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ICS 417: ICT and Society

3. Theories of Society

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3.1 Defining Society• (Group of) People with common

values• Culture and beliefs of a people• (Group of) People in common

setting • Group of people with common goals• Structure and organization of ...• People and how they interact with

their environment• The state of all the above changes

over time

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(a) Notions of Society

• Social interaction or association• A unity, having boundaries which

mark it off from other, surrounding societies, e.g. nation-state. However,– Need not be a “unit” – e.g. could be

perceived to be open system– Need not have clearly demarcated

boundaries e.g. islamic society

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(b) Possible Definitions• A society is a system which people live

together in organized communities having shared customs, law, organization and living in a particular region

• A Society can be understood as a social system. As a social system has many parts (family, religion, economy, science), that are interdependent, giving the society a structure

• Civil society is one where people come together to pursue the interests they hold in common - not for profit or the exercise of political power, but because they care enough about something to take collective action. In this sense, all organisations and associations between family and state are part of civil society (World Bank, defining civil society)

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(c) Features of a Society

• Results in specifiable overall “clustering of institutions” across time and space

• Association between the social system and a specific locale or territory– Locales occupied by societies are not

necessarily fixed e.g. nomadic societies

• Existence of norms for claim to the legitimate occupation of the locale

• Prevalence, among members, of feelings that they have some sort of common identity

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(d) E.g.Characteristics of Islamic Society

• Enjoying what is good• Forbidding what is bad• Faith in Allah• A community of moderation• One Muslim community• An international community• Conducting affairs by mutual

consultation• Application of the concept brotherhood• Reciprocal responsibility of the

individual and the community, etc.

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3.2 Theories of Society• Theories outlined look at a society as a

whole (macro-sociology) as compared to the study of individuals in society (micro-sociology)

• Sociology is the study of “social facts” and of the ways in which society influences the behaviour of individuals

• Theories or perspectives are:– Functionalism– Conflict– Interactionist– Post Modernism– Relativism– Structuration

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(a) Functionalism: Society as a System

• Conception of individual & society: Individual born into an ongoing social system, which exists independently of & determines his/her behaviour (or roles & actions)

• Genesis: Emerged in Europe in 19th century to respond to a perceived crisis of social order in response to:– Emergence of new industrial society with it’s

subsequent loss of community – increase in crime, poverty, etc.

– French revolution which suggested ideals of equality, happiness and freedom of the individual

• Main ideas:a. Basis of an orderly society is the existence of a

central value system that imposes common values on all its members

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b. Social world is composed of relatively empirical artifacts (parts) and relationships that can be identified, studied and measured through approaches derived from natural sciences (positivism)

c. Societies have basic needs – functional requirements which must be met if society is to survive– Functionalists concerned with:

• the contribution of the various parts of society to those needs

• the desirability for social order and stability to prevail in society (how the parts function to maintain social order)

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d. Various parts of society interact with one another– Interaction produces a dynamic and ever-

changing system e.g. Gvt favouring single mothers in social welfare will encourage ladies to have babies out of wedlock – negatively impacting family structure

e. Change occurs when there is a gap or imbalance between what the system does and what it is supposed to do e.g. prolonged periods of recession necessitating reduced family size

• Problems:– does not address conflict in society (a

“consensus” theory)– Human affairs cannot be explained entirely

from rational and positivist approaches

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(b) Conflict: Society as Synthesis• Perspective: change and conflict are integral parts

of society• Genesis: Associated with Radical Weberians or

Structuralists who:– Were interested in r/ship b/n the State and

bureaucratization – Sought to understand ways in which state apparatus

dominates the wider social structure within which it exists

– Concerned with interests, conflict and power relationships in society (political science area)

• Main ideas:a. Society reflects an interplay of social forces

– A collective definition of reality (“thesis”) travels through time

– Thesis is maintained by groups of persons who benefit from it. They want to maintain the status quo

– Social structure emerges out of this exercise of power

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b. Exploitation is one byproduct of emerging social structure– Exploitation increases as thesis is

maintained– To maintain the status quo, power is used

to maintain the belief that the status quo is correct or inevitable e.g. Africans are unable to govern themselves was used by colonialists to extend the colonial period and the associated exploitation

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b. Change occurs when there is a conflict between thesis and one or more antithesis (individuals and groups have alternative values and beliefs and have their identities tied to these values and beliefs)– Collision of thesis and antithesis produces

conflict– Outcome of conflict is a “synthesis” –

something new, e.g. a new idea, way of life, belief system e.g. the challenge by feminists of the unequal treatment of men and women has produced a synthesis e.g. representation of women in key decision-making positions in Gvt, gender sensitivity in job opportunities, treatment of women as disadvantaged communities, etc.

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• Conclusion– According to Weberians, organizations and

any other entities must be studied within the political structure of society

– However, Marxian Structuralists focus on economic structures of capitalist society as the determinant of power relationships (outside scope of our discussion)

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(c) Interactionism: Reality is Socially Created

• Perspective: Society is created by ongoing interaction of humans i.e. human interaction produces a collectively created reality in which we live

• Main ideas:a. Social parts, structures and systems

exist because we create them and then symbolically define them to exist– Society emerges from human interactions,

past, present and future e.g. constitutional debate

– Social reality is created and sustained by inter-subjectively shared meaning

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b. We maintain our own definitions of the world but at the same time are reliant on a collective, more objective definition of reality– The things that we agree exist make it possible

for us to act without needing to reinvent reality every time we need it. At the same time, social world is a result of subjective construction of individual human being

– e.g.1 we stop every time we see the Red traffic sign. It represents a collective social force and when we see it we exhibit the same behaviour.

– e.g.2 a defendant may be persuaded to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced charge and sentense – a reality has been socially created via interaction and negotiation (of otherwise rigid legal process)

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c. Change occurs through the redefinition of reality i.e. if we want to change action, we need to redefine the situation

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(d) Structuration• By Anthony Giddens in 20th Century –

synthesis of existing theories

• Main ideas:1. Human beings are knowledgeable agents

– “objectivism” fails to appreciate the complexity of social action produced by actors operating with knowledge & understanding as part of their consciousness

2. Extent of people’s knowledge of the world is bordered on the one side by the unconscious & on the other by the unacknowledged conditions and intended consequences of action

3. Day-to-day human interactions reproduces social reality (Interactionism)

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3. The predominant form of day-to-day activity takes the form of routine

– even behaviour which appears to outsiders as extreme and bizarre becomes routine after a while e.g. corruption or grabbing public land became routine for those who practiced it

4. Constraints on human behaviour by the social context is only one type of constraint. Human behaviour also influences social context. Indeed Social context is both a medium and outcome of human behaviour or social interaction

• Outcome – social interactions produces new social structures or context (Interactionism)

• Medium – social context is drawn on in human behaviour e.g. using the constitution in making a decision

5. Power is not a secondary issue in human behaviour – Power is a means to an end and hence is directly involved in the actions of every person (Conflict)

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7. People are knowledgeable

– Their everyday knowledge feeds into their behaviour

– They have reasons for doing what they do (not determined by social system or context as Functionalists assert)

– People are responsible for their actions

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References• Sociology at Hewett… Map of Sociological

Theory http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/curric/soc/

• A brief Overview of Three Theories of Society… http://www.aacc.cc.md.as?/soc/

• Waema, T.M. “Should Access to ICT be a Basic Human Right” – useful background paper for next section on impacts of ICT on society in different sectors

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Issues for Discussion1. ICT is developed by people,

organizations, societies. • Why do they do it? • Who pays for the R&D and why?• Which factors are considered in design?• Can customers/users reject new ICTs?• Which social forces shape

developments in ICT?