SOCA01H3 Lecture 6: Lecture 6
Thursday October 22, 2009 ± Lecture 6 Societies and the Individual
Today read: BRYM Chapter 4, 16 pages 465-470
Solutions to problem of order:
1. Socialization
2. Force
3. Exchange
4. Emotion
2 Statements
1. Society is the product of human activity (we are its creators)
2. Individuals are the product of the society.
As Creators
-Robinson Crusoe: Create the society the way they want since there were only two of them.
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-Creation: For example, fish on Friday. Could become givens to follow.
As Products
-Fish becomes institutionalized and normative.
-Mythologized: Human origins hidden.
-Fish police: Constraining. For example, smoke police, green police, etc.
Individuals As Products Of Society
-Societal metaphor: Society is like a bus. You get on for a ride and thrown out when dead. Not as
constrained as a train and has the ability to move around more freely.
Are There Cultural Universals?
-Able to construct the way we want, not real natural givens.
-For example, family structure, rules governing our behaviour.
-There are rules yes, but they are not very specific. For example, like murder, cannot kill but able
to kill for self-defense (violence in the group).
-Incest taboo: Varies from place to place (how closely is the relation between one-another?)
±Funerals (ie. Mourning): Differ around the world like in Ireland, woman dress in black for one
year.
-Emerging ones? Like human rights.
Virtually all social practices are relative
-Larceny, incest, infanticide, parricide, etc. everything has at some time been accounted a
virtuous action.
Blaise Pascal
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Solution 1: Socialization
-Individuals must be socialized.
www.notesolution.com
Document Summary
Thursday october 22, 2009 lecture 6 societies and the individual. Today read: brym chapter 4, 16 pages 465-470. Solutions to problem of order: socialization, force, exchange, emotion. 2 statements: society is the product of human activity (we are its creators, individuals are the product of the society. Robinson crusoe: create the society the way they want since there were only two of them. You get on for a ride and thrown out when dead. Not as constrained as a train and has the ability to move around more freely. Able to construct the way we want, not real natural givens. For example, family structure, rules governing our behaviour. There are rules yes, but they are not very specific. For example, like murder, cannot kill but able to kill for self-defense (violence in the group). Incest taboo: varies from place to place (how closely is the relation between one-another?)
