SOC 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Free Trade, Charismatic Authority, Traditional Authority

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 105
• Professor: Mustafa Koc

Document Summary

Work involves activities we engage in to maintain our livelihood. It is a social process necessary for the survival of most people. The economy is the social institution that ensures the maintenance of society through the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Capitalism has become the dominant economic system around the world in the last 500 years. Capitalism: is an economic system characterized by private ownership of the means of production, from which personal profits can be derived through market competition. Capitalism emerged as a world economic system in the 16th century, first in the west and spread around the world during the following centuries. Primary purpose of production is not subsistence (self sufficiency) but private gain (maximization of profit) Sociological answers seek patterns in levels of vulnerability among marginalized groups such as the poor, single mothers, aboriginal peoples, immigrants and ethnic minorities, people on social assistance, students, elderly etc.