1. Dr. Manuel Vallée University of Auckland Semester 2 - 2016
SOC 102 – BECOMING MODERN: The Social Origins & Consequences of Modernity
Dr. Manuel Vallée
University of Auckland
Semester

2. OUTLINE FOR LECTURE 2A
• Announcements • Recap • The Ruling Orders - Power - Who were the nobility? - What privileges did they have? - Becoming Noble - Larger Sociological Lessons

3. Announcements 1) Tutorials start this week
2) Quiz #1 Answers are available
3) Blank Quiz #1
4) Instructions for assignment #1 this afternoon (due in two weeks)
5) Targeted Learning Session next Wednesday

4. RECAP

5. RECAP
What is sociology?

6. RECAP What is sociology?
The four course goals a) What is modernity? b) Problematizing the association between modernity & “progress” c) Unearthing the social origins of modernity d) Analyzing the social consequences of modernity

7. RECAP What is sociology?
The four course goals a) What is modernity? b) Problematizing the association between modernity & “progress” c) Unearthing the social origins of modernity d) Analyzing the social consequences of modernity

8. What is Modernity? Reason over superstition
Individualism (as opposed to collectivism)
Democracy
Industrialization
Rapid Technological change
Urbanization
Development of culture & institutions for unprecedented group incorporation
The rise of the surveillance state
Nationalism
Genocides
Rapid social change
Environmental destruction
Janus-faced… a double-edged sword

9. RECAP What is sociology?
The four course goals a) What is modernity? b) Problematizing the association between modernity & “progress” c) Unearthing the social origins of modernity d) Analyzing the social consequences of modernity

10. RECAP What is sociology?
The four course goals a) What is modernity? b) Problematizing the association between modernity & “progress” c) Unearthing the social origins of modernity d) Analyzing the social consequences of modernity

11. RECAP What is sociology?
The four course goals a) What is modernity? b) Problematizing the association between modernity & “progress” c) Unearthing the social origins of modernity d) Analyzing the social consequences of modernity
3) This week: Examining Pre-Modernity

12. THE RULING ORDERS

13. POWER Who has it? Who does not? What does power consist of?
Why do some have it and others don’t?
How do some people with power use it?
What strategies do they use to strengthen their hold on power?
Who has power in contemporary times?
Are there any differences with pre-modern times?

14. Who Were the Nobility?
What characterized them?

15. Who Were the Nobility? What characterized them?
If you were a Martian sociologist, what characteristics would you key on to distinguish the nobility from the rest of the population?

16. Who Were the Nobility? What characterized them?
If you were a Martian sociologist, what characteristics would you key on to distinguish the nobility from the rest of the population?
What activities did they partake in? Why?

17. Who Were the Nobility? What characterized them?
If you were a Martian sociologist, what characteristics would you key on to distinguish the nobility from the rest of the population?
What activities did they partake in? Why?
What were the similarities and differences between contemporary and pre-modern times?

18. Who were the Nobility?

19. Who were the Nobility?

20. Who were the Nobility?

21. Having Coat of Arms

22. Having Titles

23. Living in Ostentatious Homes

24. Living in Ostentatious Homes

25. What activities did the nobility pursue?

26. Keeping up with newest fashions

27. Acquiring Titles

28. Throwing Lavish Banquets

29. Throwing Lavish Banquets

30. Organizing Luxurious Balls

31. Why Pursue these activities?

32. How does that compare to today?

33. Why would someone want to be noble? What were the privileges?

34. Privileges of the Elite
% of the population
Monopoly on right to bear arms in public
Exempted from Manual Labour
Exemption from corporal punishment
Tax privileges
Unequal share of financial wealth
Monopoly on land ownership
Near monopoly on military leadership
Near monopoly on political power
Near monopoly on gov. positions
Pre-Modern times

35. How do the privileges of the Pre-Modern nobility compare with the elite of today?

36. Elite Privileges Pre-Modern times Today % of the pop.
% of the pop.
Monopoly on right to bear arms in public
Exempted from Manual Labour
Exemption from corporal punishment
Tax privileges
Unequal share of financial wealth
Monopoly on land ownership
Near monopoly on military leadership
Near monopoly on political power
Near monopoly on gov. positions
Level of Social Mobility
Pre-Modern times
Today

37. Comparing Elite Privileges
% of the pop.
Monopoly on right to bear arms in public
Exempted from Manual Labour
Exemption from corporal punishment
Tax privileges
Unequal share of financial wealth
Monopoly on land ownership
Near monopoly on military leadership
Near monopoly on political power
Near monopoly on gov. positions
Level of Social Mobility
Pre-Modern times
Today
What accounts for the differences?

38. Comparing Elite Privileges
% of the pop.
Monopoly on right to bear arms in public
Exempted from Manual Labour
Exemption from corporal punishment
Tax privileges
Unequal share of financial wealth
Monopoly on land ownership
Near monopoly on military leadership
Near monopoly on political power
Near monopoly on gov. positions
Level of Social Mobility
Pre-Modern times
Today
What accounts for the differences?
How are we trending for the future?

39. What % of Population did the Nobility Represent?

40. How do elites justify the unequal distribution of resources?

41. Lacking a Sociological Imagination
“Men (and women!) do not usually define the troubles they endure (and successes they enjoy) in terms of historical change… The wellbeing they enjoy, they do not usually impute to the big ups and downs of the society in which they live. Seldom aware of the intricate connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history, ordinary men do not usually know what this connection means for the kind of men they are becoming and for the kind of history-making in which they might take part. They do not possess the qualify of mind essential to grasp the interplay of men and society, of biography and history, of self and world…” (C. Wright Mills, 1959, p. 3-4)

42. How could one become noble?

43. How could one become noble? How does that compare with today?