Application of Sociological Theories and Modern Society - Coursework Example

Application of Sociological theories and Modern Society Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Introduction Sociological theories are significant in explaining social phenomena. In addition, they provide understanding about how society works, which is essential in coming up with practical solutions to the existing problems in society. A theory can basically be defined as principles and propositions that are developed with the objective of explaining a certain occurrence in society. Several sociological theories have been propagated by various scholars with the objective explaining occurrences in society. Max weber and Karl Marx are two famous scholars who provided theories that can be used in explaining occurrences in society. This paper seeks to examine the application and suitability of various sociological theories in contemporary society. The theory that gives better account of modern society between Max weber and Karl Marx Although both scholars talked about similar subjects, however they both had different conclusions. It can evidently be argued that Karl Marx theory gives a better account of modern life as opposed Max Webbers theory, in the manner in which he provides an account of capitalism. According to Marx capitalism is a system that can only bring about negative implications to the society. Marx argued that the central objective of capitalism is profit maximization which is bound to result to exploitation in society (Marx, et al, 1984). One of the evident negative implications of capitalism in modern society has been demonstrated by the recent economic crisis. Maynard Documentary (2014) reports that the recent 2008 financial crisis directed the minds financial analysts and economists back to evaluating whether Marx ideologies were actually right. This is because the crisis can be explained in terms of the fact that ordinary people who did not have much to spend were subjected to a lot of debts due to the borrowing acquired from owners capital such lending institutions like banks. The big wigs or owners of capital with their need to generate more profits increased their lending to ordinary people who could not pay back and thus leading to the debt crisis. Furthermore, the use of the credit cards where people use money that they do not have, landed more people into to debts. Ordinary people also bowered billions on mortgage. The owners of capital lent people money using mortgages with the objective of making more profits. However, in the long run people could not pay back the debts leading to the housing bubble, eventually many banks and lending instructions collapsed. It argued therefore that the recent financial crisis is a good illustration that demonstrates the how the objective profit maximization resulted to the suffering of ordinary people who were left in debts and many lost their houses. Also Marx’s theory also gives a better account of modern society due to the rise of class differences and exploitation. According to Marx, capitalism is characterized by a society that consists of the two classes; the owners of production also known as the capitalist class or bourgeoisie and the proletariat also referred to as workers peasants. Marx argues that the bourgeoisie use their capital and means of production in order to exploit the labor proletariat with the objective of maximizing their profits. The workers are paid small amount of wages, while they work for long hours. The bourgeoisie therefore derive a huge amount of profit from the work if the proletariat (Marx, et al, 1984). Weber on the other hand gives a softer description of capitalism. He believes that capitalism is not an exploitative system but rather it arose from the work ethic of protestant movement (Weber, 1958). According to Webber the success of the bourgeoisie is attributed to attributes such as hard work, saving and investment and well planned economic activities, as opposed to the exploitation of the working class (Giddens, 2012). It can be argued that Marx analogy of class exploitation exists in of modern society. This is because modern capitalism is also characterized by the existence of two classes; the bourgeoisie and the working class who are exploited by the bourgeoisie in order gain maximum profit. For instance in society today, there various big companies and organizations that continue to exploit their employees. The companies are usually owned by rich people who basically hold the biggest share of the organization and also earn the enormous profits that are attained from the workers who earn minimal wages. A case in point is Walmart Company that has frequently been accused of various abuses on the employees which include law wages; the company also has a total of 1.1 million dollars of unpaid wages to 845 employees. In addition, when employees work overtime they are usually deprived of their pay (Mcelwee, 2013). Another case is the workers of the Bangladeshi clothing industry who are usually exploited by being paid minimal wages while working in poor conditions. The workers face all forms of labor abuses while the owners of the clothing industry both within the nation and internationally continue to get increase profits from the efforts of the suffering workerless (Kelly, 2013). The case of Walmart and the Bangladesh clothing industry are just but few examples of how the bourgeoisie class continues to exploit the working class of the proletariat, where the bosses (bourgeoisie) squeeze what the workers get in order to become richer. Also it can be argued that Marx arguments give a better account of modern society. This is because inequality is cropping up modern society. With the increase in globalization fewer workers are needed, thus there is an increase of unemployment in many nations. In most economies only a few rich people are employed in top level jobs as they continue to earn a lot of money while a majority of the population struggles to make ends meet. Modern society is also characterized by the power of money. The more money an individual has the more influential they become. For instance Marx demonstrates that capitalism brought about an increase in private property ownership, whereby property that was perceived to be owned by the society was now transformed to private property (Marx, et al, 1984). Even today money influences property ownership. The nature of (Weberian) rationalization and that of tradition respectively Weber attributed the nature of rationalisation to be characterized by the use of rationality. In general rationality entails translating mental processes into patterns of social actions. Rationality comprises of a group of social actions that are controlled by reason, calculation and the search for individual interests. Weber proposed four forms of rationality that exist in the rationalization process. One of the forms of rationality was practical rationality which usually occurs in the day to day activities that people undertake. In practical rationality people use calculation in order to find the possible way out, after which they select the best alternative and follow that particular line of action. The second form is the theoretical rationality which entails the mastery of reality in a conscious manner through the development of abstract concepts as opposed to the use of action. Substantive rationality is the other form of rationality which entails the use of values when making choices (Ritzer, 2007). Formal rationality is the fourth form of rationality which entails the use rational calculation that is based on universally applied regulations, laws and rules. Traditional on the other hand involved the use of non- rational principles in order to come up with solutions or make decisions. It involved the use of supernatural means such as magic in order to give explanation to the social world. It also involved the use of religion, revelation, feelings, emotions and personal insights (Hadden, 1997). Another attribute of Weberian rationalization was bureaucracy. According to Weber, bureaucracy is basically the ultimate illustration of rationalization. Bureaucracy involves the development of regulations and rules by the top officials. The lower officials are then required to select the most suitable action that is already selected by the high level officials. The regulations and rules signify the institutional memory of bureaucracy whereby there is no need to continually invent and reinvent regulations in order to achieve some end (Ritzer, 2007). On the other hand, the context of tradition was not based on the use of rules and regulations but rather individual’s just performed tasks without specified rules to govern their activities (Hadden, 1997). Weber proposed three main attributes that illustrated the implementation of bureaucracy, this include predictability, calculability and efficiency Whether rationalisation has eliminated tradition from modern society It can be argued that rationalization has eliminated tradition from modern society. This is because the society continues to adopt non- human forms of technology such as computers, the internet and other forms of information technology in order to attain their desired objectives. The non- human forms of technology continue to influence the decisions people make and the knowledge they possess. For instance, technological advancements in the information age have greatly shaped the nature and extent of knowledge that people have by advancing the level of literacy that people possess. Literacy is defined as the ability to understand and then use printed information in daily activities such as at work, community and home. Literacy also encompasses the capability to attain the goals that one has set and the capacity to advance ones knowledge and potential. Information technologies such as the internet and computers have therefore been elements of facilitating an increase in literacy levels. This is because learning materials can now be acquired through technologies such as the internet and computers. As the information age continues, policy developers all over the globe are increasingly concerned about the role played by skills and knowledge in improving the innovation, productivity and development of the economy. Furthermore, constant changes in the labor market also influence the fact that literacy is a vital aspect for the modern workforce. For example, in many countries, higher literacy levels are associated to higher chances of knowledge jobs that are needed in the economy. Consequently, literacy skills regulate the likelihood of getting a job in the white collar labor market. This is because it is believed that literacy greatly influences an individual’s rational capability (OECD, 2000). Also the principle of predictability has greatly been adopted in modern society. People tend to want to know what to expect in different settings. For instance, when people go for camping today instead of carrying simple tents, campers in contemporary society use RV’s which can protect them from unpredicted situation such as tick bites, thunderstorms and snake bites. Also, calculability has increasingly been adopted in modern society essentially with the idea of Macdonalization. Today many businesses put more emphasis on quantity and opposed to quality (Ritzer, 2007). For instance offers like one get three has been a common phrase that issued by many business in order to attract their customers to buy more of their products. Today the concept of quality is not that vital as it was in the traditional periods when more emphasis was placed on quality. Theories explaining the nature of self that I favor and why The theory of self that I favor most was propagated by Descartes. According to Descartes self is basically a product of our minds. This is because people tend to doubt that their body exists but they do not doubt the existence of their minds. Descartes greatly believed that the knowledge of our mental events greatly influences who we are, this was denoted by the statement ‘’ as a man thinks that’s what he is’’ (Sorell, 2005). Descartes theory of the nature of self is more suitable to me due to the fact that it brings about the emphasis of the aspect of rationality when it comes to how we perceive ourselves and our society. It also influences the manner in which we make decisions. I believe that when we use our minds to think of our self in a positive manner then we will definitely attain the objectives that we have in life. This is because what we think is what we actually are. Conclusion The above discussion has presented views on the application and suitability of various sociological theories in contemporary society. The paper has argued that between the Max weber and Karl Marx, Karl Marx theory gives a better account of modern society. The main points highlighted include the manner in which Marx provides an account of capitalism, also the existence of class differences in modern society, existing inequality in society and the increase in the power of money also makes Marx theory to be more suitable in relations to modern society. The paper also examined the nature of Weberian rationalization and that of tradition respectively. Some of the attributes highlighted include the fact that rationalisation is characterized by the use of rationality. While traditional involves the use of non- rational principles. Also, Weberian rationalization is characterized by bureaucracy while tradition with is not bureaucratic. The paper also highlighted Descartes theory of the nature of self is more suitable based on its emphasis on rationality. 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