Foundations Of Social And Behavioral Sciences Theory1 Discussion Ques ✓ Solved
Foundations Of Social And Behavioral Sciences Theory 1. Discussion Question: How does capitalism lead to creative destruction? What is nihilism in a Marxist context? 2. Reading Reflection: Solid ONE-page reflection paper about your thoughts on the reading.
This could include a brief summary and your opinion. There are not many guidelines or format (e.g., APA, MLS style) for these weekly reading reflection assignments. But please use 12-point font, Times New Roman, and don't get ridiculous with the margin settings. Reading: Structure and Agency in Everyday Life Introduction to Symbolic Interactionism (file uploaded) Lecture: Lecture: Marx and the Cultural Geography of Modernity (file uploaded) 1 2 GLOBE TABLE ASSIGNMENT 3 GLOBE TABLE ASSIGNMENT Globe Table Assignment Amber Wilson University of Maryland Global Campus Dimensions India Turkey Performance Orientation GLOBE Scores: 6.05 GLOBE Scores: 3.83 A high rating score A low rating score This reveals that Indian society encourages This society is classified as a not high and rewards innovation, high standards, and performance-oriented one.
It is associated performance improvement. with low levels of economic productivity, direct investors by foreigners and little strength in terms of global competitiveness (Francis & F., 2019). Uncertainty Avoidance GLOBE Scores:4.73 GLOBE Scores: 3.63 A moderate rating score A low rating score This society tolerates unpredictability and This society tolerates unpredictability and uncertainty to a moderate extent (Francis & F., 2019). uncertainty to a significant extent. This is mostly due to both economic and political instability they have experienced. Humane Orientation GLOBE Scores: 5.28 GLOBE Score:3.94 A high rating score A low rating score Historically Indian culture is deeply rooted This society only builds strong relationships with humane orientation as the most striking amongst themselves while people outside feature of ancient Indian civilization is its humanity their close networks cannot benefit from their help or general friendliness.
Institutional Collectivism GLOBE Scores: 4.71 GLOBE Scores: 4.03 A moderate rating score A moderate rating score This society shows some features of collectivism This society shows some features of only in some areas but does not meet the entire collectivism only in some areas but does not features of collective orientation (Francis & F., 2019). meet the entire features of collective orientation. In-Group Collectivism GLOBE Scores: 5.32 GLOBE Scores:5.88 A high rating score A high score rating This society displays a high level of trust in family This society displays a high level of trust in members. This shows commitment especially to family members regardless of whether the close interdependent relationships. families are members regardless especially to close interdependent relationships.
Dimensions India Turkey Assertiveness GLOBE Scores: 4.76 GLOBE Scores:4.53 A high score rating A high score rating This is because Indian society has been This society is displayed as one that has portrayed as one that has high levels of dominance and toughness levels that are toughness and dominance. high. Gender Egalitarianism GLOBE Scores: 4.51 GLOBE Scores: 2.89 A moderate score rating A Low score rating This shows that the role of women in the In this society, women are required to stay society have gained importance over a at home while men engage in activities period of time as opposed to in the past when outside the home such as holding power the society was male-dominated. and decision making (Friedman, 2016).
Future Orientation GLOBE Scores: 5.60 GLOBE Scores: 3.74 A high rating score A low rating score This society is very future-oriented and invests The people of this society are comfortable a lot in astrological predictions. with the status quo. They simply go through life and do not bother to plan for the future. Dimensions India Turkey Power Distance GLOBE Scores: 2.64 GLOBE Scores: 5.57 Low score rating A high score rating Indian culture is hierarchical where the decision Organizations have hierarchical structures making is most often taken by the managers or that are very steep. Employees lack freedom the senior-most people. The employees or to express their ideas and complaints to subordinates in a team are obliged to agree those who supervise them. with their managers and they may not have an opportunity to disagree (Friedman, 2016).
References Francis, T., & Hoefel, F. (2019). ‘True gen’: generation z and its implications for companies. Retrieved from packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for companies Friedman, T. L. (2016). Thank you for being late. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE). (n.d.). Retrieved from Marx and the Cultural Geography of Modernity Week 4 & 5, Lecture 6 Outline • Karl Marx, life and times • The Communist Manifesto • What capitalism is • Creative Destruction • Nihilism • Social differentiation, spatial diffusion, and cultural de-fusion Karl Marx • • Born in what is now Germany, lived most of his life in England • University of Bonn, Berlin and Jena--studied law, philosophy and history • Writer in Germany, France and eventually England • Early and Later Marx writings Karl Marx • The Communist Manifesto • Published in 1848 (“The Year of Revolutionâ€) • A pamphlet written for the Communist League (a group of German workers in France) • Later became a general statement for international communism The Communist Manifesto • “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.†• The present society is a result of the struggle between the bourgeoisie (the owners of the means of production) and the proletariat (those who own only their labor)--this is capitalism • This has led to a situation of “naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation†in which the labor of workers is used to enrich capitalists • but...
The Communist Manifesto • Capitalists must compete against each other, and thus: • “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and then the whole relations of society. Conservation of old modes of production in unaltered form, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify.
All that is sold melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real condition of life, and his relations with his kind.†Creative Destruction • Large scale: New economic systems rise from the destruction of old ones. The creation of capitalism comes from the destruction of feudalism. • Middle scale: Capitalists must destroy wealth in order to create new wealth • Small scale: Within capitalism, wealth comes from the destruction of previous - ways of life (rural to urban, walking to mass transit to cars) - techniques of production (small artisinal to factory to just-in-time) - types of consumption (books to tv to itunes) - types of commodities (walkman to ipod to iphone) • Webster’s Dictionary: Nihilism - a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless • The creative destruction of capitalism produces a cultural tension between progress and nihilism ‘The bourgeois, wherever, it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations.
It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors,†and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment.†The Nihilism of Creative Destruction It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of cold calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom--Free Trade.’ Does such nihilism actually emerge from capitalism? • Capitalists cannot destroy the past so easily . . . • “Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past.
The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living. And just when they seem engaged in revolutionizing themselves and things, in creating something entirely new, pricelessly in such epochs of revolutionary crisis they anxiously conjure up the spirits of the past to their service and borrow from them names, battle slogans, and costumes in order to present the new scene of world history in this time-honored disguise and this borrowed language.†(The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte) Creation Destruction Meaning Nihilism Progress Nostalgia Order Disorder Tensions of Modernity The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity • Social Differentiation • Different “spheres†of social action specialize and develop according to their own internal logic • No single sphere as complete dominance • The totality of social life is fundamentally partial, open and fragmented Culture Production Science Finance Education Politics The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity • Spatial Diffusion Ernest Burgess’ Concentric Zone Model, 1925 The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity: Spatial Diffusion The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity: Spatial Diffusion Multinucleated Metropolitan Region “postsuburbia†Home Work, Politics, Culture Modern Industrial Urban Model “city & suburb†Work, Politics, Culture Suburban Single-Family Homes Background Culture (Binaries, Scripts, Narratives) The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity • Cultural De-fusion...
Actor’s Performance Audience Reception âž« âž« ➬ ➬ Cultural Fusion Interpretation Communication Psychological IdentificationCathexis Background Culture (Binaries, Scripts, Narratives) The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity • Cultural De-fusion... Actor’s Performance Audience Reception âž« ➬ ➬ Cultural De-fusion Misinterpretation Communication Psychological IdentificationCathexis Background Culture (Binaries, Scripts, Narratives) The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity • Cultural De-fusion... Actor’s Performance Audience Reception➬ ➬ Cultural De-fusion Misinterpretation Miscommunication Psychological IdentificationCathexis Background Culture (Binaries, Scripts, Narratives) The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity • Cultural De-fusion...
Actor’s Performance Audience Reception➬ Cultural De-fusion Misinterpretation Miscommunication Alienation/DistanceCathexis Background Culture (Binaries, Scripts, Narratives) The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity • Cultural De-fusion... Actor’s Performance Audience Reception Cultural De-fusion Misinterpretation Miscommunication Alienation/DistanceCynical/False/Inauthentic relation to background culture Background Culture (Binaries, Scripts, Narratives) The Cultural Fragmentation of Modernity • Cultural De-fusion is a fundamental aspect of modern life because of the endless plurality of background cultural elements and audience groups Actor’s Performance Audience Reception Misinterpretation Miscommunication Alienation/DistanceCynical/False/Inauthentic relation to background culture➪ ➪ No single background culture in modern societies No single audience in modern societies Structure & Agency in Everyday Life CSBS 310-pg.
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Discussion Question: Capitalism, Creative Destruction, and Nihilism in a Marxist ContextCapitalism, as defined by Karl Marx in his pivotal works like "The Communist Manifesto," directly contributes to a phenomenon known as "creative destruction." This term, initially articulated by economist Joseph Schumpeter, refers to the process through which capitalistic economies evolve by the incessant replacement of old economic structures and practices with new ones. In Marx's view, capitalism perpetually revolutionizes the instruments of production, leading to significant socio-economic shifts (Marx, 1848).
Capitalism and Creative Destruction
Capitalism thrives on competition and innovation; it is almost inherent to its nature. Marx (1848) argues that the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class) cannot exist without constantly evolving their modes of production. Within this framework, old ways of doing things are discarded (destroyed) in favor of new, often more efficient methods. This can be observed on multiple scales. At a macro scale, the quintessential transition from feudalism to capitalism is an example of creative destruction. The demise of feudal structures paved the way for capitalism's rise, showcasing how societal systems must displace each other for new ones to emerge (Marx, 1848; Schumpeter, 1942).
Moreover, on a micro level, industries constantly reinvent themselves, where technological advances disrupt existing markets. For example, the music industry has evolved from selling physical albums to digital music consumption, creating new business models and dismantling previous ones. This continual cycle of destruction and creation not only signifies progress but underlines the relentless competitive spirit of capitalism (Ellul, 1964; Harvey, 2007).
However, this cycle leads to instability and uncertainty. Workers often find themselves displaced as their skills become obsolete. The transition usually results in social and economic upheaval, where traditional job roles vanish and workers struggle to adapt, fostering feelings of alienation and displacement (Brenner, 2006). In this context, capitalism breeds a situation of constant flux that simultaneously generates wealth and engenders social inequality.
Nihilism in a Marxist Context
In a Marxist discourse, nihilism refers not only to the rejection of traditional norms and values but also to the deeper existential anxieties generated by capitalism. It emerges from the alienation and detachment experienced by individuals confronting a system that values profit over humanity and communal relationships (Jameson, 1991; Eagleton, 2016). Marx contends that as capitalism advances, it obliterates old social ties, reducing myriad human relationships to mere transactions characterized by “naked self-interest” (Marx, 1848). This transformation engenders a sense of meaninglessness, especially when individuals perceive their worth as being equal to their economic output, conditioned by the market's criteria.
This nihilism is further intensified by the competitive nature of capitalism, which often compels individuals to define themselves according to their market value rather than intrinsic human qualities. In a society commodified by capitalism, traditional affiliations rooted in family, community, and even religion are undermined, creating a fragmented identity where individuals often experience isolation (Bauman, 2000). Citizens in capitalist societies face the paradox of increased material wealth and profound hollowness, leading to cultural and psychological nihilism (Zizek, 2009).
In summary, capitalism catalyzes creative destruction by consistently upending established economic systems and practices, invoking a cycle of transformation fraught with uncertainty and alienation. Concurrently, nihilism emerges within this chaotic context, symbolizing the disillusionment and sense of purposelessness experienced by individuals as they navigate a socio-cultural landscape where traditional values have become increasingly irrelevant.
Reading Reflection
In examining the reading titled "Structure and Agency in Everyday Life" and the accompanying lecture on Marx's contributions to understanding creative destruction, I find the material elucidates significant contemporary issues through the prism of historical analysis. The discussion of how capitalism functions to uphold and dismantle structures intertwined with human agency reveals the profound ramifications of economic systems on everyday experiences.
My reading of the texts brought forth an appreciation for the intricate relationship between structure and agency; individuals navigate their circumstances, yet their choices remain bounded by systemic forces. Marx's critique of capitalism hinges on this very dynamic, where the capacity for agency exists within a structure that often constrains it. This tension resonates in modern times, where individuals strive for agency amidst the encroachment of market values in every sphere of life.
The insights provided on nihilism articulated how capitalist dynamics foster existential challenges. The section revealing how the traditional social fabric frays due to economic imperatives struck me as particularly relevant. In a world dominated by exchange value, genuine human connections are often sacrificed, resulting in an existential vacuum that echoes radically in contemporary cultural phenomena.
Overall, this reading challenged me to reflect on my own experiences within a capitalist framework and the ways in which economic forces shape social interactions. It provides a lens through which to evaluate not only the structures that govern societal relations but also the profound human implications that such dynamics engender. The exploration of creative destruction and nihilism in the context of Marxist theory serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing relevance of these ideas in the face of a rapidly changing world, where the intersections of politics, culture, and economics continuously unfold.
References
1. Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid Modernity. Oxford: Polity Press.
2. Brenner, R. (2006). "What Is, and Where Is, the Political Economy of Capitalism?" Capital & Class, 30(1), 13-36.
3. Eagleton, T. (2016). Why Marx Was Right. New Haven: Yale University Press.
4. Ellul, J. (1964). The Technological Society. New York: Vintage Books.
5. Francis, T., & Hoefel, F. (2019). "True Gen": Generation Z and its Implications for Companies. Retrieved from https://www.packaged-goods/insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies
6. Harvey, D. (2007). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7. Jameson, F. (1991). Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham: Duke University Press.
8. Karl Marx. (1848). The Communist Manifesto.
9. Schumpeter, J. A. (1942). Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. New York: Harper & Brothers.
10. Zizek, S. (2009). In Defense of Lost Causes. London: Verso.