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Society is people who interact in a defined
territory and share a culture.
The concept of society is very simple however
the dynamics that make society can be very
complicated.
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Lenski's theory begins from the insights of T.
Robert Malthus. From Malthus Lenski borrows the
observation that human societies are part of the
world of nature. Human societies are subject to
natural law.
Sociocultural systems can only be fully understood
as being responsive to the interactions of
populations to their environments.
Lenski's perspective lies the relationship between
population and production. Like many life forms
humans have a reproductive capacity that
substantially exceeds the necessary subsistence
resources in the environment.
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Thus, Lenski concludes, human populations tend
to grow until they come up against the limits of
food production, and then they are checked.
The capacity for population growth, Lenski asserts,
has been a “profoundly destabilizing force
throughout human history and may well be the
ultimate source of most social and cultural
change.”
Lenski's ecological-evolutionary theory
successfully integrates and synthesizes a variety of
theoretical perspectives and ideals.
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Hunting and gathering societies use simple tools to
hunt animals and gather vegetation.
Horticultural and pastoral societies use technology that
supports the development of tools to raise crops, and
domesticate animals.
Agrarian societies are based on agriculture and the use
of technology for large scale cultivation, plows
harnessed to animals, and energy.
These societies initiated irrigation, the wheel, writing,
and numbers.
Industrial societies based on the production of goods
using advanced sources of energy.
Post industrial societies based on technology and
information based economy.
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He highlights the importance of technology.
It is the defining character of any society.
How has technology changed our way of thinking
and dealing with people on a day to day basis?
Are we better off than our parents or
grandparents?
When is technology and the latest gadget all too
much?
Do you think the Amish might have had a point?
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Marx understood that human societies are a
complex and always changing.
The story of society spins around the idea of
social conflict.
This conflict arises from how people produce
material goods, and who controls the
distribution of those goods.
Marx felt that real change in society and culture
comes from this struggle/conflict.
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“The Mechanisms of Change,” reproduces
several parts of Marx's analysis of the
mechanisms by which contradictions develop
in capitalism and generate group conflicts.
Included is an analysis of competition and its
effects on the various classes, a discussion of
economic crises and their effects on workers.
Marx's perspective of the historical specifics of
the class struggle.
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Society and production, profit-oriented
capitalists, people who own factories and other
productive enterprises.
The Proletarians, people who provide labor
needed to operate factories and other
productive enterprises.
Marx believed that conflict between these two
classes was unavoidable, and this would only
change when people changed capitalism itself.
All societies are composed of social institutions
which define major spheres of life.
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Marx’s approach is based on materialism,
which asserts that the production of material
goods shapes all aspects of society.
Also according to Marx most people in modern
societies do not pay much attention to social
conflict, because they are trapped in a false
consciousness, which is the explanations of
social problems that blame the shortcomings of
individuals rather than on the flaws of society.
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Capitalism and alienation, was how Marx
condemned capitalism for promoting alienation,
the experience of isolation resulting from
powerlessness.
Marx argued that industrial capitalism alienated
workers in four ways;
1. Alienation from the act of working.
 2. Alienation from the products of work.
 3. Alienation from other workers.
 4. Alienation from human potential.
* Marx was certain a socialist revolution would
overthrow a capitalist system.
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This power or control of ideas can also shape
society in a tremendous way.
Weber’s work reflects the idealist perspective
that human ideas shape society.
Weber contrasted the traditional thinking of
simple societies with the concept of rational
thought which he argued dominates our
modern way of life.
The concept that ideas can influence society
was a very different way of analyzing societies
as a whole, and in contrast to Marx.
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Two world views, Traditional and Rationality.
Weber wrote that members of preindustrial
societies embrace tradition, beliefs passed
down from generation to generation.
Meanwhile industrial societies were
characterized by rationality.
Deliberate, matter of fact calculation of the
most efficient means to accomplish a particular
task.
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The Industrial Revolution and the rise of
capitalism both reflect the rationalization of
society, the historical change from the tradition
to rationality as the dominate mode of human
thought.
Countries with traditional cultures cannot
afford to ignore, or resist technological
innovation, nations with highly rationalized
ways of life quickly embrace such change.
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Is Capitalism rational? Weber considered
industrial capitalism the essence of rationality.
Since capitalists pursue profit in whatever ways
they can.
Marx however believed capitalism was irrational
because it failed to meet the basic needs of most of
the people.
Weber’s great thesis: Protestantism and capitalismWeber traced the roots of modern rationality to
Calvinist Protestantism, which preached the notion
that success in one’s calling testified to one’s place
among the saved.
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Weber identified seven characteristics of rational
social organizations:
1. Distinctive social institutions
 2. Large scale organizations
 3. Specialized tasks
 4. Personal discipline
 5. Awareness of time
 6. Technical competence
 7. Impersonality
Final note Weber feared that the rationalization of society
carried with it a tendency toward dehumanization or
alienation. He felt that this was unavoidable.
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Society is a collective organism far more than
the sum of its parts.
Society shapes individuals’ behaviors,
thoughts, and feelings.
The concept of social fact, rather than the
experience of individuals.
Social fact extends beyond it effect on
individuals and helps society itself function as
a complex system.
People build personalities by internalizing
social facts.
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Durkheim warned of anomie, a societal condition in
which individuals receive little moral guidance.
The division of labor, or specialized economic activity,
has increased throughout human history.
Traditional societies are characterized by a strong
collective or mechanical solidarity, social bonds, based
on shared moral sentiments that unite members of
preindustrial societies.
In modern societies mechanical solidarity declines and
is partially replaced by organic solidarity, social bonds,
based on specialization that unite members of
industrial societies.
This shift is accompanied by a decline in the level of
trust between members of the society.
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Helped us to see the different ways that
traditional and modern societies hang together.
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What do you think about the Information Revolution?
What would Durkheim have thought?
How do you think Lenski, Marx, Weber, and
Durkheim influenced our thinking about societies
today?
What hold societies together?
How have societies changed?
Why do you suppose societies change over the course
of time?
Is society getting better or worse?
What societies gain through technological advances
may offset the loss of human community? Explain
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Society-people who interact in a defined territory and share a
culture.
Sociocultural evoluton-Lenski’s termfor the changes that occur as
a society acquires new technology.
Hunting and gathering-use of simple tools to hunt and gather
vegetation.
Horticulture-the use of hand tools to raise crops.
Pastoralism-the domestication of animals.
Agriculture-large scale cultivation using plows harsessed to
animals or larger energy sources.
Industrialism-the production of goods using advanced sources of
energy to drive large machinery.
Postindustrialism-technology that supports an information-based
economy.
Social conflict-the struggle between segments of society over
valued resources.
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Capitalists-people who own and operate factories
and other businesses in persuit of profits.
Proletarians-people who sell their productive labor
for wages.
Social institutions-the major spheres of social life,
or societal subsystems, organized to meet human
needs.
Class conflict-conflict between entire classes over
the distribution of a society’s wealth and power.
Alienation-the experience of isolation and misery
resulting from powerlessness.
Tradition-sentiments and beliefs passed from
generation to generation.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP137Qg
YKvQ
http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_macionis_sociol
ogy_10/19/4867/1246149.cw/index.html
http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/