Gsoc 110 Sociology - African Assessment Answers

1. According to the sociologists in the mini-documentary on Du Bois, give an example of how Du Bois used social scientific research to "challenge the way society understood African Americans" at the time. (Hint: focus on how Du Bois demonstrated that racism impacted living conditions for African Americans.)

Max Weber

Think about your reason for attending Highline College, and not any other institution of higher education in the state.

 

2. In your opinion, would you consider your decision to attend Highline College rational or non-rational or both? What factors did you consider and how did you make your decision?

 

3. What are two things that you do (either as a student or outside of college) for what Weber would call non-rational reasons? Briefly explain

Ferdinand Tonnes
Recently, Wells Fargo was fined $185 million dollars for create for secretly charging customers penalties fees and for forcing customers to buy unnecessary auto insurance policies. In response, Wells Fargo is seeking to re-brand its company image. After watching this commercial, please answer the following questions.

 

Read This article to support your answer to the question below : Read Here: https://www.google.com/search?q=wells+fargo+settlement&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi67OmxyvTbAhV-IjQIHa7lAboQ_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=588 https://youtu.be/1rrivHxCeeY

 

4. Can you give at least 2 examples of human interactions that are portrayed in this commercial as examples of Gemeinschaft relationships? Talk about why a bank would advertise Gemeinschaft type relationships. Support your answer based on what you read from the attached news article.

 

5. Do you think the executives at Wells Fargo actually have Gemeinschaft or Gesellschaft relationships with their customers? Do you think it may be both? Support your answer.

 

Emile Durkheim

The London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony focused in part on the Industrial Revolution which is seen to be pioneered by both the British and Europeans in the 19th Century. The ceremony opens with England depicted as a meadow, showing its agricultural past, then continues by depicting the industrial society that followed. Emile Durkheim studied how the division of labor in society changed as a result of the Industrial Revolution, and the impact that these changes had on people.

Watch Here: (Start at 13:38 mins and stop around 32:00 mins) https://youtu.be/jeftkQmVmdQ

 

6. How does the opening ceremony show examples of both Mechanical and Organic forms of social solidarity?
(Hint: pay attention to how people are interacting in the agricultural time period, and then how they are interacting less with each other as they build factories during the industrial time period)

Karl Marx
Karl Marx studied the economy (production and distribution of goods) and the relationship between workers (Proletariat) and industrial capitalists (bourgeoisie). In this scene from Les Miserable, Gavroche sings about the relationship two classes (the proletariat and the bourgeoisie).

https://youtu.be/jOLB0rEsrOU

 

7. In your own words, how would Karl Marx likely describe the relationship between workers and the capitalist? Use quotes from the song or describe a scene from the video to support your answer.

1. The challenges that were faced by the African Americans as per Du Bois are based on the lack of proper educational facilities that were offered to the people. It has caused serious issues relating to unemployment and loss of livelihood among the people living in the different parts of the nation. The key elements of the change in the systems of operations are dependent on the rise of the mortality rate among the people, which has caused a havoc issue relating to their existence. Baber (2012) stated that the lack of proper educational facilities to the different African American communities has affected their healthcare and lifestyle.

2. The decision of attending the Highline College is rational as the college has formulated programs like Umoja, which is a learning community. The community is dedicated to the academic success and personal growth of African American. It has helped in maintaining the proper educational levels of change in the educational methodology. The decision of attending the Highline College is rational as the different levels of change in the systems of the education are based on the identification of the issues that are faced by the African American communities. Therefore, the program will be supporting the different needs of the students relating to education and academic progression.

3. I have faced different issues while getting educated in the university; however, I have taken steps to indulge myself in the technical practices, which would be enhancing my chances of getting hold of a job. It might be considered irrational as per Weber’s Social Actions. The cause and effects of the actions that are undertaken by the people affects the functioning of the social actions as per the theory of Weber’s Social Actions. In correspondence with the theory, I have taken steps to deviate from my course of action and thereby defaulted by academic career through the involvement in a technical field.

4. Gemeinschaft relationship is generally an informal method of communication where friendship which aims at intergenerational stability among the communicator and the communicated. The communication that is utilized as per this approach is generally through the imposition of face to face friendly communication or discussion. The banks undertake this form of communication in order to assist the clients and thereby make themselves more approachable. The form of communication strategy helps in maintaining a lucid interpersonal relation with the clients of the bank. The key elements of the communication method are based on the functioning of the systems and operations as per the common objectives of the bank. 

5. The bank Wells Fargo does include the Gemeinschaft or Gesellschaft relationships with their customers as the bank faced a scandal in the year 2016, which portrayed that the bank employees created 2 million fake bank accounts. It was possible only due to the heightened utilization of the   Gemeinschaft or Gesellschaft relationships with the customers, which obliged the employees to create the same as per the needs of the customers (Thompson  2017). The scandal affected the suitable performance of the bank through the decrease in the customer loyalty and brand name. On the other hand, the proper functioning of the systems of the organization is dependent on the establishment of suitable communication and maintenance of the same.   

6. The opening ceremony of London 2012 Olympic depicted the conglomeration of Mechanical and Organic forms of social solidarity through the depiction of industrial revolution. It has helped in depicting the different key elements of industrialization and the manner in which the industrialization has helped in the rapid growth of the economies (Padoa-Schioppa  and Emerson  2013). On the other hand, the depiction of the organic forms has helped in linking the back hold for the industrial growth in the nations. Therefore, the changes in the scenario of the nations is facilitated through the identification of the inter- dependence of the mechanical and the organic forms.

7. The relation between the employees (Proletariat) and industrial capitalists (bourgeoisie) is depicted through the identification of the needs of the respective segments for growth. Growth and expansion is one of the major criteria that drives the inter- dependence of the two forms. Karl Marx studied the capitalist society to be the benefactors of the employees and the manner in which the capitalists are benefitted through the hard work of the employees.

References

Baber, L.D., 2012. A qualitative inquiry on the multidimensional racial development among first-year African American college students attending a predominately White institution. The Journal of Negro Education, 81(1), pp.67-81.

Padoa-Schioppa, T. and Emerson, M., 2013. Efficiency, Stability and Distributive Justice: A Development Strategy for the Economic System of the European Community . Springer-Verlag.

Thompson, J.D., 2017. Organizations in action: Social science bases of administrative theory. Routledge.