SOC-1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Natural Product, Multiple Working, Arlie Russell Hochschild
Document Summary
The economy is a natural product of the economic activities, initiative, and hard work of individuals acting in a free market (unencumbered by social structures and institutions). One social function of the economy is to be the great equalizer and facilitate social mobility. It provides equal opportunity, rewards initiative, and punishes laziness. Set by supply and demand (price mechanism) Any laws, regulations are seen as unnatural. The economy is a complex social domain made up of multiple, overlapping institutions, in which there is a back-and-forth between structural constraints and individual agency. The purpose of capitalist economies is first and foremost the accumulation of capital. Not only is the welfare of ordinary people not a priority; but the system actually benefits from the perpetuation of social inequalities. As much a social construct as gender. Our social selves are embedded in multiple institutions. What happens in economic sphere affects our family life.
