Lecture 1: Concepts September 28, 2010

Theoretical Framework From Connelly et al:  “A framework is a system of ideas or conceptual structures that help us “see” the social world, understand it, explain it, and change it. A framework guides our thinking, research, and action. It provides us with a systematic way of examining social issues and providing recommendations for change.

Connelly et al (2)  A framework consists of basic assumptions about the nature of the social world and how it works and about the nature of people and how they act. For example, some people assume that society is basically harmonious and that harmony results from a set of shared values. Others assume that society is in conflict and that conflict is rooted in class, race, and gender struggles over power and access to and control over resources.”

Why are there so many frameworks?  Historical change (relationship between theory and history)  Differences in Social context  Different lived experiences  Different agendas of change, different problems

Frameworks: Mainstream and Critical Robert W. Cox describes the difference between problem-solving and critical theory in this way: "[problem solving theory] takes the world as it finds it, with the prevailing social and power relationships and the institutions into which they are organized, as the given framework for action. The general aim of problem solving is to make these relationships and institutions work smoothly..”

Critical theory "stands apart from the prevailing order of the world and asks how that order came about. Critical theory... does not take institutions and social power relations for granted but calls them into question by concerning itself with their origins and how and whether they might be in the process of changing.

Central Concepts Structures; structure and agency State formations social relations Political economy and Production; Inequality & Difference (class, gender, race) Culture and identity

What are structures? “Persistent social practices made by collective human activity and transformed by collective human activity”.. (Cox)

Structures structures comprise of  Norms and values  Institutions  Behaviour patterns (individual and collective) Structures are engendered through a historical process – hence the term historical structures

Structures Are historically engendered Institutions Material Capabilities Ideas

Historical structures Consist of 3 dimensions (from Cox) Social Forces Forms of state World Orders

Agency  “Agency is the ability to identify objectives for change and act and bring about change”, Amartya Sen in Development as Freedom, Sen is Nobel Prize winning economist. Read about him here.here  Agency is the ability to define ones goals and act upon them, even in the face of opposition. This action brings about a transformation from disempowerment to empowerment (Based on Naila Kabeer 1999:438). Kabeer is a feminist development theorist. Read about her herehere

Types of agency  Individual  Collective  Institutions Can you give examples? Let us watch a short video on Kerala, India

Kudumbashree: a women’s movement

Different frameworks for undertsanding the State  What is the state? an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty  Three understandings of the state:  Liberal, institutionalist, critical

Liberal the state’s role is to protect life, liberty and property. Best performed by a liberal democracy

Institutionalist  State’s function is to fill gaps that individual and market actions create  Distribution; welfare; public services  welfare state (what is it? Is Canada a welfare state)

Critical theory of the state  Critical theory will distinguish between what we want the state to be (normative) and what the real- existing state is  State is a site of power  Reflects existing social relations, power relations  State is not equal to government