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ISS Course Notes
8415BM: Introduction to Social Science
Daryna Banat

Week 1 Introduction
Historical Overview
Social sciences started to be distinguished with the democracy in ancient Greece
Key Understandings
• Understand basic notion of the development of Western society
• Comprehend the important of early civilizations in forming todays social order
• Familiarize with revolutionary idea and innovations of periods such as the
Renaissance and the Enlightenment
Prehistory
• Paleolithic: Old Stone Age
o First stone tools around 2
...
5 MIO-500,000 years agoàHomo Erectus (upright man)
o 1 MIO-500,000 years agoà Evidence of Fire (sense of community, sit
and eat together; started to communicate)
o 500,000-150,000 years agoà Evidence of Cooking
• Homo Sapiers: 200,000 years ago
o Nomadic hunters and gatherers
o 100,000 years agoà language and art
o Difference between humans and animals: humans create tools, animals
only use certain, very limited tools; we hand down the knowledge from
one generation to the next; humans are the dominant species of the
planet
• Neolithic: New Stone Age—climate change, 10,000 years ago
• Agriculture and early settlements lead to civilization
Prehistoric Human Achievement (Civetello 2011)
• Early settlements: agriculture and animals 10,000: more feasible for people to
stay in the same place (pottery & textile, population, early social satisfaction)
• Bigger populationàbetter organizationàsocial structureà social stratification
(“classification of people into groups based on shared social-economic
conditions; a relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and
ideological dimensions”)
• Mesopotamia: 4000 BC
o Writingàrecorded historyàfrom that moment we know—have
information
o Math
o Bigger settlements
o Political institutions
o Military aristocracyà priesthood, laboring class and slaves
o Code of Hammurabi’s
o Written laws and order combined with the military, aristocracy with
punishments according to: eye for and eye and tooth for a tooth
• Ancient Egypt: 4000 BC; the Power

2

•

•

•

•

o Of the resources (river Nile, agriculture, bread) and a lot of slavery
(Moses was a slave)
§ Geopolitical and productive economy
• Difficult to attack boundaries (seas)
• Due to these boundaries they could keep the resources
to themselves
§ They use religion as an institution to predict: they are the people
who could read, control, manipulate and modify the knowledge;
knowledge: controls society (90% of Senators in the US are
lawyers)
Greek 700 BC-500 BC
o Philosophy, mythology, legendsà stayed until today (Odyssey, theatres,
sports-Olympia)
o God is represented like Zeus
o Polis—city—policemen
o Language, religion, mythology, political system, Olympic games,
architecture, freedom of speech
o Democracy is good
o Without law and justice human being is the worst of animal (Aristotle)
o Colonization
o Trade, industryànew class
o Change in the ruling class
o Left a cultural heritage
Roman civilization 753 BC-457 AD
o Romulus and Remus: foundation of Rome
o First republic established
o Reasons of collapse for Roman Empire
§ When an empire gets too good, they don’t have innovation, loss
of knowledge, everything was done by slaves
§ People get less and less “handy” (eg
...
The Earth is not the Center of the Universe
2
...
Our reasoning ability is subject of passions and subconscious desires
a
...
Subjectivity
§ Objective scientific method gained field in the 20th century

§
§
§
§
§

Subjective during postmodernism
The question is—objective way to analyze social phenomena,
the way to go?
If you see sociology as a science—objective
Objective based on arguments is realistic: statement of facts,
ability to judge fairly
Subjective: statements of value, bias, attitude, feelings beliefs;
tend to be abstract, intangible, personal and privateà concrete
inter-subjective social effects may lead to war

Reading: Supplement to the Voyage of Bougainville
By Denis Diderot
What were Diderot’s thoughts of European colonization?
• As part of the Enlightment era, Diderot opposed French colonization, more the
ever slavery; he believed in equality, liberty and right to dignity
• He questioned the use of slaves when in fact Christianity opposed slavery; again
we see that colonists used religion/power to justify decisions
• Here the power tended to see slavery as an element that supported the
economy; if it were to be abolished, colonies would collapse and commerce not
flourish (selfish reasons)
What was the perception of natives’ society vs
...
sharing wives/husbands,
going against the European views on adultery; reproduction can’t be controlled
• The Tahitians believe the Europeans hold too much value on possessions and
refuse to allow a person to live without constraints
• Ownership of property is also criticized as Tahitians share everything relative to
the French aristocrats undermining the lower classes
• Nature for them overrules religion
• The terminology of incest and adultery is not understood as a part of social
institutions; be that the case, its hypocritical in reference to “Adam and Eve”

6

Week 2: Historical Roots Of Social
Sciences
Introduction
•
•
•
•
•
•

Western development of social sciences came from the Greek
No such thing as several races (black, white etc)
...
e
...
"
o Yet they still don’t eat them even if they are useless for agriculture!
cow worship is an integral part of Hinduism
...

The sacredness of the cow is not just an ignorant belief that stands in the way of
progress
...
It
would not occur to us to propose the elimination of automobiles and dogs
from our society without carefully considering the consequences, and we should
not propose the elimination of zebu cattle without first understanding their
place in the social order in India
...

§ Good source of fat and protein, pigs thrive in humidity
o Rumbim: symbol of ceasefire/truce (dedicated to raising more pigs)
• Center of the lifestyle of the community
• Too expensive to eat
o Costs to much to raise
• Spiritual explanation should have pragmatic reasons
• Pigs are Totemic symbols (an object serving as a family emblem)
Inconsistencies
1
...
The bible classified locusts and grasshoppers as “clean”: insects more clean than
pigs?
3
...
Swine flesh has a bad and damaging effect on the body
4
...

Muslims and Jews are nomadic population by nature
...

• Society working from gift-giving system
• Is the status seeking attitude
• Distribution of wealth to give status
o Burn their own houses down
Why do Potlach?
• Wealth and power takes over civilizations
• They are crazy
• Redistribution of wealth into society
• We don’t understand the culture yet we judge them, it’s all relative
• All society is based on wealth and possessions
...
Breeder reaction
a
...
Greed of the officials
a
...
If not scientifically proven that it was a
hallucination, they need to give another reason to the people
• Witches were an easy target for officials
• Supposed witches could not fight war on terror (killing innocent people)
Inquisition
• Procedure was to create fear and fight against them
...

o Made people suspicious of each other, dispersed and fragmented
12

Week 2&3: Anthropology
Anthropology

= Is the study of humankind, past and present, that draws and builds upon knowledge
from social and biological sciences, as well as the humanities and the natural sciences
• Pragmatic reasons that are influencing the society
• Religion is not the base of society, it’s the infrastructure
o It defines the religion and ideology of the society

Social Science Disciplines
Anthropology
= Is the study of humans, past and present
...

• Application of knowledge to the solution of human problems
Psychology
= Applied discipline that involves the study of mental functions and behaviors
...

• Scientific study of the human mind and its functions, affecting behavior in a given
context
Sociology
= Study of the development, structure and functioning of human society
...

Economics
= The branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer
of wealth
Political sciences
= The study of government of states and other political units

3 Types of Anthropology
Physical Anthropology
= Evolution of the human body, physical change
...
This was a
destination for slave trade, sent to America for slavery
...


Linguistic Anthropology

= Languages, similar languages and understanding
...


Archaeology

= Study of past civilizations, human history through the excavation of sites and analysis
of artifacts and other physical remains
...
Understanding the
archaeological past must involve reconstructing past societies and social practices in
their totality; that artifacts and other archaeological finds must be placed in a social
context
...
Research on ethnography, social
structure and kinship

Kinship
o Refers to the web of social relationships that form an important part of
the lives most humans in most societies
§ What man does with these basic factors of life (mating,
parenthood, socialization, sibling ship) etc
...
e
...
Idea that
human cultural changes with time is evident as we are becoming more
civilized species throughout history
...


14

Evolutionism

= Scientific theory of the origin of species of plants and animals
...
The process by which a society or place reaches an advanced stage of social
development and organization (industry, commerce)
à The theory of evolutionism justified colonial conquest

Diffusionism and Functionalism
Diffusionism

Cultural phenomena (traits, inventions, ideas, objects, whole cultures), rather than
arising independently through invention, spread from one society to another through
forms of contact
...

Neo- Diffusionism
Analyze phenomena in terms of specific functional requisites
...
Finally, some neo-functionalists examine how cultural
processes (including ritual, ideology, and values) integrate social structures
...


Functionalism

= The theory that all aspects of a society serve a function and are necessary for the
survival of that society
...
e
...
Learn how to live in
that culture, educated to be a member of society
Acculturation
= When 2 or more cultures meet and exchange without becoming similar to one
another (USA vs Mexico)
Inculturation
= One member becomes part of a religious group (I
...
Christian culture)
Classism
= Treated differently from different classes
...
It’s the philosophical notion that all cultural beliefs are equally
valid and that trust itself is relative, depending on the cultural environment

Bronislaw Malinowski
= Founder of functionalism – every aspects of the culture of people, past or preset,
serves a purpose for the long-term maintenance of that society
...
Argues that a specific domain of culture may
be understood by means of a structure—modeled on language—that is distinct both
from the organizations of reality and those of ideas or the imagination—the "third
order
...

• Explains cultural similarities and differences as well as models for cultural change
within a societal framework consisting of three distinct levels:
1
...

– I
...
technological or economic factors mold and influence the
other two aspects of culture
...
Structure
– Organizational aspects of culture – domestic and kinship
systems
– Domestic economy, division of labor, political economy
3
...

• Series of inquisitions (catholic church bodies) wanting to suppress heresy (a
provocative belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs
or customs)
• To implement fear, remove all those who questioned already existing beliefs set
by the catholic church

Reading: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
By Jared Diamond
5 strands why a civilization likes the Mayans collapse:
1
...

3
...


Population growth outstripping available resources
Compounding the mismatch between population and the resources available
Increased fighting, as more and more people fought over few resources
Warfare decreased the amount of land available for agriculture; it became
unsafe to farm
5
...
e
...
Globalization makes us
exposed to and causes the dilution of culture

When Did Mass Tourism Start?
•
•

Tourism was always existent ever since humans
There was drastic shift in 1960s

18

•
•
•
•

Emancipation of women/idle of women changes (i
...
access of jobs)
Technology
Mass production
Tourism is a right, necessity (spend money)

Requirements For Tourism
•
•
•

Leisure time: evolutionary achievement (fight to get more leisure time)
Discretionary time
Positive local sanction: try to feel safe hence choose countries that are safe
(with close hospitals and hotels)

Why Do We Travel?
Well constructed way of spending income and includes center of interest and creates
stronger family bonds
• Spend money during down time
• It can become an obsession
• Sacred (when away) and ordinary (when back home) à Durkheim – cyclical
cause of emotions
• Detachment from a comfortable situation
o Family bonds are increasing
• Become the center of interest – good feeling
• Auto-motivation: people are interested in you since you were abroad and thus
show more interest
• Pictures: justification of where you have been
• Trinkets: souvenirs justifying where you have been

How do we travel? Compensatory vs
...
g
...
g
...
g
...
g
...
g
...
g
...
g
...
S
...
S
...
Development is made by external characters
2
...
Successful or not, none of them did a constructive work
b
...
Profit leakage from the country because no money is kept in the country
a
...
g
...
One culture is not one nation
• Humor makes 2 opposing logics, logical

22

Integrity
= Creating wholeness through the integration of togetherness
...
Identity: something you manifest according to a context
...
Self-Identity: understanding one’s potential and qualities thus becoming a
defining characteristic of an identify
3
...
Nationalism: re-enacted culture, patriotic feeling or effort - result of
correct socialization

Culture
= Ideas, customers and social behavior of a person in society à taught not inherited
3 Levels of Culture
1
...
Behavioral: how we define our social role (languages, non verbal
communication, reflect our values)
3
...
Frameworks
1
...
Seven Dimensions of Culture – Trompenaars and HampdenTurner’s
• Universalism versus particularism
o Universalism: place a high importance on laws, rules, values, deal fairly
using this
o Particularism: believe that each circumstance dictates the rules they
live by
...
You
make your own decisions and take care of yourself
o Communitarianism: believe that a group is more important than an
individual
...
Believe people can
work together without having a good relationship
o Diffuse: see an overlap between work and personal life
...
People don’t
reveal what they think or what they are feeling
o Emotional: find ways to express their emotions and welcome signs of
emotion
Achievement versus ascription
o Achievement: believe that you are what you do
o Ascription: believe that you should be valued for who you are (power,
title, status)
Sequential time versus synchronous time
o Sequential: like events to happen in order (value punctuality), time is
money
o Synchronous: see the past, present, future as interwoven periods,
several projects at once
...
e
...
Fear of confrontation, avoid conflict – man is
controlled by nature (i
...
Saudi Arabia & women)

3
...

• Long term orientation: how much society long standing or short term traditions
and values
• Indulgence versus restraints
• National culture

24

The  Hostede’s  Organizational  Model  
• Organizational culture is the collective programming of the human mind that
distinguishes the members of one organization from those of another
o Culture is when a system of collectivity held with common values
• Tool of analysis to assist us in realizing our objectives in the best possible way
Neo-Phobic
= Tendency to dislike anything new, fear of novelty
Neo-Phylic
= Tendency to love new things and wants change, linked to personality

Week 5: Introduction To Sociological
Perspectives
What Is Sociology
= Is the science of interpreting social action
...
As
individuals we must follow norms and tradition as well as going through an
adaptation phase in order to reach a feeling of belonging
...
There is certain
social expectation set by society in order to be a “social actor”
...
) à already have before
birth
Marx: all problems have an equality reason in society
Glass ceiling: women can only go up the corporate ladder to a certain extent
because men are the ultimate managers!

3 Theoretical Approaches To Explain Human
Behavior
Consensus-Structure Theory

= There is a consensus in society on how people should live/act
...

• Social behavior is predictable = because it’s learned through socialization
(Marriage in India vs USA)
• Rules and cultures have different expectations = hence societies act
differently

Example:  
• Saudi Arabia: treatment of women with the veil, not allowed to drive etc
...
Why is it expected
that people behave the way others expect them to behave?
What is culture?
= Rules that govern thoughts and behaviors in society
...
Act different at work (dress code, discipline
and punctuality) compared to home
Invisible: norms, beliefs, behavior, emotions
Structures  
Visible: at school, queuing, table manners,
etiquette
Macro: nations central values (law, democratic
Invisible  Social  
Visible  Social  
structure  
strcture  
values, legislation, Hofstede’s cultural
dimensions)
Micro: profession, school, leisure, parenthood
Macro  level  

à Creates Social Order!
Micro  Level  

26

What Is Socialization
= The way one adapts to culture and become a social being
...
Individual integrating into a society (of his surroundings)
§ Values, norms, beliefs, language, abilities, emotions
§ Differences between male & female – gender roles
Why? To ensure social order and have a consensus of appropriate behavior
AGIL
= “Basic system-needs” for any society to run smoothly
• Sports was widely considered as an alternative for war, it’s a socialization
method
1
...

3
...


Adaptation: must adapt to changes in society to survive (fitness)
Goal Attainment: hard work will result in success
Integration: social interaction (bring people together)
Latency: tension management (helps accept authority)

Structural-Conflict Theory -- Marx
= Privileged people have a better chance because they have unfair advantages (wealth,
education, power)
• Acted as a critique for Structural-Consensus Theory
o Why? Socialization cannot explain social and economic inequalities
Con5lict  of  
Interest  

The  "Haves"  -­‐  
advantaged  

The  
"HaveNots"  
...
e
...
There are imbedded social conflicts
through:
o Access of information and wealth
o Fewer jobs in the country side
...

o Question of ego: making someone feel better by giving to others in need
o We each interpret the situation differently: are they in real need or is it a
scam for money
Ideal Type
= Perfect individual and work the way society expects them to act respecting social
norms and values
2 Types of Solidarity
1
...
Organic: all do different jobs as they mutually depend on one another
Durkheim & Religion
o Religion will disappear soon enough, the only role of religion is to keep moral
order in society
...

Marx’s  Perspective  of  Conflict  Theory  &  EHL  Case  
o We all share norms and values
o We are standard product

28

Reading: What Is Sociology
August Compte (1798-1857)
• Invented the word sociology
• Initially used the term “social physics”
o Last science to be discovered after chemistry, physicals and biology
• Goal: distinguish his own views from other rivals so he coined the term
“sociology”
o Create a science of society that could explain the laws of the social
world just as natural science explained the functioning of the physical
world
o They all share a scientific method aimed at revealing universal laws
Uncovering laws in the human society could help us shape our destiny and
improve the welfare of humanity
• Events: French Revolution
o Changes in society
o Growth of industrialization changing traditional lives
• Positivism: should apply same rigor as other scientific methods in order to
become a positive science
...

o Study social life with objectivity like scientists do
st
1 principle: study social facts as things!

•

•

•

•

•
•

3 main themes addressed:
o Importance of sociology as an empirical science
o Rise of people and formation of a new social order
o Sources and character of moral authority in society
Concern of sociology à study of social facts
o Rather than studying individuals, sociologists should examine social facts
(these are what shape us)
Social facts: are ways of acting, thinking of feeling that are external to individuals
o Coercive power: generally comply with social facts freely whereas
Durkheim argues people often follow patterns embedded in society
...
People have similar occupations and are bound together
by common experiences
...

Bureaucracy: the only way of organizing large numbers of people effectively,
expands with economic and political growth
Disenchantment: way scientific thinking in the modern world had swept away
the forces of sentimentality form the past
Action theory: religion shows us how certain societies became
how they are
...


àFocus: ability of individuals to act creatively on the outside world

Week 6: Political Economy &
Development
2 Main Systems Today
Political
•
•

Democracy: power of the people
...

Autocracy: type of dictatorship

Economic
•
•

Capitalism: industrial revolution 19th century
...
In a biological system there is
inequality with everyone trying to fight for something (tree’s for
sunlight)

Idealism (optimistic) versus Realism (pessimistic)
Idealism
• Optimism about human nature
• Influenced by ethical issues
• Ideas are important
• Human rights are crucial to national and foreign policy
• Good intentions for citizens
• Peace and cooperation
Realism
• Pessimistic about human nature
• Very pragmatic
• Action rather new ideas
• Human rights are tangential to foreign policy
o Allowing Gerard Depardieu Russian
rules/diverging
• Striving for power
• Peace by force
o Egypt, Afghanistan

citizenship:

bending

the

Rousseau  Perspective  
= We are all born equal and its society that embeds us with elements such as ethical
views

World Bank Country Classification
•

Does not symbolize the correct distribution of wealth

Human Development Index (HDI)
Take into consideration life expectancy at birth, GDP per capita
What Does “Developing” Mean for a Country?
• Relative: depends if it’s a developing country or a developed country
• Growth in every shape of the term
...
Decolonized countries
needed money to become developed because they became independent
...
Outflow of
very talented labor force, overall the quality and education is not benefitted by
the home country
...

Serious problem for LDC’s

Population Problem
•

Criticize the highly the hierarchy of LDC’s etc
...
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2
...
Promote gender equality and empower women
4
...
Improve maternal health
6
...
Ensure Environmental Sustainability
8
...

• UN still use an old way of categorization: Africa as a whole in stead of separate
countries (they are very different!)
• Denomination of “Developing Countries” is wrong!
o Qatar: most powerful country in the world
o South Korea
• There is a correlation between education of women and infant mortality

Political Economies: Terms
•
•
•

1st world: open market
2nd world: communist (does not exist anymore)
3rd world: developing market

34

•

4th world: poorest countries à became 3rd world

What Is a Developed Country?
= Allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy lifestyle in a safe environment (Kofi
Anan)
Or
= No established convention for the designation of “developed” and “developing”
countries or areas in the United Nations System
• South Korea to still be considered as developing in the UN (as there is huge
gender inequality)
World  Bank  Classification  
= Income per year not per month!!
• Even the most advanced economies are not fully developed countries

4 Traps (Bottom Billion)
1
...
Central African Republic --- Muslims vs Christians (ethnic and religious
battle)
2
...
Landlocked countries
a
...
Bad governance
a
...
Conflict
a
...
e
...
Christians
b
...
Natural resources
a
...


Resources are profitable on the short term but not long term due to
bad governance and corrupt attitude
b
...
Landlocked
a
...
Bad governance
a
...
Corruption and lack of democratic institutions
c
...
Why should society have to pay back based on the mistakes
made by the leaders? Because they know that if they pay back the corrupt
process will not go to the cause (infrastructure)
...
Hence if
they commit a felony they are not traced
Do we need governments?
• Yes!
• Why?
o Maintain the law and order of society
o Complexity of social hierarchies
o Human designed in a way that needs a leader: even in the smallest of
communities
...
Security and order of its citizens
a
...
Justice: just for whom? For the mainstream society
...
Swiss say
no to mosques, its ok for mainstream Swiss society that are not Muslim but its
not ok for Swiss Muslims!
a
...

3
...
Treated equally in front of justice system
...
Regulating the economy: privatization
a
...
Neo-liberalist approach
government should not keep so much wealth in the name of the
government, privatization
...
Regulating individuals actions
a
...
General Welfare
a
...
Also controls human nature of
“destruction”
Government as an Unnecessary Evil?
o Ukraine: current interim president
o Communist theory

Democracy
= Difference is accepted, thus takes a long time in the decision making process
...
Why? Because
people believe in extremes, 18% of last presidential elections but not
represented in parliament
...
Culture and acceptance of difference is widely accepted
2
...
Can comprise between self and public interests

a
...
If you have beautiful
land, you sell it to the government because they want to build a
highway
...

b
...
Can consider individuals as legally equal
a
...


Democracies Mean…
Universal Suffrage by Country
= Distinct from other rights to vote, is the right to vote gained through the democratic
process
1
...
Of course there are some extreme countries with 90% of
the votes
...
51% its all relative
...
e
...
All the procedures must be visible
by the citizens!
Ideologically homogenous population
o Don’t have too much ethnic diversity
...
Or China, most of the ethnic
minorities is not represented in the government
...
They do not belong to a country
but they come from Europe and as Europeans they are required to be
treated equally
...


38

•

Freedom of expression and speech
o You should be able to talk freely
o China: access to internet sites

Democratic Index
•

•
•
•

Whether national elections are “free and fair”
a
...
Its like in Russia people know already who is going to be
the winner
...

b
...

"The security of voters”
"The influence of foreign powers on government”
"The capability of the civil servants to implement policies”

Autocracy
•

Only one or some people who own this power, without approval of the
population
...
Myanmar, the army which
took power in the late 90s they had an economic interest (precious stones and natural
resources)
...

Monarchy
• Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland and Vatican city
Fascism
= Ideology based against ethnic origins

Documentary: A Tale OF Two Political Systems: Eric Lee
•

•
•
•

All human societies are based on linear progression
o The end result is communism - final stage of development
o Unified in paradise on earth
Good of socialism versus bad of communism
Democratic systems becoming dysfunctional
What anthropological theory?
o Social evolutionism: what we expect as far as political development that
there is one objective to achieve democracy and capitalism
...

o We in the West believe that this form of development is the best and
we criticize the Chinese system being not democratic enough

o We try to prove that its even more democratic then what we think
§ Corrupt: how someone gets to a top position is rightful and not
by family power
...
Like a triangle of power, if you are good you will achieve your desired
status and responsibility
...
à Only China!
o i
...
: Ronald Regan was a cowboy movie actor! And Schwarzenegger was
a body builder that became the mayor of California
...


Microcredit
= The problem with developing economies if that often many people do not have
access to credit
...
By Muhammed Yunus! They give few hundred dollars to
individual business initiatives mainly to women (considered more liable) because they
want to start a small business
...
From a western point of view you would say how
could you give money to people who don’t have money? Well there is a trust between
the individuals

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