Society UGerhard Lenski: Society and Technology UKarl Marx: Society and Conflict UMax Weber: The rationalization of Society UEmil Durkheim: Society and Function UCritical Evaluation

Gerhard Lenski: Society and Technology What are some of the differences between societies? How do societies change?, and What forces divide a society or hold it together. Sociolcultural evolution- refers to the changes that occur as a society acquires new technology.

Hunting and Gathering Societies From the emergence of our species 3 million years ago until just 12,000 years ago, all humans were hunters and gatherers. Hunting and Gathering- the use of simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation.

Horticulture and Pastoral Societies 1200 years ago people discovered horticulture. Horticultural- the use of hand tools to raise crops. People used a hoe to work the soil and a digging stick to punch holes in the ground to plant seeds. This was a huge break through, it allowed people to grow their own food instead of hunting and gathering it.

Humans first planted gardens in the Middle East and then in Latin America and Asia. Within 5000 years horticulture spread throughout most of the world.

Pastorialism- refers to the domestication of animals. Tribes who became pastoral remained nomadic compared to horticulture communities who were more likely to remain in one place for a while.

Agarian Societies About 5000 years ago agriculture was discovered by the Middle East and then spread to most of the world. Agriculture- large scale cultivation using plows harnessed to animals or more powerful energy source. Plowing allowed people to cultivate large amounts of land and aerating the soil increased fertility.

Among hunting and gathering and also horticulture societies women were the primary role of providers of food. Agriculture however propels men into a social dominant role. Agrarian societies have the greatest specialization and the most social inequality. This technology gives people a greater range of life choices, which is why agrarian societies differ more from one another than horticulture and pastoral societies.

Industrial Societies Industrialism- is the production of goods using advanced sources of energy to drive large machinery. People went to the cities to work, leaving behind close kinship ties. Rapid change and movement from place to place generated anonymity, cultural diversity, and numerous subcultures and countercultures.

Postindustrial Societies Postindustrialism- refers to technology that supports an information-based economy. The Limits of Technology Technology remedies many human problems, it raises production, reduces infectious diseases. It however does not eliminate hunger and is not a quick fix for social problems.

Karl Marx: Society and Conflict

Marx struggled with the basic contradiction of so many people being so rich and so many people being so poor. Social Conflict- struggle between segments of society over valued resources.

Society and Production Marx observed the early stage of industrial capitalism in Europe. Capitalists- people who own and operate factories and other businesses in pursuit of profit. Proletarians- people who sell their productivity labor for wages. Conflict between capitalists and workers is inevitable in a system of capitalist production.

Social Institutions- the major sphere of social life, or societal subsystems, organized to meet human needs.

Marxs argued that one institution- the economy-dominates all the others and defines the character of a society. False Consciousness- explanations of social problems as the shortcomings of individuals rather than the flaws of society. Capitalism and Class Conflict- Marx wrote the Manifesto of the Communist Party, where he described the two major social classes of Industrial Capitalism: the ruling class and the oppressed class.

Class Conflict- conflict between entire classes over the distribution of a society’s wealth and power. Class Consciousness- workers’ recognition of themselves as a class unified in opposition to capitalist and, ultimately, to capitalism itself.

Capitalism and Alienation Marx Alienation- the experience of isolation and misery resulting from powerlessness. 1. Alienation from the act of working. 2. Alienation from the products of work. 3. Alienation from other workers. 4. Alienation from human potential.

Revolution The only way out of the trap of capitalism, argued Marx, is to remake society.

Max Weber: The Rationalization of Society

Tradition- sediments and beliefs passed from generation to generation. Rationality- deliberate, matter-of-fact calculation of the most efficient means to accomplish a particular task.

Is Capitalism Rational? Weber and Marx are on opposite side of the argument. **Weber considered industrial capitalism the essence of rationality because capitalists pursue profit in whatever ways they can. **Marx believed capitalism was irrational because it failed to meet the basic needs of most people on earth.

Weber’s Great Thesis: Protestantism and Capitalism Calvinism Rational Social Organization

1. Distinctive social institutions. 2. Large-scale organizations. 3. Specialized tasks. 4. Personal discipline. 5. Awareness of time. 6. Technical competence. 7. Impersonality.

Rationality and Beaucreacy- The Medieval church grew large, but it remained basically traditional and resisted change, according to Weber.

Rationality and Alienation Max Weber like Karl Marx recognized the efficiency of capitalism. Weber also agreed that modern society generates widespread alienation.

Emile Durkheim: Society and Function

Structure: Society Beyond Ourselves Durkheim recognized that society exists beyond ourselves. Society is more than the individuals who compose it: society has a life of its own that stretches beyond our personal experiences.

Social facts- Patterns of behavior—cultural norms, values and beliefs—exist as established structures and are social facts that have an objective reality beyond the lives of individuals.

Function: Society as System- The significance of any social fact, he explained, is more than what individuals see in our immediate lives; social facts help society as a whole to operate.

Personality: Society in Ourselves Society is beyond ourselves and also in ourselves. Each of us builds a personality by internalizing social facts. How we act, think, and feel—our essential humanity—is drawn from the society that nurtures us.

Modernity and Anomie Anomie- a condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals.

Mechanical Solidarity- social bonds based on common sentiments and shared moral value that are strong among members of preindustrial societies. With industrialization Durkheim believed that mechanical solidarity becomes weaker, and people cease to be bound by tradition.

Organic Solidarity- social bonds based on specialized and interdependence that are strong among members of industrial societies. Solidarity is based on differences among people. Division of Labor- a specialization of economic activity.

Durkheim’s Delimma The technological power and greater personal freedom of modern society come at the cost of declining morality and the rising risk of anomie.

Critical Evaluation What holds Societies together? How have Societies changed? Why do Societies change?