EVOLUTION
Charles Darwin – diversity – Why are there
so
many diverse forms of life?
Answer: Diversity is the result of organisms adapting to the
environment
and its changes. This is by means of random genetic mutation
(which
occurs all the time in genetic replication). Some organisms
successfully
change and some do not and become extinct.
Karl Marx: - society evolves through
conflict
to an ideal state (communism):
Communalism - Hunter gather – nomadic – settled agriculture –
industrial
capitalism – socialism – communism
1. defined by economic systems – each indicate the main classes in
regard
to their role in the production of wealth in each stage.
2. There are two classes – those who control the major means of
producing
wealth in each economic system and those who labor in it.
3. Other groups enable the controlling class to maintain its
position.
4. alienation
5. false consciousness
Joseph Schumpeter - social change equals
the
power change of different "classes" (organized distinctive social
groups)
1. innovation and creativity
(see Spencer )
B. World Systems Theory (Immanuel
Wallerstein)
1. a global system based on economic not military or political ties
2. core = strong state, periphery = weak state
3. economic integration
4. globalization
5. Lenski - equality - based on poverty not wealth.
C. Parson’s Evolutionary Model
1. stages: a. primitive or prehistory- kinship and religious
orientation
b. Intermediate / written language,
c. Modern formal relationships and procedures (law
and
adult literacy)
2. increasing differentiation
3. permits greater control of the environment
D. Evolutionary Universals (Parsons)
1. language, kinship, religion and rudimentary technology (needed to
move
out of primitive sage)
2. 6 major universals: social stratification, cultural legitimation,
bureaucratic
organization, money economy and markets, generalized universal norms,
democratic
associations
3. structures: (patterned and stable relationships)
4. processes (evolutionary changes taking place in the system)
differentiation,
adaptive upgrading, inclusion, and value generalization.
5. rejects inevitable and uniform course of development
6. a trend toward an increase in adaptive capacity.
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