The Importance Of Pre-Modern Society

The Importance Of Pre-Modern Society Human history can be divided into three phases: pre-modern, modern and post modern. There is no definite beginning or end to each of these phases; rather they merge into one another, as not all societies moved forward at the same time. Although most industrialised countries are now considered post modern, a large proportion of the Third World remains modern or in some cases pre- modern. Pre- Modern is the period in society which came prior to Modernity, which began in Europe after the introduction of Industrial society and large scale production. Sociology and modernity are closely intertwined, but it has also been argued that sociology is actually a product of modernity. During this piece I will examine pre- modern society and discuss some of the reasons why the study of this era is important for sociology. What is Pre- modern Society? The pre-modern era spans from before history and can be separated into two phases, before and after settled agriculture. Before settled agriculture, society lives off the land, hunting and gathering. An example of a hunter- gatherer society that exists today is the Arctic foragers, who occupy the circumpolar region of the earth. Due to the lack of vegetation in this area of the world, most Arctic foragers are forced to live on a diet of meat. Many Arctic people are extremely mobile like the feudal societies of pre- modern times. Pre-modern society: The term pre- modern, covers a number of different societal forms: hunter-gatherer, agrarian, horticultural, pastoral and non-industrial. Pre-modern social forms have now virtually disappeared, although they are still in existence in some of todays societies, therefore pre- modern cannot be defined in terms of historical development. In this respect, pre-modern societies can be characterised by a combination of economic, political and cultural circumstances. In pre-modern society, work was not highly specialised and the number of roles necessary to produce things were relatively small, therefore the division of labour was simple when compared to modern societies. Most of the labour forces engaged in agricultural activity and produced food through subsistence farming. The majority of pre-industrial groups had standards of living not much above survival, meaning that most of the population were focused on producing only enough goods for means of survival. The rise of settled agricultural villages meant the build up of storable produce, which represented a cultural advance for civilisation. With the development of storage, in some rare cases came some social unrest, as what could be stored could also be stolen. It should be noted here that in pre- modern times there was very little deviance, as communities were extremely close knit and everybody knew each other. Pre- Modern society was a time without class distinctions and people shared the same sense of values. In Pre- Modern times, a persons sense of purpose was expressed through a faith. Religious officials held the positions of power within the communities and were the intermediaries to the general masses. The population of pre-modern times saw God as the main entity and those closest to him, for example the religious officials, were seen as the community leaders. Persons in pre- modern society did not see themselves as having an individual identity rather a group identity. Social life in pre-modern society also often had religion at its core. Villages were divided into parishes and the observance of religion took place at a community level. In post modern society, the influence of religion appears to have lessened, although it formed the basis for modern penal laws, which regulate human behaviour like religion did in pre- modern times. Industrialisation and the making of Modern Society: In order to understand why the study of pre- modern times is vital to sociology, it is important to look to the Industrial Revolution, as this was a time of great change for European society, and the crossing over from pre- modern to modern society. Industrialisation is the process whereby social and economic change transforms a pre- industrial society into an industrial one. Industrialisation also introduces a form of philosophical change, where people take a different attitude towards their perception of nature. During the Industrial revolution, an economy based on manual labour was replaced by one taken over by industry and the manufacture of machinery. Rapid industrialisation cost many craft workers their jobs and scores of weavers also found themselves unemployed as they could not compete with machinery. Many unemployed workers turned their anger towards the machines that had taken their jobs and began destroying factories and machinery. These activists became known as Luddites and became extremely popular. The British government took drastic measures against the Luddites using the army to protect the factories. The Industrial Revolution saw the emergence of class, urbanisation and the bad conditions in which people had to live and work in. Marxism essentially began as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution. As the Industrial Revolution progressed so did the gap between class structures. According to Karl Marx, industrialisation polarised society into the bourgeoisie, and the much larger proletariat. Ordinary working people found increased opportunity for employment in the mills and factories and in some cases had no choice but to move to the towns and cities in search of work. By the early 1900s up to eighty per cent of the population of Britain lived in urban centres (Kumar, 1978, cited in Bilton et al, p.28). Using the clock to time ones self, as a basis of social organisation, was an indicator of the emergence of a modern society. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries both agricultural and manufacturing labour became set by the clock in a way that was very different to pre-modern production. In pre-modern times factors such as hours of daylight set work rhythms, whereas the factories were regulated by the clock, labour was synchronised and took place for a certain number of hours each day and on particular days of the week. For the factory owners and their employees, time now equalled money. The working conditions were often strict with long working hours and a pace that was set by machinery and production. With the Industrial Revolution came an increase in population. Education was still limited and therefore children were expected to work. Child labour was appealing to employers as it was cheaper than employing an adult yet productivity was similar. The machines did not require strength to operate and there were no experienced adult labourers as the system was completely new. By the eighteenth century there was only around thirty percent of the population who engaged in agricultural activity, this enables us to gain some idea of the nature of modern society and the economic changes that took place as modern society developed. The majority of ordinary people were greatly affected by capitalism and industrial production. By the late 1900s Englands Black Country was one of the most industrialised parts of the United Kingdom and in the 1830s was described in the following way; The earth seems to have turned inside out. The coal. is blazing on the surface by day and by night the country is flowing with fire, and the smoke of the ironworks hangs over it. There is a rumbling and clanking of iron forges and rolling mills. Workmen covered in smut, and with fierce white eyes, are seen moving amongst the glowing iron and dull thud of the forge-hammers. (Jennings,1985 p.165) Conclusion: The transition from pre- modernity into modernity was important for sociology as people began to see that society was something important to study. Some argue that this was when sociology began as the emergence of modern societies created a new intellectual world aware of its surroundings and concerned with acquisition of knowledge. Sociology is concerned with the study of human societies.a society is a cluster, or a system of institutionalised modes of conduct.sociology has as its main focus the study of institutions of the advanced or the industrialised societies and of the conditions of transformation of those institutions. (Giddens 1982) As modernity took form, changes in social attitudes within society occurred making society itself interesting to others. Unlike the static pre- modern society, modern societies appear to have created many different groups, causing new and interesting interactions between people. In the pre- modern era, relationships between people in society were extremely similar and perhaps uneventful and society had been static, therefore sociology was not required.

The External Environment ( Strategic Management)

Review THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT (STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT) A host of external factors influence a firm’s choice of direction and action, ultimately its organizational structure and internal factors. These factors, which constitute the external environment, can be divided into three interrelated subcategories there are as follows:A. REMOTE ENVIROMENTThe remote environment comprises factors that originate beyond and usually irrespective of any single firm’s operating situation: economic, social, political, technological, and ecological factors.That environment presents firm with opportunities, treats, and constraint; but rarely does a single firm exert any meaningful reciprocal influence.1. Economic FactorsEconomics factors concern the nature and direction of the economy in which a firm operates. Because consumption patterns are affected by the relative affluence of various market segment, in strategic planning each firm must consider economic trend in the segment that affect its industry.2. Social FactorsThe social factors that affect a firm involve the beliefs, values, attitudes, opinions, and lifestyles of persons in the firm’s external environment, as developed from cultural, ecological, demographic, religious, educational, and ethics conditioning. Like other forces in the remote environment, social forces are dynamic, with constant change resulting from the efforts of individuals to satisfy their desires and needs by controlling and adapting to environment factors. One of the most profound social changes in recent years has been the entry of large numbers of women into labor market.Second, social change has been the accelerating interest of consumers and employees in quality-of-life issues. Third, social change has been the shift in the age distribution of population. A consequence of the changing age distribution of the population has been a sharp increase in demands made by a growing a number of senior citizens.3. Political FactorsThe direction and stability of political factors in a major con sideration for managers on formulating company strategy political factors define the legal regulatory parameters within which firm must be operate.Political constraint are placed on firm through fair trade decisions, antitrust laws, tax programs, minimum wage legislation, population and pricing policies, administrative jawboning, and many more actions aimed at protecting employees, consumers, the general public, and the environment. Technological Fact To avoid obsolescence and promote the innovation, a firm must be aware of technological changes that might influence its industry. Technological forecasting can help protect and improve the probability of firm in the growing industries. It alerts strategic managers to both impeding challenges and promising opportunities.4. Ecological FactorsThe term ecology refers to the relationship between human beings and other living things and the air, soil, and water that support them. Threats to our life-supporting ecology caused principally by human activities in an industrial society are commonly referred to as pollution, such as water and land pollution.B. INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENTTo establish a strategic agenda for dealing with these contending currents and to grow despite them, a company must understand how they work in its industry and how they affect the company in its particular situation.How Competitive Force Shape StrategyThe essence of strategy formulating is coping with the competition. In the fight for market share, competition is not manifested only in the other players. Rather, competition in an industry is rooted in its underlying economics, and competitive forces exists that go well beyond the established combatants in a particular industry.Contending ForcesEvery industry has an underlying structure, or a set of fundamental economics and technical characteristics, that gives rise to these competitive forces. A few characteristics are critical to the strength of each competitive force.a. Threat of EntryNew entra nts to an industry bring new capacity, the desire to gain market share, and often substantial resources. There are six major sources of barriers to entry:Economies of Scaledeter entry by forcing the aspirant either to come in on a large scale or to accept a cost disadvantage.Product Differentiationto create high fences around their business, brewers couple brand identification with economies of scale in production, distribution, and marketing.Capital Requirementscapital is necessary not only for fixed facilities but also for customer credit, inventories, and absorbing start-up losses. Cost Disadvantage Independent of Sizeentrenched companies may have cost advantages not available to potential rivals, no matter what their size and attainable economies of scale.Access to Distribution Channels the more limited distribution channels are and more that existing competitors have tied up, obviously the tougher that entry into the industry will be.Government Policycan limit or even foreclose entry to industries, which such as controls as license requirements and limits on access to raw material.b. Powerful SuppliersSuppliers can exert bargaining power on participants in industry by raising prices or reducing the quality of purchased goods and services. A suppliers group is powerful if: – it is dominated by a few companies and is more concentrate than to the industry is sells, – its product is unique or at least differentiated, or if it has built-up switching cost, – it is not obliged to contend with other products for sale to the industry, – it poses a credible threat of integrating forward into the industry’s business, – the industry is not an important customer of the supplier group.Ã' . Powerful buyersA buyers group is powerful if: – it is concentrated or purchases in large volumes, – the products is purchases from the industry are standard or undifferentiated, – the products it purchases from the indus try form a component of its product, – it earns profits, which create great incentive to lower its purchasing cost, – the industry’s product is unimportant to the quality of the buyers ‘ products or services, – the industry’s product does ot save the buyer money, – the buyer pose a credible threat of integrating backward to make the industry’s product.d. Substitute productsSubstitute products that deserve the most attention strategically are those that are subject to trends improving their price-performance trade-off with the industry’s product or are subjected by industries earning high profits.e. Jockeying for PositionThe type of the intense rivalry is related to the presence of a number of factors: competitors are numerous or are roughly equal in size and power, industry growth is slow, the product or service lacks of differentiation or switching costs, fixed costs are high or the product is perishable creating strong temptation, capacity normally is augmented in large increment, exit barriers are high, and the rival are diverse in strategies, origins, and personalities. Industry Boundaries Definition of industry boundaries focuses attention on the firm’s competitors, and helps executives determine key factors for success. And also gives executives another basis on which to evaluate their firm’s goals. In defining industry boundaries is very difficult task.The difficult stems from three sources:1. The evolution of industries over times creates new opportunities and threats,2. industry evolution creates industries within industries, and3.Industries are becoming global in scope.Having developed a preliminary concept of the industry executives flush out its current component. Industry Structure Structural attributes are the enduring characteristics that give an industry its distinctive character. To explaining the variation among industries can doing through examining the variable that industry comprises such are concentration, economies of scale, product differentiation, and barriers to entry.Competitive AnalysisUsually have objectives such are to identify current and potential competitors, to identify potential moves by competitors, and to help the firm devise effective competitive strategies.C. OPERATING ENVIROMENTThe operating environment, also called the competitive or task environment, comprises factors in the competitive situation that affect a firm success in acquiring needed resources or in profitably marketing its goods and services. Competitive Position Assessing its competitive position improves a firm chance of designing strategies that optimize its environmental opportunities.Customer ProfilesDeveloping a profile of a firm’s present and perspective cust omers improves the ability of its managers to plan strategic operations, to anticipate changes in the size of markets, and to reallocate resources so as to support forecast shifts in demand patterns. The traditional approach to segmenting customers is based on customer profiles constructed from geographic, demographic, psychographic, and buyer behavior information. Suppliers Dependable relationship between a firm and its suppliers are essential to the firm’s long-term survival and growth.A firm regularly relies on its suppliers for financial support, services, materials, and equipment. In assessing a firm’s relationship with its suppliers, several factors, other than the strength of the relationships, should be considered. Creditors Because the quantity, quality, price, and accessibility of financial, human, and, material resources are rarely ideal, assessment of suppliers and creditors is critical to an accurate evaluation of a firm’s operating environment. Hum an Resources: Nature of the Labor Market A firm’s ability to attract and hold capable employees is essential to its success.However, a firm’s personnel recruitment and selection alternatives often are influenced by the nature of its operating environment. A firm’s access to needed personnel is affected primarily by three factors: the firm’s reputation as an employer, local employment rates, and the ready availability of people with the needed skills.D. EMPHASIS ON ENVIRONMENT FACTORSThe forces in the external environment are so dynamic and interactive that the impact of any single element cannot be wholly disassociated from the impact of other elements.Strategic managers are frequently frustrated in their attempts to anticipate the environment’s changing influences. Different external elements affect different strategies at different times and with varying influences. The only certainty is that impact of the remote and operating environment will be uncertain until a strategy is implemented. This leads many managers, particularly in less-powerful or smaller firm to minimize long-term planning, which requires a commitment of resources. Instead, they favor allowing managers to adapt to new pressures from environment.The companies that will be entry to business must assessing and consider the external environment of the company that will have potential impact to the company. In assessing the potential impact of changes in the external environment offers a real advantage for the company. It enables decision makers to narrow the range of the available options and to eliminate options that are clearly inconsistent with the forecast opportunities. Environment assessment seldom identifies the best strategy, but it generally leads to the elimination of all but the most promising options.The external environments that must be considered by the companies are remote environment, industry environment, and operating environment. These facto rs are lead how the company doing the business. How they take the opportunities from the external environment factor. And also how they make design of their business strategies is based on the conviction that a company able to anticipate future business condition will improve its performance and profitability. So, the companies assessment of external environment is to anticipate the situation and condition of the company in current and future.

What liquid will cause metals to corrode or rust faster

I have decided to base my experiment on four different types of metals and four different liquids. I will be using a penny, nail, paper clip and a needle as my four metals. My four liquids will be vinegar, beach, lemon water and salt water. To get started, the metal contents should be established. Today’s pennies are mostly made of zinc with a thin layer of copper overcoating. A nail is a form of carbon steel or black iron. Paper clips are made from a low grade steel. A needle is made from stainless steel. Examining the liquids and lemon juice is a citric acid. It should have corrosive actions on some of the metals, but not all. I believe that it will not affect this penny, except to clean it and shine it. I don’t think it will affect the paper clip either. I think that the only way it will have any affect on the needle or paper clip, will be if they were damaged or scratched. Corrosion would be caused If that were the case. I also think there were not to be any corrosion to the nail with lemon juice. Vinegar water is used to clean things. Related article: Vinegar Battery Review of Related Literature I don’t think the vinegar will rust a eedle, paper clip, nail, or penny the fastest. There will be a minimal affect on The steel material. The carbonation of water, vinegar and oxygen on the air will form iron oxide on the nail, the scientific name for rust. Vinegar will remove any corrosion and clean the penny. Bleach is a chloride, like vinegar, I think the affects will be minimal on Most of the metals. Since bleach contains oxygen, it would be most likely the liquids to rust the nail the fastest. The affect on the penny will be more like a cleaning agent, like vinegar and lemon uice, than as a corrosive. I think that salt water will be the best Corrosive liquid. Salt water will cause corrosion faster because the salt will act as a catalyst steel up the change and erode the materials. I feel it would corrode all of the metals. The needle may be the only metal it may not affect it, like some other liquids, it may not rush unless the metal has been scratched deep. In conclusion, I think that salt water will be the most corrosive liquid and the nail made from carbon steel will be the most corrosive metal, in the least amount if time.

The Minimum Legal Drinking Age - 1594 Words

The Drinking Age is Safer than You Thought As Americans, we are always wondering what we can do to save lives. We suspect cancer, disease, suicide, violence, and distracted driving as taking the lives of our fellow Americans. What you may not know, is that we are already saving lives, and we have been since 1984 because of one simple law. The Uniform Drinking Age Act of 1984 moved the minimum legal drinking age from 18 to 21. Lowering the drinking age is a step backward for our safety and our health. This claim is viable because more young people will die if the drinking age is lowered, lowering the drinking age will not cause people to drink more safely, and a lower drinking age negatively affects people later in life. Recently,†¦show more content†¦A large portion of the youth in America have been lead to believe that having the drinking age lowered would save lives and reduce heavy drinking, but this reasoning does not hold up. I applaud the efforts of my opposition to try and create safer drinking environments, reduce binge drinking, and save lives, but lowering the drinking age to 18 is not an effective way to accomplish those goals. By lowering the MLDA, we are putting the lives of our young people at risk. Many studies have been done on the safety of a MLDA of 18 and several of those were about alcohol-related injuries and fatalities. Since the Uniform Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984, significantly fewer alcohol-related traffic accidents have occurred (Saylor 330). Traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of death in our country, so it can also be claimed that reducing traffic accidents will decrease the number of deaths from accidents. In fact, a 2010 article by Wechsler and Toben published in the American Journal of Public Health discovered a 58% drop in car crashes after the MLDA was changed from 18 to 21 (988). Fifty-eight percent is not a coincidence and never will be. Changing the MLDA to 21 has been so successful in reducing traffic accidents that the National Highway Safety Department stepped in to support the higher drinking age. A conservative estimate claims over 800 lives have been saved each year since the drinking age was