End of the Year Reflection.

       Sociology is a very interesting subject which helped me understand society in a much deeper level. I learned more about things that I wouldn't have been interested in learning because they were so common to me, like family for example. To be honest though, I enjoyed psychology a lot more because to me individuals are more interesting than overall communities. There were some subjects, however, that I really loved such as economy and politics. I also liked the documentaries we watched. Overall, the class was very interesting but in the end psychology was more interesting for me.

How Facebook CHangesd the World: The Arab Spring

       The Arab Spring was a series of revolutions made possible by Facebook which started in Tunisia. It all started with a young fruit seller who had had enough of the government and the corrupt police. After an encounter with police brutality he set himself on fire as a form of protest. This event inspired a protest against the government and dictator Ben Ali. Once big crowds gathered the people lost their fear and started to spout their views openly. When the police arrived what started as a peaceful protest, became a street war. Yet almost everyone in the crowd had a cell phone and many recorded the riot. The police was trying to arrest people with cell phones but many were hidden in strategic places where they could film. These videos were uploaded via Facebook and went viral. In the end, Tunisia was able to get rid of their dictator and this inspired their nations to revolutionize. From Morocco to Yemen, the citizens were trying to overthrow their government. Another successful revolution was and Egypt and like Tunisia it was made possible because of the Internet. The Internet was the safest place to express their views because other than governmental WebPages, the leaders did not pay much attention to it. 

Countires 

       The series of revolutions in the Arab world known as “The Arab Spring” are examples of the contagion theory of collective behavior. This theory states that the hypnotic power of a crowd forces people to abandon their individuality to the stronger pull of the group. This can be seen in a smaller scale and in a larger scale. In Tunisia, for example, the people finally lost their fear of voicing their opinion when they were in the crowd. This is because the crowd gave them power and they weren’t individual people anymore, they were anonymous. One can also argue that the chain effect that this revolution had is part of collective behavior. When people in other countries saw how Tunisia got rid of their dictator it encouraged them to do the same thing.

       The cause of these particular social movements can be debatable. One is relative depravation theory. This could apply because the citizens of these nations felt deprived of rights. This may have triggered but the reason some of the revolutions were successful were due to resource-mobilization theory. Without the help of educated Tunisians, computer experts and the internet (Facebook), the Arab Spring would not have been as successful as it was. This is because the way the revolutionaries were able to operate was through the internet and they were able to show the rest of the world what was really going on.

       Social movements like these are the ones that usually bring the best for the people. Tunisia got rid of her oppressor in just a few days. This would have never been possible without the internet. One single event can inspire many people to fight for their rights but without the resources needed, even the noblest revolution will fail.

Chapter 18 Social Change and Modernization

For a society to progress it must bring social change to the malfunctioning of the society. Throughout history we have seen social change for the better like in the French Revolution or the Enlightenment. Because of changes like these we have the modern society we have now. But still we keep moving forward inventing new ways of progress.

Social change is defined as alterations in sections of society over time. A cynical theory of social change views change in a historical point of view. When a society arises, it goes through change as part of a natural development. According to Pitirim Sorokin all cultures fluctuate between two extreme forms of culture. Ideational culture which functions on a base of faith and religion and sensate culture where people knowledge seek through science. And idealistic culture is a mixture of the two. He referred to the natural tendency of social change as the principle of immanent change. Evolutionary theorists in the 1800’s believed that societies evolved through distinct stages of social development. Modern evolutionary theorists on the other hand believe that societies get more complex naturally. The equilibrium theory of social change compares society to a living organism and when it is disrupted, change will come. The conflict theory of social change states that when two or more opposing groups clash it will bring social change.

Core, Periphery and Semiperiphery nations

Modernization is when society’s institutions become more complex and it moves towards industrialization. The modernization theory states that more developed nations are modernized because they industrialized first. According to the world system theory, the world is composed of three types of countries. Core nations are developed nations such as the USA, Japan and Canada. Peripheral nations are poor countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Finally semiperipheral nations are between core and peripheral nations.

Our society naturally gets more complex and moves towards an even more modernized future. This is because all societies have change at some point and the old ways are replaced with new, more functional ways. We are all moving to an even more modernized future.

Chapter 17 Collective Behavior and Social Movement

In many places the people are upset with their government or the way their society works. Every once in a while, when the people cannot take it anymore, they try to change that part of society that they don’t like. Sometimes they are successful, other times they are not.

       Collective behavior is the relatively spontaneous social behavior that occurs when people try to develop common solutions to unclear situations. Groups that exhibit collective behavior are called collectives. Three factors distinguish these collectives and they are limited interaction (there is little to no interaction), unclear norms (behavior is unclear or unconventional), and limited unity. A collectivity is a gathering of people that barely interact and have unclear norms and unity. A crowd is a temporary gathering of people who are close enough proximity to interact. A mob is an emotionally charged collectivity whose members are united by a specific destructive or violent goal. A riot is a collection of people who erupt into generalized destructive behavior. A panic is a spontaneous an uncoordinated group action to escape a perceived threat. A moral panic occurs when people become fearful-often without a reason- about behavior that appears to threaten society’s core values. Fashions refer to enthusiastic attachments among large groups of people for particular styles. Fads are similar to fashions but last a short period of time. A rumor is an unverified piece of information that is spread rapidly. Urban legends are stories that teach a lesson and seem realistic but are not. Propaganda is an organized and deliberate attempt to shape public opinion. Contagion theory states that the hypnotic power of a crowd forces people to give up their individuality to strengthen the group.

"Liberty Guiding the People" by Eugene Delacroix depicts a revolutionary movement.

       Social movements are more deliberate and long lasting forms of collective behavior. Reactionary movements have the goal of reversing the current social trends. Conservative movements try to protect what they see as society’s prevailing values. Revisionary movements try to improve a part of society through social change and finally revolutionary movements are complete radical change of the existing social structure. The life cycle of social movements is agitation, legitimation, bureaucratization, and institutionalization. Relative depravation theory states that people join social groups because they feel deprived relative to other groups. Resource mobilization theory states that even the most ill-treated group with the most just cause will be able to bring social change without resources.

       Regimes are overthrown constantly, this is because the people are unsatisfied with their rules. Throughout history it has been common that groups are made to bring social change, the Magna Carta and the French Revolution are examples. When the people feel threatened or unsatisfied, they will do anything in their power to change it.

Chapter 16 Population and Urbanization

       A society is composed of a population. The amount of people living at the same place can greatly affect how a society works. An example is urbanization which is caused by people moving to cities and leaving the country. Great population increase or decrease affects the functioning society.

       A population is the number of people living in an area at a particular time. Demography is the area of sociology devoted to the study of human populations. The measure to describe the amount of births is the birthrate and its formula is Birthrate=live births/Total population X 1000. Fertility is used to describe the number of women of child bearing age that are actually having children. Fecundity is the biological capability to bear children. The number of deaths within a society is the mortality. The measure to calculate the number of deaths in a population is the death rate. The infant mortality rate is the amount of children under the age of one year that die. Life expectancy is the amount of years a person is expected to live according to the year they were born. Migration is the movement of one specified area to another. The migration rate is calculated by the amount of immigration and emigration. The rate at which a countries population increases is called the growth rate. The Malthusian theory was developed by Thomas Malthus and it stated that population would grow to astronomical numbers and that there would be famine, war and conflict due to it. The demographic transition theory states that a country’s population depends on its technological development. Zero growth rate is the point where the birthrates almost match the death rates creating zero population growth.

One Child Policy in China 

       Urbanization is a concentration of the population in cities. A city is a permanent residence for a large number of people who do not engage in farming activities. The evolution of cities are the preindustrial cities to the industrial cities. Overurbanization happens when more people live in a city than the city can provide for in jobs or facilities. There are different types of city structures which are the concentric model, the sector model, the multiple nuclei model and the urban ecology model.

       People are always seeking a better life. Overpopulation is caused by people having children to take care of them. Under population is caused when having children brings economical problems. Urbanization happens when people decide to leave the country and move to the city.