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sociology and other social sciences
Scope of social sciences
sociology and other social sciences
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Shadow work can be described as the various forms of labour that exist outside of the formal economy or within the informal economy. Social Science plays a major part in bringing attention to the dangers, harms and hardships experienced by the individuals working in the informal economy. Social scientists have recognised that facts don’t speak for themselves and often require analysis and interpretation to produce meaning. This is especially true when dealing with shadow work and thus social scientists have developed concepts, theories and values to aid analysis and interpretation of facts. A number of different concepts have been identified to assist the interpretation of facts on shadow work some of these are power, risk, social structure and agency. Although these concepts all attempt to interpret the facts on shadow work, their approaches and the results generated differ significantly. In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting these concepts by looking at how they are used in the course case studies to interpret facts on shadow work. I will be using the block method of essay writing as outlined in week 13.5.1 “structuring your essay” I will begin by looking at the concepts of Power, Agency and Risk. The concept of “Power” can be described as the capacity to act and can be understood in two related but distinct forms, as “power over” something exercised by one actor at the expense of another and as the “power to” or the capacity to act and take control over one’s own situation. Next “agency” is the capacity to act freely according to one’s own choices and desires. Whereas the concept of Risk or “Rational risk actors” are people who have the capacity to recognise and manage their own exposure to risk. (Mythen, G 2012, ... ... middle of paper ... ...use to help theorise the extent to which different kinds of workers have different capacities to exert power and agency over their own lives. Works Cited Mythen,G. (2012). The Uses of Social Science, Glasgow: The Open University Burnett,J and Whyte,D. (2011) The Wages of Fear: Risk, Safety and Undocumented Work, Leeds and Liverpool, Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS) University of Leeds and the University of Liverpool Sanders,T. (2005) Sex Work: A Risky Business, Collompton,(Devon),Willan. Bungay, V., Halpin, M., Atchison, C. and Johnson, C. (2011) ‘Structure and agency: reflections from an exploratory study of Vancouver sex workers’, Culture, Health and Sexuality: An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, vol. 13 Habermas, J. (1984) The Theory of Communicative Action: Lifeworld and System, Boston, MA, Beacon Press
What I have gathered from this analysis is mainly the duality of power. It is at times both
Providing different approaches to the ongoing problem of prostitution in Canada is a difficult topic because there are several positives and negatives for each side of the argument. Throughout Shaver’s article, she investigates deeply into the lives of PWSI and the different struggles they endure each and everyday. Shaver begins her article with discussing the ways in which Canada has worked on bringing better legislations to the sex work industry. By changing the laws in Canada this may help with the many struggles women in the sex industry endure daily. Shaver highlights four main approaches ...
In 2011 it was recorded that the United Kingdom (UK) was home to 7.5 million immigrants, making up an eighth of the population (Doughty). Those numbers however only make up the recognized legal immigrants. Illegal immigrants make up a unrecognized portion of the population and in 2005 it was estimated that the UK hosted between 310,000 and 570,000 undocumented residents (Casiani). Frear’s’ provides a look into the lives of these people who are not normally represented in film, policy or at all. The characters in this film make up a variety of cultures, backgrounds and citizen status. It is the main characters, Okwe and Senay, which provide valuable insight into the systematic mistreatment of migrant workers. Globalization has created issues for workers and their rights and policy cannot always protect business from finding cheaper (and perhaps illegal) labour. Stories from the undocumented and invisible illegal workers can be found and they all sing a similar tune of systematic abuse. The paper WE MAKE THE ROAD BY WALKING:*IMMIGRANT WORKERS, THE WORKPLACE PROJECT, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE by Jennifer Gordon tells the story of an illegal worker who, after gaining citizenship, asks to be put in the books and after hearing this request the employer replies "there's the door, if you don't like it, I know a lot of people who would be interested in your job." It is this thought that is echoed through the stories of immigrant workers. Undocumented workers are not typically unionized, they do not possess job security, health benefits and work long hours for low pay. Immigrant workers however remain in these conditions out of desperation for work, threats and fear of deportation (Wishnie). Labour laws, which are already lax and difficult to enforce (some many take up to five years to investigate), (Gordon) cannot always protect workers whose employees whose employers “are rarely registered; [many never] comply
idea of “agency” (Gravett 61-71). This idea can most easily be described as a human’s ability to
At this point, with an understanding of what power is, what it means, how it is created and the various means through which it is expressed, one can begin to conceptualise how it is that power functions within a given society. Symbolic, cultural, social and economic capital distribute and perpetuate power within a society, through a cycle of transformation whereby these capital resources can be interchanged and manipulated to the advantage of individuals who have
Many people in the UK coupled with media stories, tend to portray asylum seekers as bogus individuals who are here purely for economic gains (Teater 2014). This has led organisations such as Refugee councils and Refugee Action
Women are forced into prostitution for numerous reasons. The unstable economy, the education required for certain jobs, high percentage of poverty, history of abusive childhood abuse, may have led women into prostitution. A number of poor women struggle to survive everyday in Vancouver Eastside, they sell their own body on the streets in exchange for cash. The Downtown Eastside of Vancouver is one of the popular areas to find street prostitutes, burglars, thefts, criminals, and more. It is known for being ‘Canada’s poorest postal code’, and for the selling and crime scenes of illegal drug use, sex trade, crimes, violence, and rough neighborhoods. Prostitution is more likely link to criminal activities, making the environment not safe for normal citizens. Plus, the prostitution at Vancouver Eastside’s has high incidence of HIV infection. The unstable environment causes many citizens to ponder ...
Taking Two Of The Theoretical Approaches To Social Research Discussed In The Module, Demonstrate The Connections Between Their Ontological, Epistemological And Methodological Assumptions. Which Method Or Methods Would Proponents Of Each Theory Favour As A Result Of Their Assumptions.
This assignment is about comparing and contrasting two different theories in social science understandings of work. The two theories are social division of labour and gendered division of labour and are centrally concerned on how work is defined, allocated and shared.
He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power of relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection. By this very fact, the external power may throw off its physical weight; it tends to be non-corporal; and, the more it approaches this limit, the more constant, profound, and permanent are its effects; it is a perpetual victory that avoids any physical confrontation and which is always decided in advance.
At first I didn’t know what to really expect from taking an online sociology class for class. To be completely honest, I thought I would be reading a lot of boring articles and then writing about them. It turned out that I was wrong. I was able to see what sociology pertains to and how it relates to our lives. It’s funny to think that almost everything in your life is controlled by someone else. Your interests, hobbies, and even clothes aren’t really solely your decision. You may be thinking “no way I am being influenced and I make all of my decisions consciously” but in fact that is not the case.
Habermas presented his theories of colonization of the life-world based on classic theorists, including such sociologists as Weber, Durkheim, Parsons, and Mead and Marx. At the heart of his theories was communication. Habermas believed the main problem with society was not how to control it but how to maintain communicative action, believing that societies have become increasingly impaired or “colonized”. Habermas called this the “colonization of life-world by systems”. The first part of Habermas’s theory is concerned with how the crisis of communicative action has become colonized and its illegitimacy (Frank, 2000). The second part of his theory describes the way to restore legitimacy, holding that a fully functioning democracy, honoring the rights of citizens and reasoned communication, remained society’s best chance (Sociological Theory | Chapter 15 Chapter Summary, 2004).
Distribution and exercise of power shape attitudes towards authority. How people sustain themselves economically, and how they manage to obtain the necessities of life, determines assigned roles of individuals and the relationships among them.
The concept of informal sector stems from early 1970s, when economic anthropologist Keith Hart conducted his research in Ghana having found out it not only existed but expanded. Later it was accepted by ILO, (International Labour Organization) perceiving the range in which marginal workforce turned into the profitable enterprises. It was followed up with the International Labour conference in 2002 broadening its concept to an economy wide phenomenon involving the jobs and workers inside (ILO, 2013). There are also various definitions incorporated by the various economist and sociologists, but ILO Resolution of 2002 delivered the one commonly applied in many states: «The informal economy comprises half to three-quarters of all non-agricultural employment in developing countries. Although it is hard to generalize concerning the quality of informal employment, it most often means poor employment conditions and is associated with increasing poverty. Some of the characteristic features of informal employment are lack of protection in the event of non-payment of wages, compulsory overtime or extra shifts, lay-offs without notice or compensation, unsafe working conditions and the absence of social benefits such as pensions, sick pay and health insurance. Women, migrants and other vulnerable groups of workers who are excluded from other opportunities have little choice but to take informal low-quality jobs (ILO, 2002)”.
By the definition, science is the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment (Oxford dictionary). This crude definition is elaborated further by a world-famous sociologist Anthony Giddens as ‘the scientific study of human social life, groups, and societies. It is dazzling and compelling enterprise, as its subject matter is our own behavior as social beings. The scope of sociological study is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals on the street to the investigation of global social processes such as the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.’ (Giddens: 2006)