Sociology - Real World - Ch 11: Globalization Issues
She would disapprove because she thinks that low-wage work is demeaning and insufficient to survive on.
What do you think that Barbara Ehrenreich would say about efforts to reform welfare that tried to move people off welfare rolls and into minimum wage jobs?
it is human nature to seek out work
What does Karl Marx believe is the natural human attitude toward work and productive activity?
It instituted limits on secondary strikes and boycotts.
What effect did the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 have on unions?
communism
A system of government that eliminates private property; the most extreme form of socialism, because all citizens work for the government and there are no class distinctions (page 331)
In service work, unlike manufacturing work, it is common for workers' expectations to conflict with those of customers.
How is service work different from manufacturing work?
communism
What is the most extreme form of socialism called?
opening runaway shops
When manufacturing firms move to other countries to take advantage of cheap labor and lax environmental laws, it is called:
outsourcing
"Contracting out" or transferring to another country the labor that a company might otherwise have employed its own staff to perform; typically done for financial reasons (page 345)
England
Where did the Industrial Revolution begin?
all answers are correct
How are workers' situations different in socialist, as opposed to capitalist, economies?
the importance of place has greatly diminished
How has the Information Revolution changed the nature of work?
membership has steeply declined
How has union membership changed in recent years?
pure communism
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." This slogan could only be fully realized with:
sweatshop
A workplace where workers are subject to extreme exploitation, including below-standard wages, long hours, and poor working conditions that may pose health or safety hazards (page 342)
paying workers less than the value of what they created
According to Karl Marx, where does surplus value come from?
It is damaging to workers and suppresses their real selves.
According to Robin Leidner's Fast Food, Fast Talk, what are the consequences of scripting workers' interactions with customers?
it is damaging to workers, and suppresses their real selves
According to Robin Leidner's Fast Food, Fast Talk, what are the consequences of scripting workers' interactions with customers?
a sweatshop
According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, an employer that violates more than one federal or state labor law concerning wages, overtime, child labor, safety and health, or industrial regulation is classified as:
knowledge work
Advertising, engineering, marketing, product design, and web design are all examples of
knowledge work
Advertising, engineering, marketing, product design, and web design are all examples of:
union
An association of workers who bargain collectively for increased wages and benefits and better working conditions (page 338)
socialism
An economic system based on the collective ownership of the means of production, collective distribution of goods and services, and government regulation of the economy (page 330)
capitalism
An economic system based on the laws of free market competition, privatization of the means of production, and production for profit, with an emphasis on supply and demand as a means to set prices (page 330)
It has shifted the economy toward the production of knowledge and services.
How has the Information Revolution changed the nature of work and the economy?
deep integration
Corporations whose decision-making, production, and distribution operations are spread all over the world are characteristic of:
the increasingly important role that capitalism plays in Cuba
Cuba's communist government has recently introduced reforms that make it easier to attract tourists, and many skilled professionals have started working in the tourism industry to earn more money, regardless of their degree. What is this a sign of?
It emphasized that the workers needed more than wages barely sufficient to keep them alive.
During the 1912 textile mill strikes in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the striking workers' slogan was "bread and roses." What did the slogan mean?
It encourages efficiency through technological innovation.
Edward Brent, a professor of sociology at the University of Missouri, has invented a piece of software called Qualrus, which he uses to grade students' papers. He claims this saves him at least 200 hours of grading every year. Why is using a computer program to grade a particularly capitalist technique?
it encourages efficiency through technological innovation
Edward Brent, a professor of sociology at the University of Missouri, has invented a piece of software called Qualrus, which he uses to grade students' papers. He claims this saves him at least 200 hours of grading every year. Why is using a computer program to grade a particularly capitalist technique?
transnational corporations
Firms that purposely transcend national borders so that their products can be manufactured at sites all over the world are called:
hunting and gathering
Given that the greater the division of labor in a society, the greater the degree of inequality, which type of economic system would you expect to be the most equal?
They exploit workers to produce virtual goods instead of material goods.
How are 'gold farms' different than traditional sweatshops?
they are collective
How are strikes different from acts of resistance like daydreaming on the job?
the race to the bottom
In 1995 the Philippines passed the Special Economic Zone Act, which established certain areas where corporations could set up factories, import raw materials without paying duties or tariffs, and in some cases avoid paying any taxes for a number of years. What is this an example of?
It's about the struggle of janitors, most of them immigrants, to unionize.
In 2000 Ken Loach made a film called Bread and Roses. The film was set in Los Angeles. Given what you know from Chapter 11, what is the film about?
outsourcing
In 2009 the British government announced that it was cutting costs by eliminating many jobs and transferring others to India, including more than 100 jobs involving finance and information technology. What is this an example of?
at least partially socialist
In Great Britain, the government owns the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, which is the world's largest television and radio broadcasting service. This tells you that Great Britain is:
their own labor
In a capitalist system, what do workers have available to sell?
work, vital activity, and productive life
Karl Marx believes that we feel "freely active" only in our "animal functions of eating, drinking, and procreating" and feel like animals when we engage in activities that should be truly human. What are activities that should be truly human?
work, vital activity, productive life
Karl Marx believes that we feel "freely active" only in our "animal functions of eating, drinking, and procreating" and feel like animals when we engage in activities that should be truly human. What are activities that should be truly human?
Information Revolution
The recent social revolution made possible by the development of the microchip in the 1970s, which brought about vast improvements in the ability to manage information (page 327)
a service worker
Someone who gives acupuncture to dogs in order to relieve their stress is:
knowledge worker
Someone who works primarily with information and develops or uses knowledge in the workplace is called:
resistance strategies
Tactics that let workers take back some degree of control over the conditions in which they work are called:
Third Sector
Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days of the year for many soup kitchens and other groups that provide food to the homeless and poor. It's also one of the biggest days of the year for volunteers, as many more people decide to donate their time and efforts, making them, even if just for the day, part of the:
autonomy
The ability to direct one's individual destiny is:
globalization
The cultural and economic changes resulting from dramatically increased international trade and exchange in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries (page 341)
globalization
The cultural and economic changes that result from dramatic increases in international trade and exchange are called:
socialism
The economic system based on collective ownership of the means of production and collective distribution of goods and services is called:
it is named after Henry Ford, who is credited for inventing the assembly line
The economic system in place in industrialized nations during the first half of the twentieth century is often called "Fordism" by sociologists. It is a system characterized by the increasingly efficient mass production of goods. Why do you think that this system is called "Fordism"?
the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
The economy is not only about money, but also about:
Globalization
The fact that almost all of the small electronics used in the United States are made in Asia is an illustration of:
globalization
The fact that almost all of the small electronics used in the United States are made in Asia is an illustration of:
Independent (or Third) Sector
The part of the economy composed of nonprofit organizations; their workers are mission driven, rather than profit driven, and such organizations direct surplus funds to the causes they support (page 353)
Industrial Revolution
The rapid transformation of social life resulting from the technological and economic developments that began with the assembly line, steam power, and urbanization (page 326)
Agricultural Revolution
The social and economic changes, including population increases, that followed from the domestication of plants and animals and the gradually increasing efficiency of food production (page 325)
Moore's Law
The theory that the capacity of microchips will double every 18 months is called:
he advertising firm that scripted the commercial
Think about the process by which athletic shoes are made. Which part of the global commodity chain for these shoes would you be most surprised to find in Indonesia?
the advertising firm that scripted the commercial
Think about the process by which athletic shoes are made. Which part of the global commodity chain for these shoes would you be most surprised to find in Indonesia?
knowledge workers
Those who work primarily with information and who create value in the economy through their ideas, judgments, analyses, designs, or innovations (page 327)
service workers
Those whose work involves providing a service to businesses or individual clients, customers, or consumers rather than manufacturing goods (page 327)
resistance strategies
Ways that workers express discontent with their working conditions and try to reclaim control of the conditions of their labor (page 336)
Businesses get increased productivity and fewer sick days.
What are the benefits of telecommuting?
the switch to a manufacturing economy
What change caused people to migrate into cities from rural areas?
the ease with which manufacturing firms can move operations to another country
What economic change has made it more difficult for workers to strike effectively?
the steam engine
What new technology was integral to the Industrial Revolution?
shallow integration
When Japanese cars that are made entirely in Japan are imported into the United States to be sold to Americans, and American jeans made in the United States are exported to Japan to be sold to Japanese, it is an example of:
shallow integration
When liquor stores in the United States import wine made entirely from French grapes and bottled in France or beer brewed from grain and hops grown in Holland, it is an example of:
individual resistance
When office workers hang pictures in their cubicles or waste time daydreaming while on the clock, it is an example of:
professional socialization
When someone first takes a job as an aesthetician they have to learn how to use wax to remove unwanted body hair from customers. Though certain skills have to be mastered to do this well, new employees also have to learn from their coworkers about how to talk to customers about parts of the body that are usually very private, an example of:
workers who make microchips at a Silicon Valley plant
Which of the following groups of workers would be LEAST likely to strike successfully?
pollution
Which of the following social problems might be alleviated if more Americans were encouraged to telecommute?
unions
Who led campaigns to end child labor and increase workplace safety?
They are paid for their labor but do not own the things they produce.
Why did Karl Marx believe that workers in a capitalist economy experience alienation?
both A and D answers are correct
Why was the successful UPS strike of 1997 relatively unique and unlikely to be repeated?
Having virtual goods isn't just a matter of personal achievement, but also a matter of reputation and status in the community.
Why would anyone want to buy virtual goods for an online computer game like World of Warcraft, rather than gaining them by playing the game?
a resistance strategy
Workers at a large retail outlet are required to wear green aprons with nametags on them, which often leads customers to address them by their first names. Sometimes employees alter their name tags in humorous ways (changing "Asagi" to "Soggy") and then try to convince management that it is a valid name change ("It's what my parents call me"). What is this an example of?
telecommuting
Working from home while staying connected to the office through communications technology (page 334)
closed shops
Workplaces where all of the employees must be members of a union are called:
she is a knowledge worker
You probably have a cell phone in your pocket. If you do, then you could (if you wanted to) buy a ringtone version of a song in just a few seconds. This means that somewhere there is a paid worker, sitting at a computer, using software to edit a digital copy of the original song into a 20-second ring tone. What can you say about this worker?
deep integration
You want to discover who made the comforter on your bed. You notice that one tag says, "Made in the USA from imported materials" and another tag says, "Shell made in China." Eventually you do some research and discover that the cotton for your comforter was grown in Egypt, the thread made in Thailand, the shell woven in China, and the down harvested in South America, before the comforter was assembled in the United States. What is this an example of?