Materialist vs Ideologist Theories SOC 370: Social Change Dr. Kimberly Martin

Ideological Explanations Seeks explanations in the systems of shared beliefs that shape how people live, including how they make a living Eisenstein’ explanation for gender stratification is a good example: Patriarchy is the belief that men are superior to women and ought to be in charge of society Patriarchial beliefs lead to gender stratification in society and the domination by men of women as a class of laborers who produce goods (children and products), and services (domestic labor) essential to society

Materialism Seeks explanations for social organization in the economic realm in which people use resources in their environment to make a living. Most famous materialist theorist is Marx 1. The basis of human society is how humans work on nature to produce the means of subsistence. 2. There is a division of labor into social classes based on property ownership where some people live from the labor of others. 3. The system of class division is dependent on the mode of production. 4. The mode of production is based on the level of the technology. 5. Society moves from stage to stage when the dominant class is displaced by a new emerging class, by overthrowing the "political shell" that enforces the old relations of production no longer corresponding to the new productive forces. (Class conflict)

Sanderson Takes a materialist approach to social change, as have most sociologists and anthropologists Sanderson believes that the main causal factors of social evolution are demographic, ecological, technological, and economic All of these factors are materialistic in nature

Materialist Social Change Theories Focus on Subsistence strategies Technological efficiency Access to and control over resources Access to and control over labor Access to and control over surpluses Distribution of goods and services The development of social stratification (social classes)

Subsistence Strategies Four General Types of Subsistence Hunting & gathering/foraging societies Horticultural societies Pastoralist societies Agricultural societies

Hunting and Gathering Lived off naturally occurring plant and animal resources without replenishing or nurturing them in any way. Lived in small groups of around 30-50 individuals Were usually highly mobile (nomadic and semi-nomadic (AKA transhumance)) Had very few possessions (digging stick, spear, bow and arrows, carrying bag) Did not consider land and resources as ownable, believed in use-rights based on past experiences or supernatural nature of resources Egalitarian (gender equality and no social classes) Modern H&Gs live in marginal environments

Pastoralism Depend on herd animals for their livelihood (goats, cattle, sheep, camels, llamas, reindeer, etc) Lived in groups of around 100 individuals Were usually mobile (nomadic and semi-nomadic (AKA transhumance)) Had very few possessions (only what can be packed on a pack animal ) Did not consider land and resources other than herds as ownable, believed in use-rights based on past experiences Egalitarian (no social classes, but usually patriarchal)

Horticulture Depends on farming with hand tools only Lived in groups of 100 to several thousand individuals Were usually sedentary (villages or towns, or dispersed homesteads loosely connected into tribal or kin group) Have more possessions because they are sedentary Use rights or ownership of land and resources may be based on kin groups or individuals May be egalitarian, ranked or stratified, depending on the amount of surplus that can be produced using hand tools only in their environment.

Agriculture Depend on farming using ploughs, draught animals, irrigation or machinery Live in groups consisting of thousands of individuals or larger Are sedentary (towns and cities) Society based on possessions as status symbols Individual ownership of resources Usually stratified with multiple social classes

Industrialization Depends on mass production/factories (began rapid development with industrial revolution in England in 1600's). Resulted from application of scientific knowledge first to agriculture and then to manufacturing (crop rotation, steam power, specialized labor, spinning wheel). Massive increases in productivity, surplus, population, settlement size, and proportion freed from agricultural labor. Increased division of labor increased output, increased output allowed more expansion of division of labor (spiral effect).   Erosion of the family/kinship as the building block of social organization and continuing erosion of traditional (agriculture-based) institutions.

Post Industrialization Post Industrial Societies -  (Since the end of World War II)   Socialism, automation & advanced technology, decrease in industrial jobs, growth of service economy, split in the service sector, general decline of jobs.

Elman Service’s Levels of Sociocultural Integration Bands Tribes Chiefdoms States Empires

Bands Small (30-50 individuals) groups, Egalitarian groups, Usually nomadic/semi-nomadic hunter/foragers, Social organization based on personal kinship relationships, Use reciprocity to distribute goods and services, Gender and age division of labor

Tribes Small (100-500 individuals), Egalitarian groups, usually nomadic/semi-nomadic or villages Horticultural or pastoralists Social organization based on lineage membership where lineages are not ranked Distribution of goods and services through reciprocity Part time economic specialization

Chiefdoms Medium-sized (1000’s of individuals), Ranked or stratified groups, Usually sedentary Horticultural or pastoralists, occasionally hunters and gatherers/foragers Social organization based on ranked lineages Distribution of goods and services through redistribution Part-time or some full time economic specialization

States Large (100,000 to millions of individuals), Stratified groups, Urban settlements, Agricultural subsistence Social organization based on non-kin relationships Distribution of goods and services through a market system (general purpose money) Full time economic specialization/industrialization

Stratification All states are stratified; Stratification is necessary for states. However, not all stratified societies are states.

Empires A state that has conquered and rules by force one or more other societies. The Roman Empire The Spanish Empire The British Empire

Fried’s Materialism Morton Fried’s Theory of Evolution of Societies through the development of Social Stratification Egalitarian Societies = Bands/Tribes Ranked Societies = Chiefdoms Stratified Societies = States/Empires

Materialism Unidirectional change/evolution from simple to complex technologies, from egalitarian to stratified societies Stratification is found when surpluses are produced and are available to some and not to others Concurrent changes in subsistence, technology, stratification, kinship and family structures, distribution systems, political and religious systems Which is the cause and which the effect? Is this teleological, progressive? Is it a representation of what we have seen happening? Have all societies evolved in the same ways?

Study Guide Ideological Explanations Agriculture Eisenstein Service Materialist Explanations Bands Marx Tribes Subsistence strategies Chiefdoms Technological efficiency States Access to and control over resources Empires Access to and control over labor Egalitarian Access to and control over surpluses Ranked Distribution of goods and services Stratified Social Classes (Stratification) Fried Hunting and Gathering Teleology Pastoralism Horticulture