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POL 1004F Intro Summary
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NAMHLANDILE ZIHLANGUINTRODUCTION TO POLITICS [POL1004F] Notes
WEEK 1 What is Modernity? (Maldonado Torres Reading)
Modernity= Industrialisation.
KEYWORD: Development
Modernization declares the passing of tradition. In essence, it is the movement from the
traditional ways of life to the emergence of factories, machines.
Westen knowledge suggested how we should live in society.
In the west there was Renaissance Enlightenment Modernity
▪ Not only was modernity in industry and urbanisation but it also manifested itself in the
Political system which was different from the traditional form of regime. The power of
monarchs, emperors and kings was limited on the habits of their subjects who lived in
the villages.
▪ Nation states emerged which became political communities divided from each other by
demarcated borders rather than the vague frontier areas that used to separate traditional
states. In addition, those in authority brought about laws that were to apply to people
living within their borders, people under their authority.
▪ Anthony Giddens explains that Modernization indicates a progressive evolution since
renaissance and enlightenment stood for social justice as well as equality.
▪ Sociological theorists/ founding fathers- Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber
witnessed the process of industrialization. However, they were on the point that the
European society was in crisis as they had their different views on the emergence of
modernity.
▪ Marx argued that this capitalism would eventually fail as he saw Socialism as the
ultimate progress.
▪ Durkheim asserts that in the long run modernity would create differentiation in society
which would help the mechanical society to transform to organic society. Basically,
modernity would lead to society’s development.
▪ Weber’s interpretation is different. To him industrial society would be a government
rational society. He considers societal progress through rationality only.
Modernity is associated with- CAPITALISM, DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPMENT,
INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANISATION, RATIONALITY, SEARCH FOR
ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE IN SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY/SOCIETY/POLITICS.
Characteristics of Modernity
o Multi-dimensional
, o Emergence of modern society from 15th century
o Role of internal and external forces
o Modernity consists of a cluster of institutions
o Growth of capitalist market relations over global scale
o Proliferation of consumer products and emerging new lifestyles
o Modernity is power sui generis
o Modernity is latest also
o Modernity is loneliness, competition and dissatisfaction.
o Modernity and technology
o Economic, Political, and cultural aspects of globalization shape the face of modernity.
WEEK2: The Discipline of Political Science
▪ David Easton’s Systems analysis/ political continuum
How do political systems manage to persist in a world of stability or change?
Firstly, the notion in its simplest way that political interactions in a society constitute a
system of behaviour is misleading. The truth is that if the idea system is used with the
diligence it allows/enables with all its currently existing implications, it provides a
starting point that is already frightened with its consequences for a whole pattern of
analysis.
Secondly, the system must be seen as surrounded by physical, biological, social and
psychological environments. How do political systems manage to persist in a world of
stability or change?
Thirdly, what makes the identification of the environments useful and necessary is the
assumption that that political life forms an open system. Such a system must be
interpreted as lying exposed to influences deriving from other systems in which it is
embedded. From them flows a constant stream of events and influences that shape the
conditions under which the members of the system must act.
Lastly, the fact that some systems do survive tells us that they must have a capacity to
respond to disturbances and thereby adapt to conditions under which they find
themselves.
The point of EQUILIBRIUM
The characteristics of a system that it is able to adopt a wide range of actions and
displacements:
i. A system does not need to react to a disturbance or shift. It may cope with the
disturbances by seeking to change its environment so that the exchanges
between its environment and itself are no longer stressful. ACCOMMODATE
CHANGE
ii. A system has the capacity for creative and constructive regulation disturbances.
iii.
A Systems Analysis
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