLIC SUPPORT THAN OTHERS --------------------------------- LESS POPULAR WARS LOWER THE SUICIDE RATE LESS

13 THE MORE INTEGRATED A GROUP, THE HIGHER THE CHANCES THAT ITS NORMS REGARDING SUICIDE ARE FOLLOWED ALL GROUPS HAVE NORMS FORBIDDING SUICIDE ------------------------------------- THE MORE INTEGRATED ANY GROUP, THE LOWER ITS SUICIDE RATE ARMIES ARE EXCEPTIONAL AND PLACE A LOW VALUE ON INDIVIDUAL LIFE ----------------------------------- SUICIDE IS MORE FREQUENT IN ARMIES THAN OUTSIDE THEM

14 THE MORE INTEGRATED A GROUP, THE HIGHER THE CHANCES THAT EACH AND EVERY OF ITS NORMS IS FOLLOWED ----------------------------------- THE MORE INTEGRATED A GROUP, THE HIGHER THE CHANCES THAT ITS NORMS REGARDING SUICIDE ARE FOLLOWED GROUPS HAVE NORMS FORBIDDING YOUNG PEOPLE TO COMMIT PETTY CRIMES -------------------------------- YOUNG PEOPLE COMMIT FEWER PETTY CRIMES IF THEIR TIES WITH THEIR PARENTS AND WITH SCHOOL ARE STRONGER

15 THE LAST IMPLICATION IS TESTED IN TRAVIS HIRSCHI’S CAUSES OF DELINQUENCY FROM 1968 HIRSCHI DOES NOT REFER TO DURKHEIM’S SUICIDE HIRSCHI’S INTERMEDIARY GROUPS OF YOUNG PEOPLE ARE PAARTLY NEW COMPARED TO DURKHEIM: THE FAMILY, SCHOOL, AND PEERS THE OBVIOUS STRONG TEST PERTAINS TO YOUNG PERSONS WITH STRONG TIES TO OLDER CRIMINAL FRIENDS

16 LETS US LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT DURKHEIM-HIRSCHI HYPOTHESIS: THE MORE INTEGRATED A PERSON IS IN ANY OF A SOCIETY’S INTERMEDIARY GROUPS, THE MORE LIKELY THIS PERSON IS TO LIVE OF TO ANY OF THE NORMS OF THESE GROUPS THIS HYPOTHESIS IS NOT SIMPLY GENERAL, IT IS HIGHLY INFORMATIVE BECAUSE IT APPLIES TO ANY INTERMEDIARY GROUP AND TO ANY OF THE NORMS OF THESE GROUPS

17 IN ADDITION, WITH THIS HYPOTHESIS ONE IS ABLE TO SUGGEST WHY THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO, SAY, THE STATISTICAL REGULARITY THAT PROTESTANTS HAVE A HIGHER SUICIDE RATE THAN CATHOLICS THE SUICIDE RATE FOR PROTESTANT ENGLAND WAS UNEXPECTEDLY LOW, BUT IN ENGLAND PROTESTANTS WERE A STRONGLY INTEGRATED GROUP BECAUSE THE ANGLICAN CHURCH WAS THE STATE CHURCH (UNLIKE GERMANY)

18 DURKHEIM ALSO SHOWED THAT MORE INTEGRATION IN THE ARMY MAKES FOR A HIGHER SUICIDE RATE THE SUICIDE RATE FOR OFFICERS WAS HIGHER THAN FOR ENLISTED MEN THIS IS AN EXCEPTION TO THE LOWER-LEVEL HYPOTHESIS THAT MORE INTEGRATION MAKES FOR LESS SUICIDE HOWEVER, THE FINDING MAY BE EXPLAINED BY THE HYPOTHESIS THAT MORE INTEGRATION MAKES FOR LESS NORMATIVE DEVIANCE SO, AGAIN, THE DIFFICULTY IS SOLVED BY FIDDLING WITH THE AUXILIARY ASSUMPTIONS

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20 IN POWER AND PRIVILEGE FROM 1966 LENSKI MADE EMPIRICAL REGULARITIES BY COMPARING REPORTS OF THE FIELDWORK UNDERTAKEN BY ENTHNOGRAPHERS AND ANTHROPOLOGISTS IN PRE- INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES

21 LENSKI DISTINGUISHED SOCIETIES INTO TYPES AFTER THE LEVEL OF THEIR SUBSISTENCE TECHNOLOGY HUNTING AND GATHERING (BOW AND ARROW) SIMPLE HORTICULTURE (DIGGING STICK OR HOE) ADVANCED HORTICULTURE (METAL TOOLS) SIMPLE AGRICULTURE (PLOW) ADVANCED HORTICULTURE (IRON TOOLS) INDUSTRY (MACHINES NEXT TO MANPOWER) EACH (BRACKETED ) INVENTION MADE FOR MORE FOOD FROM LESS TERRITORY

22 LENSKI FOUND THAT DIFFERENCES IN THE STANDARD OF LIVING WERE SMALLER IN HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIETIES THAN IN SIMPLE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES DIFFERENCES IN ADVANTAGES WERE SMALLER IN SIMPLE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES THAN IN ADVANCED HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES DIFFERENCES IN ADVANTAGES WERE SMALLER IN ADVANCED HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES THAN IN SIMPLE AGRARIAN SOCIEITES DIFFERENCES IN ADVANTAGES WERE SMALLER IN SIMPLE AGRARIAN SOCIETIES THAN IN ADVANCED AGRARIAN SOCIETIES

23 THE TECHNOLOGY HYPOTHESIS: THE MORE DEVELOPED A SOCIETY’S SUBSISTENCE TECHNOLOGY, THE LARGER THE DIFFERENCES IN PRIVILEGES BETWEEN ITS INHABITANTS HOWEVER, THE TECHNOLOGY HYPOTHESIS WAS CONTRADICTED BY LENSKI’S FINDING FOR INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES: IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES INCOME INEQUALITIES ARE SMALLER THAN IN ADVANCED AGRARIAN SOCIETIES

24 LENSKI THEN POSITED THAT SOCIETIES NOT ONLY HAVE A TECHNOLOGY, BUT ALSO AN IDEOLOGY WHEREAS IN ADVANCED AGRARIAN SOCIETIES THE RULING IDEOLOGY WAS THAT THE STATE WAS PRIVATE PROPERTY OF THE RULER IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES GOVERNMENT WAS OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE AND BY THE PEOPLE

25 THE MORE EGALITARIAN THE IDEOLOGY OF INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES, THE SMALLER THEIR INCOME INEQUALITIES THREE TYPES OF IDEOLOGIES, RANKED AFTER DEGREE OF EGALITARIANISM: LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC IDEOLOGIES COMMUNIST IDEOLOGIES

26 INCOME INEQUALITIES ARE LARGER IN LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES THAN IN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES BUT IN COMMUNIST INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES INCOME INEQUALITIES WARE BARELY SMALLER THAN IN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THE IDEOLOGY HYPOTHESIS – AND THE TECHNOLOGY HYPOTHESIS?

27 LENSKI’S HIGHER-LEVEL HYPOTHESIS INVOKES THE BALANCE OF POWER OR THE WEIGHT OF RESOURCES BETWEEN THE INHABITANTS OF SOCIETIES

28 LENSKI’S HIGHER LEVEL HYPOTHESIS: A PERSON WITH MORE POWER HAS MORE PRIVILEGES THE MORE ASYMMETRIC THE BALANCE OF POWERS IN A SOCIETY ARE, THE LARGER ARE THE INEQUALITIES IN ADVANTAGES IN THIS SOCIETY

29 IN HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIETIES THERE ARE NO PERMANENT DIFFERENCES IN STRENGTH AND SKILLS BETWEEN THE MALE HUNTERS THE HUNTING GROUNDS ARE COMMUNAL PROPERTY IN SIMPLE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES GARDENS ARE PRIVATELY OWNED AND A STRONGER MAN WITH MORE WIVES OWNS A LARGER GARDEN METAL TOOLS INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE LAND BUT ALSO ARE USED AS EFECTIVE WEAPONS BY STRONG MEN

30 THE PLOW ALLOWS FOR CULTIVATING MORE LAND THAN THE HOE OR DIGGING STICK IN SIMPLE AGRARIAN SOCIETIES DIFFERENCES IN LAND OWNERSHIP MAKE FOR NEW INEQUALTIES IN ADVANTAGES IN ADVANCED AGRARIAN SOCIETIES OWENERSHIP OF IRON TOOLS, PARTICULARLY WEAPONS, MAKES FOR ADDITIONAL INEQUALITIES IN ADVANTAGES THE PERSONS WITH THE MOST WEAPONS IMPOSE TAXES AND FORM A SOCIETY’S STATE WEAPONS BRING LAND

31 EACH TECHNOLOGICAL INVENTION IS A NEW MEANS OF POWER OR A RESOURCE AND NEW AND OLD RESOURCES TEND TO ACCUMULATE IN THE SAME HANDS WITH THE NEW RESOURCES BEING MORE POWERFUL THAN THE OLD ONES

32 HOW ABOUT THE INVENTION OF MACHINES? OWNERSHIP OF MACHINES IS A NEW AND POWERFUL RESOURCE IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES BUT OWNERS OF MACHINES ARE NOT ALWAYS ABLE TO INVENT MACHINES ON THEIR OWN, TO MAKE THEM AND TO RUN THEM MAKING MACHINES REQUIRES COMPLEX SKILLS OPERATING MACHINES REQUIRES COMPLEX SKILLS INDUSTRY CREATES NEW RESOURCES THAT DO NOT CUMULATE WITH THE PRIME NEW RESOURCE OWNERSHIP OF MACHINES

33 SO, THE AUXILIARY ASSUMPTION THAT WITH EACH HIGHER LEVEL OF SUBSISTENCE TECHNOLOGY, A SOCIETY’S BALANCE OF POWER BECOMES MORE ASYMMETRIC GOES WRONG FOR INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES HERE AGAIN A DIFFICULTY IS SOLVED BY FIDDLING WITH THE AUXILIARY ASSUMPTIONS

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35 IN A DEMOCRACY, IN CONTRAST TO AN ABSOLUTE RULER OR AN OLIGARCHY, EVERYBODY HAS THE RIGHT TO VOTE THIS POLITICAL RESOURCE IS EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED AND MAKES FOR LOWER INCOME INEQUALITIES POLITICAL OUTCOMES DEPEND UPON THE PARTY VOTED FOR IF THE NEW VOTERS VOTE FOR THE PARTY OF THE OLD RULERS, LITTLE WILL CHANGE

36 IF THE NEW VOTERS VOTE FOR EGALITARIAN PARTIES, INCOME INEQUALITIES WILL BECOME SMALLER COMMUNISM DID NOT CHANGE INCOME INEQUALITIES MORE THAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY BECAUSE THE STATE OWNED ALL THE MEANS OF DESTRUCTION (COERCION), ALL THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION AND ALL THE MEANS MEANS OF COMMUNICATION, MAKING FOR STRONGLY PRIVILEGED BUREAUCRATS

37 BUT WHY DID EGALITARIAN IDEOLOGIES ARISE? IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES MAKING AND WORKING MACHINES REQUIRES MORE KNOWLEDGE THAN THE OWNERS OF MACHINES CAN POSSESS THESE PERSONS WITH PRODUCTIVE SKILLS HAVE NOT ONLY A BARGAINING POWER FOR WAGES, BUT ALSO FOR A SAY IN POLITICS KNOWLEDGE CANNOT EASILY BE SUBSTITUTED

38 SO, LENSKI’S POWER HYPOTHESIS EXPLAINS THE KNOWN EXCEPTIONS FOR HIS TECHNOLOGY HYPOTHESIS AND HIS IDEOLOGY HYPOTHESIS IN MY OPINION, THE STRONGER TESTS OF LENSKI’S HYPOTHESES PERTAIN NOT TO INCOME INEQUALITY BUT TO SOCIAL MOBILITY

39 THE STRUCTURE OF LENSKI’S THEORY POWER HYPOTHESIS TECHOLOGY HYPOTHESISIDEOLOGY HYPOTHESIS ETHNOGRAPHIC FINDINGSSTATE INCOME FIGURES

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41 THE THIRD MULTI-LAYERED THEORY MAY BE FOUND IN NORBERT ELIAS’ UBER DEN PROZESS DER CIVILIZATION (ON THE CIVILZING PROCESS) FROM 1939

42 FOR THIS THEORY AND FOR FIDDLING WITH ITS AUXILIARY ASSUMPTIONS TO DEAL WITH CONTRADICTORY FINDINGS SEE THE 2001 ARTICLE OF FLAP & ULTEE

43 THE STRONGER A SOCIETY’S STATE, THE STRICTER THE RULES OF CIVILIZED BEHAVIOR IN FRANCE, FROM 1300 UNTIL 1850 THE MONOPOLY OF THE STATE ON THE MEANS OF VIOLENCE BECAME STRONGER AND STRONGER ----------------------------------------------------------- IN FRANCE, FROM 1300 UNTIL 1850 A TREND TOWARDS STRICTER STANDARDS OF CIVILIZED BEHAVIOR

44 BUT WHY WOULD A STRONGER STATE MAKE FOR MORE CIVILIZED BEHAVIOR? THIS QUESTION LEADS TO A HIGHER- LEVEL HYPOTHESIS IN ELIAS’ THEORY: THE MORE DEPENDED THE MEMBERS OF A SOCIETY ARE UPON ITS OTHER MEMBERS, WHETHER POLITICALLY, ECONOMICALLY OR ANY OTHER FORM OF DEPENDENCY, THE STRICTER THEIR STANDARDS FOR CIVILIZED BEHAVIOR WILL BE


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