The Dimensions of Social Organization Spring 2012 Instructor: Deniz Yükseker Koç University
Human beings are a “social species Human beings are a “social species.” We live with and depend on other human beings. We live in society. Society: a group of individuals whose interactions with each other are patterned in regular ways.
Social organization Status: a social position a person fills An individual may occupy various statuses. Role: rights and obligations associated with a status
Ascribed status: a status into which one is born Achieved status: a status one takes after fulfilling certain criteria
Dimensions of social organization Contrast between Large nation-states with a complex division of labor, and small-scale societies with little social stratification and which are organized based on kinship
Social organization (cont’d) Mechanical solidarity small-scale, kinship based societies Organic solidarity large nation-states States Bureaucracies
Social organization (cont’d) Classification of societies based on form of political organization: band, tribe, chiefdom, state form of economic organization foragers, herders, extensive agriculturalists, intensive agriculturalists
Social organization (cont’d) Egalitarian societies often kinship-based Stratified societies more complex political organizations
Castes Caste society: a stratified society in which membership is ascribed at birth, and social mobility is not allowed Castes: endogamous groups identified with a traditional occupation Each caste is ranked on a scale of purity and pollution
Social class A class society is stratified according to its members’ economic means (in terms of income or the kind of property one owns) Bourgeoisie Proletariat
What’s the difference between social classes and castes What’s the difference between social classes and castes? Can one change his/her class? caste?
Social relations cutting across social hierarchies Patron-client relations: institutionalized cross-hierarchy ties that connect differently ranked groups Patron: member of a higher ranking group Client: member of a lower ranking group Fictive kinship
Race Is race biological or culturally constructed? Racial categories are culturally constructed on the basis of superficial appearances (physical characteristics) Different societies may categorize racially defined groups differently Examples: US, Brazil, South Africa, Cuba, etc.
“Mixed blood” (Jeffrey Fish) Two different questions: How can we understand the variation in physical appearance among human beings? How can we understand the kinds of racial classifications applied to differences in physical appearance among human beings?
“Race” is a folk taxonomy, and has no scientific basis A folk taxonomy is a categorization based on arbitrarily chosen physical characteristics
Consider the folk taxonomy of race in the US and of “tipos” in Brazil What are the differences? “blood” and “hypo-descent” in the US, shades of color in Brazil
Case studies Racial categories in South Africa “Colours” a documentary film (Al Jazeera English) Racial politics and the carnival in Brazil
Ethnicity Ethnic groups: social groups defined based on cultural attributes such as language, religion, customs, shared history Are race and ethnicity really different? Boundaries between racial and ethnic groups are a product of both internal self-definition and external definition by others
Gender Sex: physical characteristics that distinguish males from females Gender: culturally constructed roles assigned to males and females Do all women have the same identity and experience?
Sex Is the sex of a person a given? Consider the recent debate about the sex of South African athlete Caster Semenya http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/sports/20runner.html?_r=1 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/article-23743057-sex-tests-show-athlete-caster-semenya-is-hermaphrodite.do
Sexual preference Is there a necessary connection between biological sex and sexual preference?
Case study: Moldovan migrant women in Turkey Why do Moldovan and Gagauz women migrate to Turkey? How do they describe their role as mothers? As migrants? mobile mothers How does Moldovan society perceive women’s migration, and their role as mothers?
Case study “Empty cradles” in Italy
All categories of social organization may interact and intersect with each other Gender Race Ethnicity Class Caste