Download Midterm Exam Review: 1) Thomas Hobbes: A 17 th century English

Midterm Exam Review:
1) Thomas Hobbes: A 17th century English philosopher who is known as one of the originators of
social science as he was one of the first to establish that human behaviour was an appropriate
subject of study. While discussing Thomas Hobbes in his work called “Social Science: Between
Natural Science and the Humanities”, Shusky states that Hobbes’ social contract theory implied
that human behaviour is far more rational than it appears but what it was able to do was allow
people to question why societies were formed. Hobbes’ social contract theory states that peace
is only achieved when as humans we give up some our rights and freedom to a higher authority
in order to have some social stability. He also addresses the opposite scenario to this by saying
that in a state of nature (without authoritative government), humans are competitive and are in
a continuous state of war between each others. Hobbes’ work is significant because it gave
birth to the study of human behaviour and it implied that humans delegated power to the
monarch instead of God and this rejected the Divine Right of Kings and paved the way for
human delegated governments. Hobbes would go on influence writers such as John Locke and
his work would form the basis of Locke’s natural rights.
2) Immiseration: a theory that capitalism leads to a greater reduction in labour wages, working and
living conditions and health standards. It is known as a by-product of capitalism as the process
of accumulation and the drive to gain capital lead to the worsening of workers’ conditions. For
the capitalist to gain more, the wages of the workers are reduced and this leads to them not
getting what their labour is really worth and becoming miserable. Workers are exploited in
order to gain more, and working conditions become worse as this happens. Heilbroner calls this
the “dehumanization” of the workers. In Twenty First Century Capitalism, Heilbroner quotes
Adam Smith in saying that with the division of labour; workers are left unable to use their
understanding as the division of labour causes them to perform the same task repeatedly in
which there is no creativity and use of intelligence. This causes the workers to become ignorant
and stupid. An artisan who was once a skilled worker and able to create something with his
imagination and creativity becomes an unimaginative unskilled worker. An example of this is
also seen in the James Burke film titled “The Factory and Marketplace Revolution”. People are
shipped to England to work in ‘manufactories’ with ‘unspeakable’ working conditions while
earning less than ‘subsistence pay’. This is significant because the immiseration process shows
how workers are affected by capitalism and the results of immiseration can be seen by events
such as Westray where 26 miners were killed due to unsafe working conditions.
3) Dominant ideology: defined as the group of common ideas, values and beliefs shared by the
majority of people in a society through which history is interpreted. The dominant ideology in a
sense is able to establish what is right or wrong but this view can be rejected as there are other
ideologies in existence. The dominant ideology serves many purposes such as legitimizing the
actions of a certain class and it allows people to have something in common so they feel
comfortable which in this case is a common belief or a common idea. In “Ideology and Social
Organization”, Marchak states that social reality is revealed to us through a screen of
assumptions, beliefs and unexamined knowledge. It does not appear to us directly and thus this
directs our attention to some realities and not to others. This screen of assumptions and beliefs
come together to form an ideology and if one is held by many people, then it becomes the
dominant one. An example of a dominant ideology would be the notion that the monarch was
appointed by God and God was the one that delegated power to the monarch. As society has
progressed, we have found this to be false and this has been replaced by the notion that as
humans we are the ones that delegate power to the government. The term dominant ideology is
significant because we are affected by it on a daily basis. There are ideologies in our homes, in
our institutions of education and in society itself. It is also significant because it shows how a
higher class is able to legitimize its actions by using the notion of a dominant ideology as can be
seen in the Divine Right of Kings.
4) Aggregate Demand: the total amount of goods and services demanded in the economy at a
given overall price level and in a given time period. In contrast to traditional demand, aggregate
demand is the demand of ALL goods and services while traditional demand is the demand for a
certain good or service. Aggregate Demand states that if overall prices are high then the gross
domestic product, which is the productivity level of the economy will contract. If overall prices
are low then the gross domestic product will expand. Once prices go down, interest rates go
down which causes for an increase in investment. This causes GDP to expand and inflation to go
down. Aggregate demand is related directly to Keynesian economics as John M. Keynes believed
that during recessions, economic output was directly influenced by aggregate demand. This
makes sense because if there is a decrease in prices, then there will be more demand and the
economy will expand. Keynes advocated for a higher role of government in the economy but
only during times of recession. In Twenty First Century Capitalism, Heilbroner states that Keynes
was able to legitimize the use of the public realm as a fiscal agency of the capitalist order and
what happened was that by the 1970’s 50% of Sweden’s GNP went to public spending such as
social security, healthcare, unemployment insurance and etc. The concept of aggregate demand
is significant because according to classical economics, government should play a limited role in
the economy but Keynesian economics defied this and advocated for a greater role of
government in the economy in the form of public spending. It provides for a macroscopic
aspect of the economy which traditional demand is unable to do and with the help of other
Keynesian policies, this has led to the creation of a mixed economy.
5) Holmberg’s Mistake: defined as the realization that most of our assumptions about Native
American societies are incorrect because of the observation of their culture at the time of
duress. Holmberg stated that the Siriono were an unimpressive people who had existed for
thousands of years without innovation or progress. He claimed the Siriono had no real history
prior to European contact. This has been declared as biased and false. The Native Americans
were at war against Britain at the time Holmberg was assessing them and a third of their
population had just been wiped out by small pox. Historians were writing about what they
observed at this time and not everybody was entitled to write about the Native Americans.
Thus, there were assumptions made against the Native Americans that have been declared false
in recent times. In “A View From Above”, Charles Mann states that Holmberg perceived Indians
as people that had never changed their environment and thus had made the assumption that
they were primitive and had no real history because history is change. In the lecture on Ideology
and History, Professor Conlin stated that Holmberg defined the Siriono as tiny, primitive and
changeless. He also stated that the very epidemic that had caused the Native American to die
off was brought by the Europeans themselves. This is significant because it shows how the
people in power which in this care were the Europeans can form and define a society’s
knowledge and alter history. This allows for the creation of the concept of mythhistory.
6) Westray: A coal mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia that was the site of a methane explosion on
May 9th, 1992 which resulted in the deaths of 26 workers of which only 15 were recovered. The
other 11 were never found. The mine operated for less than a year although the company in
charge of the mine had promised workers 15 years of work without any layoffs. The deaths
occurred due to poor working conditions and a lack of implementation of health and safety
regulations. The executives, the inspectors and the managers all showed carelessness in
enforcing proper working conditions. But what was surprising was that nobody was ever
convicted of any charges. The CEO of Curragh Resources Inc., the company in charge of the
Westray Mine was never charged because he was not personally liable for the events that
occurred. In “The Westray Story”, Glasbeek states that this was accomplished by the creation of
a system of corporations which allowed the CEO to be exempt from any liabilities that were to
occur. The use of corporate law occurred in such a way that Frame, the CEO was permitted to be
in charge of this disaster, but was never liable for the events that occurred. This meant that
although Frame had owned shares in these corporations, any liabilities that would occur would
be at the expense of these corporations and not the CEO. This is significant because it shows
how the corporate structure was abused and how nobody was held responsible for their actions.
There is also the connection to alienation and immiseration because the workers did not quit
even in the poor working conditions because they were promised 15 years of work without any
layoffs.
7) Mythhistory: defined as a mix between myth and history. Occurs when history blends with
ideology for what seems true to one person might be false to another and vice versa. A myth is a
fictional story that has no definitive proof while history is an event that has occurred in the past
and has been documented as having definitive proof. In “Mythistory, or Truth, Myth, History,
and Historians”, McNeil states that mythistory is what our society is based on. It is a tool to pilot
human groups in their encounters with one another. In a sense it is like an ideology, as it is
conveyed to us and tries to form or alter our beliefs. Mythistory is significant because it tells us
that things in the past can be fabricated while actual events can also be not documented and
forgotten about.
8) Dissenters: Christians that broke off from the Church of England and founded their own
Protestant churches, institutions of education and communities. Occurred due to the power
abuse by the Church in the name of God. According to the film “The Factory and Marketplace
Revolution “by James Burke, this religion put profit next to property. The dissenters formed
schools and academies that taught in English and not Latin. They even built entrepreneurial
schools. They were responsible for establishing coal mines, building a transportation network
and the steam engine. This industrial activity would lead to the Industrial Revolution. This is
significant because when the dissenters were oppressed by the government, they were able to
build their own schools and churches and educate their own people and these people would
turn out to be a major force behind the Industrial Revolution.
9) Creative Destruction: the displacement of one process or product by another. Can also be
defined as the destruction of an old economic order to make way for a new one. It is a core
feature of capitalism and the process of accumulation as it promotes consumption and increases
consumption. In Twenty First Century Capitalism, Heilbroner gives the example of creating pins
with coloured heads and replacing them with ordinary pins. This allows for an increase in
consumption as the “new” product has replaced the old product even though there is only a
difference in the colour of the head of the pin. An example currently in our society is people’s
obsession with smartphones, specifically the iPhone. Whenever a “next gen” iPhone is released,
there is nothing relatively new about it. It might have a wider or a longer screen or it might have
a slight increase in performance due to a new processer, but it looks the same. These slight
alterations are an example of creative destruction as they are made so a person feels like he has
to buy a new iPhone even though there might not be anything special about the new iPhone.
This is significant because the process of creative destruction fuels consumerism and supports
the drive to accumulate.
10) Classical Liberalism: A political system and belief in which emphasis is placed on securing
freedom of individuality, limiting the power of the state, and promoting private property and a
free market. Classical Liberals believe that society does not exist as an organic whole but as an
atomistic society. In the lecture on Ideology and History, Professor Conlin states that highest
political value for classical liberals is liberty. Everybody should have an opportunity to achieve
something and progress in society. However, this does not eliminate competition. There is
competition in a classical liberal society in the form on an individual basis. People are free to
strive for what they want but they will have to go up against people that want the same thing.
This is significant because classical liberalism was one of the first political counter ideologies to
classical conservatism. Classical conservatism held the opposite beliefs that people were born in
a class which they were not able to move from. There is no individuality, change is viewed as a
bad thing and the highest political value is security. Security of the family, security of the
community and security of the nation.
11) Moral Economy: an economy that is based on fairness and justice. It is based on cultural beliefs
and can be mostly seen in traditional societies. It is only stable in a community where there is
mutual understanding. Advocates a ‘fair’ price and is opposite to the market economy which
promotes free trade and a ‘free’ market price. This means that the price of something should
depend on who needs it such as the poor and not on the market. E.P Thompson talks about the
moral economy in his work titled “The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth
Century”. In it he discusses how there were food riots all over England due to farmers selling
bread at a higher price outside of communities rather than in communities for a ‘fair’ price
where the bread was much needed. This stems from the feudal practice to set the price of
goods rather than let the market decide what it should be valued at. Although we lived in a free
market economy, it can be said that Canada has achieved a ‘right’ mix of a free market and
moral economy as we live in a country where some of the best social programs have been
implemented. Regardless of income, all Canadians are entitled to a child tax benefit that aids in
the taking care of their children. We also have programs such as welfare, unemployment
insurance, old age benefits and etc. This is significant because although most of the world has
move on to having a free market economy, there are signs of moral economies being seen in
several parts of the world. Although these countries are not offering bread per se, they are
offering assistance which can help you obtain bread.
12) Marilyn Waring: a feminist economist that advocates for the inclusion of women’s unpaid work
in the economy. According to the film “Who’s Counting? Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global
Economics”, housewives are recorded as being unproductive and their work is viewed as leisure.
In the film, John Galbraith states that if there is no price for work, then it is not measured.
According to this, half of the population is left out of the GDP. The film also highlights the fact
that a nuclear safe keeper that flips a switch to test missile launches counts as being productive
while house wives that work all day long are counted as being unproductive. The only reason
that the nuclear safe keeper is viewed as being productive is because his work is ‘contributing’
to the nation’s wellbeing. This is significant because it shows us that gender inequality has not
been eliminated even after all these years and that women are still being perceived as inferior
beings in contrast to men. Waring suggests that there should be time consuming surveys that
judge what is productive and what is not productive.
13) Honour: In traditional society, honour is concerned with strength or prepotency. The amount of
honour one has is linked with the prestige of the family and the individual although the
traditional society is a collectivistic one. This means that the lineage, economical status, and the
actions of the family determine the amount of prestige it has. Despite this general definition
there are differences between the honour of a male and a female in traditional society. J.K
Campbell discusses the differences between honour in the male and the female in “Excerpts
from Honour, Family and Patronage: A Study of Institutions and Moral Values in a Greek
mountain Community”. The amount of honour a man has is determined by his manliness. The
characteristics of manliness include self-discipline, courage, being fearless and being strong
mentally and physically. The amount of honour a woman has is determined by her sexual
shame. The characteristics of sexual shame include being a virgin for maidens, dressing properly,
walking (not running) and avoiding conversation with unrelated men.
In modern society however, honour has to do with prestige that is connected with wealth. In
Twenty First Century Capitalism, Heilbroner quotes Smith who quotes Hobbes in saying that
wealth is power. Thus, the person who controls the wealth has higher prestige and therefore
has honour. This is significant because there are very different versions to how honour is
determined in a traditional society versus a modern society.
14) New International Division of Labour: the division of labour that occurs when the process of
production is no longer confined to a national economy. This is an outcome of globalization as
companies seek out the cheapest location to manufacture and assemble goods. Occurs because
of transportation and communication technologies that allow for movement throughout the
globe. Transnational and multinational companies have been shifting production and assembly
to countries such as India, Mexico and China. In “Globalization, Industrial Restructuring and
Labour”, Broad states that the recent phase of globalization has caused the labour force of
capital to expand. All though this is true as jobs are being exported to developing countries,
there is a loss of jobs back in the home countries of these huge companies and transferring work
to a Third World country causes for even worse working conditions and health and safety
standards as labour is being performed in a developing country. This is significant because it
shows how companies are taking advantage of cheaper labour and resources in developing
countries and this causes an increase in unemployment and a decrease in full time employment
in the home countries of these corporations.
15) Legitimation Function: the process by which an act, process, or ideology becomes legitimate by
its attachment to norms and values within a society. In a capitalist society, this is done to
stabilize and protect the capitalist system. The state is responsible for legitimizing and
implementing policies that benefit the capitalist system. It does this because it is in the interest
of the state to have a economy that is doing well. The state is also responsible for incorporating
the working class into the system which is accomplished through the use of unions. It does this
because it is interest of the economy to have a working class that is “happy”. Finally, the state is
also responsible for keeping the members of the capitalist society happy and this occurs in the
form of social programs such as social assistance, unemployment insurance and the old age
benefit. This is significant because ultimately it is the state’s job to oversee everything as it is
responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of the economy and the working class.
16) JIT Workforce: a concept of manufacturing that reduces a manufacturer's costs and increases
efficiency by improving the flow of supplies and goods, reducing the amount of in-process
inventory that is purchased and stored, and more effectively aligns production and labour needs
with customer demand. This allows for an increase in part time and contract work as workers
are called only when they are needed. This concept has led to a decrease in full time
employment and an increase in part time employment. According to the lecture on Labour and
Globalization, 1/5th of Canadians are on part time employment today. Although this is profitable
for the employers, part time employees are exempt from employment standards and do not get
the benefits and perks that full time employees do such as dental insurance and paid vacation.
Although there is a growth in jobs, these are jobs that do not pay that well. This is significant
because although we are progressing as a society, the working conditions for our employees are
getting worse by the day.