Concepts and Theories of the Academic Discussion of the City - Essay Example

Outline the Main Concepts and Theories Used in the Academic Discussion of the What is the Importance of the for Sociology? Cities are basically places where people come together for different purposes such as social or business transactions. Cities fulfill various tasks which help in serving the needs of its inhabitants as well as those of the people in the surroundings. The rise and rapid growth of cities particularly in the end of 19th century and in the 20th century resulted in varying opinions from the sociologists. Some viewed urbanization as destructive since it threatened the community-based lifestyles while others viewed it as beneficial in that it would lead to emergence of new opportunities due to development of modern cities. Sociologists, such as David Riesman, claimed that urban cities were the places where dwellers were more likely to suffer loneliness irrespective of the high numbers of people living in the urban areas. Sennett argues that designation of modern cities has changed a lot as compared to the traditional cities. However, he posits that the modern cities do not meet the requirements of what a city should be like (Giddens, & Sutton, 2010; Patrick & Neugarten, 2011). The last two decades of the twentieth century were characterized by promotion of humane cities. Among the activists were the new urbanisms who advocate for proper physical designs as a prerequisite for development of humane cities. New urbanists argue that cities should be reoriented towards regions far from automobiles. Another group that emerged supported community-based development and argued that it was important to empower common people in the community in order to enhance development of humane cities. An additional group felt that sustainable urban development was crucial in improving the living standards of city dwellers. An extra group of theorists viewed the city as a self-organizing entity whose development is dependent on culture (Patrick and Neugarten, 2011). Concepts and theories on urban sociology are mainly derived from works of sociologists such as George Simmel, KarlMarx, Max Weber, Park Burgess, Lowis Wirth, Tonnies and Redfield. Simmel argued that establishment and development of the money economy led to establishment of cities which tampered with the social life. Weber and Wirth argued that extreme urbanization affected the contribution of people in political aspects. Karl Marx criticized urbanization resulting due to capitalism. Marx and Engels argued that urbanization which led to development of cities resulted in pauperization and degradation of the traditional social ties in the society (Giddens, & Sutton, 2010). Mills and Macuse agreed that capitalist urbanization tampered with development of community by destroying social interactions. Tonnies argued that urbanization destroyed the spirit of communalism and led to development of individualized societies Tonnies argued that rural areas had gemeinschaft settlement, which characterized by unity while the rural areas or cities had gesellschaft settlement characterized by lack of unity amongst individuals. University of Chicago is also credited for contributing largely to the development of different concepts of urban sociology. Researchers such as Robert Park, Ernest Burgess, Wirth, Homer Hoyt, Ullman, and Harries worked from the University of Chicago and developed different concepts regarding urban sociology particularly on human life in the cities. The above sociologist tried to relate biological concepts with the social life in the cities arguing that completion played a major role in shaping the social life in cities (Giddens, & Sutton, 2010). Robert Park argued that urban sociology was characterized by symbiosis, as well as cultural organizations. He claimed that individuals living within the cities demonstrated symbiotic relationships by competing for the scarce resources. On the other hand, the urban inhabitants had cultural organizations characterized by communication as well as consensus. Ernest Burgess developed the concentric zone theory, which argued that cities developed in concentric circles with growth occurring from the outside while resources such as jobs, administrative facilities and industries are located in the centre of the circle. According to him, differential development of zones such as commercial centers, commuter zones and different residential resulted due competition (Giddens, & Sutton, 2010). Homer Hoyt disagreed with Ernest concentric zone theory and argued that cities developed in sectors characterized by different activities and not in concentric circles. He viewed a city as a large circle subdivided into various sections which he called sectors. He claimed that high grade areas developed close to offices and retail centers (Patrick & Neugarten, 2011). Harris and Ullman developed the Multiple Nuclei theory, which claimed that cities comprise of numerous mini-centers, which develop as a result of concentration of similar activities in different regions of a city (Macionis & Parrillo, 2009). The City is an important aspect of sociology due to a number of reasons. The city has been an important debatable subject of sociological study. The subject of the city is quite imprecise and is characterized by modifications of the meaning, complexity and understanding of the city. The city is considered an important subject in sociology due to its role in controlling the global economy. Understanding the concept of the city is crucial in understanding the human sociology since the city represents man’s attempts to confront nature (Giddens, 2010; May, Perry, Le Gales, Sassen, & Savage, 2005). 2) Outline the concept of social stratification. Choose two examples of social stratification and discuss their importance for society Social status is the rank accorded to individuals in the society depending on their personal accomplishments or due to their inherited positions. According different social status on either of the two aspects leads to social stratification and it is assumed that people higher in the social rank are better off and have some sort of control over the social welfare of the persons lower in the social rank. The position given to an individual depending on personal achievements is referred to as achieved status while the social status acquired through inheritance is referred to as ascribed status. Ascribed status is mainly fixed for individuals’ right from their birth and may vary based on aspects such as gender, race, family and ethnicity. Achieved status is attained through one’s lifetime and may depend on one’s perseverance, capability or level of knowledge. Achieve status can also be attained through edification or marital status (Giddens, 2010). The different social status accorded to different people in the society leads to social stratification whereby individuals are ranked depending on their social status. This is because people in the different social ranks have differing roles, rights as well as lifestyle, which lead to creation of social hierarchy. Status can be defined as the collective stratification. Traditionally, social stratification was mainly based on different aspects in different societies. Such aspects included the religion, ethnicity, and gender just to mention but a few. In the contemporary society, one’s occupation is considered an important aspect in determining one’s social rank. Other aspects that may determine one’s social status include one’s income and gender. One’s social status, hence, position in the social strata can be altered through social mobility. Movement to a higher social rank is referred to as upward mobility, while movement down the social strata is referred to as downward mobility. Social mobility plays a crucial role in societies where the social status is accorded depending on one’s achievements (achieved status) as compared to societies where the social status is determined by ones inherited status. This is because one achievements change with factors such as change in education level or income (Japyapalan, 2002). Social stratification is thus the placement of individual within a society into different hierarchy depending on their achievements or inheritance. The stratification is allied to the capability of persons in the society to fulfill or meet certain standards that are considered important by the society. Individuals lying in the same social group or strata tend to intermingle more amongst themselves and lesser with individuals in different social groups (Japyapalan, 2002). According to Max Weber, social stratification is based on three aspects which include power, prestige and property or wealth. Power is a person’s capability to accomplish his or her wishes irrespective of other people’s will. One’s power can also be determined by a person’s ability to make other people conform to his or her commands or have dominion over other people’s behavior. Weber considers political power to be crucial in social stratification since it involves creation and exercising of laws (Giddens, 2010). Property is the amount of possessions that a person controls. Having a lot of possessions means that an individual has more potential of controlling other people or is capable of using the wealth to his or her advantage. Prestige is how people view a person. One’s prestige is not always associated with the amount of possession since some people with a lot of possessions may assume lower social strata. Other factors that may determine one’s social class include race. In the modern society, people are mainly categorized into three social classes which include upper class, middle class and lower class. People in the upper class are those considered to be very wealthy in addition to being powerful in that they have a lot of dominion over persons in the other social classes. In some societies, an upper social class is only determined by one’s wealth while in others one must be born into a specific social class (Saha, 2006). Middle class contains the largest number of individuals who lie between the upper class and the lower class. Person falling in the middle class are often considered to be white collar workers. Lower class mainly includes working persons who lack financial security, as well as the unemployed persons depending on government funding or from well-wishers (Giddens, 2010). One’s social class determines the kind of education one can access, the type of medical care one accesses as well as employment opportunities (Japyapalan, 2002). Examples of social stratification include the Caste system and the capitalism stratification. The Caste System Caste system is a type of social stratification that is grounded on ascribed statuses. Caste system is fixed and a person remains in the caste he or she was born in. A good example of a caste system is the Indian caste system which was outlawed in 1949. However, traces of the Hindu caste remain. The Hindu caste system can be traced back to and was initially based on the concept of reincarnation. It was believed that people are immortal and will be reborn after death. Those living a good life will be born in a more improved status while the evil one will be punished by being born in worse status than their current (Leicht, 2005). A person’s status was, thus, considered to be as a result of his or her deeds prior to incarnation. It was wrong to tamper with one’s life by trying to alter it for example by assisting the poor. Wealth was considered to be reward for one’s deeds prior to incarnation while poverty was considered to be as a result of misdeeds prior to incarnation (Grusky, 2008; Hess, 2001). The five castes in the Indian caste included Brahman caste, Kshatriya caste, Vaishva caste, Shudra caste, and the Harijan caste. The Brahman caste comprised of the priests, as well as the scholars who were immensely wealthy. Kshatriya consisted of persons serving in the military. Vaishva comprised of business persons in addition to the skillful craftspeople. Shudra comprised of manual laborers. The Harijian or Dalit consisted of the most inferior persons who were considered contaminated. One’s position in the Indian castes determined the kind of work one does. Additionally, marriages across different castes were strictly forbidden (Saha, 2006). Capitalism This is a type of economic social stratification which originated from privatization of property ownership. Capitalism is based on production of good for the purpose of making profits. There are various types of capitalism, which include Mercantilism in which the state uses it machineries to expand its business interest to other regions of the world. Free-market capitalism is a type of capitalism in which the government has no control over the market prices. Social market economy is a type of capitalism characterized by the state offers security to its citizens but only has minimal control over the market prices. State capitalism is the one in which the state the government manages the economy. Corporate capitalism is a kind of capitalism with mixed market. Mixed economy is a type of capitalism in which businesses are both privately and publicly owned. References Giddens, A., & Sutton, P., 2010. Sociology 6th Edition, Polity Press, London.  Giddens, A., 2010. Sociology: Introductory Readings, Polity Press, London.  Grusky, D., 2008. Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective, Westview Press, New York. Hess, A., 2001. Concepts of Social Stratification: European and American Models, Palgrave Macmillan, India. Japyapalan, N., 2002. Urban Sociology. Atlantic Publishers & Dist, New York. Leicht, K., 2005. Research In Social Stratification And Mobility, Volume 23, Elsevier, London. Macionis, J. & Parrillo, V., 2009. Cities and Urban Life, Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River. May, T., Perry, B., Le Gales, P., Sassen, S. & Savage, M., 2005. The future of Urban sociology, Sociology 39; 343. Patrick, R. & Neugarten, B., 2011. Social Status in the City. Transaction Publishers, New York. Saha, D., 2006. Sociology Of Social Stratification, Global Vision Publishing Ho, New York. Read More