The Modern World II

SOC 370: Social ChangeDr. Kimberly Martin

The Evolution of Modern Institutions

• The global “deepening” of world system expansion involves the extension of capitalist culture into the basic structure/institutions within societies all over the world.

• This process is mediated by two things: 1. The position of nations in the world system (Core, Semi-peripheral, Peripheral) and 2. The internal class structure of the individual

nations.

• The result is an increasing “contradiction” between nonmaterial and material culture.

1. Nonmaterial culture (aspirations, values, expectations) is most quickly/heavily influenced by capitalist deepening,

2. The penetration and availability of material culture (technology, productivity, etc.) often lags far behind or is non-existent.

Five Institutional Systems

• Industrialization• Stratification and Social Mobility• Political Structure• Education• Scientific Perspectives

Industrialization• Protoindustrialization

– Rural “Putting Out” System– Created a group of skilled laborers– Encouraged merchants, artists, crafts

persons– Brought merchants from trade only into

production– Connected rural and urban areas– Produced goods to expand the trade

networks– Did not always lead to industrialization

Industrialization• Mechanization within capitalism• Resulted from the accumulation of cultural

knowledge over thousands of years.• Technological innovation led to factories

that increased productivity• Technological innovation increased

markets• Technological innovation increased

profitability• Greater numbers of workers could be

employed leading to a larger consumer group

• Occurred in areas where coal for energy and water for transportation were present

Post Industrial SocietiesDaniel Bell• Shift from production of goods to production

of services• Shift from transportation, utilities and

telecommunications to health, science and education

• Dominant class made up of teachers, physicians, lawyers, scientists, engineers

• Replacement of profit motive by social responsibility and human betterment

Critiques of Daniel BellFrom 1900 to 1970 manufacturing did not

change, but agriculture went from 38 to 4% and service went from 24% to 61%

There is no evidence (BELIEVE ME!!!) that teachers, scientists, physicians, etc have ANY control over the economy.

Service jobs that have been created are repetitive, routine and fairly low level, rather than being aimed at the betterment of humanity

StratificationLenski• Reversal of evolutionary pattern of increasing

stratification from Band through State societies.• Possible reasons include

– High levels of economic productivity allow elites to grant concessions to subordinate classes and still keep the majority for themselves

– Concessions reduce worker hostility– Lower fertility rates (demographic transition) mean

fewer people to share the greater wealth– Growth in knowledge leads to highly skilled work

force that have more bargaining power with elites– Because of the diffusion of economic resources

through the society, the “many can unite against the few”

• This seems to be true for the nation-state, but not for the World System

StratificationSanderson’s Marxist Interpretation• Industrial (capitalist) societies are driven

by the logic of capital accumulation• What is produced must be sold and the

expansion of production means the expansion of consumption

• Increasing diffusion of income throughout the society is necessary to the system

• This means an increase in the working and middle class of the society

Stratification between States• The degree of stratification has

not decreased, but has continued to increase in differences between nation states

• Ratio of Richest to Poorest Countries by National Income

1750 1.8 to 11960 30 to 11989 59 to 1

Social Class in Industrialized Countries

• There is little agreement about how to differentiate classes in stratified societies

• Industrial capitalist societies are very similar in levels of inequality as measured by GINI coefficients

• Shifts in the U.S. between 1910 and 1959 show that income was redistributed only from the upper class to the classes just below it, called the:

• “Twentieth Century Income Revolution” is a shift that began with the New Deal in the 1930s that introduced government bureaucracy and encouraged the middle class

Class Struggle in the 20th Century• Differs from earlier periods in the

following ways:– Possession of capital is no longer the

only way to the upper class (owners = 15% of pop)

– Positions, organizational assets and educational credentials are more important because very few people own capital

– People cannot “exploit” others by getting an education, therefore it is a struggle for resources, not exploitation

Mobility in Stratified Societies

• Social mobility in a stratified society increases during periods of social upheaval (war, revolution, rapid technological change)

• Social mobility is relatively stable and much lower in between the periods of upheaval

• There is little intergenerational mobility – that is, there is social class reproduction

Social Class Reproduction

Class Reproduction and Mobility

Segregation (neighborhoods, housing, schools, etc.)

Marriage (shaped by segregation patterns)

Education (major part of class reproduction)

Others (religion, recreation, entertainment, etc.)

Political Systems• Absolute monarchies (absolutism)

– emerged to protect the interests of feudal nobility in the period of transition from feudalism to capitalism. They began to protect nobility and then served to protect capitalists

• Parliamentary Democracies – bodies of leaders separate from the power bases of

presidents etc. to whom other parts of governments are responsible

– Regular and fair elections of government officials to office by means of universal suffrage

– Delegation of individual rights and liberties to the mass of the population

– Formal democracies = democratic facades– Substantive democracy = a true democracy– Restricted democracy = restrict the vote to certain

categories of citizens (eg. Property holders)– Unrestricted democracy = universal suffrage– Universal in the CORE– Seldom found in the Semi-Periphery or Periphery

Democracy and Capitalism

• The form of government most suited to the interests of the property owners (bourgeoisie)

• Mass suffrage resulted from the development of large, well-organized working classes that demanded the vote

• Capitalist societies have achieved the highest levels of industrialization and the largest working classes.

• Democracy began with bourgeoisie and then was validated and changed by the working class

Democracy Emerging Where?

• Expanding exports was a basic part of economy

• Exports tend to be mineral rather than agricultural

• Agriculture is not labor intensive• Industrialization and economic

diversity• Mass political parties are not radical• Possibility of political alliance between

the middle and working classes

•

Who Benefits from Democracy

According to Sanderson, who benefits most from democracy and why? (capitalists or workers)

Capitalists benefit because democracy softens the serious contradictions of capitalism (inequality, etc.).

Workers benefit in the long run because they have a

way to advance their interests and force reforms.

Socialist States• Centralized planning has replaced the

market as the means of economic decision making

• Bureaucracy replaces supply and demand (non-market economy)

• Soviet Union did not act as a Core country – instead has helped development of other socialist states (eg. Cuba)

• A dictatorship OVER the proletariat, not of the proletariat

• Either swamped by surrounding capitalists, or gradually shifted back to capitalism

Socialist StatesWhat two factors led to collapse?

Internal – “revolution from above” to open the economy to more development – “over-extended empire” which couldn’t maintain dominance

External – economy crippled by military threats from capitalist countries (mainly US).

(

Education• Compulsory primary education• Secondary education lagged way behind

(in western societies, average 1955)• The U.S. and Canada have the highest

rate of higher education (1989 – 2/3 of the appropriate age cohort college educated)

• Education as nation-building – a way to socialize citizens and instill loyalty to the state – a uniform system to produce individuals with common goals and ideas and cultural expectations.

Credential Inflation

• Education came to be recognized as a credential that could be use to acquire economic success

• In time too many people had the credential (cultural capital), and so a higher one had to be acquired (credential inflation).

• Semi-periphery and periphery countries see education as a key to acquiring/competing for the lifestyle and economic status of CORE countries

The Scientific RevolutionThree phases of the early scientific

revolution?

1. Copernicus – heliocentric theory that the sun is the center of the universe

2. Testing of Copernicus’ theory (Kepler, Galileo)

3. Institutionalization and expansion of science beginning in the late 1600s

Why is Science Related to Capitalism?

• Merton – Protestant religious values provided the right atmosphere for science

• Huff – development of a legal system emphasized rationality and universal standards of judgement

• Merton (again) – trade by sea required navigation, mining, military technology

• Science is expensive, is economically useful and requires surpluses to support it

Science in the World System

How is the growth of "big science" related to WSYS?

Core uses science to drive dominance/exploitation

Why do less developed countries try to generate big science?

Try to keep from falling further behind, and try to keep intellectuals from leaving - "brain drain"

                                      CORE                     SEMI-PERIPHERY        PERIPHERY

DIV. OF LABOR           Post-industrial                  Proto-industrial                   Pre-industrial                                      (service economy)           agri - indus - service           agri/primary prod                                                                               (like 1900 U.S.)                     (like 1850 U.S.) 

PRODUCTIVITY          High productivity             Medium productivity            Low productivity                                     PC-GNP  20K                  PC-GNP  5-10K                      PC-GNP  < 1K  

 

POPULATION             ZPG or near ZPG           Slowed growth                      Slowing growth                                     (lo BR / lo DR)                  (med BR / lo DR)                    (hi BR / med DR)                                     “Graying” pop                Aging pop                               Young pop

 

STRATIFICATION       Complex class sys         3 class system                       2 class system                                     (5 classes in U.S.)            (rich, small mc,                      (tiny rich class,                                                                                large poor class)                   huge poor class)

......

• CORE                              SEMI-PERIPHERY                  PERIPHERY

• POLITY                  Capitalist democracy       Capitalist Authoritarian        Authoritarian                               Universal suffrage            Near univ suffrage                 Class dominated

•FAMILY                  Post-modern                    Modern nuclear                    Pre-mod extended                                (fragmented)                    (economic unit)                     (social unit)

•  

• KNOWLEDGE       Post-modern                    Modern - Mixed                     Pre-modern                                (scientific-techno)           (secularizing)                        (religious) 

•

• EDUCATION          Universal through HS      Universal through GS         Class based                               Class based higher ed    Class based after that

•LITERACY            Universal - 95-98%           High - 80-95%                       Low/Med - 30-80%

•    MEDICINE            Modern +                         Modern +                              Pre-modern                               Universal access              Class based access            limited access                                (lo IMR, hi LEX)                (med IMR, med LEX)            (hi IMR, lo LEX)

Study Guide

Industrialization Formal democracyStratification Substantive democracySocial Mobility Restricted democracyPolitical Structure Unrestricted democracyEducation SuffrageScientific Perspectives Universal educationProtoindustrialism Credential inflation“Putting Out” System SciencePost industrialism Social class reproductionStratification Absolutism (absolute

monarchySocial mobility Parliamentary democracy