Sociology SIXTEENTH EDITION Chapter 4 Society

Learning Objectives (1 of 2) 4.1 Describe how technological development has shaped the history of human societies. 4.2 Analyze the importance of class conflict to the historical development of human societies. 4.3 Demonstrate the importance of ideas to the development of human societies.

Learning Objectives (2 of 2) 4.4 Contrast the social bonds typical of traditional and modern societies. 4.5 Summarize the contributions of Lenski, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim to our understanding of social change.

The Power of Society Does everyone have the same opportunity to use new computer technology such as the Internet?

Classic Visions of Society Karl Marx Society is defined by type of social conflict. Max Weber Society is defined by ideas/modes of thinking. Emile Durkheim Society is defined by type of solidarity.

Gerhard Lenski: What Is…? Sociocultural evolution Changes occur as a society gains new technology

Gerhard Lenski: Society and Technology (1 of 2) Societies have varying patterns of technological complexity. Societies simple in technology tend to resemble one another. More technologically complex societies reveal striking cultural diversity. Technology shapes other cultural patterns. Simple technology can only support small numbers of people who live simple lives. High-tech societies are capable of sustaining large numbers of people who are engaged in a diverse division of labor. Technology influences the pace of societal change. The greater technology a society has, the faster cultural change will take place.

Gerhard Lenski: Society and Technology (1 of 2) Does advancing technology make society better? In some ways, perhaps. However, many films and TV shows—as far back as Frankenstein (left) in 1931 and as recently as the 2013 film Iron Man 3 (right)—have expressed the concern that new technology not only solves old problems but also creates new ones. All the sociological theorists discussed in this chapter shared this ambivalent view of the modern world.

Limits of Technology More complex technology has made life better but it is no quick fix for social problems. Technology creates new problems. More personal freedom; less sense of community Nuclear weaponry and threat of nuclear war Threats to the physical environment

Lenski's Five Types Of Societies Hunting and gathering The use of simple tools to hunt and gather Horticultural and pastoral Horticulture–Use of hand tools to raise crops Pastoralism–The domestication of animals Postindustrialism Information made using computer technology Agriculture Large-scale cultivation using plows harnessed to animals or more powerful energy sources Industrialism The production of goods using advanced sources of energy to drive large machinery

Summing Up (1 of 2) Sociocultural Evolution Type of Society Historical Period Productive Technology Population Size Settlement Pattern Social Organization Examples Hunting and Gathering Societies Only type of society until about 12,000 years ago; still common several centuries ago; the few examples remaining today are threatened with extinction Primitive weapons 25–40 people Nomadic Family-centered; specialization limited to age and sex; little social inequality Pygmies of Central Africa, Bushmen of southwestern Africa, Aborigines of Australia, Semai of Malaysia, Kaska Indians of Canada Horticultural and Pastoral From about 12,000 years ago, with decreasing numbers after about 3000 b.c.e. Horticultural societies use hand tools for cultivating plants; pastoral societies are based on the domestication of animals. Settlements of several hundred people, connected through trading ties to form societies of several thousand people Horticulturalists form small permanent settlements; pastoralists are nomadic. religious system begins to develop; moderate specialization; increased Middle Eastern societies about 5000 b.c.e., various societies today in New Guinea and other Pacific islands, Yąnomamö today in South America Agrarian 5,000 years ago, with large but decreasing numbers today Animal-drawn plow Millions of people Cities become common, but they generally contain only a small proportion of the population. Family loses significance as distinct religious, political, and economic systems emerge; extensive specialization; increased social inequality Egypt during construction of the Great Pyramids, medieval Europe, numerous predominantly agrarian societies of the world today

Summing Up (2 of 2) Sociocultural Evolution Type of Society Historical Period Productive Technology Population Size Settlement Pattern Social Organization Examples Industrial Societies From about 1750 to the present Advanced sources of energy; mechanized production Millions of people Cities contain most of the population. Distinct religious, political, economic, educational, and family systems; highly specialized; marked social inequality persists, lessening somewhat over time Most societies today in Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan, which generate most of the world’s industrial Postindustrial Emerging in recent decades Computers that support an information-based economy Population remains concentrated in cities but begins to decentralize. Similar to industrial societies, with information processing and other service work gradually replacing industrial Industrial societies are now entering the postindustrial stage.

Gerhard Lenski: What Is…? Social conflict Struggle between segments of society over valued resources

Karl Marx: Society and Conflict Societal segments Capitalists: People who own and operate factories and other businesses; pursuit of profits Proletariat: People who sell their productive labor for wages

Karl Marx: Society and Production (1 of 2) Social institutions Seen as spheres of social life or societal subsystems organized to meet needs Infrastructure: Society's economic system Superstructure: Other social institutions-family, religion, political Economic production involves both technology (industry, in the case of capitalism) and social relationships (forcapitalism, the relationship between the capitalists, who own the factories and businesses, and the workers). On this infrastructure, or foundation, rests society's superstructure, including its major social institutions as well as core cultural values and ideas. Marx maintained that every part of a society supports the economic system.

Karl Marx: Society and Production (2 of 2) Karl Marx's Model of Society This diagram illustrates Marx's materialist view that the system of economic production shapes the entire society. Economic production involves both technology (industry, in the case of capitalism) and social relationships (forcapitalism, the relationship between the capitalists, who own the factories and businesses, and the workers). On this infrastructure, or foundation, rests society's superstructure, including its major social institutions as well as core cultural values and ideas. Marx maintained that every part of a society supports the economic system.

Karl Marx: Conflict and History History of all existing society is the history of class conflict. Conflict between entire classes over the distribution of a society's wealth and power Evolutionary and revolutionary change

Karl Marx: Capitalism and Class Conflict Involves conflict between entire classes over the distribution of a society's wealth and power Suggests that workers must replace false consciousness with class consciousness Rejects false consciousness Explains social problems as short-comings of individuals, not flaws of society Class consciousness Group's recognition of themselves as a class unified in opposition to capitalists & capitalism itself False consciousness Explanation of social problems as short-comings of individuals, not flaws of society

Marx: Capitalism and Alienation Experience of isolation and misery resulting from powerlessness Marx posits that capitalists view workers as nothing more than a source of labor. As people develop technology to gain power, capitalist economy gains control over people. This creates worker alienation.

Capitalism and Alienation (1 of 2) Capitalism alienates workers in four specific ways. From the act of working Workers have no say in production; work is tedious and repetitive. From the products of work Workers have no ownership in the product that is sold for profit. From other workers Work is competitive rather than cooperative. From human potential Workers deny, not fulfill themselves in their work.

Capitalism and Alienation (2 of 2) Marx: Revolution The only way out of capitalism is to remake society. Socialism is a system of production that could provide for the social needs of all.

Marx: Revolution Marx believed The working majority would realize they held the key to a better future. The change would be revolutionary and perhaps even violent. A socialist society would end class conflict.

Max Weber: Rationalization of Society Idealism Ideal type Historical change from tradition to rationality as the main type of human thought. Why are some societies more eager than others to adopt new technology? Societal rationalization based on willingness to adopt latest technology

Max Weber: Tradition and Rationality Weber focused on way people think about world Modern societies = rationality as main type of human thought Technology = strong indicator of degree of rationalization To the outside observer, the trading floor of a stock exchange may look like craziness. But in such activity Weber saw the essence of modern rationality. Societal rationalization based on willingness to adopt latest technology

Max Weber: Great World Thesis Protestantism and Capitalism Key to the birth of industrial capitalism lay in Protestant Reformation. Industrial capitalism is the major outcome of Calvinism. Calvinist predestination Worldly prosperity is a sign of God's grace. Poverty is a sign of God's rejection.

Global Map 4–1 High Technology in Global Perspective Countries with traditional cultures cannot afford, choose to ignore, or even intentionally resist new technology that nations with highly rationalized ways of life quickly embrace. Personal computers, central to today's high technology, are commonplace in high-income countries such as the United States. In low-income nations, by contrast, they are unknown to most people. Source: United Nations (2010) and International Telecommunication Union (2012).

Weber's Rational Social Organization Seven characteristics of organization Distinctive social institutions Large-scale organization Specialized tasks Personal discipline Awareness of time Technical competence Impersonality

Emile Durkheim: What Is…? Society More than individuals Society has a life of its own, beyond our personal experiences. Social facts Any patterns rooted in society rather than the experience of individuals

Weber: Rationality, Bureaucracy, and Science Growth of large, rational organizations is one of the defining traits of modern societies. Capitalism, bureaucracy, and science are expressions of rationality. Alienation caused by countless bureaucratic rules and regulations. Max Weber agreed with Karl Marx that modern society is alienating to the individual, but they identified different causes of this problem. For Marx, economic inequality is the reason; for Weber, the problem is isolating and dehumanizing bureaucracy. George Tooker's painting Landscape with Figures echoes Weber's sentiments. George Tooker, Landscape with Figures, 1963, egg tempera on gesso panel, 26 × 30 in. Private collection. Reproduction courtesy D. C. Moore Gallery, New York.

Emile Durkheim: Society and Function Society exists beyond ourselves Objective reality” Beyond our own subjective perceptions of the world Examples Norms, values, religious beliefs, and rituals

Emile Durkheim: Society as System (1 of 2) Society has power to guide our thoughts and actions. Social facts help the operation of society as a whole. Society fulfills the need for societal regulation. Modern day society increases anomie.

Emile Durkheim: Society as System (2 of 2) The history of rock-and-roll contains many tragic stories of this kind, including (from left) Janis Joplin's and Jimi Hendrix's deaths by drug overdose (both 1970), Kurt Cobain's suicide (1994), the drugs-induced death of Michael Jackson (2009), and the death of Amy Winehouse by alcohol poisoning (2011). Durkheim's observation that people with weak social bonds are prone to self- destructive behavior stands as stark evidence of the power of society to shape individual lives. When rock-and-roll singers become famous, they are wrenched out of familiar life patterns and existing relationships, sometimes with deadly results.

Emile Durkheim: Division of Labor (1 of 2) Mechanical solidarity Social bonds based on common sentiment and shared moral values that are common among members of preindustrial societies Organic solidarity Social bonds based on specialization and interdependence that are strong within industrial societies The key to change in a society is an expanding division of labor, or specialized economic activity.

Emile Durkheim: Division of Labor (2 of 2) In traditional societies, people dress the same and everyone does much the same work. These societies are held together by strong moral beliefs. Modern societies, illustrated by urban areas in this country, are held together by a system of production in which people perform specialized work and rely on one another for all the things they cannot do for themselves.

Four Visions of Society: What Holds Societies Together? Gerhard Lenski: A shared culture Karl Marx: Elites force an 'uneasy peace’ Max Weber: Rational thought, large-scale organizations Emile Durkheim: Specialized division of labor How do we understand something as complex as human society? Each of the thinkers profiled in this chapter offers insights about the meaning and importance of modern society. Each has a somewhat different view and provides a partial answer to a very complex issue.

Four Visions of Society: How Have Societies Changed? Gerhard Lenski: Changing technology Karl Marx: Social conflict Max Weber: From traditional to rational thought Emile Durkheim: From mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity

Are Societies Improving? (1 of 2) Gerhard Lenski: Modern technology offers expanded human choice, but leaves us with new sets of dangers. Karl Marx: Social conflict would only end once production of goods and services were taken out of the hands of the capitalists and placed into the hands of all people.

Are Societies Improving? (2 of 2) Max Weber: Saw socialism as a greater evil than capitalism, as large, alienating Bureaucracies gain more control over people Emile Durkheim: Was optimistic about modernity and possibility of more freedom for individuals, but concerned about the dangers of anomic feelings.