Global Sociology

Tuareg - ‘blue men of the desert’, Saharan-African nomads

“My father was a nomad. His father was a nomad. I am a nomad. My children will be nomads.”
“This is the life of my ancestors. This is the life that we know.”
-Sididi Ag Inaka(on their societal status and clinging to old tradition)

Society refers to people who interact in a defined environment and share a culture.

Gerhard Lenski - sociologist, described sociology having changed in the past

myria-annum(10,000 years). Also pointed to technology, and its importance in shaping society.

Karl Marx - socio-political philosopher, with a more historical view on society, the story being
more about social conflict that arises as people work within an economic environment to produce
material goods.

Max Weber - political economist, shows that it’s ideas that shape a society.

Emile Durkheim - sociologist, helps us see the different ways in which traditional and modern
societies hang together.

Members of our society, who take things like television and texting for granted, must wonder at
the nomads of the Sahara, who live the same simple life their ancestors did centuries ago. The
work of Gerhard Lenski (Nolan & Lenski, 2010) helps us understand the great differences among
societies that have existed throughout human history.

Sociocultural evolution - term used by Lenski to mean changes that occur as a society gains
new technology.

In the simplest of all societies, people live by hunting and gathering, making use of simple tools
to hunt animals and gather vegetation for food.
Hunting and gathering societies depend on the family to obtain and distribute food, to protect its
members, and to teach their way of life to the children.

Shamans - spiritual leaders, prestigious in status but still works equally hard for their survival