...of society’ (June2006) b) Identify and briefly explain some of the ways in which functionalists see religion meeting the needs of society and / or individuals. (June 2007) New syllabus: 12 mark questions a)Using material from item a and elsewhere, briefly examine the extent to which religion can still be said to be functional for individuals and society (June 2002) b) Briefly examine the evidence and or arguments in favour of the view that religion can act as a force for change in society (June 2006) c) Briefly examine post-modernist views on the nature and role of religion (June 2007) NEW SYLLABUS: 40 mark essay questions • Assess the role and functions of religious institutions and movements in contemporary society. (40) Sample A2 paper (Issued May 2000) • Evaluate the view that religion acts as a conservative force in modern society (40) Jun 2001 “The main function of religion is to provide people with a code of behaviour which regulates personal and social life.” Assess the extent to which sociological arguments and evidence support this view of religion in modern society (40) January 2002 Assess and evaluate the relationship between religion and social change. (40) Jan 2003 Assess the view that in most societies, religion functions more to cause conflict than to bring about harmony and consensus. (40) June 2003 Assess the view that sociological arguments and evidence support functionalist views...
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... P1, Sociological perspectives and concepts of health and illness This is an explanation of the principal sociological perspectives, which briefly explain the key ideas of each perspective using relevant theorists such as Talcott Parsons as examples. Functionalist is the approach to sociology and is best understood using biological anatomy. Functionalism can be traced back to August Comte (1798-1857). An Individual is born into society and will become the character of all the social influences such as the family, education, media and religion. The body is a complex mechanism and is understood by being studied. The body is studied by considering the basic parts for example the liver, kidneys, heart and lungs; society is just like the body as a society can be studied in positions of the societies. The body functions through the connection of the major organs, there are many devices to deal with diseases and illnesses; this is linked to different institutions in society as society have contributions to make to one another, they work together and have distinctive approach to deal with irregular behaviour from members. Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) saw society as a scheme made up of connected bodies. These connected bodies contribute to a steadiness in society. Parsons believed that the chief role of a society was to socialise individuals and to ensure that they understand the values of society and that they understood the correct way to behave in the society. Parsons argued that...
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... |failed to the Secondary Modern School. This exam still exists in some counties such as | | |Kent and also in Northern Ireland. | |12-Plus Exam |Exam made available only to a minority of 'high-flyers' in Secondary Modern schools, | | |offering a late chance to go to Grammar School at the age of 12. | |'30-30-40 society' |A term associated with Will Hutton to describe an increasingly insecure and polarised | | |society. The bottom 30 per cent is socially excluded by poverty from the rest of society.| | |The next 30 per cent live in fear and insecurity of falling into poverty. Only the top 40| | |per cent feel secure and confident. | A |abortion |The 1967 Abortion Act permitted termination of pregnancy by a registered practitioner | | |subject to certain conditions and was introduced in 1968. Currently around one-third of | ...
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...Higher Sociology Understanding Human Society 1 Acknowledgements SFEU (Scottish Further Education Unit) gratefully acknowledges the contribution made to this publication by Learning and Teaching Scotland who have granted permission to use material previously produced by Higher Still Development Unit. SFEU also thanks SQA for permission to reproduce parts of the Arrangement documents. Copyright statement Documents on NQ Online can be downloaded free. However, where the publications are the copyright of Learning and Teaching Scotland, educational establishments in Scotland may reproduce them in whole or in part provided that the source is acknowledged and that no profit accrues at any stage. Other users of these publications should contact Learning and Teaching Scotland before reproducing any of them. Please note all rights held by the former Higher Still Development Unit continue to be held by Learning and Teaching Scotland. Contents Statement of Standards 3 Guide to Learning and Teaching Pack 7 Introduction to the Unit and Learning and Teaching Approaches 8 Class stratification 9 Recommended reading and recommended websites for class stratification 10 Introduction to social stratification 11 Class stratification 15 Functionalist theory of class stratification 24 Summary of functionalism ...
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...differences can undermine even the most elaborate promotional campaign. inside Culture and Society Development of Culture around the World Elements of Culture Culture and the Dominant Ideology Case Study: Culture at Wal-Mart Cultural Variation Social Policy and Culture: Bilingualism Boxes Sociology in the Global Community: Life in the Global Village Sociology in the Global Community: Cultural Survival in Brazil Sociology on Campus: A Culture of Cheating? “Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which has evolved in a rich natural habitat. While much of the people's time is devoted to economic pursuits, a large part of the fruits of these labors and a considerable portion of the day are spent in ritual activity. The focus of this activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people. While such a concern is certainly not unusual, its ceremonial aspects and associated philosophy are unique. The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of the powerful influences of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their...
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...SKILLS TERM PAPER ARGUEMENTATION STUDENT ID NO: D33/34238/2010 AN ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER ON RESEARCH TOPIC: WHAT IS SCIENCE? TOPIC: Dispelling Misconceptions; Physical and Natural Sciences are not superior over Social Sciences. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract. 3 Introduction 4 Recommendations 22 REFERENCES 25 Abstract. Science in general is a great and highly developed human enterprise. Its intricacies are clearly not limited to the scientists alone, but it is essential for the entire human race. If we think of science as a space within the larger space of society then it is at the interfaces between these two spaces that human beings are involved with science. To see this interface clearly from the space of science is not the same as seeing it as a mere collection of facts that should be construed to be true and nothing but the truth. Science is beyond facts, ideals and thoughts. It is a process and a model that has undergone tests, been tried, reviewed and accepted as a true representation of the processes and occurrences in the natural world However, due to the broad nature of science, and the work, time and resources involved in pursuit of knowledge in different science fields which entails different interests, and thereby different values too; and the different possibilities of knowledge about...
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...German version of parts of the Introduction; Smelser has profited from the research assistance and critical analyses given by Joppke. 1. Social Change and Modernity Those who organized the conference on which this volume is based—including the editors— decided to use the terms "social change" and "modernity" as the organizing concepts for this project. Because these terms enjoy wide usage in contemporary sociology and are general and inclusive, they seem preferable to more specific terms such as "evolution" "progress," "differentiation," or even "development," many of which evoke more specific mechanisms, processes, and directions of change. Likewise, we have excluded historically specific terms such as "late capitalism" and "industrial society" even though these concepts figure prominently in many of the contributions to this volume. The conference strategy called for a general statement of a metaframework for the study of social change within which a variety of more specific theories could be identified. 2. Theories of Social Change Change is such an evident feature of social reality that any social-scientific theory, whatever its conceptual starting point, must sooner or later address it. At the same time it is essential to note that the ways social change has been identified have varied greatly in the history of thought. Furthermore, conceptions of change appear to have mirrored the historical ―2― realities of different epochs in large degree. In his essay...
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...interest in organizational politics, conceptual thought in this area tends to be dominated by a single theoretical perspective. In this paper we describe and contrast three views of organizational politics (functionalist, interpretive and radical) according to their differing structures, processes and outcomes. Each view, or lens, directs attention to some aspects of politics and away from others, and each has strengths and weaknesses embedded in it. In order to assess whether multiple perspectives on politics can be fruitfully applied simultaneously, we describe and analyze a case of a hospital administration engaged in budgeting games and illusion making. The data for the case were collected using naturalistic inquiry and multiple methods including structured and unstructured interviews, review of documents, observation of meetings and casual interaction facilitated by frequent visits over a ten-month period. The case revolves around the hospital administrators' attempts to deal with what they termed a "disastrous deficit" and the most serious financial situation in the hospital's history. Strategies for dealing with the funding agency and board of directors included the management of meaning and communications about the term "deficit." The three perspectives on organizational politics highlight different dynamics in the case. The interpretive perspective on politics assumes that parties exert influence by constructing the meaning of what others experience. Focusing...
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...Theories of Communication – MCM 511 VU LESSON 01 COMMUNICATION Defining communication Communication is seen as central to our everyday ideas about what makes life worth living. It is not surprising that academicians have attempted to unravel the secrets of the communication process. In this section of the study we will examine the theorizing and theories of this discipline of communication. To understand communication theory we need to understand the nature of communication. Nature of communication People define terms in different ways, and those differences in definition can have a profound impact on the extent to which we understand each other and the way we move forward with both academic and everyday pursuits. Given the variety of ways in which words are used and understood, we are often ill-served to search for the single, so-called correct definition of a term. In other words, it is better to evaluate definition in terms of their utility rather than in terms of their correctness. So we should not assume that there is always a single right way to define a concept. There is a great deal of variation in the definitions. Some are very abstract and some are extremely specific. Few definitions are cited below. Communication is the process by which an individual (the communicator) transmits stimuli (usually verbal) to modify the behavior of other individuals (the audience). (Hovland Janis and Kelly in 1953) Communication is the process by which we understand others and in turn...
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...A Life beyond Work 235 255 Notes References 275 Index Acknowledgments thank the following friends and colleagues for their helpful feedback on versions of these arguments and portions of the manuscript: Anne Allison, Courtney Berger, Tina Campt, ChristineDiStefano, Greg Grandin, Judith Grant, Michael Hardt, Stefano Harney, Rebecca I would like to Karl, Ranji Khanna, Corey Robin, Rudy, Karen Kathy Stuhldreher, and Robyn Wiegman. Thanks also go to Robert Adelman, Brittany Faullmer, Dennis Keenan, Marcie Patton, the Seattle FOJ, Julie Walwick, Cat Warren and David Auerbach, Diana Weeks, Lee Weeks, and Regan Weeks. An earlier version of a portion ofchapter 2 was published as "The Refusal of Work as Demand and Perspective' in Resistance in Practice: The Philosophy of...
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...CONSORTIUM Understanding Poverty From Multiple Social Science Perspectives A Learning Resource for Staff Development In Social Service Agencies Michael J. Austin, PhD, Editor BASSC Staff Director Mack Professor of Nonprofit Management School of Social Welfare University of California, Berkeley 510-642-7066 mjaustin@berkeley.edu August 2006 1 Table of Contents Introduction – Michael J. Austin, Guest Editor Part I Multiple Social Science Perspectives of Poverty Theories of Poverty: Findings from Textbooks on Human Behavior and the Social Environment Amanda J. Lehning, Catherine M. Vu, & Indira Pintak Economic Theories of Poverty Sun Young Jung & Richard Smith Sociological Theories of Poverty in Urban America Jennifer Price Wolf Psychological Theories of Poverty Kelly Turner & Amanda Lehning An Anthropological View of Poverty Kristine Frerer & Catherine Vu Political Science Perspectives on Poverty Amanda Lehning Theories of Global Poverty in the Developed and Developing World Jennifer Morazes & Indira Pintak Part II Theory Integration and Practitioner Perspectives Social Capital and Neighborhood Poverty: Toward an Ecologically-Grounded Model of Neighborhood Effects Kathy Lemon Osterling Social Work Students’ Perceptions of Poverty Sherrill Clark The Explosive Nature of the Culture of Poverty: A Teaching Case Based on An Agency-based Training Program Catherine Vu & Michael J. Austin 2 Understanding Poverty From...
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...GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND DIPLOMACY STUDENT GUIDELINE NOTES GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY MODULE Paste the notes here… Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government. Political economy originated in moral philosophy (e.g. Adam Smith was Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow), it developed in the 18th century as the study of the economies of states — polities, hence political economy. In late nineteenth century, the term "political economy" was generally replaced by the term economics, used by those seeking to place the study of economy upon mathematical and axiomatic bases, rather than the structural relationships of production and consumption (cf. marginalism, Alfred Marshall). History of the term Originally, political economy meant the study of the conditions under which production was organized in the nation-states. The phrase économie politique (translated in English as political economy) first appeared in France in 1615 with the well known book by Antoyne de Montchrétien: Traicté de l’oeconomie politique. French physiocrats, Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Marx were some of the exponents of political economy. In 1805, Thomas Malthus became England's first professor of political economy, at the East India Company College, Haileybury, Hertfordshire. The world's first professorship in political economy was established...
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...Challenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work that today qualify as constituting the subject of organisational theory. Whilst their writing is accessible and engaging, their approach is scholarly and serious. It is so easy for students (and indeed others who should know better) to trivialize this very problematic and challenging subject. This is not the case with the present book. This is a book that deserves to achieve a wide readership. Professor Stephen Ackroyd, Lancaster University, UK This new textbook usefully situates organization theory within the scholarly debates on modernism and postmodernism, and provides an advanced introduction to the heterogeneous study of organizations, including chapters on phenomenology, critical theory and psychoanalysis. Like all good textbooks, the book is accessible, well researched and readers are encouraged to view chapters as a starting point for getting to grips with the field of organization theory. Dr Martin Brigham, Lancaster University, UK McAuley et al. provide a highly readable account of ideas, perspectives and practices...
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...about the seventeenth century onwards and which subsequently became more or less worldwide in their influence. This associates modernity with a time period and with an initial geographical location, but for the moment leaves its major characteristics safely stowed away in a black box. Today, in the late twentieth century, it is argued by many, we stand at the opening of a new era, to which the social sciences must respond and which is taking us beyond modernity itself. A dazzling variety of terms has been suggested to refer to this transition, a few of which refer positively to the emergence of a new type of social system (such as the "information society" or the "consumer society") but most of which suggest rather that a -- 2 -- preceding state of affairs is drawing to a close ("post-modernity," "post-modernism," "post-industrial society," "post-capitalism," and so forth). Some of the debates about these matters concentrate mainly upon institutional transformations, particularly those which propose that we are moving from a system based upon the manufacture of material goods to one concerned more centrally with information. More commonly, however, these controversies are focused largely upon issues of philosophy and epistemology. This is the characteristic outlook, for example, of the author who has been primarily responsible for popularising the notion of post-modernity, Jean-François Lyotard. 1 As he represents it, post-modernity refers to a shift away from attempts to...
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...Citations: http://mtq.sagepub.com/content/8/4/339.refs.html Downloaded from mtq.sagepub.com at Glasgow University Library on July 5, 2011 Volume 8(4): 339–366 Copyright © 2008 SAGE www.sagepublications.com DOI: 10.1177/1470593108096540 articles Marketing the hegemony of development: of pulp fictions and green deserts1 Steffen Böhm University of Essex, UK Vinícius Brei Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Brazil Abstract. In this paper we analyze the role of marketing in the construction of what can be called the hegemony of development. Through an investigation of the marketing practices of the pulp and paper industry in South America and the resistances that are articulated by a range of civil society actors against the expansion of this industry, we problematize marketing as a political and contested discourse and practice. By using Laclau and Mouffe’s (1985, 2001) theoretical framework, which is centered on the concept of ‘hegemony’, we highlight the crucial role marketing plays in the social and cultural legitimation of the highly controversial development of the pulp and paper industry – regarded as one of the most polluting industries in the world – in South America. We build on...
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