Sociology Final Exam

Rachel Carson and Silent Spring

"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death" -Rachel Carson. Silent Spring documented the adverse effects on the environment of the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation and public officials of accepting the industry's marketing claims

Think Tanks

A body of experts providing advice and ideas on specific political or economic problems

Offshoring

A business decision to move all or part of a company's operations abroad to minimize costs

Team Science

A collaborative effort to address a scientific challenge that leverages the strengths and expertise of professionals trained in different fields

Union Busting

A company's assault on its workers' union with the hope of dissolving it

Alienation

A condition in which people are dominated by forces of their own creation that then confront them as alien powers According to Marx, the basic state of being in a capitalist society

Dictatorship

A form of government that restricts the right to political participation to a small group or even to a single individual

Conflict and Strategy (Nisbet)

A game among elites, such as who is winning or losing the debate; or a battle of personalities or groups (usually a journalist-driven interpretation)

Social Movement Organization

A group developed to recruit new members and coordinate participation in a particular social movement; these groups also often raise money, clarify goals, and structure participation in the movement

Designer Babies

A human embryo which has been genetically modified, usually following guidelines set by the parent or scientist, to produce desirable traits

Medicaid Expansion

A joint federal and state program that helps cover medical costs for poor people with limited resources

Corporation

A legal entity unto itself that has a legal personhood distinct from that of its members-namely, its owners and shareholders

Bureaucracy

A legal-rational organization or mode of administration that governs with reference to formal rules and roles and emphasizes meritocracy. Usually structured hierarchically, meaning that the bureaucratic organization has many levels, and there are frequently multiple people working at each level of administration. Each successively higher level is granted greater decision-making control. Positions are highly specialized. The person working in a bureaucracy is detached from the role he or she plays. A bureaucracy is a meritocracy. Highly efficient

Majoritarian Pluralism

A majority of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and has the right to make decisions that affect the society James Madison, "Federalist Papers No. 10" Analyze struggles among political factions Madison argued that in a robust republic, factional struggle would end up representing the needs of most citizens, or at least defeating "tyrannical policies"

Scientific and Technical Uncertainty (Nisbet)

A matter of expert understanding or consensus; a debate over what is known versus unknown; or peer-reviewed, confirmed knowledge versus hype or alarmism

Morality and Ethics (Nisbet)

A matter of right or wrong; or of respect or disrespect for limits, thresholds, or boundaries

Social Progress (Nisbet)

A means of improving quality of life or solving problems; alternative interpretation as a way to be in harmony with nature instead of mastering it

Conceptual Level of Medicalization

A medical vocabulary is used to categorize and define a specific behavior or condition Using medical language to "order" a problem Widespread disagreement about medical/biological explanations for ADD/ADHD among professionals and lay public

Globalization

A multidimensional set of social processes that create, multiply, stretch, and intensify worldwide social exchanges and interdependencies. Implications for capitalism means an increase in trade and economic exchanges among individuals, corporations, and states in different areas of the globe. Four recent phenomena make the current period of globalization novel: new markets, new means of exchange, new players, and new rules

Pandora's Box (Nisbet)

A need for precaution or action in face of possible catastrophe and out-of-control consequences; or alternatively as fatalism, where there is no way to avoid the consequences or chosen path

"Shopping Our Way to Safety" and its Limitations

A person, who, say, drinks bottled water or uses natural deodorant or buys only clothing made of natural fiber is not trying to change anything. All they are doing is try to barricade themselves, individually, from toxic threat, trying to shield themselves from it. Act jointly with others? Try to change things? Make history? No, no. I'll deal with it individually. I'll shop my way out of trouble. What kind of products do you buy because you feel they're healthier for you or the environment?

Communism

A political ideology of a classless society in which the means of production are shared through state ownership and in which rewards are tied not to productivity but to need

Fragmented Media

A possible explanation as to why talking about climate change is so hard. If you get all your news from Fox, you're getting different news than you get from the New York Times

Gerrymandering

A practice intended to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries. It's been too long since the House expanded to keep up with population growth, so it has lost touch with the public. When the next census came, House members found themselves reluctant to dilute their votes, resulting in Americans being the worst-represented group of citizens. This disparity increases the influence of lobbyists and special interests: the more constituents one has, the easier it is for money to outshine individual voices

Feudalism

A pre-capitalist economic system characterized by the presence of lords, vassals, serfs, and fiefs Lords: a nobleman who owned land Vassal: granted the land by a lord and termed a fief, provided military protection for the lord in exchange for harvesting the land Fief: land that remained property of the lord Serfs: bound to the land and required to give the lord a portion of their production in exchange for protection. Allowed to own property and could not be sold

Risk Society (Ulrich Beck)

A society that both produces and is concerned with mitigating risks, especially manufactured risks. External risks: derive from nature (hurricanes, floods, earthquakes) and have been a part of human history since long before the first machine was ever invented Manufactured risks: result from human activity Risks are unequally distributed by socioeconomic status and other dimensions of power. Sometimes inform how we make social decisions

International State System

A system in which each state is recognized as territorially sovereign by fellow states. Each state tacitly agrees to mind its own business when it comes to the internal affairs of other sovereign countries as long as borders are respected

Welfare State

A system in which the state is responsible for the well-being of its citizens. Usually entails providing a number of key necessities such as food, health care, and housing outside the economic marketplace Logic of industrialism: nations develop social welfare benefits to satisfy the social needs created by industrialization Neo-Marxist theory: concerned with explaining the contradictions between formal legal equality and social class inequality. Welfare state seen as mediator of class conflict

Democracy

A system of government wherein power theoretically lies with the people Citizens are allowed to vote in elections, speak freely, and participate as legal equals in social life

The Matthew Effect

A term used by sociologists to describe the notion that certain scientific results get more notoriety and influence based on the existing prestige of the researchers involved. Prestige brings more prestige. A well-known scientist is more likely to be credited with a particular scientific discovery than lesser-known colleagues. Scientists without great prestige will have difficulty earning it

Middle Way/Alternative Path (Nisbet)

A third way between conflicting or polarized views or options

Grassroots Organizations

A type of social movement organization that relies on high levels of community-based membership participation to promote social change. It lacks a hierarchical structure and works through existing political structures

Family Wage

A wage paid to male workers sufficient to support a dependent wife and children

Collective Action

Action that takes place in groups and diverges from the social norms of the situation. The type of behavior that counts as collective action depends on the number of people participating and the location of the behavior

Multi-method Research (Hogs)

Air and water sampling Spatial analysis of CAFO locations Door-to-door surveys Ethnographic observations

New Rules (Globalization)

Although countries have always negotiated trade agreements, as of late there has been a proliferation of multilateral trade agreements, but rather are the end result of negotiations among multiple players and thus enforce rights, impose sanctions, or encourage business at a regional or world-wide level

The Paradox of Authority

Although the state's authority derives from the implicit threat of physical force, resorting to the physical coercion strips the state of all legitimate authority. Having to resort to violence is proof that people are not listening to you

Altruism

An action that benefits a group but does not directly benefit the individual performing the action

Narrative Reconstruction

An attempt to reconstruct or impose order on the disruption and fragmentation brought about by illness

Economic Development (Nisbet)

An economic investment; market benefit or risk; or a point of local, national, or global competitiveness

Socialism

An economic system in which most or all of the needs of the population are met through non-market methods of distribution

Capitalism

An economic system in which property and goods are primarily privately owned Investments are determined by private decisions; and prices, production, and the distribution of goods are determined primarily by competition in an unfettered marketplace

Rationalization

An ever-expanding process of ordering or organizing

Union

An organization of workers designed to facilitate collective bargaining with an employer

Political Party

An organization that seeks to gain power in a government, generally by backing candidates for office who subscribe (to the extent possible) to the organization's political ideals

Interest Group

An organization that seeks to gain power in government and influence policy without campaigning for direct election or appointment to office. Such groups use a variety of other paths to influence policy, such as persuading elected officials to advocate for the group's agenda or working through the existing regulatory bureaucracy or the legal system

Political Participation

Any activity that has the intent or effect of influencing government action

Affordable Care Act

Arose from insurance reliance on employers, perverse incentives that Medicaid eligibility rules might create not to work to qualify, rapid rise in health care costs due in part to fee for service, and lack of a robust individual market for those who do not get coverage through an employer. Expands Medicaid eligibility and allows young adults to remain on their parents' insurance through age 26. Created a mandate for all Americans to purchase insurance and eliminated risk adjustment

State

As defined by Max Weber, "a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory." Hidden under any form of domination by authority is the threat of violence

Drift Explanation

Attempts to explain the correlation between socioeconomic status and health. States that reverse causality exists-that health causes social position

Selection Theory

Attempts to explain the correlation between socioeconomic status and health. States that the relationship between lower income and higher morbidity is spurious because other factors such as genetics and biology affect both health and socioeconomic status

Majoritarian Electoral Democracy

Attribute US governmental policies to the collective will of average citizens Government of the people, by the people, for the people Assume that candidates in two-party races tend to converge at the mid-point of citizen's preferences

Legal-Rational Authority

Authority based on legal, impersonal rules; the rules rule

Traditional Authority

Authority that rests on appeals to the past or traditions. Leaders are designated according to traditional rules and are obeyed because of their traditional status. Hereditary monarchies

Charismatic Authority

Authority that rests on the personal appeal of an individual leader

Thomas Kuhn

Believed that scientific discovery doesn't proceed along a linear path or simply accumulate little by little; rather, periods of "normal science" are ruptured every so often by scientific revolutions that shift the paradigm of a given science

Bright and Dark Sides

Bright sides: can help people suffering from illnesses gain legitimacy for their claims (obtain treatment) Dark sides: can lead to stigmatization. Can mask the moral valence of a problem or treatment (hiding behind "medical science"). Can depoliticize social problems

Outsourcing

By outsourcing production to sweatshops and call centers in the developing world, large companies can manufacture their products for a fraction of what it would cost to pay even minimum wages in the US. Hiring outside the company to perform business processes previously done within the firm

Economic-Elite Domination

C. Wright Mills and others Argue that the framers of the Constitution wanted to protect privileged classes Elites influence policy via multiple channels (parties, candidates, think tanks, foundations)

Casual Workers

Casual employees are employees who do not have regular or systematic hours of work or an expectation of continuing work. A typical casual employee is employed on a daily basis when the need arises

New Means of Exchange (Globalization)

Cellular phones, personal computers, e-mail, and the Web allow for almost instantaneous transactions. With these new forms of communication technology, a person in Buenos Aires can buy a commodity in Cape Town and sell it in Moscow in a matter of minutes

How Race/Class/Gender Affect Health in the US

Class: people with higher incomes live longer. Highly educated people have longer life expectancies because they tend to smoke less, eat more healthily, and exercise more often. Often have more information to work with when facing their own health choices Race: whites hold a significant advantage (have longer life expectancies than African Americans). Infant mortality rate is lowest for whites and highest for blacks. Blacks are disproportionately poor in the US, which can be very stressful. Incongruity between what people assume their economic status to be and what it actually is elevates stress levels Race/gender: white women have a greater life expectancy than black men

Political Polarization

Climate change has become an issue that defines the boundary between Democrat and Republican

Mass Collective Action

Collective action when people aren't physically together

Social Movements

Collective behavior that is purposeful, organized, and institutionalized, but not ritualized. Motivated by a social or political aim. They attempt to achieve these aims through conflict and action directed at particular opponents

Sick Role

Concept describing the social rights and obligations of a sick individual. A sick person has the right not to perform social roles and not to be held accountable for his or her condition. A sick person is obligated to try to get well and to seek competent help and comply with doctors' orders. This theory makes it seem like individuals being partially responsible for their diseases

Marxist analyses of capitalism

Considered capitalism both fundamentally flawed and inevitably doomed. Saw alienation, a condition in which people are dominated by forces of their own creation that then confront them as alien powers. Workers are alienated from the products they produce (product master of them) whereas artisans fashion products from start to finish (master of their product). Workers in factories can't budget time, they're forced to go to work to survive. Workers are alienated from other people. Sees capitalism as stifling our natural creativity. Capitalism will eventually destroy itself and the working class will rise against the capitalist class, leading first to a period of socialism and then to a period of communism

Mortality

Death

Non-Standard Work Agreements

Difficult to estimate the size of the contingent workforce Strict definitions (temporary and on-call workers): 8% of labor force Broader definitions (part-time workers and "independent contractors"): as much as 35% of the workforce

Professional Sovereignty (Physicians)

Doctors are allowed to set their own pay rates and control demand for their services. They also have prescription authority

Employer-Sponsored Insurance

During World War II, wage and price controls meant that employers could not easily offer raises. In lieu of more pay, many offered health insurance as an employee benefit. Insurance companies had to guess how much health care a given firm's employees would consume and calibrate their premium rates (monthly charges), co-pays (patient's share of bill), and deductibles (portion that patients have to pay before insurance kicks in)

Urban Fishing

EPA planned to estimate dietary exposure to toxins based on assumptions of the average Northeastern urban diet. EPA surprised to learn people were eating fish caught in the East River. EPA toured the riverfront and persuaded to try community survey. Watchperson survey: age, ethnicity, gender, family size and age structure, consumption of fish, species caught. EPA took fish samples from the river for their own toxicology tests and found that exposure to toxins far exceeded EPA recommendations. Worked with other groups to identify alternative food sources for the anglers

Rent Seeking

Economic activities that aim to move value from one person or company to another without increasing value. You get rich basically by taking wealth away from others. Example: I own an apartment and I don't make it better, I don't improve it, I just own it

Productivity Enhancing

Economic activities that increase the total economic value available to society. You come up with something cool that other people want and the thing you came up with is better, cheaper, faster; and people choose it. Example: Google. We're not forced to use it; we just use it because it's really good. They've brought hundreds of billions of dollars of benefit to the world so they're taking a cut and we're all better off

Basic Findings from Gilens and Page Study

Economic elites and corporate interest groups exercise much more interest over policy than average citizens or mass interest groups Theories of Biased Pluralism and Economic-Elite Domination are more persuasive in explaining policymaking outcomes than theories of Majoritarian Pluralism or Majoritarian Electoral Democracy

Industrial Revolution

Economy once dominated by small-scale artisan labor transitioned into one dominated by manufacturing, machinery, and unskilled factory work Propelled by development of new technologies (mechanization of textile industries; power loom) Development of steam engine Rise of large-scale factory production, influx of peasants to urban areas, and rise of system of wage labor led to establishment of a legal currency

Life Course Theory

Emphasizes a temporal and social perspective, looking back across an individual's life experiences or across generations for clues to current patterns of health and disease, whilst recognizing that both past and present experiences are shaped by the wider social, economic, and cultural context

Blue-Green Alliances

Environmental groups and industrial unions unite based on common ground

Types of Environmental Hazards

Environmental hazards are part of everyone's lives, everyday, everywhere Air pollution: cars, planes, factories, power plants, construction, mining Water pollution: sewage, agriculture, industry, politics LULUs (locally unwanted land uses): where are we going to put our bus depots, power plants, highways, incinerators, and airports? Consumer goods: what chemicals are in our foods, cosmetics and personal care products, plastic containers? What happens to our TVs after we throw them out? Workplace safety: are we safe where we work? What are we being exposed to unknowingly? Climate change: what is the mass of human society doing to the global ecosystem and human life?

Invisible Hand of the Market

Every individual neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention

False Equivalence/Overdramatization

False Equivalence: a logical fallacy in which two completely opposing arguments appear to be logically equivalent when in fact they are not. The confusion is often due to one shared characteristic. Thing 1 and thing 2 both share characteristic A therefore things one and two are equal. By giving equal weight to contrarian thoughts on climate science, journalists presented the false impression that there was limited expert agreement on the causes of climate change Overdramatization: filtering results in Republicans who not only discount the climate change problem but who also agree that the mainstream news media is exaggerating its severity

Astroturf Organizations

False grassroots. Organizations that seed money from very wealthy, politically active conservatives

Paid Family Leave

Family and Medical Leave Act gave American workers the right to 12 weeks of leave to care for a newborn baby or attend to a family emergency. However, the leave is not necessarily paid and it applies only to those who work for a company of more than 50 employees. Does not apply to part-time workers

Trends in Insurance Coverage (US)

Fee-for-service model led to emergence of HMOs. HMOs were an attempt to hold down costs by paying doctors a salary based on the number of patients they take on (fee per person rather than treatment). Insurance market goes into a death spiral in which only the sickest people buy insurance and prices increase, which drives away healthy purchasers. Until 2014, if you did not get health insurance through your employer or directly from the government, you were out of luck (Affordable Care Act changed this)

Felony vs Misdemeanor

Felony: a serious offense Misdemeanor: petty theft, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, marijuana possession, reckless driving

Citizen-Science Alliances

Fenceline Communities: immediate neighbors Agricultural Communities Vulnerable Subpopulations

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual

First edition described about 60 disorders. Represents the social construction of mental illness. Standardized the canon of mental disorders and their definitions so that someone diagnosed with a disorder by one psychiatrist would receive the same diagnosis from another psychiatrist. Second edition did not make sharp distinctions between normal and abnormal behavior but rather existed on a continuum. The third edition was largely atheoretical, meaning that diseases were not attributed to certain causes (primarily diagnostic)

American Legislative Exchange Council

Founded in 1973. Membership organization. 501(c)3: charitable organization. More than 98% of their revenue comes from corporations, corporate trade groups, and corporate foundations. Corporate lawyers and lobbyists work on issue-oriented task forces to draft "model legislation." Corporate members pay 7K-25K per year and less than 2% of their revenue comes from state legislators who are members. Boasts that its legislative members introduce over 1000 bills/year and that 1:5 are enacted into law. Issues are reducing individual and corporate taxes, combating illegal immigration, loosening environmental regulations, voter suppression laws, weakening labor unions, and opposing gun control. 9% of ALEC's bills passed compared to US Congress rate of 2%

Types of Medicalization

From Badness to Sickness: Normal Physical Processes Fall Under the Purview of Medicine

Climate Change

Global warming: rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, resulting in higher global average temperatures. Leads to disastrous events such as hurricanes, shifting ice caps, melting glaciers, and increasing sea levels that threaten human communities. Vast majority of scientists acknowledge that the roots of global warming can be traced back to human activities

Barrington Moore

His book "Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy" sets out to answer the question of why some states end up as democracies and others become dictatorships. Hypothesizes that the fate of each nation is determined by the struggle between social classes. For democracy to emerge, the bourgeoisie must be strong enough to attenuate the control of the land-owning feudal lords. If they are strong enough a revolution takes place

Agricultural Communities

Hog houses are huge barns as big as a football field. Pack together 800-1000 hogs. Each hog dumps over 10 pounds of urine and feces per day, or almost 2 tons per hog per year. Hog waste falls through steel grates underneath the cages. Several times a day, hog waste is flushed with water from the hog house, carried through pipes, and dumped into an open-air waste lagoon. Waste is held here up to six months, receiving minimal treatment. North Carolina has over 4600 waste lagoons. As waste lagoons fill up, its excess liquid is sprayed onto nearby land. "Sprayfield" planted with crops or grasses to remove some of the chemicals, but hog waste often cannot be efficiently absorbed in such quantities. Excess washes off during rains into nearby streams and rivers, airborne spray drifts to neighbors' properties. Has a very negative impact on community health. Residents at UNC conducted "barefoot epidemiology"-investigated depth of drinking wells and proximity to hog cesspools

Biotechnology

Human Genome Project. Each new piece of scientific information raises important sociological questions. For example, if scientists discover the genes for obesity, should we screen children for the obesity gene? Many social concerns have arisen from the Human Genome Project, including privacy, stratification, and stigmatization. Concerns with privacy deal with access to the data. Stigmatization could occur as scientists discover genes for various conditions considered abnormal or threatening to society. Another sociological concern is that knowledge of our genetic structure will increase stratification in society if we begin to label people based on their genetic code.

Dialectical Relationship Between Human Society and the Natural Environment

Human society and "the environment" are mutually constitutive and share a dialectical relationship (opposing forces)

Deep Ecology

Humans are one among many. All life has intrinsic value. Groups often focused on radical mechanisms of protest. Often Malthusian in philosophy

Fee-for-Service Model of Healthcare Delivery

If the doctor took your insurance, there was a set billable rate. Each time the doctor did a procedure or met with you, he or she billed you and your insurance company. Because you only paid part of the total cost, you are more likely to agree to more appointments, which gives doctors control of the situation. Created an issue called "supplier-induced demand" in which doctors created excess demand for their services

Morbidity

Illness in a general sense

Environmental Injustice/Environmental Justice Activism

In 1978, a waste hauler illegally dumps > 30,000 gallons of waste transformer oil contaminated with PCBs on roadways in 14 counties in North Carolina. U.S. EPA designates roadsides as Superfund site in order to trigger clean-up process. 60,000 tons of highly contaminated soil is scraped up from 210 miles of roadside in North Carolina The Solution: The Governor and NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources decide to establish a landfill for PCB contaminated soil. Selected Afton, a small town, with 85% African American residents. "Quadruple whammy: the town was black, poor, rural, and politically powerless." Continuing the work of the Civil Rights Movement, the environmental justice movement has highlighted the ways people of color, poor people, and women have been subjected greater burdens of environmental hazards

Relationship Between Poverty and Health

In one of the most economically depressed regions of the world, life expectancy is 50 years. Leading killer worldwide is waterborne illness-many people in poor regions don't have access to clean water. Many countries don't have the funds or infrastructure to handle these problems. Governments, communities, and individuals in the least developed areas must expend a great deal of their energy and resources on dealing with the problems of basic survival

Piecework Payment

In the early days of capitalism, craftsmen produced specific products from start to finish and were payed in the form of payment per unit. You and a custom carpenter agree on a design and a price to build bookshelves. Worker is more at risk if something goes wrong because he won't break even on the transaction. This type of payment is better for the worker than in-kind payment

New Markets (Globalization)

Include financial markets where anyone with the proper equipment can participate

Laboratory Culture

Inside laboratories there exists a unique process of scientific discovery with its own language, its own system of promotion, and its own hierarchy. Power struggles within the hierarchy of the lab may determine which results or explanations of data receive more attention

Climate Denialism

Involves denial, dismissal, or unwarranted doubt that contradicts the scientific opinion on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its impacts on nature and human society, or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions

John Henryism

John Henry won the race and beat the steam drill but died from exhaustion afterward. Social psychologists use the symbolism of John Henry to suggest a link between historical and cultural factors that lead to higher rates of hypertension among blacks. Americans value hard work and self-reliance, and these values combine with the history of slavery to make blacks likely to take a John Henry-like approach to dealing with the psychological, social, and environmental stressors they face. African Americans battle the negative stereotypes in American society, working extra hard to prove themselves

Fordism

Large, centralized bureaucracies provided full-time, lifetime employment to large populations of employees Only men were supposed to work Men were (supposedly) paid enough to provide for the whole family Unfortunately, higher wages for men came at the cost of women's freedom and autonomy (marriage the main path to financial security)

Community-Driven Research (Hogs)

Local residents evaluated data quality based on their in-depth local knowledge Interpretations of findings was done collaboratively

How Gender, Marital Status, and Family Status Affect Health

Marital status: married people tend to live longer, particularly married men. Healthy people are more likely to marry healthy people Gender: women tend to live longer than men. Many differences in mortality are linked to specific illnesses. As more women enter higher-level and higher-stress jobs, their risk for these illnesses increase. Women are more likely to see the doctor Family status: larger families have higher child mortality rates. When kids are spaced closer together, there is higher mortality. Resources key to survival are stretched thinner. Lack of supervision because there are more kids. Firstborn children are more likely to die young often because parents are less experienced. Only children tend to have higher mortality rates

Direct-to-Consumer-Advertising of Prescription Drugs

Marketing of pharmaceutical products directed toward patients rather than healthcare professionals A 2003 report found a 10% increase in DTCA spending on drugs within a class results in a 1% increase in sales of drugs in that class Extrapolating from this to estimate the effect of DTCA on 25 largest therapeutic classes, DTCA accounts for about 12% of growth in pharmaceutical sales DTCA did not affect market share of individual drugs within classes DTCA is an important-but not the only-driver of RX sales growth

Bureaucratization/The Iron Cage

Max Weber. Worried that capitalism ate at the soul. Modern industry and its associated bureaucracy and rationality create an "iron cage" from which we cannot escape. In the US, the pursuit of wealth, stripped of its religious and ethical meaning, tends to become associated with purely mundane passions. Couldn't the old man be satisfied with $75000 a year and rest? No! The frontage of the store must be widened to 400 ft. Why? That beats everything, he says. In the evening when his wife and daughter read together, he wants to go to bed. Sundays he looks at the clock every five minutes to see when the day will be over-what a futile life

Resource Mobilization Theory

Model of social movements that emphasizes political context and goals but also states that social movements are unlikely to emerge without the necessary resources. Discontent and the availability of resources are the key factors that determine if a social movement will coalesce. Elite members have a greater chance of leading to a movement because they control more resources

Political Process Model (Political Opportunity Structures)

Model of social movements that focuses on the structure of political opportunities. When these are favorable to a particular challenger, the chances are better for the success of a social movement led by this challenger. Three sets of conditions influence the development of insurgency: expanding political opportunities, indigenous organizational strength, and certain shared cognitions. Most useful model

Laboratory Work

Most natural scientists tend to extract elements from the natural world and bring them into their laboratory. Research traces the construction of scientific fact. Scientists debate research findings, discuss their results, and work through disagreements

Greenbelt Movement (Contemporary Ecofeminism)

Nairobi, Kenya Organizing women to help combat deforestation and desertification Restore their main source of fuel for cooking Wangari Maathai: founder of the Greenbelt Movement that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004

New Players (Globalization)

New players are all transnational, which makes them unique to this epoch of globalization

Relationship Between Development and Health

No malaria-endemic region of the world has ever developed economically. Controlling and eliminating malaria are a prerequisite for significant economic development. If used consistently, insecticide-treated bed nets can save lives in malaria-infested areas

NIMBYism

Not In My BackYard. Growing awareness of environmental hazards results in increasing activism around the siting of polluting facilities. People don't want incinerators, dumps, etc. anywhere near them, now that they realize it's bad for them. Environmental regulations: Clean Air Act, Clean Water ACT, TSCA, RCRA, NEPA. We still use polluting facilities, so who's backyard does it go into?

Enclosure Movement

Occurred during the Tudor period (1485-1558) Some of the open fields (commons that existed for the public good) were "enclosed," or partitioned off Lords often bounded the commons with hedges Enclosures led to eviction of many of the people working the land because it was meant for public use Evicted people were forced to migrate to nearby cities for work

Second Dimension of Power (Luke)

Occurs when the power is so formidable that no conflict results from competing interests because one side is convinced it's a losing battle. Example: instead of throwing a tantrum before going to bed you go to bed without a fight. After your parents leave you hurl a stuffed bear at you bedroom door in protest

Adam Smith

One of capitalism's greatest advocate. Father of liberal economics. Theorized that individual self-interest in an environment of others acting similarly will lead to a situation of competition. Drive for exchange combines with an ever-increasing division of labor to produce greater wealth for all. Example: a person making an entire pin vs breaking the job up and assigning them to workers. Once people can specialize, they are better able to innovate because you become very good at that one task. Believed the barter system was inefficient. Money allows us to get back change and can store value (every sale in the barter system was also a purchase). Money is inherently social; it facilitates social relations between humans

Wage Labor

People are paid in money and this wage is not tied to the quality of the raw materials, accidents, or other exigencies in the production process. Worker sells his or her labor to the employer and it's the employer's problem if the results do not live up to expectations

Contingent Workers

People who are not employees of a company. Freelancers who might work under a contract, on a temporary basis, or provide consulting services as needed. Receives payment for completed work

Downsizing

Planned elimination of jobs

Civic Voluntarism Model (Voter Participation)

Points to three components to explain political participation: political orientation, resources, and mobilization efforts. Political Orientation: the strength of an individual's political commitments Resources: include money to donate to parties or causes as well as civic skills Mobilization Efforts: mass mailings, phone calls, or door-to-door canvassing to encourage eligible citizens to vote

Soft Power

Power attained through the use of cultural attractiveness rather than the threat of coercive action. Getting others to want what you want. Cultural myths or legitimizations can help persuade people to obey. If a state can make its power seem legitimate in the eyes of others, it will encounter less resistance to its wishes

GMOs

Products whose genetic structures have been altered. Altering the structure of particular crops has the potential to produce higher yields, which can help make farms more profitable. Genetically modified crops may also have better resistance to insects, diseases, and other problems, further improving yields. Farmers can avoid using pesticides and herbicides. Golden rice: helped solve key health and nutritional problems for children in developing countries (Vitamin A deficiency). Opponents of genetically modified crops point to two primary risks: risks to the environment and risks to human health. Also claim that the results are unnatural and that we don't know enough about this technology to ensure safety for human consumers

Street Science

Public failure (experiments)

Deskilling

Reducing a worker's task to one or at most a few specialized tasks

Disparate Impacts

Refers to practices in employment, housing, and other areas that adversely affect one group of people of a protected characteristic more than another, even though rules applied by employers or landlords are formally neutral

Hard Power

Relies on domination and coercion. Exclusive use of hard power in international politics is out of date because states are now increasingly economically dependent on one another thanks to globalization

Public Accountability and Governance (Nisbet)

Research or policy either in the public interest or serving special interests, emphasizing issues of control, transparency, participation, responsiveness, or ownership; or debate over proper use of science and expertise in decisionmaking

Normal Science

Science conducted within an existing paradigm, as defined by Thomas Kuhn. Adding to an existing paradigm through the process of scientific discovery. Clarifying part of an existing paradigm or gathering evidence to lend stronger support to the paradigm

Neoliberalism

Seeks to use government as a means of ensuring that all institutions conform to market principles Contrast with classic liberalism policies that sought to limit governmental intervention in markets at a time when governments were ruled by monarchs

Professional Jurisdiction (Physicians)

Self-regulation. The AMA and state medical boards are their judge, jury, and jailer. If a doctor does something wrong they are still able to get a new job because there is a shortage of doctors. The AMA is a strong political body and have a monopoly over the policing of their own. They are reluctant to take away a doctor's license

Reformative Social Movement

Social movements that advocate for limited social change across an entire society

Revolutionary Social Movement

Social movements that advocate the radical reorganization of society

Alternative Social Movement

Social movements that seek the most limited societal change and often target a narrow group of people. Usually issue oriented, focusing on a singular concern and seeking to change individuals' behaviors in relation to that issue. Example: Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Redemptive Social Movement

Social movements that target specific groups but advocate for more radical change in behavior

Institutional Level of Medicalization

Specific facilities are created to help address and treat human conditions that have not always been described and treated as a medical condition Organization embraces a medical explanation, but the work of social control is carried out by non-medical personnel Medical social control requires collaboration between medical professionals and non-medical professionals If this unfolds differently in different organizations or places, may create space for people (parents) to resist the medicalized label and refuse medication or medical social control

Public Health Framing of Climate Change

Stresses climate change's potential to increase the incidence of infectious diseases, asthma, allergies, heat stroke, and other salient health problems, especially among the most vulnerable populations: the elderly and children. In the process, the public health frame makes climate change personally relevant to new audiences by connecting the issue to health problems that are already familiar and perceived as important. Shifts geographic location of impacts, replacing visuals of remote Arctic regions, animals, and peoples with more socially proximate neighbors

Basic Methods of Gilens and Page Study

Tested on a unique data set of policy cases (1981-2002) Gathered national survey data on general public favor/oppose the policy Dependent variable: whether the proposed policy change was actually adopted within 4 years of the survey Using raw data from the surveys, constructed three independent variables to assess influence on policy change: views of Americans in the 90th percentile of income (rich), views of Americans in the 50th percentile of income (the middle class), and interest group activities (# of interest groups favoring, somewhat favoring, somewhat unfavorable, strongly unfavorable)

Voter Participation in the US

The US has a voting rate struggling to consistently hit 60 percent in presidential elections and only reaching about 40 percent in non-presidential elections. While it is true that the voting rate of the total population has fallen, it is not true that the voting rate of the eligible population has changed much. Political participation matters because democracy is the promise of a voice in governance, so it is the sum of that voice. Voter turnout is much lower among the poor

Power

The ability to carry out one's own will despite resistance

Routinization

The clear, rule-governed procedures used repeatedly for decision making

Interdisciplinarity

The combining of two or more academic disciplines into one activity

Organic Agriculture

The debate over organic foods is a political and moral statement. A growing demand for organic foods prompted the National Organic Program of the USDA to release guidelines for commercial use of the word organic. Organic foods are pesticide-free and don't contain genetically modified ingredients. Organic farms follow a strict set of guidelines outlined by the USDA. Small farms often don't have the funds to operate an organic farm. Big agro-business has the political clout to affect the US Food and Drug Administration's definition of organic (lobbying for a relaxation of standards)

Collective Action Problem

The difficulty in organizing large groups because of the tendency of some individuals to freeload or slack off. A revolution takes work, and every ordinary person wants to reap its benefits but would rather not expend the time, energy, and resources necessary to coordinate it

Oligopoly

The economic condition that exists when a handful of firms effectively control a particular market

Social Constructions of the Environment

The environment is socially constructed. The environment is a product of power relations. Early ideas about the environment argued that the environment was boundless and made for human exploitation. Once the frontier was conquered and limits became evident, the debates were centered around whether we should protect the environment for humans or protect the environment from humans. The environment is out there, separate and abstract, but it has economic value, moral value, spiritual value, etc. How we relate to the environment determines what we do with it. Capitalist ways of relating to the environment are mutually exclusive with alternative frames. A forest cannot be lumber on the scale of commercial exploitation and a carbon sink; it cannot be lumber on the scale of commercial exploitation and an ecosystem. The modern economy privileges the idea of natural resources, and evaluates everything in terms of how much it can be sold for

Felony Disenfranchisement in the US

The exclusion from voting of people otherwise eligible to vote due to conviction of a criminal offense Felony disenfranchisement is a term to differentiate "high crimes" or "grave offenses" from less serious offenses In the US, a felony is punishable by incarceration for more than a year while a misdemeanor is punishable by local jail sentences, fines, or both

Routinization/Institutionalization

The final stage of a social movement, in which it is institutionalized and a formal structure develops to promote the cause

Emergence

The first stage of a social movement, occurring when the social problem being addressed is first identified. A handful of people expend great effort merely to draw attention to a particular social issue that is otherwise not in the public consciousness

Monopoly

The form of business that occurs when one seller of a good or service dominates the market to the exclusion of others, potentially leading to zero competition

Housing First

The idea was to provide housing to unhoused individuals without requiring them to jump through hoops. Typical homelessness policy treats the provision of housing like a reward at the end of an obstacle (finish substance-abuse treatment to obtain stable housing). This approach means that most homeless remain on the streets. Housing First provides permanent, affordable houses to homeless people regardless of whether they are in psychiatric treatment or maintaining sobriety. Spending money on housing actually save money in the long run

Authority

The justifiable right to exercise power

Taylorism

The methods of labor management introduced by Frederick Winslow Taylor to streamline the processes of mass production in which each worker repeatedly performs one specific task

Capitalism and the Environment

The modern capitalist economy represents the most significant use of power to rewrite the meaning of "the environment" in the history of humanity. First contradiction of capitalism (Marx): capitalism leads to a crisis of overproduction; market must be expanded to meet the needs of increasing production. Second contradiction of capitalism (O'Connor): capitalism undermines the material basis of its existence

Science, Politics, and the Normative View of Science

The notion that science should be unaffected by the personal beliefs or values of scientists but rather follow objective rules of evidence. Traditional view of science isn't entirely accurate; science is constantly influenced by political and social factors. Different researchers are interested in different topics. Researchers select topics, in part, based on the funding available for their research. The process and possibility of scientific discovery can be driven by political considerations (i.e. when Bush limited federal funding to stem cell research because he sought to placate conservative religious groups)

Agricultural Revolution

The period around 1700 marked by the introduction of new farming technologies that increased food output in farm production. Innovations such as the seed drill, selective breeding, and crop rotation led to an immediate increase in food abundance. As a result, land could support more people, allowing for increased population

Third Dimension of Power (Luke)

The power not only to persevere despite overt or veiled resistance but to prevent such conflict from arising in the first place. Conflict may be averted through influencing, shaping, or determining desires, wants, and preferences

Contradictions of Capitalism

The power relations in capitalism produce (at least one) inherent contradiction It is in the factory owner's best interest to pay as low a wage as possible, so that he may realize the most profit from the factory, but if he does that, his workers will not have any money to purchase the goods produced by the factory

Domination

The probability that a command with specific content will be obeyed by a given group of people. Domination by economic power: control by virtue of a position of monopoly Domination by authority: refers to a situation in which the will of the ruler influences the conduct of the ruled so they act as if the ruler's will were also their own. Willing obedience of the ruled to the commands of legitimate authority

Medicalization

The process by which problems or issues not traditionally seen as medical come to be framed as such Declining physician authority and increased scrutiny on the role of consumers, pharmaceutical industries, and managed care drives medicalization Example: alcoholism

Specialization

The process of breaking up work into specific, delimited tasks

Demedicalization

The process through which a condition is taken out of the realm of medicine Often involves intense jurisdictional disputes between physicians and other healthcare providers or physicians and patients Example: homosexuality listed as a psychiatric disorder in the DSM until 1973

Basis for Social Prestige (Physicians)

The respect we feel for doctors results in part from the scarcity of doctors in society, the fact that it takes years of education to become one, and the apparent difficulty of mastering the skills involved. The number of medical schools in the US is strictly regulated, which allows doctors to maintain the exclusiveness of their profession. Doctors offer a universally valued product: health and longevity. Doctors appear to be answering to a high moral calling. Doctors have individualized objectivity, which gives them power in their relationship with clients. Doctors set a front stage and a backstage

Citizenship Rights

The rights guaranteed to each law-abiding citizen in a nation-state

Political Rights

The rights guaranteeing a citizen's ability to participate in politics, including the right to vote and the right to hold an elected office

Civil Rights

The rights guaranteeing a citizen's personal freedom from interference, including freedom of speech and the right to travel freely

Social Rights

The rights guaranteeing a citizen's protection by the state, including protection from the free market in the areas of housing, employment, health, and education. Social rights to public assistance may be of two broad types. The first type is the right to contributory programs, such as Social Security benefits in the US. To be eligible for these programs, citizens earn their rights through tax contributions

Coalescence

The second stage of a social movement in which resources are mobilized (that is, concrete action is taken) around the problems outlined in the first stage. Through advocacy and education, more and more people become aware of the social problem. Because the formalization of organizations requires extensive resources, some social movements simply fade away at this stage

Service Sector

The section of the economy that involves providing intangible services. Ranges from restaurant work to health care provision. Making money no longer exclusively relies on the creation of a tangible product

Biased Pluralism

The thrust of interest-group politics tends to tilt toward the interests of the most powerful (e.g. corporate interests)

Coercion

The use of force to get others to do what you want

Contagion Theory

Theory of collective action claiming that collective action arises because of people's tendency to conform to the behavior of others with whom they are in close contact

Emergent Norm Theory

Theory of collective action emphasizing the influence of keynoters in promoting new behavioral norms. Keynoters are not the same as leaders; they can just be people whose actions become, either intentionally or unintentionally, the behavior copied by an entire group. A novel situation in which collective behavior is determined

Convergence Theory

Theory of collective action stating that collective action happens when people with similar ideas and tendencies gather in the same place. Doesn't require planning and the setting is not important. Example: riots

The Power Elite

There are six types of elite: Metropolitan 400 (families), celebrities, chief executives, corporate rich, warlords, and political directorate The elite are concentrated in three institutional sectors: military, economy, and political system Members from this elite often share social ties

Ecofeminism

There is a connection between the domination of women and the domination of the environment. Women often suffer more from environmental hazards and women's suffering is often discounted. Older strands of ecofeminism focused on essentialism, which suggested that women's essential natures made them better stewards of the Earth. Newer strands of ecofeminism emphasize intersectionality and the way women are disproportionally affected by hazards. Women are often at the forefront of toxics activism

Biographical Disruption

Things that were possible are suddenly taken away by an illness Feeling that life won't progress Chronic illness presents a crisis that violates taken-for-granted assumptions and behaviors Challenges our explanatory frameworks, often in a way that forces us to re-think our biographic trajectory or self-concept Requires us to mobilize resources differently, to cope with different abilities or life circumstances

The "Gig" Economy

Unemployment rate counts the number of people actively looking for work who did not work for pay in a given week. Does not give a total picture of how the economy is doing. Many of those who are underemployed are part of the growing "gig" economy. Example: Uber drivers. Earnings are more unstable. The gig economy may be a consequence not just of rising inequality or a less educated workforce, but of those very policies that intend to make "real" employment nicer

US Unionization Rates

Unionization is protected under freedom of association. Unionization has been on the decline since the 1950s, when 35 percent of workers in the private sector were covered by labor contracts. Common perception (especially among political conservatives) that unions are outdated, corrupt, and a drag on business. Widespread notion that unions hurt productivity. Unions are perceived as corrupt forces that the majority of workers don't want. Workers don't unionize because they are aware of management hostility to collective action

First Dimension of Power (Luke)

Visible when different agendas clash, conflict results, and one side prevails

Citizen Science and Collective Action

Volunteer research by non-professionals From least to most public involvement: crowdsourcing and volunteered geographic information, limited participatory research, and extreme citizen science Crowdsourcing: participate in data collection only Limited Participatory Research: participate in problem definition and data collection Extreme Citizen Science: participate in problem definition, data collection, analysis and interpretation, study dissemination, and public health action

Paradigm Shift/Scientific Revolution

When enough scientific anomalies accrue to challenge the existing paradigm, showing that it is incomplete or inadequate to explain all observed phenomena. Represent major breaks in periods of normal science and are responsible for important scientific advancements

Expert Knowledge

Who holds it? Members of a profession How is it acquired? Experimental/epidemiology What makes evidence credible? Instruments, statistical significance, legal standards Forums where it is tested? Peer review, courts, media Action orientation? Scientific assessment of causality

Lay Knowledge

Who holds it? Members of the community How is it acquired? Experience/cultural tradition What makes evidence credible? Evidence of one's own eyes Forums where it is tested? Public narratives, courts, media Action orientation? Precautionary principle

Boundary Work

Work done to maintain the border between legitimate and non-legitimate science within a specific scientific discipline or between legitimate disciplines

Salary System

Workers are paid not for a direct service but for the sum total of their services. For one year of employment you are paid a set amount of money Civil service salary: payment is not tied to the productive value of the workers, but related to the appropriate standard of living

Pressures on Working Parents

Workplace has now reversed to a haven where parents can leave the chaos of home. Parents tend to not take any time off out of fear that they will lose their jobs. Growing cost of middle-class lifestyles means that many families feel they have no choice but to send both parents into the full-time workforce

C. Wright Mills

Wrote "The Power Elite"

Latour and Woolgar

Wrote an account of the process of scientific discovery in the laboratory. Argued that ethnographic approaches had never before been used to look at reclusive scientific laboratories, largely because science holds such a privileged place in Western society

Crowd Collective Action

You must be face to face with other members of your group