Jane Johnson
SOC 300
August 28, 2010
Sociology 300 Outcomes Assessment Essay
Case study A relates to a few of the concepts from Sociology 300, but I believe it relates mostly to Women and Development which we discussed in chapter five. The case study discusses how much of an influence the women in this country have on agriculture. For example there is even the saying that talks about the corn belonging to the women since they are the feeders within the home. This statement alone shows how the women of this country hold a somewhat respected role, whereas in the past they are not even acknowledged. Though the men are still looked upon as the income provider and head of household, it is pretty much tradition that they each hold a very important role in. In the women and development chapter we discussed the political and socioeconomic status of third world women. We learned that the status of women across the third world is very diverse. In some countries women are not recognized at all and they have to partake in extreme injustices such as female circumcision, wife beatings, and “honor killings”, where women can be murdered when they are suspected of having extramarital relations. Fortunately, this case study shows that in some of the less developed countries though gender differences do exist, there can be some respect given to women. A second concept explored in this case study is the barriers faced by the poor when they try to make a better life for themselves from chapter six. Chapter six was called Agrarian Reform and the Politics of Rural Change. The case study shows how the people in this country try to use corn to be successful in agriculture. Though policy makers were trying to dissuade the country people from farming at all they were not successful in doing so. Instead the women of the country found that they could just cultivate smaller lots of land for the corn which has led the women to have more food for their households and more corn to sell in the markets. There is also fuel provided for heating the home from the cobs that are left when the corn has been removed. This case study shows how people of the less developed countries do what it takes to provide for their families and make a better life for them as well. The country in the case study has experienced unfair pricing of land and food this is why they are forced to cultivate smaller land plots and sell their own corn. In comparison to the case study other countries have also experienced unfair crop pricing; two of these countries are
Africa, and the Middle East. Also in comparison to the country in the case study, there are many countries who are living in poverty, some of these countries are Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela also Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Nepal. A contrasting point between the case study, country A given, and other less developed countries is with development of feminization as I stated earlier where the women are somewhat respected in the country given in the case study versus those other countries who have extreme measures of gender inequality.