SOCIETY

WHAT IS SOCIETY?

Refers to the people who interact

in a defined territory and share a
culture

SOCIETY
What forces hold a society
together?
What makes societies different
How and why do societies
change over time?

Gerhard Lenski defined by level of

technology
Karl Marx defined by type of social
conflict
Max Weber defined by ideas/mode of
thinking
Emile Durkheim type of solidarity

Socio cultural evolution the changes that

occur as a
society gains new
technology
Hunting and gathering making use of
simple tools to
hunt animals and
gather vegetation for food
Horticulture the use of hand tools to raise
crops
Pastoralism the domestication of animals

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
Postindustrialism the production of
information
using information
technology

Hunting and Gathering

Men use simple tools to hunt animals and
women gather vegetation
have only a few dozen members and are
nomadic
Are built around the family
Consider men and women roughly equal in
social importance

HORTICULTURE AND GATHERING SOCIETIES

Develop in some 12 000 years ago as

people began to use hand tools to raise
crops and as they shifted to raising
animals for food instead of hunting
them
are able to produce more food, so
populations expand to hundreds
Show greater specialization of work

AGRARIAN SOCIETIES
Developed 5 000 years ago as the use of
plows harnessed to animals or more powerful
energy sources enabled large-scale cultivation
May expand into vast empires
Show even greater specialization, with
dozens of distinct occupations
Have extreme social inequality
Reduce the importance of women

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES
Which developed first in Europe 250 years
ago, use of advanced sources of energy to
drive large machinery
Moves work from home to factory
Reduces the traditional importance of the
family
Raises living standards

POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES
Represent the most recent stage of technological
development , namely, technology that supports an
information based economy
Shifts production from heavy machinery making
material things to computers processing
information
Requires population with information based-skills
Is the driving force behind the information
revolution, a worldwide flow of information that
now links societies with an emerging global

KARL MARX
His materialist approach claims that societies
are defined by their economic systems:
How humans produce material goods shapes
their experiences

CONFLICT AND HISTORY

Class conflict is the conflict between entire classes
over the distribution of societys wealth and power.
Marx traced conflict between social classes in
societies as the source of social change throughout
history:
In ancient societies , master dominated slaves
In agrarian societies, nobles dominated serfs
In industrial capitalist societies, capitalists dominate
proletarians

Capitalism
Marx focused on the role of capitalism in creating
inequality and class conflict in modern societies
Capitalism alienates workers from the act of working,
from the products of work, from other workers, and
from their own potentials
Under capitalism, the ruing class oppresses the
working class
Marx predicted that a workers revolution would
eventually overthrow capitalism and replace it with
socialism, a system of production that would provide

Social conflict the struggle between

segments of society
over valued
resources
Capitalists people who own and operate
factories and
other businesses in pursuit
of profits
Proletarians people who sell their labor for
wages
Social institution the major sphere of social

False consciousness Marxs term for

explanations of social
problems as the short
comings of individuals rather
than as the
flaws of the society
Class conflict conflict between entire classes
over the distribution
of a societys wealth and
power
Class consciousness Marxs term for workers
recognition of
themselves as a class unified
in opposition to capitalists
and ultimately to
capitalism itself

RATIONALIZATION OF SOCIETY
Max Weber traced the idealist approach
emphasise the power of ideas to shape
society .

Ideas and History

Weber traced the ideas especially beliefs
and values - that have shaped societies
throughout history
Members of the pre industrial societies are
bound by tradition, the beliefs and values
passed from one generation to generations
Members of industrial capitalist societies are
guided by rationality, a way of thinking that
emphasises deliberate, matter of fact

The Rise of Rationality

Weber focused on the growth of large, rational

organizations as the defining characteristic of
modern societies
Increasing rationality gave rise to both the industrial
revolution and capitalism
Protestants encouraged the rational pursuits of wealth,
laying the ground work for the rise of industrial
capitalism
Weber feared that excessive rationality, while promoting
efficiency , would stifle human creativity,

Tradition values and beliefs passed from

one generation
to generation
Rationality a way of thinking that
emphasises deliberate
matter-of-fact
calculation of the most efficient
way
to accomplish a particular task
Rationality of society the historical
change from
tradition to rationality
as the main type of
human though

SOCIETY AND FUNCTION

Emile Durkheim claimed that society has an
objective existence apart from its individual
members

Structure and Functions

Durkheim believed that because society is

bigger than any one of us, it dictates how
are expected to act in any given social
situation
He pointed out that social elements (such as
crime) have functions that help society operate
Society has shapes our personalities and
provides the moral discipline that guides our
behaviour control our desires

Evolving Societies
Durkheim traced the evolution of social change by
describing the different ways societies throughout
history have guided the lives of their members
In preindustrial societies, mechanical solidarity, or social
bonds based on common sentiments and shared moral
values, guides the social lives of individuals
Industrialization and division of labor weaken traditional
bonds , so that social life in modern societies is
characterized by social solidarity , social bonds based on
specialization and interdependence
Durkheim warned of increased of anomie in motion
societies, as society provides little moral guidance to
individuals

Division of labor specialized economic activity

Organic solidarity based on specialization and
interdependence, that are strong
among members of
industrial societies
Mechanical solidarity based on common
sentiments and
shared moral values, that
are strong among members
of pre industrial
societies
Anomie condition in which society provides
little moral
guidance to individuals

What holds societies together?

Lenski

Marx

United by a shared
True social unity
culture, although
can occur only if
cultural patterns
production become
become more
a cooperative
diverse as a society
process
gains more complex
technology

What holds societies together?

Weber

The members of a
society share a
worldview

Durkheim

Solidarity as a
focus of his work

How have societies changed?

Weber
Change from the
perspective of how
people look at the
world

Durkheim
Traditional societies are
characterized based on
moral likeness
Mechanical solidarity
gives way to organic
solidarity based on
productive specialization

How have societies changed?

Lenki

Marx

Modern society stands

out from the past
societies in terms of its
enormous productive
power

historical differences in
productivity yet
pointed to continuing
social conflict

Why do societies changed?

Marx
Lenski
Social change
comes about
through
technological
innovation that
over time
transforms an
entire society

Materialist approach
highlights the
struggle between
classes as the
engine of change,
pushing societies
toward revolution

Why do societies changed?

Weber

Durkheim

A particular
An expanding
worldview set in
motion the industrial
division of labor as
revolution which
the key dimension of
ended up reshaping
social change
all of society

Protestant Ethic
and The Spirit of
Capitalism
by: Max Weber

He noticed that the rise

of Protestantism in
Europe coincided with
the rise of public
enterprise
He also noticed that
that a majority of the
most successful early
capitalists were
Protestants
He hypothesized that

Protestant Ethic
and
The Spirit of
Capitalism
by: Max Weber

Protestants place high

on frugality and
abstinence
To prove that they were
worthy of salvation, they
devoted themselves
tirelessly to commerce
and plowed their profits
back into their firms

They often spent their

profits on good deeds
rather than investing
them in their
businesses