Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Why did capitalism emerge as mature system in Britain Research Paper

Why did capitalism emerge as mature system in Britain - Research Paper Example The topic of capitalism was originally brought about by Karl Marx and his colleague Fredrick Engels, who were both historians and theorists. According to Marx, capitalism originated from the Western Europe, more specifically in England. This is reiterated by Max Weber, who describes England as â€Å"the home of capitalism† (Jean Baechler et al. 1988, p. 185). Capitalism in England can be traced from the sixteenth century which coincided with the Agrarian revolution that was slowly taking place. Capitalism was, therefore, largely seen in the land ownership and agricultural production that characterized this revolution. During the sixteenth century, most parts of Europe were undergoing the Agrarian revolution. Typically, human beings engaging in agriculture in most parts of Europe were categorized into two main groups; the people who practiced agriculture (peasants) and those who appropriated other people’s labor. In this arrangement, those who worked on the land (peasant farmers) possessed land and had access to what they produced on their farms. However, the appropriators of labor (who were either the State or landowners) controlled what these peasants farmers sold or remained with for storage. This surplus produce was taken from the peasants by use of coercion which was carried out through various means such as judicial, military or political power. According to Marx, this kind of exploitation through direct coercion was referred to â€Å"extra-economic† means. This was, however, different from the developed capitalism where the farmers (producers) are completely property-less, onl y relying on wages in exchange of their labor-power in working on landowners’ properties (Wallerstein 2011). In this kind of capitalist relationship between appropriators and producers, what mattered most were the markets and the forces involved in them. For example, markets determined what the appropriators got in exchange

Monday, October 28, 2019

Mental illness Essay Example for Free

Mental illness Essay Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper, relays to the reader something more than a simple story of a woman at the mercy of the limited medical knowledge in the late 1800s. Gilman creates a character that expresses real emotions and a psyche that can be examined in the context of modern understanding. The Yellow Wallpaper, written in first person and first published in 1892 in the January edition of the New England Magazine, depicts the downward spiral of depression, loss of control and competence, and feelings of worthlessness that lead to greater depression and the possibility of schizophrenia. The beginning emphasis will be on the interaction and roles of the husband and wife in The Yellow Wallpaper, which are based on the male dominated times of the late 1800s. The main character, a woman whose name is never revealed, tells us of the mental state of mind she is under and how her husband and his brother, both physicians, dismiss it. You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? If a physician of high standing, and ones own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression a slight hysterical tendency what is one to do? The doctors seem completely unable to admit that there might be more to her condition than just stress and a slight nervous disorder even when a summer in the country and weeks of bed-rest have not helped. It might be thought that it is a simple matter of a loving husband being overprotective of his ill wife, but this assumption is quickly washed away by his arrogant atti tudes, combined with his callous treatment of her that only serve to compound the problem. At first he meant to repaper the room, but afterwards he said that I was letting it get the better of me, and that nothing was worse for a nervous patient than to give way to such fancies. John treats his wife in a manner that gives her reason to doubt herself and her capabilities. Her husband John has explicitly forbidden her to do certain things, although we are never told why; but it can be assumed that it is because of her frailty that some of these activities have been taken away from her. As such being prohibited to work and not being able to contribute to the household as a proper wife and new  mother she begins to feel helpless. So I am absolutely forbidden to work until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Additionally, she has been told not to write: There comes John, and I must put this away he hates to have me write a word. With no creative outlet her mind starts to find things upon which to dwell, things that only she can see. Virtually imprisoned in her bedroom, supposedly to allow her to rest and recover, she slowly starts to go insane. Without compassion or an outlet for her creativity, her mind turns inward and focuses on her now increasingly shrinking universe. She has no say in the location or the decor of her room. I dont like our room a bit. . . But John would [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u7t0TuAnKU] not hear of it. She is not allowed visitors, It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship . . . but he says he would as soon put fireworks in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now. In large part because of this oppression, she continues to decline. I dont feel as if it was worthwhile to turn my hand over for anything and Im getting dreadfully fretful and querulous. However by keeping her a prisoner in a room with offensive wallpaper and very little to occupy her mind, John almost forces her to dwell on her psyche. Prison is supposed to be depressing, and she is pretty close to being a prisoner. The story does hint to the fact that John knows he could have done more but simply does not seem to want to be bothered with the effort of such an endeavour for his wife. He never acknowledges that she has a real problem until the end of the story, at which time he fainted. John could have obtained council from someone less personally involved in her case, but the only help he sought was for the condition of the house and the baby. He obtained a nanny to watch over the children while he was away at work each day: It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. He also had his sister Jennie take care of the house. She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper. There is one instance, however, when he does talk of taking her to an expert for assistance, John says if I dont pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall. Nevertheless she took that as a  threat since Dr. Mitchell was even more domineering than her husband and his brother. Perhaps, if she had been allowed to come and go and do as she pleased her depression might have lifted, I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me. It seems to her that just being able to tell someone how she really feels would have eased her depression, but her husband would not hear of it because of the embarrassing consequences it could bring to the family name. Thus, John has made her a prisoner in their marriage where her opinions are pushed aside, and her self-worthiness questioned. She does have a rebellious spirit in her and the fact that this spirit is being crushed is the final nail towards her insanity. Her desperation is almost like someone being buried alive and screaming knowing that there are people just above but who seem not to hear or care. Her reaction is to seek to prove her husband wrong, John is a physician, and perhaps . . . perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster . . . While putting on an appearance of submission, in actuality she was frequently rebelling against her husbands orders. She writes when there is nobody around to see her, and she tries to move her bed, but always keeps an eye open for someone coming. As her breakdown approaches she actually locks her husband out of her room, I have locked the door and thrown the key down into the front path. I dont want to go out, and I dont want to have anybody come in, till John comes. I want to astonish him. This forces him to see that he has been wrong, and, since she knew he could not tolerate hysteria, to eventually drive him away. While there is supporting evidence that her husbands treatment of her was a major contributing factor to her madness, the possibility also exists that her madness was caused by an internal illness which, given the level of medical knowledge, her husband was unable to deal with appropriately. As mentioned in the beginning of this essay, Gilman creates a character that has real emotions and a real psyche that impresses upon the reader that she is slowly deteriorating into a mental illness known as schizophrenia (a disintegration of the personality). This illness, however it manifests itself within the personality of someone is usually highlighted through a variety of symptoms. The leading character exhibits these symptoms sporadically throughout the story. To begin with, one of the more obvious of her symptoms is her irrational obsession, displayed by relentless thoughts of and about, the yellow wallpaper that wraps the walls in her room. It is a room that she feels captured by and her obsessions start from the beginning of the story. I never saw a worse paper in my life, she says. It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study Taken in isolation, this kind of observation might appear to be harmless to the uninformed observer, but as her obsession with the wallpaper grows, so does her dementia. At one point she describes lying on her bed and follow[ing] that pattern about by the hour . . . I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that pointless pattern to some sort of conclusion. Interconnected with the first symptom of irrational obsession is that of thought processing disorder. This disorder can range in severity from a vague muddiness of thinking to a complete breakdown of ones mental processes. The first real clues that she is having trouble controlling her mental state of being comes into focus when she states, I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes . . . I take pains to control myself before him, at least, and that makes me very tired She tries to discuss her feelings rationally, but this only brings a stern reproachful look at which she gives up and returns to her room. Again her condition is revealed a few pages later when remarking that, It is getting to be a great effort for me to think straight. Soon, other noticeable changes in her mental state start to take shape. She slowly begins to show symptoms of paranoia, yet another unfortunate schizophrenic trait. She speaks of how happy she is that her baby is not exposed to the same torturous existence that she has to endure in her room with the yellow wallpaper. Of course I never mention it to them any more I am too wise, but I keep watch of it all the same Even the mistrust of her caretakers is further evidenced when she says, The fact is I am getting a little afraid of John. He seems very queer sometimes, and even Jennie has an inexplicable look When catching Jennie looking at the yellow wallpaper, she thinks to herself, But I know she was studying that pattern, and I am determined that nobody shall find it out but myself? This type of  paranoia is a firm indication that her psychological state is continuing to deteriorate towards complete schizophrenia. Another in the list of common symptoms of schizophrenia that the protagonist exhibits is hallucination. Of these hallucinations, one is when she sees people walking in the paths that she views from her bedroom window. As her condition worsens, she begins to have other hallucinations, this time focused on the yellow wallpaper itself. This is noticed when she exclaims, At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it [the wallpaper] becomes bars! The outside pattern, I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be. In addition to her mental hallucinations, she starts to also have ones where she can smell things as well, the only thing I can think of that it is like is the colour of the paper! A yellow smell. The climactic stage of her hallucinations comes when she realizes, that woman gets out in the daytime! It is at this point that her deranged thought processes become a coping mechanism to help her deal with her mental state of being. She passes into a full schizophrenic state and transforms from a helpless, self-pitying woman, to one who feels, in her mind at least, that she has broken free of her shackles. She feels that she has gained a sense of control, no matter how false that sense may be, as she says, I dont want to go out, and I dont want to have anybody come in, till John comes. I want to astonish him. Much has changed by the end of the story, so much in fact that in the end it is she who is metaphorically and literally creeping over John, who has fainted after seeing her in a deranged state of being. This is in contrast to their interactions up to this point when it was John who usually dictated and condescended her. The fact that the protagonist in this story is schizophrenic is supported by various bits of evidence. However, the question that remains to be answered is why a diagnosis of schizophrenia is important to interpreting The Yellow Wall-Paper. Schizophrenia is a logical choice in that it explains why the protagonist behaved in the way that she did. For her to overcome her submission to an environment that has sought to oppress her, she had to discard the personality within her that was meek and mild. This is a common defence mechanism of the mind in order to deal with situations it perceives to be uncontrollable. It is quite  possible within the realm of psychological study that the combination of the stress of childbirth, post-natal depression and the mental strain of having to repress her emotions triggered the schizophrenia. This terrible condition may have resulted from the bonds she felt would not allow her to express herself as a human being, mother and wife, a freedom that she so desperately needed. Her slide into madness, as a way to deal with her entrapment, is similar to a caged animal that, when backed into a corner, will fight for its life.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Sir Thomas More Essay example -- essays research papers fc

Thomas More was born in Milk Street, London on February 7, 1478, son Sir John More, a prominent judge. He was educated at St Anthony's School in London. As a youth he served as a page in the household of Archbishop Morton, who predecited he would be a "marvellous man."1. More went on to study at Oxford under Thomas Linacre and William Grocyn. During this time, he wrote comedies and studied Greek and Latin literature. One of his first works was an English translation of a Latin biography of the Italian humanist Pico della Mirandola. It was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1510. Around 1494 More returned to London to study law, was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1496, and became a barrister in 1501. Yet More did not automatically follow in his father's footsteps. He was torn between a monastic calling and a life of civil service. While at Lincoln's Inn, he determined to become a monk and subjected himself to the discipline of the Carthusians, living at a nearby monastery and taking part of the monastic life. The prayer, fasting, and penance habits stayed with him for the rest of his life. More's desire for monasticism was finally overcome by his sense of duty to serve his country in the field of politics. He entered Parliament in 1504, and married for the first time in 1504 or 1505. More became a close friend with Desiderius Erasmus (ca. 1466-1536) during the latter's first visit to England in 1499. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship and correspondence. Th...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Globalization: the Making of World Society – Book Review

Running Head: GLOBALIZATION: The Making of World Society Review Essay: Globalization: The Making of World Society Part One: Summary Introduction Since the industrial revolution, the structure of world has been constantly evolving and progressing. The spread has involved the interlacing of economic and cultural activity, connectedness of the production, communication and technologies around the world, and it is now known as – globalization. The book I chose for this particular essay is Frank J.Lechner’s, Globalization: the Making of World Society first published in 2009. Author Frank J. Lechner was born in 1958 in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is the director of Graduate Studies & Professor Department of Sociology at the Emory University in Atlanta. In 1982 he earned his Master in Arts degree in Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh followed by a Ph. D. in 1985 in sociology as well. Most of his focus lies in global culture, change, religion and theory. One of his most r ecent researches involved national identity, specifically concerning the Dutch.In addition to publishing Globalization:  The Making of World Society  (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), Lechner is the author  The Netherlands: National Identity and Globalization  (2008), and  World Culture: Origins and Consequences  (with John Boli, Wiley-Blackwell, 2005), as well as numerous papers on religion and sociological theory. Book Summary In Globalization: The Making of World Society, Lechner talks about the processes that unfold in a wide range of fields such as sports, media, food industry, global economy, environment and religion due to globalization.He describes its effects on everyday experience all around the world and demonstrates how globalization is also generating new discourses, cultures, and state policies. He explains globalization as a part of a still-greater transformation, both technical and social. Lechner wrote this book and divided it into three main parts: Global Experi ence, Global Institutions, and Global Problems. Each of these three parts is further divided into few more sub-topics such as for example, food, sports and media in Part I.In the first part of the book, the author describes the three â€Å"waves† of food globalization around the world. The first â€Å"wave†, he describes as a â€Å"wave† in which Jamaica became a â€Å"sugar island† at the centre of the global network. The wave started not with a desire for sugar but with a search for spices. Many European explorers lured into travel by the prospect of finding gold and silver and were able to not only bring precious metals home but have brought tomatoes and potatoes to the European diet.Another part of the first wave that the author talks about is when the Portuguese reached China and introduced maize, sweet potatoes and peanuts which later helped to sustain China’s population boom. With the first wave of globalization, more people became globally connected in more ways than ever before. People in different parts of the world were able to taste foods from other continents. As the new links in globalization were beginning to become established, they benefited some and harmed many others. Early globalization thus began to create a global hierarchy.The second â€Å"wave† which dissipated in the early twentieth century is described as the time in which the Dakotas became the bread basket of the world. Also, large parts of Canada, Argentina and Australia became a source of food and profit and by 1913 they produced more wheat than all of Europe. As globalization continued to spread, a global food system emerged, tying all producers into a network of interdependence. The world market created enormous wealth and leading nations, tied together through free trade, strove to safeguard their power by extending their imperial reach.The third â€Å"wave† of globalization was called â€Å"McDonald’s in East Asia. † In this section of the book Lechner talks about how with globalization nothing stays exotic as it standardizes experience through organized diffusion. Although the third wave incorporates a lot of what the first and the second waves started, it is unique in the aspect that a fast food restaurant such as McDonald’s could be everywhere, yet nowhere in particular, as it helps deterritorialize eating itself – a step beyond both first and second waves f globalization. Furthermore, in the section on sports and the direction of globalization the writer describes the way sports and in particular soccer, has grown from the homeland of England to a worldwide game with the same rules. He explains that globalization does not mean that global rules, organizations, or models just take over. The global connections of the world society do not substitute for local ties such as American football in US, rather they move in tandem.It is clear that in sports, globalization occurs in and through local and national settings as it adds another layer of connections and a new kind of shared awareness to the people in a certain society. In the last sub-category on global media, Frank Lechner talks about the role of Indian television, patterns in global television, and interpretations for global television as well as cultural imperialism. He describes the way the rights for television shows and programs such as â€Å"Who wants to be a Millionaire? † have been sold to well over 80 countries and have enjoyed great success worldwide.Many commercials and advertisements on TV carry subliminal messages that are aimed for a certain audience with a high degree of studying being put forward into the creation of the â€Å"perfect commercial†. In Part II of the novel the author begins to unravel the complicated and sometimes confusing aspects of the world economy. He begins with describing the way China, a country with extraordinary size and history, transformed and r ebuilt itself after World War II at a time when broader reforms were sweeping the world hierarchy.He goes on to explain America’s three main goals in the post-war time: to make trade flow much more freely, to stabilize the world’s financial system, and to encourage international investment. Moreover, Lechner describes the significance of Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of Germany in the late nineteenth century, and his role in introduction of accident insurance bills and health care bills in Germany which marked the beginning of rise of welfare states. He also outlines Roosevelt’s and Veldkamp’s positions and their contribution in Britain and Netherlands respectively.Frank Lechner continues with talking about the way in which globalization creates a political opportunity for the left-leaning political parties, promising to ride to the rescue in a time when some argue that globalization dampens welfare nations, to rather strengthen these states. Another aspe ct of globalization discussed in this part of the book is education. Education plays a key role in today’s society and with many people travelling with their high school kids to the United States and Canada in order to have a higher chance for a university or college admission, proves that in higher education a global market already operates.The next section of the second part of the book briefly describes global civil society and global governance. United Nations, according to the author, has taken on â€Å"a larger law-making role than its founders had envisioned†. The direction of change proposed by such an institution does not always have the full consensus of relevant states in an issue, yet that change is toward more organization of certain fields above and beyond states. Part III of Globalization: The Making of World Society strictly focuses on global concerns.The author describes key issues such as global migration, inequality, environment, and justice. First o f the four issues listed is migration. The third wave of globalization witnessed a rise in migration, mainly from south to north along the gradient formed by global inequality. In this section of the book Lechner touches on the issue of redefining the national identity of a country as it is a goal in certain countries, which also links back to his previous two books:   The Netherlands: National Identity and Globalization  (2008), and  World Culture: Origins and Consequences  (with John Boli, Wiley-Blackwell, 2005).The second issue at hand in this section of his book is global inequality. In this section of the book the writer explains that globalization is essential for countries in the â€Å"bottom billion† to catch up, yet there is no single success path for all of the poorest nations. In this chapter he clearly paints his main argument that â€Å"globalization is not bound to make the rich richer and the poor poorer,† and goes on to say, â€Å"but if it is to lead to a more tangible ‘world society’, it will have to help reduce poverty and inequality far more† (Lechner, 241).The last two section of the book primarily touch on the effects of globalization and its interconnectedness with global environment and global justice. Lechner discusses environmentalism and the way countries such as China deal with the environment and society in a balanced way. He put forward an example of Three Gorges damn built in China which displaced 2 million Chinese people, created a reservoir of nearly 400 miles and supplies 20 times more energy than America’s Hoover Dam. as an example of what a county could do in order to decrease the environmental damage, yet at the same time take a risk of displacing 2 million residents of the area. Literature Comparison Globalization: The Making of World Society by Frank Lechner is his attempt to clarify the key issues surrounding globalization in a brief, accessible and critical analysis of a complex topic. From the research conducted, I it is safe to conclude that this book is not a reply to any other book proposed by other writers; rather it is his attempt to explain his point of view on globalization and issues proposed by it.Yet the author explaining his point of view represents one side of a bigger argument about globalization’s effect on the world, but no clear intentions of proving a point to a specific person or institution has been noted. Main Argument(s) The main argument proposed by Frank Lechner is that although there are many issues around globalization as a whole, he believes that globalization is essential for the poorest nations to catch up. He is keen on his point of view, and thus goes on to explain that development is the only way to reduce economic inequality.Another part of his argument is that â€Å"globalization is not bound to make the rich richer and the poor poorer†¦but if it is to lead to a more tangible ‘world societyâ€℠¢, it will have to help reduce poverty and inequality far more† (Lechner, 241). Part Two: Critical Analysis Personal Opinion After analyzing Lechner’s work, there are too many factors that make an accurate prediction difficult. The industrial revolution and the global expansion that it created, is on a scale that has never been seen in history. As a result, new issues are created, while old issues are modified.The interdependencies between nations revolve around a free market. This encourages exploitation as a method to produce capital. The astronomical growth of supply and demand puts a heavy toll on the environment and its resources, which leads to an inevitable carrying capacity. The gap between rich and poor continues to increase around the world including capitalist drivers such as Canada and United States. Although Lechner does not see globalization as the main force in the inequality gap, I believe that this issue is of great concern.In order to have a more objec tive opinion of globalization, we need to analyze the detrimental factors and the potential they have in slowing down or even reversing the constructive effects of globalization. When taking these factors into consideration, they become latent by the profits created. There is a growing concern with enormous amount of evidence of corruption happening in most developing, third world nations. Bribery enables transnational companies to gain export contracts, particularly in the arms trade and in construction, which they would not have otherwise won.Every year, Western companies pay huge amounts of money in bribes to the officials and rulers in the developing countries in order to win over competitors. As these bribes go through, they have unfavourable results on the developing country, as they disadvantage smaller domestic firms, weaken development and deteriorate inequality and poverty, distort decision-making in favour of the project that benefits few rather than many, increase nation al debt, benefit the investor not the country, as well as damage the environment.All of the factors listed above are proof of negative effects of corruption on successful globalization, which according to Lechner, â€Å"is not bound to make the rich richer and the poor poorer† (Lechner, 241). The second issue I would like to address is the growing gap between the rich and poor in not only developing countries, but the capitalist hubs. According to the latest consensus data released on May 1, 2008 by Statistics Canada, â€Å"between 1980 and 2005, median earning among Canada’s top earners rose more than 16 percent while those in the bottom fifth saw their wages dip by 20 percent (The Canadian Press, 2008).Furthermore, the  gap between rich and poor  is widening, both within and among countries. In 1960, the richest 20 percent of the world’s population controlled 70 percent of global income, yet by 1993, the â€Å"richest 20† controlled 85 percent. In the same time period, the share of the poorest 20 percent had decreased from 2. 3 to 1. 4 percent. These disparities are likely to increase for the next half century as above stated issues such as corruption continue to affect the developing world (Human Development Report, 1996).The third big issue at hand, which I believe causes globalization to have a negative outlook in the eyes of the proletarian individuals including me, is the environmental damages that are caused. Economic theory argues that the free market can be expected to produce an efficient and improved level of resource use, production, consumption, and environment protection, yet when private costs, which are the foundation for market decision, diverge from social costs, a market failure occurs resulting in pollution levels. Intensified trade and competitiveness pressures between companies generate harmful impacts on environmental quality (Esty, D. nd Ivanova, M. ). As the big name companies move into an immature eco nomy of a developing country, they have the power to make the government change the laws and reduce their previous environmental requirements. Thus, the company that cannot function in Canada or Germany with those amounts of emission without paying fines will use the developing country’s position to produce high level of emissions with no restrictions. This point links back to the issue of corruption in the developing countries described earlier.In addition, local government must protect the environment by not letting giant companies take over and control the government in order to make huge profits. Likewise, economic agreements that do not promote the common good and that are designed to increase the profits of few people in the world should be rejected by the authorities, if not local, then global. In conclusion, Globalization: The Making of World Society by Frank Lechner describes how the processes of globalization unfold in a wide range of fields including sports, religi on, media, and the environment.The author tries to explain and analyze the complex subject of globalization in a concise and easy-to-understand manner. His main argument in the book surrounds the explanation of how he believes that globalization is essential for the poorest nations to catch up and that globalization is not bound to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. References Dauvergn, P. (n. d. ). Globalization and the environment. Esty, D. C. C. , & Ivanova, M. H. (2003). Globalization effects on the environment. Globalization nd Environmental Protection: a Global Governance Perspective. Retrieved November 20, 2011 from http://www. yale. edu/gegdialogue/docs/dialogue/oct03/papers/Esty-Ivanova. pdf Lechner, F. J. (2009). Globalization: The Making of the World Society. Hong Kong: Wiley- Blackwell Publication. Research and markets; globalization: The making of world society. (2009). Investment Weekly News,  (19458177), 423. Retrieved from http://ezproxy. qa. proquest. com/d ocview/ 200892079? accountid=14771 Shah, A. (2011). Corruption.Global Issues. Retrieved November 21, 2011, from http://www. globalissues. org/article/590/corruption#GlobalizationMultinational CorporationsandCorruption The Canadian Press. (2008, May 1). Rich get richer, poor get poorer, census results show. Retrieved November 21, 2011, from http://www. ctv. ca/CTVNews/Canada/ 20080501/rich_poor_080501/ The gap between rich and poor is widening. (2004). World Resource Institute. Retrieved November 19,2011 from http://www. wri. org/publication/content/8659

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Using Material from Item a Assess Sociological Explanations

Sociology Topic 6 ‘Using material from item A assess sociological explanations of gender inequality in todays society’ In the last 30 years women in the UK working has risen to 2. 45 million whereas men working has risen by 0. 5 million. Item A suggests a variety of gender inequalities in today’s society for example the pay difference women receive as it is suggested according to item A that women earn a quarter of a million pounds less than men and this is without women not having any children if she did have children it would be ? 140,000 less. The pay gap reduces family income overall which isn’t beneficial for families.Another issue is that women mainly work in low paid sectors like retail or caring and due to women having a glass ceiling above men taking all management positions it has left women with the low paid jobs. Hakim believes there’s an occupational segregation in the UK. In the UK according to Hakim men and women do different kinds of work. There are 2 types of occupational segregation. Horizontal segregation and Vertical segregation. Horizontal segregation is when men and women are concentrated in different types if jobs in different sectors of the economy. Women who are in the public sector usually work in health and social work and education.However in the private sector women normally are in admin or clerical work whereas men are in the skilled and manual sector. However horizontal segregation may decline as there is a decline in the primary and secondary sector in the economy. Vertical segregation is when women occupy jobs of low pay and status. There’s evidence that women work in lower levels however when they can work in upper professions they still have a glass ceiling above them according to Walby. This affects women as if there is any chance of promotion they end up being restricted to go any higher.Women also receive less pay in 1975 women only earned 71% of the average full time male wage. The gap has narrowed over the last 30 years due to many women fighting for equal rights. The gap between men and women was 17% in 2007 however the government claim that it’s 12. 6%. The problem with using average pay in the gender gap according to ONS believe that many men who are paid very well can inflate the average and therefore get rid of the true pay gap between men and women. Differences in pay still exists, in some jobs the statistics much higher it’s 22. 3% difference which is a significant compared to the public sector.CMI found out that the average female executive was paid ? 32614 whereas men in the same role received ? 46269. This suggests that inequality still exists however it isn’t as open as it was in the last 50 years it is more discreet. This makes it harder to prove that this inequality still exists in society today. Women also work part time as in 2005 42% of women worked part time whereas 9% men worked part time which shows there is a huge gap this puts women mainly as a huge disadvantage as they have less job security and less chance to promoted. Parsons who is a functionalist believed that men and women should have separate roles in society.He believed women were more suited for the expressive roles whereas men where suited for the instrumental roles of society. He believed men suited pair employment whereas women were meant to do domestic duties. He wasn’t surprised that women are paid less as they are less motivated and less suited to the labour market. Which shows inequality in gender ,as women are seen to be the homemakers according to some sociologists. Some economists believe that the pay gap is justified as it shows that fact that men have more human capital as they have greater orientation to paid work .Women are less commited and are likely to take breaks in there career to look after there family whereas men build their skills, qualifications and skills as they do not take breaks in there career. Howeve r Olsen and walby criticise the human capital theory they believe that main reason why women suffer to have such a low pay is because there’s a systematic disadvantage in acquiring human capital e. g. pay is low in occupations where there are many women. This could be because the jobs require less training and promotion prospects for this job in which men are in the majority.Human capital assumes that experiences of employment means the increase in wage whereas experience in part time work is associated with less wages. Some sociologists believe that a dual labour market exists and is divided into 2 sectors primary and secondary. Primary is secure, well paid and with good prospectus whereas the secondary is poor pay insecurity and no ladder of promotion. Barron and Norris concluded that women are likely to be in the secondary this is due to women being unsuitable, disrupted career developments and weak legal and political framework supporting women.Liberal feminists argue tha t the traditional forms of gender role socialisation in families, education and in the media are responsible for reproducing a sexual division in labour in which masculinity is seen as dominant whereas femininity is seen as subordinate. Oakly argues that the reason for the subordination of women in the labour market is the dominance of motherhood/housewife roles for women. Patriarchal ideology stresses the view that women’s only purpose is to raise children. Sharpe believes that education and careers are main priorities of teen girls.Girls also perform better in education which suggests that society will change at a later stage due to girls performing so well academically. They also see that men and women are taking equal responsibilities are caring and cleaning at home which shows that gender inequality is slowly decreasing as women are realising there potential and men are adapting to women becoming more career focused. Marxists feminists argue the subordination of women to men is linked to the position in society. According to benston women benefit capitalism in 2 ways. The first way is that women provide free domestic labour which allows men to be more effective.Women are also excluded from paid employment in the early 19th century which resulted in women becoming housewife’s and mothers. Benston argues that if the women is a housewife then the man pays for both the labour power of the male and the domestic power of the women. The second way is that women are responsible for raising the future labour force at no cost to the capitalist class this is known as reproduction of labour power. Ansley believed that women in relationships with men also functioned to soak up the male workers frustration with his paid work in the forms of domestic violence.However other Marxists feminists see women as part of ‘reserve army of labour’ which is hired by businesses in times for economic expansion and fired during an change in the economic clim ate (recession). Walby believes that women staying at home has harmed capitalism as women competing with men for jobs would lower wages and increase capitalism. The reserve labour of army has also been criticized as it doesn’t explain why male and females are put in different uses. It doesn’t explain why women have such different responsibilities.Radical feminists argue that society’s divided into 2 different gender classes’ men and women who both have different interests. Feminists believe patriarchal inequalities happen in personal relationships. All personal relationships are political as they based upon different and unequal amounts of power which is determined by sex and are reinforced by every aspect of wider society. Radical feminists note that patriarchal ideology fails then women are constantly under the threat of male violence and sexual aggression which limits their capacity to live as free and independent as they should be.However radical femi nists have been criticized for failing to acknowledge historical changes like women now experience the same rights as men . Another approach is the dual systems approach. Delphy emphasizes the key role of family. She believes the household is important however it’s underrated and believes the work performed by women is high productive however she notes that men dominate households as they have more economic power than women.Walby believes that capitalism and patriarchy could work alongside each other to exploit women. Patriarchy according to walby has evolved from ‘private patriarchy’ in which women have entered public arenas of employment and politics however they still are disadvantaged. She believes that women are no longer restricted to the domestic sphere to ‘public patriarchy’ where women are no longer restricted but have the whole society in which to roam and be exploited.