Set of societies

Society leads us; it creates a set of sets. These sets create hierarchies, which always have inequalities. Inequalities are always there but are sometimes measured in different ways. This leads to mobility, which is restricted but opening more due to globalization where the opportunities are endless. However this comes at a cost. In the film “It’s a Free World” and the reading “Society: A Set ofSets” these ideas are exemplified and shown through example.
History
The birth of sociology in 1896 led to a new way of thinking that is demonstrated in the film “It’s a Free World” and the reading “Society: A Set of Sets”. Known as the father of sociology, Emile Durkeim led this revolutionary thought process of “putting philosophy back into history.” Previously historians focused onrediscovering man on a basic level with record keeping of facts and dates in history without including how the society was interconnected. This way of recording history dehumanized our past.
When sociology was introduced, it focused on interactions between people and the repercussions of the structure of our societies. Using a specific way to study society to study certain sets or divisions of societymakes it “possible to grasp important problems effectively.” Through years of study, it has been determined that it is impossible to observe society as a whole effectively. Therefore, sets are needed to answer the question at hand. These sets can be defined by geography, religion, social class, etc. These divisions can be studied in a number of ways. Sociologists have used economics, politicalsociology, and economic and social history among other classifications.
Historic Timeline
• “The Gods of Olympus had their hierarchy” (pg463)
• 1446- Portuguese explorers came across tiny Berber tribes (black slaves) “They had no king;” They had clans, and each clan had chiefs. (pg 463)
• 1470-1580: “an age of biological growth. A bourgeoisie emerging form the background of trade was climbingby its own efforts to the highest place in contemporary society.” (pg478)
• 1531- Claudio Tolemei, “In every republic it is unusual for more than fifty citizens to rise to the posts of command.” (pg467)
• 1575- Venice-Nobles numbered 10,000 people-the highest positions out of 200,000 (5%) (pg 467)
• After the plague in Venice, only 14 or 15 of the wealthiest people survived.
o Genoa, nobilityhad control by rank and also by wealth, 700 men, out of 80,000 inhabitants. (pg 467)
• 17th Century: “age when luxury glittered everywhere” (pg 492)
• 1600- “In the county of Oldenbourg, of 200 noble families recorded at the end of the Middle Ages, only 30 were left.” (“Detailed figures from Florence, Venice, and Genoa show that the privileged families regularly declined in number and some diedout altogether.”) (pg473)
• After 1600, the social atmosphere, the economy, politics, and culture changed. “It was no longer possible to attain noble rank by means of a few witnesses testifying before a sympathetic judge: one had to produce genealogical tables and submit to searching investigations.” (pg487)
• 1630-“The Dutch were…surprised by the primitive peoples of Formosa… ‘They have neitherking nor sovereign.’” The villages were divided into groupings, an ordering of some kind. (pg463)
• Early 18th century: The king was sent a proposal to pass out a blue ribbon to all princes, dukes, high-ranking people; other nobleman wore a red ribbon; all officers, sergeants and soldiers would wear a uniform; and some other for domestic servants. (463)
o During the reign of George III, luxuryin the form of comfort, rather than display, was preferred by the wealthy and important families. (pg492)
• Florence 1737, Venice 1686, 1716, 1775) Because so many nobles were decreasing in size there was now a chance to buy titles. (pg473)
• 1936- France was governed by 200 families (pg466)
• At present- In C. Wright Mill’s The Power Elite he argues that “all important decisions affecting...