Acculturation
Secondary socialisation. Learning culture; learning how to operate in society. When we must learn to adapt to a new society or to a changing society. Compare with enculturation.
Acephalous
Headless. A simple society below the band level of complexity, where there are no permanent chiefs.
Adaptation
Changing in order to survive or cope with changes in the environment.
Aesthetics-Values Dimension
One of the six dimensions of culture and community. Three axes: good versus bad, beautiful versus ugly, and right versus wrong. To be human is to have values.
Affinity
A family relationship based upon marriage or extensions beyond that marriage (brother-in-law, for example).
Age
A process reflecting the passage of time. People get older, and they gain and lose physical characteristics as a result. While ageing is a physical process, humans add various social attributes to it, so they also gain and lose social roles as they get older.
Ageism
An attitude like racism and sexism, where people have different physical and biological and physical characteristics, but other persons attribute various social characteristics to them, and behave in often bigoted and prejudicial ways that reflect their attitudes to persons with those age characteristics.
Agricultural Revolution
A major transformation in the technology of obtaining food. Prior to adopting agriculture, people relied on gathering and hunting, later herding. The agricultural revolution, 20,000 to 10,000 years ago, produced a food surplus that permitted new classes of people to form, people who did not grow their own food. Like other changes in technology, gathering, hunting and herding did not completely disappear, and even agriculture continues today after the industrial revolution, although it is increasingly being carried out in an industrial manner.
Agricultural Surplus
As a new technology of food production expanded, agriculture, it allowed the production of food beyond the amount needed to feed only the farmers. That food surplus was needed to form cities then city states then empires, as it was used to feed non farmers such as the aristocracy, the scribes, the military the traders and the artisans.
Agriculture
A technology that combines horticulture (growing plants) and herding (growing animals) in the production of food and other farm products.
Akan
A language and cultural group of West Africa, mainly now in southern Ghana and Eastern Côte d’Ivoire, in the rain forest. Many different states were Akan, including the best known, Asante (Ashanti), as well as Fante, Akuapem, Akyem, Kwawu and Bono. They are characterised by matrilineal descent (inheritance and succession) and a political system based upon the confederation of matrilineages and matriclans (corporate descent groups), in an elaborate hierarchy well designed for military success in the rain forest.
Alienation
A feeling of being separated or disconnected from nearby persons.
Altruism
An attitude of generosity and sacrifice. The concept is borrowed from biology where some individuals are sacrificed for the benefit of the group and the reproduction of the species. When hunting, herding and agricultural communities sacrificed animals to their gods, it symbolised their willingness to give up something valuable for the benefit of the whole community. In horticultural societies animal sacrifice was replaced by setting aside some of the crop in order to plant for the next growing season, which was the forerunner to investment in capitalist societies.
Animation
From the Greek word, "anima," meaning soul, life, fire or movement. Social animation means to move a community or to activate it; put some life into it.
Animism
Again from "anima," this is a belief system that attributes spirits or other supernatural life forms to natural objects such as trees, rivers, mountains, caves or the ocean. Similar to Pantheism.
Anomie
From the Latin for "unknown" or "without name." It implies a feeling of being anonymous to one’s family and community –– disconnected. It was used by Durkheim to describe a condition that raised the rate of suicide for those who had it.
Anthropomorphism
Attributing human characteristics to non human things.
Apathy
One of the "big five" factors of poverty. An attitude of thinking it does not matter to act, because conditions are not in one’s control. Often associated with the idea that everything is "God’s will," and therefore none of our business.
Applied Sociology
Whereas pure sociology simply intends to find things out (what is), applied sociology seeks to take that knowledge and use it for some public benefit or private profit.
Asante
One of the major matrilineal states of West Africa in the rain forest. In its largest and most powerful era, late eighteenth century, it included an Empire that stretched from Ghana west into half of what is now Côte d’Ivoire, north to Ouagadougou in what is now Burkina Faso, and East to what is now Benin. The British fought seven wars in the nineteenth century with the Asante (whom they called Ashanti), but not until they introduced the Gatling gun (a type of machine gun) did they finally win, in 1901, during the Sagranti (Sir Garnet Wolseley) war, the year Queen Victoria died.
Atomistic
A simplistic view of society as composed only of a collection of individuals, without reference to any social process or structure that holds them together. The concept is discarded by this book and by most sociologists.
Aural
Based upon hearing. Compare with "oral."
Authority
Political power that is recognised as legitimate.
A form of knowing based upon being told something is true by persons who are respected and recognised as knowing. Contrasted with belief, logic or observation.
A form of knowing based upon being told something is true by persons who are respected and recognised as knowing. Contrasted with belief, logic or observation.
Autochthonic
A fancy way of saying "native." Once used when "aboriginal" was considered to be offensive.
Band
A level of political complexity lower than tribe. Often without chiefs. In Canadian legal terminology, however, complex communities are called "bands" even though they have chiefs, elders and other characteristics of political complexity above the band level.
Barter
A method of distributing wealth without using money or any currency. Trading.
Beliefs
Thoughts by humans, expressed in their language, reflecting their conviction in some truths, such the existence of a Supreme Being. A belief is contrasted with other forms of knowing, such as by observing, by logic, or by authority.
Belief-Worldview (Dimension)
One of the six dimensions of culture. It includes religious beliefs and more: all we believe is true about how the universe operates. It includes atheism. Not the same as religious institutions, which belong to the institutional or interactional dimension of culture.
Bicultural
Bigamy
Two spouses.
Bigotry
Speaking and acting towards categories of persons in ways that are demeaning, disrespectful, unsympathetic and unfair. Often applied to racism, ageism and sexism.
Bilingual
Having two languages. Canada is officially bilingual, English and French, even though a very small minority of individuals can speak and read both languages.
Bourgeoisie
The owners of capital. Derives from the same origin as burgers, the shopkeepers of a town.
Bureaucracy
Derived from "bureau," meaning office, and "cracy," meaning power. A formal organisation where the power is vested in the office.
Cain-Abel
A story from Genesis in the old testament of the bible, two children of Adam, one a tiller, the other a herder. The herder, Abel, sacrifices an animal to God who is pleased. Cain, the tiller who has only vegetables, is jealous and kills his brother. It is argued in this book that this story symbolizes the ancient animosity between farmers and herders.
Calvinism
Named after John Calvin, often used as an equivalent of Protestant Christianity.
Capacity
Ability. An organisation or community is said to have more capacity when it has more ability to reach its goals. Strength. Measuring Capacity
Capacity building
The notion that an outside agency can build the capacity, strength or power of an organisation or community.
Capacity Development
The notion that increased strength or capacity of an organisation or community can only come from within itself, that it grows as a living cultural organism.
Capital
Wealth that is generated or produced not for immediate consumption but for increased future production. Tools. A factor of production, the price of which is measured as interest.
Capitalism
Social and economic organisation in which capital (tools, factories) is an important factor of production, where the owners of capital are the rulers and decision makers.
Cause
Where a change in an identified independent variable is necessary and sufficient for the change in an identified dependent variable.
Charity
Giving or transferring of wealth to people or organisations in need, based upon generosity rather than an expectation of an immediate or delayed return of wealth. Gifts. In the community empowerment methodology, the "Charity Methodology" is seen to contribute to dependence and sustained poverty by training the recipients to become dependent upon, and to expect further, charity.
City
A human settlement characterised by large population, high population density, division of labour, high rates of anonymous interactions by roles, anonymity, anomie, and gesellschaft.
Class
A concept developed by Karl Marx in which people are categorised by their relations to the means of production. Later sociologists developed it into social class, where people are categorised by their levels of prestige, power, and wealth.
A group of students and a teacher in a classroom during a designated time period for the purposes of the students learning some designated material.
Class (Working)
A social class in which the members relation to the means of production is that they provide labour for pay. Marx called them the "proletariat."
Coca-colonisation
A non technical term implying the world is becoming more culturally homogenized as a result of the relentless spread of multinational corporations. The big global corporations have annual budgets far exceeding those of many nations, and are seen as a new political force in the world.
Cohort
A group or category of individuals who start some designated process at the same time, or the same year. All members of the class of 2005 belong to the same cohort.
Colour
When light vibrates at different frequencies, we "see" the variations as different colours. Colours are not intrinsic to the things we see, but is a response in ourselves to the frequency of light bouncing off them. Differences in colours are within our optical and nervous systems. We have no way of knowing that what you see as "red" is what I see as "red" even when we describe the same item by the same colour name (red). Three Souls
Skin colour is often used to distinguish visible minorities which are then called "races." Highly unscientific. There are no biological categories of race or colour. There is more variation in skin colour on a single person than between the colours of persons designated in indifferent races. Race and colour are social categories.
Different languages put different boundaries around colours. Observations of variations in colour naming systems led to the development of the Sapir-Whorf hypotheses that states we learn to perceive and understand reality by the language we learn.
Skin colour is often used to distinguish visible minorities which are then called "races." Highly unscientific. There are no biological categories of race or colour. There is more variation in skin colour on a single person than between the colours of persons designated in indifferent races. Race and colour are social categories.
Different languages put different boundaries around colours. Observations of variations in colour naming systems led to the development of the Sapir-Whorf hypotheses that states we learn to perceive and understand reality by the language we learn.
Many of the things to learn from sociology demonstrate that our common sense calculations and assumptions do not stand the test of scientific investigation.
Common Values
When people of an organisation or community share common values, the community or organisation has more strength. Where they differ, tolerance of each others’ values will give strength.
Communal
Belonging to the commune or community.
Communal Services
A community has some facilities which are available to all, such as roads, public latrines, water supply, market place, sometimes schools and clinics, where they are not privately owned and operated. These provide services which are communal.
Commune
In many European countries, the "commune" is the legal structure of the community (municipality, district).
In North America, a commune is a constructed family or community of a group of persons who have chosen to live together, share domestic duties and responsibilities, and to share their resources equally.
In North America, a commune is a constructed family or community of a group of persons who have chosen to live together, share domestic duties and responsibilities, and to share their resources equally.
Communications
The system and hardware for communicating information, not the information itself. It includes technical aids such as radio, telephones, TV, intercoms, letters, memos and protocols (rules and accepted manners of communicating).
Communism
An ideology and system of social organising and distributing wealth, the main feature being expressed in the phrase, "From each according to his ability; to each according to his need." Associated with the writing of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Communist Manifesto
A thin little blue book which sets out the main tenets of Communism. Written by Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels.
Community
The social organisation of a settlement or association of people.
Community Empowerment
The strengthening or increase of capacity of a community.
Community Participation
Where all members of a community participate in decision making about choices that affect the community. Usually it requires the services of a skilled mobiliser who intervenes and stimulates and guides the participation. Not to be confused with consultation where members of an outside agency confer with a few members of the community. Not to be confused with community contribution where members of a community contribute (donate) in cash or kind to the community.
Complex
Not simple. The direction of social change is usually from simple to complex.
In Psychology, a complex is a set of mental problems.
In Psychology, a complex is a set of mental problems.
Confidence
An attitude of optimism in which a person does not fear failure.
Conflict
A situation where two or more parties (individuals or groups) compete for resources, where they disagree in ideas (objectives, values, beliefs), and which may progress into violence.
Conflict (Culture)
A situation where two or more groups, or factions within a community, having different cultures, are in conflict.
Conflict Perspective
An important classical approach in sociology, where different factions are identified, and seen to be in competition for control over scarce resources. The perspective follows the writings of Karl Marx, although not identified or created by him.
Construct
Something that is consciously built. It is contrasted with things that grow naturally. See "Social Construct."
Constructed Community
An association of persons with similar interests, in contrast to a natural or orthodox community which has a geographic base, relatively easy to identify boundaries, and containing people who were born or immigrated into it rather than who chose to belong.
Context (Political-Administrative)
The political and administrative environment is composed of all the rules, regulations and practices that affect the operations of an organisation or community. One of the sixteen elements of organisational or community strength.
Counting
A process of deciding size as numbers of discrete objects. Contrast with measuring. We use "fewer" when counting in contrast to "less" when measuring.
Cultural Dimension
A "Dimension" of culture is one of six logical categories, not intrinsic to culture itself, along which we identify various cultural variables. It is a way or ordering a large number of sometimes contradictory theories and observations in anthropology and sociology. The categories include technological, economic, political, interactional, value and belief dimensions of culture.
Culture
Everything we learn.
Culture (High)
Sophisticated and elite art and entertainment, such as ballet, symphony, and the visual art usually found in galleries. When called only "culture" it can be confused with the social science definition of culture (everything we learn).
Culture Lag
Culture is always changing. When some change occurs, we can expect compensatory changes in other aspects and dimensions in culture. When some of those are slow in coming, we call it culture lag. Language is often one of the slowest parts of culture to change, and lags behind much of the rest.
Defining
Putting boundaries around the meanings of symbols. Making them better understood.
Democracy
From the Latin words, "demo" (people) and "cracy" (power); thus "power to the people." There are several types of democracy, which allow varying amounts of power to the people of a community or society.
Democracy (Participatory)
A type of democracy in which all members of the group, community or society participate in the decision making of the whole. It is a slow and awkward method of making decisions.
Democracy (Representational)
A type of democracy in which all members of a group, community, or society vote for representatives, who make decisions on their behalf. It is faster than participatory democracy, but slower than decision making in an autocracy (kingdom, dictatorship).
Demography
From the Latin words, "demo" (people) and "graphy" (quantitative study of). A science of counting people and comparing the results with various other variables.
Density
In Physics, density is the ratio of number of items per volume.
In Demography, density is the ratio of people per area of land.
In Demography, density is the ratio of people per area of land.
Dependency
An attitude and belief of people that they can not take care of themselves or determine their own destiny. A factor of poverty.
Descent
A kinship relationship based on birth and its extensions.
Descriptive
Something that describes how it is, in contrast with something that says how it should be. Science, in this way, is descriptive rather than prescriptive.
Deviance
Variation from the norm (social or statistical)
Deviant
A person labelled as behaving outside the norms acceptable by a society. There are no universal characteristics of a deviant, each community is different.
Deviate
Another word for deviant. Often associated with sexual deviations.
Dialectics
A process of change, from the writings of Hegel. Everything has inside it the seeds of its own destruction, but from the ashes of that destruction will arise a new (possibly better) form.
Dimension (Cultural)
One of six categories of culture that are constructed to order information: technological, economic, political interactional, value and belief dimensions.
Dimension (Culture)
Dimensions of culture can also be called cultural dimensions.
Discrimination
Hindering or forbidding persons access to desired situations (renting a residence, job recruitment, promotions) on the basis of some arbitrary and unfair characteristic.
Disease
Medically unwell; from "dis" (not) at ease. One of the major five factors of poverty as a social problem.
Dishonesty
Division of Labour
An ordered situation where different individuals or groups are responsible for different tasks, which are interdependent and making up a more efficient or productive whole.
Divorce
Public or social recognition of the end of a marriage.
Documents
Anything written. One of the sources of information for social research.
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