...Social Inequality Unit 04 [pic] What are Marxist theories of inequality? Learning targets: • Marxism is concerned for the poor and powerless. • It claims that society is in conflict between the rich who control everything and the poor who must work for the rich and gain little in reward for their work. • The rich are able to maintain their position of power through control of the law, the police and other forms of authority. • The rich also control the manufacture of ideas about society through controlling the media and education so poor people are taught to believe that capitalism is a good thing. Key questions (AO1) What is the Marxist view of society? (AO1) What causes inequality according to Marxists? (AO2) What are the strengths of the Marxist view? (AO2) What are the weaknesses of the Marxist view of inequality? Summary of Key Points Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) was an economist, philosopher and journalist who was motivated by concern for workers who were experiencing terrible poverty while all around was great wealth and power. He was a revolutionary who believed in working for a classless society. Marxism was not a powerful force in sociology until the 1960s and 1970s when it formed the basis of a challenge to functionalism. It offered a better account of the divisions of society at that time than functional sociology did. Marxism also triggered many of the ideas that were...
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...Report No 55 Gender and Development: Concepts and Definitions Prepared for the Department for International Development (DFID) for its gender mainstreaming intranet resource by Hazel Reeves and Sally Baden February 2000 BRIDGE (development - gender) Institute of Development Studies University of Sussex Brighton BN1 9RE, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1273 606261 Fax: +44 (0) 1273 621202 Email: bridge@ids.ac.uk Website: http://www.ids.ac.uk/bridge/ © Institute of Development Studies ISBN 1 85864 381 3 Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 2. Quick Definitions ................................................................................................... 2 3. Detailed Explanations and Further Reading ....................................................... 4 Culture ..................................................................................................................... 4 Gender Analysis ...................................................................................................... 6 Gender Discrimination ............................................................................................. 7 Gender Division of Labour....................................................................................... 8 Gender Equality and Equity................................................................................... 10 Gender Mainstreaming ................
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...Politics Year: 2 Student name: Danai Makoni Course: Politics 2 Student number: g11m4632 Lecturer: R. Pithouse Course: The Right To The City Plagiarism declaration: I have consulted the department policy on plagiarism and attach a signed plagiarism form. This work is my own. Question 1: Critically evaluate David Harvey’s suggestion that we should adopt the right to the city as both a working slogan and political idea. The essay seeks to establish and explain David Harvey’s concept of using the right to the city as a working slogan and political idea. Harvey is known for (2008; 23) introducing the concept of the right to the city as a working slogan (Harvey, 2008:23). Harvey explains how social inequality and discontent can be dealt with by the adoption of the right to city as a working slogan and political idea. The author states that the “one step towards unifying these struggles is to adopt the right to the city as both working slogan and political idea (Harvey, 2008:23)”.The following discussion seeks to expand on this hypothesis and critically evaluate the above mentioned theory. When evaluating the above discussed claims one must examine the two respective sides. One must firstly examine why it is tangible, practical and beneficial to the status quo of the international system to use the right to city as a working slogan and political idea. The second stage of the essay will address why the idea of turning the right to the city into a working slogan...
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...to Good Ends: Draft Why Income Equality is Important Arthur MacEwan[1] March 2009 “The social system is not an unchangeable order beyond human control but a pattern of human action.”—John Rawls (1971, p. 102) In recent years “poverty reduction” has become the watchword in development agencies, in international lending institutions, and among development economists generally. The focus on poverty reduction reached a high point perhaps with the articulation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and with the extensive analytic work that has accompanied the MDGs.[2] Yet, much of the discussion of poverty reduction and economic development in low and middle income countries has either ignored the issue of income distribution or has tended to view income distribution only in terms of its impact on economic growth. Poverty and inequality, however, are intimately bound up with one another.[3] Both as an analytic issue and as a policy issue, there are severe limitations in attempting to deal with poverty – or, more broadly, with economic well-being – without also examining income inequality. Indeed, it is questionable that we can even define poverty independently of income distribution. In this essay, I want to develop the argument that economists and economic policy-makers should focus much greater attention on inequality as measured by the distribution of income (and wealth). The traditional focus simply on absolute levels of income...
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...Report No 55 Gender and Development: Concepts and Definitions Prepared for the Department for International Development (DFID) for its gender mainstreaming intranet resource by Hazel Reeves and Sally Baden February 2000 BRIDGE (development - gender) Institute of Development Studies University of Sussex Brighton BN1 9RE, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1273 606261 Fax: +44 (0) 1273 621202 Email: bridge@ids.ac.uk Website: http://www.ids.ac.uk/bridge/ © Institute of Development Studies ISBN 1 85864 381 3 Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 2. Quick Definitions ................................................................................................... 2 3. Detailed Explanations and Further Reading ....................................................... 4 Culture ..................................................................................................................... 4 Gender Analysis ...................................................................................................... 6 Gender Discrimination ............................................................................................. 7 Gender Division of Labour....................................................................................... 8 Gender Equality and Equity................................................................................... 10 Gender Mainstreaming ................
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...What is meant by the term Family? (2) Family is a group of people related by kinship ties such as blood, marriage/civil partnership or adoption. Explain how sociologists may understand childhood as a socially constructed concept (4) The social construction of childhood means that it is not natural as it is a concept with various meanings in different societies. An interactionist known as Aries (1962) suggested that childhood today is a new social invention as during industrialisation children were seen as ‘miniature adults’ as they performed the same work as their parents. Whereas since the 20th century an emergence of a child-centred society is now present. Parents view children as sentimental as they now occupy a central place in the emotional life of home. The state has also contributed to the child-centred society by introducing safe guarding policies as Wells (2009) notes the government of childhood is organised around saving children from internal and external threats. However, not all societies in the world have a concept of childhood which does show that childhood is socially constructed. Suggest three ways in which the form of the typical family has been affected by demographic factors (6) Due to changes in fertility rate the average age of woman giving birth over 30 years old has increased – The use of reliable birth control has enabled woman to have power over reproduction, as well as this the educational opportunities has increased for females which woman...
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...response to the failure of WID projects to effect qualitative and long-lasting changes in women’s social status. GAD focuses on social, economic, political and cultural forces that determine how men and women participate in, benefit from, and control project resources and activities differently. This approach shifts the focus from women as a group to the socially determined relations between women and men. The GAD approach promotes a development process that transforms gender relations in order to enable women to participate on an equal basis with men in determining their common future. The emphasis has shifted to the more strategic needs of women, leading to a sharpening of the gender focus of preparatory analysis. Although the approach emphasizes the importance of women’s collective organization for self empowerment, the target groups are still primarily women. Unlike the GAD initiatives, WID policies and interventions have, in the main, concentrated on women’s productive work. The failure to make an explicit link to women’s reproductive work has often added to women’s workload. Gradually, it was recognized that an approach that focused on women in isolation was inadequate and not sustainable because it did not take into account the overall project objectives or integrate women fully into their implementation. Moreover, it did not address or change unequal gender relations in various social and economic settings. According to (00000) Gender and Development initiatives are a theoretical...
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...influenced by a number of policies, globally; the right to education is spelt out in chapter 26 in the Universal Human Right Declaration. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also elaborates on the need for global education. In a nutshell, education can be used in any county to promote equality in accessing different opportunities. For instance, taking a look on imperialism days, the whites were using education as a tool to acquire more opportunities than the black. They believed that it was through education that the blacks would be in opposition to oppose them. This is because they would be enlightened and hence demand for equality (Douglas, 1845). Precisely, the purpose of this essay is to discuss how access to education is significant in enhancing equality of opportunity in the current Australia. The discussion begins by describing the role that education and training has in our society today. Furthermore, the discussion will outline different social groups and the way different factors influence the way they get access to education in different forms. This paper also explores the current education and training policies and the author’s comments are given. The ways the Australian community can support those who are disadvantaged is also discussed to see how these people can be exalted and have equal access to educational opportunities. In the society, education can be seen to have different roles. Despite the numerous roles of education in the society...
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...and early 20th centuries suffrage campaigners succeeded in securing some legal and political rights for women in the UK. By the middle of the 20th century, the emphasis had shifted from suffrage to social and economic equality in the public and private sphere and the women¡¦s movement that sprung up during the 1960s began to argue that women were oppressed by patriarchal structures. Equal status for women of all races, classes, sexualities and abilities - in the 21st century these feminist claims for equality are generally accepted as reasonable principles in western society; yet the contradiction between this principle of equality and the demonstrable inequalities between the sexes that still exist exposes the continuing dominance of male privilege and values throughout society (patriarchy). This essay seeks to move beyond the irrepressible evidence for gender inequality and the division of labour. Rather, it poses the question of gender inequality as it manifests itself as an effect of patriarchy drawing from a theoretical body of work which has been developed so recently that it would have been impossible to write this essay thirty years ago. Feminist Theory and Patriarchy Although ¡§¡K patriarchy is arguably the oldest example of a forced or exploitative division of social activities¡¨ and clearly existed before it was ever examined by sociologists, the features of patriarchy had been accepted as natural (biological) in substance. It was not until feminists in...
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...ambit of electoral policies, the transformation process was stalled with many challenges. In the gender equality intervention, especially following the Beijing declaration of 1995, the agenda has been pursued in some societies as if it is only women’s business. Initially, some gender equality activities were undertaken as if it was a battle between women and men. In certain instances some men thought that promotion of gender equality or women’s empowerment was an attempt to take their power from then and give to women such misconceptions have made gender equality measure for empowerment of women face some resistance from both males and some females who believe that governance of society and women must be under the control of men. A critical explanation of gender will, however, reveal that the gender strategy rather recognizes the relationship between males and females and for that matter the need to support each other to attain their maximum best in society, efforts have, therefore, been recently intensified at the international level to promote the involvement of males for attainment of gender equality. The question then is how do we harness the male support for the promotion of gender equality? It is within this context that this term paper is being written to explore the gender agenda, the situation of women in Ghana and how men and boys support could be fully utilized. Chapter two looks at the various gender terms, concept, strategies and policy approaches and the...
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... Many women may be happy assisting a male doctor but the growing number of female doctors illustrates the point that women want the power and control that their male counterparts currently maintain. Western female thought through the centuries has identified the relationship between patriarchy and gender as crucial to the women’s subordinate position. For two hundred years, patriarchy precluded women from having a legal or political identity and the legislation and attitudes supporting this provided the model for slavery. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries suffrage campaigners succeeded in securing some legal and political rights for women in the UK. By the middle of the 20th century, the emphasis had shifted from suffrage to social and economic equality in the public and private sphere and the women’s movement that sprung up during the 1960s began to argue that women were oppressed by patriarchal structures. Equal status for women of all races,...
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...Essay: Evaluate the role of education in society. Consider issue of gender in your response. Also, consider how such factors may impact on a person’s life chances. This essay will examine the role of education in society and an analysis of inequality in relation to Gender. It will discuss briefly education and examine the different theoretical approaches to education followed by an analysis of inequality using information on statistics of inequality in British education in relation to gender and attainment. This essay will Identify and evaluate key policy developments in education provision designed to bridge the gap of gender inequality in British education. The role of education in society has been among the major issues in contemporary sociological and political debate. According to Iannelli and Paterson (2005) education is a major factor that helps determine the jobs and social class positions of individuals in society. As an institution of sociology, education plays a dominant role in transmitting prevalent ideologies of society by providing pupils with the curriculum and hidden curriculum as well as the skills that will prepare them physically, mentally and socially for their life chances (Clark 2005). Educational institutions play a very important role in reducing social inequalities. Over the last century British schools experienced very important changes and moved from a selective system to a comprehensive one in the 1960s and 70s. Much research has shown that the...
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...INTRODUCTION Defining Key Concepts Gender is not about women as most people think. Gender is about both men and women. Gender is a set of characteristics distinguishing between male and female, and is a result socio – cultural construction, it describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine. Thus the term gender has social, cultural and attitudinal connotations. Gender is a set of characteristics distinguishing between male and female, and is a result socio – cultural construction, it describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine. Thus the term gender has social, cultural and attitudinal connotations. Sex on the other hand refers to the biological differences in chromosomes, hormonal profiles as well as internal and external sexual organs or genitalia.The term sex since classical times has been used to designate matters related to biological and anatomical makeup of a person. Thus while ones’ sex as male or female is a biological and universal fact that is however not the same with gender since sex is tends to be similar across all cultures while gender varies one society to another. Sex relates to the biological characteristics that categorise someone as either female or male; whereas gender refers to the socially determined ideas and practices of what it is to be female or male. Patriarchy - Systemic societal structures that institutionalise male physical, social and economic power over...
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...Theories Of Justice INTRODUCTION In a civilized social system, law plays not only the role of guarantor of justice equality and liberty, but also as a tool for attaining the ends of justice. In this respect the modern democratic state has to adopt objective standards to protect the human rights of its citizens. Equality is one among those cardinal human rights by which the State is mandated to treat the equals equally and unequal unequally when it distributes its own benefits to the people. But who are equals and who are unequal is a thorny issue, for the limited resources are much valuable and required by the various group of people and they have to be distributed justly and fairly. In the Indian constitutional scheme, it had been envisaged by the framers that there should be equality of opportunity is for all citizens in public employments and such equality of opportunity a fundamental right of the citizens’.At the same time, the need for some beneficial treatment to the weaker sections of the society was also enshrined with that right. What is the basis of distribution of societal resources to certain sections? The thrust of this Chapter goes with the following enquiry. Is there any jurisprudential foundation for protective discrimination? If so what is it? This aspect is assessed from the angle of different theories of justice viz., social justice, distributive justice, equality and equal opportunity and social engineering theory. The responses of Indian courts in...
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...work with communities in a “grassroots” type movement to bring attention to the gravity of the inequities built into our current healthcare system. Healthcare is first and foremost about people, and care should be directed by the needs of the people it serves. Secondly, caring is foundational to nursing and this is a concept must be deeply woven throughout all points of health care. The third aspect is the vast pit of inequalities in healthcare; the injustices, denial of treatment and quality healthcare to minorities and the disadvantaged poor. Nurses are known patients advocates, therefore nurses are well equipped, to become leaders, in constructing equitable changes in the system and improve the model of care. Nurses are well- appointed in their understanding, negotiating skills, knowledge of healthcare and patient centered care, to provide guidance and direction to implement meaningful changes. Research in health disparities has identified, that the U.S is burdened by huge social and economic inequalities; it identifies, discrimination, social status, income inequality, and policy decisions as the principal causes of health disparities. The nursing profession needs to reconsider its role and its purpose in reducing health disparities, they need to be proactive in establishing, nurse-managed primary care clinics in under -served areas to increase healthcare access and promote preventative care. Numerous societal barriers as well as constraints within the nursing profession...
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