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How Race/ism and Patriarchy Interact To Shape Inequality
INTRODUCTION Inequality can be best understood in the context of how humans conceptualize ‘equality’. In the United States, a nation that projects an image of democracy and fairness, inequality is framed as a consequence of the typical stratification of ability, effort, and worth. This can also be found in the ways that inequality is framed…
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Decolonization: What Ought To Be
“The modern collapse of “Reason” & “History” into all things European represented a failure of reason & history that required self-deception regarding Europe’s scope. Put differently: Europe sought to become ontological; it sought to become what dialecticians call “Absolute Being”. Such Being stood in the way of the human being, of a human way…
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Structure & Agency In Contemporary Social Theory
One of the main concerns of theorists of society in the 20th century has been the question of the relation between structure and agency. Describe three different schools of thought in social theory (make sure that you identify the main figures in relation to that question and compare each school’s views on the possibilities of…
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Labour and The Self
QUESTION(S): What is Karl Marx’s conceptualization of the self? How is it shaped by labor processes? According to Karl Marx, an individual’s self-identity influences their local context or is it always the converse? INTRODUCTION Karl Marx’s conceptualization of the self can be best understood through his reflections on the impact of the labor process…
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Summary of Classical Sociological Theory
QUESTION(S): The basic premise of all classical sociological theory is that the contemporary world is the outcome of a transition from “traditional” to “modern” societies. Explain how Karl Marx, Max Weber, & Emile Durkheim describe this transition. How do they define the consequences of such a transition on western societies? What do they think about…