ECONOMY, SOCIETY, AND

CULTURAL CHANGE
LESSON 5 UNIT 2

PREPARED BY:
GROUP III
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After this lesson, the students are expected to:
• Analyze economic organization and its society;
• Examine stratification from the functionalist and conflict perspectives;
• Identify characteristics of the systems of stratification;
• Discuss the process of economic globalization and its consequences;
• Suggest ways to address global inequalities;
• Identify new challenges faced by human populations in contemporary society;
• Describe how human societies adapt to new challenges in the physical, and cultural
environment;
• Identify the social goals and the socially acceptable means of achieving the goals
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION:

Why is the economy important for social and cultural life?

What are the different ways to study and analyze stratification?
?How does one’s economic status shape and influence one’s identy
?What are the economic causes of inequalities
How does globalization influence the existing social inequalities
worldwide and nationally?
THE ECONOMY AS FOUNDATION OF SOCIAL
LIFE
The Importance of Economic Structure
Karl Marx, the father of scientific socialism, famously stated in his A Preface to a
Critique of Political Economy the most controversial assertion in sociology:
In the social production of their life, men enter into definite relations that are
indispensable and independent of their will; these relations of production correspond to a
definite stage of development of their material forces of production. The sum total of
these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society-the real
foundation, on which rises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond
definite forms of social consciousness. The mode of production of material life
determines the social, political and intellectual life process in general. It is not the
consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being
that determines their consciousness.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ECONOMIC STRUCTURE

Karl Marx is basically arguing that the different kinds of social

relations that are generated by the economic production of human
beings of a particular society shape the entire life, beliefs, and
activities of that society. In a feudal society, for instance, where
agriculture is the main pillar of production, hierarchical social
relations are produced owing to the inequality between the landlords
and the landless peasants. Naturally, the political system under
feudalism is either authoritarian or despotic.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ECONOMIC STRUCTURE

In the social production of their life, men enter into definite relations
that are indispensable and independent of their will; these relations of
production correspond to a definite stage of development of their
material forces of production. The sum total of these relations of
production constitutes the economic structure of society- the real
foundation, on which rises a legal and political superstructure and to
which correspond definite forms of social consciousness. The mode
of production of material life determines the social, political and
intellectual life process in general. It is not the consciousness of men
that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being
that determines their consciousness.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ECONOMIC STRUCTURE

The cultural lifestyle of the poor will be much different from

those of the middle classes and the super-rich. Whereas the rich
and the middle classes can afford to buy original products, the
lower class ill be drawn more to popular culture and its affordable
products.
In the case of the Philippines, “lifestyles as indicative of class
cultures may be inferred from material possessions, the way
people handle leisure and their exposure to media and cultural
preferences.
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INEQUALITIES

The distribution of wealth in society will always be

dependent on the economic structure of society.
For Marx, class refers to relation among people who share
the same class interests in relation to the means of
production. Class is independent on the access to the
ownership of the means of production. (BOURGEOISIE or
the CAPITALISTS)
Bourgeoisie are those who own and monopolize the means
of production in the classic Marxist analysis, under
capitalism.
 3 TYPES OF CLASS (ACCORDING TO MARX):

1. Bourgeoisie- owners of the means of social production and

employers of wage labor.
2. Proletariat or the working class- the class of modern wage-laborers
who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to
selling their labor-power in order to live.
3. Lumpenproletariat- composed of the social scum, that passively
rotting mass thrown off by the lowest layers of old society.
 SYSTEM OF STRATIFICATION AS SOURCE OF
INEQUALITIES

Max Weber defined class a category of individuals who (1)

have in common a specific casual component of their life
chances in so far as (2) this component is represented
exclusively by economic interests in the possession of goods
and opportunities for income, and (3) it is represented under
the conditions of the commodity or labor market.
 SYSTEM OF STRATIFICATION AS SOURCE OF
INEQUALITIES

Weber’s sociology distinguished status from class as the two

principal bases of social stratification. Where class referred
to social differences based on economic divisions and
inequalities, status designated the differentiation of groups
in the “communal” sphere in terms of their social honor and
social standing.
CASTE SYSTEM

Caste system as a system of social stratification differs from

class in its rigidity and in the basis of legitimation. It is also
called a closed system in contrast with the class system that
is relatively open.
CLASS SYSTEM

Individuals are positioned according to their access to the

means of production and contribution to productive labor.
People with higher income tend to have children who also
have higher income. Parents who can afford to send their
children to better schools are promoting the future
advantage.
SOCIAL MOBILITY

is when people are allowed and are capable of

moving from one stratum or class to another class.
STATUS AND CLASS

According to Max Weber, status groups

normally are communities. Status refers to life
chances that are determined by social honor or
prestige.
SOCIAL CAPITAL

Social Capital refers to resources based on group

members, relationships, and networks of influence
and support.
SYMBOLIC CAPITAL

The acquisition of a reputation for competence and an

image of respectability and honourability.
HABITUS

Refers to the personal psychological dispositions of a

person that are shaped by these forms of capital and
family background.
ECONOMY AND GLOBALIZATION
GLOBALIZATION THROUGH FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
"The process of progressive growth of economic activities which
transcends any kind of geographical border. According to this definition,
globalization can be seen as the increasing movement of goods and
services as well as human resources through trade and investments
among nation. Trade liberalization policy and international trade are
perceived as important ingredients of globalization."
The original and continuing fundamental goal of economic
internationalization is free trade. The dream of economists after world
war 2 was a system of multilateral trade through the International Trade
Organization to reverse the protectionism of the Great Depression.
The WTO in particular is an organization that supervises and
liberalizes international trade. It is one of the pillars of economic
globalization.
The World Trade Organization is the only global international
organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations and
its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated ans signed by the
bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their
parliaments. The goal is to help producers of good and services,
exporters, and importers conduct their business.
WHEN CORPORATIONS RULE THE WORLD

Another globalizing force is that of transnational corporations,

which influence national government policies through their
ability to invest and reinvest capital, relocate factories, and
influence other similar companies in either investing or
boycotting a country.