Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 13

Sociology - Essay Example Looking at the daily newspaper and the stories of violence between white Australians and Lebanese-Australians or violence perpetuated against Indian students in Victoria, one senses that racism is an ever-present aspect of the social condition here in Australia. Seeking to explore social stratification and racism through my personal experiences working in this country, the following will discuss this concept with relation to major sociological theories. Following this I will apply the issue of social stratification to modern Australian society and conclude with an overview of the major issues discussed. What have been my experiences with racism here in Australia? Have there been positive aspects about race here? What emotions and symbols are associated with my racial experiences in this country? How has this impacted your life? What could have happened differently and what would I change about race in this country? These questions and many more will be explored in relation to my anal ysis of racism and social stratification in Australia. I now turn to an analysis of social stratification through an exploration of the major sociological theories (Shaefer, 1998: 254-266) Functionalism, one of oldest theoretical perspectives within sociology, focuses on the individual within society and seeks to apply scientific method to the social world. Furthermore, Functionalists argue that society is in fact an organ and espouse what is described as the organic unity of society. Thus, social systems exist for Functionalists because institutions themselves serve a variety of purposes (re: functions). Social systems are homeostatic and work to maintain equilibrium. Equilibrium is achieved, according to this theory, through socialization, where members of society are taught basic values and norms of society. Social control mechanisms – also known as sanctions – help maintain social equilibrium and keep individuals within the social unit in check.

Questions based on readings Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Questions based on readings - Assignment Example Xcolonia is a country that has a comparative advantage in agriculture and textiles (Krugman et al. 55). Machinery production requires complex technology, which Xcolonia does not have. Easy export substitution would, therefore, be the best strategy for Xcolonia, where they export agricultural and textile products, and this will speed up industrialization. This strategy will help Xcolonia to create profits and reduce their debts. It will also trigger the productivity that will result to increased exports and greater efficiency. 2. By unlimited labor supplies the labor, the labor minister means that the labor supply in Xcolonia exceeds the labor demand. Thus is a characteristic of many small developing countries, where there is a labor surplus. However, most of this labor is unskilled and this may inhibit the growth since technical progress necessary for growth requires skilled labor. The Lewis-Ranis Fei model suggests that the economic growth take place if agricultural laborers are transferred to the industrial area, where their productivity would increase (Williamson et al., 44). This design is based on the assumption that the economy of concern is dual with a stagnant agricultural sector and a dynamic industrial sector. Therefore, at the point where marginal productivity equals zero, labor can be transferred to the industrial sector without any loss in agricultural sector. In the first stage of the model, there is disguised unemployment because the labor supply is perfectly elastic, and the marginal prod uctivity of labor is zero. This disguised unemployment is transferred to the industrial sector at the constant institutional wage (Fort and Ricardo, 27). Due to the constant institutional wage, the labor supply curve is horizontal at this stage. However, this does not last forever. This can be shown using diagram 1. 3. Land is a major factor of production, and an important asset for the rural and urban poor. It provides a