User:Msrasnw/Social Sciences/Sociology and Development

Introduction

Sociology has been described, by Durkheim, as the study of social facts. Durkheim argued that …that group of phenomena which may be differentiated from those studied by the other natural sciences. When I fulfil my obligations as brother, husband or citizen, when I execute my contracts, I perform duties which are defined, externally to myself and my acts, in laws and in custom. Even if they conform to my own sentiments and I feel their reality subjectively, such reality is still objective, for I did not create them; I merely inherited them through my education…. Here, then, is a category of facts with very distinctive characteristics: it consists of ways of acting, thinking and feeling, external to the individual, and endowed with a power of coercion, by reason of which they control him.(pp. 1–3.)

Durkheim is stressing what might be described as the studying of the otherness of societies. That is he was looking at the constraints and limitations on individual hopes and desires. In effect he was examining the way societies attempt to achieve a degree of order. To behave in a regular fashion in accorance with some generally agreed upon set of rules of behaviour. What is particularly important in times of social, economic and culturalchange, is to find out how to establish a moral community.

Origins of Sociology

R_U shifts

Meanings of Development

Barnett identifies the three meanings and three problem areas. The three meanings are Development from within, Development as interaction and Development as interpenetration and three problem areas are the Social, the Cultural and the Political.

Let us look at each of Barnett's three meanings in turn:

1. Development from within: In this meaning objects — be they a plant or animal, or a whole society — have a tendency to change their forms. When looking at societies this is amounts to assuming that such changes and its direction is the result of that occur inside the society.
2. Development as interaction: In this meaning development that arises because of the interaction of an object with its wider environment. This invovles understanding a combination of not only of the inner qualities and potentials but also the opportunities and resources available within the wider environment.
3. Development as interpenetration: In this meaning it is difficult to distinguish between an object and its wider environment. For a society what are its boudaries? The example Barnett uses here is to ask how one can distinguish between Egyptian society and its environment which might contain the rest of the islamic world. The wider islamic world's ideas, peoples and concerns affecting what happens in Egypt.

Disciplines

It is important to stress the interrelatedness of different disciplines relevant to development. Although the may - superficially seem easily separable, the speration of the social sciences into sociology, anthropology, economics, economic history, history, geography, has been a choice. It is quite possible that this separation can be a problem for thinking in general but in particular in development. It is possible for example to make us think that we have covered all the bases when addressing a particular issue when really we have ignored many things that might have helped our analysis if we had had a wider disciplinary scope.

Weber and Development

A key concern for Weber (1864-1924) was understanding the origins of capitalism. His best work is The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. In this work he states that the development of capitalism can best be understood in terms of changes in the way some sections of socitey began to think and position themselves in the world. For Weber Capitalism was defined as an economic and social system built upon individual endeavour. Private indiduals with sufficient resources, capital, to invest, produce goods by employing other people and then sell these goods on a market. Profits from these activities may then be reinvested to increase the scale of activity or added to wealth. The key innovative features of such a society are the commodity and the market. Most things can be bought and sold.

Weber’s idea of rationalisation

Weber’s rationalisation involves the use of calculation and planning in adddressing all aspects of social behaviour. An example might help. Imagine two businessmen. The first keeps his household and his business affairs all mixed up and relies on his memory for stock control and accounting. A second treats his business more rationally. He expanded his business, installing computerised till and accounts with a formal set of profit and loss accounts, mointoring of stock, and ful detailling of wage and input costs. This information system is designed and used to help effciently achieve a profit—maximisng goal.

Laite

The models: capitalism, statism and agrarian socialism Economic development The rural sector Migration Industrialisation and working class formation Urbanisation Conclusion: perspectives on development