New labour introduced the idea of the third way, a political theory between Thatcherism and social democracy which is a mixture between capitalism and socialism where individual enterprise goes hand in hand with social responsibility, meaning that the government has reduced their evolvement in people’s lives, going back to a more macro style of politics. Lastly Blair advocated for the public-private partnership to help solve the problem of ailing public services, for example a school will pay a private company to carry out tasks which the school needs doing instead of the government dealing with every detail in the school. Ed Miliband’s new polices show the true extent at how labour has abandoned socialism. When dealing with the economy,
Explain and critically evaluate the main claims of postmodernism. Within sociology there is much debate surrounding the era that society has now entered. Some social theorists argue that we should abandon theories of modernity, since society has progressed forward from the times of Marx, Durkheim and Weber, and that theories of modernity are no longer valid. Sociologists have come to the conclusion that we now live in a postmodern society, a distinct separation from modernity rather than merely a continuation. Throughout the duration of this essay, I will begin with exploring the idea and concept of postmodernism, and then move on to depict and evaluate these claims made by post-modernists in more depth.
What’s the effect that “the banking concept of education” brings to our society by leading us to obviate thinking? In Paulo Freire’s essay “The Pedagogy of The Oppressed” he criticizes our current educational system, which he calls “the ‘banking’ concept of education”, because of its capacity to inhibit our creativity, make us obviate thinking, “dehumanize” us, etc., oppressing us in many ways. He says that the only way to liberate our oppressed society is upgrading our educational system by using the “problem-posing method of education” which stimulates students to think critically. By studying Freire’s essay it is easier to understand the importance of an education that will stimulate minds into going through a further analysis of things (problem-posing) and how the other method (banking concept) will lead us towards an oppression, sometimes without perceiving it. It is important to understand these two educational concepts because that way we can see the oppression, and might cause us to think a bit more about our education, encouraging us to take a few steps forward into demanding a more effective one.
Therefore, religion is a conservative force. For example, religion prevents a false class conscience which prevents the working class from realising their true potential and keeps them oppressed. As a result, religion prevents a true class conscience where the working class realise they are being exploited. Moreover, religion acts a form of “compensation” for the working class as the belief in God and heaven offers the working class compensation for the misery the experience through capitalism. Marxists argue that religion promises us happiness, but this is an illusion hiding the truth; true happiness can only be found in a revolution.
Adam Smith’s writing is structured around his economic metaphor of the ‘invisible hand’ which perceives the marketplace to be self-regulated. He dismisses the mercantile system that existed at the time of his writing and contends that self-interested individuals will benefit society, even if unintentionally, because they have the motive to produce better products and at lower costs. Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776, conveying the inextricable link between the ‘invisible’ force of the market competition which feeds individual greed and the promotion of the national interests in improving society. He gives the example of the
"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins portrays a futuristic society set in a post-apocalyptic world; the novel exemplifies the perversion of Karl Marx's theory known as Marxism and the struggles between social classses. Collins shows the various ways in which a communistic society can be corrupted. It is human nature, to be greedy, selfish, lazy, and decietful; this is what ultimately forces Marxism to be an impossibility. A communistic based society would have no need for government simply because each individual would be more than willing to live their life according to the laws and ideas of Marxism. There would be a much greater chance of success for communism, if the location/environment was smaller and consisted solely of those in complete non-forceful compliance.
He frames this separation of the classes as a struggle and a constantly losing battle for one group or the other (mostly for the poor). He explicitly states, “society as a whole is more and more splitting in to two great hostile camps, [….] Bourgeoisie and Proletariat” (Marx 338). Right away, Marx hopes to use this to build an argument that the current relations between the two classes is an illusion and that the proletariat are playing the zero-sum game, with the Bourgeoisie, that is capitalism. In direct contrasts to this, Carnegie believes that, in the capitalist system, the relations between the two classes is more symbiotic in nature.
As discussed in lecture this is an important distinction. For a social condition to be considered a social problem it must be considered harmful to society and enough people must believe that the condition can and should be changed. Libertarians take a functionalist approach to income inequality in capitalist economies, believing that in order for the economy to function there will always be people at the bottom of the totem pole. The great thing about America is the belief that with honest hard work, anyone can better
Neoliberalism is a political philosophy whose advocates support economic liberalization, free trade and open markets, privatization, deregulation, and decreasing the size of the public sector while increasing the role of the private sector in modern society. The education sector thus forms a rather controversial as well as affected sector in the above policies. The hegemony of globalized neo-liberal economic policies has contributed to redefining education in terms of its contribution to the economy. As Blackmore states: "Education has, in most instances, been reshaped to become the arm of national economic policy, defined both as the problem (in failing to provide a multi-skilled flexible workforce) and the solution (by upgrading skills and creating a source of national export earnings" (Blackmore, 2000, 134). As one economist affiliated with Argentina's Ministry of Economics stated: "What we try to measure is how well the training provided by each school fits the needs of production and the labor market" (Puiggros, 2000, p. 84).
Marx believes that we now live in a capitalist society, which is based on divisions in society. He labels the two classes, the capitalist class the bourgeoisie and the class of the labourers the proletariat. Marx believes that this type of society is unequal, as the proletariat do not receive the goods that they have produced; only the cost of subsistence is received. Marx also believes that competition drives the ownership of the means of production into fewer hands, this drives smaller independent producers to become a part of the proletariat. Competition also creates companies to drive down wages, as they will wish to make their products at the lowest cost they can, this alienating the working class and causing them to become impoverished.