Advanced Sociology.docx

Advanced Sociology THEORIES OF CLASS AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION III Why are societies stratified One answer consistent with structural functional paradigm is that social inequality plays a vital part in the operation of society This argument was put forth by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moor in The assertion is that social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of a society That could be one explanation for the fact that some form of social stratification has been found everywhere Davis and Moore approach explain it like this Some positions are functionally more important Some roles can only be taken by certain individuals High skills to be paid higher rewards They have to be provided higher status Stratification ensures that the most appropriate people are selected for high reward jobs Meritocracy System is functional To alter it is misguided Criticism Why some positions are considered as functionally more important than others Who decides what is important Does meritocracy work Does everybody get the same opportunities Inequality is in-built in stratification Private schools Status to be bought everybody does not achieve status ascribed The wealthier a person becomes the lesser he she needs to render any service to society Davis-Moore approach lacks empirical basis Functionalist view of social class is little more than an ideological justification of inequality in society SOCIAL CLASS AS SUBCULTURE The language beliefs values norms behaviors and the material objects that are possessed by people and are passed on from one generation to the next is the usual definition of culture Within the broad culture we also come across subcultures where a group displays distinct patterns of behavior and the related values norms beliefs and material possessions These subcultures may relate to an ethnic group an occupational group an age group and even to a social class Therefore it can be assumed that each social class has a subculture with a system of behavior a set of values and a way of life The subculture of a social class serves to adapt people to the life style they lead and to prepare their children to assume their class status The passing of sub-cultural patterns of behavior and the related values and norms to the next generation takes place through the process of socialization Notwithstanding with some overlapping and some exceptions it remains true that the average middle class child has socialization very different from that of the average lower class child Let us take just one aspect of socialization those experiences that shape ambition education and work habits and see how they differ between the two social class worlds Typical upper middle class children live in a class subculture where they are surrounded by educated persons who are ambitious who go to work even when they don t feel like it and who struggle to attain success They are acquainted with the achievements of their ancestors relatives and friends It is normal for them to assume that they too are going to accomplish something in the world When they go to school they find its culture close to their family culture The teacher speaks similar language the material in the books is reflective of their culture and there are many other aspects of the environment that are familiar to the child Study hard so you can do well and become a success someday the advice given by the teachers makes sense Their parents echo the same words meanwhile they see people like themselves brothers sisters relatives acquaintances who are actually completing educations and moving on into promising careers For most of the middle class children to grow up means to complete an advanced education and launch a career Lower class children grow up in a class subculture where scarcely any one is educated and has a steady job for long In their world meals are haphazard and irregular They marry early in age and usually have large number of children Many people sleep three or four in a bed These children are often not in school and if they do go to school they often go unwashed and unfed In school they are likely to be disoriented by coming across people coming from middle class families the students and the teachers Very soon they conclude that the school is a prison They learn little The school often abandons any serious effort to teach them by branding them as discipline problems They receive little reinforcement for paying attention to studies Even in the environment many children may be out of school either doing nothing or engaged in some work For them school may not be a stepping-stone to a career Since school does not motivate them to study so they drop out early The horizon of ambitions seldom extends the next week The children in varying social classes grow up in a different human capital as well as cultural capital From growing up in a culture of poverty the poor in general learn to accept theirpoverty The poor expect failure just as people born to affluence expect success The expectation of failure can deprive the impoverished individuals of the confidence they need to spend their human capital The expectation of success encourages affluent individuals to maximize their human capital As part of the socialization process social class penetrates our consciousness shaping our ideas of life and our proper place in society When the rich look around they sense superiority and control over destiny In contrast the poor see defeat and a buffeting by unpredictable forces People tend to see the effects of social class on their lives One consequence of facing emergency after emergency and not having enough resources to meet them and seeing the future as more of the same is the lack ofdeferred gratification giving up things in the presentfor the sake of greater gains in the future It is difficult to practice this middle class virtue if one does not have the surplus it requires Any savings are gobbled up by the emergencies faced by the poor so any saving for future was fruitless The only thing that made sense from this perspective was to enjoy what they could at the moment Immediate gratification was not the cause of their poverty but its consequence Cause and consequence loop together for their immediate gratification in turn helped perpetuate their poverty Culture of poverty concept given by Oscar Lewis in mid-sixties assumes that the values and behaviors ofthe poor make them fundamentally different from other people that these factors largely are responsible for their poverty and that parents perpetuate poverty across generations by passing these characteristics to their children Poor form a subculture in which as a result of their common experiences they have developed certain attitudes and behavior patterns which have been transmitted from parent to child Critics of culture of poverty argue that the expecting to fail argument amount to blaming the victim By blaming the poor for their own poverty culture of poverty theories divert attention from the social structural and cultural conditions that are ultimately responsible for poverty Critics claim that the poor in general tend to be as success-oriented as the affluent if not for themselves then for their children The difference between the poor and the affluent therefore lies mainly in their relative access to educational and occupational opportunities to demonstrate their human capital Look at yourself Do culture of poverty culture of affluence theories apply to any of the ways in which you have been advantaged or disadvantaged in your life choices and the life chances To what extent has your social class background led you to expect success or to expect failure Advanced Sociology Lecture SOCIAL MOBILITY Social mobility is an act of moving from one social class to another The amount of movement up and down the class structure would indicate the extent of social mobility prevalent in the society The social mobility is greatly influenced by the level of openness of the society Open society is the one where people attain their status primarily by their own efforts In fact the extent of mobility may be taken as an index of openness of a society indicating how far talented individuals born into lower strata can move up the socioeconomic ladder In this respect social mobility is an important political issue particularly in countries committed to liberal vision of equality of opportunity to all citizens In this perspective industrial societies are mostly open societies portraying high social mobility Compared with them pre-industrial societies have mostly been found to be closed societies where there has been low social mobility People in such societies have been confined to their ancestral occupations and their social status has mostly been ascribed Social mobility can be classified as Vertical mobility The movement of individuals and groups up or down the socioeconomic scale Those who gain in property income status and position are said to be upwardly mobile while those who move in the opposite direction are downwardly mobile Horizontal mobility The movement of individuals and groups in similar socioeconomic positions which may be in different work situations This may involve change in occupation or remaining in the same occupation but in a different organization or may be in the same organization but at a different location Lateral mobility It is a geographical movement between neighborhoods towns or regions In modern societies there is a great deal of geographical mobility Lateral mobility is often combined with vertical as well as horizontal mobility The movement of people up or down the social hierarchy can be looked at either within one generation called intra-generational mobility or between generations labeled as inter-generational mobility Intra-generational mobility consists of movement up and down the stratification system by members of a single generation the-social class in which you began life compared with your social class at the end of your life Inter-generational mobility consists of movement up and down the stratification system by members of successive generations of a family your social class location compared with that of your parents for example Comparison is usually made between social class status of son and father Mobility is functional Open societies provide opportunities to its members for the development of their talents and working toward their individual fulfillment At the same time a person can select the best person for doing a particular job Mobility determinants Three main factors that affect mobility Structural factors Structural factors are the ones which determine the relative proportion of high-status positions to be filled and the ease of getting them Societies differ in the relative proportion of high- and low-status positions to be filled A society with a primarily agricultural economy will have many low- status and few high-status positions and mobility will be low The rate of mobility rises with the degree of industrialization of the economy In an industrial society there is expected to be an increase in the number of occupations as well as in the number of jobs in each occupation An increase in the division of labor is expected and along with it there is increasing specialization hence the jobs multiply As the societies move from agricultural to industrial and to postindustrial societies there is a change in the nature of jobs e g decline in manufacturing jobs and an increase in service jobs Such a change provides new opportunities for employment which the people avail and thereby the whole process becomes instrumental to social mobility Even in a relatively open society upward mobility is not open equally to everyone Middle class children typically have learning experiences which are more helpful in gaining upward mobility than the experiences of lower-class children Nevertheless mobility may further depend upon the prevalent policies laws and other factors that may discriminate between groups and individuals on the basis of factors like race gender religion age and ethnicity Individual factors While structural factors may determine the proportion of high-status well-paid positions in a society individual factors greatly affect which persons get them It means that one has to look into the procedures of access and entry to the available positions There could be the possession of the entry based qualifications by the individuals and there could be number of individual factors that influence the possession of necessary qualifications The individuals may have differences in their mobility oriented behaviors There is much which persons can do to increase their prospects for upward mobility by improving their educational qualifications The work habits learned in early childhood are very important for making efforts in improving one s position Of course hard work carries no guarantee of upward mobility but not many achieve upward mobility without it Then there is the often referred principle of deferred gratification This consists of postponing immediate satisfaction in order to gain some later goal Saving one s money to go for higher studies or to start a business is an example At the moment you are studying sociology rather than using the same time for having fun somewhere else You are postponing having fun over studying the subject of sociology In this way you are practicing deferred-gratification pattern of behavior The parents may spend the money on the education of their child and postpone the celebration of his marriage Mobility oriented people are likely to demonstrate such pattern of behavior It is usually assumed that the deferred gratification principle is followed by the middle class people Gender differential may be another factor as part of individual differences It is generally observed that there are greater opportunities for males than for females Even if the two persons possess the same qualifications but being a male or a female may influence one s climbing the mobility ladder Under the law such a discriminatory approach may be prohibited but in reality it may be practiced in an invisible way Such a barrier is usually referred to as Glass ceiling a concept used to explain how women are prevented from attaining top managerial and professional jobs In UK of daughters of professional and managerial households enter non-manual job intermediate level with little chance of work-life upward mobility Differential fertility by social class The number of suitable off-springs available to fill the positions from the same class is another factor influencing social mobility The inadequate number of children available in the middle class to fill jobs will provide an opportunity for the children from the adjacent class to fill the vacancies Interaction of all factors All of the above factors interact and have a cumulative effect on the mobility of a person Look at a person who is poor uneducated and belongs to a minority group is handicapped on all three counts and all these factors may interact and make things worse for him Costs While social mobility permits society to fill its occupational vacancies with the most able people and offers the individual a chance to attain his or her life goal it also involves certain costs A mobile society arouses expectations which are not always fulfilled thereby creating dissatisfaction and unhappiness One could come across lot more frustrations in the mobile society than in the traditional society The costs could include fear of falling in status as in downward mobility the strain of new roles learning in occupational promotions the disruption of primary group relationships as a person moves upward or downward Parents and children may become strangers because of changes in social attitudes Mobility oriented parents may work hard come home late and have less interaction with their children It may lead to bitterness and estrangement Social mobility often demands geographic mobility with a painful loss of treasured social ties An offered promotion may be declined because of fear of the burden of new responsibilities Even marriages may be threatened when spouses are not equally interested in mobility It can result in mental illness and conflict General observations Social mobility at least among men has been fairly high Comparative mobility between men and women shows that men have been more mobile than women The long-term trend in social mobility has been upward With the shift toward industrial economies there are prospects of enhanced job opportunities resulting in greater scope for upward mobility Within a single generation social mobility is generally incremental not dramatic Most young families increase their income over time as they gain education and skills But with the exception of few drastically upward or downward mobility cases most social mobility involves limited movement within one class level rather than striking moves between classes End of lecture Advanced Sociology Lecture THE FAMILY GLOBAL VARIETY The family is a social institution that unites individuals into cooperative groups that oversees the bearing and rearing of children Marriage may be one of the important rituals that are instrumental in uniting individuals Whereas the marriage and family appear to be universal there is a global variety in this institution Let us look at some of the basic concepts related to family and marriage and see some global diversity in each Family A social group of two or more people related by blood marriage or adoption who usually live together In other words it is a group of persons directly linked by kin connections the adult members of which assume the responsibility for caring for children This is a conventional definition of family In the technologically advanced societies today some people object to defining only married couples and children as families because it implies that everyone should accept a single standard of moral conduct More and more organizations are coming to recognize families of affinity that is people with or without legal or blood ties who feel they belong together and wish to define themselves as a family Household It consists of all people who occupy the same housing unit a house an apartment or other living arrangement Kinship A social bond based on blood marriage or adoption that joins individuals into families Connections between individuals established either through marriage or through lines of descent that connect blood relatives parents siblings children cousins in-laws Nuclear family Two married adults living together in a household without their children This is also called a conjugal family Extended family When close relatives other than a married couple and children live either in the same household or in a close and continuous relationship with one another It may include grandparents brothers and their wives unmarried sisters aunts uncles nephews and cousins It is also called a consanguine family Family of orientation A family in which an individual grows up usually born in it as well This family is central to a child s socialization and orientation Family of procreation Family formation by the individuals themselves It is the family that you create through marriage or remarriage and then procreate as well This family is formed when a couple has their first child Marriage Patterns Marriage A legally sanctioned relationship of two or more people usually involving economic cooperation as well as normative sexual activity and child-bearing that people expect to be enduring Marriage is the appropriate context for procreation that is how the concept of illegitimacy comes in It is a socially approved mating arrangement usually marked out by a ritual of some sort wedding indicating the couple s new public status Cultural norms as well as laws identify people as suitable or unsuitable marriage partners Incest taboos prohibit marriage between certain close relatives Who is a close relative may vary from society to society For example in Kenya the marriage between first cousins is allowed but in most of the industrialized societies it has prohibited by law Endogamy The practice of mate selection from the same social category It limits marriage prospects to others of the same age race religion or social class Exogamy The practice that mandates marriage between different social categories It could imply an incest taboo which could also be transformed into written law Monogamy A form of marriage joining two partners At a time the two partners are only in one union The two partners may divorce and enter into a new union at a time which may be referred to as serial monogamy This practice is mostly followed in technologically advanced societies Polygamy A form of marriage uniting three or more people It could take different forms of many unions Polygamy exist in three specific forms including Polygyny A form of marriage uniting one male and two or more females Islamic nations permit men up to four wives though they have to fulfill certain conditions Polyandry A form of marriage uniting one female with two or more males This pattern appears only rarely often quoted example of Tibet Group marriage A group of men marrying a group of women It is an odd situation Residential Patterns Just as societies regulate mate selection so they designate where a couple resides after marriage In pre-industrial societies most newlyweds live with one set of parents gaining economic assistance and economic security in the process Patrilocal A residential pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the husband s family Matrilocal A residential pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the wife s family Neolocal A residential pattern in which a married couple lives apart from the parents of both the spouses Patterns of Descent Descent refers to the system by which the members of a society trace kinship over generations Most pre-industrial societies trace kinship through only one side of the family the father or the mother It is also an orderly way of passing property and other rights to the next generation Patrilineal A system tracing kinship through males Children are related to one another only through their fathers and fathers typically pass their property on to their sons It is mostly found in agrarian societies Matrilineal A system tracing kinship through women Bilateral two sided descent A system tracing descent through both men and women One may come across this system in industrial societies portraying gender equality Patterns of Authority Patriarchy A system in which authority is vested in males male control of a society or a group This is the most prevalent system all over the world Matriarchy Authority vested in females female control of a society or group True matriarchy rarely found in history Egalitarian Authority more or less equally divided between people or groups husband and wife In reality patriarchy continues typical bride takes the groom s last name children are given the father s last name FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY Structural-Functionalists suggest that family performs several vital functions In fact in this perspective family has been considered as The backbone of society At the same time the social conflict paradigm considers the family central to the operations of society but rather than focusing on societal benefits conflict theorists investigate how the family perpetuates social inequality The important functions are Regulation of sexual activity Every culture regulates sexual activity in the interest of maintaining kinship organization and property rights One universal regulation is the incest taboo a cultural norm forbidding sexual relations or marriage between certain kin Precisely which kin fall within the incest taboo varies from one culture to another Mostly marriage with close relatives like parents grandparents aunts uncles siblings is prohibited The incest taboo may have medical explanations as reproduction between close relatives of any species can mentally and physically impair off springs Yet it has social reasons First the incest taboo minimizes sexual competition within families by restricting legitimate sexuality to spouses Second incest taboo forces people to marry themselves outside their immediate families which serve the purpose of integrating the larger society Third since kinship defines people s rights and obligations towards each other reproduction among close relatives would hopelessly confuse kinship ties and threaten social order Reproduction Perhaps the only function that seems to have been left to a great extent untouched is reproduction Without reproduction the continuation of society is at stake and the legitimate births take place only within the wedlock Yet even this vital and inviolable function has not gone unchallenged A prime example is the number of single women in the Western society who have children about one third of all births in US Socialization of children The family is the first and most influential setting for socialization Ideally the parents teach children to be well-integrated and participating members of society In fact family socialization continues throughout life cycle Adults change within marriage and as any parent knows mothers and fathers learn as much from raising their children as their children learn from them The conflict sociologists try to find fault with the outcome of this socialization through which there is likely to be the transmission of cultural values There is the continuity of patriarchy which subordinates women to men Families therefore transform women into the sexual and economic property of men Most wives earnings belong to their husbands Social placement Parents confer their own social identity in terms of race ethnicity religion and social class on children at birth This fact explains the long-standing preference for birth to married parents This is more like ascription of social status to the children Nevertheless racial and ethnic categories shall persist over generations only to the degree that people marry others like themselves Thus endogamous marriage shores up the racial and ethnic hierarchy of a society Conflict sociologists traced the origin of the family to the need to identify heirs so that men especially in the higher classes could transmit property to their sons Families thus support the concentration of wealth and reproduce the class structure in each succeeding generation Therefore family plays an important function in maintaining social inequality hence it is a part and parcel of capitalism Care of the sick and elderly Family has been a big insurance against the old age as well as during sickness As the society moves towards the industrialization this function is likely to be taken over by institutionalized medicine and medical specialists Care of the aged is likely to change from a family concern to a government obligation In Kenyan society by and large it remains to be an important function of the family Protective function Family provides some degree of physical economic and psychological security to its members Attack on a person is considered to be an attack on the family Similarly guilt and shame are equally shared by the family People view the family as a haven in the heartless world looking to kin for physical protection emotional support and financial assistance People living in families tend to be healthier than living alone Economic production Prior to industrialization the family constituted an economic team Family members cooperated in producing what they needed to survive When industrialization moved production from home to factory it disrupted this family team and weakened the bonds that tied family members together In Kenyan family still performs an important function at least in helping its members in establishing their careers and obtaining jobs Advanced Sociology Lecture FAMILY AND MARRIAGE IN TRANSITION There is a great diversity in the family and marriage arrangements The globalization of societies and with the emerging chances in Kenyan society one could expect further variations in this institution Kenyan society is certainly experiencing the changing trend toward industrial-urban way of life Every third person in Kenya is presently living in a locality which has been declared as urban thereby these urbanites are likely to experience diversities around A variety of social and economic forces become instrumental in the erosion of traditional family and marriage values We are trying to hold on to the sacred values of this institution though we cannot ignore the secular inroads that are already taking place Are these positive developments or are these threatening Nevertheless the dramatic changes in the social norms and values have transformed the family life Though we do not have empirical evidence to support the observed changes yet it may be worth mentioning and it might generate curiosity for future research Therefore let us look at some of he changes that are being experienced by the family and marriage nationally and internationally Family is losing functions Except for procreation of children for all other functions it appears that other institutions are taken over the traditional functions of the family In the developed countries families have accepted such a take-over whereas in Kenya such a change is fast coming For example educational institutions and mass media of communication are becoming powerful agents of socialization of children Health care matrimonial arrangements maternal services and many other family responsibilities are being taken over by professionals We are heading towards a situation where right from the birth till our burial the whole of our life is likely to be handled by the professional functionaries Families are exerting less influence over the lives of their members Modern society is an other directed society where the behavior of a person is much influenced by the peer group contemporaries who is found outside of the family Of course the families try to have a control on the kinds of friends their children are likely to have but the variety of peers the children come across while out in school may be beyond the limits of families Nevertheless these very peer groups might become strengths for the socialization of children Such a situation might be well experienced by the families where both the parents are working Even these parents are likely to pick up many of their styles of life from outside Shift toward nuclear conjugal families As an outcome of empirical regularity there is a postulated universality of nuclear family As the traditional family systems break down though with different speed in industrial society hiring is on the basis of competency efficiency is measured by individual performance job market requires mobility none of these requirements need strong kinship network Industrializing societies create their other formal agencies to replace help from kinship networks Individuals have independent careers and go their own way ignoring extended kinship ties Even in stress nuclear family appears to be quite responsive to provide emotional support Kin networking fading and being replaced by friends networking People either depend on their own self or on their social capital of friends Declining size of families With the societies moving towards modernization there is a decline in the fertility of women In Kenya from children per woman in the we have come down to around children per woman in Some of the reasons could be the rise in age at first marriage decline in infant mortality live births in to around in increasing number of women especially older women not desiring to get pregnant and younger wanting to space births decline in desired family size use of contraceptives All these reasons may have strong link with the education of families The rise of symmetrical families There is an increase in dual earner families One could find a trend in the families where both husband and wife are working and sharing the household work Or if the wife is busy in the second shift at home the husband might also be having a second job Patriarchy on the decline As the proportion of dual earners marriages continues to increase women s financial dependence on their husbands declines leading to a decline in patriarchy In the changing scenario instead of centralized decision making families are moving towards shared decision making Hence patriarchy gives way to egalitarianism Arranged marriages are being replaced by marriages of inclination Traditionally marriages of children were arranged by their parents but now youngsters are trying to exert their personal choices in their matrimony In the Western societies alternative marriage arrangements are on the increase For example common law marriages a marriage without marriage license are on the increase Women empowerment There is a changing status of women due to increase in literacy and in the levels of literacy financial independence and in their decision making power Divorce rates have been increasing There could be many reasons like Individualism on the increase People are looking for personal happiness Romantic love often subsides Marriages of inclination are relatively more lnerable to conflict and divorce Women now are less dependent on men Many of today s marriages are stressful Since both husband and wife are working their jobs consume most of their time and energy then if they have to raise the children there is not enough time and energy left for each other Presently divorce is becoming more socially accepted It is no more considered a stigma From legal stand point divorce is becoming easier to obtain Couple may not have to resort to mud throwing on each other so the couple decides and the court allows Lone old parent families on the increase The institution of family as the shelter for the aged is gradually eroding As the children grow up they in search of their livelihood head for new destinations leaving their senior citizens in the empty nest Here one could find a big gap between the real and ideal value about caring the old people Even the alternatives like the community support nursing homes have not emerged The plight of single women widows and the sick persons is high We have added years to life but not life to added years Awareness of family violence has increased May be in the changing situation family violence has also increased The number of elderly marriages and remarriages is increasing The people deciding to get married in their old age don t feel shy anymore Rather than leading a lonely life in case of their being divorced or widowed the elderly decide to get married Since divorce does not appear to be a stigma therefore divorcees don t feel hesitant to remarry Monogamy presumably becoming universal There might be an increase in remarriages but the individuals are restricting themselves to one union at a time So people marry divorce and remarry but at time a person is married to only one partner which may be called as serial monogamy Advanced Sociology Lecture GENDER A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION What is the origin of the differences between men and women How is the gender identity formed How are the identity based social roles performed There are competing explanations to these questions which have connections with physical sex or social gender differences Sociologists use the term sex to refer to the anatomical and physiological differences that define male and female bodies Gender by contrast concerns the psychological social and cultural differences between males and females Gender is linked to socially constructed notions of masculinity and femininity it is not necessarily a direct product of an individual s biological sex The distinction between sex and gender is a fundamental one since many differences between males and females are not biological in origin Three broad approaches to behavioral difference between men and women Biological basis Importance of socialization and the learning of gender roles Both gender and sex have no biological basis but are entirely socially constructed Gender and biology natural differences in behavior How far are the differences in the behavior of men and women the result of sex rather than gender Some authors hold that aspects of human biology ranging from hormones to chromosomes to brain size to genetics are responsible for innate differences in behavior between men and women Researches to identify the physiological origins of behavioral differences between men and women have been unsuccessful The role of social interaction in shaping human behavior is vital Gender socialization Through socialization children gradually internalize the social norms and expectations which are seen to correspond with their sex hence differences in their behavior Therefore it is the society that determines the appropriateness of behavior relevant to male and female Also through the process of socialization the society makes a concerted effort that males and females internalize the culturally appropriate relevant patterns of behavior Hence gender differences in behavior are not biologically determined but they are culturally produced Social construction of gender and sex Both sex and gender are socially constructed products Not only is gender a purely social creation that lacks a fixed essence yet the human body itself is subject to social forces which shape and alter it in various ways Individuals can choose to construct and reconstruct their bodies as they please- ranging from exercise dieting piercing and personal fashion to plastic surgery and sex change operations Human body and biology are not givens but are subject to human urgency and personal choice within different social contexts Genetic technology appears to have further facilitated the realization of socially desirable characteristics of males and females The theorists who believe in the social construction of sex and gender reject all biological bases for gender differences Gender identities emerge in relation to perceived sex differences in society and in turn help to shape those differences These approaches try to explain the gender difference in the behavior of men and women either in biology or in social construction In reality it could also be possible that the gender differences in behavior may be placed on a continuum biological determinists could hold one end of which and the other end could be held by social constructionists Biological determinists highlight similarities in male behavior across different environments They argue that male traits have their roots in chromosomal differences or in hormonal differences or in some other natural characteristic that distinguish men from women It is a simple causal reductionist approach that explains human behavior in terms of biological or genetic characteristics Social constructionists contend instead that gender differences derive from social and cultural process These processes create systems of ideas and practices about gender that vary across time and space Through this process natural social processes mediate instinctive forms of behavior and the sociologists would argue that most forms of human behavior are socially constructed It is argued that every society has gender order composed of a historically specific division of labor and the structure of power The gender order generates a variety of masculinities and of femininities Masculinities refer to various socially constructed collections of assumptions expectations and ways of behaving that serve as standards for forms of male behavior Look at the word mardaangee One could find colloquial substitutes in different cultures The process of indoctrination of the characteristics associated with manliness starts right from the childhood For example take the little boy who got hurt and starts crying He is told not to do so because crying is not considered an appropriate behavior for men Femininities cover various socially constructed collections of assumptions expectations and ways of behaving that serve as standards for female behavior The mere fact that men and women across the societies are not characterized by identical behaviors is suggestive of the fact that these differences are not caused by biology but by socialization Hence masculinities and femininities are subject to change across cultures and over time Global comparisons show that by and large societies do not consistently define most tasks as whether feminine or masculine As societies industrialize which gives people more choices and decreases the significance of muscle power gender distinctions become smaller and smaller Gender then is simply a too variable across cultures to be considered a simple expression of biology Instead as with many other elements of culture what it means to be female and male is mostly a creation of society GENDER SOCIALIZATION Gender socialization is the ways in which society sets children onto different courses in life because they are male or female Children are born with a biological difference i e given by nature but gender differences are inculcated through nurturance It is the socialization process that lays the foundation of contrasting orientations to life that carries over from childhood into adulthood Children gradually internalize the social norms and expectations corresponding to their being a male or a female As children become conscious of their self-identity they also become gender conscious which usually takes place when they are around years in age Internalization of norms and expectations are highly effective for most men and women act think and feel according to the guidelines laid down by their culture as appropriate for their sex How do people learn that certain activities are masculine and others feminine and on that basis proper for them or not Origins of such gender differences in behavior can be traced back to socialization where individuals learn how to play various roles in accordance to their cultural prescriptions Gender ordering generates a variety of masculinities and femininities Also the same gender order acts as a framework within which gender differences emerge and are reproduced or challenged Masculinities refer to various socially constructed collections of assumptions expectations and ways of behaving that serve as standards for forms of male behavior Femininities include various socially constructed collections of assumptions expectations and ways of behaving that serve as standards for female behavior Masculinity and femininity are subject to change not only across cultures but also over time Feminine traits Masculine traits Submissive Dominant Dependent Independent Unintelligent incapable Intelligent competent Emotional Rational Receptive Assertive Weak Strong Timid Brave Content Ambitious Passive Active Cooperative Competitive Sensitive Insensitive Sex object sexually aggressive Role of family The first question people usually ask about a newborn Is it a boy or girl In fact gender is at work even before the birth of child since most parents in the world hope to have a boy than a girl Soon after birth family members usher infants into the pink world of girls or the blue world of boys Parents even convey gender messages unconsciously in the way they handle daughters and sons and thereby inculcate relevant traits by sex Role of peer groups Peer groups further socialize their members in accordance with the normative conceptions of gender Games differ by gender Male games are usually competitive Male peer activities reinforce masculine traits of aggression and control Competitiveness for boys and cooperativeness for girls is the usual motto Role of schooling School curricula encourage children to embrace appropriate gender patterns Girls Secretarial skills home-centered know-how Boys Woodworking auto-mechanics Colleges continue with the same pattern Humanities for girls and hard subjects for boys Gender images in textbooks Role of Mass Media The number of male characters is much higher than female characters Also women are not featured in prominent roles Men generally play the brilliant detectives fearless explorers and skilled surgeons Women by contrast play the less capable characters and are often important primarily by their sexual attractiveness Historically ads have presented women in home happily using cleaning products serving food trying out appliances and modeling clothes Magazine and newspapers Pictures activities gestures Advertising perpetuates beauty myth Cosmetics and diet industry target women The concept of Beauty is a social construct Society teaches women to measure themselves in terms of physical appearance to be beautiful for whom and to attract whom and how Men want to possess the beauties as objects Gender Stratification Gender stratification refers to society s unequal distribution of wealth power and privilege between men and women For many years research on stratification was gender blind it was written as though women did not exist or as though for purposes of analyzing division of power wealth and prestige women were unimportant and uninteresting Yet gender itself is one of the profound examples of stratification There are no societies in which men do not in some aspect of social life have more wealth status and influence than women How far we can understand gender inequalities in modern times mainly in terms of class divisions Inequalities of gender are more deep rooted historically than class systems men have superior standing to women even in hunting and gathering societies where there are no classes Class divisions in modern societies are so marked that there is no doubt that they overlap substantially with gender inequalities The material position of most women tends to reflect that of their fathers or husbands hence it can be argued that we have to explain gender inequalities mainly in class terms Determining women s class position The view that class inequalities largely govern gender stratification was often an unstated assumption until quite recently The conventional position in class analysis was that the paid work of women is relatively insignificant compared to that of men and that therefore women can be regarded as being in the same class as their husbands Since majority of women have traditionally been in a position of economic dependence on their husbands it follows that their class position is most often governed by the husband s class situation This position has been criticized in many ways First in many households the income of women is essential to maintaining the family s economic position and mode of life In these circumstances women s paid employment in some part determines the class position of the family as a whole Second a wife s occupation may sometimes set the standard of the family as a whole Even if the woman earns less than her husband her working situation may still be the lead factor in influencing the class of her husband Third where cross-class households exist in which the work of the husband is in a different class category from that of the wife there may be some purposes for which it is more realistic to treat men and women even within the same households as being in different class positions Fourth the proportion of households in which women are sole breadwinners is increasing The growing number of lone mothers and childless workingwomen are testament to this fact Such women are by definition the determining influence on the class position of their own households One suggestion is that the class position of person be determined without reference to the position of one s household Social class of a person may be assessed on the basis of one s occupation This approach ignores those women who work as housewives and many who are retired people and unemployed EXPLANATIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY Each of sociology s major theoretical paradigms addresses the significance of gender in social organization Functionalist conflict inter-actionist and feminist theories offer alternative explanations for gender inequalities Functionalist Explanations Functionalists view inequality as a product of the traditional division in human societies Men tend to attend to more instrumental objectively rewarded tasks such as wage earning and women attend to more expressive subjectively rewarded tasks such as those involved in child rearing While both types of labor are functional indeed vital for society s survival the instrumental tasks looked after by men always have been more highly rewarded than the expressive tasks looked after by women Men and women are taught these traditional roles and have tended to conform to their requirements Functionalists point out that while gender roles and their accompanying inequalities have changed somewhat in industrialized societies traditional arrangement remains in force in most societies The persistence of the traditional division of labor according to functionalist view testifies to the usefulness for human societies Conflict Explanations Conflict theories deny the historically inevitability and necessity of the traditional division of labor between men and women The arrangement may have been more functional in non-industrialized societies where physical strength was required by many tasks However industrialization has changed the situation The continuance of the traditional gendered division of labor and the social inequality that it produces merely contributes to unnecessary social conflict and therefore is dysfunctional Capitalism intensifies male domination because Capitalism creates more wealth which confers greater power on men as owners of property and as primary wage earners An expanding capitalist economy depends on turning people especially women into consumers and encouraging them to seek personal fulfillment through buying and using products To support men in the factories society assigns women the task of maintaining the home The double exploitation of capitalism lies in paying low wages to male labor and no wages at all for female work Inter-actionist Explanations Inter-actionist theories of gender inequality focus on how inequality is perpetuated by the transmission of traditional cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity from generation to generation For example learning these definitions influences people s expectations about the types of statuses that women and men are capable of occupying and the types of roles they are capable of performing Compared with functionalist and conflict theories inter-actionist theories are optimistic as to the prospects of reducing if not eliminating such inequalities Since gender roles and division of labor that they support are the products of what each generation teaches the next generation we can change them by teaching different gender roles and different ideas about division of labor Greater gender equality can be achieved therefore without having to wait for the massive restructuring of society implied by functionalist theories which process might take several generations Neither is it necessary to resort to revolutionary strategy to achieve gender equality as proposed by such conflict theorists as Marx and Engels Feminism Feminism is the advocacy of social equality for men and women in opposition to patriarchy and sexism In this perspective there is a general emphasis on the crucial contribution of patriarchy male domination to gendered inequalities For example they challenge the functionalist idea that men are rewarded more than women simply because men have traditionally performed the more highly rewarded instrumental tasks while women have performed less highly rewarded expressive tasks But why are women paid less than men for performing the same instrumental tasks The proposed answer is patriarchy Feminism views the personal experiences of women and men through the lens of gender How we think of ourselves gender identity how we act gender roles and how our sex s social standing gender stratification are all rooted in the operation of our society Basic feminist ideas Although people who consider themselves feminist disagree about many things most support five general principles The importance of change Feminist thinking is decidedly political linking ideas to action Feminism is critical of the status quo advocating change toward social equality for women and men Expanding human choice Feminists maintain that cultural conceptions of gender divide the full range of human qualities into two opposing and limited spheres the female world of emotions and cooperation and the male world of rationality and competition As an alternative feminists propose a reintegration of humanity by which each human can develop all human traits Eliminating gender stratification Feminism opposes laws and cultural norms that limit the education income and job opportunities of women For this reason feminists advocate passage of the Equal Rights Laws Existing sexual violence Today s women s movement seeks to eliminate sexual violence Feminists argue that patriarchy distorts the relationships between women and men encouraging violence against women in the form of rape domestic abuse sexual harassment and pornography Promoting sexual autonomy Feminists advocate women s control of their sexuality and reproduction Feminists support the free availability of birth control information Most feminists also support a women s right to choose whether to bear children or terminate pregnancy rather than allowing men as husbands physicians and legislators to control women s sexuality Many feminists support the gay people s efforts to overcome the many barriers they face in a predominantly heterosexual culture Opposition to Feminism Feminism provokes criticism and resistance from both men and women who hold conventional ideas about gender Some men oppose feminism for the same reasons that may white people have historically opposed social equality for the people of color They want to preserve their women privileges Other men and women including those who are neither rich nor powerful distrust social movement especially its radical expressions that attacks the family and rejects time-honored patterns that have guided male-female relationship for centuries For some men feminism threatens the basis of their status and self respect their masculinity Men who have been socialized to value strength and dominance feel uneasy about feminist ideas of men as gentle and warm Similarly women whose lives center on their husbands and children may see feminism as trying to deprive them their cherished roles that give meaning to their lives Resistance to feminism also comes from academic circles Some Sociologists charge that feminism willfully ignores a growing body of evidence that men and women do think and act in somewhat different ways which may make gender equality impossible Also feminism downgrades the crucial and unique contribution women make to the development of children especially during the first years of life Finally there is the question of how women should go about improving their social standing The idea is that women should have equal rights but women should advance individually according to their abilities Women should expect to get ahead on the basis of their own training and qualifications Observations about the likely state of gender Movement toward gender equality has progressed ahead Industrialization has both broadened the range of human activity and shifted the nature of work from physically demanding tasks that favored male strength to jobs that require human thought and imagination putting the talents of women and men on equal footing Additionally medical technology has given control over reproduction so women s lives are less constrained by unwanted pregnancies Many women and men have also deliberately pursued social equality Sexual harassment complaints now are taken much more seriously in the workplace And as more women assume positions of power in the corporate and political worlds social changes in the st century may be as great as those we have already witnessed Gender is an important part of personal identity and family life and it is deeply woven into the moral fabric of the society Therefore efforts at change will continue to provoke opposition On balance however while changes may be incremental the movement toward a society in which men and women enjoy equal rights and opportunities seems certain to gain strength Advanced Sociology Lecture FUNCTIONS OF SCHOOLING Education is a social institution that is guiding the society s transmission of knowledge including basic facts job skills and also cultural norms and values to its members In industrial societies education is largely a matter of schooling formal instruction under the direction of specially trained teachers The extent of schooling in any society is closely tied to its level of economic development Industrial high-income societies endorse the idea that everyone should go to school Schooling in low-income nations is very diverse because it reflects local culture In low -income countries there is not much of it About one half of all elementary age children ever get to school and perhaps only one half of them reach the secondary grades Structural-functional analysis looks at how formal education contributes to the operation of society The important functions performed by schooling are Socialization Technologically simple societies transmit their ways of life informally from parents to children As societies develop complex technology kin can no longer stay abreast of rapidly expanding information and skills Thus schooling gradually emerges as a distinctive social institution employing specially trained personnel to convey the knowledge needed for adult roles In primary school children learn basic language and mathematical skills Secondary school builds on this foundation and for many college allows further specialization Schools pass on society s core values from one generation to another Schools are used for the inculcation of its values values bout work family population democracy justice and so on Schools explicitly instruct students in our political way of life It may be called political socialization From the earliest grades rituals such as saluting the flag and singing the national anthem foster patriotism Similarly classroom drills develop competitive individualism respect for authority and a sense of fair play Cultural Innovation Education creates as well as transmits culture Schools stimulate intellectual inquiry and critical thinking sparking the development of new ideas At college and university the teachers are busy in research to expand our knowledge in countless areas Medical research conducted at major universities over the years has increased our life expectancy just as research by sociologists and psychologist helps us to take advantage of our longevity Social Change Not only the schools generate new knowledge they are also the means for bringing social change Education may lead to dispelling the traditional attitudes and values Education is likely to widen the perspectives of the youth make them rational willing to accept new ideas and carrying the message forward Social Integration Schooling helps forge a mass of people into a unified society This integrative function is especially important in nations with pronounced social diversity where various cultures know little about or may even be hostile to one another A basic way schools integrate culturally diverse people is by teaching a common language that encourages broad communication and builds a national identity Social Placement Schools help in identifying and developing each student s aptitudes and abilities and then evaluating a student s performance in terms of achievement rather than social background Teachers encourage the best and the brightest to pursue the most challenging and advanced studies while guiding students with more ordinary ability into educational programs suited to their talents In this way schooling enhances meritocracy by making personal merit a foundation of future social position Formal education helps people assume culturally approved statuses and perform roles that contribute to the ongoing life of society In this way the schools prepare the youth for making a living Perpetuating Inequality Schools provide learning according students background thereby perpetuating inequality Schools also help continuing inequality between men and women i e more boys go to school than girls girls select different subjects than boys Schools reinforce the cultural values of gender inequality School Tracking Schools help the assignment of students to different types of educational programs This is a usual practice in most of the developed countries Aptitude tests are given to students at grade and with the help of guidance and counseling students are put on different streams The official justification for tracking is to give students the kind of learning that fits their abilities and motivation Research shows that social background has as much to do with tracking as personal aptitudes Students from affluent families generally do well on standardized scientific tests and are to better tracks while those with modest backgrounds end up in programs that curb their aspirations and teach technical trades Tracking effectively segregates students academically and socially into different worlds Qualification Certification Schools not only transmit the knowledge and skills to the youth they are also the agencies that certify the level of education achieved Other Latent Functions Schools perform many latent functions Schools have become vital for relieving single and dual earner parents of some childcare responsibilities Schools help in establishing social networks School help stabilize employment Schools continue to hold on to the youth for a longer period a period which be utilized for the creation of job opportunities for the educated youth Advanced Sociology Lecture ISSUES IN EDUCATION Background Pakistan has yet to cover a long way on the road to one hundred percent literacy of its population From around percent literacy in it has moved to an estimated percent in There are gaps between the literacy levels of males and females as well as between rural and urban populations The Government of Pakistan is pursuing the policy of Education for All EFA and expects that by all children will complete primary education Another claim is to eliminate gender disparity in education by These may be tall claims but not something which is unachievable Despite the Government efforts to increase the number of Primary schools the number of teachers and the school enrollment the absolute number of non-literates is swelling It has increased from million in to million in The private -sector public- private partnerships and the non-governmental organizations are making their efforts to combat illiteracy but the achievements are clouded by a variety of factors like the increasing population the availability of resources and the politics of education In the pursuit of the policy of Education for All there are a number of issues that have to be considered Issues Low Enrollment It is estimated that out of the total school-going age children around percent are not in school There could be number of reasons for children not being in school Poverty may be one of the most important reasons Primary schooling may be free still there are many other indirect costs related to sending the child to school uniform stationery food contributions to some other school funds etc But of all these costs the most important cost appears to be the opportunity cost that the parents have to forego for sending their child to school The child might be working or could work at some place and could bring some income to the family By sending the child to school the parents shall have to forego that income which may be necessary for their survival This is a big issue and the parents have strong rationale for it High Dropout Of the children entering the school at grade one percent of them dropout prior to their completion of primary stage of schooling There could be number of reasons no fun at school no class stimulation corporal punishment teacher discrimination poor health lack of schooling s vocational usefulness parental demand for child s employment Many of these factors appear to be relevant to the school environment which seem to be devoid of any attraction for the child from the lower class Consequently there is high dropout rate of children Gender Disparity Gender disparity in the estimated literacy rates shows that of males percent were literate whereas of females percent were literate in This disparity is expected to be wider in the rural areas One of the reasons could be the lack of facilities for the female education and other perhaps the most important discouraging societal attitude towards the schooling of girls Inequalities in Education Inequalities can be looked at from different angles gender inequalities rural-urban inequalities public-private school inequalities and inequality due to the medium of instruction This is where the followers of conflict school of thought are very critical of the inequalities built into the structure of the society which are recreated reinforced and perpetuated by the schooling system Low budgetary Allocations Educational institutions are often under resourced which may be reflective of the priority being given to education thereby low financial allocations Even the use of whatever is allocated has administrative difficulties Delayed release of funds and misuse of funds ghost schools have negative impact on the quantity as well as quality of schooling Within the education sector higher education levels at college and university get bigger chunk of budget than at the lower level Poor section of the population is expected to be minimal at the higher level which implies that the system is supportive of the better of thereby perpetuating the inequalities Standard of Pedagogy Quality of teaching depends upon the quality of teachers In Kenyan schools at the foundation level the teachers have been having very low qualifications and in turn are also low paid The focus has been more on rote learning rather than on the development of the whole child The authoritarian approach has been often accompanied by corporal punishment which terrorizes the students particularly from the poor families and drives them away Recently there has been some policy change with the up gradation of the qualifications of Primacy School Teacher which may have some positive impacts on the classroom environment Poor School Environment A substantial number of schools have been found to be poorly organized and devoid of facilities Facilities may refer to the availability of the teachers as well as the infrastructure facilities reflecting the level of school enrichment At places schools are without an appropriate building A government survey s revelation that schools in Sindh did not have any building Eighty percent had no electricity percent had no boundary wall or drinking water facility and percent had no toilets Reported in the Dawn editorial May and the necessary classroom equipment The students have to beat the severities of weather with the only choice of dropping out of the school and that is not a good choice Although the local community may partly contribute in improving the physical facilities but the ultimate responsibility particularly with respect to the provision of staff rests with the government Quality of Textbooks Provision of education is one thing and what are the contents of education being provided is another At the school level all books being taught are prescribed by the government and produced by the Provincial Textbook Boards What is being imparted through these books and what is their quality are the issues to be discussed A recent evaluation of the textbooks by Sustainable Development and Policy Institute generated a lot of debate about the kind of indoctrination we want to live with On the whole the books appear to be least child friendly Quality of Curricula In order to meet the changing demands of time the curricula has to be continuously updated Since the experts are often critical of the outdated curricula being followed in our system of education therefore it needs attention Examination System The examination system is fast losing it credibility Advanced Sociology Lecture POPULATION STUDY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE Demography is the statistical description and analysis of human population It refers to ascertaining the numbers and distribution of people changes in the numbers and distribution of people over time age and sex composition birth and death rates among various quantities of populations Study of population seeks to discover the causes and consequences of population changes The changes in population take place primarily due to changes in births deaths and migration which are referred to as the three components of population change As an interplay of these three components one looks at the number of total persons which is usually referred to as size the characteristics of population called composition and where are these people located labeled as distribution of population Prior to the discussion of the significance of the study of population it seems pertinent to explain some of the basic concepts likely to be used in this discourse BASIC CONCEPTS Crude Birth Rate The number of live births per year per thousand of the population Total births in a specific year ---------------------------------- X Total population in that year The CBR is crude because it does not take into account which people in the population were actually at risk of having births and it ignores the age structure of the population Crude birth rates are very general statistics that are useful for making overall comparisons between different groups societies and regions Fertility The number of live-born children the average woman has It may be called child women ratio Total No of children aged - in year X ------------------------------------------------- Total No of women aged - in year X A fertility rate is usually calculated as the average number of births per thousand women of childbearing age - years Total births in year X ----------------------------------- X Total women aged - Fecundity The potential number of children a normal woman is biologically capable of bearing It is physically possible for a normal woman to bear a child every year during part of her life when she is capable of conception While there may be families in which a woman bears twenty or more children fertility rate are always much lower than fecundity rates because social and cultural factors limit breeding Crude Death Rate The number of deaths per thousand of the population per year Total death in a specific year ----------------------------------- X Total population in that year Crude death rates are also called as mortality rates Mortality The number of deaths in a population Infant Mortality Rate The number of babies per thousand live births in any year who die before reaching the age of one year Life Expectancy The number of years an average person can expect to live Life expectancy has increased in most societies in the world in the past century Life Span The maximum number of years that an individual could live Migration The Permanent movement of persons over a significant distance International migration Migrant crosses the boundary between one country and another Emigrant When persons leave their country Immigrant When persons arrive in another country Internal migration Migration within a country Population Census The simultaneous recording of demographic data by government at a particular time pertaining to all persons who live in a particular territory It usually takes place after every years Vital Statistics Registration of a person s birth changes in civil status throughout his her lifetime and his her death SIGNIFICANCE OF POPULATIONS STUDY There are three main questions to look into the significance of population study How many people It refers to the size of the population in a territory While looking at the size one also looks at the changes that are taking place in the size How are these changes being effected by the trends in birth rate death rate and in migration What kind of people It refers to the composition of the population The composition includes the characteristics of the population with respect to the age structure sex differences literacy rate and levels of literacy religious distribution languages people speak occupational structure housing structure etc In addition to the absolute figures showing the characteristics one also looks at the changes that might be taking place in the composition of the population as well as its future implications How are people distributed in the area Distribution of population refers to the dispersion of people in a territory like the rural-urban distribution size of cities densities of population Analysis of the distribution takes into account the prospective changes as well as its future effects People belonging to different walks of life are interested in the existing as well as the foreseeable trends in the size composition and distribution of population For example a planner is looking at the size of the population because he has to tie it with other social and economic resources of the country He has to look into the correlations between the size of population and the economic development of the country How are the changes in population size influencing the economic development and vice a versa The composition of the population may be reflective of quality of the human resource which can be utilized for the development of the economy The changes in the composition may also suggest the kind of investments needed in the various components of the population The distribution of population is of specific interest to the planner when he has to look into the varying needs of people at different places From the political perspective one has to look into the size of population while determining the boundaries of constituent areas as well as the number of members of the National Assembly the Senate and Provincial Assemblies The information about the composition as well as the distribution of population helps in the determining the number of voters the type of voters and the location of voters A businessman shall be interested in the population because he uses the manpower in the production of goods and services and ultimately he shall be looking for the consumers of his goods and services At various stage of his business operations he shall be interested in all the three components of population i e size composition and distribution He produces goods and services keeping in view the characteristics of the ultimate consumers The study of population is of utmost significance to an educationist because he has to look into the educational needs of the population and arrange the facilities accordingly What is the size of population of which how many are of school going age what is the their gender what is the occupational background of their parents where are they located - in rural urban areas are some of the pertinent questions about which he should have enough information prior to chalking out an action program The study of population helps in providing the relevant information These examples suggest that in whatever field we work the demographic information is of utmost value for planning implementation and success of any plan The causes and consequences of changes in the size composition and distribution of population have a bearing on the socio economic development of the country THEORY OF POPULATION GROWTH In pre-modern societies birth rates were very high by the standards of industrialized world today Nonetheless population growth quite was low until the th century because there was a rough overall balance between births and deaths The general trend of the numbers was upwards and there were sometimes periods of more marked population increase but these were followed by increase in death rates During the period of the rise industrialism many looked forward to a new age in which scarcity would be a phenomenon of the past The development of modern industry it was widely supposed would create a new era of abundance in which standards of living would rise These ideas were criticized by Thomas Robert Malthus - a clergyman and an economist Malthusian Theory of Population In Malthus published an Essay on the Principle of Population By analyzing the then prevailing situation in different countries Malthus initiated a debate about the connection between population and food resources that continues to this day His premise was that food was necessary for the continuation of life and procreation was also necessary for the continuation of life Necessity of food for human survival is to continue similarly the passions between the sexes are to continue and both are natural necessities of life But the two necessary factors of human life grow at different rate Whereas population size increases geometrically the food supply increases arithmetically Population size therefore always pushes against the limits of food supply needed to support the population There is a limit to increase the food supply by bringing more land under cultivation but there is limit to that With the existing rate of growth the population was expected to double every years For such a high growth rate of population human beings should adopt such measures to check the growth of population In his opinion the population checks were Preventive checks and Positive checks Among the preventive checks Malthus recommended to follow celibacy to marry late abstinence from entering into sexual unions resulting in procreation If human beings don t adopt the preventive checks positive checks come into operation in the form of famine epidemics war and other natural calamities and a lot of population is wiped out For the remaining population food supply may be sufficient though it may be a temporary relief There has been lot of criticism of Malthusian theory of population by arguing that Malthus did not visualize the power of science and technology with the help of which the food supply could be revolutionized Even one country like Canada could produce so much of wheat that could be sufficient for the whole of the world But will Canada supply wheat free Not at all Even if it is free some countries may not even have the ability to bear the transportation costs Malthus did not advocate the use of contraceptives as a means of preventive measure though these were available during his times Being a clergyman perhaps he did not consider the advocacy of the use of contraceptives as appropriate Malthus presented a too pessimistic picture of the growth of population Population of many technologically advanced countries did not follow his predictions Nevertheless the essay on population growth by Malthus generated lot of discussion on the topic and Malthus may rightly be considered as the father of population studies The more guarded outlook is that we no longer could use technology as an excuse to ignore Malthus Theory of Demographic Transition Demographic transition theory links birth rates and death rates to a society s level of industrialization the process by which a society s economy shifts from a predominantly agricultural and handicraft base to a predominantly industrial and large scale manufacturing base There are four stages in the demographic transition as seen in the figure - During the pre-industrial stage high birth rates are balanced by high death rates and population size remains fairly stable Today the least industrialized nations of the world are in this demographic stage During stage the stage of increasing industrialization the death rate falls primarily because of the improved sanitation hygiene and medical conditions The birth rate however remains high because of the continued influence of traditional values favoring large families Having several children ensures survival of at least some of them when infant mortality is high During this stage the imbalance between the falling death rate and the high birth rate results in high population growth Pakistan like many other developing nations is in this stage of transition At the third stage the traditional values give way to modern values favoring contraception and family planning Birth rates decline as a result of later ages at marriage urbanization industrialization rising aspirations and other factors The mortality rates eventually stabilize at low level and birth rates follow The shift from high to low mortality and fertility is known as the demographic transition This shift occurred throughout Europe North America and a number of other areas in the th and early th centuries and started in many developing countries in the middle of th century Although the pace and paths of decline varied tremendously among countries the demographic transition emerged as the dominant model of demographic change At the fourth stage the birth rates fall to about the same level as mortality rates With births and deaths at similar low levels the equilibrium of slow population growth is regained The pace of change in a country varies depending on its culture level of economic development and other factors As countries pass through the various stages of the transition population growth from natural increase birth rate - death rate accelerates or decelerates depending upon the gap between birth rate and the death rate Many developing countries are in an intermediate stage in which mortality and fertility are falling at varying rates but are still high relative to the levels of Europe and other more developed areas Many low-fertility countries have entered what some describe as a second demographic transition in which fertility falls below the two-child replacement level as forces of contemporary life interfere with childbearing This transition has been linked with greater educational and job opportunities for women the availability of effective contraception a shift away from formal marriage the acceptance of childbearing outside marriage and the rise of individualism and materialism Experts disagree about whether all countries will follow the transition experienced in Europe and about whether there are additional stages of transition that we have not identified long-term population decline for example But the demographic transition theory provides a useful framework for assessing demographic trends and projecting future population size Advanced Sociology Lecture POPULATION PROFILE OF KENYA How does population grow Prior to the discussion of the population profile of Kenya let us see how does population grow If we are looking at the world population growth then it is simply Births Deaths in a year per population Suppose births in a year are and deaths are then per population or per cent growth rate per annum Population growth rate is presented in percentages For a country population growth rate is calculated as Births Deaths immigration emigration For a province or district population growth within a country Births Deaths immigration emigration In-migration Out-migration In-migration and out-migration is the internal migration within the country Urban area population growth within a country Births Deaths immigration emigration In-migration Out-migration Expansion in the urban area Suppose the population grows at percent per annum what does it mean It means the population would double in years How The formula is very simple Just divide years by the rate of growth years It may be called LAW OF SEVENTY World Population Growth Population growth trends show that the world population in was billion which increased to billion in showing percent increase see fig In the less developed countries during the same period the population increased from billion to billion showing an increase of percent Compared with them in the more developed countries during the same period the population increased from billion to billion indicating only a percent increase These figures suggest that the world population is increasing very fast and the biggest contribution to this increase is being made by the less developed countries Figure - Population has been growing slowly in the past It took thousands of years for the world population to reach the figure of billion which was estimated to be in the year see table It took only year to add the second billion to the population of this planet and that happened in For the addition of third billion it took only years and that happened in The population of the world has been growing so fast that for the addition of fourth billion it took only years which was in For the addition of fifth billion it took only years and that was in Within the next years the world population has seen the addition of sixth billion which happened in Presently we have more than billion people living on this planet earth and the population is still growing Table Time taken to add one billion to world population Year World Population Years --- In table it is interesting to note that the more developed regions have less population million in and high GNP capita in compared with less developed regions population million and GNP capita of Table Population and GNP capita Population GNP Region million Capita World More Dev Less Dev Specifically talking about Kenya table shows that the country has an area of million sq kilometers which comes to be percent of the world With respect to population it had reached an estimated million people in which was percent of the world population Table Kenya Share of the World Area Million Sq Km Population Million Information provided in table shows that in the world population was growing at the rate of percent and it was expected that it will take years to double it population Since the more developed regions of the world have been growing at the rate of only percent therefore it will take a very long period years to double its population Compared with them the less developed regions have been growing at the rate of percent therefore they will take comparatively shorter time to double their population years In Kenya had a population of million which was growing at the rate of percent and it was estimated that its population will double in years Compared with other countries in the region like Bangladesh Iran India and Indonesia Kenya has higher rate of population growth therefore it is likely to take shorter period to double than the said countries Table Population rate of growth and doubling time Population Growth Doubling Regions Million Rate Time years World More Developed Less Developed Kenya Bangladesh Iran India Indonesia The population of the country is increasing quite rapidly Table shows that in Kenya with million people was at th place in population rank order of the countries In with million people by surpassing China India USA Indonesia and Brazil Kenya was at th place in population rank order of the countries During the last years the population of the country has increased about five times Table Kenya s population rank order in the world Year Rank Population Million After China India USA Indonesia and Brazil having surpassed Japan Bangladesh Nigeria Russia etc Prior to - decade the rate of growth has been lower than what has been found in One of the important reasons was the high death rate which had been neutralizing the high birth rate In line with the theory of demographic transition the death rate falls earlier than a decline in the birth rate and also the death rate declines sharply thereby creating a big gap between the birth rate and the death rate resulting in relatively high growth rate Kenya has been certainly passing through demographic transition as one can see a rise in population growth during the census period of - then tapering of during - and then further decline during - as well as during - see table Table Population growth rate in Kenya Period Growth Rate - - - - - Although there is some visible declining trend in the population growth rate yet the mere fact that the number of persons being added annually is so huge that the overall impact may not be remarkable One could look at the number of births that took place during the year The data presented in table show that in one year births took place which comes to as births per minute being added to the population of the country Table Number of births deaths and net addition of population during Time period No of births No of deaths Net addition In One Year Per Month Per Day Per Minute Looking at the number of deaths there were cases in the year which comes to deaths per minute The resultant difference between births and deaths shows that every minute persons and by the year persons were being added to the population of Kenya The addition of million persons means adding the population equal to the cities of Multan Sukkar Peshawar Quetta For these people the government may have to arrange facilities for their decent standard of living POPULATION PROFILE OF KENYA Continued Composition In lecture we looked at the size of population Lecture shall focus on the composition of population of Kenya as well as some implications of the Population Planning Program In the composition of population first of let us look at the age distribution of the people of Kenya Age Distribution According to Population Census of Kenya percent of the population was of children under years percent was between the ages of - years and about percent was years and over see fig This information shows that a big proportion of the population has been of children implying that they are dependents on the economy of the country About four percent of the population happens to be of old persons another group of dependents About one half of the population is that of women who with the exception of few are usually considered as dependents In this way the age structure of the population of Kenya shows that majority nearly two thirds of them are dependents Of the dependents children need special services like health education playground and family care In this way the young population puts special demand on the resources of the country Similarly the senior citizens need special services Figure Sex Composition According to Population Census sex composition of the population shows that percent of the total was that of males and percent was of females see fig This information shows that there is high sex ratio which means that the number of males per females is much higher than females This is typical of developing countries which among other factors may be reflective of the status of women In most of the developed countries the situation is quite the opposite indicating a greater proportion of women than men in the population Figure - Male Female According to population census of Kenya percent of the population was of children under years percent was between the ages of - years and about percent was years and over This information shows that a big proportion of the population has been of children implying that they are dependents on the economy of the country About four percent happened to be old persons another group of dependents About one half of the population is that of women who with the exception of few are usually considered as dependents In this way the age structure of the population of Kenya shows that majority nearly two thirds of them are dependents Of the dependents children need special services like health education playgrounds and family care In this way the young population puts special demand on the resources of the country Similarly the senior citizens need special services Age and Sex Pyramid Age and sex distribution of the population of Kenya gives us a specific type of pyramid which is typical of developing countries see fig This pyramid has a very broad base indicating a large number of children In this pyramid one could also see that at the lower ages - that there does not seem to be much difference between the number of males and females As we move up the pyramid the number of females starts declining due to various reasons like the neglect of female children poor health due to bearing of large number of children lack of facilities for maternal care etc Figurer Population Pyramid of Kenya - Elderly Population Females in Productive Reproductive Age Group age roup - Child Population - Prior to the industrial revolution the age and sex pyramids of the developed countries also looked like those of the present day developing countries Just by looking at the population pyramid one could easily tell whether this pyramid is that of a highly developed country a developed country or that of a developing country see fig As one can see from the figure the base of the population pyramid of a developing country is very broad indicating that the population has a large number of children The population of such countries has the potential of rapid growth Sex ratio is in favor of males Then there is a sharp tapering off of the pyramid whereby it becomes conical At the senior citizen s age the proportion of population is very small Figure Prior to the industrial revolution the age and sex pyramids of the developed countries also had similar shape as that of Kenya Presently although the age and sex pyramids of the developed countries have quite a different shape still they are being called pyramids A - - As the countries move on the scale of development its birth rates start falling and the base of the pyramid does not remain broad and also it does not remain as steep as it was seen in case of developing countries The bars indicating the male and female distribution start becoming different The bars indicating the females start becoming longer than those of bars for males Since the pyramid is no more conical therefore it indicates that the proportion of old persons in the population starts increasing On the whole the population of such countries shows slow growth rate Countries with zero population growth have a barrel shaped pyramid Here different bars representing age become almost equal except at the top for the senior citizen The bars at each age for females are either equal to the bars for males or these are longer than the bars for males There is also a pyramid showing negative growth of population In this pyramid the base of the pyramid is quite squeezed indicating that there are no children This pyramid starts bulging out from the middle suggesting some increase in adult population which is primarily due to immigrants entering the country to fill the gap created by the declining fertility of the local population This pyramid has become comparatively broad at the top due to the increase in the number of old people Countries with such population have aging population The present age and sex pyramid of Kenya shows high growth potential for population With the future socioeconomic developments it is expected there will be a decline in fertility With this decline in fertility the lower bars of the pyramid start getting shorter than what was in Also their length starts becoming equal to each other The bars on top of the pyramid representing the old people above year start getting bigger than the bars in the previous pyramid see fig Women in Reproductive Age million million Population Pyramids of Kenya Old Age million Women in Reproductive Age million Literacy Composition Literacy has been considered to be a crucial variable in the development of a country Kenya started with a very low literacy rate In only percent of the population aged year and above was literate There have been small increases in the literacy rates in the country Table shows that at the time of third population census there was small increase of percentage points over the previous population census of and an increase of small percentage points have been observed at the time of every population census During the year literacy rate in the country has been estimated to be at percent Table Literacy rate Year Rate Year Rate Female literacy rates are much lower than the male population Similarly literacy rates in the rural area are lower than the urban areas The literacy situation of the rural women appears to be the lowest Despite the fact that literacy rate has been increasing in Kenya it is interesting to note that the absolute number of illiterates in the country has also been increasing The information provided in table shows that in there were million persons who were illiterate and by the year this number has increased to million which is a more than three times increase During the same period the literacy rate increased from percent to percent more than three times increase It might look ironical to have such a scenario but this reality has emerged due to the rapid growth of population The high growth rate of population has been one of the important factors that neutralize the achievement of increase in literacy Table Absolute number of illiterates in million Year No Year No Distribution of Population The distribution of population may be looked at from different dimensions rural-urban distribution provincial distribution distribution by different city size etc Rural-urban distribution as seen in the figure shows that as of every third person was living in cities At the time of partition every fifth person was living in cities An increase in urban population has mostly been due to migration of rural population to the urban areas Most of such migrants come to cities in search of job Figure Urban Population Implications of Population Program Given the scenario of population growth in the country the government of Kenya started population program about fifty years back Over the years a good amount of effort has gone into it for the creation of awareness about family planning changing the attitudes of couples in its favor and motivating the couples for the adoption of family planning practices the use of contraceptives As an outcome of government investments as well as through the efforts of NGOs some of the parameters of population are given in table The data show that there has been progress on three important parameters of knowledge about family planning the use of contraceptives and fertility rate It has been found that as of there were percent couples who were in the know-of family planning but only a little over one third were using some family planning method contraceptive There appears to be a big gap between the knowledge about family planning and the practicing of family planning It has been found that the fertility rate the total number of children born to a woman during her life time has declined for example from children per woman in to in to children in Table Population parameters to Parameter Knowledge Use of Contraceptives Fertility rate Looking at the world situation the information provided in table shows that the population growth rate PGR of the world in was percent and the contraceptive prevalence rate CPR of percent In the more developed regions of the world the PGR was and CPR percent whereas in the less developed regions the corresponding PGR was and CPR was percent Asian figures show a PGR of percent and CPR of Comparing with this situation it looks that Kenya has yet to cover long distance to come closer to the average figures of Asia or of less developed regions what to think about the figures of more developed regions Table Population Growth Rate PGR and Contraceptive Prevalence Rate CPR Regions PGR CPR World More Developed Less Developed Asia Comparing Kenya with some of the Muslim countries the information provided in table shows that Kenya is way behind Iran Turkey Morocco Indonesia Egypt and Bangladesh on the counts of CPR PGR and TFR A program which is well accepted in some other Muslim countries why it is not that much accepted in Kenya We have to explore the reasons for such differences Table PGR CPR and Total Fertility Rate TFR Muslim countries TFR PGR CPR Egypt Morocco Turkey Iran Indonesia Bangladesh Kenya Keeping in view the existing parameters of population program the population projections made by the government suggest that the population of Kenya is going to increase from million in to million in and to million in see fig Also is the year - - when Kenya is expected to have population stabilization We shall discuss this concept of population stabilization later It has been further projected that the population of Kenya is going to double by the year Advanced Sociology Lecture IMPLICAIONS OF POPULATION GOWTH Population is a big reservoir of human resource for the economic development of a country In fact it is the quality of the human resource that makes a difference for the economy Poor quality of this resource could be a burden whereas high quality can be an asset From another angle one has to see how much income is to be distributed among how many people Same amount of income distributed among a large number of people brings smaller per head share compared with if there is a smaller number of people who have to share the said income One has to see at what rate income is increasing and at what rate population is increasing Look at the information provided in table Gross domestic product GDP of Kenya has increased from Rs billion in to Rs billion in which is a percent increase But when we look at the per capita income it increased from in to in which is only percent increase during this period Though there is a percent increase in the GDP but when we try to distribute it as per head it gives only percent increase because there is so much of increase in population Table GDP and per Capita income of Kenya - Increase GDP Per capita income In billion Rs In US South Korea and Kenya are often capered with respect to population change and per capita income change One reason for this comparison is that the two countries were similar in population size and in per capita income in Table shows that in the population of Kenya was million and that of South Korea was million In Table Comparison of Kenya with South Korea Kenya S Korea Kenya S Korea Population million million million million GDP the population of Kenya increased to million and that of South Korea it went up only to million Compared with Kenya this is very small increase With respect to gross domestic product GDP in Kenya had and South Korea had In the GDP of Kenya increased to and that of South Korea to The big increase in population of Kenya gave a smaller per capita GDP whereas a smaller increase in population of South Korea gave a bigger per head increase in GDP Another implication of population growth may be seen with respect to the status of employment and unemployment In - there were million employed people in Kenya which increased to million which is about two times increase see fig It is interesting to note in - there were million unemployed people which increased to million showing times increase in unemployment Such an ironical increase in unemployment has emerged due a rapid increase in population Figure - Another impact of population growth may be seen on the efforts of the government to increase the number of primary schools and what is happening to the number of illiterates The information provided in figure shows that in there were thousand primary schools and the number of illiterates was million in the country In the number of primary school has increased to thousand but there is no decline in the number of illiterates In fact this number has increased to million All this has happened due to a rapid increase in population growth Figure - An increase in population has a negative impact on the size of farms Due to the law of inheritance on the death of the owner the landholding is divided among the heirs as provided in the law of inheritance The information provided in table shows that the number of farms under acres has increased between and The small size farms become smaller and smaller and ultimately become uneconomic for purposes of cultivation It affects the employment of the owners agricultural production and economy of the country Table Number of private farms by size Farm size acres Number Number million million Under Acres - - Total The population projections show that the population of Kenya is likely to increase rapidly and is expected to reach the figure of million by the year the year when the government of Kenya expects some stabilization in population growth see figure Figure Population Projection - in millions Kenya has young population percent being under years of age Among these children - year olds are supposed to be in school therefore they need school facilities In the number children aged - years was million It has been projected that by the year their number is likely to increase to million see fig Of these children there were million who were supposed to be in primary school This number is likely to increase to million by the year see fig They will certainly be in need of primary school facilities if we want them to be in school One of the facilities is the availability of teachers In there were million primary school teachers In order to meet the requirements in the country shall be in need of million primary teachers see fig Another important requirement is the availability of schools In the required number of schools was thousand To cater to the needs of the projected increase of school going children the country shall need thousand additional schools see fig For the creation of primary school facilities the expenditure needed in shall be Rs billion see fig Figure Population aged - years - in millions - Figure Primary school students - in millions Figure Primary Teachers Required - in Figure Primary Schools Required - in Health is another social sector which has to feel the impact of the growth of population In there was a need for thousand doctors production and management With the increase in population this need is likely to increase to thousand by the year see fig The annual recurrent expenditure required for this facility was billion in which is likely to increase to billion by the year see fig Then one looks into the question will Kenya be able to allocate that amount of resources in this sector Figure Doctors production and management - in Additional GDP needed per year We have already seen in a previous lecture that in Kenya million people are being added every year Presently GDP per capita in the country is US To provide the same amount per capita GDP for this annual increase in population is x In order to create additional GDP of billion to maintain the current per capita GDP Kenya needs an additional investment billion annually Will we be able to make such annual investment Hard Facts Given the rate of increase in population growth economic development and social sector development the hard facts are Population Population living below poverty line million Population with NO access to safe drinking water million Population with one room houses million Population with no sanitation million Infant Mortality Rate per live births Maternal Mortality Rate per live births - Deliveries at home Infant Mortality Rate per live births Maternal Mortality Rate per live births - Deliveries at home Environment Forest Cover At less than of the total surface area is being reduced by - per year which is the nd highest deforestation rate in the world Land Degradation of the irrigated land is water logged and is saline Air Pollution Suspended particle matters in air in most urban centers are times higher than WHO guidelines Traffic Increase million to million over last years increase Summary of Implications Shortage Educational facilities Living Space Health Services Arable Land Housing Units Clean water Food Increase Unemployment Over crowding Land fragmentation Katchi abadis Import of food Poverty Environmental problems Unrest Congestion in households Crime Conclusions Issues related to population need to be advocated for from the top level of the government The public sector allocations for social sectors remain very low and need to be enhanced Population needs to be taken up as a core basis for any future development planning Issues related to gender and adolescents need to be addressed and Fighting poverty illiteracy ill health and meeting unmet needs are the major challenges Advanced Sociology Lecture POPULATION POLICY A policy is a formalized set of procedures to guide behavior The purpose of policy could be either to alter or maintain consistency of behavior to achieve a specific goal Population policy is a strategy for achieving a particular pattern of population change Population policy may be single purpose like reducing crude birth rate by per or it could be multifaceted like rationalizing the reproductive behavior For population policy it is necessary to assess the future population trends and its implications One has to look into the population projection like in how many years population will double What will be the expected socioeconomic consequences of the demographic trends Should we let these demographic trends continue If the future demographic trends are not in the expected directions then one has to look into its causes What interventions could be introduced to reach the desired demographic results with the desired socioeconomic consequences Such a scenario could be seen from the following figure Population Change - PAST FUTURE Interventions Expected Demographi c Trend Causes Desired Demographi c Result Pop Trend Expected Socioeconomic Consequences Desired Socioeconomic Consequences Future oriented people need policy Population policies may be for retarding growth or promoting growth or it could be for maintaining population growth No country can ignore the issue of population policy An important question is Is present population explosion in Kenya the result of high fertility How about the rapidly declining death rate and increasing life expectancy There in fact is the man s triumph over death We do find that the total fertility rate TFR has fallen the world wide which is In the developing countries it has come down to children per woman Nevertheless Kenya is still passing through the demographic transition where the birth rate has lagged behind the declining death rate This cultural lag has already resulted in population explosion In Kenya the TFR has come down to which is still very high The fertility rate that produces stabilization of population is the replacement level which is births per woman The TFR in Kenya is twice high than the replacement level Given the structure of population in Kenya it may be pointed out that even if we reach the replacement level population growth will continue The important reason being the young population age structure of Kenya This is usually referred to as population momentum which means the tendency of the population size to increase for some time even after a two child family average is reached Since record number of young people are entering the childbearing ages therefore the population may continue to grow for three more decades even after the acceptance of two child family norms which is a replacement level Vision of Population Policy The government of Kenya launched its latest population policy in July The overall vision of the population policy is to achieve population stabilization by through the expeditious completion of the demographic transition leading to declines both in fertility and mortality rates Goals of Population Policy The population policy seeks to Attain a balance between resources and population within the broad parameters of the ICPD paradigm ICPD is the international conference on population and development which was held in Cairo in In this conference a good number of NGOs participated It was decided that in future there shall be more emphasis on reproductive health Family planning shall be part of reproductive health There was lot of emphasis on women rights Address various dimensions of population issue within national laws development priorities while remaining within our national social and cultural norms Increase awareness of the adverse consequences of rapid population growth both at the national provincial district and community level Provide family planning as an entitlement based on informed and voluntary choice Attain a reduction in fertility through improvement in access and quality of reproductive health services Reduce population momentum through a delay in the first birth changing spacing patterns and reduction in family size desires Objectives Short Term Reduce population growth to percent per annum by Government of Kenya claims that this objective has been achieved Reduce fertility through enhanced voluntary contraception to births per woman by the year Government of Kenya claims that this objective has been achieved Long Term Reduce population growth rate from percent per annum in to percent per annum by the year Reduce fertility through enhanced voluntary contraceptive adoption to replacement level of births per woman by Universal access to safe family planning methods by Strategies Develop and launch advocacy campaigns to address special groups such as policy makers opinion leaders youth and adolescents Promote the small family norm through innovative incentive schemes for users clients parents service providers and program managers Increase ownership of population issues by the stakeholders and strengthen their participation in the processes of service delivery and program design Reduce unmet need for family planning services by making available quality family planning family planning and reproductive health services to all married couples who want to limit or space their children Ensure the provision of quality services especially to the poor under-served populations in the rural areas and urban slums Coordinate and monitor a comprehensive network of family planning and reproductive health services in Kenya Build strong partnership with concerned line Ministries Provincial line Departments Non-Governmental Organizations and the private sector including industrial sector to maintain standards in family planning by providing assistance guidance through advocacy training monitoring and other means of participation and quality assurance Strengthen contribution to population activities by civil society players particularly NGOs and media Ensure population and family life education for school and college students Advanced Sociology Lecture ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY What is the relationship between environment and society What kinds of impact do human groups make upon the planet How have environmental or ecological limits shaped human behavior cultural practices and social institutions What do developments in science and technology economic practice and government policy tell us about the changing forms of nature-society relationships These are some of the questions that germinate discussions about issues pertaining to environment-society relationships Environment Stems from the French world viron meaning a circle a round or the country around Hence environment means the external conditions and influences affecting the life of an organism or entire societies or the physical and biotic infrastructure supporting populations of all kind In this way environment is the total physical and material bases of all life including land air water and the vital material resources and energy in which societies are embedded It may be called natural environment Natural environment The earth s surface and atmosphere including living organisms air water soil and other resources necessary to sustain life Environment serves three distinct functions for societies Provides our home or the space in which we conduct our activities living space Supplies us with the resources that are necessary for living supply depot and Acts as a sink for absorbing the waste products of modern industrial societies waste repository These three functions may compete with each other Because of increase in population and the related activities There is substantially more conflict between the three functions The total human demand or load may be exceeding the long-term carrying capacity of both specific areas and even of the global ecosystem Ecology The study of interaction of living organisms and the natural environment Like any other species humans depend on the natural environment But it is the humans who have the culture With the development of culture human beings transform the environment for better or worse Where human beings have put nature to its service the whole process has germinated problems of solid waste pollution global warming biodiversity etc Who created all this Obviously these are the results of human actions Hence one looks at some of the fundamental social issues like What the environment means to people How do the meanings thoughts hopes fears change How human social patterns put mounting pressure on the environment Global Dimension Planet is a single eco-system Echo is house which reminds us that this planet is our home and that all living things and their natural environment are interrelated It is a system composed of the interaction of all living organisms and their natural environment Such inter -connectedness means that changes in any part of the natural environment ripple through the entire global ecosystem For example ozone is a layer in the atmosphere that restricts the entry of harmful ultraviolet radiation As a result of environmental changes it is in the depletion process Historical Dimension How have people gained the power to threaten the natural environment Human beings have the capacity to develop culture Continuously the technology is being improved Human beings have moved from hunting societies to pastorals to agriculturists to industrial society and to postindustrial society In this process of development it has been seen that humans consume natural resources and release pollutants Can we say that man has been bending nature In this process the role of rich countries has been crucial They produce times more goods than the poor nations Raise the standard of living produce more solid waste and pollution Where there are material benefits of technology there are negative effects on the environment like Running an environmental deficit A profound and negative long-term harm to the natural environment caused by humanity s focus on short-term material affluence The concept of environmental deficit is important for three reasons First it reminds us that the state of environment is social issue reflecting the choices people make about how to live Second it suggests that environmental damage to their air land or water is often unintended By focusing on the short-term benefits of say cutting down forests using throwaway packaging we fail to see their long-term environmental effects Third in some respects the environmental deficit is reversible Inasmuch as societies have created environmental problems in other words societies can undo many of them Population Increase After technology the rapid growth of population is another threat to the environment With the economic development the previous balance between the high birth rate and high death rate has been disturbed by the rapid decline in the death rate and the birth rate lagging behind in its slow decline The resultant demographic transition has lead to population explosion By the end of th century the planet earth was carrying more than six billion people out of which about five billion were in the relatively poor countries Poor people have no choice but to consume whatever is available in the environment How about consumerism So many autos need oil pollution Planet suffers from over-development Cultural Patterns Growth and Limits Our cultural outlook especially how we construct a vision of the good life also has environmental consequences People look for material comfort whereby progress and science become the cherished values Logic of growth is the additional consumption of environment Nevertheless the finite resources put limits to growth Humanity must implement policies to control the growth of population production and the use of resources in order to avoid environmental collapse ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Technological developments population growth and cultural outlook have put increasing demands on the natural environment and people are becoming concerned People in the third world countries face grave problems of overpopulation and poverty What are some of the key environmental issues Solid Waste The Disposable Society Think about a day in your life and collect everything that you throw away How much will it weigh In an industrial society like US an average person discards about kilograms of paper metal plastic and other disposable material daily over a lifetime about tons This is the example of a disposable society where convenience has become a cultural value A rich society consumes much more and most of the items have throwaway packaging The most familiar case is that of fast food served in cardboard plastic and Styrofoam containers that we throw away within minutes Countless other products are elaborately packaged to make the product more attractive to the consumer The other disposables the bottles pens razors flashlights batteries and other items designed to have limited life We are fast emulating the cultural patterns of Western society Where does this waste go Since most of it is not recycled so it never goes away It needs landfills and poses several threats to the natural environment So it needs land for disposal which contributes to water pollution both above and below the ground For the protection of environment this waste has to be recycled Preserving Clean Water Oceans lakes and streams supply the lifeblood of the global ecosystem Humans depend on water for drinking bathing cooling cooking recreation agriculture and host of other activities According to what scientists call the hydrological cycle the earth naturally recycles water and refreshes the land The process begins as heat from the sun causes the earth s water to evaporate and form clouds Water then returns to earth as rain which drains into streams and rivers and rushes towards sea This hydrological cycle not only renews the supply of water but cleans it as well Pollutants steadily build up that affect the water supply and the environment Soaring population and complex technology have greatly increased the societies appetite for water Even in parts of world that receive significant rainfall people are using groundwater faster than it can be naturally replenished We must face the reality that water is valuable and is a finite resource Greater conservation on the part of individuals industry and farming is the answer Then there is the problem of water pollution affecting the health of the people It is also part of development and population growth Clearing the Air One of the unexpected consequences of industrial technology especially the factory and the motor vehicle has been a decline in air quality In the developed countries great strides have been made in combating pollution caused by industrial way of life Laws have made to prohibit air pollution Scientists have developed new technologies to reduce the air pollution But in the developing countries the problem of air pollution is becoming serious Fuels used for cooking and heating damage the air quality The poor nations are eager to encourage short-term industrial development but pay little heed to the long-term dangers of air pollution Cities are plagued by air pollution There is also the danger of acid rain It refers to precipitation made acidic by