Science, Scientific Method and Critique

Science • Science is a systemized body of knowledge based upon sensory

observation of empirical data

• Science is a systematically acquired, organised body of certified knowledge which is based upon observable facts and methods to acquire such knowledge

• Science is characterized by - – Empiricism

• Observable, verifiable, quantifiable facts

– Objectivity • Free from preferences or prejudices and associations or disassociations of research

– Self Corrective • Science unlike cultural truth is open to rejection. it takes spatial and time bound

variations into considerations. Science has no finality

• Goals of science

– to explain why something happens

– to make generalizations

– to predict or specify what will happen in the future

• Elements of science

– Use of scientific method

– Reliability

– Validity

– Generalizations

– Predictions

• Reliability

– When a scale or test is used repeatedly for measurement and gives the same results,

then it is said to be reliable

– Consistency, accuracy and precision of a measurement procedure

– Results in stability, predictability

– Temporal reliability - the same result is obtained when the measurement is repeated at

a later time.

– Comparative reliability - same results are obtained when two different forms of a test

are used or the same test is applied by different researchers or the same test is applied

to two different samples

• Validity

– Validity refers to correctly measuring the concept we intend to measure

– It the extent to which a test measures what we actually wish to measure

– Criterion Validity

– Construct Validity

– Content Validity

• Generalization – Process whereby general laws are extracted on the basis of a

specific study to go beyond individual cases or studies and make statements that apply to a collectivity

• Prediction – Process by which one can anticipate, guess or prophecies about

the future on the basis of the study

• Scientific method – For acquiring empirical data and for processing them to law,

sciences relies on methods called scientific methods

Scientific Method • Perspective

– The set of assumptions with which we start

– Provides a broad view regarding the nature of reality out of which the subject matter is to be delineated

• Well defined subject matter – The domain in which the investigations has to be carried out

• Body of concept – Are abstractions

– These are ideas/notions of reality that exist in the mind

– In order to communicate our experience of reality we need these notions*

– Scientific concept vs. ordinary concept – precision and accuracy

– Mass, velocity etc. Vs. Democracy

• Procedure – Series of procedural steps for collection and analysis of data

Methodology for scientific enquiry • Hypothesis – is a tentative statement which formulates a definite relationship between 2 or more

variables (Aspects of reality)

• Hypothesis is deduced from assumptions (more general in nature)

• For hypothesis to be useful , it must be precise, unambiguous, testable

• Hypothesis should be precise enough to be falsifiable

• The concepts used by the hypothesis should be operationisable

• The concepts should be such that it is related to operationalised index

• Hypothesis tells what kind of data is to be collected

• Accordingly the appropriate technique* for data collections can be used

• Then data is processed according to the relation (check for validity and reliability)

• The hypothesis is tested

• If data supports hypothesis , the hypothesis is proved

• Repeated testing of hypothesis . Becomes generalization and theory

• If it is proved universally , it becomes a higher order generalization – law

Methodology for scientific enquiry Existing

Knowledge Hypothesis

Thesis

Data Collection

Data Processing Processing of

Hypothesis

Law

Theory

Modification

Critique of Scientific Methods • Possibility of biasness

– Bias can creep in by different ways. E.g. – the way questions are framed in a survey can push research into a particular direction

• Conflicting Paradigms

• Problem of understanding cause and effect – Scientific methods apply correlation. But causation cannot be directly inferred from correlation.

– Some correlations can be based on incomplete or unrepresentative data

• Subjective factors – Science cannot explain emotions like happiness, beauty etc. and limits itself to quantitative aspects.

– So it is not universally applicable.

• Epistemological anarchism – Austrian philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend

– science started as a liberating movement

– But over time it had become increasingly dogmatic and rigid, and therefore had become increasingly an ideology

– Idea of the operation of science by fixed, universal rules is unrealistic, pernicious, and detrimental to science itself

• Vulnerability of a theory – Scientific methods are based on existing scientific theories

– They are vulnerable like just another methods and are far from perfection

Positivism

Positivism

• Initially Popularized by August Comte

• Father of Sociology

• Argued that methods of positive sciences can be applied to study of social sciences

• Rather than “How things ought to be” we should study “the way society is”

• Affirmation of reality rather than negation of reality

• Meaning of Positivism

– Basing our knowledge of society on empirical observations

– Through repeated observations we try to arrive at generalizations

• Approach is based on 2 fundamental assumptions

– Human behavior in society can be known on basis of observation alone

– Human behavior in society follows certain patterns of regularity that can be discovered through repeated observation

Positivists apply the following in the scientific study of society

• Reductional Analysis

– Society is a structural unit made up of institutions and roles

– It is subject to continuity

• Causal Analysis

– Find correlation between different variables and establish causal analysis by building generalizations

• Value neutrality

– Value neutrality and objectivity are central to social research

• Factual

– Durkheim - Sociology should be established as a distinct discipline on the basis of social facts

Criticism

• Various critics have questioned these assumptions

• Initially questioned by followers of German Scholar Emmanuel Kant (Neo Kantians)

• They argue reality is dualistic (natural reality and social reality)

• Social reality is characterized by geist – spirit or consciousness

• Human behaviour is guided by meanings and motives. These meanings can change

• The patterns are not regular, recurrent as in physical objects

• So social reality can not be known from observation alone

• Laws like generalization not possible. Positivist approach not suitable

• Horkheimer

– Founder of non positivism and hermeneutics

– Social life is based in cultural and individual perception

– Truth is not always quantifiable. It is subject to change

• Peter Berger – Founder of phenomenology theory

– Reality consists of objects and events ("phenomena") as they are perceived or understood in the human consciousness, and not of anything independent of human consciousness

– It is made, dismantled, renewed

– Interpretative and understanding methods are better

• Weber – Social reality is qualitatively different from physical and natural reality

– Human behaviour is guided by meaning and motives

– So positive sciences method are inadequate

– Need to supplemented with additional methods like Verstehen, ideal types

• Giddens – Proposed theory of double hermeneutic

– Science goes for only single hermeneutic where data is studied and generalizations are made

– Sociology looks deeper, goes beneath the surface

– It goes for double hermeneutic

• Sociology and Values – Increasing number of sociologists argue that value free science of society is not possible

– Feminism, Marxism approaches are based out of values

• At present in sociology, the model building has not reached the same stage that has been attained in pure physical sciences

• But some sociologists have resorted to model building through simple models

• A.R. Radcliffe Brown, Claude Levi Strauss, Parsons

• Attempts are being made to build complex models using simulation studies

4 set of assumptions which social scientists apply to their

disciplines which determine the degree of science involved

• Reality to be investigated is external or internal to the individual

• If knowledge can be acquired or it is to be experienced

• Humans reacting mechanistically and deterministically to environment or there is free will

• Whether society can be studied as an objective reality or a personal, subjective reality

Is Sociology a Science ?

• Sociology employs the scientific method

• Sociological principles are verifiable and reliable

• Sociologists can make generalizations

• Sociology can make predictions

• Sociology is factual

• Sociology is empirical

• Sociology is cumulative

Limitations

Problem of experimentation

• Crucial to establish precise relationship between different variables

• Practical and Ethical limitations

• But inability to conduct experiments does not automatically disqualify e.g. astronomy

Lack of laboratory research

• Control over conditions, facility of repeating experiment, objective observation, apparatus.

• Since these conditions are not completely fulfilled in sociology research, it cannot be totally scientific

Problem of quantification

• Large part of social phenomena is qualitative in nature

• Not amenable to quantitative techniques

Problem of generalization

• Not successful in arriving at law-like generalization

• The Nature of subject matter – human behaviour –

doesn’t follow recurrent patterns

• Human behaviour can be unique and unrepeatable

• Difficult to establish causal relations without

experimentation

• Reliability and accuracy of sociological studies comes

under scrutiny

Problem of objectivity

• Frame of mind whereby personal prejudices and predilections do not contaminate collection and

analysis of data

• Objectivity very difficult. At best it can be minimized

Problem of terminology

• same words convey different meanings to different persons

• not developed an adequate set of scientific terms.

• But it is not epistemological failure

– Even matured sciences have faced similar

challenges

– Heisenberg uncertainty principle

• Robert Bierstedt in his book The Social Order

– Sociology is a social science, not a natural science.

– Sociology is a categorical or positive and not a normative science.

– Sociology is a pure or theoretical science and not an applied science.

– Sociology is an abstract science and not a concrete one.

– Sociology is a generalizing science and not a particularizing science.

– Sociology is both a rational and an empirical science.

Facts, Value and Objectivity

Facts

• Facts are those aspects of reality which exist independent of the observers

• They are amenable to sensory observation by the observer

• All positive sciences begin with the premise that there respective field of study is constituted of objective facts

Example

• According to Durkheim Social facts are objective facts

• Not all facts about are social facts

• Social facts are those which exist outside the individual and they exercise constraints on the individual

• They are amenable to positive sciences methods

Criticism • The interactionist tradition does not agree with this

• Outwardly observable aspects only tell a part of the story

• For understanding social life , we need to take into consideration the subjective meanings and motives of the actors

• These subjective meanings are not amenable to sensory observations

• They can only be interpreted

• So all social facts are not objective facts

• So methods of positive science is not enough

• Needs to be supplemented by other methods

Value

• It refers to socially accepted standards of desirability

• They define what is important, what is worth striving for

• They channelize the activities of a member to socially desired objectives

• Internalization of values takes place through the process of socialization*

• Examples – Happiness, Health, Freedom etc.

Categorization

• End Values – They are the ultimate standards in terms of which all

other goals which guide social action should be evaluated

– Happiness, Success, Freedom

• Means Values – They act as a means for their own sake

– Hard work, punctuality, efficiency

• Talcott Parsons

– Values are basic standard which guide all action

– Societal integration depends upon value consensus among members

• Karl Marx

– Economic interests guide social action

– Values are seen to be legitimizing the pursuit of interests

• Primacy of interests or values ? – They are intimately related

– Values play an important part in shaping our interests

Objectivity

• It is a frame of mind so that prejudices, preferences or predilections of the social scientists do not contaminate the collection and analysis of data

• Scientific investigation should be free from prejudices of race, color, religion, sex, ideological biases

• Durkheim

– ‘Rules of sociological methods’ – all preconceived notions must

be abandoned, social facts should be treated as things

• Max Weber

– Sociology must be value free

• A.R.Radcliffe Brown

– Ethnocentric and Egocentric biases must be abandoned

• Malinowski

– Advocated ‘cultural relativism’

Why objectivity is difficult?

• Research is guided by certain viewpoint and viewpoint involves subjectivity

• Merton feels the very choice of the topic reflects the personal preference and ideological bias of researcher

• Subjectivity creeps in at the time of formulation of hypothesis

• Subjectivity creeps in at the course of research – collection of empirical data

• Subjectivity creeps in due to field limitations

Examples • Prof Schwab made a study of 4000 scientific papers

– Choice of topic was based on personal preferences as determined by personality factors and circumstances

• Ideological biases can be acquired during education and training – Robert Redfield studied Tepostalan village in Mexico and concluded that there exists total harmony between

groups

– Oscar Lewis studied it at almost the same time and concluded that it conflict ridden

• Collection of empirical data – Participant observation can result in nativisation which can lead to bias in favor of group

– In non participant observation the scientist can impose his/her values and prejudices .In India, prejudice against Dalits. Can impact studies

– In case of interviews , data can be influenced by the context of the interview, interaction of the participants, participant definition of the situation, rapport

• Field Limitations – A. Beteille study of Sripuram village

– Brahmins did not allow him to visit the locality of untouchables. He could not ask their point of view

How to minimize subjectivity ?

• Value preferences should be made clear

• Highly trained and skilled research workers

should be employed

• Various methods should be used and result

should be cross checked

• Field limitation should be clearly stated

Can sociology be a value free science ?

• All social behaviour is guided by values

• Social research is in itself a type of social behaviour

• So sociology can never be value free*

• Max Weber, when he stated that sociology should be value free, he meant sociologist much confine himself to value relevance

Value Neutrality

• Sociologists should exclude ideological or non scientific

assumptions from research

• Should not make evaluative judgments about empirical evidence

• Value judgment should be restricted to sociologists area of

competence

• Should remain indifferent to the moral implications of his research

• Should make his own values open and clear

• Should refrain from advocating particular values

Analysis • Gunnar Myrdal – ‘Chaos does not organize itself into cosmos’. Viewpoints

are required which form the basis of hypothesis, which enables scientists to collect data. Thus the sociologist must be value frank

• Value contamination takes place at different levels of collection of data – participant observation, interview method (double dose of subjectivity). Aim should be to minimize contamination (value frank, training)

• Total value neutrality might not be desirable – sociologists should not be mere spectators. Basic purpose of sociological knowledge is social welfare. So need to play a creative role. (Radical sociologists in US) . W.H. Audon – “giving lectures on navigation while the ship is drowning”

• Reforming Push – C.W.Mills, Alvin Gouldhar – Sociology must have commitment to some basic human values . Sociologists must be ready to defend these

Social Mobility

Social Mobility

• Social Mobility means change from one social position to another.

• Changes in the life-chances and lifestyles.

• Social mobility may not just be limited to class.

• Closely linked to the concept of stratification

• Mobility manifested at individual and at collective levels

Parsons

• Result of the process of differentiation and role filling

Marx

• High rate of mobility can weaken class solidarity

• Foresaw down mobility in capitalist

society

Frank Parkin and Dahrendorf

• Mobility acts as a safety valve

Ken Roberts

• Mobility is an indicator of meritocratic society

• How fair the society is

• Also indicates stability of class

architecture

Pitrim Sorokin

• Social Mobility , 1927

• Promotes efficiency and social order

• Vertical mobility – “stairs and elevators” , “blood streams in human body”

Davis and Moore

• Some Principles of stratification, 1945

• Rewards system in society

Traditional Society

• Stratification on ascriptive criteria

• Limited mobility

• Andre Beteille – mobility restricted

in closes , stratified system

• M N Srinivas - alternate methods

like Sanskritisation evolved

(impacts cultural aspects not

structural aspects)

Modern Society

• Mobility widespread

• Developed countries > developing and traditional societies

• Importance given to formal

qualifications

Open System and Closed System • Closed Society

– Very little vertical mobility is possible

• Open systems – Permit flow of statuses, powers and prestige both horizontally and vertically.

– Most open societies tend to be highly industrialized.

– Urbanization contributes to vertical social mobility (ascriptive criteria , anonymity )

– But in open societies people cannot move from one stratum to another without resistance.

• Blau and Duncan – most open societies have fairly high degree of vertical social mobility

– but the social distance travelled is not very long

• Every society has established criteria – which might be proper manners, family lineage, education, or racial affiliation etc., which

must satisfied before people can move to a higher social level.

Types of Mobility

Horizontal versus

Vertical Mobility

Intra-generational

and inter-

generational

mobility

Structural and

Individual Mobility

Absolute and

Relative mobility

Structural and

Circular mobility

Upward and

Downward

mobility

Horizontal versus Vertical Mobility • Horizontal social mobility means movement by individuals or groups from one

position to another in society which does not involve a shift into a higher or lower stratum.

• Examples – one citizenship to another, from one family to another, one factory to another in the same occupational status

• Anthony Giddens – great deal of mobility along the lateral direction in modem societies

– Uses the term lateral mobility

• Vertical Mobility – Enhancing or lowering the rank

Intra-generational and Inter-generational mobility

Structural and Individual Mobility

Absolute and Relative mobility

Sources and Causes of Mobility

• Pitrim Sorokin

– Demographic Factors

– Talent and ability

– Faulty distribution of individuals in social

positions

– Change of Social Environment

Pierre Bourdieu

• An Invitation to reflexive sociology, 1992

• 4 types of capital (placement in a social category)

– Economic

– Cultural

– Social

– Symbolic

• Can hinder social mobility as well

• David Glass (British society)

– Presence of upward and downward mobility

– Elite self recruitment

• Goldthorpe (British society)

– Largely depends on immediate ranks

– Absolute mobility is low

Lipset and Bendix

• Factors of social mobility in industrial societies.

– Changes in the number of available vacancies

– Different rates of fertility

– Changes in the rank accorded to occupations

– Changes in the number of inheritable status positions

– Changes in legal restrictions pertaining to potential

opportunities

• Goldthorpe

– Lack of convergence between the rates of mobility

of industrial societies

– Significance of other factors as well cultural

factors, education system

Factors

Industrialization and

Urbanization

•Lipset Zetterberg thesis

Education

•Duncan and Blau (Study in

US)

Cultural Factors

•Sorokin (race , ethnicity can

reduce mobility)

Political Factors

•Type of political regime

Environment

•Natura l disasters vs .

favorable conditions

Social Capital

•Used to monopolize

occupational positions

•Giddens and Bottomore

•Closure thesis

Occupation

•Source of inter generational

mobi lity

Social and Cultural

Values

•Liberal or conservative

Social Movements

•Col lective mobility

Law and Constitution

•Pos i tive Discrimination

Migration

•Type of migration

Physical features

•Sal ly Loverman

•Looks can be a source of mobi lity

Technology

•Industrialization

Subjective factors

•Individual and collective

aspirations

• Wilkinson and Pickett – The Spirit level: Why Greater Equality Makes society

stronger, 2009

– High social inequality – low social mobility

• Paul Krugman – The Great Gatsby Curve, 2012

– Denmark, Norway, Finland (Low inequality – greater mobility)

– Chile, Brazil (High Inequality – low mobility)

Consequences of Social Mobility • Dis-associative aspect of social stratification

– Breaks down the exclusiveness of social class

– Creates more uniform national culture

– US vs. European Society

• Pre occupation with vertical mobility – Can reinforce the class system

– Individual’s perspective – Emphasis on importance of class, hierarchy

– Greater economic and social equality rather than mobility

• More effective use of ability – Discovery of talent and its utilization

• Can impose strain on individual for success

• Weakening of kinship ties – suicide rates can go up

• Political safety valve

Sociological Theories of Power

• Nature of Power

• Sources of Power

• Distribution of Power

Marx on Power

For Marx, power means

coercion

Power is held by a

particular group at the

expense of the rest of the society

Source of power –

economic infrastructure

of the society and those who own the modes of

production

These interests are in

direct conflict with the

interests of others

Dominant class may

resort to naked force

But absence of obvious

coercion does not mean

absence of exploitation

Dominated are unaware

of their condition

(effective ideology)

Through institutions of

socialization real

character of class society is justified

Ensures social

inequality and

domination

Acceptance of power

structure in ensured

Only way to return

power to people -

revolution

• Example

– Range of legal status protect the rights of property

owners

– Right to disproportionate share of wealth

produced by their employees is protected

Weber on Power

Society is characterized by

mutual opposition of goals

Interests of one section is

opposite to the interest of others

So there is resistance. Power is the means of

overcoming the resistance

Power refers to the chances

of an individual or group to realize its will through

communal action even in the

face of resistance by others

Constant sum concept or

zero sum concept

Three bases of power –

tradition, charisma, legal rational

• “A” has power over “B” to the extent “A” can get “B” to do something that “B” would not otherwise do

Robert

Dahl

• A person is said to have power to the extent

he influences the behaviour of others in

accordance with his own intentions

Edward

Shils

Steven Lukes

• Power is being increasingly exercised by the mass media and TNC

• Power of an individual A over B - when A can affect B’s behaviour even against B’s interests either by coercing or preventing them or shaping B’s behaviour according to A’s needs and interests

• Talks about 3 dimensions of power

– Decision making – influencing the process of decision making

– Non Decision making – it is also a manifestation of power (e.g. prevention the decision being taken by deleting it from the agenda)

– Conditioning minds, shaping desires – influencing decision making so that no formal decision making is required. [e.g. by controlling mass media]

Talcott Parsons

Every society should have

value consensus (Most

society have value

consensus)

Power is the general ability of

a community to achieve

commonly shared goals, a

commitment to which has

been made through public

policy

Implies power is variable.

Power exists at the level of

society (as against

individual). No winning elites

or no losing masses.

Social positions are created

which are functionally more

important than others.

Power is exercised through

them.

When technology level of

community improves, ability

to achieve common goals

improve – power improves

Michael Mann

Tried to synthesize both the views (conflict and

consensus views)

According to Mann societies are constituted

of multiple overlapping and intersecting socio

spatial networks of power

Power distribution is complex. It is in the form

of different network exercising different amount of power

Power is the ability to pursue and attain goals

through mastery of the environment (Social and

Natural environment)

Power may be located either in individual or groups

•Distributional Power - When located in individual it is called distributional power

•Collective Power – Power yielded by one group over another group

Power can be exercised either as extensive power or as

intensive power

•Extensive – Ability to organize large number of people spread over far flung territories to engage in minimally stable co-operation

•Intensive – Ability to organize tightly and command a high level of mobilization or commitment from the participants

Authoritative or Diffused

•Authoritative - Involves conscious and deliberate commands (Rights and Duties)

•Diffused – Exercised in a spontaneous manner without issuing any command

Different Sources of Power

Economic Power

• Power comes from control

of productive resources

Political Power

• Holding a state office and

control over political

organization

Military Power

• Control over means of

violence

• How much violence you

can unleash on your enemy

Ideological Power

• Control over ideas

• And make people act

according to it

Giddens

Broad conception of

power

• Variable sum concept of

power

• Power is the

transformative capacity

of human agency

Narrow sum definition

• Power is the capacity to

effect result when the

outcome depends on the

agencies of others i.e.

when one can do things

through other people

French and Raven

Legitimate

• belief that a person in power

has the formal right to make demands and to expect others

to be compliant and obedient to his or her demands

Reward

• ability of a person to favorably

compensate another person for compliance of rules, targets etc.

Expert

• Rests on person’s high level of skill and knowledge

Referent Power

• results of a person’s attributes which result into perceived attractiveness

Coercive power

• Belief that a person can punish

others for non compliance Later added a dimension – information power

Gene Sharp

• From dictatorship to democracy: A

conceptual framework for

liberation, 1994

• Power structures rely on

obedience of their subjects

Tim Gee

• Counter Power: Making Change

Happen, 2011

• Power is also possessed by the

oppressed

• It is in the form of counter power

• Manifest – comes into being in

social movements

Elite Theory

Few people at the top who

excel

Developed as a reaction to

Marxism

Rejected the Marxian idea

that a classless society could

be realized after class

struggle (too large and

amorphous to exercise

power)

Elite theory – It is only the

minority who rules

Even if there is a proletarian

revolution , one elite will

replace the other

Organizational Power

Present in the

writings of Weber

and Marx

Weber – Power is

exercised by

communal action

Marx – Class for

itself is very crucial

for exercise of

power

Power seen in

terms of

organization

Unorganized

masses (Class in

itself) do not wield

power

Basis of Organisation Power

Organisation means

plurality (more the

number, more the

resources at disposal)

Facilitates division of

labour (multipronged

strategy, coordinated

exercise)

Quality of leadership

Ability to forge

alliances (and defeat

countervailing

organisations)

Power of unorganised masses

Weber

• Party is the basis of power

• Associative type of organizational structure built around a common interest (Class, status, ethnicity etc.)

• If individuals act singly – might act as cross purposes, reduce each other’s chances

• Organizational structure helps in channelizing energies towards a common goal

Marx

• Class in itself will not be successful

• Only when it is class for itself , it will be able to fight for its own interest and capture power

• Thus unorganised masses are powerless

• Modern industrial societies – decomposition of capital , possibility of formation of class for itself disappeared

• But under special circumstances, masses can come together to share their sense of deprivation

• Leadership, ideology, organisational structure can come into being

• Mass movements may develop

• Masses may acquire power

• E.g. Dravidan Movement, Mahar Movement

Manifestations of unorganised power

Passive non-cooperation

Through the power of mass market

May acquire short lived power through illegitimate means

Exercise power through elections in democratic countries

Power Elite

Elite Theory

• Few people at the top who excel

• Developed as a reaction to Marxism

• Rejected the Marxian idea that a classless

society could be realized after class struggle

(too large and amorphous to exercise power)

Classical Elite Theory

• Propounded by two Italian sociologists , Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca

• Both Pareto and Mosca felt that personal qualities are the basis of power

• Rejected Communism as utopia and Marxism as an ideological bias

• Later day thinkers argued about the hierarchical organization of social institutions which allows minorities to monopolize power

Pareto • Mind and Society , 1935

• Ruling minority and ruled majority

• Emphasis on psychological characteristics

• There are two main types of governing elite – “Lions” and “Foxes”

• Concept borrowed from Niccolo Machiavelli

• Lions – Can take direct and incisive action

– Tend to rule by force

• Foxes – Are cunning, have the capacity for diplomatic manipulation

– Wheeling and dealing

Circulation of Elite

Masses - lack of rational capacities. So they are dominated. Unlikely to

be revolutionary

Elites tend to be decadant

Decay in quality and vigor

Each elite lacks the quality of its counterpart

But both the qualities are important to maintain power

Lion elite lacks imagination and

cunningness necessary

to maintain its rule, will have to admit foxes

Over a period of time foxes infiltrate the entire

elite and transform its

character

Foxes lack the capability to take forceful , decisive

action

An organized minority of lions committed to

restoration of strong

government develops

It overthrows the elite of foxes

History is a never ending cycle of circulation of

elite

Elite rule not by coercion but by ideology/formula

Make their rule appear legitimate (Divine origin

theory)

Modern democracies are also a form of elite

domination

Mosca

The Ruling Class,1939 Rule by minority is

inevitable

History divided into 2 classes – ruling class and

the class that is ruled

Ruling minority is superior because it possesses certain

qualities

Material, intellectual, moral superiorities

Content can vary with societies (courage ,

bravery , skills, capacity to acquire wealth etc.)

and time

Small, cohesive, conspiratorial , political

formula

Democracy is merely another form of elite

rule

Decisions in democracy reflect the concerns of

the elite

The masses are passive, apathetic and unconcerned

Democracy may be a government of the

people, even for the people but never by the

people

R. Michels

Distribution of power takes place according to iron law

of oligarchy

Majority cannot rule because

• Unorganised character

• Size of the society

• Increased technical complexity in decision making

So minority rule is indispensible. One they

come to power they perpetuate their rule

True democracy is a myth

Power Elite – C. Wright Mills

New version of elite theory (analysis of American Society)

Doesn’t believe elite rule is inevitable

He sees it as a recent development in US and condemns it

Doesn’t believe members of elite have superior qualities or

psychological qualities

According to him elite comprises of those

who hold command posts in institutions

So institutions and not individuals wield the

power

Those at the top monopolize the power

Certain institutions are pivotal in societies - major

corporations, military, federal government

Elite comprises of those who hold command posts in these

institutions – Power Elite

Coincidence of economic, political and military power

Interests and activities of the elite are sufficiently similar

and inter connected

They form a cohesive group (similarity in background

strengthens it)

Members largely drawn from upper strata, mostly

Protestant, native born Americans, similar education backgrounds, mix socially in

high pressing clubs

There is a frequent inter change of personnel among

the elites

American society is dominated by elite

Decisions like entering into second world war, dropping

of atomic bomb made by power elite

Floyd Hunter

• Study of distribution of power in Atlantic

• Made a list of 175 leaders who held formal positions in politics, business, civic organizations

• Panel of 14 judges representing religious, business, professional interest

• Chose 10 leaders

• Half were upper class businessmen

•Power elite are recruited from same social class

•Are educated in similar prestigious colleges

•Have s imilar orientation

•Comparative s tudy of Elites in Britain, Canada, Australia, United States R.K.Merton

•Appl ied Elite theory for communist society

•USSR – pol itical, economic, military power concentrated in hands of unified elite

•Absolute , unbounded power

•Mass has no defence against the elite Raymond Aron

•Rul ing elite i s primarily concerned with self-aggrandisement

•Corrupt, opportunistic, and delusional men, armed with ideologies of hatred, whose primary motivations

were brutal nation-building and self-aggrandisement Milovan Djilas

•Defended the Soviet System

•Principal aim had been industrialization and economic development of USSR

•Centra lized s tate control was a means not an end

•Gorbachevs ’s time – deliberate attempts to loosen hold of power elites, greater freedom for masses David Lane

Conclusion

• Power concentrated in the hands of a self-conscious, cohesive, homogenous minority

• Exercise power over an amorphous majority

• Domination can be through monopoly over means of violence, monopoly of means of subsistence, hegemonic control over formulation of social values, control of middlemen with specific authority in limited areas, command positions in key institutions

Criticism of Elite Thesis

Robert Dahl (Who Governs,

1961) – power is dispersed in society

Mills theory was based on his

observations of American society only

Specialization has further

diffused power in the society

Classical elite theory is

simplistic. Ignores differences between

different types of ruling

system like democracies, feudal societies etc.

Pareto and Mosca do not

provide a method for measuring the superior

qualities

T.B. Bottomore ‘Elite Circulation may not always

be there’

Altruistic motives can also be

there (not just power) Public opinion also matters

Westergaard and Resler –

Power does not lie with those who make the

decisions, it is visible through

consequences

Notion of superior

psychological and moral qualities of the leaders has

been questioned

These were seen as

legitimizing the rule of Hitler and Mussolini

Pluralist Thesis

Rose against the elite

theories

Tried to defend modern institutions like

democracy

But is doesn’t reject the elite, it recognises elites

in the democratic

framework

Elite theorists –

democracy and elitism incompatible

Pluralists – both are

compatible

Instead of concentration

of power, there is

dispersion of power in

modern democracies

Elite Pluralism

Industrialization – DOL – Social Differentiation

– Diversified occupations

Bargain and compromise

Different groups field their representatives

Presence of multiple elites create elite

pluralism

Government acts like a broker and mediates

Government becomes a business of

compromise – Raymond Aron

Conditions for Pluralism

Disposal of power among a plurality of

individuals and groups

Competitive struggle for

power between groups

Mutual accommodation

among different groups

– bargaining and

negotiations

Compulsion to win mass

support (elections)

Decision making

influenced by the need

to accommodate the interests of a large number of groups

Robert Dahl

There are multiple

centers of power

None of it is completely

sovereign in decision making

“Who Governs” , 1961 –

shows that power is distributed pluralistically

Dahl selected three

distinct areas – urban development, public

schools, political

nominations

In each issue area he

studied a number of decisions

He picked three

categories of leaders – political notables, social

notables, economic

notables

He concluded the

structure of decision making was pluralistic

(elite pluaralism)

Leaders influential in one

sector are not influential in other

Leaders exerting

influence in different issue are not drawn from

a single homogenous

stratum of society

•The power structure,1967

•Multiple influence hypothesis

•Economic and political elite don’t work hand in glove (Mills*) Arnold M Rose

•Policy seems to be made by the elite

•But in a democracy that are multiple pulls and pressures which finally decide the policy

•People make their aspirations felt at regular intervals which keep the elite in check Karl Mannheim

•An economic theory of democracy, 1957

•Trade Unions, Associations etc. defend the interest of their members and workers

•Compares it with the role of producers and consumers in market Anthony Downs

Criticism

Locates power in concrete decisions or in activities

impacting decision making.

But power is also exercised in reinforcing social and

political values and institutional practices that limit the scope of political

process

They ignore the results and consequences (power is

manifested in its consequences)

It fails to differentiate the unimportant issues

Case studies from india

M.N Srinivas

• Study of Rampura village in Karnataka

• Dominant caste model

• Those who are ritually higher up in the

hierarchy might not be highly powerful

• Village councils were dominated by Okkaliggas

and not the Madhav Brahmins

Yogendra Singh

• Studied 6 villages in UP

• Land owning caste wielded real power

• But with changes like rural development, green

revolution etc. distribution of power is changing

• Shift from Elite model to pluralist model is taking

place in India

Nation, State, Citizenship

Nation - Definition • Group which regards itself as a political community.

• Can become a basis for organizing state Politically

• Group of people believed to be bound together by a

common language, religion, history , tradition etc.

• But generally there is cultural heterogeneity Culturally

• Shared love and loyalty Psychologically

• Economic integration Economically

Weber – community of

sentiments

Heywood – complex

phenomena shaped by a

collection of political,

cultural , psychological

and economic factors

Dichotomy •Von Herder – nation is characterized by “folks geist”

•People have been sharing culture, physical geography , climate, life style , habits , language etc. for a very long time

•So nation are kind of natural organic entities

Cultural

Dimension

•Nations are politically unified

•Based on political aspirations of people

•There may or may not be cultural homogenous

Political

Dimension

•Cultural homogeneity is manufactured artifact

•Today’s World – nation are more relevant political entities

•Germany – origin of cultural nationalism, France - origin of political nationalism Eric Hobsbawm

•Nation and Nationalist ideology is a device through which ruling class overcomes the threat of a social revolution Marxist view

Nationalism

• Sense of (pride , belonging) being a part of a

single political community

• Ideology based on a belief that a community

of people with common characteristics such

as language, religion, ethnicity etc constitute a

separate, distinctive political community

•Nations and Nationalism, 1983

•Nation, nationalism , nation-state are modern concepts – late 18th century

Ernest Gellner

•Cultural Representations and Changing Ethnic Identities in a global age, 2002

•Pre Industrialisation human habitations isolated

•Role of Communication media

•“other” is pre condition for the rise of nationalism

Pilkington

•Ethnic Origin of Nations,1986

•Not necessarily a modern phenomenon

•Modern nations emerged from ethnic communities

•Unification of Germany, Italy

•Jews have been cohesive unit since 2000 years

Anthony Smith

•Imagined Communities, 1983

•Imagined feeling - nationalism

•Abstract idea - nation

Benedict Anderson

Hans Kohn

• Idea of nationalism, 1945

• Western nationalism – emerged as justification for already united

political structures , also helped in

growth of imperialism and

colonialism

• Eastern nationalism – aimed at

justifying the creation of new

nation-states

Liah Greenfield

• Civic Nationalism – citizenship,

defined in political and legal terms,

can be acquired or lost

• Ethnic Nationalism – inherited

nationalism

•Nationalism likely to lose its existence

•Classes will pay a dominant role in future

•Class dynamics will overshadow national identities Marxists

•Nationalism will lose relevance because of globalization Liberalists

•Nation is an organization of people with a mechanical purpose, founded on greed, jealousy,

suspicion, desire for power

•Replaces l iving bonds of society with mechanical organization

•Takes away freedom of individuals

•Exclusionist and jingoistic

Tagore

Manifestations of Nationalism

(Heywood)

Liberal Nationalism

•Product of

modernization

•Rights of individual

and rights of

collective

•Democracy is an

attempt at

reconciliation

Cultural Nationalism

•Primacy to national

sovereignty

•Might suppress

individual freedom

•May involve

negative attitude

towards emigrants

•High emphasis on

military power

Economic

Nationalism

•Aggressive,

militaristic

nationalism

•Seeks territorial

aggrandizement

•Colonialisation,

imperialism

Anti Colonial

Nationalism

•Pre dominant in

third world

countries

•Opposition to

colonialism

Role of Nation

• Nations are consciously and deliberately

created in modern societies

• They are important modernizing force (e.g.

Industrial capitalism and modern nation state)

Re-integrative mechanism

Used for maintaining law and order. Vehicle of legitimacy

Development in science and technology

Manipulation of information through literacy

C. Tilley – modern centralist militarist state requires a certain level of cultural homogeneity for a professional

bureaucracy and army

Economic development

Critical View of Nation

Marxist View

• Nation and Nationalist ideology is a device through which ruling

class overcomes the threat of a social revolution

Kedomie

• Nationalism is a type of tribalism

• Helps the uprooted and dislocated population to adapt to a modern culture

• Way of coping with modernity

• Sense of return to warm community

Contemporary Trends

• Globalization

• Post nationalism

• Cosmopolitanism

Greater integration between nation at the social

and economic level may lead to dissolution on

nations and would lead to universal citizenship

State

Most of mankind lived without a state, but at present most important and highest level of human collectivity

“status” . Niccolo Machiavelli used the term ‘state’ in political science in its modern sense

Locke and Hobbes- State is an agency for human welfare (secures life , property etc)

“Social contract”

“neutral arbitrator”

State is a political apparatus, authority is backed by some form of law

Monopoly over violence

Citizens cannot fulfill all the needs themselves

State

• Association which successfully claims monopoly of legitimate

coercion within a well defined territory

• Generally acts in public interest

• State has a defined territory

Max Weber

• Population

• Territory

• Sovereignty

• Government

Physical and

metaphysical

elements

Views about nature of state Liberal democratic

•The best government governs the least (Jeremy Bentham)

Social Democratic

•Moderate intervention

•Ensure social justice and equal opportunity

•Not equality of rewards

Totalitarian state

•No constitutional limit on state power

•Controls all aspects of social life

•Fascist and communist states

Some perspectives

•Weber - State has monopoly over legitimate use of force

•Bertrand Russell – ‘a repository of collective force of its citizens’ Coercive authority

•Marx - Committee for the management of the whole affair of the bourgeoisie

•Formed to protect private property and promote own interest

•State appears autonomous from bourgeoisie but is furthers its interest

Instrument of

exploitation

•Functionalists - State integrates its inhabitants

•Philosophers like Aristotle – gave precedence to state over individual Integration

•Harold Laski

•Nation is emotional manifestation of a society

•State results from desire for political unity

•State performs positive and negative tasks (welfare, security)

A way of organizing

collective life of society

•Saul Newman – The Politics of Post Anarchism, 2010

•State is instrument of exploitation and repression

•Reject the concept of state altogether

Anarchists

•Modern states face legitimization crisis

•Have to balance the realities of the market with the goals of enlightenment

•Democracy is one means to reconcile Habermas

•State is patriarchal in nature (K Millett) Feminist

•Neo liberal Era

•Roll back of state

•Financial crisis – recognition of need to state to regulate economic activity

•Market too imperfect to ensure social justice

Contemporary

Trends

Nation without states

Well defined ethnic community, who lack an independent political community

Separatist movements in Chechnya, Kashmir, Scotland etc.

Cultural differences are accepted and certain amount of autonomy for community development

is provided – Scotland and Wales in Britain

Even higher degree of autonomy – power to take major decisions – Quebec , Canada

Sometime force and propaganda is used to deny recognition to minority – Palestine, Tibet, Kurds

(Syria, Iraq)

Citizenship

Relationship between the individual and the state in which the two are bound together by reciprocal rights and duties

Citizenship is the most fundamental right from which other rights are derived.

It also confers duties

Citizenship - Evolution

Ancient Greek city states – only limited citizenship

Women , slaves, non owners of property were excluded

Concept developed in the wake of modern industrial capitalist societies

Relation between state and people is redefined

Precondition for rise of citizenship – collective feeling of being part of a single national identity

Previously people were subjects – passive

Duties but no institutional rights, no demands, no expectations from the state

Democracy and French revolution – people came to be addressed as citizens

T.H. Marshall (Class, citizenship and Social Development, 1973)

Civic Rights

•Result of rise of concept of property ownership

•equality before law, personal liberty, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of conscience, freedom of access, freedom to own property and make contracts, right to make associations, right to dissent

Political Rights

•When free speech developed, everyone treated as

equal (UAF)

•Right to participate in elections, right to hold office

Social Rights

•Right to economic and social welfare

•Unemployment allowance

•Universal free education, health coverage

Defines citizenship in terms of membership of a community

which brings in three types of duties and rights

Traced the evolution of the concept of citizenship

Nature of citizenship reveals the extent of social development

Capitalism(leads to gross inequality) is antithetical to

citizenship(treats everyone equally)

Feminist thinkers- Women’s acquisition of rights not in the order as stated by Marshall

•Citizenship is myth

•No equality in capitalist society

•True equality only i f FOP is collectively owned Marxists

•A brief history of ci tizenship, 2004

•Citizenship is a democratizing force

•Everybody possesses it in the same manner Derek Heater

•Ecologism: Towards Ecological Ci tizenship, 1998

•Concept of ecological ci tizenship – obligations towards non human animals and future generations Mark Smith

•West – ci tizenship awarded in phased manner – demand from below

•East - awarded suddenly – people fail to appreciate rights and duties Ramchandra Guha

•Paradoxes in India

•Caste discrimination, sexual discrimination, poverty Gail Omvedt

•Handbook of citizenship s tudies, 2002

•Representative democracy narrows down the scope Bryan Turner

•Gender rights, sexual rights and freedom

•Global ci tizenship Contemporary trends

Protest, Agitation, Social Movement,

Collective Action and Revolution

Collective Action

• Actions by a group of people with specific goal or objective

• Cooperation, conflict, competition, accommodation

• Can be organised/unorganised, institutionalized/non institutionalized

• Structure can be defined as per organization, ideology, goals, leadership

• Protests, agitations, revolutions, social movements etc are different forms of collective action

Types of collective action • Herbert Blumer – Critiques of research in the social sciences 1939

• The crowd – (panic, craze, hostile outburst) (compact or diffused) (6 types)

• The public – Formed on the basis of single issue (crowd on the basis of emotion) (multiple issue based)

• The mass – Not defined by form of interaction , but by the efforts of those who use a particular mass media

• The social Movement – Active social movements, expressive social movements

Protest

• Refers to an expression of dissent, disapproval, opposition or objection to a law, policy, social practice or an event etc.

• When it becomes collected it is known as protest movement

• Are formed of collective opposition to some aspect of status quo

• They form a continuum

• May initially be sectional but can enter into coalitions

Features

• Can be at individual/collective level, manifest/latent level, may involve action/inaction

• Opposition (dissent) is central to protest (pre supposes a prior event)

• Mode of protest can vary – black cloth, street theatres, songs, poetry, ahimsa, satyagraha to even violent measures (Naxalites, Jihadis, etc.)

Methods adopted

• Degree of frustration – Mild to Extreme

• Prospect of success – Gandhiji (Pragmatic

Idealism)

• Political acumen

Factors Influencing Protest

Relative Deprivations

Attitude of Authority – Repressive attitudes – Protests are less likely

How deep-seated the grievance is ?

Psychological character of the participants (Eric Hoffer)

Types of protest movement (W. Gamson, 53 between 1830-1930)

Pre-empted

• Where the action is taken before the protest

Co-opted

• Leaders become collaborators with the establishment

Successful

• All demands are met (20)

Collapsed failures

• Met with repression and hence failed (22)

Impact

• If successful – grievance is redressed , popular

awareness is realized. (failure can also lead to

awareness)

• If repression is at early stage – very little

impact

Future of protest movements

• Rise in inequality

• Issue spun across several countries

• But ability of government to unleash violence

Agitation Social Process which

involves intense activity undertaken by an

individual or group, in order to fulfill a purpose

Marxists – Agitation is first act after

polarization. It can lead to revolution

Purpose is central to agitation.

Dissatisfaction is also central to agitation

Can be civil or political in nature. At present, agitation has become

more civil than political

Can be organised or unorganised, generally

non institutional

Frequency of protests depends on structure of

the society, culture , political system

Can be due to actual or relative deprivation

Agitation can also aim to acquire power

It is generally spontaneous and

ephemeral

• Both protests and agitations can become

institutionalized and become social

movements

Social Movement

• A sustained collective action, aimed at bringing or resisting social change outside the sphere of established institutions

• Two features distinguish it from other collective actions – Sustained Action

– Spontaneity

• “Social Movements” by Charles Tilly – Social Movements are major vehicle for ordinary people’s participation in public politics

Collective mobilization

Oriented towards change

Sustained over a period of time

Prerequisites

Flexible organisation

Characteristics of Social Movement (MSA Rao)

Life Cycle of a Social Movement (Zald Ash & H Blumer)

Unrest Stage Excitement stage Formalization Stage Institutionalization

Stage Dissolution

Life cycle - 2

Emergence

Coalesce – sense of coherence in

terms of membership, goals, ideals

Bureaucratization – establishment of rules, procedures

etc.

Success, failure, cooptation, repression,

mainstreaming

Decline

Theories about Social Movement

Social Unrest Theory

Relative Deprivation

Theory

Structural Strain Theory

Resource Mobilization

Theory

Revitalization Theory

Theory of Historicity

Status Inconsistency

Theory

Psychological Factors

Social Unrest Theory

Associated with Chicago School (Herbert Blumer)

Social Movements can be

• Active – outwardly directed aiming to transform the society

• Expressive – inwardly directed to change the people who are involved

Talked about the life cycle of social movement

Relative Deprivation Theory

Samuel Stoufer

• Developed in US in the aftermath of World War – II

• Aim was to study the morale of US army during the war

• Found that the reserve troops had a poor morale, the battlefield troops had a high morale

• State of negative emotions and objective conditions of existence are not symmetrically selected

• Psychological state is not related to absolute deprivation

• E.g. worst time of bad government is when it initiates reforms

Merton

• Relative deprivation is related to the

reference group whose perspective is adopted by the actor

• Reference group can

be individual/collectivity, real/imagined

Harold Kelley

• Two types of reference group –

Normative (emulation) and perspective (self

evaluation)

Marx

• Pauperization

• Capitalist society talks of equal society but in reality it doesn’t happen

• In feudal society , no such problem. It is a system based on

inequality

David F Aberle

• State of negative discrepancy between legitimate expectation and reality

Runciman

• Feeling of RD develops when A wants Y since B has Y

• B is the reference group for A

• A feels it is legitimate and feasible to have Y

• Factor for RD – Education, Economic growth, Egalitarian theory, Aftermath of war

T.R. Gurr

• RD depends on 2 variables – legitimate expectations and perceived capability

• Expectations increase , capability is constant – Aspirational Deprivation

• Expectation is constant, capability decreases – Decrimental deprivation

• Expectations increase , capability decreases – Progressive deprivation

• RD explains why protests develop

• Does not explain when it develops

• RD can be there for years, but protests might

not have developed

• RD is necessary but not a sufficient condition

Structural Strain Theory

(Neil J Smelser) • When the prevailing value system and the

normative structure do not meet the

aspirations of the people, the society faces a

strain.

• New Value system is sought to replace the

existing value system

Different Stages

Structural Conduciveness (Rigidity,

mobilization of resources etc)

Structural Strain (Equilibrium,

Malintegration, Maladjustment, Contradiction)

Generalizing belief/ Ideology (which

articulates grievances, defines, justifies)

Coordinated group/organization

Precipitating Event Operation (failure) of

social control

Resource Mobilization Theory (Tilly, From Mobilization to Revolution,1979)

Social Unrest is always

present in the society

To be effective it needs

to muster resources like

leadership,

organizational capacity, communication facilities

Has to use them within

existing political

opportunity structure

Not limited to existing

resources. Can create

resources

Fails to explain how

Black Rights Movement,

Arab Spring Movement

took place despite resource crunch

Revitalization Theory (A.C. Wallace)

• Social Movements can be revitalizing in nature (as opposed to theories that social movement arise out of negative conditions)

• Social movements can develop out of a deliberate, conscious, organized effort on the part of the members of the society to construct a more satisfying culture for themselves

• Positive Movements

• Can be divided into 4 stages

– Cultural stability – people are happy , satisfied

– Changes – give rise to individual stress

– Collective perception – cultural distortion, disillusionment

– Revitalization

Theory of Historicity

• Allain Touraine – “The voice and the Eye: An analysis of social movements, 1981”

• Cause of movement is rooted in historicity of a

place and people where it started

• Movement should be understood in terms of

its specific historicity

Status Inconsistency Theory

• Broom and Lenski

• Objective discrepancy between people’s ranking and status dimension generates

tensions leading to cognitive dissonance,

discontent, protest

• Education, income, occupation

Psychological Factors

• Eric Hoffer (“The True Believer”) • What kind of people attracted to movements

– Socially maladjusted bored with life

– Would be creative who do not get chance to be

creative

– Downwardly mobile

Types of Social Movements

• Liberal

• Marxist

• Fundamentalist

• Gandhian etc.

Ideology

• Peaceful

• Violent Methods

• Value Orientation

• Power Orientation

• Participation Orientation

Orientation (Turner and

Killian)

• Migratory

• Expressive

• Reformative

• Revolutionary

• Reactionary

• Utopian

Horton and Hunt

Types of Social Movements

N.J.Smelsor

•Norm Oriented Movements

•Value Oriented Movements

M.S.A. Rao

•Reform Movements

•Transformative Movements

•Revolutionary Movements

D. Aberle

•Reformative

•Transformative

•Redemptive

•Alternative

Focus of the movement

• In which section - Women, farmer , student movements

Scale and Spatial spread

•All India, Regional, Local

Issue of interest

•Women liberation, equality etc.

Leadership

• Clarifies issues, shapes movements

• Provides guidance , direction

• Prevents it from becoming unruly

• Reflects the view of the people

• Articulates the view of the people

• Leads according to his understanding of situation, and incorporates ideas of participants

Role of Ideology

C. Geertz

• A system of interacting symbols – ideology

• Acts as a bridge between source analysis and consequence analysis

MSA Rao

• Interprets the environment and projects self image

• Codifies and organizes the beliefs, myths, outlooks, values

• Defines aspirations and interests

• Directs responses to specific social situation

• Establishes identity in relation to other groups

• Draws boundary based on group ideology

• Identifies reference groups and their monopolies

Different Kinds of Ideology

Marxist Ideology

• Groups experiencing relative deprivation likely to adopt this

Millenarian Ideology

• When opposition is too powerful

• One needs to provoke Gods to come to one’s rescue

• Belief that at a certain time in future an extraordinary occurrence will happen

Withdrawal and Reorganisation theme

• Existing dominant ideology is reinterpreted in a favorable way

Rejection of an ideology and adoption

of a new one

• Mahar Movement

New Social Movements

• Coined by French Sociologist – Alain Touraine

• New issues, New organizations, New social constituencies, New methods

• 1960s – Students movements

• 1970s – Feminist Movements

• 1980s – Anti-nuclear movements

• 1990s – Gay right movements

Habermas

• New Social Movements, 1981

• New politics – quality of life,

individual self realisation, human

rights

• Old politics – economic, political ,

military security

Frank Parkin

• Middle Class Radicalism, 1968

• Key actors are different

• Likely to come from the new middle class rather than lower classes

Goals

• Focus not on materialistic qualities but on liberal ideals like human rights

• Focus on social changes in identity,

lifestyle, culture rather than public policy

• Broader agenda

Feature

• More social and cultural than political

• Don’t seek to take over state. Work at cultural level to bring social change

Organisation forms and means

• Informal , loosely organised social

network of supporters

• Paul Byrne – relatively disorganized

or polycephalous

Methodologies

• Different and varied

• Political lobbying to sit-ins to

alternative festivals

• Non violent , symbolic direct action

• Moral high ground, mass media

Revolution • James M Jasper – “Revolution is a social movement that seeks, as

minimum, to overthrow the government or state”

• Broadest sense – radical change (Green Revolution, Knowledge revolution etc.)

• Rapid, fundamental transformation of society’s social, economic and political structures which are mutually reinforcing

• How are they different from revolt, uprising, rebellion etc. – the long lasting impact, irresistibility , irrevocability

• Associated with positive, desirable human values (equality , liberation)

• Can be revivalist, reformist but not conservatory

• Maybe viewed differently depending on the context

Types (Theda Skocpol)

Social Revolutions – Comprehensive change

Political Revolutions – Mass political Participation

Revolution from Above – Political

Elites

Anti Colonial Revolution

Failed Revolution

Causes of Revolution

Unequal property relations and awareness of exploitation

(Marx). Will happen in industrially advanced countries.

Lenin – party is required for cultivating class consciousness

Mobilization of peasant (Mao). Challenges the notion that

peasants are backward looking and incapable of mobilization

Leo Trotsky

• Uneven development and uneasy mixture of traditional mode of

production

• Weak and defunct state apparatus

• Action of other states (Afghanistan,

Russia)

N.J. Smelsor

• Structural Strain Theory (maladjustment between sub system)

T.R. Gurr

• Situation of Progressive deprivation

Causes of revolution in 3rd World

countries

Ideology Uneven economic growth

Downturn in the economy

John Foran’s 36 3rd World revolutions

• Dependency model of development

• Repressive and exclusionary states

• Political culture of revolution

• Break down of ties with the first

World

Consequence of Revolution

Transformation of traditional and feudal

societies into industrial capitalist societies

Rapid improvement of welfare measures

Science and technology might not

develop equally rapidly

Revolution are usually anti democratic in

nature – can lead to totalitarian regimes

In long term leadership has to become

moderate to survive

Future of Revolution

Less based on mass insurrections

Religious fundamentalism is

on the rise

Sectional differences are

emphasized

Increasing ability of the state to

suppress dissent

Anti colonialist and Marxist strategy

are defunct

Lineage and Descent

Kinship • A particular type of social relation

• Social relations based upon social recognition of biological ties

• Biological ties can be through sexuality or descent

• Sexuality – Mates to each other

– Affinity – bonds of sexuality socially recognised

• Descent – May share a common gene pool

– Consanguinity – bonds of descent socially recognised

• If biological ties are there but no social recognition ?

• Trobrianders and adopted child ?

Biological ties

• Direct – Persons connected through direct descent are called

lineals (father-son, grandfather – grand daughter etc.)

– They are always from different generations

• Shared – Persons connected through shared descent are called

collateral

– Can be of different generations

– brother-sister, uncle-nephew

Direct Shared

Sexuality Husband-Wife Co-husbands, co-

wives

Affinity

Descent Father-Son, Father

– daughter, grand

father - grandson

Brother-sister,

Brother -brother

Consanguinity

Lineal (direct

descent)

• The way biological ties are given a social recognition , defines the character of the group

• Direct sexuality is regulated by institutions like marriage

• Marriage is an institution by which groups and individuals acquire certain rights in each other.

• The rights fall under 2 categories – kinship and domestic rights

• If rights are direct , it gives rise to an arrangement called monogamy (one spouse in one gender) – Straight life – marital life can not be dissolved , marriage right exercised only once

– Serial monogamy – marriage more or less contractual

• If right is shared , the marriage is called polygamy – Polyandry

• Adelphic or Fraternal Polyandry – Khas (UK), Todas (Nilgiris)

• Non fraternal Polyandry – Nayyars , Marquesas islands

– Polygyny

• Traditional India – Polygyny for men

– Straight life monogamy for women

• Preferential marriages – Levirate – Woman marrying husband’s brother on husband’s death

– Surrorate – Husband marrying wife’s sister on wife’s death

– Cross-cousin marriages

Descent

• Biological Descent means inheritance of gene pool

• Social descent

– When the descent principle is socially recognised

– Becomes the basis for transmission of property, group membership, offices and social identity

• Transmission of genes vs. transmission social attributes

• Depending upon social recognition of descent, different types of descent groups may emerge

Types

Unilineal Descent

•When one line of descent is recognised

•Patrilineal – If that one line is male line (

only sons inherit property, surname etc.) , relatives in the patrilineal line - agnate

•Matrilineal – if that one line is female line

- e.g. Nayyars , Bunts , Rare, Matrilineal puzzle

Double Unilineal or Bilineal or Double Descent

•Both lines are recognised but asymmetrically

•Yako, Nigeria – moveable property from one side, immovable from other side

Ambilateral or Ambilineal Descent

•Choice is left to the individual

•One son joins mother’s side business , another son joins father’s side business

•Samoan Islands

Parallel Descent

•Sons inherit from father

•Daughters inherit from mother

Cross/Alternative Descent

•Girls from father

•Boys from mothers

Bilateral Descent

•Emerging trend

•Both lines recognised equally and

symmetrically

Robin Fox

The women have

children

The men impregnate the women

The men usually exercise control

Primary kins do not mate with

each other

(incest

taboo)

• Depending on descent principle there emerged different descent groups in unilineal descent – Phratory

– Clans

– Lineages

• Phratory and clan trace their descent from a common mythical ancestor (animate/inanimate/human/non human)

• Lineages have a real ancestor

Lineages

• A number of families which are linked by a common ancestor , whose identity is known , form a group called lineage

Clan

• A number of lineages linked together with a common ancestor whose identity is not known is called clan

• E.g. Gotra

Phratory

• A number of clans having a common mythical ancestor

• Endogamous group

• E.g. Caste

Descent Groups Functions

Cultural Function

•perform certain rituals on occasions like birth, marriage

Exogamous

•Strong sense of shared identity. Insider vs. outsider

Property Management

•Have built in authority structure

•Normally exercised by senior males

Role Sharing

•Individual’s economic rights and responsibilities defined by his/her position

Jural Units

•In many societies descent groups decide their own disputes

War groups

•Evans Pritchard – kinship groups convert into war groups

Rules of inheritance

•In line with the reckoning of descent in most societies

Clan and Phratory

• Too Large

• Not much functional in day to day life

• Participation in common worship

• Regulations of marriage [within clan

marriage restricted]

Lineage

• Functional unit

• Land allocated to lineages in simple societies

• Political work

• Social security to groups

• At present – market economics , welfare

state, geographical mobility

• Political significance

Kindred

• Loose knit group which consists of kins

from both the sides

• Participate in

functions like marriages, mourning

etc.

• At present lineage

getting replaced by kindred

Patriarchy and Sexual Division of

Labour

Patriarchy

Literally means -

the rule of father

Used to describe the social systems

between male heads of household

Exercise of control

and domination by

men over women

Sex and Gender

One Group of Sociologists

• Rooted in biological

differences

• Results of adaptation (suitability , desirable ,

functional)

Feminists

• Difference is socially created

• Exploitative and dysfunctional

• Much more enduring than any other form

• Needs to be altered

Sylvia Walby

• A system of social structures

and practices in which men

dominate and oppress women

– Theorizing Patriarchy, 1990

• Private and Public Patriarchy

Culture

•sex specific roles, commodification,

identity

Household

•unpaid labour

Sexuality

•more l imitations to sexual freedom,

marriage

Violence

•form of over powering women

Paid Work

•his torically discriminated in jobs

State

•state has had a patriarchal view

Kate Millett – Sexual Politics (Factors of Patriarchy)

Ideological Biological Sociological Class

Subordination

Economic and educational

Force Myth and Religion

Psychological

A Oakley

• Historical factors behind patriarchy

• Emphasizes role of industrialization and Victorian ideology in domestication of women and their relegation to housewives roles

Family

• Authority

structures

• Inheritance

Rights

• Rituals

• Division of Labour

Society

• Gender

Discrimination

• Division of

Labour

• Physical and sexual violence

Shulamith Firestone “Dialectics of Sex”

Sexual oppression is the most fundamental form of oppression

Criticizes Marx for overlooking into the exploitative aspects of biological reproduction

Mothering role makes women dependent on men

Human infants dependent on parents for long

Out of dependence develops unequal power distribution

Inequality has reduced due to development of birth control technology , but true equality only if gender based identity and mothering role is abolished.

Radical feminist view – liberating from womanhood

Patriarchy and Matriarchy • Patriarchal structure implies coincidence of the below factors -

– when descent is patrilineal

– when inheritance of major property is from father to son

– when residence is patrilocal

– when authority is concentrated in the hands of senior males.

• No society has features which are exact reverse of these.

• Even in matrilineal, matrilocal systems major property is usually controlled by males

• The term 'matriarchy', though found in literature might be a misnomer

• No conclusive evidence to support that matriarchy was universal in early stage in development of kinship systems.

Sexual Division of Labour

• Process of dividing work between people on

the basis of their sex

• Has been in existence since time immemorial

Biological Approach

J A Gray and A W H Buffery

• Fundamental Biological Differences (genitals, brains etc.)

• So social differences

• Girl child – left hemisphere – linguistic skills

• Boy child – right hemisphere – spatial visual skills

• Difference in hormones and genes

• Testosterone – Aggression – difference in behaviour

Robin Fox and Lionel Tiger

Sexual DOL – result of adaptation to

social environment

Man since 3 million years

Tools usage since 3000-4000 years

Modern man since 40000 years

All along had been a hunter – sexual DOL

Women – base camp , pregnancy, lateral

vision Men – Tunnel vision Evolved differently

The Imperial Animal,

1972 - Human Biogrammar – type

of genetic program

Women programmed

differently

Production vs. reproduction/care

Result of biological adaptation

Parsons

• Sexual DOL and complementary

personalities are functional

• Women are more emotional

• Important for primary socialization, adult

personality stabilization

Murdoch

• Survey of 225 societies world over

• Sexual DOL all over

• Gender roles emerge because they are

practical

• Physical strength of

men

• Women bear children

John Bowlby

• Juvenile delinquency study

• Those deprived of intimate relation with

mother - more tendency to commit

violence

Socio Cultural Approach

Ann Oakley

• Used same data as Murdoch

• Found societies where sole responsibility of lumbering is with females

• African tribes where women go for hunting, Israeli army

• Women in construction sector in India

• Women can take up physically strenuous work

• Upbringing causes the difference

• Pre industrial phase – equal space for both men and women

• Industrial phase – “housewife” role

• Exclusively for women, dependent on men, unpaid work, privatized, isolated

Bruno Bettelheim

• Study of Kibbutz

• Mother-child relation not essential for effective socialization

Jessie Bernard (The future of

marriage,1976)

• Men and women have different experiences in marriage

• Married men (vs. single men) more likely to have successful careers

• Wives (vs. single women) more likely to suffer from depression

Hoschild

• The Second Shift, 1989

• Employed women face harassment in 2 shifts

W Yeung

• Women’s shift to paid employment increasing

• But not much significant shift of men in domestic work

Cordelia Fine

• Delusions of Gender,2010

• Men and women not programmed naturally with different interests and capabilities

• Cultural and societal beliefs contribute to the difference

• Gender is recycled

Uma Chakravorty

• Brahminical traditions

• Glorification of obedient women

• Gender discrimination is veiled

• Motherhood is considered the primary role

Veena Das

• Devi Dasi dichotomy

Changes

• Role of economy

• Women taking up so called masculine jobs

• Hold of religion is weakening

• Role of family is also changing

• Laws

• Goran Therbon - Patriarchal power declines in

2 stages:

– WW-1, Russian Revolution - promoted equality

– Sexual revolutions of mid 70s - International

women year-1975, second wave of feminism and

legislative powers to women in many countries

and larger public role

Sociological Theories of Social Change

• Linear Theories of Social change

– Society gradually moves to an even higher state of civilization

– Advances in a linear fashion and in the direction of improvement

• Cyclical Theories of Social Change

– Society goes through certain cycles

– Looking to the cyclic changes of days and nights and of climates

• Structural Functionalist Theories

Linear Theories

Comte

• Law of three stages –Theological,

Metaphysical, Positivistic

• Intellectual Development

• Organic and Critical periods

• Social Statics and Social Dynamics

Spencer

• Social Darwinist

• Survival of the fittest

• Differentiation and Integration

• Stages of evolution – simple, compound, doubly compound and trebly compound

• Military , Industrial ,

Tylor

• Phases – animism, polytheism and

monotheism

• In terms of cultural growth

Morgan

• Stages – Primitive, Barbaric and Civilized

Ferdinand Tonnies

• Existence of two types of will – Essential will and arbitrary will

• Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

• Linear evolution

• Size ? Homogenous or heterogeneous ? Type of interaction ? Stratification ? Order ? Role of

Religion ?

Hegel

• Dialectics

• History is formed through dialectic process

• Idea X Opposite idea

• Thesis, anti thesis and synthesis

Marx

• Materialism

• Class struggle is the driving force behind social

change

• Revolution – Communist Society

Criticism

• Values bias

• Lack of objectivity

• Arm chair theories

W G Ogburn

• Exists when two or more social variables which were in some form of agreement or mutual adjustment became disassociated and maladjusted by differential rates of change

• Criticism

– Which aspects lag behind

– Now non material changes might be faster

Cyclical Theories

• Oswald Spengler

– Birth, Maturity, Decay, death

– E.g. Roman and British Empire

• Arnold J Toynbee

– Growth, Arrest and Decline of civilizations

Pareto

• Theory of circulation of Elites

• Rome

• Society as a system in equilibrium and also

consisting of parts

• Change in one part leads to change in other

parts

Pitrim Sorokin

• Social and Cultural Dynamics, 1938

• Classification according to “Cultural Mentality”

• Ideational (Spiritual)

• Sensate (Material)

• Idealistic (Synthesis of two)

• Social Change follow a cyclic pattern (like a pendulum)

• Perceived by mind vs. Perceived by senses

• Abstract , religious ideas vs. hedonistic, sensual, materialistic pleasure

Criticism

• Abstract

• Speculative

• How to test them empirically

• Prejudices

Structure Functionalistic View

• Systems view of change

– Restorative

• Evolutionary view of social change

– Evolution of society from simple to compound ones

– Evolutionary universal

– With evolution -> problem to integration -> generalization of values

Feminist Perspective

• Centrality of gender

• Social reality viewed differently by different

genders

Jean Baudrillard

• Opposes Marxist idea that society dominated

by economic structure

• Increasingly controlled by mass media

Michael Foucault

• Increasing surveillance and discipline in

society

Agents of Social Change

• Population (Demography)

• Technology

• Religious factor

• Conflict (Structural Strain, deprivation, cultural revitalisation)

• Economic factors

• Ideology

• Political factors (Charismatic Leader, type of political regime)

• Social Movements

• Cultural factors (Cultural Contact and Acculturation)

• Common Purpose (3rd World countries)

• Chance Happenings

• Ecological factors

Demography

• Importance given by classical evolutionists

and neo-evolutionists

• Change in birth rates, death rates and

migration

• Change due to demographic transition of

society

Technology

• L. H. Morgan, Karl Marx, Engels, Gordon

Childe

• Ogburn “cultural lag” – role of technology in

social change

Religious factor

• Can act as an agent of change

• Can resist change

• Weber – Protestant Ethics and

industrialization

Conflict

• Social change caused by conflict and tension

• Marx

• Neil J Smelsor – Structural Strain

• Merton – Relative Deprivation

• Social division based on class, caste, gender, ethnicity etc. have been the major drivers for change

Economic Factors

• Karl Marx – Importance given to economic

infrastructure

• Globalisation, Information age etc.

• Discovery of oil in middle East

Ideology

• New ideas and changes in existing ideas

• Weber –Rationalisation of religious ideas

Political Factors

• Ruling class determines political atmosphere

• Distribution of power

• Gradual changes

Social Movements

• Change in values, norms, institutions, culture,

traditions

Cultural Factors

• Diffusionists

• Invention, discovery , diffusion

• Cultural contact and acculturation

Common Purpose

• Emergence of Common Purpose

• Role of state

• Deliberate Social change

Chance Happenings

• Outbreak of Plague in England

• 1st outbreak in 14th century – Half population

died

• Federalism broke down

• Helped in emergence of industrialism

Ecological factors

• Emerging as a new factor of social change

• Global warming

Education and Social Change

Education

The process of cultivation of distinct qualities and traits through explicit instructions or through implicit inhibition as part of growing up amidst family, kin and peer groups

Education is a formal process of communication between several generations whereby older generation transmits values, ideas, skills to the younger generation

Francis J Brown - Education is a process which brings about changes in the behavior of society. It is a process which enables every individual to effectively participate in the

activities of society and to make positive contribution to the progress of society

Literacy

• Delimited to the skills of reading, writing and

arithmetic - the so-called three R's.

• Expectations

– better able to secure a livelihood

– raise productivity

– safeguard their own and their nation's interests more

competently than their non-literate counterparts.

• Education is characterized by the moral,

intellectual, and spiritual development of a

person.

Functions of education Socialization into new

attitudes and values – inculcates social values like

empathy and rational

investigation (e.g. sati, child marriage ban)

Redefines social groups –

raises expectations Up-gradation of skills

Equality of opportunity –

more open society, more avenues for social mobility,

bargaining powers

Broadens mental horizons –

promotes liberal ideas, banish social evils, blind

customs, minimizes

discrimination.

Encourages openness to

change

Education also prepares

society for change by creating

awareness/expectation for

change

Inculcates attitude for

deferred gratification - postponement of goals

Economic Role – Close

linkage with economic system . Industrial revolution

- Mass education, Technical

education

Social Mobility – Avenues for

social Mobility (occupational mobility, inter and intra

generational mobility)

Evaluation of Change

Creates condition for change

Greater Awareness –

Leads to protest for justice (Dalit Protest,

Feminist Protest)

Increase in

expectation – demand stimulus

Increase in skills –

caters to supply

Facilitates

democratization of society – Political

Modernization

Education creates

more equal, rational attitude to relations – social mobility

Secularization of

mindset

Durkheim

• Agent of transmission of social norms

• Respecting rules – learn

to be part of larger group

• Skill development which

helps in sustaining DOL

• Transmits both general and specific values

Parsons

• Schools are society in miniature

• Role allocation

• Child judged on universalistic standards

• Value of achievement and value of equal opportunity

• Differential educational achievements and

differential rewards

• Social control, character building , human

resource development, economic development

Feminist Perspective

• McRobbie and Sue Lee

• Reproduces feminine roles in girls

• Reinforces gender stereotypes

Paul Willis

• Boys use derogatory

language (not checked

in schools)

• Produces aggressive masculinity

Althusser (Marxist)

• Ideology and

Ideological state

apparatus, 1972

• Education reinforces dominant ideology

• It is appropriated by ruling class to pursue its own ideas and interests

• Hinders Social change

Bowles and Gintis

• Schooling in Capitalist

America,1976

• Education is a giant myth making machine

• Curriculum serves the interest of the dominant groups

Ivan Illich

• Deschooling

Society,1971

• Education promotes existing social relations

• Grade advancement ~ education, Diploma ~ competence

• Suffocate creativity and deskill individuals*

• Passive consumption

•Education, Opportunity and Social Inequality,1974

•Not sufficient to ensure social mobility

•Inequality perpetuated

•Commercialization of education

•Working class suited education

Raymond

Boudon

•Helps in reproduction of cultural capital

•Impacts acquisition of other capital

•Unequal societies – unequal educational attainments

•Immediately a fter revolution vs. Gradually

Pierre Bourdieu

•Working class kids get working class jobs

•Differential education – differential reproduction of cultural values Paul Willis

•Education reduced to means of economic development

•Should have been a l iberalising, humanising, democratic force Sally Tomilson

Education and Social Mobility

DV Glass study

• Self recruitment highest among professionals and high administrative

occupation categories, Social mobility

short ranged, proportion of sons with same occupation as fathers was one

third

Oxford study after 27 years

• Absolute mobility increased and long ranged as well but relative mobility

was still low, inequality persisted

P. Saunders Study

• Higher social mobility in industrial society, but dependent on class

position

P. Boudon

• Cultural capital leads to higher financial capital thus leading to

higher mobility

Rogoff Study in US

• Most likely job of a son was the job occupied by his father.

• Education not an ultimate equaliser

• If hierarchy is already there it will not equalise