...Social Stratification in modern South Africa by Jabu Banda 512424 Introduction Max Weber viewed social stratification from three dimensions (Wright, EO): economic class, social status and power (party). According to Weber each of these dimensions had its own stratification: the economic, represented by income and access to goods and services, the social, represented by prestige and honour and the political, represented by power .Unlike Marx Weber paved the way for us to incorporate race and ethnicity dimensions in relation to social stratification. South Africa has always been and still is very much a society divided along racial lines. There has however been a gradual but undeniable shift from a society divided along race under apartheid towards division along economic class post 1994. We can attribute this shift largely to the significant political landscape change but we still need a deeper understanding of the forces driving this shift. This paper will therefore attempt to analyze modern day South African society in relation to Weber’s model of social stratification with the view establish its validity and relevance in a local context. We are presented by opportunity to perhaps explore impact this shift has had economically. In other words what the impact has been on access to products and services, media, health, education and so forth. The dimension of power and politics was very central to Weber’s theory, it is therefore natural that we examine the impact the shift...
Words: 314 - Pages: 2
...year 13th October 2011. We are going to be having the following lessons for this year: Individual identity and the social world: 1. Culture, Individual Identity and Socialization 2. Social Stratification, Identification and Mobility 3. Gender Issues 4. Deviance and Social Control 5. Poverty and Social Exclusion(15% of the population of Malta are below the poverty line) 6. Globalisation. Social Reality: The Analysis of the Social Reality Sociology is the study of the human behavior under the perspective of the social(relationship). Human behavior tends to satisfy basic human needs. Four basic types of human needs are: 1. Biological 2. Social 3. Psychological 4. Spiritual Human Needs: 1. Food and shelter 2. A sense of belonging to be felt accepted to receive warm and friendly responses 3. Help, support, protection and guidance(dependency) 4. Assert oneself over others and among others, the need to feel needed 5. Warm and intimate relationship: physical proximity, bodily contact 6. Self defence: manifested in aggression 7. Self-esteem and ego-identity: individuality Definition of Sociology: Sociology is the study of relationship and not the study of society is made of relationships. Discussion: A trip to Africa: I had never felt heat like this before. If this was northern Africa, I wondered what it must be closer to the equator. The men, women and even children wear those white robes that reached...
Words: 1873 - Pages: 8
...Sarah DeWeerdt. The article mainly focuses on the world’s environmental conditions with the view to establish a clear understanding and look into the future of the global climatic conditions. Therefore, the article explores various concepts thought to have resulted in the continuously degrading climatic conditions and the possible ways of avoiding the problems of climatic changes. The article also underscores the contemporary and expected consequences to result from the serious climatic changes. To ensure effective communication and her message transfer, Sarah DeWeerdt employs various social principles and concepts that include human etiology, globalization and global stratification. Human etiology refers to the universal and interdisciplinary concept used by social scientists to explain in holistic manner the relationship that exists between human beings and their immediate natural, built and social environments. While employing the concepts of human etiology, Sarah DeWeerdt explores and explains human activities that are detrimental to the environment. She indicates that climatic pollution is a result of poor management strategies employed by human beings in tackling burning environmental issues. Moreover, the writer highlights that human beings, especially in the developing countries, are increasingly burning fossil fuels such as oil products that massively emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Sarah DeWeerdt further indicates that human beings in the developing countries...
Words: 781 - Pages: 4
...Social class Murray Chapter 8 July 3rd – 2nd exam- Tuesday June 21st class cancelled Social class and stratification in Canada Essay topics 1250 words, 5-10 references 1. Sociological Imagination” of your life, gender, family, ses, ethnic, migration 2. Sociological Analysis of a current event Toronto star – police violence, poverty , loss ofmanufacturing jobs 3 other topics of personal interest or HR Interest Annotated bibliography due July 10l 50 – 150 words on 4 research sources; proposal includes theses and outline What does sociology know about this Chapter focus: how are the lives of Canadians affected by social inequality how do prestige , power and wealth determine socialclass? What roles does occuptational structure play in a functionalist perspective What is social stratification? the hierarchical arragngement of a large social groups based on their control over basic resources “Life changes” the extent to which individuals have access to important societal resources such as food, clothing, shelter, education and health (102) Stratification systems are described as being closed or open closed: the boundaries between levels in the hierarchies of social stratification are rigid and peoples position are set by ascribed status Open: the boundaries between levels in the hierarchies of social stratification are flexible and may be influenced (positively and negatively) by people’s achieved status Social mobility the movement of individuals...
Words: 1160 - Pages: 5
...Global Stratification Learning Objectives • Define social stratification and explain why it is sociologically significant. • Describe and provide examples of the four major systems of social stratification. • Discuss the relationship between gender and social stratification. • Describe the major points of disagreement between Karl Marx and Max Weber regarding the meaning of social class in industrialized societies. • As articulated by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, list the functions that social stratification provides for society. • Discuss Melvin Tumin's rebuttal to Davis and Moore's functionalist view of social stratification. • Explain the conflict perspective's view of social stratification as it relates to class conflict and scarce resources. • Evaluate Gerhard Lenski's attempt to synthesize the functionalist and conflict perspectives' views on social stratification. • Define ideology and understand how elite classes use it to maintain social stratification. • Compare the social stratification system in Great Britain and the former Soviet Union to the social stratification system in the United States. • Identify the major characteristics associated with the Most Industrialized Nations, Industrializing Nations, and Least Industrialized Nations. • Describe and evaluate the major theories pertaining to the origins of and maintenance of global stratification. Chapter Summary Social stratification is...
Words: 1899 - Pages: 8
...Matiko Bivins Prejudice and Discrimination When reflecting on my six-month expedition to South Africa, I recognized various aspects of prejudice and discrimination. Although racial categories in South Africa have been abolished, many native countrymen still view themselves and others according to these categories. Race is the classification system to categorize people based on physical characteristics, but has not scientific significance. “Blacks are the largest racial group in South Africa (approximately 79% [of the total population]) (Shutts, Kinzler, Katz, Tredoux, & Spelke, 2011)” consisting of several ethnic groups, such as Khoi-San, Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Sotho, Venda, and Shangaan. Ethnicity is cultural traits shared by a category of people; religion, language, and national origin are types of ethnic classifications. However, the minority of white South Africans have more freedom and opportunities because of the unspoken racial separation within the government and workforce. Khoi-San is the unified name of two ethnic groups, who share physical characteristics and languages of the Bantu region. They are known to have small, short frames, copper-brown skin, high cheekbones, and slanted eyes differentiating them from their dark African counterparts. They are native to the semi-desert regions in South Africa. The Venda live in remote, mountainous region near the southern tip. They are a mix of many cultures, like Central African...
Words: 1171 - Pages: 5
...Discuss the View That Hiv/Aids Is a Disease of Poverty Social Problems Chupical Shollah Manuel HIV is a long term social problem in most underdeveloped countries. This takes us directly beyond the epidemiological aspects of the disease to the social and economic dimensions. Many social studies have revealed that HIV and AIDS is fast becoming a social cancer and it can be understood if one was to assess the social structure and the availability of resources in the society. The most affected persons are those who live in the lower strata of the social stratification due to inequalities that comes with social structure. This paper serves to explain that HIV and AIDS is a social problem of poverty and it also looks at other factors such as religion, promiscuity and child rights which also result in the spread of the disease. It is undisputed to say that poverty is implicated in the prevalence in most developing world. Because these countries are generally poor people are normally forced to engage in activities that end up putting them at the risk of HIV. United Nations (2004) revealed that in South Africa more than 6 million people where living with HIV. The paper also revealed that the majority number who were affected were blacks who are generally poor who have no proper housing facilities, mal-nutritional, lack of safe water. Further research has suggested that Botswana and Zimbabwe have high prevalence of the disease due to the poor conditions which prevails in these countries...
Words: 322 - Pages: 2
...Social Problems Chupical Shollah Manuel HIV is a long term social problem in most underdeveloped countries. This takes us directly beyond the epidemiological aspects of the disease to the social and economic dimensions. Many social studies have revealed that HIV and AIDS is fast becoming a social cancer and it can be understood if one was to assess the social structure and the availability of resources in the society. The most affected persons are those who live in the lower strata of the social stratification due to inequalities that comes with social structure. This paper serves to explain that HIV and AIDS is a social problem of poverty and it also looks at other factors such as religion, promiscuity and child rights which also result in the spread of the disease. It is undisputed to say that poverty is implicated in the prevalence in most developing world. Because these countries are generally poor people are normally forced to engage in activities that end up putting them at the risk of HIV. United Nations (2004) revealed that in South Africa more than 6 million people where living with HIV. The paper also revealed that the majority number who were affected were blacks who are generally poor who have no proper housing facilities, mal-nutritional, lack of safe water. Further research has suggested that Botswana and Zimbabwe have high prevalence of the disease due to the poor conditions which prevails in these countries. In Zimbabwe around 2 million people are said to...
Words: 1823 - Pages: 8
...African Journal of History and Culture Vol. 3(5), pp. 65-72, June 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJHC ISSN 2141-6672 ©2011 Academic Journals Review A critique of modernization and dependency theories in Africa: Critical assessment J. Matunhu Department of Development Studies, Midlands State University, Zimbabwe. E-mail: matunhuj@msu.ac.zw. Accepted 6 April, 2011 The way states and development specialists rationalize how to commit economic resources to development is influenced, to a greater extent by their level of persuasion towards specific development theories. The discourse assesses the influence of modernization and dependency theories on Africa’s development. The conclusion is that both theories have failed to help develop Africa. The discourse pins hope on the African Renaissance theory of development. Key words: Modernization, dependency, rural underdevelopment, African renaissance. INTRODUCTION Africa houses plentiful economic resources. Paradoxically, the continent languishes in poverty as evidenced by high prevalence of famine, disease and ignorance (Buthelezi, 2007). This presentation attributes the poverty to theories of development because the way society deals with underdevelopment is influenced by development theories. The presentation assesses the effect of modernity and dependency theories on Africa’s development and concludes by recommending the adoption of the African Renaissance theory to Africa’s development. In this presentation...
Words: 6577 - Pages: 27
...1: Introduction to Sociology – Social Stratification | Slide # | Slide Title | Slide Narration | Slide 1 | Introduction | Welcome to Introduction to Sociology. In this lesson we will introduce and discuss Social Stratification.Next slide. | Slide 2 | Topics | The following topics will be covered in this lesson:What Is Social Stratification?;Caste and Class Systems;The Functions of Social Stratification;Stratification and Conflict; andSocial Stratification: Facts and Values.Next slide. | Slide 3 | What Is Social Stratification? | Social stratification is a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. The study of social stratification across cultures shows that it has four basic principles.First, Social stratification is a trait of society. While personal ability and achievement play an important role in a person’s position in the stratification hierarchy, it is also a function of the social organization one operates under. As an example, children who are born into a wealthy family are more likely to enjoy good health, do well in school, succeed in a career, and live a long life.Second, Social Stratification persists over generations. We can see that stratification influences society by observing how parents pass along their social position to their children. Social mobility, a change in one’s position in the social hierarchy, is a product of a high-income society, but it is constrained by the social stratification processes. In America we celebrate...
Words: 4206 - Pages: 17
...Culture of SOUTH AFRICA http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html ORIENTATION Identification. South Africa is the only nation-state named after its geographic location; there was a general agreement not to change the name after the establishment of a constitutional nonracial democracy in 1994. The country came into being through the 1910 Act of Union that united two British colonies and two independent republics into the Union of South Africa. After the establishment of the first colonial outpost of the Dutch East India Company at Cape Town in 1652, South Africa became a society officially divided into colonizer and native, white and nonwhite, citizen and subject, employed and indentured, free and slave. The result was a fragmented national identity symbolized and implemented by the white minority government's policy of racial separation. Economic status has paralleled political and social segregation and inequality, with the black African, mixed-race ("Coloured"), and Indian and Pakistani ("Asian") population groups experiencing dispossession and a lack of legal rights. Since the first nonracial elections in 1994, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has attempted to overcome this legacy and create unified national loyalties on the basis of equal legal status and an equitable allocation of resources. Location and Geography. South Africa has an area of 472,281 square miles (1,223,208 square kilometers). It lies at the southern end of...
Words: 8820 - Pages: 36
...most popular. They also like truffles; a black, warty fungus that grow in the roots of oak and hazelnut trees. Truffles are really expensive and they use trained pigs to find them. The study compares these two countries France and Kenya within the setting of International Management practices. Comparing and Contrasting France Verses Kenya Kenya is located in East Africa and borders Somalia to the northeast, Ethiopia to the north, Sudan to the northwest, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the east. The country straddles the equator, covering a total of 224,961 square miles (582,600 square kilometers; roughly twice the size of the state of Nevada). Kenya has wide white-sand beaches on the coast. Inland plains cover three-quarters of the country; they are mostly bush, covered in underbrush. In the west are the highlands where the altitude rises from three thousand to ten thousand feet. Nairobi, Kenya's largest city and capital, is located in the central highlands. The highest point, at 17,058 feet (5,200 meters), is Mount Kenya. Kenya shares Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa and the main source of the Nile River, with Tanzania and Uganda. Another significant feature of Kenyan geography is the Great Rift Valley, the wide, steep canyon that cuts through the highlands. Kenya is also home to some of the world's most...
Words: 2502 - Pages: 11
...[pic] |Syllabus College of Social Sciences SOC/120 Version 4 Introduction to Sociology | |Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2007, 2006 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course is a foundation for studies of sociology. In this course, students gain an understanding of the sociological perspective, theories, and research methods. Students also explore culture, race, ethnicity, socialization, social interaction, deviance, social control, groups, organizations, social and gender stratification, population, and social change. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Macionis, J. J. (2011). Society: The basics (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Recommended Websites: The following are suggested websites that can be used as additional resources for researching information for your CheckPoints and Assignments. U.S. Census...
Words: 3608 - Pages: 15
...Introduction To Sociology II notes by Mutangi G T Sociology is the study of human social life. Because human social life is so expansive, sociology has many sub-sections of study, ranging from the analysis of conversations to the development of theories to try to understand how the entire world works. This chapter will introduce you to sociology and explain why it is important, how it can change your perspective of the world around you, and give a brief history of the discipline. History Sociology is a relatively new academic discipline. It emerged in the early 19th century in response to the challenges of modernity. Increasing mobility and technological advances resulted in the increasing exposure of people to cultures and societies different from their own. The impact of this exposure was varied, but for some people included the breakdown of traditional norms and customs and warranted a revised understanding of how the world works. Sociologists responded to these changes by trying to understand what holds social groups together and also explore possible solutions to the breakdown of social solidarity. Early Sociological Studies Early sociological studies considered the field to be similar to the natural sciences like physics or biology. As a result, many researchers argued that the methodology used in the natural sciences were perfectly suited for use in the social sciences, including Sociology. The effect of employing the scientific method and stressing empiricism was the...
Words: 12675 - Pages: 51
...within Sub-Saharan Africa Sistla Sumanth Introduction: Airborne communication of mycobacterium tuberculosis is responsible for the evolution of primary tuberculosis (TB) in immunostable and immunocomprimsed patients (Aaron, et al. 2004). In 1993, the center for disease control classification identified that TB was the defining illness in HIV infected patients, as it is typically the first symptom bearing illness to afflict the patient (Aaron, et al. 2004). TB cases have dramatically increased in the global setting in recent, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, illustrating the sensitivity of HIV infected patients to this co-infection. TB results from a pathogenic infection caused primarily by M. tuberculosis, and seldom Mycobacterium bovis; the infiltration of the bacterium into the respiratory tract leads to the infection of the macrophages and cytotoxic cells debilitating intracellular growth (Aaron, et al. 2004). The risk of HIV infected patients to succumb due to the co-infection of tuberculosis and HIV is twice that of patients only infected with HIV (Aaron, et al. 2004). A 1997 estimate suggests that atleast 10.7million people were co-infected with HIV and M. tuberculosis; more than 30% of TB cases in Africa are also infected with HIV (Aaron, et al. 2004) showing the susceptibility of co-infection in immunocompromised patients. Those living in Sub-Saharan Africa are in greater risk due to the prevalence of malnutrition and social dispossession as...
Words: 2369 - Pages: 10
