What is Globalization?

The following on globalization and the different types of government are excerpts from my book, ‘SOCI 001: The Armchair Sociologist’s Guide to Sociology.’ You can click here to learn more about it. 

Globalization

Globalization is a process in which businesses or organizations spread influence internationally. This could mean selling their products abroad or having part of their operation in a foreign country.

For example, the sportswear company Nike, which is an American company, has factories in China. There, their shoes and apparel are made. Nike also has stores in China where citizens of the nation can buy Nike products.

Additionally, globalization is also the spread of cultures and traditions across the globe. An example of this would be foreign food and snacks. If you walk through most food courts in shopping centres, you’ll notice that there’s a large variety of food from different cultures. You’ll see American food, Asian food, Middle Eastern food, etc. This is one-way cultures are spread globally.

What is a social movement and how does one develop?

What is a social movement? You know when you’re watching the news (or seeing breaking news on social media) and hear the reporters talking about a recent march that was protesting against injustice (ex. Women’s March)? Well, they were talking about a social movement.

A social movement is a demonstration by large groups of people to either create or resist social change, fight for social justice, and/or to provide a political voice for an oppressed group. But social movements are much more complex than what you see on TV or on your mobile device. There are stages to it and there are different types of movements.

Noam Chomsky on capitalism, terrorism, and education

Noam Chomsky, who is often referred to as “the father of modern linguistics,” is a linguist, philosopher, historian, and social critic. Additionally, he is the author of over 100 books, writing about war, society, and politics.

Here are Chomsky’s 3 thoughts on society:

1) “It’s ridiculous to talk about freedom in a society dominated by huge corporations. What kind of freedom is there inside a corporation? They’re totalitarian institutions – you take orders from above and maybe give them to people below you. There’s about as much freedom as under Stalinism.”

Chomsky, in this quote, is criticizing capitalism. He believes that even though Western societies are always preaching about freedom and claiming that all their citizens are free, they are not. They are not free because they are controlled by the institutions that they work for.

5 books every armchair sociologist needs to read

Armchair sociologist – this is a term used to describe a sociologist who practices sociology without going into the field and doing research. And because these types of sociologist are often at home in their thinking chairs, analyzing society, they need to read a lot of books so that they can learn and understand the different perspectives of society; they need to be able to put on a different set of lens (racial, economic, gender, etc.) when observing people and their behaviours.

So here are 5 books that will show every armchair sociologist the experiences of people as they move through society:

What is a social construct?

Have you ever wondered why a post-secondary education is considered to be important? I mean, the material you learn isn’t as practical as actual work experience. Or have you ever wondered why each bill of money has a specific value? I mean, it is just a piece of colored paper. Well, these two things (and many others) have social value because of social construction.

Social constructionism is this sociological theory that believes all things that have social meaning are created by individuals and by societies. In other words, individuals construct meanings for things that would otherwise be meaningless. And as more people join the group (or society), the meanings of these things become reality because large amounts of people believe it. This is the basic process of a social construct.

What is a social problem and how do you define it?

You are walking down a street downtown one day and see an entire block, maybe longer, of homeless people asking for money. You wonder to yourself how something like this can even exist. Well, it’s a social problem (or social issue) that hasn’t been solved yet.

A social problem is a condition or societal behaviour that negatively affects people (i.e. poverty and homelessness) and that needs to be addressed and repaired. However, there are two requirements that need to be met before a condition is constituted as a social problem.

The first requirement, which is called the objective component, is that the condition must affect large amounts of people in a damaging way. The second requirement, which is called the subjective component, is that the condition needs to have a perception that it has to be addressed.

Martin Luther King, Jr. on capitalism, policies, and racism

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister and a Civil Rights activist. He was well-known across the world for his activism for equal rights for African-Americans and was the most visible spokesperson for the Civil Rights Movement.

Here are Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 3 thoughts on society:

1) “Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That’s the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”

This Martin Luther King, Jr. quote is pretty self-explanatory. With a capitalistic economic system, there will never be equally wealthy people because there will always be two groups --the rich (a small few who hold the majority of the riches) and the poor (the majority of the nation).

Sociology majors, here’s what you can do with your degree

Being a sociology major, you probably hear people asking you what you’re going to do with your sociology degree a lot. I did too, so I get how it feels. So here are some encouraging words and a list of potential careers.

When I was studying sociology in university, I was often asked what I can do with my degree after I graduated. I wasn’t 100 percent sure at first. I knew I wanted to major in sociology because it was so interesting to me, but didn’t know what I wanted to work as or what type of career I wanted after I graduated from university (well, I had an idea, but wasn’t sure if I could do it).

After being asked this question multiple times by friends and family, I decided to do some research into the potential careers that I could have. Lucky for me, there is a thing called Google, and I was able to find a bunch of lists of potential careers for sociology majors very quickly. I picked one site and looked through it, and I saw myself having a career in ALL OF THE POTENTIAL JOBS!

Angela Davis on racism, prison, and the women’s suffrage

Angela Davis is a political activist, social commentator, and educator. During the 1960s, she was an important voice who advocated for the oppressed and the Civil Rights Movement.

Here are Davis’s three thoughts on society:

Malcolm X on race, society, and the media

Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister who fought for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. He often preached for race pride and social justice and encouraged visible minorities to fight against racism and oppression.

Here are Malcolm X’s three thoughts on society and my interpretations of them:

Book Review: Oxford Dictionary of Sociology

Buy the 'Oxford Dictionary of Sociology' from Amazon Here: https://amzn.to/2Ixl5z7

If you are a sociology major or just someone who wants to learn about society, this dictionary is a must-have!

(Just to be totally transparent with you, this review includes affiliate links. What this basically means is that if you decided to use the provided links to buy the product, I will get a small kickback from your purchase, at no extra cost to you.)

When I was in university, there were many times when I didn’t understand a concept that a professor taught or a sociological theory that I read in a text. So one day, I decided to ask one of my professors for extra help or for extra resources to help me understand the content I was learning better. He suggested that I get a sociological dictionary, especially if I wanted to continue my studies and get a post-graduate degree.

Sociology Tool: Martin Luther King Jr. on capitalism

If you didn’t know, Martin Luther King Jr. was a radical who often criticized America and its policies. He wasn’t always an obedient person who only talked about race relations and equality.

Here is an example. In 1967, King spoke to the staff of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) about how they must work harder to “revolutionize” society, as well as for fair distribution of political and economic power:

“We have more from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights,, an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society. We have been in a reform movement… But after Selma and the voting rights bill, we moved into a new era, which must be the era of revolution. We must recognize that we can’t solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power… this means a revolution of values and other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together… you can’t really get rid of one without getting rid of the others… the whole structure of American life must be changed. America is a hypocritical nation and [we] must put [our] own house in order.”

Here’s more on King’s thoughts on capitalism (from The Young Turks):

Socialized Self: George Herbert Mead's Self, Mind and Society

(George Herbert Mead)

George Herbert Mead was a social philosopher who discussed the connection between the self, the mind, and society. He believed that society has an effect on the self and mind, and the self and the mind have an effect on society. Mead is considered to be the father of symbolic interaction.

Socialized Self: Herbert Blumer's Three Basic Premises

(Herbert Blumer)

Herbert Blumer was a sociologist who discussed social research and symbolic interaction. As a supporter of George Herbert Mead's findings, Blumer was a big believer that individuals create their own social reality through collective and individual action. Through his works on symbolic interaction, Blumer was deemed by many as the leader of this sociological school of thought during his times.

Here is Blumer's Three Basic Premises for human interaction from his book, Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method:

Inspire to study and explore society (video)

"Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both." C. Wright Mills

Concepts of Race and Ethnicity: Double Consciousness

(W.E.B. Du Bois)

This week, we continue with the concepts of race and ethnicity. For this article, I will discuss W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of double-consciousness. This is one of the most important concepts as it will help you with becoming ecstatic. So take your time to digest it.

Concepts of Race and Ethnicity: Otherness and Collective Memory of Oppression

(HappyMunky/www.deviantart.com/)

In the last article, I talked about Jean-Paul Restoule's idea of "identity" and "identifying." For this article, as we continue on with the concepts of race and ethnicity, I will discuss Susan Judith Ship's theory of "otherness" and "collective memory."

Sociology of Identifying and Identity

(Chicago Blackhawks team logo)

Continuing on with Theories of Race and Ethnicity, I will talk about the sociological definitions of identifying and identity, which was coined by Jean-Paul Restoule, in this article. This is an important concept to grasp because it is a such a great tool for understanding yourself and your true feelings
about your ethnicity.

What is the Sociology of Race and Ethnicity?

(W.E.B du Bois)

The sociology of race and ethnicity is the study of the construction of race and how this affects society.

The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity was my favorite course back in university because it revealed so many aspects of people and society that I didn't realize. I hope that through this post -- and many more like it -- you will achieve the same realizations I did.

Sociology of Social Stratification

(Karl Marx)

Social stratification is society's way of ranking people based on a hierarchal system of property, prestige, and/or power.

There are two different types of stratification. The caste system and the class system. Caste ranks people based on whose family they were born into, while class ranks people based on both birth and a person's achievements.