SOSC1000 FINAL EXAM HELPFUL NOTES

SOSC1000 FINAL EXAM YORK U



Please note that the highlighted text is the part where we have to refer the definition to something else in the course, it is not found in lectures or course kits, I wrote it myself and I am not sure how right it is. However, I think there is no right or wrong answer in that part as long as you can explain it.


1. Luddism is one of the biggest resistance of workers who feared that new technology will diminish employment. This movement began in 1811 and finished in 1817. Workers who protested against Industrial Revolution were called Luddites. They feared technology, opposed technical changes, and acted in self-defense by destroying machines. This is not the only movement of workers. Similar resistance of workers was held between 1780 and 1840 where workers protested against child labour and bad working conditions (Childhood by Thompson, Volume 1) which was also seen in Luddism.


2. Race as social construct means that people are socially divided into different categories. According to Augie Fleras, all humans belong to a single biological species called homo sapiens, therefore, race is a social and not biological construct. However, some people argue that race is biologically constructed so, this topic is opened to the debate. Race as social construct can be related to sexuality (Baird, Volume 2) because there are also a lot of debate regarding if sexuality is something that people are born with (medicalization of sexuality) or if it is something that people choose. So, according to those who say that race is a social construct we can say that humans are biologically the same but socially different.


3. Perspective Technology invokes a division of labour where doing something is divided into different steps. Each step is done by worker or group of workers who are isolated from other workers performing different steps. This division of labour can be related to alienation (Rinehart, Volume 1) that were also studied in the course earlier. Perspective technology involves four sources of alienation that includes capitalists, alienation from other workers, self-alienation, and alienation from product.


5. Violent Masculinity is a concept of tough, strong, and powerful- real man

by Jackson Katz in the movie Tough Guise. This image of real man is often presented

introduced

to young men through media where they see that being violent is normal. Because of

this wrong characteristics of real man, young people perform violently which in turn

increases the levels of violence, murder, and abuse. It can be compared to sex in

traditional society that was studied earlier in the course. Traditionally real man was the

one who was physically strong, clever, stubborn, and one who can provide for his family

(lecture on October 4, 2011). Violence however, was not a characteristic of real man.

We can see this transformation of real man even through toys for boys. Katz explains

how boys' toys such as soldiers or super heroes are made more masculine than in the

past which can also influence violent masculinity of boys in their early years.

6. The 1969 White Paper was a policy paper proposing to join together aboriginal

people and Canadian society to create equality within Canada. This document was

intended to eliminate the reserve system, to abolish Indian status, and to transfer

education, social needs, and health care responsibilities to the provinces. This paper

however, was rejected by aboriginals who thought that the reserve system and Indian

Act protected their culture. Because its intent was to create an equality, this can be

related to discrimination, prejudice, and racism (Fleras, Volume 2) that Canada strive to

eliminate in order to create the same equality within Canadians. It could also be related

to multiculturalism (Fleras, Volume 2) in Canada. There are Canadians from so many

different cultural backgrounds that have the same rights, responsibilities, and statuses

as other Canadians but only aboriginal people have different rights, benefits, and even

hold different status called Indian (tutorial discussions on February 29, 2012).

7.The Bell Curve- the book written in 1994 by R. Herrnstein and C. Murray about

intelligence and levels of IQ in different races.

8. The Medicalization of Homosexuality- refers to homosexuality being treated as it was

a sickness. Biologists, doctors, and psychologists look for evidence that shows that homosexuality is something that people are born with. Some of them try to find a cure that could prevent homosexuality. There are many theories and arguments that attempt to prove that homosexuality is a sickness as well as there are many controversies. However, none of these theories, argument or studies really proved that homosexuality is a sickness and that it can be cured. Constant hunt for an answer can lead to people trying to change their babies or considering abortions as it was shown in the movie, The Twilight of the Golds. This could be referred to discrimination (Fleras, Volume 2) also studied in the course because saying that someone is sick because of their sexual orientation is very offensive. So, we can therefore say that some scientists discriminate homosexuals without even realizing it. It can also be linked to race as social construct (Fleras, Volume 2) because there is the same kind of debate where some people think that race is a social construct and some think that that race is biological.


9. The Caregiver role- most of the time mother is the main caregiver for a child and a pulse of domesticity. Her role is not only to care after her children but also maintain all the work around her house. As a housewife, she has to prepare food for her family, clean her house, do the laundry, etc. As a mother, she has to nurture children, feed them, cloth them, and socialize them. Her job as a wife includes providing sexual and psychological needs for her husband. Finally, as being a daughter, she has to care for her elder parents. Husbands' role is to provide for his family and do the physical work around the house (fix something or throw out a garbage). Caregivers are traditionally viewed as consumers not producers because they are financially dependent on their

spouses (lecture on January 24, 2012). The caregiver role can be linked to intensive mothering. Intensive mothers are those who concentrate on their children giving them all their love, time, and energy. Intensive mothering requires mothers to self-sacrifice themselves for their children (Hays, Volume 2). The caregiver role can also be linked to family in traditional society. The role of mothers of traditional families includes the same responsibilities as caregiver's role (lecture on October 4, 2011).

10.

Sustainable development- refers to meeting our needs today while making sure that we don't damage the environment so that the same needs can be met by the future

generations. To put it differently, we improve our standard of living by using the resources but we do it in the way that it does not damage our environment. However, it is often controlled using undemocratic means (Swift, Volume 2). It can be related to technology. We start to produce eco friendly technology such as solar batteries, solar powered cars, energy saving light bulbs, water powered clocks, etc. Such technologies meet our needs and the needs of future generations.

11. Intensive mothering- is giving all the love, time, and energy of a mother to a child, it is around the clock care. Intensive mothers are those who sacrifice themselves for their children, they put their children above all the other responsibilities. As Sheron Hays says intensive mothering is "child-centred, expert guided, labour-intensive, and financially expensive."(pg 14, Volume 2) It can be linked to caregiver role because intensive mother usually also has to perform as housewife (laundry, cooking), mother

(nurturing children), wife (meeting sexual and psychological needs of her husband), and

daughter (care about her elder parents) (lecture on January 24, 2012).

12. The Death of Birth- basically means the end of birth.

ESSAY 4
Darwin's theory
 In his The Biotech Century, Rifkin outlines Darwin's theory of evolution, where he explains Darwin's key points. The key points include:

•   First of all there is a limited resources in the world (pg 123).
  
•   Because there is a limit to the resources, organisms have to compete with
  each other over these resources (123).
  
•   Those who are the strongest survive and the weakest die, it is called
  "survival of the fittest" (126)
  
•   those who survive transfer their desirable traits to their offspring (123).
  Rifkin's understanding of society influenced by Darwin.
  

•   Businesses compete with each other in Darwinian society for "survival of the fittest." The key for survival today is being able to respond quickly to fast- changing environment.(126)
  
•   He says that our new ideas about nature will reform our consciousness, values, and culture just like Darwin's theory of evolution replaced Christian beliefs about Adam and Eve (119).
  
•   He explains that we rewrite the law of nature so that it will conform to our new technological and economical activities because technology often if not always contradicts with nature. (124)
  

 We do not only fool ourselves but also nature. Rifkin says that cloning will be our next step in trying to fulfill our desire of immortality. I think that cloning totally contradicts with Darwin's theory. Clone will be the exact copy of the original organism therefore it won't be able to produce its own traits that can be transformed to its offspring.
Hawken's understanding of society influenced by Darwin.

•   His article is much more aggressive than Rafkin's.
  
•   In his A declaration of Sustainability, Hawken talks about the transformation and
  the change of business brought on by social and biological forces. He believes that business will be totally different and even unrecognizable in the future decades. This is very similar to the evolution theory by Darwin except Hawken refers to business not to organism. (80)
  
•   He says that as business progress it lacks guiding principles to relate it to evolution and the health of the commons because business is not a science. (81).
  
•   We can die off in the same way as some of the animals because our endocrine system are similar. This die off of animals is caused business and economy that is changing our environment.
  
•   Generally speaking, Hawken is concerned that the whole evolution will be destroyed by business because business is what destroys our nature and its development.
  
•   Tells how everything is dying, that every natural system in the world is in decline.
  
•   Death of birth is worse than just death. Death of birth prevents reproduction,
  evolution , and existence of all alive.
  
•   Similarly to Rifkin, Hawken also talks about "the survival of the fittest" but he tells
  how it is incorrectly interpreted because it is not really a survival of the fittest rather those who survived as the best adapted for a specific ecological niche. However, businesses in this misinterpretation are being the "winners" in exceeding the carrying capacity.(95)
  
•   Gould's understanding of society influenced by Darwin.
  

ESSAY 3
 According to the documentary The wind that keeps on blowing and to the reading by Innis, The Fur Trade and by Hawken, A Declaration of Sustainability, the transition to modernity had more negative effects on Canada's environment and indigenous peoples.
CAUSES of James Bay project:

•   No one needs electricity right now it is going to be exported for the next 30 years, it will supply the aluminum pollute the rivers.
  
•   After the phase 1 of the project everything was out of control, there were impacts even though people were told that there will be no impacts on the environment.
  
•   Beluga whale is dying off because of the industrial pollution.
  
•   Aluminum involved in the project is itself a very toxic chemical therefore it
  has a great negative impact on animals and plants.
  
•   They called it a waste land for those who lived there (aboriginal people) it
  was far not a waste.
  
•   High level of mercury in fish harming it and those who eat it.
  
•   The hydro Quebec settlement was built on Indian land which took away
  hunting opportunities from Indians, they lost their land.
  
•   Cree were found to have mercury level 3 to 5 times above the national
  safety standards.
  
•   Level of mercury raised within those who feed on fish. Some birds and
  animals also feed on fish.
  
•   Cree has high levels of alcoholism, vandalism, and drug use than before the
  project.
  
•   Loosing tradition.
  BENEFITS James Bay project:
  

•   James Bay Northern Quebec agreement- the Inuit were given $90 mil for exchange of their land, they lost 80% of their land the Cree were given 130 mil they were given exclusive hunting and fishing rights, outright ownership of 1.5%
  
•   Creates jobs and brings people a modern life, shopping malls, new roads.
  
•   Monitoring programs help to keep track of the effect as they show up and do
  the correction.
  INNIS' The Fur Trade impacts
  

•   New technology with its innovations lead to disappearance of beaver.
  
•   European products and technologies enabled Indians to hunt moose, beaver,
  and other animals more effectively.
  
•   Decline in beaver.
  
•   Smallpox disease brought by Europeans affecting aboriginal communities.
  HAWKEN'S A Declaration of Sustainability.
  

•   Business destroys the world.
  
•   Businesses do not care about the environment all they care about is profit.
  
•   Recycling aluminum cans in the company does not help much we have to do
  something more.
  
•   Frogs are disappearing.
  

•   Humans have similar endocrine system as animals and can die off as some animals as well.
  
•   Children's immune system will soon be affected by toxins in the food, air, and water.
  
•   Business has 3 basic issues to face:
  
  •   What it takes: take too much from the environment and do this in a
    harmful way.
    
  •   What it makes: products require too much energy, toxins, and pollutants.
    
  •   What it wastes: what it wastes cause harm to present and future
    generations of humans and animals.
    

ESSAY 2

•   Family values are social beliefs about nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society.
  
•   Caregivers' role- most of the time mother is the main caregiver for a child and a pulse of domesticity. Her role is not only to care after her children but also maintain all the work around her house:
  

•   As a housewife, she has to prepare food for her family, clean her house, do the laundry, etc.
  
•   As a mother, she has to nurture children, feed them, cloth them, and socialize them.
  
•   Her job as a wife includes providing sexual and psychological needs for her husband.
  
•   Finally, as being a daughter, she has to care for her elder parents.
  

•   Caregivers are traditionally viewed as consumers not producers because they are financially dependent on their spouses (lecture on January 24, 2012).
  
•   Husbands' role is to provide for his family and do the physical work around the house (fix something or throw out a garbage).
  
•   Intensive mothers are those who concentrate on their children giving them all their love, time, and energy. Intensive mothers are those who sacrifice themselves for their children, they put their children above all the other responsibilities (Hays, Volume 2). As Sheron Hays says intensive mothering is "child-centred, expert guided, labour-intensive, and financially expensive."
  
•   Family values are affected by:
  

 Violent masculinity (Tough Guise movie).
 Homosexuality- even though homosexuality is legal in Canada and in

some other countries, discrimination still exists against gays and lesbians that can effect family values. As we have seen in the movie The Twilight of the Golds, children feel outsiders within their families and society and parents often want to change the sexual orientation of their homosexual children.